by Merissa Alink
Genres: Non-Fiction
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon *affiliate
From the immensely popular blogger behind Little House Living comes a motivational homemaking book, inspired by Laura Ingalls Wilder;s Little House on the Prairie, featuring creative, fun ways to live your life simply and frugally.
Shortly after getting married, Merissa Alink and her husband found themselves with nothing in their pantry but a package of spaghetti and some breadcrumbs. Their life had hit rock bottom, and it was only after a touching act of charity that they were able to get on their feet again.
Inspired by this gesture of kindness as well as the beloved Little House on the Prairie books, Merissa found that a life of self-sufficiency and simplicity could be charming and blissful. She set out to live an entirely made-from-scratch life, the “Little House” way, and as a result, she slashed her household budget by nearly half—saving thousands of dollars a year. She started to write about homesteading, homemaking, and cooking from scratch, and over the next few years developed the recipes and DIY projects that would one day become part of her now beloved website, LittleHouseLiving.com.
As whole foods became staples of the family diet, Merissa realized the dangers of putting overly processed ingredients not only into our bodies, but on or near them as well. In addition to countless delicious, home-cooked meals, she developed natural, easy-to-make recipes for everything from sunscreen to taco seasoning mix, lemon poppy hand scrub to furniture polish. With their simple ingredients, these recipes are allergen friendly and many are gluten-free.
With over 130 practical, simple DIY recipes, gorgeous full-color photographs, and Merissa's trademark charm in personal stories and tips, Little House Living is the epitome of heartland warmth and prairie inspiration.
Do you crave making your own bath salt, shampoo, cleaners or making your own brownie mix? Then the Little House Living: The Make-Your-Own Guide to a Frugal, Simple, and Self-Sufficient Life by Merissa Alink is the perfect book to add to your collection. It would also make a wonderful gift for a bride to be, your frugal neighbor, or those difficult friends on your holiday shopping list.
Beautifully bond with colorful images and inspiring thoughts for becoming self-sufficient this book has something for everyone. Each time I pick it up I am inspired to try new things. Alink’s recipes and suggestions are easy to follow with readily available ingredients.
I decided to make Bath Salt and choose her Vanilla recipe, since it is my fragrance of choice. This recipe took me seconds to make and I emerged from the bath relaxed and refreshed. I cannot wait to try more. I want to make some of the jar recipes for brownie mix, cookie mix and cake. With a pretty jar these would be lovely gifts for neighbors, teachers and friends.
Vanilla Bath Salts
- 1/2 cup sea salt
- 1/2 cup Epsom Salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Makes 8 ounces of bath salt. Just mix the 3 ingredients together, place in a fancy jar and enjoy.
Little House Living has recipes for weed killer, cat and dog treats, shaving cream, bug cream and so much more. Each time I open the book I discover a new item to try and each cost pennies to make. I found the author’s personal journey thoughtful and insightful. She is the owner/author of the blog, Little House Living.
About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram
Laurie C
I’ve been there, done that! 😉 No more simplicity for me! 😉
Tyler H. Jolley
Probably not my niche, but I think it would make a great gift!
Priscilla
I like the sound of the book. Goes to show that you can still have a fun simple life! 🙂
Melanie Simmons
This looks like an interesting book.
ShootingStarsMag
It’s always nice to see books based on blogs. I think I’d like the jar recipes. Glad you tried something out and really liked it!
Lorna
This sounds like a good book for people that enjoy doing DIY projects. I haven’t done anything like that since high school. I love that you can make bath salts in just a few minutes. Glad you are enjoying 🙂
Wattle
This sounds awesome. I try to make my own cleaning products when I can, and I love the idea of giving brownie mixes and the like as gifts. Think I’ll have to add this one to my wish list 🙂 thank you for sharing!
Sophia Rose
How intriguing! My aunt lives this lifestyle and I’ve always admired her for it. And they definitely save lots of money and are healthier for it. It never hurts to do even a few of these things. I’ll have to check out her blog and slip the book onto the wishlist.
blodeuedd
Sounds interesting
Heather
This sounds like an amazing read, I love books like this and one of my new years resolutions is to be more conscious of what I have in pantry and not eat so much processed food.
Gwen
Sounds like a good book to add to my collection. I love DIY like these. That’s why Pinterest is such a black hole to me. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this one because I haven’t heard anything about it until now 🙂
Angela Adams
Love this idea. Thanks for the post.
Mary Kirkland
That sounds cute and very informative.
Lexxie
I actually use normal sea-salt in my bath, as it’s the best for my skin 🙂 I sadly don’t have time to make a lot of my own stuff, but I do cook from scratch, plus we have a small vegetable garden in the summer.
Thanks for sharing, Kim, I’ll be checking this out to see if there’s more I can do that won’t be too time-consuming.
Ann Noser
Thanks for putting this on my radar. I’d love to grow more of my own food, etc.
Laurel-Rain Snow
I am not a “make from scratch” person these days, but I do recall the early years, when I found pleasure in those activities. This book sounds intriguing. Thanks for sharing.
Bookworm Brandee
I’ve not seen this book yet, Kimberly, but it does sound like the perfect gift…even for myself! 😉 Thanks for sharing about it and that you’re making use of it.
Lekeisha
Great idea for a DIYer. I’m sure there are recipes that I would like in here (food), and some other cool ideas. Is it weird that I’m afraid to use bath salts? I’ve been using the same body wash and other bath essentials since I was 16. My mom always told me not to experiment with anything that may irritate. LOL! You’re a woman, so I know you understand. This looks like a great gift idea. Thanks for sharing!
Red Iza
I have a few books on the subject at home, but as much as I’m really interested (and I am !), it’s the kind that would interest people who don’t work full time and have a family… But when I’m retired, I’ll try and I’ll share 😉
Emma
I love the sound of this and the idea behind it. I wish I could be more self sufficient and books like this give me great ideas to get a little bit closer to that.
Lover Of Romance
oh my!! I am going to go grab this right now!!! This is definitely something that I would love to have!! I love bath salts. I have never tried vanilla before (I have no idea why??) I usually use lavender essential oil but I love Vanilla, so trying this. Great review here.
Christy LoveOfBooks
My head hurts too much to make a bath salt and drugs remark, so just know there’s one floating around in my throbbing brain. Cool book, though.