Amber Spray Bottles + Recipe for the BEST Mosquito Repellant EVER!

When I lived in Panama I got eaten alive by mosquitoes. Even after being back stateside for 6 months, the scars on my arms are still very visible, making me feel very self conscious.

And since I finally found an AWESOME natural way to prevent mosquitoes from biting me all over, I wanted to share.

I want to tell you what I have tried that didn't really work:

1. Citronella spray and wipes (they smell gross, I hate this smell!)
2. doTERRA's Terrashield -- this may work in places that get only 3 mosquitoes, but it was a very costly item and did NOT work at all in Panama. Very disappointing.
3. DEET insect repellant. This worked better than the above two items I used, but at what health cost? DEET is very dangerous to our health and so it should only be used as a last resort.

 Then I found some information about catnip, and how it repels mosquitoes 10x better than DEET!

From this article in Science Daily, it says:

  Researchers report that nepetalactone, the essential oil in catnip that gives the plant its characteristic odor, is about ten times more effective at repelling mosquitoes than DEET — the compound used in most commercial insect repellents.

So, I got these amber bottles from firefly crafts on Amazon. They are awesome, including UV protection for light sensitive ingredients like essential oils. And I made my homemade bug spray and used these bottles.

BUG SPRAY RECIPE

1 Spray Bottle (get them here)
100 drops Insect Shield Synergy Blend
25 drops Catnip Essential Oil
8 oz Witch Hazel
8 oz Water

Mix all ingredients in the spray bottle and put the lid on.

Paper Flower Pom Review

I got these flower poms to review and thought they would be great for my sister's baby shower. They are large, flower poms that you can use to hang, set on a table, or use as a center piece.

The problem is that they are hard to poof up. It takes a LONG time to do it. Plan on about 15 minutes per pom. They said it would be about 5 minutes each but it is way longer! There are 7 of them in this set. 4 of them are 14" in diameter, and 3 of them are larger, at 17" in diameter.

They do come with a string to hang them if you want, or you can put them on the wall and on the table.

Gluten Free No-bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Here is a recipe that I use to make no bake, gluten free peanut butter oatmeal cookies. I originally took it from food.com but have changed it a bit to reflect more healthy ingredients.

I got to review some FineNaturals brand raw cacao. It is extremely rich and made from the high quality cacao beans, the Criollo. It is characterized by a unique flavor profile, with notes of vanilla and hints of caramel and a complete lack of the bitterness commonly associated with inferior brands.

Gluten Free No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients 

• 2 cups sugar (I use a combination of coconut sugar and stevia, about 1 cup coconut sugar and depending on your brand of Stevia, a teaspoon)
• 4 tablespoons raw cacao (I used this brand, here)
• 1 dash salt
• ¹⁄₂ cup butter
• ¹⁄₂ cup milk (I use half and half)
• ¹⁄₂ cup peanut butter (I use a bit more)
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (I use my homemade gluten free vanilla - recipe can be found here)

Directions

1. Combine first 5 ingredients.
2. Bring to boil and cook for 90 seconds.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Stir in the peanut butter until it dissolves.
5. Add oats.
6. Add 1 tsp vanilla. Mix well.
7. Drop by tablespoons onto cookie sheet. Cool for 30 minutes or until set. (I put in the freezer so I can eat them sooner).

This raw cacao powder is non-GMO and can be found on Amazon here.