I know, I know. I NEVER post anymore. Well, I'm not a very organized person and posting on Blogger just isn't a priority. But I do want to share something with you that I found this week.

Here at the Loveless home, we home school. We're trying a new schedule this year, (which is working out great) and started the year in the middle of July. We get a week off every month, two weeks at Christmas, and six weeks for summer. Anyhow, that was simply to explain to you why we are in school in the summer time.

Now to tell you what I wanted to share. This year, we're using a new math cuuriculum, Math Mammoth which is great (and VERY affordable)! Maria at Math Mammoth teaches more than facts, she teaches concepts. Jerry's curriculum last year was a little more traditional. He hates boring facts and so instead of memorizing them he adds on his fingers and toes. Well, this year is different. I've been working with him on learning to add mentally by making groups of tens. Jerry is VERY hands on in his learning and so I looked online for a simple, inexpensive abacus. What I found was even better! Instructions on how to make one myself!

I love DIY if it doesn't involve a lot of money, equipment, brain power, or time. All I needed was four craft sticks, five bamboo skewers (which I cut in half), 100 pony beads (in color groups of 5), and some good ole' fashioned Elmer's glue. The abacus is hand sized, inexpensive, and if my active, accident prone boy breaks it, it won't break the bank! Here's the finished product....

Don't you just love finding out that you can make something from scratch that is better for you and cheaper than the commercial brands? A few weeks ago, I found a recipe for deodorant on Keeping It Simple. At first, I thought, it couldn't possibly work as well as the expensive brand name kind. Well.... I was right! It works BETTER than the commercial brands I've tried. And I have picky pits! Ever since I started needing deodorant, only certain brands would work for more than a few hours. 

Well, my curiosity got to me and I thought well what have I got to loose? (except the $10 it cost for the coconut oil, that is) Finally, I got up the nerve to try it... and WOW! My pits have never smelled so great. I have been wearing it since Saturday and not one problem. (Let me clarify that... I've been putting it on fresh once a day after my shower since Saturday.)

I also suffer from stinky feet, the other night before bed, they were particularly stinky. I used to use commercial spray deodorant on my feet since it has the same ingredients as the expensive foot spray. So, I tried the new recipe on my feet! They actually smelled good!

We purchased the coconut oil at Walmart for $10 for about 12 oz. You can find it with the health supplements. You can probably buy it cheaper somewhere else though. This will make several recipes and I found one recipe filled one of my husband's old deodorant containers plus. It would probably fill a ladies-size container twice. 

Yep! That's it. If you have sensitive skin you may want to adjust the amount of baking soda to corn starch. I've heard that too much baking soda can cause irritation. Kristy at Raising Godly Daughters suggests increasing the corn starch to 1/2 cup. Give it a try. I don't think I'll ever go back to commercial brands!