Citrus Bliss Body Butter Recipe Makes A Great DIY Gift

This body butter is easy to make and if you put it in a cute mason jar or canister, it makes a great DIY gift for all sorts of occasions.  Just tie it with a cute ribbon and add a label.

Citrus Bliss Body Butter Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cup Shea butter
• ⅓ cup coconut oil
• 2 tsp. vitamin E oil
• 10 drops orange essential oil
• 5 drops grapefruit essential oil

My favorite essential oils are Young Living- here is my distributor link. You can get all of these body butter ingredients at health food stores, pharmacies, or order on Amazon. Affiliate links below:

Body Butter Ingredients

100% Pure Unrefined Raw SHEA BUTTER
Skin Beauty Es…

$7.99

Nature’s Bounty E Oil 30,000IU, 2.5 Ounce
Nature’s Bounty

$7.50

NOW Foods Pure Coconut Oil , 7 oz
Now Foods

$8.49

doTERRA Wild Orange 15 ml
doTERRA

$11.55

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Heat coconut oil and shea butter in a pyrex glass bowl, stirring frequently just until melted.

Whisk together well.

Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes or until it starts to firm up.

Place mixture in bowl of stand mixer or use hand mixer. This makes it a whipped body butter and gives it a light smooth texture.

Add essential oils and vitamin E oil.

Beat on high for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.

Store in a glass container. (Citrus essential oils will eat at plastic.)

Body butter will soften if the room it is stored in gets very warm. This can be prevented or remedied by setting the container of body butter in the refrigerator. During the summer months I keep this homemade body butter in the fridge- it feels so good coming in from the heat!

Have fun making the body butter! I hope you enjoy this easy DIY body butter recipe and that you find the citrus essential oils to be as refreshing as I do. Have you tried homemade body butter before? Do you think you will give this DIY body butter recipe a try?

The post Citrus Bliss Body Butter Recipe appeared first on Oddfamily.co.uk. A parenting blog where the children run the show.

Teacher Appreciation Day is May 5th and this year I am helping my children make a Personalized Clip Board as a Teacher Appreciation Gift for these wonderful teachers.

Personalized Clip Board DIY Teacher Appreciation Gift

Supplies:

• 1 clip board
• scrap booking paper in 2-3 different patterns
• 4oz white glue mixed with 4oz water
• paint brush
• scissors
• letter sticker

Instructions:

Begin by making a template of the shape and size of the clip part of the clip board.  Use a piece of scrap paper so that you don’t waste any of your pretty paper.  Once you have a template made that fits trace it onto the paper that will be under the clip part of the board.  Cut out the paper and make sure it fits.

Next cut the other papers to fit.  I decided to use a few different patterns to create a colorful and fun look.  Dry fit the papers to make sure everything fits well.

Mix 4oz of white glue with 4oz of water to make a homemade mod podge.  Apply a layer of the mixture to the clip board and carefully add the paper.  Smooth all wrinkles out as you press the paper into the mixture.

Continue adding the papers until your clip board is covered.  Allow the glue mixture to dry.  Once the base layer of glue is dry brush another layer over the top of the papers.

Again allow the glue mixture to dry.  When it is dry completely you will need to trim any access paper from the edges of the clip board.  If you’d like to make the clip board even more durable add another layer of homemade mod podge.

Add a personalized letter sticker to your clip board to represent the teachers name.

Make sure the glue is completely dry before gift wrapping for a thoughtful Teacher Appreciation Gift.

Remember, the average American child spends nearly 950 hours at school each year.  Show your child’s teacher how much you appreciate all they do!  Have you made DIY teacher appreciation gifts before?  Does your child enjoy getting to be a part of the process of creating the teacher gift?

The post Personalized Clip Board Teacher Appreciation Gift appeared first on Oddfamily.co.uk. A parenting blog where the children run the show.

Nature Bingo Card Printable

Print out the Earth Day Nature Bingo Card and head out on a nature hike, to the park, or out into your neighborhood.  While someone might win the game and get a “Bingo” first, everyone is a winner as the cards fill up and and all kinds of treasures are found.  The environment is a winner to as trash and items that can be recycled are collected and taken care of properly.  Remember to teach your children the importance of picking up trash and recyclables whenever possible, not just as part of a game!

In addition to teaching children about the importance of picking up trash and other items that are not good for our environment there are many other ways to get involved!  Teach them to volunteer. Many communities have Earth Day festivials!  Go!!  Change a family habit. Do something nice for the Earth not just on Earth Day but every day.  Teach your children to protect the environment year-round!

To print our Earth Day Nature Bingo Card simply right click on the image below and select print!  This bingo card isn’t just for Earth Day.  Use this free printable bingo card on nature hikes, while camping with kids, or any time you’re outdoors!

The post Earth Day Nature Bingo Card Printable appeared first on Oddfamily.co.uk. A parenting blog where the children run the show.

Two Recycle Craft Ideas For Kids To Make Homemade Toys

Using these two recycle craft ideas for water bottle snow globes and tissue box guitars, your kids will have fun doing simple crafts and feel empowered to create. Then they can decorate their homemade toys with paint and/or stickers.

Water Bottle Snow Globes Recycle Craft

Water Bottle Snow Globe Materials:

• 1 old water bottle, refilled from your sink
• glitter

How To Make A Water Bottle Snow Globe:

Pour your favorite glitter into the water bottle until it looks right (and then shake it up!)  Toddles love to play with these homemade toys.  Allowing the glitter to settle and reshaking it and watching the glitter glisten is a great way to pass the time for small children- especially when they are riding in the car.

Tissue Box Guitar Recycle Craft

Tissue box guitar materials:

• 1 empty Kleenex box
• 3 rubber bands

How to make a tissue box guitar:

Stretch rubber bands over the hole on the top of the box and start making music!  It is that simple to make a homemade tissue box guitar and your toddler will love making something themselves.

Have you tried making recycle crafts before? What other crafts have you made from recycled products?

The post Two Recycle Craft Ideas For Kids appeared first on Oddfamily.co.uk. A parenting blog where the children run the show.

A lot of parents are worried about stifling their child’s creativity when they are learning about the world around them. Nurturing an environment in which they can express themselves is crucial to their development. Some may be encouraged to learn a musical instrument or take up a sport. If you’re looking for something a little closer to home, setting up an arts and crafts room could be the perfect way to get the creative juices flowing. Gently encouraging your children to make things not only gets their brain working. It also teaches them vital hands-on skills that will see them in good stead later in life.

Choose a location – It’s great if you have a spare room going. With a small investment, it could be transformed into a fun place in which your child feels safe. It’s best to consider the room’s surroundings. You want somewhere quiet and without distractions so that they’ll be able to focus on their experiments. Also, consider the possibility of things getting messy. You want to keep everything together, so when the time comes to tidy up it won’t be too much of a challenge. If you don’t have a spare room available, try converting a corner of your child’s bedroom. This will create a safe and familiar place for them to get creative and allows them to feel like they are in control.

Materials – Of course, you’ll need to keep supplies well stocked at all times. But you also need to be careful about protecting your kids. Use your common sense and don’t let small children play with sharp objects. Be vigilant. Stock up on things like safety scissors, coloured paper and fabric, Tecbond glue sticks and a range of pens and pencils. Think about decorative things like glitter and pins. Keep things eco-friendly by using recycled materials. Think of old clothing and curtains as a great way to make use of unwanted textiles. Remember never to leave a child unsupervised and help them with the things that might pose a risk of injury. Always keep hazardous materials stored away out of reach.

Crafts children

Picture Credit

Get ideas – Once you’re all set up, it’s time to find activities to participate in. There are great examples of crafts on children’s TV shows. Some are dedicated to it entirely. Watching along and following the instructions is a great way to spend time together and helps your child learn observation skills. Visit your local library and stock up on books that are filled with family craft ideas. If you look hard enough, there are even a lot of blogs and websites dedicated to children’s crafts online. You can find specific themes depending on the time of year, and with Halloween right around the corner it’s a great time to get your hands dirty.

Feel free to share your ideas and creations with us below. We’d love to hear from you. Or if you’re struggling for inspiration, here are two fun examples we came up with ourselves to get you started.

The post Creating a Family Craft Room at Home appeared first on Oddfamily.co.uk. A parenting blog where the children run the show.

Along the way I learned quite a few things about how to grow a garden and I love the fact that I can share those treasures and lessons with my son… even if it is just with a potted tomato plant. No matter if you live in the country or in the concrete jungle, your kids can learn a lot about food from the basics of gardening. Sure they can probably help you find the baby carrots or frozen peas in the grocery, but do they know where those carrots and greens really come from? (hint – the answer is not a truck!)

Most kids today find it hard to believe that a lot of their food actually starts out as a seed. There is a serious disconnect when it comes to understanding where food originates. Teaching children not only about where the food comes from but also about how to grow it, helps increase their awareness of the world around them and make them more likely to eat tomatoes instead of just settling for ketchup.

Plus, gardening is a great way to connect our kids with the wonder of the earth – the fact that a seed the size of a tack can grow into a big orange carrot or cucumber. Kids really look at this kind of like a magical, mystical experience.

So – you no idea how to get started growing a garden? Have no fear, I happen to have quite the green thumb and am ready to give you a few pointers.

6 Tips To Grow A Garden With Your Kids

START SMALL – A common mistake beginners make is being too ambitious with their garden plans, only to be discouraged when weeds or bugs take over the plot. Make your project small enough that your child can water it and see everything. Rather than tilling a section of your yard, consider planting in containers, which will help keep weeds at bay and give your child a focus for watering. You can buy pots at a garden store or even use an old sand bucket – just be sure to poke holes for drainage. Containers are great for herbs or patio-type tomatoes but remember if you’re using containers, you may have to water your plants more frequently than if you had planted in the earth. They will dry out faster than plants in the ground.

FOLLOW YOUR CHILD’S LEAD – Not sure what to plant? Take your child to a garden store and let them pick the out the seeds. Your best bet will be flowers or vegetables with relatively fast germination periods (better for short attention spans). When it comes to flowers, think about easy-to-grow, edible choices. For vegetables, try cherry tomatoes or cucumbers and, for a quick turn around, radishes are perfect.

BUY KID-SIZED TOOLS – A well-meaning child with a garden hose can blast a baby seedling away in a matter of seconds, but you can avoid garden floods by giving your little helper a kid-sized watering can. In addition to the can, consider a child-sized clipper, trowel, gloves, and shovel – as well as a magnifying glass, so then can get in the dirt and get up close and personal with the plants.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT – Some of your plants might grow like weeds, others might be stomped out by weeds. The key is to figure out, along with your child, what works and what doesn’t. A garden can become a living science experiment, where they can compare what happens when one seedling receives fertilizer or water or sunlight and when one doesn’t. Not everything will grow in the way you expect, and that’s okay. Don’t be afraid to fail.

MAKE IT FUN – Gardening shouldn’t feel like a chore, so don’t treat it like one. Instead of saying to your child to “let’s go work in the garden” try asking them if they want to go “peek under the leaves” to see what they might find. Discovering the beginning of a pepper or an onion sprig is a really cool thing!

NO OUTDOORS? NO PROBLEM – Not everyone has access to an outdoor garden space, but apartment dwellers and others with limited outdoor space can still develop a serious green thumb by focusing on indoor plants. Try the afore mentioned potted tomato or even try planting aloe vera, which grows easily and can be used to treat household burns. And if all else fails, just visit a local pick-your-own farm where kids can see the real deal in action!

Let us know if you have any great gardening tips and by all means, feel free to share the veggie bounty with your friends and neighbors! Do you think you will grow a garden this season? What are you going to plant?

The post Hey Kids – Let’s Grow a Garden! appeared first on Oddfamily.co.uk. A parenting blog where the children run the show.

Re-using and recycling to save money and to earn a bit of money

If ever there was a financial incentive tied to activities such as re-using and re-cycling what are otherwise readily disposable goods, it would be that of the opportunity to firstly save money (you have to buy less replacements when you re-use objects) and secondly, to earn a bit of money (you can sell recyclable materials such as waste paper and others to dealers).

Volunteering in return for brand awareness and marketing

Marketing exposure and the subsequent raising of brand awareness through the participation in volunteer work geared towards social responsibility effectively saves you money you would have otherwise had to spend directly on marketing. So instead of paying for something like an expensive billboard ad for example, your organisation could gain just as much exposure if not more through its feature in the news for having joined a team of volunteers that went out into the environment and did their bit to contribute to each of our social responsibility.

Patronage of manufacturers and services providers who reinvest in Social Responsibility R&D

This one is a no-brainer, but perhaps it takes a bit of an explicit manner in which to point it out so that it is properly understood, so I’ll do so with a real-world example. Manufacturers and retailers of products which are at the heart of social responsibility facilitation such as Glasdon should be prioritised to be patronised because buying from them means that you’re doing your bit to insure the money spent goes back into the Research and Development projects which will improve the products we use to keep our world clean and help save the environment with. It’s a simple decision you take to perhaps buy your litter bins from https://uk.glasdon.com/litter-bins over many of the other suppliers, for example.

The post Financially Incentivised Social Responsibility appeared first on Oddfamily.co.uk. A parenting blog where the children run the show.

Choose the right boots

One of the most important things that you can buy if you want to work on a construction site is a good pair of steel toe-capped boots. Indeed, construction sites generally have large or heavy loads moving at all times, meaning that an employee’s feet are generally at risk all the time. If you purchase a pair of strong steel toe-capped boots you can protect your feet from collisions or from heavy objects being dropped on them. Choosing the appropriate type of builders work clothes and boots is important, especially if you may need extra ankle support and strong soles as a result of the various conditions which happen on a building site. Waterproofing is another important consideration when choosing a pair of boots as it can prevent discomfort as a result of water seeping in as well as stop excessive cold. Make sure you also choose a pair of warm or thermal socks which can also help to reduce your discomfort on a construction site.

Protect your legs

If you regularly work on a construction site, you will know that wearing shorts is generally not a good idea, especially in the middle of winter. However, in some times of extreme heat, wearing shorts could be a good idea. Instead of choosing a pair of shorts, you should make sure you have a hard wearing and warm pair of trousers which can protect your legs from the weather as well as from other hazards. If you will be working close to the ground you may also think the addition of kneepads is essential for a pair of trousers that you will wear around a construction site.

Protect your body

If your job on a construction site entails working outside it is important to keep dry and warm. You should think about buying a number of layers which will trap heat during the day while also having a waterproof layer on top is essential to keep you dry. However, your choice of sleeves is generally a personal preference. However, you should consider purchasing both short and long sleeve shirts which can be interchanged depending on the temperature and your personal preference for working.

High visibility

Another of the most important elements of a construction worker’s clothes is a high-visibility vest which is a legal obligation, along with a hard hat. Therefore, if you want to work on a construction site, you should think about visiting your local firm of suppliers today who can supply you with the right clothes for the job.

Make sure you are correctly kitted out with the right work clothes before stepping onto any construction site.

The post Choosing The Right Clothes For A Construction Site appeared first on Oddfamily.co.uk. A parenting blog where the children run the show.

Before you throw out your water bottles and empty Kleenex boxes, check these recycle craft ideas out and let your kids get busy! It is also a great time to talk with your child about reuse and recycling and why these things are important.

Two Recycle Craft Ideas For Kids To Make Homemade Toys

Using these two recycle craft ideas for water bottle snow globes and tissue box guitars, your kids will have fun doing simple crafts and feel empowered to create. Then they can decorate their homemade toys with paint and/or stickers.

Water Bottle Snow Globes Recycle Craft

Water Bottle Snow Globe Materials:

• 1 old water bottle, refilled from your sink
• glitter

How To Make A Water Bottle Snow Globe:

Pour your favorite glitter into the water bottle until it looks right (and then shake it up!)  Toddles love to play with these homemade toys.  Allowing the glitter to settle and reshaking it and watching the glitter glisten is a great way to pass the time for small children- especially when they are riding in the car.

Tissue Box Guitar Recycle Craft

Tissue box guitar materials:

• 1 empty Kleenex box
• 3 rubber bands

How to make a tissue box guitar:

Stretch rubber bands over the hole on the top of the box and start making music!  It is that simple to make a homemade tissue box guitar and your toddler will love making something themselves.

Have you tried making recycle crafts before? What other crafts have you made from recycled products?

The post Two Recycle Craft Ideas For Kids appeared first on Oddfamily.co.uk. A parenting blog where the children run the show.

Two Recycle Craft Ideas For Kids To Make Homemade Toys

Using these two recycle craft ideas for water bottle snow globes and tissue box guitars, your kids will have fun doing simple crafts and feel empowered to create. Then they can decorate their homemade toys with paint and/or stickers.

Water Bottle Snow Globes Recycle Craft

Water Bottle Snow Globe Materials:

• 1 old water bottle, refilled from your sink
• glitter

How To Make A Water Bottle Snow Globe:

Pour your favorite glitter into the water bottle until it looks right (and then shake it up!)  Toddles love to play with these homemade toys.  Allowing the glitter to settle and reshaking it and watching the glitter glisten is a great way to pass the time for small children- especially when they are riding in the car.

Tissue Box Guitar Recycle Craft

Tissue box guitar materials:

• 1 empty Kleenex box
• 3 rubber bands

How to make a tissue box guitar:

Stretch rubber bands over the hole on the top of the box and start making music!  It is that simple to make a homemade tissue box guitar and your toddler will love making something themselves.

Have you tried making recycle crafts before? What other crafts have you made from recycled products?

The post Two Recycle Craft Ideas For Kids appeared first on Oddfamily.co.uk. A parenting blog where the children run the show.