Home Made It: Room Freshening Sprays

It may be the season for open windows and letting the fresh air in, but it is also not always fresh. It is hot out, which means things that smell bad in the home smell bad faster. Litter box, kitchen compost collector, you name it. Sometimes you cannot clear the air fast enough. Thus brings me to this post: home made room fresheners.

These are fast, affordable and couldn't be any easier. Plus you only need three things, and you probably already have at least two of them.

Supplies:

• 3oz spray bottle (check the travel section)
• Your choice of essential oil(s)
• Water (tap water is fine to use)

How to make:

1. Choose an oil, or a combination of oils, to use. I purchased Aura Cacia oils and their packaging gave me an idea of what to use. I also searched on the internet for other combinations. Or just experiment on your own if you are good at that. Once chosen, place around 20 drops of oil (equal number if using multiple scents) into the spray bottle.
2. Next fill the rest of the bottle with cool water.
3. Spray, spray, spray! If the bottle has been sitting a while since it's last use, give it a light shake before spraying.

I am pretty scent sensitive myself, but I find I can spray these like crazy with no adverse effects to my breathing. I made three different scents for various rooms of my apartment: Lavender (relaxing, bedroom), Sweet Orange and Lavender (relaxing and fresh, living room), and Sweet Orange and Eucalyptus (freshening, bathroom).

Some essential oils can be pricey, and maybe the pricey ones are the best, but I don't have that kind of money and it would take away from the "saving money" factor. I found mine in local drugstores and I also found good deals online (amazon.com) where you have a lot of options. Shop around for the best deal. Happy spraying!

Regrow It: Green onions

Wow, so after many months of not blogging I am back. My first nursing job didn't leave me much time or energy left after my shifts, so I kind of let this go. I recently switched jobs, hello 3 12's, and I am finally starting to remember what it felt like to have a life again. Thus my reappearance. My first post back is about food. I post a lot about food. One, because I love food, but also because it is one thing we all cannot live without.

 

Since it is spring, even the Pacific Northwest is getting more sunny days, it is the ideal time to do some gardening, whether it be in the backyard or your kitchen windowsill. If you aren't an avid gardener, that is okay. Regrow It is simply about taking your food scraps and setting them up to regrow more food for you. And it really couldn't be more simple.

 

Today let's talk green onions, those flavorful little guys that we can do so much with. If only we had them on hand all of the time. Well, now when you buy one bunch, you can have a self-replenishing supply on hand. Just follow these steps.

 

After slicing up the onoin, take the remainder of the onion, as shown above.

Place the 1-2 inch portion into a container, and fill with just enough water to saturate the roots. Adding too much will cause the bulb and stalk to get soggy. Place in a sunny location.

After a few days, maybe less, you will see new growth.

Until they are gigantic!

You can also plant them in dirt if you prefer. After a while, the bulbs do get soggy in a cup of water, so if you do not want to use dirt, using rocks in the cup to keep the water away from the bulb is a good option.

To use these onions, cut them just as you did the first time and replace in the water. If you planted them in dirt, you can snip them straight from the garden and they will continue to regrow. Stay tuned for future Regrow It vegetables. Happy planting.