Showing posts with label Home schweet home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home schweet home. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

DIY Home soaps, cleansers and eco-friendly detergents: Natural living is not as scary as you think!

Have you ever wondered what goes into your typical bathroom bleach, kitchen stain removers, floor detergents, and even your own shampoo and body wash?
Have you ever felt like the smell from those detergents are so pungent and wonder why your hands feel so dry and powdery after you use them to wash your dishes/ clothes/ polish your stoves etc?
 
Commercial detergents are often derived from petrochemicals and contain synthetic fragrances, even when advertised as “fragrance-free.”  
The term “fragrance” alone may refer to a combination of several hundred laundry chemicals including many that are hazardous.

 
What an irony it is then, when the very things supposed to help you keep your home clean and hygienic are also the culprits that are harmful and carcinogenic (cancer-causing).
 
 
If you are making your transition from a chemical-filled household to gradually one that encourages eco-friendly and organic products, then take a deep breath - natural living is not as daunting as you thought it is!
 
The mantra with natural living is - Less is definitely MORE :)
Less synthetic ingredients, less chemicals, less animal-testing, less GMOs, less sulphates and parabens = More control over your health.
Dr Bronner's castile soaps are organic, certified fair-trade, and contain no synthetic ingredients, and are available at selected organic shops in Singapore 
eg. - Taste Original at 1 Maritime Square #03-57, HarbourFront Centre, Singapore 099253. Tel/Fax: 62745852

- BUD Cosmetics #01-66 Square 2, 10 Sinaran Drive, Singapore 307506
Tel / Fax: +65 6397 6013


Dr Woods castile soap with shea butter (unscented) is another chemical-free product I bought off www.iherb.com to add my own Essential oils in.

Castile soaps have multiple uses - for face and body, add baking soda to make laundry detergents, adding a few drops of Lemon EO to make your floor detergent, and so much more.

Some commonly used, multi-purpose oils our family loves include Lavender, Lemon, Geranium, Peppermint, and Grapefruit.

Lavender uses: Calming, rashes, redness, sensitive skin, relaxation, cuts, burns, scalds, dry and chapped skin, scars, eczema, allergy, sooth sunburn.
Add a few drops into your laundry for nicer-smelling clothes.

Lemon uses: antiseptic, removes grease and oil stains, removes sticky residue from labels of bottles, reduces wrinkles, kills bacteria, removes blackheads, acne.
Good for mopping floors and cleaning stoves in your kitchen.
You can also use lemon to soak vegetables and your children's toys in a tub.


Geranium uses: wonderful flowery scent, perfume, regenerates tissue and cells, support circulation, good for the skin, lifts depression and negativity, shingles, eczema, fungus.


Peppermint uses: refreshing, cooling, brings down fever, bloatedness and flatulence, headache, mental recall, nasal congestion.
Add 1-2 drops in a pump of shampoo and massage your scalp for a lifting, hair-orgasmic experience.


Grapefruit uses: uplifting, induces relaxation, fights fluid retention, dissolves fat and cellulite, diuretic, obesity, refreshing. supports lymphatic and vascular system.


So there you go, making your own soaps is really not as daunting as it sounds. Plus, it can be lots of fun coming up with your own concoctions! :)

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Mid-week morning madness.

This morning was a little bit crazy.
 
Instead of getting ready for school, Adam decided to do some gardening and roped in the baby as well.
Com'on children!! We are getting late for school.

 
 
I was supposed to drive Adam to school but in the morning as soon as we left home and walked to the lift, Adam complained loudly that his bag was dripping wet.
Took a peep inside his bag and realised my helper did not screw his bottle tight and the half the contents were swimming in his back pack!

Ran back indoors, got him changed into a fresh set of uniform, cleaned up the bag and refilled the bottle, and left home.
Then there was the snail-paced traffic because once we missed a certain timing, Upper Changi Road would be filled with cement trucks and heavy vehicles heading toward Expo and the Changi Industrial park. Eeecck!!!
 
When we reached school, his classmates were already in class so it was a hasty drop-off without a proper Good-bye hug and kiss.. Pfft.
 
Miss you Baby boy. See you later when you're back from school :)
 
 

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Weekend engagement

The husband is out of town this weekend, he has gone on a fishing road trip to Malaysia.
You know what this means, don't you?
I get the bed to myself, and some peaceful rest. No snoring, no farting.
Best of all, one less "baby" for me to handle. *jumps for joy*

I brought the kids back to my Mum's for dinner.
My favourite aunt with her favourite grand-nephews.

Drove all the way up north from the east, and then back again.
With 2 monsters at the backseat whining/ singing/ babbling/ chattering, and nursery songs blasting from the stereo.

When we got home, I crawled into my bed and died Adam made me help him with his ice-cream Playdoh, and read some Dr Seuss books to them before bed.
My head might explode.


On Sunday, they woke up bright and early, at 7:30AM, and wanted to feed the kois and do some gardening. I had just barely fell asleep I swear.

Watering plants at 7:30AM on a Sunday morning??!!!
Actually he watered the fish, but don't tell Daddy.

Psst. Ashton started toddling last week. He's been taking penguin steps and crashing into whoever has out-stretched arms. Damn cute but we all know there's trouble once these buggers start walking.

Adam harvested some eggplant and capsicums from our home garden though. We were discussing what to cook them with, in the end we decided to bring them to the zhi-char stall tonight and cook them with our favourite Asam fish head.

We then spent the rest of the day mostly indoors, making some more ice-cream with Playdoh (the kids) and fixing some broken toys and replacing batteries for old toys (me).
And cleaning up the mess of Playdoh crumbs on every visible inch of the floor (me again).

Hope you had a great weekend like we  the kids did! 
Oooh, I can't wait for Monday - getting dressed up for work, looking decent in some makeup, and engaging in adult conversations.

XOXO

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Santa came early




The tree is up, the ornaments are up, and we're waiting for the presents to fill.
I'm enjoying every bit of it :)

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Our first Xmas








Even though Adam is already 2.5 yo, this will be our first Xmas spent together as a nuclear family unit, and in our first home.
As such, it marks a remarkable occasion for us and I've already fantasized about our very first Xmas tree months ahead!

Tonight, Andy & I went out to buy a 5" tree and some ornaments. It's gonna be a Gold-and-Red Xmas for us this year.
I did some Googling on the internet and found that nurseries actually carry real fir trees. Yeap. Those that you sit in a pot and water them. Real fir vs plastic? We chose plastic in the end because of the practicality. I'm not entirely sure how we're gonna transport it from the nursery and dispose it when it dies because obviously we dont have a fireplace to burn it.

Anyway, back to our plastic tree. Will post up photos of the actual tree when we get down to assembling it.

I'm so excited. Excuse me while I do some cart-wheels!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Building our green balcony

The balcony is arguably my favourite hangout in our home, and we are constantly thinking of ways to add on to the green facade.

Last Sunday, we gave these plants a new home.










Our pond is now home to 12 Koi fishes now, who are overfed by our dear son and super greedy, always begging for food ;p


Relaxing in the zen garden, sipping coffee and burying my head in a good read... The simple pleasures in life.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

More Xmas shopping

After much deciding, we finally went to BQMart today and bought a (not-so) small BBQ pit for our balcony.
At the store, there were gas grills, charcoal grills, electric grills.... tall ones, short ones... Why so many choices one?!

We initially only wanted a tiny portable pit which can be easily stowed away after the party but upon seeing so many different ones on display, not to mention with the help of the very enabling sales staff, in the end we settled for a Charcoal grill with side tables.

We even bought red wine flavoured wood chips and other accessories to go along.






On a sidenote, my staghorns are thriving. I feed my stags bananas + skin once awhile if I happen to eat them and water them twice a week. They practically live on air and are so easy to care for :)


Now all we need is a Xmas tree and lotsa bubblies! .. . oOo0oOO00O

Saturday, August 6, 2011

More photos of our new home

My new neighbourhood is starting to grow on me.
- It's nestled serenely amongst the landed propoerty estates
- near the expressway
- 10 minute's walk to Simei or Expo MRT
- short drive from the airport and Singapore Expo

Anyway, here are some photos taken some time ago when our contractor came by to take pictures for his company blog.





We went to Robinsons sale and bought heavily-discounted Balmain sheets :)


Simply love, love the Chanel-inspired quilt designs on our furniture, bling bling bed frame and chandaliers.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Life at 2

Nothing much's been going on lately. And no, we didn't adopt Joi the Poodle in the end because the husband is not convinced. Nonetheless, we hope that Joi gets rehomed successfully to Andy's cousin who's been pestering his folks for a dog since Maverick was 1 year old!


Here's Adam enjoying his buble bath in the jacuzzi this morning.
Hubby had a naive plan to make him come to bed with us so we could all sleep in late on Sunday but obviously that plan failed miserably!

Look who's all rise & shine???!








After his bath, Daddy got his act together and we all headed to Parkway Parade for lunch and Adam's haircut.


Alfresco lunch at PP



and the plunge!


For the uninitiated, Junior League is serving children with style at:
- Junction 8 - 91354151
- Parkway Parade - 91551744
- Suntec City - 96196053
- United Square - 98452266
- Forum Mall, Toys R Us - 91893198
- Vivo City, Toys R Us - 91288646

*** Promotion: Collect 8 receipts and redeem for 1 Free Children's stylecut.
Every cut includes styling, optional washable color hair spray, cartoon programs, toys, sweets and stickers.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Happy 2nd Birthday to Adam

Hi peeps, we're back! The short hiatus has been caused in part by lack of internet connection in our new pad, and also because we've been extremely busy with the move and throwing our son's 2nd Birthday bashes (1 at school and 1 at home) and a Housewarming party!!!!
Over the weekend, I even flooded my own kitchen and yard because I don't know how to operate our washing machine. Duhhhh... I was near breaking point I swear. Thankfully, the plumber came to the rescue and so did the Singtel guys who installed our Mio TV and broadband.
Andy is now connecting his iPhone to our 55" Smart TV. Woot~
I'm a happy wife/mommy :)

Back to our party.



Lady luck must be on our side, because it so happened that Adam's birthday fell on Vesak Day PH (17 May), so our guests did not have to take leave to attend our party and we also did not have to celebrate Adam's birthday on another date. Are we lucky or what!



First things first - the photos of Adam's parties :D



Adam's class party...



His cake for class party












and the party at home...

Favours:



Personalised Cookie monster themed bubbles for the kids



Sesame Street magnets



Sesame Street stationery sets for the kids


Gift packs consisting of blueberry marshmallows, DIY Thank You photo magnets and Sesame Street magnets.








Chris - she's the amazing friend who baked both cakes for Adam's birthday parties.
And her hubby Cherns who helped us take awesome photos on our DSLR. I'm truly grateful.






Our happy cheeky rascal on turning TWO




The monster-themed cake baked by my mummy-friend Chris (Nat's mummy :)
















Some presents that Adam received on his birthday



A hamper from our contractor :)



A HUGE THANK YOU to all our dearest beloved family and friends who turned up to congratulate us on our new home and on our son's 2nd birthday bash.
We kept the crowd small this time, and it was a more relaxed atmosphere compared to his 1st birthday where we had more than a hundred guests.
The Play Room was a hit with the kids, and me! because all the toys and mess were contained within the room, and our Nespresso was a hit with coffee-addict adults.
We had much fun and are looking forward to hosting more parties in future :)


Okay, I have 2 assignments due end of this month and my exam is coming up the next so as you can expect, I'm busy again, hardly stopping to smell the roses.
My apologies if I miss your calls or do not call back. I'm not ignoring you, I just don't have the time. I wish I have 72 hours a day but I don't.