DIY Toothpaste for the Kinda Crunchy Guy or Gal

Did you know this…

can become this?

Yes, friends, I have stepped into a whole new world. A simpler world. A crunchier world.

I made my own toothpaste for the first time almost three years ago, following this recipe at Crunchy Betty. I don't use it all the time now, but this is by far my favorite DIY toothpaste receipe I've tried. No, it doesn’t taste just like store bought toothpaste. But it is pretty amazing.

The details: You need Coconut Oil, Baking Soda, Peppermint Oil, and Stevia.

I bought my supplies at the local natural grocer, mostly because it felt a little crunchier that way. It is a little pricey to make these initial investments (the organic coconut oil was $8, the peppermint oil was around $6, as was the organic stevia) but all of it has other uses. And ultimately, it will end up being cheaper than the store-bought toothpaste. (I used to spend about $4 a tube.)

To make: take 3 tablespoons of coconut oil and 3 tablespoons of baking soda. Using a fork, mash them up until pretty well blended. Then add 20 to 25 drops of peppermint oil and one packet of stevia. Continue to mash and mix until smooth. You could also add 2 teaspoons of vegetable glycerin to add sweetness and reach a more typical toothpaste consistency, but I don’t think it is necessary.

Et voila! You have made toothpaste. 

As you can see, I put mine in two little jars. One small mason jar and one little jar that used to hold fancy jam. Now to brush my teeth I just dip my toothbrush into the jar. Somehow it seems simpler than having to fight to squeeze toothpaste out of the tube.

So there you go! You are now fully capable of making your own toothpaste. If you have any questions about whether or not coconut oil is good for your teeth, or if you are concerned about the lack of fluoride in this toothpaste, head over to Crunchy Betty’s post. She addresses all of these things, and is probably much more knowledgeable in this area than I am.

Have you ever DIYed your own toothpaste? What is your favorite recipe?

Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...

How I Did It: Homemade Wedding Favors You Can Eat!

Wedding favors can be hard, y'all. When you start planning a wedding, you read conflicting advice. Some people will say wedding favors aren't necessary. Others say that you MUST have the personalized koozie/fan/sunglasses/mason jar mug. (Those sources are usually selling said koozies/fans/etc.)

I think it just depends on the couple! If you want to do favors, go for it. If you don't, your guests probably won't even notice.  I knew I wanted to do something as a favor, but I didn't want to just order something from a website. James and I talked about a few different options but ultimately decided to give homemade chocolate chip cookies. We'd initially wanted to do a cookie bar at the reception so giving cookies as favors seemed like a great way to have cookies at the wedding without having to do a full cookie bar.

In the weeks leading up to the wedding I ordered a custom stamp from Etsy (this one), a mason jar stamp from Michaels (order a similar one here), wax bags from Amazon (similar here), black ink stamp pad (like this one), and purple washi tape (similar here) and I also bought two giant buckets of Pillsbury cookie dough (from Sam's). Once it all arrived, I got started.

After some trial and error, I realized it was most efficient to spread a dozen or so bags out first. Then I stamped each one with the mason jar. In the time it took me to stamp the rest of the bags, the first one had dried enough to use the custom stamp. I centered the wording in the middle of the mason jar and pushed hard. It was a fine line between too light and smeared! But after several nights of this same pattern, I had all the bags done. I set them aside until a couple days before the wedding. 

That's when I set to work baking! Starting the Thursday before the big day, I made pan after pan of cookies. Yes, I "cheated" by using premade dough, but it would've been a mess trying to make them from scratch. So I scooped out lots of that delicious cookie dough, and before our rehearsal dinner I had baked around 150 cookies. My friends helped me put each cookie in its own bag and seal it with purple lace washi tape. Then the cookie bags were loaded into a vintage apple crate and packed up with the rest of the wedding paraphernalia. 

Of course, it turns out that about half of our guests didn't even know there were favors! The vintage apple crate we used to hold the favors ended up stuck under the cake table, and I didn't realize it until many guests had left. So we ended up sending extra cookies home with everyone else who was left, plus we had extras to take on our honeymoon. And hey, wouldn't you rather have extra cookies to eat than lots of leftover koozies/fans/etc? ;)

This post contains affiliate links. If you're interested in something, please click through and help support Mrs Robbins Sparkles! And the second picture was taken by Blue Elephant Photography at our reception. Visit their site if you want to book an awesome couple to shoot your engagement photos or wedding, and tell them I sent you!

Throwback Thursday: Drink Like Mad Men shower

In honor of yesterday's Man Men shout out, I thought I'd share this Throwback Thursday post about a Mad Men shower I threw several years ago.

Last week another bridesmaid and I threw a shower for my roommate. She’s already had a couple traditional showers, so we did something a little different. We threw a Mad Men stock the bar shower!

We made the kind of drinks Don, Betty, Peggy, and even obnoxious Pete would drink. Of course, we didn’t drink nearly as many as they would have! We tried old fashioneds and martinis, though I think we all agreed martinis might be better left to the professionals.

I was rather impressed with the spread we pulled together. Cheese tray, crab dip, chocolate fondue, spinach and artichoke dip…though the fondue didn’t really turn out how we thought it would. (Will be trying it again for the bachelorette party!) That was the first time I made the crab dip, and I loved it. It was so easy to make, yet it tasted amazing. I used Laura’s recipe – visit her post for the full recipe and instructions. I’ve included an abbreviated recipe below, but if you have any questions, her post is much more detailed.

• Melt 8 oz cream cheese, 8 oz chive & onion cream cheese, and 4 oz sour cream in a large bowl in the microwave.
• When that’s soft, add in 2 cans of crab meat. I used one can of lump crab, one can of shredded crab.
• Add 2 tbsp worchestire, a dash of seasoned salt, a dash of garlic powder, 1 tbsp sugar, handful of grated sharp cheddar cheese, handful of grated parmesan cheese.
• Stir together until dip is white, then scoop into baking dish.
• Add a layer of parmesan cheese on top (however thick or thin you’d like).
• Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes.

Once it was finished, I scooped the dip into a chaffing dish. I lost the nice layer of parmesan on top, but no one seemed to mind. And the chaffing dish kept the dip warm for hours. Oh, and I noticed some people ate it with the blue corn chips, while others preferred the crackers. Personally, I liked the chips.

We didn’t have many decorations, but I did pull out some goodies I found when cleaning out my grandmother’s stuff. Not sure if it is all from the right period. Either way, I liked it

And yes, I made a homemade German chocolate cake.

Seriously homemade. I sifted flour, separated eggs, and whipped egg whites into soft white peaks. (Before this, I had no idea what that meant. I had to watch a YouTube video to learn!) I brushed a rum syrup on each layer of the cake and spread the homemade coconut and pecan filling between them. And I made the icing myself too. (I might make that icing again just to snack on!) The cake was delicious. It was also a lot of work. You can find the recipe for the cake here.

The happy couple – only a few weeks to go!

Overall, I think everyone had a good time. We definitely behaved better than the characters on Mad Men, though!