Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Guests staying for the holidays?

Freshen up their linens with this sleep-enducing linen spray!

1/2 cup distilled water
1/2 tsp witch hazel
6 or 7 drops lavender essential oil (or to desired scent)

Mix up in a spray bottle.

Spray linens before guests arrive, leave on nightstand for them to use or use on your own linens before bed. Shake, shake, spray, allow to dry then drift off into snoozville!

We included this in our Christmas baskets to help our friends/family get some much needed rest after the holidays!
(apparently I don't know how to work my camera these days! sorry about all the blurry photos!)

Kick those winter blues!

With this delicious smelling diffuser blend:

12 drops Orange essential oil
8 drops Grapefruit essential oil

Mix in a glass bottle.

Place a few drops in a diffuser and enjoy!

Mean Kitty Song

I just had to share this! This is totally like Gidgey!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qit3ALTelOo

Look @ my big ears!

We've had a few people tell us that Gidgey has big ears. I've never noticed that her ears are abnormally large, but tonight while I was looking through the pictures on my phone I saw this...

Her ears do look a little big in this photo!!! It gives her character! ...not that she needs anymore, she's crazy!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Forget those pesky chemicals!

Another homemade Christmas gift post...I also made homemade liquid soap. With the H1N1 panic going on these days people are turning to harsh chemicals to help ward off illness. Why?! Go natural!

As the bubonic plague decimated Europe in the year 1413, four thieves were captured and charged with robbing the dead and dying victims. When the thieves were tried, the magistrate offered leniency if they would reveal how they resisted contracting the infection as they performed their gruesome acts. They explained that they were perfumers and spice traders and told of a special concoction of aromatic herbs, including cinnamon, lemon, eucalyptus, cloves and rosemary, that they rubbed on their hands, ears, and temples. This is how the combination of these oils came to be called 'Thieves Oil'.

(sorry about the blurred photo)

I purchased some organic castile soap online and the necessary essential oils to mix up my Thieves Oil. I then mixed up the Theives Oil into a separate glass bottle using equal parts of each oil. Then, using foamer bottles, mixed about 5oz soap with 2oz water and added Thieves Oil...voila! Homemade liquid soap with illness fighting Thieves Oil!

*update*

This can be used with less soap and more water...the castile soap we used was just picky and would separate if mixed with more water.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

My new love...

We have been cable-less for a few weeks now and have replaced it with seasons on dvd. Bob purchased seasons 1 & 2 of Smallville and BAM(!) we were sucked in...I am now officially gaga over Tom Welling (Clark Kent). We have already watched seasons 1-7.

I mean, look at this...


How could I not be?!?!
(and these aren't even the best pics!)

My latest obsession...


Mint nonpareils...YUM! I can't seem to get enough of these lately! I have a bowl of them sitting next to my laptop and sewing machine now : )

21-25 of 103 Randoms About Me


25. I have a horrible and disgusting habit...I bite my nails something awful : (

24. I have only moved twice in my life. Once when I was around 2 and the other when I was 20. I only moved an hour away from home and have lived in the same apartment since! I'm 27 now!

23. My favorite movie is Wicker Park with Josh Hartnett. Which is great because it's supporting a home-state hottie!

22. We've been without cable for a while now and have been watching LOTS of Smallville. Seasons on DVD are the best thing ever! I am now officially madly in love with Tom Welling! <3

21. I am a HUGE procrastinator. It is 5 days before Christmas and I still have gifts to make!

Saturday, December 19, 2009

For the kiddos

I needed to come up with something to do for the kiddos in the families we're giving gifts to...so keeping with the homemade theme I made a few things for them!
Simple memory game with fabric instead of commercialized name brands or characters...


I then took scrap pieces of the fabric used for the game pieces and made a little baggie to store them in : )

I also used scraps from the same fabric to make bean bags filled with dried beans (of course!)...

They need something to do with the bean bags right?! I connected a few pieces of pipe cleaner together then wrapped some around it for more strength and covered it with a piece of black fleece...simply lay the ring on the ground and try to throw the bean bags into the ring. (For pretty young kids, so it didn't need to be too complicated.) There are many other uses for bean bags too, I can only imagine the things kids could come up with!

Squeaky Clean

I've wanted to learn how to make my own soap for a while now and Christmas seemed to be the perfect reason to learn! It would make a nice addition to the other homemade gifts we're giving.

My brother had made soap before so I emailed him asking him for his recipe. When told me that he would bring the recipe and the stuff needed to make it up with him when he came up for Thanksgiving, I was thrilled!

I was so excited to make it that I asked him to show me how to make it the day after he arrived, haha. He brought the recipe and enough lye for two batches of soap. We quickly made a run to the store and picked up the olive oil, shortening and coconut oil. That's it! That's all you need for a basic bar of soap. Simple enough, right?!

The lye scares me because it is a little dangerous if you don't know what you're doing with it...and I didn't have a clue! You must be careful to make sure you don't get any on your skin! However, we made it through the soap making process without incident.

After we made the soap was the hard part...you have to wait 3-4 weeks before you can use it!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Homemade Lip Balm

Since the theme of Christmas for us was homemade, I decided to make some lip balm for the ladies. Because I had never made lip balm before I went with a really simple recipe. Less ingredients = less loss if it doesn't work, right?!

(sorry for the slightly blurry photo, this was taken with my phone)

This recipe is soooo simple!

  • 1/4 cup beeswax shavings not compacted, but not super loose (make sense? haha)
  • a tiny bit less than a 1/4 cup sweet almond oil
  • a few drops of whatever essential oils you prefer

I say a tiny bit less than 1/4 cup oil because when I used a full 1/4 cup I felt it was slightly too oily. Simply combine the wax and almond oil in a glass microwave approved vessel and nuke at 30 second intervals stirring in between each. Do this until completely melted but not burnt. The first time around I added the oils to the lip balm jars (only if using jars) until I figured out the desired scent. (Usually 3-6) Then simply fill the jars or tubes with the wax/almond oil mix and stir! Once I've gauged how many containers a batch makes I just mixed the proper amount of essential oils into the wax/almond oil blend.

You should try it! Simply adjust things to the way you like it, but this is a good starting point :) Some people like to add honey to this recipe...I wasn't a fan, because my honey never seemed to mix into the wax/almond oil blend well. Good luck and happy melting!

More posts after Christmas!

I am excited to tell you that I will officially have stuff to blog about after Christmas! We went with homemade gifts this year and I'll have blogs to show you them : )

We gave Gidget, our kitty, her Christmas gift early because unfortunately she will be spendy Christmas day alone : ( because we are going up north to spend the day with family. We are saving up to purchase a fancy-schmancy kitty tree for her, they're spendy! The 'cheap' one we like is $170! Ugh. I found for WAY less to be a 'for now' one...

The picture isn't the best because it's taken with my phone, but you get the idea...nothing fancy. She loves it tho! She's still a little scared of getting down from the top platform though.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Internetless

I have been internetless for a few weeks now...that's why no recent posts! Soon! Soon, I will be posting again! I just wanted to let you know : )

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Out of the dark!

We've been having technical difficulties the past few days. The power goes out randomly over and over, haha. So it's lights, no lights, lights, no lights, etc. When the power goes out we have no lights, but we are lucky enough to have three outlets that work : ) Even tho we have a few outlets, I've been living by candle light. It's actually been kind of nice living without a lot of technology. I think people rely on technology far too much these days. Instead of finding something to entertain ourselves we simply click a button and flip through channels : (

Yesterday when the power went out at 6pm and stayed out all night I found myself knitting by candle light and listening to the delightful hum of the highway next to my house. Okay, delightful isn't exactly true, but you know... However, today Bob connected his desktop to one of the outlets and he has a 22 inch monitor that we are now using as a tv! So, back to technology! The power is back on at the moment I believe, but I'm blogging via candle light and watching Bones on the desk top monitor...woo!

And...

WE GOT A KITTY!!!

Well, actually we've had her for a little while now...she was a secret for a while tho. She was a stray and we weren't sure if our landlord would let her stay. Her name is Gidget, most oftenly refered to as Gidgey or Gidge. Look at her adorableness!!!


The last photo is the most recent one of her.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Peasant Bowl Lunch

We made a peasant bowl style lunch the other day....I left mine fairly simple with some seasonings, peppers, black soy beans and rice. It was yummy! : ) Bob, of course, made his filled with tons of things along with the rice. I only got a picture of my plain jane one, but here it is!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

*Halloween*

So, Halloween was a bit unusual for us this year...usually we go out with friends and party it up and get a hotel room (to avoid driving issues.) This year it was just Bob and I. Our friends who were coming from out of town called last Thursday or Friday to tell us they weren't able to come because their little girl is sick, one friend just decided not to go out and the other girl (Carol) called the night of to inform us her child was sick as well so she couldn't come either.
I have to admit, I got a little disappointed after the last friend called...I wanted to tell Bob that I didn't even want to go out anymore. After a few minutes of my pity party, we decided to just grab a case of beer, a pizza and just hang out in the room. I had told a friend (Gena) who was going out with her mother that we would stop by and say hi at some point in the night...We still put our costumes on to go show my 'rents. The whole thing of only going out for one drink and staying in was a good idea since we spent over $100 going out the night before!!! YIKES!

We got ready in our costumes...swung by my parents place, ordered pizza, picked up beer, stopped at a gas station to pick up some candy then ran the candy over to Carol's house for her little boy who couldn't go trick or treating. Then we picked up the pizza and went back to the room and enjoyed a few beers, some tv and pizza. We then went out to meet Gena for a beer and had our palms read! Haha. As we were saying goodbye to Gena we ran into Bob's dad and some friends so we ended up hanging out with them for a few hours! Then hit up two more places for a beer or two at each then went back to the room for another beer then bedtime!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

26-30 of 103 Randoms About Me

30. When I was a child I wouldn't drink water from the bathroom sink because I thought it was 'dirty water'

29. I just got new glasses a few days ago!!! I had been putting up with broken glasses with the wrong prescription for a few years now : (

28. I am already thinking about what Bob and I are going to be for Halloween next year!!!

27. I could watch the Food Network channel almost all day. I have to avoid Paula Deen tho! I can't deal with her voice...

26. The only side of a camera that I am comfortable being on is the back! I avoid pictures as much as possible!

Friday, October 16, 2009

Two interesting years...

So yesterday was the day that Bob and decided as our anniversary...we didn't really have a specific date that we started dating, so we just picked one that was around the time we knew we started being exclusive : )

Yesterday marked two years (yikes!) of dating and pretty much three years unofficial dating. People say I was in denial for the first year. Because we were hanging out, but not officially dating. I had commitment issues, lol.

So Happy Pretend Anniversary Bob!!!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Stuffed pepper yummyness!

We made these a while ago and I thought they were yummy : ) I want to make them again next week! I just thought I would share the recipe while I was thinking about them...


Ingredients:

2 tbsp veg stock

1 small onion

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tbsp tomato paste

6 ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped

4 tbsp cooked brown rice

1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 tbsp chopped fresh mint

1 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1/4 ground cinnamon

juice of 1 lemon

black pepper

1) preheat oven to 350

**If stuffing eggplants or zucchini, trim the stems, then halve lengthwise. use a teaspoon to hollow out each half, leaving a shell about 1/2 in thick. Chop the scooped-out flesh (to use in mixture if desired). Steam the shells over boiling water for about 4 minutes, then hold under cold water to stop further cooking and dry with paper towels. Mist the insides with oil-and-water spray.

**If stuffing bell peppers, slice off the tops (put to one side), then scoop out and discard the seeds.

**If stuffing tomatoes, slice off the tops (put to one side), then scoop out the seeds and flesh and add the flesh to rice mixture in step two.

2) Heat the stock in a skillet, then add the onions and garlic and saute, stirring, until translucent. Stir in the tomato paste, tomatoes, chopped eggplants or zucchini flesh (if using), cooked rice, pine nuts, herbs, and cinnamon and continue cooking for a couple of minutes.

3) Stir in the lemon juice and season with black pepper.

4) Lightly mist a baking dish with oil-and-water spray. Stuff the vegetables with the rice mixture and put the lids back on the peppers or tomatoes. Bake for about 20 minutes.

*As usual, we didn't really follow the recipe...we used way less tomatoes, a little less garlic, a lot more brown rice, no pine nuts and no cinnamon. We used what we already had in the house or left out what we didn't like. It was still delicious tho! We also decided we were going to use even more rice next time we make them : ) So play with the recipe to make it your own!*

Monday, October 12, 2009

A Little Halloween Spirit

It's not much of a crafty post, but a TINY bit : ) I went to the $ Store and bought a few decorations the other day. I really liked this glittery foam 'Happy Halloween' sign. It was a little hard to read...

A simple coat of white paint on the outsides of the letters and...

*poof* easier to read : )

Now I just need to get more decorations for the house! I thought I had all kinds of Halloween decorations (It is my favorite holiday! Mostly for the dressing up and going out part tho, haha) but apparently not! : (

Friday, October 9, 2009

Ugh...

Darn Bob and I for being chunky monkeys!!! It makes purchasing a cute Halloween costume tough : (
I'm looking for cute hippie costumes and I can't find cute matching-ish ones. I mean I can find matching ones, but not that would fit both of us! The cute male ones are just a tiny bit too small for him : (
I guess we will see what we can find! I'm off to Saver's today to see what they have for retro stuff...wish me luck!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

21-25 of 103 Randoms About Me


25. Since June of last year I have had FOUR cell phones. Three of the same kind and now an iPhone. The LG Vu that I had kept crapping out on me. Bob was sweet enough to buy a new iPhone and give me his old one a few days ago...he was looking for an excuse to buy the new iPhone and my phone being dumb was the perfect excuse! Haha.
24. I stuffed myself for dinner yesterday with two grilled cheese sandwiches and and half a can tomato soup! Too much food, but SO delicious!
23. I haven't updated my blog in FOREVER out of pure laziness : (
22. It is 4am and I am awake because I was too busy messing with my iPhone to fall back asleep...I think I might have a problem : /
21. I went to college for many years without a goal...once I finally picked a goal I ended up getting suspended due to bad grades : ( Two jobs + Respiratory Therapy classes = not a good idea for me I guess. Now, I don't have a clue what I want to go back to school for! Ugh.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Stand still...

The table project is at a stand still until tomorrow afternoon, probably Tuesday...I am waiting for my mother to bring down the sander that I am borrowing from my father down.

Then, I swear I'll get it done to show you!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Calling all readers!

I need your help!

Remember the tray that I told you about earlier that I want to redo? I thought I had found something that I wanted to use for the bottom...but once I brought it home and placed it next to it, it was ugly! Haha.
So tonight I was looking through some of the scrapbooking paper I have and found a few options. I need your help in choosing...I think the first and third ones are my favorite.


The blue is a lot nicer shade, it wouldn't turn out right in the crappy livingroom lighting...


This one is really cute; however, we have no pink in our kitchen, which is where it would be used...is that okay? I don't know. (looking at this one more, I'm starting to like it even more!)


I really like this blue and brown one too...very simple, but I don't really like the line that would be in the center. What do you think? Is it horrible to have that line?? I think so :(

This one is red, not pink. It would match our kitchen the best I think, but it almost looks dirty, right? This one would hide the center line where the two pieces of paper come together the best, but I just don't know how much I like it...(again, the picture wouldn't load correctly)
So now I need your help! Which ones do you guys think is best! I'm uber indecisive.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Lack of posts

I haven't written much lately...the reason? No real reason, I have just been lazy...I haven't been up to anything exciting enough to write about either. Just kinda living life, hanging out and spending money that I shouldn't be! Haha.

I did get a haircut today tho! She took quite a bit off in length and gave it more shape. My hair was so dull and boring before...not that it is super exciting and great now, but it's a lot better!! Now, I just need to work on getting it colored. My friend who I like to have color my hair is pregnant at the moment so I can't have her do it : (

I thought I would have had my little table done to show you by now, but I have been forgetting to pick up spray paint! Everytime I run somewhere I completely space it out : ( I should get on that tonight huh?! You know what...I'm going to get that right now!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Bob made it home safe! Only minor cuts and scrapes : )
Also, our inet is crapping out...might be few days before next post!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

'New' Shelf!

I found this shelf at Saver's for $2 the other day...

(Sorry about the sideways photo!! It shouldn't be sideways, but it kept uploading it that way!)


I painted it black and hung it in the living room :) Love it! ...not so sure about the reed diffuser being on it, but we'll see...I'm also not sure what photo is going in the frame, so I blurred out the lame pic that is in it now. Haha.


Friday, September 11, 2009

Project turned even bigger project

I had started that cute little table project the other day and was painting outside because my apartment isn't exactly painting friendly size wise...plus, who wants to have to pay for new carpet when they move out of an apartment?!

Well, I got the orange done and had started on the red. Then while waiting for the first coat of red to dry, I got caught up watching Food Network. Before I knew it, it was dark out! So, no more painting...then I spaced out and left the table outside over night! :( OF COURSE...it rained!!!
What used to be a nice red paint job, turned to this...

Apparently the red hadn't dried and when it rained it all came off and left a strange white film.

This project has now turned into even more of a project...now i have to fix this before I can continue...ugh.

I'm a big fat failure

...for now.

I have officially given up on the cleanse : ( Simply because I am a wuss. I enjoy food and I was weak. I wouldn't have felt like such a failure if I had been starving...but I WASN'T EVEN HUNGRY! I just ate for the sake of eating!!!

But you better believe I WILL be doing the cleanse again in a few months and I WILL suceed then! I know I can do it...I just need to be in the right mindset and I started out in the right mindset, but then I just gave in. That will be the toughest struggle for me, not eating when I'm bored or just WANT food.

So, goodbye for now Master Cleanse...but I WILL BE BACK!!!

Monday, September 7, 2009

Beary interesting...

Okay, I forgot to tell you this!

My friend Gena and I were driving on one of the busiest roads here in town...I look to the right of the road and think "Wow! That's a big dog!" Then I realize, that's not a dog that's a BEAR! It was a small bear who proceeded to run across the road stopping all traffic! Thank God the other cars saw it and stopped! It was crazy! Because it's not like we live in a small country town...we live in a town with 80,000 people!

I just had to share...

Detox Project #1

Today I have had a few moments of AHHHHH!!!!! I NEED FOOD! oddly enough, not out of hunger...just out of that would be SO GOOD! So I started one of my projects! : ) I say started because I didn't finish...I decided to go shopping with a friend for a little bit instead...

I purchased this table at Savers (like Goodwill) about a week or week and a half ago for only $4.99!


It is a children's play table. I originally had thought that I would paint it red and put it in our pantry for our beer making supplies to sit on...I have changed my mind and have a much better use for it! However, I can't say yet...

Now, I am using leftover paint from when we painted the living room...


for the base color. Then I am going to use the free Red Delicious Glidden paint quart I got for the top coat. Then I will sand edges and such off to make it look a little aged and have the orange peek thru! ...Lets hope it looks good!

I didn't get too far today. I got the orange done on the legs and bottom. (this picture is after only the first coat...notice the nice spot I missed!)


I will post finished pics tomorrow hopefully!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Still not hungry : )

So I'm halfway through the second day of no food and I'm still doing good! : ) I have only felt hungry once so far today! Which I think is probably pretty good...considering I haven't eaten since Friday night. Okay, okay...it was LATE Friday night. I think I might actually be able to do this : ) It's mostly just thoughts about how yummy food would be, but not actually being hungry at this point, but I still have a ways to go. Haha.

I picked up the last of my ingredients for the "lemonade" mixture today. I picked up the organic grade B maple syrup and the organic lemons. I now have everything I need! I am excited to see how this whole thing goes and I'm interested to see how the mixture tastes.

Bob leaves tomorrow am for his annual Guys' Weekend. Usually they just go for 3-5 days, this year him and two others are doing a whole week and the others will join them on Thursday or Friday. He is SUPER excited. The trip seems to consist of drinking, shooting things, eating and drunken craziness. Haha. He always has a blast and surprisingly the injuries seem to be limited...well, since I've known him at least.

I am excited for him to go, because I know he'll have a blast...but at the same time I know I'll miss him. However, like I said before, probably better he won't be here in case I do get cranky with no food!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Detox start...

So, I started the 'ease in' process of the Master Cleanse yesterday (this was a suggestion I found from someone else who has done the cleanse a few times). Yesterday was salads and nuts, today fruit/veggie juices and broths and tomorrow orange juice. I decided to try this way because I think it'll help me last with the cleanse a little better...or so I hope! Then the 'ease out' process is the same just in reverse.

Today was the first day with no 'real' food...I think I did well tho. Only actually felt hungry once really. I have to say tho, I'm already looking forward to a HUGE bowl of mac-n-cheese with red, yellow, orange & green pepper, jalapeno, onion and a lil veg stock to thin it out!!! I CAN'T WAIT to make that the minute I can eat real food again! So...13 days and counting!!! (this includes the last day of ease in and ease out)

So, wish me luck, it's started!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Project list

I started my stay-away-from-food project list for next week during the detoxing...


(don't mind the messy writing)

  • Repaint small table I got for $5 to put in our pantry for beer makin' supplies
  • Redo the 'espresso' tray I posted earlier
  • I have an idea for a sign to make for my entry way
  • Find/make and organizational box for bathroom shelf
  • Finish the scrapbook style cookbook
  • Make produce bags to possibly sell at Farmer's Market next Thursday
  • Make 'business' cards to put on produce bags
  • Re-cover and paint legs on foot rest posted earlier

A lot are just a few hour projects, so hopefully I can come up with some more to make the week go faster. I also hope to do lots of cleaning and organizing in the house!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

This is just how much we love...

BEER! : )

The last post about makin' beer made me think I should show you guys our beer bottle collection. It's not that we're lushes...we just really enjoy trying new kinds of beer. Finding out what we like, don't like and what makes us cringe.

These are the tops of our cupboards. Most have been added my me prior to Bob moving in (over a long period of time, no worries). They are all different kinds of beer I/we have tried.



Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Beer Makin'

Bob and I made beer last night : ) Always good times and a great way to make the house stink for a while, haha.

First, the ingredients...


It starts brewin'...



Then we pour the wheat/barley malt in...


After boiling for a good long while, with the flavors hanging in the 'beer'...everything gets poured through a funnel with a filter into a carboy.


Then the yeast gets added to a small glass to rehydrate. Here are before and after pictures.


The yeast and more water are added to the carboy and now it sits for two weeks before bottling it : )