Christmas Eve Box

I know this is late but I still wanted to share this Christmas Eve Tradition!

I have seen this idea floating now for several years now on Facebook, Pinterest, and other social media websites....the Christmas Eve Box. When I saw this box a couple years ago this is something I knew I wanted to do with my children. This is the first year though I have actually put Christmas Eve Box Tradition into action because I wanted to wait until my children were old enough to enjoy the box and hopefully have some understanding of what this tradition is and will be about.

You can go Pinterest and I am sure other social media websites and Google terms like Christmas Eve Box you will find tons of ideas an how you would like to do you to do your Christmas Eve Box. There are tons of ideas out there but I thought I would show how we did our this past Christmas!!!

My husband and I wrapped up a huge box with some Christmas Wrapping Paper. Than we decided on the items for the box.

~Items is the Vaughn Christmas Eve Box~

The first ever Vaughn Christmas Eve Box! : Property Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life 

* New PJ's for the family 

* A couple of movies (Christmas themed one and the new Ninja Turtle Movie)

* Game

* Coloring Books

* The Books "Night Before Christmas" and "Christmas Story" 

* Hot Chocolate 

* Slippers for the kids

* Reindeer Food (See a special Thank You a little later to a wonderful shop owner) 

* Cups for the kids 

About 3pm we presented the Christmas Eve Box to the kids! To see their eyes and reactions to the box was surely entertaining and heartwarming enough! With Caleb's saying "wow" and "what's that?" to Caydance climbing in the box!

Caleb and Caydance- The Best Picture I got: Property Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

So we had them change into their pjs, played games,ate junk food, watched movies, and read stories! I have no idea why these pictures kept coming out like this!!! However-here are my little ones in their new Christmas Jammies!

Caleb: Property Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

Caydance: Property Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

One of the special moments of the night though is when we went to place the reindeer food! Now before I continue I must send out a wonderful and huge thank you to the lady who sent this wonderful gift to my children! The owner of The Sweet Season  sent my children this amazing reindeer food and it just added such a special touch to their night! They make wonderful handmade goodies so I really encourage you to check out her shop and check out her amazing and drool worthy items. I have been trying to find a way to thank her and wanted to share this with her! I know I do not have a lot of followers or readers but if you check out The Sweet Season  I promise you will not be sorry!  I put their contact information down at the bottom of this post!

Reindeer Food- Property Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

Reindeer Food: Property Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

So to round out the evening we put on our coats even though it was raining and sprinkled the reindeer food so Santa surely would find the house!

Caleb messing with the lights: Property Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

Caleb getting the food from his Daddy and Caydance missing a slipper! Property Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

This will be a tradition that will be going strong in our household! I am sure we will adapt and make changes as our children grow and get older. I however, know I will be loving this for years to come!!!

The Sweet Season Contact Information
Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/thesweetseason
Email: thesweatseason02@gmail.com

The Sweet Season - Gourmet Hand-Wrapped & Dipped Chocolate Covered Cherries are the specialty of the house. Other items include specialty breads, cakes & trifles. No designer cakes here...just made from scratch goodies like grandma used to make!

Caleb is Turning 3: Part Two -Family Birthday Party Justice League of Vaughn

Caleb's birthday falls just a few short days of Christmas so I am sure it will make celebrating it very interesting as he gets older but that will be for another time and place. We were originally going to celebrate Caleb's third birthday at my parents so he could run wild with his cousins playing super hero games. However, Christopher was being transferred back to his old unit so his leave and everything that we had planned was thrown up in the air (it is the Military not much we can do) . So we decided to celebrate here throwing a small family super hero party here.

So a couple of days before the 21st we picked a day to celebrate little mans birthday. This day included playing in the park, silly string, balloons, a special cupcake, presents, and make your own pizza!

 I stand by the fact that you do not need spend hundreds of dollars to have a great party! Money does not make the memories.

The day started at the park! Where Caleb and Caydance could start their super hero training. We ended up going to a park that had a little climbing wall where Caleb could practice his Spiderman training. There was also swings where little man tried his hardest to learn to pump his legs like his Daddy, sand to play in, a purple dinosaur ride, and slides to shoot down.

Caleb climbing the wall at the local park: Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life 

The purple dino: Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life 

Caydance trying her hands at the wall:  Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life 

After the park we went home but instead of going inside we took the little ones to the back yard for a silly string fight. I was telling Christopher when I first purchased the silly string this was a waster of money but in reality it was the best $8 spent on junk we ever spent. Caleb and Caydance giggling and laughing as they sprayed each other with color string! Mommy and Daddy laughing just as hard getting the string out of each other hair. So Spiderman training I believe was a huge success.

Silly String:  Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life 

Mommy teaching Caleb how to use the silly string:  Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life 

Caydance being covered in the silly string:  Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life 

Caleb and Daddy playing with the silly string:  Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life 

When we came from the silly string fight. We had had a snacks which included green hulk juice (Green Hawaiian Punch). After snacks were done we decided to turn Caleb into the Hulk! The previous night I blew up twenty balloons and grabbed one of Christopher's work shirt. So Caleb put on his Daddy's shirt and then stuff balloons in the shirt until the Hulk appeared. It made us laugh so much and of course what Caleb did Caydance wanted to do as well so we turned her into the She Hulk (which I guess is a real thing).

After turning the kids into the Hulk we decided little man could open his gifts! As you could imagine paper was flying as he unwrapped his new treasures! So the next hour was mainly opening his new treasures and figuring out what they did and how to operate all the super heroes! I swear toys these days are getting more complicated but to see Caleb having a blast with his new additions. With the new toys and the previous excitement! Caleb's side kick Caydance was ready for her power down nap so we put her down for a nap so Caleb could play with his toys undisturbed without extra hands that we would have to share with that instant.

The Caleb Hulk:  Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life 

The Caydance She Hulk:  Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life 

So instead of going out to eat and trying to wrangle to kids in a restaurant even a kid friendly/themed place we decided to make our own pizzas! One of Caleb's favorite things to do is help me in the kitchen and making your own pizza was the perfect opportunity for my super hero to help me in the kitchen! I am just upset that there were no pictures taken of this. We topped his dinner off with an ice cream cake and his special Spiderman cupcake! Which I think Caydance may have liked more than Caleb because she basically look like she ate a smurf!

Even his bath time consisted of party fun! We made them shaving cream DIY Bath paints! Where they painted the bath tub in multiple colors! Here is the link to my previous blog post on how to make your own DIY Bath paints... do not worry they will not stain your tub and your kids will love them! DIY: Bath Paints!

The last event of evening was to catch the bad guy! So we took two rolls of crepe paper and trying to wrap Daddy aka the bad guy up! Caleb also though thought he wanted to be the bad guy as well!

Capturing the bad guy:  Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life 

So all in all I have to say even though it was just the JUSTICE LEAGUE VAUGHN it was a great 3rd birthday for Caleb!

Pen Pal Crafts ... Why Did We Not Think Of This Sooner?

Pen Pal Crafts
Version 1.0                                                                                

I am sure some of you have heard of this idea before and some may have even put their own concept of pen pal crafts into actions. This blog post is to tell you how my friend Sierra and I are still able to craft together even though we are a couple states apart! 

~Small Introduction/Back Ground~

I love to craft and more than I love to craft I love to craft with people. I have some of my favorite memories of crafting with friends. One of my memories I have is remembering crafting with my friend Sarah on New Year Eves, drinking Sparkling Grape Juice, and waiting for Kevin to get home to see who got the first arrest of the year. I have been lucky to come across a couple of people who in my life who truly love to craft and that includes Sierra.

Say Hi Sierra! Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

I first met Sierra soon after my husband and I were stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. We soon learn that we had a lot in common to include crafting. There were many nights that we crochet, dabble in other crafts, and spend many hours just talking. However, life normal events happen and we are now separated by couple of states.

Sadly since Sierra left a couple of years ago I have not been able to find anyone who wants to craft with me! I have asked friends and even a couple of family members and no takers!!! It really sucks!! Because I said they do not have to buy anything I mean I own my little craft store but no matter how you lead a horse to water you cannot make them drink not that I am calling my friends horses... :-) . Sierra and I would talk about crafts here and there what we were up too in the crafting and so on... and always we miss are crafting buddies!

Then one night not so long ago we decided to become Pen Pal Crafters! 

Why did we not think of this sooner? DING! DING! DING! DING! 

DING! DING! DING! Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

~Concept/Guidelines~ 

These are Guideline and the concepts of how our pen pal craft system works 

1. Find ideas that you would like to do and make a list!

Sierra and I established a list on Pinterest where we are both able to pin ideas that we would like to perhaps one day try. We pinned crafts that are not in are norm and will make us step out of our comfort zone.

2. Pick out an idea!

We both pick out a couple of ideas and if we could not decide on one we run it through a random number generator. We also alternate who will run the ideas through the random number generator. There are tons of free random site generators online you simply just need to look one up. Also consider picking out themes depending on what month the crafts falls in! Once your idea is picked out make sure you discuss the rules or guidelines of the project. For example, will they be identical, the same theme, can be different as long as the contain one item, and so on. 

3. Pick out a schedule! 

Each persons schedule is different so you will want to make sure you guys work out a schedule that best fit you. For us are progress photos are shown towards the end of the month and are big reveal within the first week of the following month. For example, this Pen craft progress pictures will be shown on October 25th and the Big reveal pictures will be Nov 8th. 

4. Show a picture of your initial supplies!

Without revealing to much to your project take a picture of all your supplies you intend to work with for that project for that craft project. This way you guys can be curious about each others project!!!

My initial supplies picture: Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

Sierra's initial supplies picture: Property of Sierra Henderson Permission to use by Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

5. Have fun discussing and take pictures!

Have fun chatting and discussing about your projects. Talk about your tips and even bumps/fails that you have learned a long the way. Ask questions? Maybe the other person has stumbled upon something that you have not yet.

Take lots of pictures! Remember you have progress and reveal pictures to take! Close ups, far away, anddifferent angles.. your crafting parenting is not there with you.

Maybe even thinking about skyping, chatting, or something a long those nature if you can

6. Consider when to actually exchange your work!

Just like actual pen pals decide a couple times each year when you should actually exchange your work with each other. Whether it is on Birthdays or just a unique craft. 

7. HAVE FUN!!!!

Remember to have fun with these projects! There was a reason you and your friend got together in the first place and craft together. 

Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

The most important rule just have fun!!!!!!

Sierra Henderson is credited as of 10/20/2014

I AM ALL FOR DABBLING!

So you saw something somewhere and thought to yourself... "I should try that" or "I wish I could do that"!!! ......Then..... NOTHING... there wishful thinking or idea just gone...

I ask you why?

There are often blessings and down sides to being Bipolar but one of the huge blessing is I am always up for trying something new. Luckily this wanting to try something new is not in reckless activities but in my creativity. So when I can get some down time I am on Pinterest, in craft groups, reading books, and so forth seeing what sparks my interest...and I can tell you it does not take much to get these creative juices flowing and growing. Now there are often 900 thoughts, 900 ideas, 70 different directions going off at once but when thing stands out I make a plan for the creative idea, go with, and DABBLE!

When  I dabble I have learned 2 majors concepts and within those concepts tons of other concepts that can go on and on but there is truly not enough time for that!

1. It was an EPIC FAIL...what in the world was I thinking!!!

2. It was a Success!!!

I have tons of what I views of successes and what I view as epic fails or something that did not turn out what I thought it should be!

I started a blog

I view this as a success. By no means is this some major blog with tons of readers but I now have an outlet of somewhat. When I first started writing my blog was really all over the place and I mean all over the place.  It was almost diary like..who wants to read that? So I narrowed it down and focused on really what I wanted my blog to be about. Even though it is far from perfect I am very happy with the direction it is going in.

I started experimenting with recipes 

I was so blessed with great eaters as kids and of course I have a husband that is a great eater as well so I can explore some awesome recipes. I view these as both as successes as an epic fails! Some have turned out awesome and others have turned out others have ended up in the category of what was I thinking to even try this!!! What I love about this hubs finds recipes and they magically appear somewhere for me to try ;-) .

Fresh Strawberry Tart I Made! Photo: Property of A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

Roasted Aspargus Photo Property of A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

Craft dabbling

This is probably the biggest area where I dabble. With this major area of dabble I have produced some epic successes and epic failures. However, with each success and failure I keep dabbling and my list keeps growing of things to try.

Crochet Hat Photo: Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life 

My Love Bug One of My First Attempts Of A Small Lovey Photo: Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

One of My First Bows For My Daughter Photo: Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life 

My First Deco Mesh Wreath and As You Can See It I Need A lot of Improvement Photo: Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

DIY  

This is probably the second biggest area where I dabble but always on the growing the side. With this other major area of dabble I have produced some epic successes and epic failures. However, my list of  DIY projects is always growing and on my to-do-list to try.

My DIY Nails for the for my friends party. I loved how they turned out but it took me over two hours to get the stuff  off!!! Photo: Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

So stop saying "I should try this", "I wish I could do that", " I do not have creative bone in my body", and so on. Just do it!!! It is amazing what you will discover about yourself!!!!

DIY: Bachelorette Favor Bags!

So when I was put in charge of my friends Bachelorette Party I do not take my job lightly. One of the things I wanted for the party were favors for the night! So I decided to make my own little gift baskets for my friends big night! Each gift basket I made cost about $5 dollars to make so they are very budget friendly but depending on your own budget and the items you decide to put in the basket will reflect the overall cost of each favor!

Here is how I made the favors for the Bachelorette Party!

The first thing you will need is to decide is the "basket" that will hold all the goodies. This does not have to be a basket it can be a bowel, cup, jar, bucket, wine glasses, and so on. Be creative almost anything can be used as a basket! I found these bowls at the Dollar Tree they are 4 for $1. I also decided to use the favor bags to help hold the goodies in because I had to haul these favors down to Florida. Now I keep tons of these on hand for bow packing but I also get these at the Dollar Tree in Party Section. They even sell them in them in clear but I liked these for the theme I was going for and had them on hand! You can also buy them at craft stores and party stores but they are more expensive and I cannot tell the difference so if you want more bang for your buck pick them up at the Dollar Tree. 

Property of A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

The second thing you will need to do is decide is what to put into the "baskets"! Now this is where most of your budget will go. You will also need to decide what type of baskets you are making and what I mean by that is how "adult" themed you are going to make them. If you look up ideas or even look for bachelorette party items you basically can see what I mean by "adult" theme. I decided on my items based on who would likely be coming to the party and did not want to have to tailor the favors to guest. I knew because the first part of the bachelorette party there were going to be two teenagers from the bridal party, the mother of the bride, and none of us were huge drinkers that I did not want to make a  wine/bar themed gift basket. So I decided to go on a pink and spa like basket!!! 

Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life

I was actually to get all of these items at Dollar Tree Store and the dollar sections of stores. Some of the items came in multiples in a package such as nail file, Tylenol, gum, tissue, and hand sanitizer. I do suggest when you are buying goodies for your favors that you buy all at one time to make sure you have enough for the favors. No I do not mean you have buy ALL the goodies for the favors at once if you are on a budget or looking for a specific item. What I mean by that is when you find one item for the basket is buy enough for the entire amount of favors you are making so you are not scrambling  to find matching or similar items. I found by making sure that I have all the same items for favors that you stay on budget.

The next thing you want to do is decide how you want to place things in the basket, if any items need to come out of its package, and if your basket needs filler. I did not take any pictures (sorry) for this part but I did add filler and took the nail polish out it package. 

I placed the bowl inside the favor bag first. I found this made it easier to place and position the goodies.

I then added filler to bowl. I bought two packages of pretty but pain my butt plastic shinny shreds. You can find them at Dollar Tree where I bought mine or you can purchase it party stores or craft stores. They all kinds of filler and if you decide to use one just find the one that will make your basket pop! 

Next add the items to your basket any which way you feel! 

If you used a favor bag or something that is holding everything together make sure it closed. I just simply twisted the favor bag and used the twist ties that came with favor bags. You know the dreaded bread ties! I then added curling ribbon as finishing touch! 

Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life 

A view of all the Gift Bags... Sorry on the Book Shelf again (you may actually notice this a lot)... They were going to Florida so there is no fancy table display and it keeps it away from little hands! 

Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life 

Property of Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life 

HAVE FUN WITH IT!!! 

A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life! : DIY: Carpet Cleaner Powder

A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life! : DIY: Carpet Cleaner Powder: So have you guys made your own laundry soap? Well I am a big fan of that but one problem is always have borax left over and when not sealed ...

DIY: Carpet Cleaner Powder

So have you guys made your own laundry soap? Well I am a big fan of that but one problem is always have borax left over and when not sealed properly it hardens. So I started researching what can you do with borax besides what else is on the box? Well I found a great recipe for DIY Carpet cleaner powder and I tested it out myself and I am sold! I am horrible about doing before and after pictures. Here is my recipe and it will call for some unlikely items but trust me and keep reading!

DIY CARPET CLEANING POWDER



Borax (I use what is left from making my own laundry soap)

2 Boxes of Baking Soda (standard size)

Cornmeal (optional but strongly suggested)

Cinnamon (optional)

Container with lid large enough for mixture

Scoop/Measuring Cup

Before I begin this recipe as I stated calls for unlikely items but please bare with me and I will explain. This recipe is easy-peasy. All you do is mix your Borax Powder and Baking Soda Powder in the container and make sure the mixture is well mixed. Now you can stop there and use this on your carpets by sprinkling it on there, letting it sit, then vacuum. You should have plenty of mixture for multiple cleanings.

However, the recipe I use calls for cornmeal. Now why cornmeal? I asked the same questions and was very skeptical of its purpose on my carpets. So here is my best way to explain why there is cornmeal used in the DIY Carpet Cleaning Powder. If you put a little bit in your hands you can feel how rough/abrasive it is. Well when it is put in the cleaning powder mixture it requires your vacuum to work at getting up and I guess what you would call fluffing the nap of the carpet. It also causes us to go slower when we are vacuuming and making sure we get all the powder mixture up (which I am guilty of). If you do not believe me try it out yourself in a small area. If you decide to use cornmeal in your recipe the question is often how much do you use? Well that is just really personal taste really. I add just enough to really tell/feel the abrasiveness of the powder.

The Cinnamon is just simple I just sprinkled it in there for smell. There are all sorts of fragrances you can add to the mixture but once again that is for personal taste.

How long to leave the carpet cleaning powder on? one of the reasons I used this powder was to drastically freshen my home. One of my dogs was sick and had a very much "sick dog smell" . It was horrible and no matter what I did I could still smell it. Well we were going to visit family and I decided to sprinkle this on the carpet and leave it until we got back. So it stayed on my carpet for a week. It really worked and my carpets looked great and my house smelled back to normal. Well I know a week is not an ideal time. So I have tested out a couple of times. If your entire house leaves for the day you can sprinkle the powder on the carpet and then vacuum when you return. I did find it when I was cleaning you can leave it on your carpets for about 30 minutes and get the desired results.

HAPPY CLEANING!

WARNING: I AM ONE PERSON AND HAVE ONLY TESTED THIS OUT ON MY CARPETS. I HAVE GIVEN THIS RECIPE TO OTHERS BUT HAVE EXPLAINED THEY SHOULD TEST THIS RECIPE OUT ON THEIR OWN CARPETS BEFORE USING!





A Bipolar Mom and Daily Life! : DIY TUTU DRAPES and TULLE DRAPES

A Bipolar Mom and Daily Life! : DIY TUTU DRAPES and TULLE DRAPES: Let me first say that I am sorry that I have not been on for a while. The last part of my pregnancy was interesting to say the least. Well t...

DIY TUTU DRAPES and TULLE DRAPES

Let me first say that I am sorry that I have not been on for a while. The last part of my pregnancy was interesting to say the least. Well that part is over and I am now a proud parent of a beautiful little girl! With that being said it leads me into my next post about drapes.

When I was re-doing the nursery from the little boys nursery to a little girls nursery the room took on a princess theme. I re-did an old dresser and night stand of mine in pink as well as change out the bedding. However, because I live in military housing I could not paint the walls. Actually, I take that back I can paint the walls but you have to either paint them back to white or pay a fee when you move out and it just something I am really not into so I wanted to make a small statement with the window treatments. In the nursery there are two very different shaped windows that would make it hard for me at least to decide on what style from a store that I would settle on. So I went to the infamous http://pinterest.com/ website and started looking up possible ideas for the window treatments for the nursery when I came across no-sew tulle drapes! There were a couple of pages that led to me to places where I could pay for custom made tulle drapes but not this MOMMY!!! If there is a will there is way!

The next will be the directions on how I made my no-sew tulle window treatments

Supplies You Will Need

 

Tulle (size, color(s), and amount will determine how long and how thick you want the look. I used both bolts (yardage) and spools)

 

Scissors or Pinking Sheers

 

Helping Hand (Optional- I was very pregnant making these so I had my mom help me)

 

 

This is the first window treatment I did. I bought all tulle at www.fabric.com which for me has a great selection of tulle. This tulle would be considered being bought off the bolt. Meaning if you went into a fabric store or fabric section your would see them on bolts with the other fabrics.  As you can see the colors I selected. I do suggest if you are not familiar with fabric.com or other online fabric stores that you actually go to a fabric store to see the tulle in person because buying online the colors may appear different on screen then what you are actually looking for. For this size window each panel is 4 1/2 yards. When I bought the tulle I bought it in 9 yard sections at (.99 cent a yard) so basically my mother an I cut each piece in half. I then took each panel and tied it directly to the drape rod. I experimented with multiple style knots but I settled on a simple slip knot (here is a link if you are not familiar with the knot http://www.ehow.com/video_4971036_tie-slipknot.html) . I will note on each piece one end is smaller than the other I made sure all my shorter pieces were in the back. I personally like the space between them but you can add more tulle or spread them out more it really is up to you. What I really like about these besides being inexpensive is how easy it will be easy to change them out so as her taste change so can the tulle (if that is what she is wanting).

 

The second window treatment I did I found on pinterest.com it was called a tutu valance and as you can see it looks like one big fluffy tutu. For this instead of buying the tulle on the bolts I bought the tulle on spools. You can find them most anywhere but I also bought mine at fabric.com because they had the exact same colors on the bolt as they did on spools so my colors match on both window treatments.I have included a picture of tulle on a spool for those who may not know what I am talking about. I also suggest that you make sure that you buy enough tulle for each project. This one I bought two spools of each color. They cost about $2.98 for each spool for the type I bought at fabric.com. This one consist of 5 colors so this did make this window treatment more expensive then the other but still more affordable than custom made drapes and much cuter than anything I saw in stores. The first two things you will have to decide on is what pattern of colors you would want and how long you would want each piece. Each piece I cut with the pinking sheers were about 4-5 inches. I then you used a simple slip knot (http://www.ehow.com/video_4971036_tie-slipknot.html) and tied each piece to the drape rod. I cannot tell you how pieces I tied to the rod but I can tell you that I used all my tulle and packed it all together for a really full look. Again play with look and see what you come up with! I had a lot of fun making these drapes. I will be still be adding something to these probably a sheer underneath these.


This is tulle on a spool most often you can find it as 6" x 25 yards






A Bipolar Mom and Daily Life! : Mouthwash Foot Soak! Did it worked for me?

A Bipolar Mom and Daily Life! : Mouthwash Foot Soak! Did it worked for me?: Mouthwash foot soak? Yep you heard right... a mouthwash foot soak! I have seen this recipe pop up from time to time on Facebook and getting ...

Mouthwash Foot Soak! Did it work for me?

Mouthwash foot soak? Yep you heard right... a mouthwash foot soak! I have seen this recipe pop up from time to time on Facebook and getting your feet ready for summer. One of the most popular recipes uses Listerine Mouthwash which can be found on the web like Pinterest or in web search. The recipe I used can be found in multiple places and not sure where the original source is from.

Listerine Mouthwash Foot Soak Recipe 

1/4 Cup Listerine of any kind (I used some purple one)

1/4 Cup Vinegar

1/2 Cup Water

Soak for 10 Minutes

I doubled the recipe so that I could soak both feet equally

Now this recipe says that your dead skin will practically fall off your feet after the soak. When I heard this I was simply like gross and almost nixed the entire idea thinking my entire foot was going to fall off. However, because I have feet that I would like to show off in pictures, I said what the hell! I made the mixture and soaked my feet in it and yes the picture below our my size 11 feet.

Okay when I first stuck my feet in this, I thought I would feel some sort tingling or other type sensation. However, there was no feeling of that kind and all I was thinking the entire time was that my feet were soaking in a mouthwash and vinegar... what the hell is wrong with me? Well after the 10 minutes of soaking there was no noticeable dead skin trying to fall off and my feet do not look like brand spanking new. Well that is when I decided to use a pumice sponge. I prefer to use those vs. an actual pumice stone but that is just my personal favorite.

When I used the pumice sponge I did notice that my rough and dry skin did diminish. When I was done soaking and scrubbing my feet I rinsed them off, the one thing that I did notice was the air did make them felt cooler, likely to do to mint flavored mine was. I will admit I was shocked at the results but was wondering what really made it work. From my research I found that Listerine has been used in foot care recipes for athletes foot and toe fungal infections, which at first I thought must because the Listerine is antibacterial but then I remembered from a Mycology Class (the study of Fungi) that I took both athletes foot and toe fungal infections are forms of fungi and not really sure how the antibacterial plays if any role in this. My second thought was maybe it just makes the vinegar smell nice or some how cut the acid affect. A quick chemistry lesson vinegar is also known as Acetic acid and it has a pH level in the range of 2.40 to 3.40. I have included a pH chart (below) so you can see where vinegar stands to other acids and bases. I  think to be honest that the vinegar is what really makes this foot soak work by doing what acid does an eating away at the object which in this case was my feet and the dead skin.



I guess the big question is... will I try this again? I think I will because it has been the only thing that I have to include over the counter products to help remove this dead skin. Now how often am I going to do this soak? Not sure but I will probably just start with once a week.

This by far has been one of the weirdest things I have tried off the web but I must admit I was shocked about the results.

***** WARNING ******

PLEASE TRY THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK. EVEN THOUGH I HAD NO PROBLEMS WITH THIS RECIPE I AM NOT A DOCTOR AND EVEN THOUGH I HAVE A STRONG BACKGROUND IN CHEMISTRY AND BIOLOGY I AM BY FAR NO EXPERT!