We Like Making Our Own Stuff

Father's Day is this weekend!  Did you find the perfect gift for that special Dad in your life yet?  If the Dad in question has a sense of humor and likes to smell good, then I have a great idea for you: Smelly Balls Sounds gross, right?  Don't worry, it's not what you think!  These balls are made out of clay, and they actually smell good. You can infuse these balls with your favorite essential oils, and then use them to freshen any space.  They work great for dresser drawers, closets, cars, lockers, bathrooms, or even in shoes.  They are so fast and easy to make, and your favorite dad will likely get a good chuckle from the silly name.  They can also be personalized for the recipient; when I made these for my husband, I had each of our children dip a finger into some cinnamon, and then press it into the clay, so that each ball would have a child's fingerprint on it.

Are you a procrastinator like me?  There's nothing like last minute.  Luckily, time crunches can inspire great ideas. This Valentines Day card is very simple, requires minimal supplies, and above all else, is creative and handmade.  The ultimate display of affection is assembling something with your own massive, callused, hairy hands. All you will need is: Heavy paper (Use what you have:  card stock, a cereal box, a manilla folder, even construction paper will work in a pinch) Newspapers, magazines, junk mail (Anything with lots of big letters printed on it) Scissors Glue Markers  The assembly is quite simple: First, fold the heavy paper in half to form a card. Next, cut out letters from newspapers and such to make a message of your choice.  Since the card has a ransom letter look to it, you may want to make your message pretty ransom-ey. Cut out hearts from any kind of paper you'd like.  I used a combination of construction p...

Isn't that little girl cute?  That's Lily in the picture above, my 10 week old daughter, sporting a headband I made for her.  She is one of our twins born in January.  The other twin is our baby boy, Palmer.  He declined to wear a cute headband. The twins have been keeping me very busy, especially with nursing them.  I worked on these cute headbands while I nursed the babies; it gave me something to do while they were eating.  They are very easy to make, and are a great way to upcycle old clothes or use up fabric scraps. You will only need a bit of fabric, thread, optional embellishments, and elastic to make these headbands.  Chances are, you can salvage some fabric from a stained top, a button off an old shirt, or perhaps some elastic off of an old pair of pants. Keep in mind when you are choosing elastic however, that baby's head is delicate, so you will want something that stretches easily.  The elastic should probably be no wider ...

The best gifts come from the heart and are built by our own hands.  This Valentine's Day, make your gift to the special man in your life something special, something homemade.  Following are some recipes and ideas for gifts you can make yourself to brighten your guy's Valentine's Day. Just treating the man in your life to a special evening where he is "King for the Night" is gift enough for most men.  Let him have his way on Valentine's Day, and make the effort to be extra nice (even if he gets home late or leaves his underwear lying on the floor next to the hamper) and attentive--don't spend time worrying about what he got for you, or what he will do to make your day special.  Think about what you can do to make his day special.  Men are usually pretty straight forward--give them love, and you will get it in return. Start the night off with a romantic dinner made by your very own hands, complete with a yummy dessert.  After dinner, give him a f...

In my last post , I described how to make your own "steam distilled" rose water.  In this post, I will suggest a few ways to use your rose water now that you have made a batch.  Rose water is great for the skin, so it has a variety of uses for skin care; rose water is also useful for hair care, and even has culinary uses. Using Rose Water for Skin Care Toner My favorite use for rose water is as a skin toner.  Rose water will help to improve your skin's tone and texture.  After I cleanse my skin with a mild soap or my oatmeal cleanser , I like to follow up with rose water as a toner.  Dab a cotton ball into the rose water, and apply it to your face, using short, upward strokes; do not rinse it off.  You can also get a little more creative if you'd like, and mix the rosewater with a splash of witch hazel or vodka.  This will create a mild astringent helpful for removing any dirt your cleanser may have missed and tightening...

These days, roses are best known as an ornamental garden plant, or as a gift between lovers.  But in years past, roses were much more than a young man’s means of wooing a pretty lady.  Roses were once used for medicine, decoration, beauty products, and even food. One easy way to make use of your roses is to make rose water, using a simple distillation method.  You won’t need any special equipment to do this, and chances are you have everything you need already. Note:  Please read my upcoming blog post to find out what to use your rose water for once it’s made . Homemade Rose Water Ingredients: Handful of rose petals 3 Quarts filtered water or rain water Ice or frozen cold packs* Equipment: Large Pot with rounded lid Large Rock with a flat top or a large, heavy glass bowl* Small glass bowl Process: 1.  Thoroughly wash the rock and place it into the pot.   2.  Scatter the rose petals around the rock...

Growing herbs, and then putting them to use, is one of my favorite activities.  A large portion of our garden space is dedicated to herbs, which we later use for cooking, medicines, and beauty and hygiene products.  Since we grow so much, I will normally have an excess.  Rather than let the extra herbs I grow go to waste, I like to give them to people as gifts. I have created a paper gift bag that I use to put my dried herbs in.  I designed it in Microsoft Word, and each bag prints on plain letter size paper, in landscape orientation.  The bags are labeled with the herb inside, along with some information about the herbs, including its uses and some recipes. To make the bags: Print off the bag, and then fold it in thirds.  The front will be the side with the herb information. Then fold back the flap on the bottom, and glue it in place. Allow the glue to dry.  Then, fill the bag with the herbs, fold back the top flap, and glue...