Fun With Our Homemade Sprinkler

Let me start by saying this homemade sprinkler is not my own invention. I was unfortunately not blessed with much of a crafty gene. I found the idea for this sprinkler over a year ago on Pinterest but I can't remember what blog it came from. 

My eldest, Zane loves playing with water so when I mentioned making our own sprinkler out of a 2 liter bottle he was very excited. 

It's really quite simple. You poke holes with a push pin all over the bottle and then use duct tape to attach it to your garden hose. Turn on your water and the bottle will fill up and spray water out the holes.

My younger boys were happy to run through the water but not Zane. He was not content to leave our sprinkler in one place and kept moving the bottle around the yard.  He really wanted it to spray him while he was swinging so he worked hard to balance it above the swing.

The bottle sprinkler stayed above the swings for a while but eventually kept falling. It's not so easy to keep a bottle full of 2 liters of water balanced on a board. Zane was still pretty happy when the bottle was hanging down as it was still spraying the swings.

Simple, frugal and easy- just how I like my kid projects!

Menu Plan 7/9- 7/15

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Another week, another menu. I'm finding with the hectic-ness of summer that I'm struggling to stay disciplined with planning what to buy and eat. Planning takes time and while I know it's worth it, my unorganized, fly by the seat of your pants personality is rebelling against the work of planning out the meals for the week. Ugh, it's summer can't we just eat whatever? It's supposed to be vacation time- well it should be but I'm a mom so there's no such thing as relaxing for vacation. Or summer.

I forced myself to plan out something to eat this week and here it is!

Weekly Menu Plan 7/9-7/15
Monday: Crockpot hickory smoked brisket
Tuesday: Baked Pollock, rice, veggie
Wednesday: Grilled Burgers, salad
Thursday: Pasta with homemade marinara sauce
Friday: Tacos
Saturday dinner: Pizza
Sunday: leftovers

Snacks: Green Monster Smoothie, Simple Vanilla ice cream, English Muffin Bread

You can find more menus at Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

Am I the only one struggling to plan meals this summer?

Thyme Tincture for Blemishes

I don't have clear, beautiful skin. I'm natural in most areas of my life & health but still my skin has blemishes. In the past I've gone the traditional dermatologist route of antibiotics and prescription cremes but I'm done with that now. I've been searching for more natural solutions* and so far thyme is one of my favorites.

A recent study found thyme is more effective on acne bacterium than prescription cremes containing benzoyl peroxide. I've tried those prescription cremes and they are expensive, very drying to to my skin and not very effective. When I read about making your own thyme treatments on Crunchy Betty I was ready to experiment.

I had organic thyme in my pantry that I recently got from my CSA and dried myself. I followed these simple steps using just witch hazel and dried thyme to make my own thyme tincture.

Thyme Tincture

Sterilize a small bottle by boiling it in water for 10 minutes. Dry well.

Add 1 Tbsp dried thyme to the bottle.

Pour 4 Tbsp witch hazel over the top. Shake well.

Within 20 minutes, the witch hazel will start to look like a light brown tea. I used it right away but continued to let the thyme steep in the witch hazel for a few days before straining the thyme out.

Pour your tincture onto a cotton ball or pad and rub over blemishes. I use it daily before bed.

Store it in a cool, dark place for up to a month.

My thyme tincture before I strained out the thyme leaves

Here's an interesting article explaining that it's still early days for thyme as an acne treatment. While it's too soon to know how effective it is for everyone I'm finding for myself that it's just as effective as the prescription stuff on me. I love the smell when I rub it on my face. It reminds me of Italy and fresh from the oven pizza. Yum!

I recommend making your own thyme treatment to try on yourself!

*For more natural acne treatments I highly recommend the e-book Crunchy Betty's Food on Your Face for Acne and Oily Skin.

Menu Plan 7/2- 7/8

Usually I post my menu on Sunday night but I've been feeling so tired from the oppressive heat and busy from the holiday festivities, ok and maybe a little lazy.


I nearly didn't get around to making a meal plan this week as the 4th of July holiday is messing with my brain and making me feel like I can take a vacation from feeding my family. HELLO! There's never a vacation from that!


This week I'm trying out some new crockpot recipes and using up more of the beef from my deep freeze.

Mongolian Beef

Weekly Menu Plan 7/2- 7/8

Monday: Grilled Chicken, honey glazed turnips
Tuesday:  Panko Breaded Tilapia, rice, veggie
Wednesday: Mongolian Beef in the Crockpot
Thursday: Pasta with Chicken & Broccoli 

Friday: Crockpot Beef Ribs

Saturday lunch: Tacos
Saturday dinner: Pizza
Sunday: Pasta with homemade marinara sauce

Snacks: Honey Walnut Granola, Simple Vanilla Homemade ice cream

You can find more menus at Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

What's on your menu plan this week?