Life

When it comes to home maintenance, personal care, and gift giving, the little expenses really do add up! Amrita Singh shares the Ultimate Frugalista Guide to making your own everyday products. These DIY solutions have been tried and tested to help you save a few bucks!

Home: Goo Remover

For when you peel stickers off new cooking, this cooking ingredient scrubs annoying and relentless adhesive residue.

Ingredients

Vegetable shortening — breaks down the glue in an effective way

Directions

1. Let the vegetable shortening sit for a bit on the surface.
2. Scrub away with a cleaning sponge and the sticker goo comes right off!

Home: Dusting Spray

Leading household cleaning sprays can be harsh on your skin and harmful to the environment. Use this all-natural dusting spray with ingredients you can find in your kitchen cupboard! The vinegar cuts through dirt and bacteria, the olive oil adds polish to your surfaces, and lemon adds a nice scent and keeps the whole mixture long-lasting.

Ingredients

1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water (purified or boiled and cooled)
2 tablespoons olive oil
10-15 drops of fresh lemons or a few drops of lemon essential oil

Directions

1. Whisk ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Use a funnel to pour mixture into spray bottle.
3. Spray along surfaces you normally dust.
4. Use dusting cloths to wipe.

Beauty: Coconut Oil Hair Mask

Coconut is a great all-purpose ingredient and works well as a deep moisturizer for your hair, while citrus helps with grease build up. Use this DIY hair mask once a month to keep your locks shiny, soft and healthy.

Ingredients

Coconut oil
Fresh grapefruit
Fresh lemon
Hair bowl with brush

Directions

1. Mix ingredients in a bowl.
2. Rub mixture into hair, all the way from the roots to the tips.
3. Leave in for two hours if possible.
4. Rinse out mixture in the shower.

Gift: Candy Jar

If you've been invited to a dinner party, it's always nice to have a small gift on hand. Collect some coloured candy into a mason jar, dress it up, and voila — you have an artisan looking gift that any host would be delighted to receive!

Materials

Salt water taffy
Mason jar
Pretty fabric
Ribbon

Directions

1. Colour coordinate salt water taffy and stuff into a mason jar.
2. Add a piece of fabric along the mouth of the jar and close the lid.
3. Wrap a ribbon around the lid to dress it up.

Decor: Painted Wine Bottles

You can do a lot with your empty wine bottles, like making unique, personalized vases.

Materials

Wine bottle
Painter's tape
Can of acrylic latex paint
Bunch of wild flowers

Directions

1. Use painter's tape to form a pattern or design on your wine bottle.
2. Paint the bottle according to your diesgn.
3. Fill bottle with fresh flowers.