DIY Life

By now you should realize how much I love a good kitchen hack, especially when it includes items and ingredients I already have around the house. One of my favorites? Forget harsh detergents and solutions when scrubbing grease spots off your cast-iron cookware. Instead, grab a pinch of salt and a paper towel to create a salty solution that works wonders!

Proof that sometimes the most natural ingredients are the best DIY lifesavers.

Want to know some other ways a pinch of salt can make your life easier? Read on, right here at DIY Life:
Find out the various uses of your average table salt: The Many Uses of Table Salt
Spice up your beauty routine with salt: Make Your Own Salt Scrub
Salt for your green thumb: Epsom Salt in Your Garden
And, lastly, salt in the kitchen (of course!): Make Sun-Dried Tomatoes in Your Microwave

When things start to melt, I get really excited. Maybe it is the fact that I can see my lawn again, or just that the air is starting to lose that cold little nip. Even though I can't pin down exactly what it is, the promise of springtime excites me.

With Spring's arrival, though, comes some new concerns. Capri pants and short sleeved shirts, for example. Not only do you have to start shaving your legs again, but you have got to do something about that winter dry skin.

Read on for recipes to get your skin ready to be bared, with scents to bring the fresh springtime air right into your bath.

We've discussed stain removers before on DIY Life. We've covered the homemade brew, taught you how to get ink out of laundry, and let you in on the peanut butter secret.

So that's it, right? All your stain removal questions are covered, and we can call it a day.

Hardly. As long as I remain helplessly clumsy and my children remain, well, children, I will be finding new stains and learning new ways to remove them.

The School of Fiber Science & Technology at the University of New South Wales has put together this list of 21 common stains, and how to remove them. Did you know that borax will remove cocoa and that lemon juice will treat rust stains? Some of the solutions are surprising, but I'm willing to give them a try. You already have most of what you need around the house.

[via: Lifehacker]

In the DIY spa series we covered the homemade exfoliate, the deep hair condition, and the manicure. Recently, Diane taught us how to save $20 and pluck our eyebrows at home. We're slowly eliminating the need for a trip to the spa all together. Stay home, save the money, avoid the pretentious setting and pamper yourself. Perfecting the at-home pedicure is something I've always struggled with, but these instructions are a great help.

Daily life can do a number on even the nicest manicures, leaving you needing a re-touch every week. Pedicures on the other hand, can look fabulous into the third week. Take the time to care for your feet and your toenails, learning the proper pedicure technique and maintaining them well for a spa quality pedicure at home. The full article takes you through the materials you need, foot and nail preparation, and applying the polish.

If you spend your days on DIY projects and not in bedroom slippers, you probably know how quickly your feet can get ugly and achy. The article gives special instruction on how to care for dry cracked feet. They mention using a gentle exfoliate, but I would be inclined to spend a little extra time on this step. Try one of these homemade foot scrub recipes and find the one that you like best. I find that the sugar scrub does the trick for me.

If you're looking to take the DIY pedicure that little bit further, replace the suggested cotton balls or toe separators with packing peanuts the way Garry suggests.

In 2002, my husband and I moved into an apartment that had the biggest picture windows I had ever seen. Unfortunately, the windows also came with the dirtiest, filthiest blinds I had ever seen. At one time, the blinds had been a beautiful, sparkling white. When Gary and I moved in, they were brown. The blinds were to wide to take down and soak in the bathtub. It took me 6 hours to clean each blind. When we left in 2004, the blinds were still clean.

If you have not cleaned your blinds since you moved into your abode, now is the time to do it. Now that winter is here, you no longer have any excuses not to get out the spray bottle and the Ivory soap and clean those blinds. With Christmas right around the corner, you'll want your house as clean as possible, so hop on over to DoItYourself.com and learn how to clean your blinds and shades.

Once you get the blinds clean the first time, it is a simple task to keep them clean. My landlord was amazed at how clean the blinds were after I cleaned them, and how bright the rooms became. If only he had compensated me for cleaning his blinds!

My homemade spa experiments started with a deep condition, then an apple face mask, and finally the DIY'er manicure. The face mask disaster reminded me that sometimes we're better off sticking with a simple recipe rather than adding in all the fancy ingredients. This exfoliating salt body scrub is exceptionally simple and I was certainly impressed with the results. Try it for yourself and let me know what you think.

What you'll need

1. Table salt
2. Oil - recipe calls for olive oil but I used grape seed oil
3. small container

What to do

1. Pour table salt into the container
2. Fill it with oil just until the oil passes the top of the salt
3. Mix it thoroughly
4. Spread over your body
5. Rub in gently with your fingers
6. Rinse off
7. Reveal your new skin

After the break I'll let you know what I thought of this homemade exfoliant. I'll also let you in on the secret powers of grape seed oil and why I replaced the olive oil in this recipe with it.

The summer months can be pretty hard on the skin. With all the outdoor activities and sun exposure, my skin looks and feels dry and dull by the middle of July. From time to time I will have a gift certificate to a spa for a slat rub and I come out feeling like a new woman. But as a single mother of three kids, I never buy a certificate for myself so I have resorted to creating my own salt scrubs from a recipe my friend gave me.

Salt scrub recipes come in many forms and many sizes. Some recipes require a variety of essential oils and scents while others are all about simplicity. I like a sweet and simple recipe since my life is fairly hectic and my spare time is minimal. I also make my scrubs up as I go so that I don't have to worry about shelf life The basic gist of the recipe I use is to include a couple different kids of salts to scrub the grub, some oils to soothe the skin and some scent to calm the nerves. My favorite concoction is as follows:

• 2 T. Epsom salt
• 2 T. table salt
• 2 T. sweet almond oil
• 2 T. organic, extra virgin olive oil
• lavender oil to suit my nose

Simply mix the above together, let sit for a few minutes and then rub on to your rough, dry skin and let sit for however long feels good. Follow with a warm, soothing bath for some peace of mind, body and soul.