Home Keeping Recipes

A few months ago I was in an airport and spied this gorgeous book.  It had blank pages and the design on the front is William Morris, a particular favorite of mine.  The book is small and I couldn't resist.

It sat on the book shelf for a while.  I knew it had a special purpose, but I hadn't yet determined what that would be.

During those months, I began making homemade cleaning supplies, experimenting with essential oils, and even making a few beauty products.  Little scraps of paper, post-its, and random notebook pages with recipes written on them were building up; but then I realized the purpose for this beautiful book.

I haven't posted many of these recipes, because most of them came from other blogs.  I've tried many recipes.  Some worked and some didn't work so well.  I kept them anyway because I've found from moving around that some things work in hard water and not so well in soft, and vice versa.  Since I've moved twenty times so far, I figured they might come in handy before long.

The ones I really like are highlighted so I can find them quickly, and the book is divided into categories: cleaning products, natural pest repellants, and beauty products, to name a few.

If you want to put your home keeping recipes in a book, find one that is beautiful and "sings" to you.  If you are like me and clean only because it is necessary, not because you enjoy it, every little thing you can do to make it more pleasant helps.  Writing the formulas in a pretty book, scenting them with your favorite essential oil, or buying sponges and rubber gloves in your favorite color all make cleaning less of a chore and more of an aromatherapy experience, and make it more likely that you'll do the tasks needed to keep your home clean.