Nicole

DIY Migraine Relief Balm

When a migraine hits my world seems to halt to a stop. Between nausea, pounding heartache, neck cramps, sweating, and blurred vision the only thing that sounds remotely pleasant is closing my eyes, lying down in the comfort of my cool, dark bedroom, and falling asleep. Unfortunately, more than likely you are stuck in rush hour traffic, helping calm screaming kids, dealing with a crabby coworker, trying to put dinner on the table, or trying to get through your day when the pounding sets in, for which lying down just isn’t an option.

Since my late twenties, the above scenario was a part of my weekly scope of life. Worse still, my only options for ease and comfort was to medicate myself with overly prized prescriptions that were a crape shoot as to whether they would help knock out my migraine or irritate my stomach so badly that my migraine symptoms would subside in just enough time to flare up my acid reflux symptoms.

Recently as part of my healthy living journey, I have decided to kick my prescriptions to the curb and out more holistic, natural means of pain management and migraine relief. Getting a migraine infusion is a good option, but I have also come up with a natural solution that works pretty well in a pinch too. What’s my solution?

My recipe for migraine relief balm? Just a few simple essential oils, carrier oils, and a trusty half-pint mason jar. No fuss, no muss!

In my balm, I use Peppermint Oil, Eucalyptus Oil, Lavender Oil, Arabica Oil, and Coconut Oil.

Please note: I am not brand loyal currently to any brand of essential oils. Please use whichever brands of essential oils you are most comfortable utilizing for this blend.

Here’s a little breakdown for each oil:

Peppermint contains menthol, a cooling element that helps restrict blood vessels around the skin and skull which helps relieve tension and resulting migraine headache symptoms.
Eucalyptus oil: Eucalyptus oil is a non-drowsy means of scent-based, brain-wave activity reducer, and also helps reduce fatigue, muscle tension, and neck soreness.
Lavender oil: Lavender oil, besides its relaxing scent nodes, is used to change brain wave patterns, as it is also a scent-based, brain-wave activity reducer that increases relaxation and relieves muscle tension.
Arabica Bean Oil: Arabica oil contains natural, unprocessed vasoconstrictive properties. And it is this form of caffeine that helps restrict blood vessel tension, which causes blood vessels to narrow and restrict blood flow, aiding in head pain relief within minutes.
Coconut oil: Coconut oil acts as both a carrier oil to help with the even and safe distribution of essential oils on the skin as well as acts as a natural means of balancing hormones, which is known to help aid in headache and migraine relief. Please note, for those allergic to coconut oil, grape seed oil can be substituted as well.

Here’s what you will need:

20 drops of Peppermint oil
20 drops of Lavender oil
20 drops of Arabica bean oil
20 drops of Eucalyptus oil
1/4 cup Coconut oil
Glass Measuring cup
Glass storage containers (I love the Ball half pint jars)
Spoon or honey stick (not shown)

Directions:

In a half-pint jar add 1/4 cup room temperature coconut oil.
Add all essential oils to carrier oil.
Fold oils into the carrier oil; oils can be adjusted to need and personal preference.
Let balm sit and meld for one hour to let oils fully combine.
Balm should be stored in the fridge to remain solidified.
The balm will remain viable indefinably.
Please note, to make your balm shelf stable, you can use a double boiler over medium heat to melt 2 tablespoons of beeswax pastilles, which can be added to your balm for on-the-go migraine relief. I also keep my blend in the fridge to help solidify the balm, and I prefer a cooling product when I have migraines.

How to apply:

Massage a small dab of balm onto your temples, back of the neck, and the headache pressure points (the skin between the thumb and forefinger), in small circular motions for 30-seconds per trigger area every 3-4 hours as needed. Remember, breathe deeply while applying balm to help with the added benefits of tension relief by way of aromatherapy.

So, that’s it, folks. I really cannot say enough great things about this balm. Not only is it natural and relaxing, but it’s also affordable and great for your skin, too! I hope you will all try it should the need arise.

Here’s to your health,

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Welcome to this week’s Happiness is Homemade Linky Party!

Welcome back to another great week at Happiness is Homemade Link Party!!!

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How I’ll be Savoring Life in the Month of July

It’s hard to believe that we are already in July. So, with half of the year already behind us and we are still eight weeks away from the start of the busy back-to-school push and slide to the holiday season, I thought it would be nice to take this month to slow down and focus on several projects in my life that desperately need attention.

First, I want to re-focus my commitment to my family, and in particular my homemaking capabilities.

For as long as I can remember, I have viewed housework as an unending thankless job. Since transitioning from working in a corporate setting to the domestic sphere, I have frankly had a negative view on many aspects of domestic life. The same chores to do, the same tasks to accomplish, the same issues with family. The same outlook at my home. Mind you, since becoming a minimalist, the lack of clutter in my home (and using the daily Motivated Moms Planner) has helped to brighten my perspective on my home. But I also want to view my role as a homemaker not as a job, but as a calling.

This month I will be focusing on utilizing products already on-hand in my home to create a series of DIY, nature-centered posts each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in July. My goal with this series is to learn to create basic home goods, so that moving forward I have not only learned a valuable new skill-set but will no longer have to purchase these good locally as well.

The schedule will be as follows (per week):

First Aid Products
Hygiene Products
Cooking Products
Beauty Products

I know there will always be dishes to wash, laundry to fold and put away, and clutter to stay on top of every day. But this month I am seeking to find the joy in this daily routine. I am seeking to learn to find joy in the simple blessings of every day life at home, and I hope that I will feel even more blessing and honored to be a homemaker in the coming weeks ahead.

For those who may want to follow along, I will be demonstrating live to Periscope each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this month as well. I’d love for you all to join me live for several awesome, budget-friendly, natural demos!

My second focus for the month will be slightly more simple in nature. I will be participating in a month-long challenge to refuse single-use plastic in July.

Plastic Free July, a growing international movement, aims to raise awareness of the problems that the volumes of single-use disposable plastic create in our lives, in our environments, and for wildlife the world over. Keep in mind the statistic that convicted me to sign up for this challenge: By 2050 its estimated there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans.

As a result, we as a family as signed up! Also, another neat part of this project is that you can sign up for a day, a week or the whole month. The point is just to refuse all single-use plastic. As a family we are seeking to refuse and rid our home of all plastic bags, water bottles, single-use coffee cups, and straws. We hope this will be pretty basic as we are a mason jar loving people, as is!

I will be posting about my experiences with this campaign in July on my Instagram account. For those who may also wish to join, click here for more information.

My third focus this month will be on my gardening. This year, my husband and I have fully utilized our home’s backyard tiered garden layout and have planted a wide range of vegetables and fruits, including tomatoes, various legumes, potato and sweet potato towers, corn, and Autumn ornamental selections such as corn, pumpkins, mini pumpkins, and jack-o-lanterns. We’ve expanded our vegetable selection this year as we reside in Mississippi and are blessed with three full planting seasons each year.

Keep in mind, our garden consists entirely of upcycled, free, natural, holistic, and organic gardening methods. We plan to use this year as a learning venture for our tiered system, and hopefully use this years harvest to learn to pressure can legumes, beans, and low acid foods to put back for the winter.

As well, I will be posting all of my daily gardening challenges, victories, and bounties on my Instagram page for those who would like to follow us on our gardening journey this year.

My fourth goal this month relates to finance. For the month of July, I will be participating in a personal No-Spend Challenge.

The rules are pretty simple:

No spending on anything beyond absolute necessities.
Eat from your pantry & freezer as often as you are able.
And make changes to the way you purchase and consume goods, services, and commodities in your home.
The idea of the challenge is to keep up with your daily activities,, but the main goal is simply to stop spending.
This challenge can be a life changing experience, as you may just be amazed at how your mindset and perspective will change after just a month of seeing how you can enrich your life, without spending more!

There are a few exceptions to the rule as follows:

Unavoidable expenses related to employment, such as gas, are okay.
Unavoidable school related expenses.
Doctors appointments, veterinarian appointments, co-payments, family/pet prescriptions, and therapy sessions are okay.
Do keep existing service and repair appointments that can’t be rescheduled to “Spending” months, such as hair appointments, lawn care services, trash removal, in-home repair services, etc.
Do keep existing tithing and charitable giving.
I will continue to use my envelope saving system to fund app rebates for fresh produce and milk as needed.
And it goes without saying, we will continue paying for monthly insurance, utility payments, banking fees, etc.

This No- Spend month is not just about a decrease in spending, but a challenge to find ways to live well, live better, find new sources of joy, will spending less. This month proved to be a time of being able to a life rich with family, friends, and creative planning, secured by fiscally responsible measures. This month was made all the better by the amount of encouragement and accountability shared by all of my readers, too!

I’m not gonna lie, there will be tough moments, but the rewards far outweigh the issues. During my last no-spend month in December of last year as a family we saved a total of $1,021.34, and this month all funds saved will be allocated to pay for out end-of-year minimalist family holiday needs and expenses.

Some ways I plan to do this is by:

Pantry Organization
Learning Home to “Dine Out At Home”
Rain-Check Shopping for next month’s needed staples and groceries
Learning ways to better clean my home
Selling unneeded items on Facebook Local Groups, Craigslist, and eBay.
Should a need come up, I’ll be referencing my past materials from Ruth Soukup’s No-Spend October 2015 Challenge.

All-in-all, I am super excited for this month’s No-Spend Month Challenge! I’ll be posting about my victories and challenges this month on my Youtube channel each Wednesday, for those who would like to follow along!

Well folks, those are my plans for this month! So, do you have any awesome plans this month? Perhaps a vacation, reunion, or the like? I’d love to hear about it below,

Here’s to summer,

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How to dance through life with Tena

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #TenaTips #CollectiveBias

“Even the most tedious chore will become endurable as you parade through each day convinced that every task, no matter how menial or boring, brings you closer to fulfilling your dreams.” – Og Mandino

If anyone was to ask me one word to describe my life, without hesitation I would say charmed. I consider myself to be a very fortunate individual and in many ways, “I have a big life,” a life that I never envisioned for myself. I have been able to attend law and graduate school, study the arts, and start a family of my own. I have always prided myself on being able to enjoy the joie de vivre each day.

But for the past year I’ve also led a double life. You see, I’ve dealt with incontinence stemming from pregnancy and delivery as well as PCOS-induced weight gain. These issues caused much of my charmed existence to be placed on hold. And it was this hold on life which prevented me from being a continent person who traveled each weekend and most summers, to a person afraid of spontaneity.

Thankfully, there are products like TENA® incontinence products for women, that have helped me get back into my full swing of life, including travel and dancing. So today, I wanted to share five tips for travel this summer with bladder control leakage:

Researchers have found that the key to living with PCOS is all about managing insulin levels. So, wherever I travel, including quick trips to New Orleans for the weekend, I always make sure to pack my glucose monitors as well. For me, when my blood glucose levels are high, I tend to have more issues with incontinence as well!

For those suffering from bladder leakage, recent studies have shown that Kegel exercises (pelvic floor muscles) help strengthen the muscles that help control the urethra. When these muscles are weak, the result can be urinary incontinence. Kegel exercises are really awesome to help you naturally ease bladder leakage issues.

I’m a planner. I always have been. So, when I know I am heading out the for a family trip or vacation I always make sure to plan an in-case bag. For me, this includes:

A wax-lined bag in case I need to carry food (which may leak), wet bathing suites, or any items which should need to be aired out.
An extra set of keys to our car and home.
Any feminine or emergency items I might need.
A wristlet to hold the above, should I not want to carry a larger bag.
A money organizer which contains gift cards, emergency cash, and insurance cards.
A planner and pen.
Sunglasses.
Two coin pouches; one for tolls and transportation and one that holds bills for tipping while on vacation.

For me, it’s always a good idea to keep my in-case-of-emergency bag close at hand. This is especially true for me when going on trips that involve visiting large bodies of water, such as our family trip earlier this year to Niagara Falls. To say that bladder incontinence products like TENA® are a lifesaver, would be the understatement of the year in that situation!

With TENA® incontinence products in my bag, I was free to enjoy my day of site-seeing, and the only leakage I had to contend with the mists of the falls!

Another good way to help control bladder issues this summer is to avoid foods that trigger urinary incontinence. Some of these foods include: tomato products, caffeinated beverages, chocolates, citrus fruits, alcoholic beverages, artificial sweeteners, processed foods, and onions. A fun summer tip: Prep yourself small, make-ahead meals that help you stay hydrated, fit, and ready for your travels ahead.

Bladder incontinence may be demanding. But what even more demanding is the need to live your life to the fullest each day! This summer, remember to find something each day that makes your heart sing. For me, this was a recent college reunion ball with my husband. It felt awesome to get back into my dancing shoes, with the confidence in knowing that bladder leakage won’t be an issue for me when I use TENA® pads. I was able to focus on being arm candy for my husband without the fear of embarrassing leakage issues. I was able to spend my time simply shining!

My favorite thing about these pads is their Unexpected Leak™ technology, which gives me the confidence in knowing that even perfect evenings are safeguarded when I use TENA® incontinence products. So, if you’re like me and suffer from incontinence and are worried about unexpected leaks during exercise, travel, and summer fun this season, then before you take to the road or gym this summer, just stop by CVS and pick up a package of TENA® liners, pads, or underwear.

What’s even better is that you can shop in-store or online at CVS.com for the full line of TENA® products.

And for all of my savvy saving readers, you can request a rebate on TENA® Pads/Liners/Underwear and Overnight Underwear on the iBotta savings app. So, you can keep living your life to the fullest and on a budget.

So, I hope this list may help those who have bladder leakage dance through life with PCOS-induced bladder leakage. I urge you all be check out TENA® pads and products so you can live your best self this summer, too!

Here’s to better health,

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Welcome to this week’s Happiness is Homemade Linky Party!

Welcome back to another great week at Happiness is Homemade Link Party !

THIS WEEK’S FEATURES

DIY (faux) Wildflower Wreath from A Pretty Fix

Patriotic Candy Coated Pretzel Sticks from Meatloaf And Melodrama

DIY Beverage Station from Inspiration For Moms

Grilled Caprese Zucchini Boats from Home Cooking Memories

MEET YOUR HOSTS

Want to follow us?

Just click on the circle to connect to our blogs!!

The rules are really simple! Make sure you visit a few other blogs and make some new friends along the way. Feel free to link up your favorite recipes, crafts or your latest DIY project. We want you to share it all! As always, please make sure to follow your hosts and co-hosts!! Link up your posts, make some friends, and earn the chance to be featured at Happiness Is Homemade Link Party! We will feature the favorite posts each week!

Disclaimer: Adding your link to this link party gives permission to all 12 Hosts, along with any co-hosts, guest hosts, and participants of Happiness Is Homemade, to share your posts and pictures via social media and as features, roundups, etc. with an explicit link back to your original source. Therefore, linking up you agree to allow us to use your images on each of our blogs in features relating to Happiness is Homemade Link Party.

An InLinkz Link-up

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Better Summers Start with #NuCulture probiotics

Please note, this post is made possible by iConnect and AlternaScript. I was compensated for my participation in this campaign, but all opinions are 100% mine. These following statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Results may vary. Although this product helped me with PCOS, it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

If you are anything like me, you know the value of a good probiotic. From helping to regulate digestion, to keeping acid reflux symptoms at bay, a good probiotic can be a lifesaver! I would say this is especially true for busy WAHM’s and business owners, who never seem to have enough time in the day for healing, self-care measures.

One product that I have been using lately to combat my Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is NuCulture probiotics. Keeping in mind, I’ve been taking this for the past couple weeks, and I have seen a change in my overall health.

One major game changer for me since taking NuCulture, is that I have had far less daily bouts of stomach discomfort and bloating. You know that too-full-to-be-comfortable feeling. Well that feeling after eating is gone. This is important to be as this allows me more time with my family during the after dinner hours that previously had been devoted to stomach issues in lieu of family movie nights and bonfires.

I also suffer from eczema, and I have seen my breakouts clearing up much faster this week. During the summer having Eczema is not fun at all, due to the high heat and humidity of warm Dixie days. I am sure I’m not alone in disliking how my skin reacts to the sting of the summer heat. Not to mention how horrible it looks! Since taking NuCulture, I have not been getting as many breakouts. And what does this all mean? More days of summer shorts!

However, the biggest perk for me in having taken NuCulture, is that this probiotic did not trigger any acid reflux symptoms for me over the past month. Meaning that there has been no acid burping, metallic tastes, bloating, sinus backwash, or the like. This has been a big bonus for me.

Something else I’m excited about, savvy savers? AlternaScript, the company that makes NuCulture, are currently offering a free trials of their products; please see the details below.

Each trial offer will contain a seven-count capsule pack.
Trials are free to try for 14 days.
If you feel NuCulture is for you, then simply do nothing and after 14 days and every 30 days and you will be shipped a one count bottle of NuCulture and bill $47.89 plus free shipping and handling.
Special discounts are available for students, military, and current subscribers of AlternaScript products.
If for any reason you do not want any future shipments then you must email orders@getoptimind.com.
You can also contact customer service at (888) 784-9315 to cancel to avoid being charged.

For those interested in a free trial offer, click here.

Also be sure to check out Nuculture to check out their other health products or follow them on their Facebook page as well.

Here’s to your health,

Niki-designstyle-friday-m

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Natural Cleaning e-cloth Product Review

Please note, I received two free e-cloth samples for demonstration in this review. I was not compensated for my review. My opinions are 100% my own. Thank you.

When it comes to cleaning, less is always more. Call it my nature as an homebody or simply my zero-waste, greener living, minimalist mindset that craves simple, natural, effective cleaning methods in our home. Either way, the less chemicals and caution that goes into cleaning my home the better I feel about it.

So when I was given the opportunity to try out E-clothes and so I jumped at the chance to review these products because I had heard great things about them from Milk Allergy Mom and Humorous Homemaking.

And before I begin, let me just say that these are my thoughts on how well e-cloth products work in my home, and while I welcome your comments and thoughts below, please consider that my opinions are based on my own experiences with the products before making any outlandish declarations. I also am not an e-cloth (or any of their competitors) salesperson. I try to keep my reviews honest and unbiased as I can.

Again, I received both the e-cloth general purpose and the e-cloth glass and electronic cleaning clothes for the use of this review.

An e-Cloth is a microfiber cleaning cloth.
Each e-cloth has 480,000 fibres per cm2, giving each e-cloths enormous, lasting cleaning power.
The volume of cleaning edges, or fibers, when run across a surface allows for a deeper, lifting clean.
The fibers remove grease, dust, and dirt with only water.
Fabric makeup: 80% polyester& 20% polyamide
Clothes are made in Korea.
e-cloth ® General Purpose cloth penetrates and removes dirt, grease, oil, grime and bacteria on hard surfaces.
All e-cloth ^® cloths and mop pads come with a 300-washings performance warranty.
Each cloth measures 12.5″ by 12.5″ square.

You can use your e-cloth ® dry to dust. I used the general purpose cloth to clean walls, including drywall dust, ceilings, lamps, shades, and anything you could think of in terms of dry cleaning. All worked out well!
You can use your e-cloth ® wet to clean the fridge, outdoor furniture, toys, grill, smoker, bathrooms, chrome, dishes, counter tops, fabric, clothing stains, ceiling fans, soap scum, and much, much more. I loved them!
Also, all e-cloth ® cloths can be washed in your washing machine with low lint items, on a hot rinse cycle to hot allow the fibers to release dirt and grease each wash.
When washing these cloths you cannot use bleach or fabric softener.

Using the e-cloth I was struck by how simple cleaning my counter tops, glass, chrome, and wood furniture was – throughout my home, office, and work spaces. Traditionally I would have spent twenty minutes each day cleaning my kitchen, with the e-cloths only 5-6 minutes. Using e-cloths makes my daily cleaning routine faster and easier.

I also loved not having to use any chemicals, cleansers, creams, or agents while using the e-cloths. This made cleaning with e-cloths safe for everyone in my home, child and animal-friendly, and is especially beneficial to me as I am prone to allergies and asthma. This cleaning method is conducive to my beliefs in natural, holistic living.

I also liked being able to clean without using paper towels, as this helps us save money as a family; using e-cloths daily can help you save up to $200.00 yearly. And the best part? e-cloths help lessen our home’s overall carbon footprint and landfill waste, along with pollution that general cleaning chemicals could potentially create. This was an awesome fact to have in mind while using these cloths.

A few other points worth noting:

These cloths are antibacterial and help pick-up over 99% of bacteria on hard surfaces.
Are lightweight and easy to store.
Easily fits behind all my bathroom fixtures and toilet surrounds.
Removes small amounts of daily, humidity-induced soap scum. Build-up won’t be removed with e-cloths.
Dries quickly; my cloths dried in two hours in Mississippi summer humidity!

Also, I was able to try out the Glass & Polish E-Cloth, too!

With just a little water sprayed on my windows, these cloths cleaned my windows to a streak-free shine.
The other side of the Glass & Polish cloth, the polish side helped get my glass and mirrors to a polished finish in under a minute. The best part? They were also lint-free! This polish cloth is amazing if you love gorgeous, streak-free glass and mirrors!

General purpose e-cloth: $7.99US (or $14.99 as a part of a package with a Glass and Polishing cloth)
All e-cloth products can be purchased directly online from ecloth!

So, folks that’s it! I have really enjoyed using these cloths and would highly recommend them to anyone looking for affordable, natural cleaning methods in their homes this season. Also, if any of you have used the e-cloths of have tips and tricks for using these awesome cloths, I’d love to hear about it below!

Here’s to you,

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