FAVORITE ECO-FRIENDLY FINDS: AUGUST EDITION

Starting this August I'm going to begin sharing my five favorite eco-friendly finds of each month. This month I focused on eco-friendly home decor. If there is a product you have been desperately trying to source, leave me a comment below, and I'll see if I can find something to suit your style needs for future posts! 

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DIY SUNSCREEN RECIPE

After reading a few articles and hearing stories from people about the cancer causing properties of store bought sunscreen, (read here and here)  we decided this summer we would make our own.  I know it's a bit late in the season, but we tested out 4 different ratios of oil to zinc oxide before determining that this was the best one. This recipe shouldn't be the end-all and be-all answer to your sun prevention needs. I usually wear a hat and cover up when I am outside, as well as keeping a diet rich in anti-oxidant foods. That really is the best way to minimize your risk of skin cancer and premature wrinkles, while keeping it all natural. But I think this recipe is a great addition to my normal sun protection tactics, and I could see a difference on days when were were out in the yard gardening.  If you want to substitute some of the oils in the recipe here's a handy chart of natural SPF.

Ingredients: (1 oz = 2 Tbs)
Most of these can be purchased at your local market or health food store,
if not click each ingredient for a link on where to buy online.
1 ounce shea butter
2 ounces beeswax (makes it more waterproof)
1 1/2 ounces coconut oil
1/2 ounce wheat germ oil
1/4 ounce raspberry seed essential oil
1/4 ounce carrot seed essential oil
1 Tablespoon vitamin E oil
1 1/2 Tablespoons zinc oxide powder
1 1/2 Tablespoons liquid aloe vera

Directions:
1. In a double boiler, over low heat, melt the coconut oil, beeswax, and shea butter.
2. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly prior to adding the vitamin E oil, zinc oxide powder, and essential oils. I poured my mixture into a glass jar to allow it to cool faster.
3. The oils and aloe will incorporate easily, but stir the zinc oxide until it completely dissolves.
4. Then pour  mixture into a push-up or roll-up dispenser, you can get something similar here. You can re-purposed  used deodorant containers for this recipe too.
5. Allow your sunscreen to cool and harden overnight. If you are out in the sun for long periods of time, or swimming reapply often.

Notes:
If you don't need your sunscreen to be waterproof you can use less beeswax. If you aren't going to be using this around water you are probably okay with just 1 oz of beeswax.

SPF numbers are pretty insignificant when it comes to differences in sun protection. SPF 100 blocks 99 percent of UVB rays, while SPF 50 blocks 98 percent. SPF 30 blocks 96.7 percent, SPF 15 blocks 93%.
You'll want an SPF of more than 15 to block UVA and UVB rays, Zinc oxide blocks both UVB,UVA2, and UVA1 rays. More info on UVA and UVB here.

You could easily spend close to $30-$40 for all of the ingredients that you wouldn't already have if you don't make your own beauty product regularly, but you could get 4-5 batches before you'd run out of some ingredients. Keep in mind you can team up with friends and go in on the ingredients together.

FRAMED AGATE COLLECTION

I have been searching for some interesting art ideas for the wall that is weirdly angled between our foyer and living room. We've had a movie poster hanging there since the day we moved in, 48" of Rita Hayworth as Gilda, in all her glory. I've had this poster since high school. (Yes, I was a super interior design geek even then- I felt like N'sync posters and the like cluttered the look of a room, but a framed movie poster was much more sophisticated.) So when we moved to our post-college home I wanted something a little less "teenage dream," and a little more "Hey, I'm a real interior designer, I promise."  But it takes me forever to make design choices in my own home, so this is a huge step for us.

We tend to gravitate toward collections in this home because we have 12' ceilings, which makes for a lot of ground wall to cover- and because collections inspire us. We've always loved going to museums and spending hours in the natural history wings, wandering through the dioramas and gazing at the fossils. When I saw what was hanging over the tub in this showhouse in Utah I knew exactly what we needed for our space. 

Even though John loves agates and geodes, and I love pyrite- we selected agate slices to frame, because they were thin, yet colorful and would add dimension to space. I ordered my agates from Sonya Masur on Etsy.  Check out her shop, she has so many great stones, and her agate coasters were perfect for this project. I tested out one agate in a frame prior to purchasing, because I did not want a shadow box frame.  and they were thin enough to rest against the glass, and still get the back of the frame on, I did have to pop the rubber feet off the back of the coasters, but they came off without a snag.

To complete the look I taped a piece of biscuit colored card stock to the back of my mat, and because I ran out of double stick tape I used a fancy tape loop on the back of the agate. Simple place the agate in the center of the mat and put the frame back together. I used frames from Michael's Craft Store, I also used the same frames for this project. And I stuck with my favorite brand of metallic spray paint, Rustoleum universal metallic - but this time I got the hammered metal, in the rosemary finish, it has a great greenish silver color. It's from Home Depot.

CREAMY CILANTRO LIME DRESSING

This is a super simple, homemade cilantro dressing that we like to add to tacos, or Southwest style salad. I've seen a few variations online but most called for mayo and a packet of processed Ranch dressing mix. We like to keep things pretty basic around here- so I started making homemade ranch mix in a decent sized batch a while ago, you can safely store it for about 3 months. And as a general rule if a recipe calls for mayo, I always substitute Greek yogurt, it cuts down on fat and has a fair amount of protein, its win, win! I've included the dressing recipe, and the homemade ranch dressing mix as well, but be warned that you will become addicted!

Ingredients
3/4 cup cilantro chopped, no stems
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup milk
juice of 1 lime
2 Tbs homemade ranch dressing mix (recipe below)
1 Tbs salsa, or green chilies

Directions:
Puree all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.
Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary, if you want more heat add more salsa or chilies. I like mine mild.


Homemade Ranch Mix

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 1/2 tsp. dried dill weed
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. dried onion flakes
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. dried chives
1 tsp. salt


Whisk all ingredients together until blended. If you want a more finely-ground seasoning mix, you can pulse the mixture in a food processor until it reaches your desired consistency.

To Make Ranch Dressing: Combine 1 Tbsp. seasoning mix with 1/3 cup Greek yogurt and 1/3 cup milk, and whisk to combine.

DIY OMBRE T-SHIRT

I am FINALLY getting to some of the DIY projects that have been cluttering up my office. We've had a super busy, fun-filled summer- and between buying a new car, and our summer road trips we finally had an easy weekend at home. This project takes about 15 min. plus running it through the wash. If I had more time I would have boiled my own dye, but I was using this same tub of leftover dye to fix some shirts that got ruined in the wash, so I just used that dye for this project. If you have the time and patience I recommend making your own natural dye, here is a link. 

Supplies:
T-shirt
Dye
Basin/sink
Rubber Gloves
Hanger
Hair Clips

Directions:
1. Follow the instructions for mixing your dye, and be sure to read the safety and cleaning labels because when they say it will dye your sink purple, they don't lie. (Stainless is easier to clean than white porcelain, so line your sink with a wash tub if you are unsure.)
2. I got my t-shirt wet first, and used a chip clip and a hair clip to hold back the sleeves from the dye. Hang your shirt on a hanger and slowly begin to fold it into the dye.
3. Once you have reached the desired height of your color lift your shirt out, you only want the color at the top of the shirt to be submerged for about 1 second.
4. Slowly pull the shirt out, I mentally divided it into 3 parts and let the shirt sit for about 3 min. at each level. At this point I felt like the bottom looked great, but that the line between the white and the first bit of color was too harsh, so I diluted my dye with some water, and I dipped it back in about an inch above my previous line. (it was so much better, so I recommend this technique for blending the color into the white.)
5. Then empty your dye and rinse the shirt until the water runs clear. Make sure you don't let the dye run into the white part of the shirt while rinsing. Hold the shirt with the white on top and let the faucet run through the dye until its clear. (If you have a sprayer on your sink it helps to use this too.)
6. Wash the shirt according to your dye instructions. Be aware that the white part of your shirt will probably get some of the dye run off in the washing machine, but that it's not a lot, or even enough to really worry about, and it helps the shirt look more blended overall, and not like stripes. You can see in the last two images above the shirt before washing and after washing.