Rose Water Infused Cofee Soap.

Hello Dearies!!! I have made and send soap to a few of my trusted friends recently. I needed some opinion of how and what changes I needed to make. Some of them said no changed are needed while someone suggested if they had some kind of exfoliate in them, the soap would be a great scrub. Your wish was my command, I set the grey in my brain to work. I though of adding oats first, then backed out as I did not find any oats that were ground so fine. I searched my pantry to find any thing that would work, I found filter coffee, rose water, milled flax seed and some sesame oil. So with these ingredients, I set to work.

The wonder never ceases as I can mix and change according to my mood and fancy. Its as easy as 1-2 -3. Video link for melt and pour.
1- Melt
2- Add and stir
3. Pour and set in molds.

This batch I made is of rose water and filter coffee. I had made my homemade rose water that needed to be put to use, what better than soap. Next batch is likely to be with shea butter, cream, turmeric along with some sesame oil. 

Wish me luck and join me in this wonderful world of home made soap. The options and combinations are endless. Soap and lotion making has given me a good insight in things I can do and make in my home with everyday ingerdients. Do you have any tested recipes and home spa remedies that you have been practicing at home? Share them in Comments, looking forward to hearing all your tips and practices.

Valentine Roses- in new Avatar-DIY Rose Water.

Hello Dearies!!! V day is long gone and the roses are wilted by now, But what about the sentiments that go along with the V day gifting, have they also wilted like the roses. I get 3 roses every V day, and I gift a cake in return., That is set in Ashland. 

We do not budge with the whole spending and breaking the budget over overpriced emotions and things expressing love on one day!!! I visited the regular grocery store one day before Feb 14th, and was amazed to see people, all ages, young big, old buying stuff that was either red, heart shaped and over priced. Please do not get me wrong, but I fail to understand the hype behind showing love on one day and fighting the remainder of the year. 

A regular dozen rose bunch was priced at $50, normally it is for $15-$20. As not to dampen the spirit of showing Mommy a little love, I set the budget to $10 on roses and around $10 for the cake. I am not cheap in gifting, where I need to spend I surely do, but the hype behind some holidays conveys wrong message to kids is what I feel. I may be wrong, but then I am what I am!!!!

I did bake a boxed mix cake and  piped some rosettes with my loved whipped cream pudding icing.

 But the star for the day is DIY Rose water. While growing up, having rose water  at home was a regular thing. My mom used it in sweets, in bath water and even applied on her face to cool off in summer. Rose water is  a natural toner and very useful as a medicine and beauty product.

I have been reading a lot about wellness and using herbs and pantry items to create different skin care lotions. I plan on making a glycerin and  rose water potion to reduce dryness and anti skin aging for the spring months when my skin tends to get very dry and  develops dry patches. Keep reading this space for more on that.

I use the three wilted roses that Mr. Ash and kids brought for me on the V day. There is something about V day roses, they are more fragrant than the regular ones. But come June and my home grown tube roses would also be just as good. Making rose water is as easy as  boiling water.

I refereed to this website for making the rose water but seeping for 3-4 hours was not for me. So instead I boiled the petals with water and cooled it; I got a beautiful colored rose water in less than 30 minutes. The kitchen smelled like a rose valley, which was an added bonus.

You will need;
3 Roses- I had 2 red and 1 white- Pesticide free and if possible organic.
1 cup cold water 

Wash and rinse the petals of the roses. In a pot, take the washed petals, immerse in the cold water. You do not need a lot of water, just till the petals soak. Boil on low heat till the water boils and the petals give away most of its color. Mine took about 10-15 minutes.

Once you achieve the desired color, turn off the heat, and let cool for another 15 minutes. Strain and use the liquid. The rose water can be stored in a food save bottle in the fridge for about 10 days. Put it in a spray bottle and  freshen up dull skin or add in the bath water to experience a Cleopatra style bath. Whatever you decide to do, do let me know how you did it and how it helped you.

Save the Earth-RRR and Some DIY from scrap paper and boxes.-Part 1

Hello Dearies!!! Its sad days here in Ashland. We have been deeply affected and hit by a  Super storm Sandy. The  DNA of New York City is its  public transport system, Its Subway system, which is not in operation for over 5 days now. IT is a great loss of life and property and wish that it simply ends in some ways. Our area is also hit but not as greatly affected, am not sure if its coz of the less number of trees or being away from the sea that has saved us. Although power outages and  cold homes, Gods grace is upon us, and I am counting his small mercies amidst this chaos as we pull ourselves out of this disaster.

I have been meaning on doing a post of the things that I as an active citizen has been doing to reuse, recycle and re-purpose to save our earth and try eliminate plastic things filling our landfills, that take years and years to decompose and affect global warming. If we are able to do a few things like use plastic bottles, re use old canisters to store lentils, rice and other dry ingredients in our pantries, we can save  huge amounts of $$ and also save our planet. Instead of opening new disposable bottles of water each time, we can use filtered water from home in reusable bottle which are safe and BPA free. I am sharing a few of the ideas that we are using at our home. There will be constant additions as I make my home go greener. Some of the things we are serious about are;

Old muffin Trays used as herb planters

Empty Cereal boxes as paper holders/magazine holders

Bookmarks from old greeting holiday cards

Bookmarks from old greeting holiday cards

Diwali Diyas made with candle votives and Pista shells

These are a few, I will be uploading pictures of the pantry, using microfiber towels eliminating swiffer pads, and making cotton vegetable bags from old cotton towels/sheets in Part 2 of the series. 

I invite all my readers to the my first ever event "How do you stay Green in your Home?".

Do a blog post of what measures you undertake and ways you reuse the plastic things like bottles, etc in your home. IT maybe anything small or big, just jot it down, we might start a new green cycle here itself, we never know. Once you publish that blog post, send the link and one picture to the email listed;Non bloggers who want to participate, send me a picture and a brief paragraph of what you have been doing at your home and I will include that in the list.

Please send me your posts in helping us all in trying and learning to make the planet greener doing our bit one step at  a time. I hope to see a  positive response in this initiative. Please send your entries to indulgeashscorner@gmail.com

I will do  a separate post based on the entries received around new years as new beginnings and new resolutions to stay greener.

Lotion Bars with 3 simple ingredients.

Fall is in the air and in Ashland!!!  Really every thing is falling in its place for sure. School started and routine fell in its place, kids  went back to school falling deep into the books. With fall comes the worry of chapped lips and cracked heels for most of us. I usually hunt for coupons during this time of the year to stock up on the usual petroleum jelly, moisturizing lotion and Aveeno Lotions. Why you ask, because peeps in Ashland are blessed with rough a d dry skin. My Munchkin gets irritated with rashes and red blotches due to dryness. He itches till the point it starts bleeding. Donut refuses to apply any cream or lotion as it makes him sticky and shiny all day and kids kind of make fun of him. My hunt for an all body suave ended when I came across two of the most helpful sites. Wellness mama and crunchy betty. I mean they are the best when it comes to wellness the pantry way. If you remember I made home made lotion and lip balm not many days ago, I made them again and again. This time I set them in these cute molds from IKEA. I wanted some thing to carry with me in small boxes which were not messy, easy to carry and would not leak or spill in my tote. These lotion bars solve all the hurdles and they work from hair to cuticle. Apply bit of it on wet damp hair and say bye bye to frizz., apply on cracked heels at night and say hello to pampered feet. The recipe is simple and needs only 3 simple ingredients. The oils can be changed as per your likes

Source

You will need;

 Bees wax

 Coconut Oil

 Olive Oil

 All the above 3 in equal parts.

For the lotion bars, take bees wax, olive oil and coconut oil in same proportion and melt in a glass jar in double boiler. if you want to add in essential oils or essence add in after the base oils melt, once all is melted, set in molds. or in small jars. use as you like.

So what are we waiting for, welcome to the wonders of your kitchen and get set go on making all natural, easy on your pocket and good for you treats.