Check It. Hair powder alternatives to shampoo.

This morning I read about the alternatives to shampooing, including using homemade hair powder instead of a traditional wash.

I've been aware of the detriments of daily washing, stripping hair of beneficial oils, but have yet to find an alternative. The suggested use of hair powder is to apply and soak up any access oils that may be caking up your hair.

This seems like an excellent alternative to maintain the health of your hair.

-- Lauren Williams

Eat In. Oat clusters.

The gorgeous oat clusters pictured above were a Friday experiment of mine. I saw the recipe on ReadyMade magazine, and had been looking for a healthy snack to take to work.

Instead a happy mistake with a little too much peanut butter and chocolate, and I'm sort of ashamed to say these clusters didn't survive the weekend, let alone make it all the way through the work week.

This is probably the easiest no-bake recipe out there.

What you'll need:

1 tbsp. of butter
2 tbsp. of honey/agave syrup
1/4 cup peanut butter
chocolate chips
raisins or dried cranberries, to taste
1/2 cup rolled oats
rice crisp (optional)

Melt the honey and butter in a pan, mixing well. Mix in the peanut butter until homogeneous and smooth. Then just add in all dry ingredients.

Take a spoon and plop onto a cookie sheet to form perfect balls, and leave in the fridge until they set (about 30 minutes).

That's it! It took about 15 minutes total, not including clean up time.

Honestly though, I kind of curse the person who wrote about these cookies. They're addictive.

-- Lauren Williams

Etc. Dry cleaning at home.

So after Wednesday's post, I went ReadyMade crazy, and found a DIY solution to having your clothes dry cleaned. Dry cleaners are expensive in various ways both a.) financially and b.) the cost on the environment is ridiculous.

A ReadyMade blogger found how to dry clean all kinds of materials, including wool and silk using baby wash. In addition to saving money and the environment, the smell of baby wash beats that bad chemical smell of the dry cleaners any day.

Now you can buy clothes that have the "dry clean only" label guilt free, knowning that there's a cheap and safer alternative.

-- Lauren Williams

Photo credit: ReadyMade.

Check it. 'Week Without Stuff.'

If you're ever yearning for a simpler life without all the clutter (and if it's too early in the morning to get any real productive work done) ReadyMade Magazine, the DIY mag, has some really interesting blog posts including the recent Week Without Stuff.

Starting with one woman's move to a new place in New York, the week-long blog chronicled her experiments with simple living. She put away the superfluous kitchenware, limited her wardrobe to only the essentials, and tried to make a go of a life with fewer things.

ReadyMade publishes all kinds of interesting blog post series, including a no plastic challenge and a post on bartering.

-- Lauren Williams

Photo credit: A picture from Week Without Stuff, the authors old neighborhood.