What can you do with a wooden spoon?
Quick. Think about it. You can stir things, right? Like soup. Or pudding. Or pudding soup.
But if you took a little more time, you crafty people could think of a million things to do with a wooden spoon. Maybe whack a sarcastic spouse playfully on the derriere? Attach it to the wall with a screw and use it as a towel holder? Hang a bunch from the ceiling as a rustic chandelier? Or just chop it into pieces and use it as kindling.
You’ve already come up with eight better ideas than I have, I’m sure of it.
My mother, a former gifted teacher, used to play this game with her kids all the time. She’d give them an object of some sort and then 10 minutes to list all the crazy, unique, or possibly useful things they could do with it. It helped them become problem solvers; it encouraged them to think outside the box.
It also may or may not have resulted in detention for inappropriate use of cafeteria applesauce.
With all this in mind, I’d like to share with you a little something we’re going to do on Tuesdays in April. I’m calling it: Tuesdays Outside the Box.
What’s Tuesdays Outside the Box? Your Time to Shine!
It all started with something that caught my eye on Pinterest. It was the idea to use a hanging shoe holder for all your various household cleaners. A brilliant idea, mind you (I used to do this for all of my hair ties and other assorted bathroom whatsits back when I had no storage space in the bathroom).
But it was heartbreaking, too, because there were at least 16 different cleaners hanging in this shoe holder. A tub cleaner, a window cleaner, a sink cleaner, floor cleaners, a cleaner to clean your cleaners. You get the idea.
The first thing I thought was, “Jeez. You could clean your entire house with no more than 5 ingredients, if that.”
Somewhere, we’ve been convinced that we have to have a separate cleaner for everything, and that there’s really only one right way to clean, or to be healthy, or to take care of your skin. And those only acceptable things all have pretty, shiny labels on them.
Let’s break that thinking. This month. And let’s encourage other people who are still have their beliefs glued to brand names to start considering that there are, perhaps, a hundred other (cheaper, healthier, more effective) ways to accomplish their chores and soothe their woes.
Here’s how it’s going to go down:
Every Tuesday in April, you’ll have two missions. We’ll look at one ingredient and one common problem. You figure out various ways to use that ingredient and/or solve that problem. The more outside the box thinking, the better. And there is NO wrong answer, no silly concepts.
Do you have any idea how much brilliance has come from absolutely ridiculous initial ideas? ALL THE BRILLIANCE.
I’m going to give you the schedule of ingredients/problems today, so you have time to prepare. You’ll have plenty of days to ponder these things, do a little snooping on the internet, and come up with the solutions you think will work best in your life.
On Tuesdays, along with the theme, I’ll open up Crunchy Betty for bloggers to share posts they’ve written about their solutions/uses. We’ll do what’s sometimes called a “blog hop,” but I’m going to call “A Tour Outside the Box.”
If you’re not a blogger, don’t fret, you can share all your ideas, recipes, and genius in the comments, which are JUST as important.
Ready for the schedule?
April 3:
- Things to do with flour.
- Ways to cope with or alleviate seasonal allergies.
(Get it? Flour and allergies? PS. The flour doesn’t have to be wheat – it can be garbanzo bean or spelt or … whatever)
April 10:
- Unique ways to use and/or decorate glass jars.
- Finding easy ways to grow herbs, veggies, and other plants – especially when you have limited yard space.
April 17:
- What can you do with borax?
- Ways to deal with unruly, greasy, or otherwise unsavory hair.
April 24:
- The many surprising uses of baking soda (though if you only want to deal with your one favorite use, that’s cool, too).
- Soothing aches and pains without popping a pill.
Now, you can choose one or both of these things to ponder, stretch your mind about, or write about. You don’t have to prepare for both. And they can be anything – from crazy ideas you came up with out of your own head, to putting into play something you’ve seen on the internet … just be ready to stretch a teeny, tiny bit out of your comfort zone.
On those Tuesdays, I’ll give an idea or two about each thing, but the star will be YOU and your beautiful mind.
Are you ready for Tuesdays Outside the Box?
The Almost Tuesdays Outside the Box Mascot
I seriously spent two hours on this, so even though Garlichead Apricotlips McDuckface isn’t going to be our official mascot, I’m sharing him with you nonetheless. He just wouldn’t stay together long enough to take pictures; plus, he’s really freaking creepy.
But you’ll probably love him anyway, because he came from my heart.
And by heart, I mean he came from a 10-minute trip to the store followed by two hours of toothpick stabbing, chocolate chip eating, and childish lamenting about my artistic skills that rival that of a 3-year-old.
My point in sharing is that there really is no stupid idea, because no matter how it turns out, you learn something. Like how garlic-drenched, broken chocolate chip eyes make your tongue really mad. And the next time I go to make a rag-tag, slightly-edible mascot for a Crunchy Betty feature, it’ll be much better. Probably a hippo made of potato and prunes.
In FACT, check out my very first attempt at mascot-making. Talk about SCARY. This is Monsieur Pucker:
See what I mean? The more you stretch your ideas, the better they get. But you have to start with something utterly crazy; and eventually you end up with something completely normal, like a duck with dried cranberry hands.
And, so, while Garlichead Apricotlips McDuckface takes a relaxing bath after retiring from the mascot business …
… I ask you again, are you ready to take on the challenge of Tuesdays Outside the Box?
In preparation, why don’t we get started today?
Can you give me ONE good idea of what to do with Garlichead McDuckface’s body – the lemon? What is your favorite traditional or, even better, a brand new, crazy nontraditional way to use a lemon?
Go nuts!
Wonderfully Simple Homemade Wood Polish Recipe
magnificent points altogether, you simply received a emblem new reader.
What could you recommend in regards to your post that you made a ffew days in the past?
Any certain?
I LOVE that you tried to make a mascot who looks just like that – and your woeful lamenting about it was just precious. HAHAHA thanks for the laugh 🙂
Hi, i was inspired by your grapefruit cleanser which works great. i started drinking lemon water.i thought if you can dry grapefrruit skins and use them why not lemon peels.i use the homemade dishwasher detergent. a lot if recipes call for citric acid of lemon kool aid, which unfortunately i couldnt fit in my budget. i tried the lemon peel and groud it up in an old coffee grinder. when i made my last batch of detergent i added 5 Tablespoons of the ground lemon peel. it works great and no extra cost
I just found this out today from ani phyo, if you save your lemon rinds and fill up your bath tub before you go to bed and put in the lemon rinds, when you wake up drain the bath tub and wipe it down with a sponge it’s squeaky clean, without all the harsh cleansers.
I’m late to the game, but here’s a tea recipe for sore throats that I got from a friend and tweaked, just in time for my husband to need a dose:
Black tea (bag or loose leaf)
Half a small lemon (well washed)
Cinnamon stick
Ginger (preferably an inch of fresh, peeled, or the powdered equivalent)
Teaspoon or more honey (as unprocessed as possible)
At least an ounce of good whiskey (we use Glenlivet)
Toss everything in as big a mug as you can find, pour boiling water over it, cover and steep ten minutes. Give it a good stir and mush the lemon a bit before you fish the stuff back out, or just leave them in so it can keep steeping while you drink it.
I’m pretty sure no self respecting germ sticks around long after a round of this stuff.
I am more than slightly arachnophobic and am trying to learn to tolerate spiders in my garden, but when they come inside they risk their life! My husband sent me a picture of a camel spider a few years ago (I think he was in Egypt) and it seriously stretched from the top of the windshield of a car to the bottom edge of the windshield!!! I’m pretty sure I would have a heart attack on the spot if I ever saw one in person!
I’ve always loved lemon — but it may become my bestest friend : )
Great idea!
Apricot lips totally makes me smile ; )
I knew someone who thought that the most evilest form of torture would involve lemons…Take someones hand, give them a paper cut, then squeeze lemon juice in the cut. Bam! Pure evil. 🙂
Kath that is AWESOME! I found a huuuuge Harry Huntsman in the bedroom last night and had to evacuate him to the outdoors with a takeaway container. Then this morning as I was leaving, I saw him just (outside) above the front doorway. Cheeky bugger! He was munching away on an earwig, which made me happy to have him, because I hate earwigs more than Harrys 🙂 Lemon haters, you say? I’ll try this one, definitely!
Make homemade Limoncello!!!!! …mmm mmm mmmm… very easy to do and very very good. Lots of recipes for it online….
Petrified of spiders and cannot, simply cannot, imagine having a spider as big as that in a car!!!!! Or anywhere around me for that matter!! arrgghhh!!! The back seat would be filled with lemons……..
A paste of lemon juice and salt will get rust stains out of fabrics. Just cover the stain with the paste and let it sit out in the sun. Then wash the fabric and the stain is gone!
Fine sea salt, olive oil, the rind of the lemon and the lemon juice and you can use it as a body scrub….
not sure how useful it is for the rest of the world but in Australia we have big Huntsman spiders that can often get into your cars and really a spider as big as your hand is rather a distraction when driving. They are intolerant of lemon juice so wiping a cut lemon around your door seals and bonnet (hood) of your car can keep them out. Either that or juicing and spraying.
I’m guessing it would work around the house too.
Looks like similar species are wide spread so maybe they don’t like lemon either http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsman_spider
I used sliced lemons in my ice water daily. I save them in a bowl, when they are dried out I sprinkle them in the fireplace when we have a fire at home or at camping when we are outdoors. Smells great. I also add the orange peels too!
Cut lemon in half. Take one half and moosh it round the sink faucets. Gets rid of the hard water stains.
I’ve heard of the hanging shoe rack thing, and use it myself! But, I use it not for cleaning products, but for the different types of sauce bottles I would normally store on the shelves in my pantry. EVOO, macadamia nut oil, a few different types of vinegar, fish sauce, vanilla extract (homemade!), etc. etc. It’s really handy to have hanging on the back of the pantry door and saves a lot of space. If you get the clear plastic kind, you can see through to the labels and most basic mason jars will fit as well, for your homemade goodies (as long as you label them well!).
I use one of the mesh hanging shoe racks for my produce! I didn’t really have space to have it all sit on a counter and I have a tiny fridge, but the back of my kitchen door is the perfect place to hang it all. It makes it really easily accessible to grab a quick snack. Better yet, the mesh ones are machine washable if they use a plastic reinforcer behind the hang holes instead of cardboard!
Take pulp, juice, etc out of peel. Bring to boiling hot and add salt. Fling at enemy from the battlements. Candy the peel and munch to celebrate your enemy fleeing in pain. Aside from that I can only think of the usual cleaning/freshening and cooking uses.
I was fretting that lemon was not included in the schedule when I saw that you had saved the best for the last, of this post ;> That lemony body can go long way with me! The following were meant for a lemon squeezy blog post- but hey a sneak preview for my fave blog is no biggie… here goes-
– Inspired by a video on Pinterest (where the best inspirations are!), I now include a lemon slice in my face cleansing routine. Sprinkle some brown sugar, or oatmeal/ sea-salt for refreshing Vit C rich face scrub. Or dab with honey, yoghurt or EVOO and use as moisturizing cleanser by rubbing that slice all over face except eye area (please check if your skin can take that much acid directly or alternatively squeeze the juice onto a cotton swab and do above- thats the original idea from the video)
– Now that same slice has still lots of goodness left. So i sprinkle baking soda and rub it underarms for a citrusy deodorant! Finally, not wanting to waste that soggy slice, I rub it over sink/ tap fitting for quick shiny clean up!!! And the lemony aroma can last in the wash area for awhile… How I so love the multi-tasking lemons… they really stretch my cents ;D
Oh I just tried the home deodorant recipe (from Pinterest again- have I mentioned how I adore the virtual pinboard portal?? 😉 lemon slices, vanilla and rosemary. I simmered them in a previously boiled spice filled with water- oooh the powdery faint aroma is absolutely delightful. Am thinking of pouring that mixture onto my burners and see if they can replace EOs ;p and of course the cooked lemon slices will be used to scrub the sink with baking soda!
You are hilarious! I am so glad I found this blog! =)
i squeeze lemon juice over fruit salads to keep the fruit from turning brown. not too exciting, but i didn’t see it on this amazing list compiled by crunchy betties. thanks, i learned so much!
Vinegar infused lemon. Put lemon peels in a jar, cover with vinegar, wait for a 2 -3 weeks. Works great as an all purpose cleaner. I usually mix mine with water (1/2 cup of vinegar with 2 cups water). Smells nice too. Any citrus will work.
Cut the lemon in half and use it to scrub the barbeque before cooking.
Hi I just peel all my lemons or other citrus fruit thinly dry them and then grate in a coffee grinder lovely to use in baking or mixed with baking soda for cleaning
I’m a newby here. Love the site! Love you people!
I had to submit this one for lemony consideration. Should you all need a night light while you apply your crunchy face masks, you can generate electricity with it! Remembered this from elementary science class.
http://www.quantumbalancing.com/news/lemon_battery.htm
#1 When someone rings your doorbell, grab the lemon and your zester and go to town zesting. Hide the evidence quickly, and the fresh aroma will make your guest(s) think you’ve been cleaning all day.
#2 Line the rim of a shot glass with juice from the lemon, then dip it in sugar. Squeeze the lemon into the glass, add vodka, and bottoms up! (I’ve never tried this, but it sounded good!)
Well, a friend of mine told me just today that lemon juice deters ants. I haven’t tried it myself as I don’t have an ant problem though.
I found a method posted online (http://condo-blues.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-make-orange-essential-oil-from.html) for extracting citrus oil from the dried peels using alcohol (which I believe makes the resulting oil an absolute–not as pure as essential oil but good for perfumey purposes). You dry the peels, grind them up in a food processor, and soak them in vodka or grain alcohol for several days. Strain and then cover the remaining liquid with something porous like a coffee filter or cheesecloth until the alcohol evaporates, leaving the oil behind.
I laughed so hard I cried and my hubby thought something was wrong with me. I just LOVE Mr. McDuckface (and also Monsieur Pucker.) I LOVE them. I am book marking them for future moments when I need a laugh because they are awesome. And I am not laughing at your creativity Betty, I think they should totally stay. I used to do things like that all the time and get in trouble. So glad you haven’t lost the art of creating like that!! Like I said, they should totally stay cause they are perfect mascots.
But on the upshot that you really need a lemon and have to take him apart, I’d use the lemon in salad dressing or hummus. Or I’d clean my cutting boards with it. Or juice it and freeze the juice. I’ve wanted to try lemon sugar or salt but I can’t afford organic lemons too often. I’ve also used lemon juice in my dishwasher to cut the hard water film. Worked great and smelled amazing.
I would use the lemon to make a lemon merengie pie, not very original, but one of my favorite things with lemons.
I sprinkle baking soda in my stainless kitchen sink then use a lemon cut in half to scrub away! Then, I wash it all down the sink and use the lemon to clean/deodorize the disposal! Rinse with vinegar and dry with a towel and the sink is so shiny and clean!
i love this idea! reminds me of the post that i wrote last week for my blog:
http://getcleangirls.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/getting-clean-by-getting-dirty/
it was about clay, and how its properties have actually resulted in a variety of uses over time (both cosmetic and non-cosmetic).
but back to the topic at hand…lemon makes me think of furniture polish and also a skin deodorizer (for example after cutting garlic). i love me some lemony skin…i could bottle it up and use it as a perfume (could that be considered another use?).
I tried putting lemon peel in vodka with hops and evetually add honey to make a soothing cough syrup. Its been a year, i need to add the honey! Reasoning: lemon is high in vitamen C, hops are calming and honey is great for you, especially for coughs and is relaxing too. However, time has gotten away from me…… Going to try it again!!!!!
Garlic and lemon are a classic combo for chicken, fish, or pasta… yum! 🙂
Squeezing the juice into milk and letting it sit for five minutes makes “buttermilk” if you’re ever out and need it for a recipe. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done that for pancakes on a Saturday morning. Or biscuits.
Lemon juice is also good for heartburn. Yep. Sounds counterintuitive? No. You eat a big meal. Your stomach starts producing acid to digest. You feel the burn, and think you’ve got too much acid going on. What you’re actually feeling is not ENOUGH acid. Juice a lemon (or lime or grapefruit), and drink it straight. It’ll burn like heck for about 30 seconds, you’ll probably belch nice and loud, and then you’ll feel better. Vinegar works just as well, in a pinch, though less tasty. If this doesn’t work for you, then you do have an acid production problem; take the usual baking soda instead. It’ll neutralize the chemical reactions going on in your gut, and let it “reset” itself.
You know what also works but sounds disgusting? Take a swig out of the pickle jar.
Many of my friends have Meyer lemon trees around here and are generous. One friend taught me to make lemon syrup. You store the syrup in the fridge indefinitely and use it for a glass of lemonade or marinades, etc. I have forgotten the recipe, however.
My favorite use for lemons is lemon curd. MMMMmmmmm!!!!! This is particularly delicious with homemade scones. I learned to make these along with clotted cream one summer when I was sharing our heritage with my then-five year old daughter. I looked for English recipes on uk sites and read how to articles, etc. We were born in the U.S., so this was a lot of fun and quite delicious.
I use lemon in water nearly every day, at least my first glass of the day. Warm water with lemon is particularly good for my kidneys, according to my Ayurveda practitioner.
I currently have my first batch of citrus vinegar infusing. I have grapefruit peels, lemon peels, and a variety of orange peels…so many that I had to split it into two glass jars. LOL We have a CSA and receive citrus fruit nearly year-round, plus all the friends with lemon trees share.
My favorite things to do with lemons is
1. make Copycat Arizona Green Tea http://skyeslife.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/copycat-arizona-green-tea/
2. Lemon juice and egg white facial http://skyeslife.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/the-top-three-essential-at-home-facials/
3. Flavor water http://skyeslife.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/flavored-water/
4. and last but not least strawberry mint lemonade YUM! http://skyeslife.wordpress.com/2011/04/19/mint-strawberry-lemonade/
I love using lemon to be over healthy. Adding half a lemon to a glass of water energizes me while providing me with tons of nutrients.
Oooo, this is so good for me because I am NOT creative. At all.
Ok, I’ve been trying to think of a creative use for a lemon since this morning. I’m not coming up with anything.
But! You could use his head and body to make a killer bread spread. Just mix soft butter, crushed garlic and lemon zest and let sit for a few hours. Spread on bread and broil until brown and toasty.
My friend has a lemon vanilla perfume that’s toxic but divine. I do it my way with a swipe of fresh lemon juice followed by a splash of my organic cooking vanilla, rub gently. Sometimes I mi a bit in a small spray bottle.
I’ve just discovered sugaring wax paste. I made my first batch last night:
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
It’s supposed to cook over a stove to hard ball stage (250-265F) but even though I stopped it at 250, it looks like it only got to soft ball. I have to cook it some more tonight.
Once it’s in the proper state, I can’t wait to start using it to wax without heat or cloth strips. According to every video I’ve seen on the web, you just smear it on someplace hairy and pull it off in the direction of the hair – it’s supposed to be less painful than regular wax, and just washes off for cleanup.
I pop a squeezed lemon half (used for something else) in the cutlery tray of the dishwasher – Freshens and sparkles.
Citrus Salt: grate off peel and add to favorite sea salt-voila!
Citrus & Baking Soda bathroom cleaner: Mix lemon juice & baking soda for amazing tiny volcanoes & a great bathroom cleaner!
Citrus-Lavender Sea Mist for your hair: boil water, add sea salt, mix to dissolve, soak lemon peel, strain into spray bottle, add a few drops of lavender essential oil. Shake well & spray generously into hair for delicious smelling beach waves.
And my kindergartener just said, “Can we make an Onion Duckman, too?!”
Great idea, and I think Mr. McDuckface is precious! I think you should stick w/ Alvin Corn, too…and make a mascot/logo for that!
Not very outside the box but I made lemon confit (lemons preserved in salt) last year but I didn’t do a very good job – way, way too much salt and they eventually turned brown and just not very appealing. Since I’d make them in a crock and later saw the crock has small cracks, I was worried about leaching lead or minerals or whatever. So I turned them into cleaning items. I dip them in the extra salt and polish my copper pans with them. If it isn’t perfect I use my commercial copper cleaner to finish up. It uses much less commercial cleaner than I usually use, and I feel virtuous for repurposing my lemon ‘failure’. [This year’s lemon confit look totally delectable – Thanks YouTube!]
When I get a sore throat, I squeeze all the juice out of a lemon and stir in a fair amount of salt, then have my husband pour it straight down my throat. It burns but it works great! Then I toss the rest of the lemon in the garbage disposal & grind away. It cleans it out and makes my drain smell lovely.
Or I just eat it with salt, which is delicious. 🙂
My favorite thing to do with lemons is to make my favorite drink: Vodka/water with lemon! Yummo!!
Nothing very original here, but stuff it inside a chicken with some garlic and herbs and roast it! Mmmm chicken 🙂
My stepmom would always cut a lemon in half and put it on her elbows when she was sitting out side in the sun. It would lighten up the brown elbows from age.
I used to put lemon juice in a spray bottle and spray it on my hair and it naturally lightened the hair, while in the sun.
Love all these off the wall/outta the box ideas! Being the warmer weather approaches, and I am passionate about lemons….I use the zest of all used lemons plus as much juice as I can still get and 1) put in ice cube trays with a bit of water and freeze for lovely tasty cubes in beverages-or- 2) add same concoction to softened butter for a tangy spread on toast or muffins.
I used to do the ice cube lemon tray until my trays broke 🙁
Oh, sheesh! I just realized you asked for ONE idea. I gave way too many in my prior post. I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t read carefully enough! :S
I have no complaints if anyone wants to share more than one idea — since I’m not very creative and have trouble coming up with my own : )
My kids will eat them straight but i use lemons mostly for iced tea and cooking. I need to invest in a spray bottle (or use something up) so that I can try the lemon-vinegar cleaning solution.
Garlichead McDuckface’s body needs to get in my pomegranate martini’s belly.
1. Stick half a lemon in the cavity of a whole chicken with some fresh rosemary and garlic before roasting it.
2. Cut the other half in pieces and grind it up in your garbage disposal to refresh it.
OMGoodness! Garlichead is sooo cute! Like an adorable, edible Mr. Bill. Well, my fist thought was the salt and lemon on the bottom of copper pots, too. Ya know, now that I think about it, I’m wondering if the lemon/salt trick would work on a skanky tub! I’ll have to try that. Not that my tub is skanky, ah-hem.
So then my brain went to homemade Pledge, or what I like to call “Schpledge” so I don’t violate any trademarks, ya know. Hopefully it’s okay for us to post the links in our comments. I have a post on how to make it here: http://www.sonotbetty.com/2011/07/lemony-pledge-experimentschpledge.html
I’ve also made some lemony vinegar type cleaner with those same rinds that would have been trash by putting them in a jar and covering with vinegar for a few days. Strain and use. Store in fridge to keep mold at bay. I still have that cleaner in my fridge and it has not molded and it’s been over 8 months!
Lemons….you can dry out the peels and use in recipes that call for lemon zest/rind. Or put a fresh peel in with brown sugar to keep it soft, make some candied lemon peel, use the peels for a ‘twist’ in a beverage, make a body scrub, use a lemon on age spots, freshen up your garbage disposal, or of course, make lemonade!
Now, as far as the garlic… I’ve heard of people making poultices out of them, and even cough syrup. Or, of course, what normal people do is wear a necklace of them to keep vampires at bay! Right? 😉
Easy! Lemon is a natural deodorant that works beautifully.
Body deodorant? Do you rub it under your armpits?
I do! May not be anti-perspirant but sure keeps foul odors away. My multi-uses for the lovely lemon coming right up ;p
Def use underarms. As TLE said, not an anti-perspirant but really works well as a deodorant. Just don’t rub it on right after shaving! Wait a few minutes.
When my kids get the crud I gently boil about half a head of garlic with 3 lemons in a quart of water for about 20 minutes or so, pour the mixture in a tea pitcher, add half a cup of honey, stir the dickens out of it, then fill the pitcher the rest of the way up with ice water. We all smell like garlic for a few days but we’re boogie free!
After I juice them, I keep the remainder of the fruit and then cut them open and rub over my bird cage bottoms after I clean them before I repaper the bottoms. It really helps refresh the plastic trays the paper sits on.
Lemons!
Obviously I clean the microwave with them (dull) and remove hard water stains from my faucets (still dull)….
I grate them on my cheese grater, if something sticky (mozzarella or gouda) might not come all the way off in the dishwasher.
Of course I throw slices in cranberry tea and I season every kind of meat with them – pork, beef, chicken … but not fish. Dunno why, I just prefer lime on fish. Lemons are one of the very few foods my dog doesn’t like, so if I have the guts of a juiced one left over I rub them around the edge of the trash can or whatever else I don’t want her to tongue.
I squeeze lemon juice into the bowl of an oil diffuser and then put … stuff … in with it and warm it with a tea candle. Stuff = whatever smellygood stuff strikes my fancy. Mint, or rosemary, or ginger. It doesn’t last as long as proper EOs, but I love it.
Love this creative idea!!! Sooo out of the box! Thanks for sharing!
What a fantastic idea! Thank you so much for including all of us in this. I am really excited especially because I already have many posts on those topics. Woohoo!
Kind of boring but I use the ‘cup of water and a quarter of lemon’ in the microwave to steam clean it – works wonderfully. Also, I do the ‘squeeze of fresh lemon in a cup of hot water’ every morning as a detox for my body…I also make lemon sugar with the flaky kind of sugar (sorry the name eludes me) and keep it stored for sprinkling on cookies. (apparently lemon doesn’t help with memories!)
If you squeeze some lemon juice into a bit of half-and-half, then drop in a little slice of the lemon, and let it sit for a couple of hours, it makes a great alpha-hydroxy mask. Slather it on your face, let it dry, then wash it off. You’ll just glow!
I’m so trying this!
whats half and half, that sweet stuff for coffee?
I found this with good ol google last week when my hairspray bottle went empty. I have not tried it, i did the sugar and water homemade hairspray. So far works great! Not so sure once summer hits and there are bugs.
Citrus-Lavender Hairspray
1 orange or lemon2 cups water1/4 cup rubbing alcohol or clear grain alcohol (vodka, gin, etc.)6-8 drops of lavender essential oil
Cut a whole orange or lemon into wedges and combine with 2 cups water in a small pot. Boil over medium high heat and reduce liquid by half.
Strain liquid through cheesecloth into a measuring cup. If you boiled too much liquid out add water until you have 1 cup. Allow citrus juice to cool.
Add alcohol and essential oils to the cup of citrus juice. (Feel free to experiment with your favorite essential oil or leave them out altogether.)
Use a funnel to pour into a spray bottle (at least 10 oz.). Shake gently before each use.
Haha… this is my recipe from diyNatural.com that I was just about to reference. You beat me to it Erin R. 🙂 Heading to the kitchen to make a batch of this hairspray now. It’s my favorite… I think it beats sugar hairspray.
I sprinkle baking soda and a little bit of salt on my wooden cutting board, then scrub it with half a lemon until it’s a foamy, pasty cleaning delight. Let it sit for a bit then scrub with soapy water. It cleans it and gets out the smell of onion and garlic.
I’ve got a two for one:
1. Russian Penicillin: Peel the yellow part off (save it for use #2), keeping the pith on the lemon. Cut into chunks and blend with one cup of water and several cloves of garlic (there goes his head). Drink once or twice a day (yep, the whole thing) for an amazing immune system booster/cold remedy.
2. Soak the yellow part of the peel in vinegar for a couple of weeks, strain, dilute with water and use it to clean everything (kitchen counters, bathtub, etc.)
I usually just eat lemons. Because I love them.
However, here is something I do that maybe not everybody does: I put lemon in my salad dressing. Not lemon juice, but a whole quarter or half of a lemon, pulp, rind and all (I pop out and discard the visible seeds, but I don’t worry about the invisible ones). Pureed in the blender with some olive oil, salt and a thin slice of onion, it makes a thicker-than-vinaigrette dressing that is really very tasty. I don’t measure, but for proportions, I’d guess about 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, 1 or 2 thin slices of onion (more if you love onion and have a strong stomach), and 1/2 a lemon (cut it into wedges for more even processing). Add a shake or two of crushed red pepper if you’d like. Puree in blender on high speed until smooth. 🙂 This is good on salad, and it also makes a nice marinade for chicken breast.
Well now, that does sound interesting! Especially as a marinade…. I have a lemon hanging out on my counter wondering what to do with itself, I think I’ll give it a try. Will use some fresh garlic tho rather than the onion, I love any lemon-garlic combo… Thanks!
Citrus salt made w/the the peel. Yum. Or poke it full of cloves and hang it in your closet.
My mom and I used to make clove oranges every year at Christmas time! They smell amazing, I’ll have to try it with lemons, thank you!
Beautiful!!! Crunch on!!
My non-conventional use for a lemon is as a measure for this amazing site and its amazing readers crunchiness! That is, I immediately dismissed my first few ideas (an ingredient in my ‘shampoo’, cleaner etc) as not ‘crazy nontraditional’ at all! Though these uses are absolutely the norm here, among friends and family I would get (affectionate!) eye rolls and (loving) sighs of ‘what crazy thing have you put in your hair THIS time Brianna!’.
There is a study which showed that 98% of kindergarteners are geniuses at divergent thinking while only 2% of 30 year olds on the other hand tested as geniuses! The mind of a child is free, unrestrained by prejudice – all the universe in a sandpit or under a autumn tree! I know that everyday I spend learning with children makes my heart grow a thousand times fuller and the possibilities of my reality expand a hundredfold! And how beautiful it is to have a full heart and an open mind!
To see the world with the limitless imagination of a three year old – that’s when we make magic!
People used to tell me I was crazy when I told them that I would love to keep my kids between the ages of 3 and 5 — I have 5 of them! By three years old they’re usually potty-trained, can communicate fairly well, and haven’t been to school to learn all the other kids’ bad habits — my kids are all older than the now required pre-school : )
LOVE the idea of Tuesdays Outside the Box April! Too bad McDuckface won’t be around to share it, but…you could cut his body in half (that just sounds so wrong) and use him to bring back the shine to a copper pot. Dip the cut end in lemon and polish away. Sooooo much healthier than traditional copper cleaners. Alternatively, you could squeeze the living daylights out of him and make a paste w/the juice and salt, apply w/a clean cloth, let sit 15 min., rinse and polish to a clean shine!