My non chemical-ish cure for lice

I have three daughters. They all have gorgeous long locks, even the baby.

Although in this picture taken 6 months ago she had just sheared off her bangs, she currently runs around with bouncy mid back  curls.

As a mom of girls who has battled head lice once before. I take the threat seriously. It took us six weeks to get rid of it 3 years ago, I don't ever want to do that again.

When it was finally eradicated, it was cured, not with traditional chemical methods but a series of weird hippy methods I searched out on the web. It also does not cost very much.

I will share a couple of my tried and true methods because:
I just got a call from a mom, her daughter is a playmate to all three, they were playing dress-up this weekend, and she has just discovered lice.

This call use send me into a panic. Not anymore. One hour of work and our house has been de-loused.

These are my tools.

(The iPod and angry birds provides good distraction, the comb to divide and search, the ponies to section, the flat iron to cook, the cetaphil because I heard it works, and the blow dryer to dry the cetaphil)

First I examine my girls heads with a fine comb under good lighting. (no signs of the critters were found.... yes!!! dodged a bullet there) Just in case I missed something, I want to be thorough in ensuring a week from now my child wont wake me in the middle of the night complaining of a itchy head. I am going to do two easy and quick treatments.

I brush the hair from top to bottom.

I then divide into sections and put into mini buns. This allows me to be sure of the section I'm working with.

I then use my flat iron on the hair at the highest heat setting of 410 degrees. I do every piece of hair from root to tip, but the first 2 inches is the most important. This is where eggs could be or the creatures who lay them, and I'm going to roast them. This is where the iPod or iPhone comes in handy. They are too distracted to complain.

All straightened :)

The next step you may think is quite weird. I found it myself while searching for the cure 3 years ago. A doctor in California was charged with fraud for re bottling cetaphil and charging desperate parents hundreds of dollars for the cure. All they had to do was smear loads of the lotion on the infected head, blow dry, and rinse out after a full night sleep. Repeat in ten days. Well I had ten dollars to spare and if it didn't work I could always use it for it's intended purpose, hypoallergenic face washing.

Blow drying. Yes I know your envious of my blowdry stand, get one if you have long hair. Every morning I blow dry while playing on my phone drinking coffee:)

While I'm doing this job, My husby is cruising the house changing the bedding. He collects all the brushes de-hairs them and puts them in the dishwasher.

Since we haven't found any lice or eggs the job ends here. This may seem like overkill for just a phone call, but I would much rather nip it in the butt. I have no desire to battle lice more than I have to!!!!!

In the morning the girls have a shower. For the next two weeks they will have braided or ponied hair. I want to ensure if I missed anything they aren't sharing with their friends. In two weeks I will search again, and I will probably use the flat iron again.

If there were bugs found, I would get all stuffed animals out of the house for 3 weeks. I would vacuum thoroughly and cover the fabric couches with sheets. Laundry would be done every other day for all bedding.

I would vary treatments on the girls. Every other night I would alternate between flat iron, cetaphil. nitpicking, and teatree oil/vinegar for two weeks.

If you have found this in your search for the cure. I wish you good luck:) Your child having lice is very normal. Don't stress to much:)

****Consult your doctor before starting any treatment****

**** I'm a mom, not a specialist, this worked for me, but it might not for you****

Make Your Own Laundry Detergent

DIY Laundry Detergent

These are the 3 ingredients I use

I make my own detergent not for the money saving benefit (which I like anyways) But for the waste saving benefit.

My husby and I have three gorgeous girls. They create monster loads of laundry. So we were using Monster loads of detergent.

I noticed how much on recycling day. Between the milk jugs and the laundry detergent containers I filled a whole blue bag... more plastic. 

I thought if I made it at home like so many other things I do at home I could save on how much we recycle.

The recipes I found were very easy. Soap, Washing soda, and borax. boiled and funneled into containers. I did this method for quite some time. The boiling was kind of time consuming and messy.

so I adapted and its fun:)

I cut a bar of soap into 4. 

I get my kids to put a piece on a big dinner plate and put in the microwave for 40 seconds. The picture below is what happens. Since I have 4 pieces the kids take turns. Pushing buttons and watching soap explode is fun.

 This is what it looks like when I, not my kids take it out of the microwave. It has never been hot but I don't want them burned!

 Then it crumbles so easy. If you don't like the microwave just finely grate your soap:)

 I use a empty large tin can and put soap in it.

I add one cup of baking soda. (washing soda is cheaper and you get much more, but I heard baking soda is less caustic so I went for it)

 I add one cup of borax.

 I mix it up

 And I put a Tablespoon into each load:)

I have no idea if this is high efficient friendly. I do know it is very cheap. I bought 36 bars of soap for 10$ a six pack of baking soda for 6.65 and a box of borax for 5$. I have enough supplies to do over a thousand loads of laundry and the waste doesn't even fill up a grocery bag:)




As with ALL cleaning products KEEP OUT OF THE REACH OF CHILDREN particularly if you are using recycled food type containers!!!!

Loft Bed in a closet

Loft Bed Project

I am always on the hunt for creative and fun home improvement ideas.  With three active little ladies at home we are always in need of space for play. Normally I get my great ideas from pinterest, (like all creative hipster moms?) but this fabulous find was home grown, well home town grown. 


The discovery was made during one of my well earned coffee (Facebook) breaks. My friend posted pictures of her and her hubby's weekend project converting their sons closet into a toddler bed and reading nook. This allowed the whole room to be used for play! She is an early childhood educator and a creative genius


When I asked if I could blog it she was more then willing, in fact she blogged it here. I have provided her instructions and pictures down below. 






Decide on the height of the loft; we chose 4' since the closet is 8'
Install your supports, screwed to the studs in the walls and into anchors if additional support is needed.

 Create a 2x4 frame.

Cut a sheet of plywood the dimensions of your closet space. Depending upon the size, you may need to cut it in half in order to install. We were able to install ours as a single sheet. We did not screw our plywood down, allowing access from underneath if ever needed.

 We added a facer on the front of ours and also required a spacer in between the support and the facer to provide us with the space we needed to install the "window" so that it remained in the doorway to the closet and didn't interfere with the mattress.

 The "window" was made with an air nailer. Simply purchase lengths of wood in the dimensions you would like to use and cut it to size, lay it out and nail it together. Use glue as well to provide added strength to the joints.

Paint or varnish your window and install it with screws. Ensure it is a very tight fit into the space, gives it lots more strength.

 The handle you see was bought many years ago for a play ground set but I'm sure you can get them at Canadian Tire or Home Depot. The ladder we made ... lengths of wood for the sides, dowels, a spade drill bit (the same size as the dowels you choose. Decide how many dowels you want to use and mark your wood on both pieces. Drill through the outside to the inside of your side rails with a small drill bit. Then, use your spade bit on the inside of the rails to create a pocket for the dowel to sit. Use glue to add strength and screw in your dowels. 

Accessorizing:

Ikea Picture Ledges: http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/70177062/ 

 Wall Decal from Etsy.com. Find on that fits and compliments your space.

 Ikea Bed Canopy: http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/60054636/

Mattress: Ikea Foam Mattress ... Cut to size. http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/20139751/


The finished Product!

I love the reading Nook at the bottom.