Homemade Room Fragrance
I have always loved the delicious scent of candles in the Fall, particularly anything that smells like holiday baking or warm apple cider. Unfortunately for many years I haven't been able to enjoy them due to the migraines that artificial scents tend to give me. However it seems like those chemicals aren't very healthy to have in our homes, so maybe it's not so unfortunate after all.
It never occurred to me that there was an alternative until recently when I saw a random post in my Facebook news feed. Of course it was only a picture of several jars full of fruit and spices with words like "Homemade Fragrance" on it, so not much to go on. I did get very excited about the idea though, and set out on a mission to make my own. Here's what I came up with:
In the jar above is:
A sliced up orange, a few cinnamon sticks, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and a teaspoon of almond extract.
That's it! Add water and simmer on the stove top, it smells AMAZING. As the water evaporates, add a little more.
I'm excited to try out new combinations in the future, maybe something with lemon & lavender or lime & mint...
Now before you throw out that leftover water from this yummy project, keep reading!
Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner
For quite awhile now, I've been using a very simple homemade cleaner for everyday use. You simply save orange peels, put them in a big jar and fill that jar with white vinegar, leaving it to soak for a week or longer. When you're ready, strain the orange peels out and save the vinegar to use as your homemade cleaner. You can dilute with water, or use it full strength. You can also add a few drops of essential oil, my favorite is grapefruit.
Now here's how these two things tie together. Previously I had opted to use this full-strength and not dilute any. However as my home was filling up with the wonderful scent of my homemade fragrance, it suddenly occurred to me how great the leftover water added to my cleaner might be. So of course I had to try it, and wow was it a great idea! The bathroom was more than ready for a cleaning, so I got to try it out immediately, it worked great and smelled terrific.
