Pinterest Project #8

This last week was Girl Scout Day Camp. I wasn't signed up as a leader this year as I really thought we wouldn't be here anymore. I thought we would be long gone. LONG gone.

But we weren't.

And up to the last minute they were struggling to find another Cadette leader with camp training so I got the call. No reason to decline since its not like we are leaving after all. So I said yes and committed myself to another year of fun in the sun.

But I was a little worried about the bugs this year. Our winter was so mild that we know its going to be a banner year for bugs.  And we had already found 5 ticks on us at home.

I remembered seeing and pinning a natural tick repellent pin on Pinterest not too long ago so I went to my boards and pulled it up. It consists of tea tree oil and water.

I would give you the link but it has been broken. I tried an internet search and did not find it either although there are lots of sites that tell you how to do it.  I did find an article here for 20 uses of tea tree oil. It does not talk about what I did from the pin.

The recipe from the pin is simply 1 part of tea tree oil to 2 parts water.  Put it in a small spray bottle and shake it up and use.

A word of warning: some people will have a reaction and get a rash from tea tree oil. It has not been a problem in my family but you should be aware that you need to watch for this if you have never used it before.

We already have tea tree oil in our house because I add it to our shampoos. It is a lice deterrent also. With all the problems we had with our youngest last year I started using it. Not a single case of lice in our house this last school year. Nice. (But I will also admit that the child I suspected of being the problem was no longer in the same school with Mouse either so it could have simply been that.)

So - how did my tick deterrent work? Well, after a full 5 days and a overnight in the woods I saw no ticks. AND I have exactly one bite on the back of one ankle that I got on the last day when my spray pump gummed up and stopped working and I couldn't do the back of my legs.

Bugs stayed away from me.  We even had people stung by wasps while working on a service project and I was not stung.  At the horse camp when others were being swarmed by the little sweat bees they stayed clear of me...and I sprayed the others down and the bees went away.

I used it also to spray down my sleeping bag as we were in an open canvas tent on the grass and the bags were left out for the better part of 2 days.

I'd say it worked for me. I want to find a better spray bottle as the super cheap one did not hold up.  You just need a small one as you don't make a whole lot at a time.