Even if you aren’t a DIY guru, you can make things at home which will save you money over buying them at the store. Even if you have coupons! As many of you know, I grew up with my grandmother and she raised us with all of the great wisdom of a woman who grew up in the Great Depression. (If you want to hear more of this story, watch My Grandma’s Great Depression Money Saving Ways.) One of the side effects of being raised this way is having a mental mindset to look for ways to do it myself or make it myself before buying it..whatever IT is.
Here are 10 of the top things I make myself, that you can make to. No super complicated skills needed, these are all easy and CHEAP!
When we were little, we used to play with homemade playdough all of the time. We hardly ever had store bought playdough, we preferred the kind we got to make at home. We got to make it, color it and then play with it. Plus we could make things like ornaments for Christmas and bake them in the oven to keep forever. It was so much fun to bake them and then paint them and give them as gifts. Here’s our family recipe for what we called Salt Dough.
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup salt
- 1 cup cold water
- (food coloring as desired)
Instructions
- Mix flour and salt together in a bowl. Slowly mix water, a few tablespoons at a time, into flour mixture until dough is smooth and easy to handle. Knead dough for 10 minutes and let rest for 20 minutes.
Next! This one is so easy it’s just crazy! When I was little I had very long, very thick hair. After I took a bath it took a lot of time and tears to comb it out, especially on ballet day because my Grandma had to wrestle my hair into a giant bun on the top of my head! One of the things she did to make it easier was to use detangler spray. We definitely did not pay the over priced cost of kids detangler. Do you know that Kids detangle spray is usually just a leave in conditioner? Here’s how to make that yourself!
Ingredients
- 2 cups of water
- 2 tablespoons of your favorite hair conditioner
- Dollar store spray bottle
Instructions
- For the bottle, you can buy a spray bottle at the dollar store or reuse a well washed hair spray pump bottle. Pour in the water and conditioner and shake very well. Shake with every new use. Works great!!
This next one is so easy and is just a few ingredients. You can whip it up, keep it in a mason jar and it lasts forever. Great for men or women! In my house we make our own shaving cream, it’s better for our skin, leaves a softer skin after shaving and is much cheaper than name brand shaving lotions. If you’re an essential oil person you can add a few drops of your favorite scent, but I like it unscented.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup of shea butter
- 1/2 cup of coconut oil
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of baking soda
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a bowl and whip with a hand beater for 1-3 minutes until creamy. Store at room temperature in a mason jar or other airtight container.
This next one is going to have us popping over to the food category. We’re going to start with Refried Beans. It’s just crazy to me that people buy these in the can or from the deli. Making your own refried beans is literally half the cost of buying them in the store in a can. This particular recipe is the latest way I’ve been doing them, in my instant pot!
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry pinto beans
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion chopped into 1/4-inch dice
- 1 jalapeno cored, seeded, and finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced (about 1 tablespoon)
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable stock divided
- 3 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
- Rinse beans well in a colander and remove any non bean pieces and broken beans.
- Turn a 6-quart (or larger) Instant Pot to SAUTE. Add the oil.
- Add the onion and jalapeno and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes or until onion is translucent.
- Add 2 tablespoons of chicken stock and scrape up anything stuck to the bottom.
- Add in the stock, water, bay, salt, cumin, oregano and beans. Stir well.
- Seal the Instant Pot. Cook on HIGH (manual) for 45 minutes.
- Allow pressure to release.
- Discard the bay leaves. Drain, but save the bean cooking liquid.
- Add beans to a blender with a bit of the liquid and puree. (Can also use a food processor)
- Top with favorite toppings and serve!
Yogurt! Our last one today is yogurt, have you actually noticed how much you pay for yogurt in the store? The price per ounce is insane! You can actually make yogurt right in your oven or instant pot. I love my instant pot so I’m sharing that recipe here. Try it and tell me if you like it!
Ingredients
- 1/2 gallon of Fairlife ultra-filtered whole milk (you can use any brand, but it must be unfiltered)
- 2 tablespoons any yogurt with active bacteria (almost any supermarket brand yogurt qualifies)
Instructions
- Prep – be sure to sterilize all items you are going to use in yogurt making by boiling in a large pot.
- Add the tbsp of yogurt and 1 cup of milk to the instant pot and whisk well.
- Pour the rest of the milk into the pot. Whisk well
- Seal the lid on the instant pot.
- Press the yogurt button and set function to normal. Adjust time to 9 hours.
- After the timer goes off, release vent and allow to vent out the pressure.
- Open and store in the fridge in an airtight container.