(No, not THAT.)

Announcing the brand new Green Penny Pincher Pinterest boards!  (Say that 3x really fast.)

TA-DA!

Please be sure to let me know what you think.

Also, an update on my hair:  I’ve been doing the baking soda/ACV deal since April 23, and overall I would give it an A!  It takes a little more time (for the baking soda treatment) but definitely gives my hair more body and texture, and it seems to feel/stay clean longer than it did with shampoo.  Most of all, it REALLY is helping with the frizz, which is great with the humidity lately.  I plan to keep it up.  At least I can use all my leftover conditioner to make fabric softener!

Just trying to check in even though I don’t have a big post ready.  Here’s what I’m doing/planning to do in the GPP vein…

• No ‘Poo.  I’m late to jump on this bandwagon but it’s something I’ve been thinking of doing for… ever.  My hair is fine and has just enough curl to it to always have a halo of fuzzy frizz whenever it is freshly washed.  I never really have been a daily shampoo’er anyway, mainly because my  hair only really starts looking good by day 3, and really starts to look great when it feels DIS-GUSTING.  Yesterday, after almost a week without washing it, I did my first “treatment” – a wash with baking soda paste and a rinse with Apple Cider Vinegar – as per the instructions from one of my favorite bloggers, Crunchy Betty.  It’s still too early to tell for sure, but so far I love it.  My hair after washing/drying yesterday was less frizzy with NO product in it than it usually is after a regular shampoo with anti-frizz product!  My scalp feels clean and tingly (might have helped that my baking soda had lavender infused in it; next time I might go for mint and/or eucalyptus for some nice tingle!) and my hair is nice and soft and continues to look and feel good today.
• In beautiful coincidence, my mom and I helped my son concoct his first “volcano” yesterday using – you guessed it – baking soda and vinegar!
  
• Daydreaming about gardening.  Trying not to spend all my time and energy on Pinterest adding to my already huge garden board.  I’ll post more about it in the future but I think this year we’re really going to keep it “simple” – tomatoes, maybe a companion crop, and then lots of herbs.  I’ll leave everything else to the nice folks at the Farmers Markets.
• Also daydreaming about hitting the road in a wee camper such as this one:
  More on that in future posts as well.
• Looking into Maca Root, which, if it works, may help me with one or more of a bunch of ills that have gotten to me.  Anyone have any info or experience?
• Loving this sunshine and the occasional super-warm days we’ve been having… and then shifting polarities to sadness and blah every time we get another chilly, cloudy day.
• At the request of some readers, as well as my own desire and need for it, creating a list of dye-free recipes and products.  If you have any to add, please comment!  I’ll be putting the list up soon-ish.
• Testing out the Safeway (grocery store) app on my phone and the more I use it, the less frustrated I get with it, and the more money I save!  (Still spending too much at the grocery store though.)  Last visit I saved 28% off my bill, PLUS filled my gas tank at their station with a discount of 60 cents off per gallon!

Well this one was a bust.

FAIL.

You know I love vinegar and I so wanted this to work, but honestly, it didn’t do anything more than a good soak in warm soapy water would have.  It did do interesting things to the rust it created overnight, kind of created little tiny rust-balls on the metal surface.

Brushes are cleaned the old fashioned way this time, but I am going to try this one next time:

You asked for it, and you got it! This is my first post of a new “column” on Green Penny Pincher called…

Many of you are, like me, completely hooked on Pinterest, feverishly pinning this, that, and everything else, for future research… which may or may not ever happen, especially as your pin count jumps into the hundreds, then thousands!

Looking through Pinterest is like looking for gold nuggets in a bin full of fools’ gold, especially now that it has gotten huge, and, in my opinion, slightly abused and spammy.   It’s really the least I can do to test some of these pins out and share them with you, right?

PinterTest #1:  DIY Fabric Softener

I’ve been trying to cut back/out on fabric softener for years, ever since learning of the very dangerous ingredients store-bought softeners contain.  It hasn’t been easy, though, with very hard water and lots and lots of static cling in our house. For the most part I stuck with adding white vinegar to a Downy ball in my wash, but certain seasons and fabrics still required something more.  I did swear off dryer sheets many years ago, after slipping on one too many that had fallen on the floor and seeing my life flash before my eyes, but I always had the liquid on-hand.

This recipe adds a key ingredient to the vinegar idea:  hair conditioner.  And it makes all the difference! (more…)