natural cleaning Archives

One Change for Perioral Dermatitis

Filed Under: Gut Healing, Love, Safer Beauty, Special Diets, Unprocessed, Wellness Tagged With: beautycounter, natural cleaning, perioral dermatitis, skin

Make this one change for Perioral Dermatitis, and you could heal at an insanely rapid pace.

Stick with me for a second.

How I Healed My Perioral Dermatitis has been a very popular blog post. I wrote it around this time in 2014, and I still stand by everything I said.

It’s been three years since, and I do most things on that list consistently still. But not the GAPS Diet. I don’t do that. So when I started showing the Perioral Dermatitis signs around my nose again (I mentioned this in the September recap), I immediately thought, “It must be the diet.”

By no means did I go back to GAPS, but I did eliminate (or at least greatly reduce) various things that I thought could be causing any sort of inflammation.

One Change for Perioral Dermatitis sarahkayhoffman.com Redmond Earthpaste

Over a month later, and still no huge changes to the nose.

And then one day a few weeks back, I was brushing my teeth, and as I was doing so, I grabbed the toothpaste tube, and began reading the ingredients (it was this toothpaste):

Calcium carbonate, glycerin, water, xylitol, hydrated silica, natural flavor*, sodium lauryl sulfate, zinc citrate, carrageenan, sodium bicarbonate. *Peppermint oil

When I wrote How I Healed My Perioral Dermatitis, I specifically stated, “I stopped using all traditional toothpaste as well, and never buy toothpaste with SLS and/or fluoride.”

Somehow, over the years, grabbing Toms at Target was much easier than anything else. And besides, it isn’t truly a traditional toothpaste in the way that Crest is.

Authentic natural ingredients and whitens with naturally sourced silica’s
Fluoride free formula
No artificial dyes, sweeteners or flavors
Toms of Maine anti plaque and whitening fluoride free toothpaste is gluten free, cruelty free and halal and kosher certified

Good enough, yes?

One Change for Perioral Dermatitis

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One Change for Perioral Dermatitis sarahkayhoffman.com

Not so fast.

I don’t know why I assumed that Tom’s of Maine didn’t use SLS (maybe because it said fluoride free, so I thought I was in the clear?), but there written clearly on the label it was – sodium lauryl sulfate.

The EWG (Environmental Working Group) defines sodium laureth sulfate (same thing as sodium laurel sulfate) as an “ingredient derived from ethoxylated lauryl alcohol and used as a surfactant; may be contaminated with potentially toxic manufacturing impurities such as 1,4-dioxane.”

I immediately headed back to Amazon and ordered the Redmond Earthpaste 4 pack. The 4 pack includes flavors: Spearmint, Lemon Twist, Peppermint, and Cinnamon. Here is more information about the product:

Simple Natural Ingredients
No Glycerine
No Flouride
No SLS or Other Foaming Agents
Only Five Ingredients – not all those flavors in one tube (Purified Water, Bentonite Clay, Xylitol, Spearmint, Lemon Twist, Peppermint, or Cinnamon Essential Oil, Sea Salt, Tea Tree Oil)

A couple days later, I swapped out the Tom’s for Earthpaste.

Two days later, my nose was 100% healed. 100%! (Top two pictures are before. Bottom two are after. Again, my nose wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it was in 2014, but it still showed me that something was not right.)

One Change for Perioral Dermatitis sarahkayhoffman.com PD

In fact, it hardly seemed real, and on the second day, I said to Ryan, “Look at my nose! Isn’t that unreal?”

If you have lingering Perioral Dermatitis issues, check your toothpaste. You may just need to make this one change for Perioral Dermatitis that could be your key, too. Turns out it wasn’t the diet, reminding me yet again that food is not always the enemy.

Order the Redmond’s HERE, seriously, do it now, and let me know if it works for you. (By the way, yes that is an Amazon affiliate link, but I promise that if you buy it, I make like 5 pennies. I also promise that this was my key.)

And p.s. Don’t just think SLS is in your toothpaste. It’s everywhere. My passion with it lies within toothpaste and cosmetics. “Did you know that, if you use conventional cosmetics on a daily basis, you can absorb almost five pounds of chemicals and toxins into your body each year? Daily use of ordinary, seemingly benign personal care products like shampoo, toothpaste and shower gel can easily result in exposure to thousands of chemicals, and many will make their way into your body and become “stuck” there, since you lack the means to break them down.” (source) Right around the time I swapped out Tom’s for Redmond’s, I also began swapping out every last skin and body care item for things I make at home (like my makeup remover wipes and body wash) and Beautycounter. And it’s changing my life.

Xox,
SKH

Sarah Kay Hoffman

You will heal. I will help.

http://childlike-sports.flywheelsites.com

5 Skin and Body Care Items for Mama and Babies

Filed Under: Inspire, Love, Our Home, Raising Baby, Unprocessed Tagged With: Healthy Lifestyle, love, natural cleaning, organic, perioral dermatitis, raising baby, skin

I recently posted this video on Facebook and Instagram, and people started asking me all about the product. So I figured I’d put together a little post about it and four more items with 5 skin and body care items for mama and babies.

Be still my ????. My little #docmcstuffins with her @theeczemacompany goods.

A video posted by Sarah Kay Hoffman (@sarahkayhoffman) on Sep 15, 2016 at 3:36pm PDT

{Disclosure: This post was sponsored by The Eczema Company, but all information, opinions, and general thoughts are my own.}

Look, I’m frugal. I’m super frugal, and I rarely spend money frivolously. I can’t remember the last time I went shopping, and other than food, personal care items, and things for our home or babies, I couldn’t care less about spending money on random things.

I buy things that can serve multiple uses and/or that multiple people in the house can use. For example, gallons of coconut oil? Yes! Why? Because every single person in the house uses it to eat, I use it for coffee and an essential oil carrier, and during bath time, it gets slathered all over the babies hair.

No shame.

But coconut oil is not the only product that serves both mama and babies (daddy and Ceci, too!). There are hundreds. Today I have 5 for you.

By the way, in case you don’t remember, skin and body care are really important to me because I have a nasty Perioral Dermatitis condition that I keep at bay 100% naturally with diet, lifestyle, and by only using products like the ones below.

5 Skin and Body Care Items for Mama and Babies

5 Skin and Body Care Items for Mama and Babies sarahkayhoffman.com

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Organic Manuka Skin Soothing Cream

5 Skin and Body Care Items for Mama and Babies Organic Manuka Skin Soothing Cream sarahkayhoffman.com

This is the product my very own “Doc McSamarah” is putting on her legs. It is a nourishing, versatile, creamy balm that works wonders on just about any skin woe and is gentle enough for babies, yet very effective for adults. In fact, I’ve been using it similar to how our resident doctor uses it!

5 Skin and Body Care Items for Mama and Babies sarahkayhoffman.com Samarah The Eczema Company

And….it contains only six simple ingredients! The power in this cream comes from the Manuka honey and Manuka oil which are known for their healing and bacteria fighting powers and together they soothe away diaper rash, eczema, psoriasis, chapped or dry skin, sunburn, razor burn, bug bites, and cuts and scrapes. Children (and husbands!) like the lightly sweet scent the honey naturally provides.This cream will hydrate any skin type and will never burn or sting the skin, like so many creams sadly do in the case of eczema or open wounds. <– Did you know that?!

Dr. Bronner’s 18-in-1 Pure Castile

5 Skin and Body Care Items for Mama and Babies Dr. Bronner's Pure Castile 18-in-1 Soap sarahkayhoffman.com

Quite honestly, there are many different scents of this that we use. These are my favorites:

I have done so many things with these products from making a natural window spray to naturally cleaning baby bins, hangers and more to general cleaning and using as a natural hair product.

Emily’s Baby & Adult Skin Skin Soother

5 Skin and Body Care Items for Mama and Babies sarahkayhoffman.com Emily's Baby & Adult Skin Skin Soother

I mentioned it in my post yesterday, but our newest little angel has eczema pretty badly. I definitely have my work cut out for me again, and I know this is going to be a perfect accompaniment for her.

We have currently been using it for Isaiah’s cradle cap, which he at one point had horribly. It is much better, but definitely not gone, so I started using this to help heal his head.

Emily’s Baby & Adult Skin Soother is a Chinese herbal ointment made by a Boston acupuncturist to calm and heal his daughter’s eczema. The results were so incredible, that he now makes it available for other families as well! Feedback from their fans revealed that this treatment wasn’t just great for eczema, but also worked for cradle cap and itchy skin. Hence, why I’ll dually use for both Isaiah and new baby girl.

Emily’s also makes a bar soap and body wash with the same healing herbs that treat the skin in the bath or shower – these work especially well for cradle cap or seborrheic dermatitis.

Earth Mama Angel Baby Body Wash and Shampoo

5 Skin and Body Care Items for Mama and Babies Earth Mama Angel Baby Lavender Body and Soap sarahkayhoffman.com

I have used this product since we first got Samarah. In fact, you can check out a past post on it via 10 resources for alternative uses for the product. The lavender and orange ones are my favorites. I don’t use it much as a shampoo because, quite honestly, we don’t really shampoo the babies’ hair very often, and it’s not a shampoo that would work for me. That said, we all use it as a body wash, since most body wash products contain any amount of these 20 toxic ingredients.

And also, the lavender is calming before bedtime, and the orange is just delicious.

Organic Calendula Oil

5 Skin and Body Care Items for Mama and Babies sarahkayhoffman.com Organic Canlandula Oil

I really love this one. It’s so beautiful!

What I love most about it is that it’s great for all skin types and ages. Apply it directly to the skin, add it to the bath or use it liberally to soothingly massage your baby (by the way, all of which I’m ready to do with the baby once she arrives — tomorrow!!!).

So many baby oils contain a long list of less than ideal ingredients, but I’m loving how this one only contains 3 super pure ingredients: Olive oil (Organic, Extra-virgin, Unrefined, First Cold-Pressed), Whole Golden Calendula Flowers (Organic), and tocopherol Vitamin E (GMO-Free). I’m not sure you’ll find something purer to soothe your little one’s skin. If you’re looking for something similar in a more solid form, try their Organic Calendula Salve.

What are your favorite body and skin care items that serve a dual purpose for mama and baby? Or mama and toddler, child, teenager, daddy, grandma, grandpa….?!

p.s.s. Interested in seeing other body and personal care items I recommended? My list is HERE.

Updated in 2017: 90% of what we use now is Beautycounter…..skin, body, baby, family. All of it.

Xox,
SKH

Sarah Kay Hoffman

You will heal. I will help.

http://childlike-sports.flywheelsites.com

Making Your Own All Natural Cleaning Supplies

Filed Under: Inspire, Love, Raising Baby, Unprocessed Tagged With: adoption, Healthy Lifestyle, integrative nutrition, life, life unprocessed, natural cleaning, raising baby

For the final post in this series, I’m doing one last “sweep,” i.e. cleaning, natural cleaning that is, and teaching you about making your own all natural cleaning supplies.

{In case you missed them, here is Part I, Part II and Part III of this series.}

Making Your Own All Natural Cleaning Supplies

The best part of making my own, all natural cleaning supplies was that I didn’t have to be a mad scientist.

How? With the Come Clean Natural Cleaning Set. (Remember, we are not trying to be rock stars in every single piece of our lives. Do what you can. With cleaning, I needed the extra assistance.)

This set comes complete with

2 Spray Bottles
1 Mixing Container
Lemon Juicer that fits all 3 bottles
Microfiber cleaning cloth
Reusable stickers to label each bottle
Easy to follow natural cleaning guide with recipes for every room in your home

To begin with, I decided to make a kitchen/bathroom spray, a glass cleaner (the windows in her room are dirty!) and wood polish (for her dresser and crib).

My favorite part of doing this was reading through the guide. I learned how to make everything on my own, all naturally, from kitchen to laundry, general living and even dog shampoo (<– making that one soon!)

Today I’ll share with you one of the recipes.

Window Spray

Make your own all natural window spray. See ya, Windex!

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This one was my favorite to make because I have been looking for a Windex replacement. I know that some people love the smell of Windex, but I don’t. It’s gross. And it smells like chemicals. Making the window spray was simple (the recipe is in the book):

I used this castile soap.

It works like a charm!

All other recipes can be found in the book, which comes with the set (one of you will win it!).

Oh, but p.s. the wood polish = fantastic. Call me un-domesticated, but who knew there was more to Olive Oil than the sparkling addition to a baby spinach salad?!

Now that she is here, I have made it a focus to implement only all natural cleaning in our house, in her room. Toxic chemicals are most of what standard cleaning supplies are made of. If I can do one more thing (a simple thing at that) to help rid her everyday exposure, then that’s the best I can ask of myself.

I hope you have enjoyed this series.

Lord knows I have so much more coming on our Little Legume.

So many stories. So much love.

Xox,
SKH

{Disclosure: I was given this set and all items used in the Mighty Nest Series from Mighty Nest. I was not compensated for my thoughts. All opinions are my own. Always!}

Sarah Kay Hoffman

You will heal. I will help.

http://childlike-sports.flywheelsites.com

How to Organize Baby Clothes

Filed Under: Inspire, Love, Our Home, Raising Baby, Unprocessed Tagged With: a gutsy baby, adoption, giveaway, Healthy Lifestyle, life unprocessed, natural cleaning, organic, our home, raising baby

I must be putting up a great front for y’all that I’m organized and handy around the house. Someone from the homeskillet MN commented on this awesomeness from me, but I had to assure her that this is simply not (typically) the case. Ryan will attest to it. I am just a measly ‘ole duck. Quack. But still, I can teach you how to organize baby clothes.

Somehow, with the Little Legume, I am learning to be more organized with her stuff.

For today, let’s chat the baby changing table/dresser and stand-alone dresser.

How to Organize Baby Clothes

Some practical ways to clean and organize your baby’s room and clothes.

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These are the things I have been doing.

Stand-Alone Dresser Organization

We found her dresser at a secondhand store a long time ago. It used to be in our guest room, but guest room turned into my office when my office turned into the baby’s room. At the time, our guest room was super country-esque. We had cowboy pictures hanging on the walls, painted chipped-wooden signs (that my dad made for Fiona and Reagan) and this chipped-wooden dresser which we decided could go in the baby’s room.

Even though I coo and caw and say “goo goo, gaa gaa” with the Little Legume, I’m not big on girly, baby, baby rooms.

We march to our own beat…..always, and I have every intention of teaching her the same.

We put this stand-alone dresser in her closet, and I threw a bunch of socks and accessories in the top drawer.

That was messy.

But I am thrifty.

I grabbed 3 miniature baskets from Michaels. I didn’t even pay $5.99 for each one; they were 40% off that day. <– go ahead, start cheering, I know I’m a saving champ.

I filled each basket with cute socks and accessories. I placed them in the top drawer. And when it was done, neat ‘n tidy was all that remained.

The bottom two drawers consist of: pajamas and pants/leggings.

How to Organize Baby Clothes sarahkayhoffman.com

Baby Changing Table/Dresser

We didn’t spend a billion dollars on her changing table/dresser, either. Not necessary. All she cares about is smiling (or screaming) at us while we change her on that table.

I think it’s a CafeKids changing table. I don’t even know. All I know is that we got it on Amazon and with Prime, paid no shipping to have it delivered to our front door. The only person who suffered was Ryan, putting it together until the wee hours of the morning. Bless his soul.

It is a changing table + has room for 3 “cubbies” and 2 dresser drawers beneath.

I “splurged” on cubby baskets. I got them from Pier One Imports.

I filled each basket as such, left-to-right, just how I use them ~~six hundred times a day~~:

Basket 1: diapers, diapers, diapers
Basket 2: diaper wipes, refill (I always get stuck mid-change with no wipes = ew) and Diaper Genie refill
Basket 3: California Baby Natural & Organics lotion and bum cream, All-Natural Hand Sanitizing Wipes

The main reason I put the all-natural hand sanitizing wipes here is that, truth be told, we honestly, truly, 100% have A Gutsy Baby. I’m not sure if it’s coincidence or a fancy trick God is playing on me, but I got A Gutsy Baby. Hate it, love it – yes, I’ve felt all those emotions, but they are what they are.

I love knowing, for those times we have a mess on our hands – hers or mine, literally – that there is a wipe nearby to the rescue. Furthermore, a wipe that is safe for kids, non-toxic, and comes from rapidly renewable resources that grow abundantly worldwide.

And finally, next to the changing table/dresser, we keep 2 very important things:

There are no miracles that happen at 2 am, except for the miracle that my husband does a lot of 2 am feedings to help me. What else helps at 2 am (or any time of the day) in the nursery? Cleaning. Messy happens.

We keep the 2 am Miracle near the changing table because it’s a cleaner safe for cribs, changing tables, changing pads, diaper pails, walls, and mattresses. {It is also safe for car seats, highchairs, toys, doors, and floors.}

And the wood fiber cleaning cloths accompany the 2 am Miracle cleaner. And they are colorful!

If paper towels were super absorbent and longer lasting with designs based on the natural origins of wood fiber, they’d look exactly like this. These reusable cleaning cloths are the perfect paper towel alternative, great for spills, cleaning, and well, more spills.

There is just one more part of this series. In case it’s not planned for that post, is there anything YOU want to know about her room and my awesome organization/cleaning skills? <- I kid. About the awesomeness.

I hope I’ve sparked some new ideas for you, for your own baby/children’s room and/or for healthier cleaning/living in general.

Xox,
SKH

Sarah Kay Hoffman

You will heal. I will help.

http://childlike-sports.flywheelsites.com

How I Have Organized the Little Legume’s Clothes: Part I

Filed Under: Raising Baby Tagged With: a gutsy baby, adoption, giveaway, Healthy Lifestyle, life, life unprocessed, natural cleaning, organic

On Wednesday, after I unloaded my heavy weight -> clash of old and new life and choosing less to gain more, I moved forward in the best way possible. Already, these past 2 days have been much better and much more productive. Thank you for all your kind messages. I’m looking forward to sharing with (showing you) the fruits of these decisions in the months to come.

As I mentioned in those posts, my Mighty Nest Series was nearly done prior to the mini meltdown, so I will still be posting these for y’all.

Part I: First Comes Love, Then Comes Cleaning {and a Mighty Nest Giveaway}

How I Have Organized the Little Legume’s Clothes: Part I

Clothes. Meh. I’ve never been a girly, girl…..until the Little Legume came along. Suddenly, all these baby girl clothes make my heart gush with “ooohs and ahhhhhs.”

This does not change the fact that all these magically adorable tiny pieces started out a complete mess.

We barely had to buy anything because people just kept on sending more and more things for her.

I decided to organize and put away her clothes in 4 main places:

hanging up in the closet
in bins
in a dresser
in her changing table

Cleaning

Fact: I am NOT a cleaner. I never have been, and I never will be. But with the Little Legume, her stuff has to be clean and it has to be done in the best way possible. Why? Because she was a Premie, her immune system is still developing and, well, just because I’ve chosen that for her.

Before I hung up her clothes or put them away in bins, I scrubbed them down. Really….think about everyone who laid their germ-y hands all over them in the stores. I’m not a germ phobe, but still, ew.

The job only required 2 items:

a Naked Sponge

For just $3.35 you can have a Naked Sponge 2-pack. What I love most about these is that they are completely free of any and all harmful chemicals and colors – aka no “color bleeding” on my stuff. They are dishwasher safe, and they can be used in all areas of the house.

Pure Castile Soap

The Unscented Baby Mild Pure Castile Soap by Dr. Bronner’s Soaps is perfect not only for light cleaning, but also doubles as a baby soap. How? Because there are no chemicals in it, no fragrance and “All oils and essential oils are certified organic to the National Organic Standards Program.”

To clean the bins and hangers, I just used one part soap to 40 parts water, since cleaning these items are light-duty cleaning. At that pace, this bottle will last me a very long time. And for only $6.95 that’s completely doable.

Once this basic cleaning of bins and hangers was done, it was time to organize.

{Remember, you can win both of the above and so much more! Enter now.}

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hanging Up in the Closet

Self explanatory. I like things to match, so I bought a ton of miniature white hangers.

The hanging-up items include: complete outfits, jackets, nice dresses and sweaters. They are only the ones for 0-3 months, and once they are hung up according to style, I then arrange them by color. My organizational skills are out of this world. Don’t be jealous.

Bins

This is a cheap way for me to store her clothes out for a year ore more (yes, we have clothes that will extend beyond her 1st birthday).

Now, please don’t tell Ryan I told you, but his method of labeling her bins was just not very pretty. Do you see those hand-written paper labels with scotch tape oh-so-vibrantly visible? I mean, c’mon.

And when I told him that it wasn’t very pretty, he replied, “Yes, but it’s practical.”

I’ll give him that (love him for that), but I made just one small (and I might add add, practical) upgrade that made all bins look better…..for only $2.49!

I went to Michaels to find a solution. I knew I needed 4 pieces: 3-6 months, 6-9 months, 9-12 months, 12+ months.

I found these super cute tags, on an end-cap (<– read: on sale) nonetheless:

For $2.49 her storage bins had just gotten an upgrade. p.s. Are you just about dying at how cute this ruffle skirt is? Thank you, Cousin Amy 🙂

I stuck each tag on the appropriate bin, and then placed the bins on her rustic dresser in the closet.

Simple, prettier and mostly….done and organized.

See you for more soon!

p.s. EVERYTHING included in today’s post was bought for less than $10 per piece. Where do you buy things on the cheap?!

Love your guts,
SKH

Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Restaurant
Isabel Marant Sneakers Different Career Fields in Photography

Ornately decorated sweaters were worn with skirts or trousers
woolrich outletPull Out Spray Kitchen Faucet

What’s appropriate for wearing under a cardigan
woolrich rot Think about the following components within fashion

What’s appropriate for wearing under a cardigan
woolrich shop Think about the following components within fashion

Sarah Kay Hoffman

You will heal. I will help.

http://childlike-sports.flywheelsites.com

Cleaning When Baby Arrives

Filed Under: Inspire, Love, Our Home, Raising Baby, Unprocessed Tagged With: a gutsy baby, adoption, giveaway, Healthy Lifestyle, integrative nutrition, life, life unprocessed, natural cleaning, our home

We have had her about 2.5 months and have loved her since the very first time we touched her sweet little hands. So now it’s time for cleaning when baby arrives.

We spent November, December and much of January just getting by on love and Peet’s Coffee.

Those early days were all about love (and Peet’s Coffee – do you see my eyes in desperate need of Peet’s Coffee?!).

We had just 5 things when she came to us

her room
a car seat (which was actually far too big, so we had to buy another, much smaller, one)
a pack ‘n play (again, we were expecting a 1-2-year-old)
a crib
LOVE

On top of the fact that we had to go on ~~several~~ a baby shopping spree, nothing in her room was ready.

But again, we survived purely on love.

And then it all sort of hit us like a 100-pound stack of bricks, and the messy, chaotic, dirty, unorganized clutter-filled space had begun to stress us out.

It looked like this.

Cleaning When Baby Arrives sarahkayhoffman.com How to

And then it got worse and looked like this.

Enough was enough.

First comes loves, then comes cleaning.

We began taking the room apart, little-by-little.

We organized. We set up baby shop. We cleaned.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to show you what we did and how we did it.

But for today?

ENTER TO WIN MY FABULOUS COLLECTION OF GREEN CLEANING SUPPLIES! {Giveaway is over.}

Includes:

p.s. To know me, to my blog is to know that I rarely do giveaways. I couldn’t help myself with this one since one of my personal goals for 2014 is to “swap out all home cleaning and personal care items for more unprocessed ones .” I want the same simplicity and wellness for you and your family:)

The giveaway will stay open through midnight on Monday, February 10, 2014.

Question: What are your best baby/child room cleaning and/or organizing tips?

(Seriously, I still need a TON of help –> give me your best in the comments below!)

Time to clean….

Xox,
SKH

p.s.s. Know someone who is about to welcome a new baby, just welcomed a new baby or simply needs a good children’s room cleaning/reorganization? SHARE THIS POST with them!

Sarah Kay Hoffman

You will heal. I will help.

http://childlike-sports.flywheelsites.com

natural cleaning

One Change for Perioral Dermatitis

5 Skin and Body Care Items for Mama and Babies

Dr. Bronner’s 18-in-1 Pure Castile

Making Your Own All Natural Cleaning Supplies

This set comes complete with

Window Spray

How to Organize Baby Clothes

Stand-Alone Dresser Organization

Baby Changing Table/Dresser

How I Have Organized the Little Legume’s Clothes: Part I

Cleaning

Pure Castile Soap

Hanging Up in the Closet

Bins

No charge or spam. Only healing.