7 Things You Never Thought You Could Make From Scratch!

This is a collaborative post by Ellie Jo about things you can make from scratch.

Making your own everyday products from scratch sounds a little time-consuming, but it can be incredibly satisfying! You’ll soon realize how much you’re wasting daily at the supermarket, and how there are new ways to do your bit for the environment.

Here are ten more examples you can make from natural or household ingredients, you’ll probably have most of this stuff lying around! You can’t believe how easy it is, to give your wallet and the environment a rest.

They work just as well as what you can buy in the store and you also save on packaging and that trip to the supermarket. So you win in time and money but only lose in carbon footprint!

Everyday Products You Can Make at Home

DIY Dog Food

Dogs aren’t always the most discerning of customers so why spend so much money on dog food? Dog food is considered a luxury item so you’re taxed through the roof for it.

Your dog will get through it as quickly as you let him, so why load him up with preservatives and chemicals? If you follow simple guidelines you can give your dog a healthy meal, without putting a strain on your wallet. Make sure you roughly follow these ratios: 

• 60% protein
• 30% vegetables and grains
• 10% fat
• calcium such as egg shells

A recipe could include turkey or another type of mince, rice, oil, and eggshells for calcium. They can even have other types of beans and vegetables. For fussier dogs, blend it up. 

DIY Baby food

With babies new to solids, you basically wanna puree everything. Don’t add any extra ingredients such as salt as this will be too much sodium. Simply puree fruit and veg and even add it to their milk to get them used to the taste.

For babies older than six months, you can be a little more adventurous. Try a curry recipe, of blending parsnips, lentils and onions, or an Italian minestrone of green veg, carrots, peas and parmesan cheese. 

Making your own oap is super fun as you get to mix your own smells! Have a look at some tutorials and recipe suggestions here and learn to make soap! 

DIY Toothpaste

In the olden days, you wouldn’t believe what people used to brush their teeth with. Toothpaste was made from a number of strange and abrasive materials such as animal hooves and burnt eggshells mixed with pumice.

Nowadays what you get in the store is a lot more chemical. Glycerin, fluoride, saccharin (funnily also used as a sweetener), hydrogen peroxide ie, bleach, maybe not the kind of things you want to think about on your teeth.

A simple homemade recipe for toothpaste is just 1 tbsp baking soda, 1tbsp salt, 3 drops of essential oil and a few drops of water. Nothing you need to find in a lab.

In bikini season we all make certain expensive trips to the salon. It can cost a lot, in exchange for not a, particularly relaxing experience. Why not consider a more natural option you can make at home?

It’s simple and easy, melt 1 cup of granulated white sugar over low heat and then when caramelized, stir in 1 tbsp of lemon juice and ¼ cup of honey, you want it to be the consistency of butter, then leave it to cool and voila!    

Make You own Oven cleaner

Cleaning your oven is one of the least fun chores you have to do. You might not need to do it very often but it’s a stinky and horrible job. You can make your own oven cleaner to make this job even quicker and easier.

Add 3tbsp of baking soda to a little bit of water. This will leave your oven sparkling without the fumes.

Home Made Carpet cleaner

Cleaning the carpet is, even more, a horrible job than cleaning the oven. Whether you’ve got kids running around, pets, or even adults to be honest, it’s difficult to keep your carpet clean for more than five minutes.

It’s easy to make your own carpet cleaner.  Here is a natural and pleasant smelling recipe to get rid of all stains. 

• 1 cup of white wine vinegar
• 2 cups of water
• 2 tsps of salt
• 15 drops of essential oil such as lemon, lavender or pine. 

Home Made Sunscreen

Going to the beach or even just sitting out on the porch can be dangerous, especially if you happened to be fair-skinned. Even for those who don’t burn easily you still need to use sunscreen as this can protect you against skin cancer.

There’s one key ingredient to sun protection and that’s zinc oxide. If you want to save money on sun cream, you could just take your favorite smelling lotion and add zinc oxide, it’s even available to buy online.

If you want to make your own sunscreen completely from scratch, choose your favorite oil, almond or coconut for example and mix a ¼ cup with ¼ cup of beeswax, 2 tbsp of shea butter and the essential oils of your choice. 

This is easier than you think you might think. It’s possible to make a milk-based glue using only household ingredients! Do you remember having a science kit when you were little? Well, get ready for some nostalgia! There will definitely be some foaming action.

Take ¼ hot water, 2 tbsp dried milk powder, 1 tbsp of vinegar and 1 tsp of baking soda. Mix them all together and refrigerate in an airtight container. 

Homemade Mascara

Homemade mascara is actually surprisingly effective and easy to make. It can be a little bit fiddly and you’ll need to buy an empty mascara container. The ingredients are simple to get hold of, however.

Take 2 tsp of coconut oil, 4 tsp of aloe vera gel, ½ tsp beeswax and 2 capsules of activated charcoal. Melt them gently and mix together on a low heat, and after leaving to cool pour the mix into a plastic bag. Cut a hole in the corner of the bag and pour it into the mascara container.