Homemade candy

I came across this microwave hard candy recipe in my cake making stuff that I didn't remember ever seeing before... So I dug out my old hard candy molds and Wes and I made some. It was so easy. It took about 10 minutes. And it turned out really well. We made alligator suckers and jewel shaped pieces. They are cinnamon flavored - next time I will try to remember to add color!

DIY

A while back we were blessed with a cool new sink. Ever since then I've been wanting new countertops...we finally decided to try to do it ourselves. It took about 7 hours non-stop, but the results are awesome! I feel like I have a brand new kitchen!
Here's before (well, during, because I forgot to take a before. Notice the chips and cracks in the countertop to the right of the sink)
After... New laminate counters. Nothing fancy, but I am thrilled! Did I mention I feel like I have a brand new kitchen :)

Vacation

Wow, time flies! I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post. Well, incase you haven't heard, Mike is no longer a police officer! He is now the Director of Worship and Ministry at RockFish Church! During the transition, we took a vacation :) It was also Isaiah's birthday, and we did a bunch of fun stuff that day (well, everyday, but ALOT of stuff on his day).
We went to Ripley's Aquarium- BTW, homeschoolers and their parents get in at educational rates! cool, huh?

Everybody got to touch a stingray- even the girls!
We walked around Broadway at the Beach and rode the dinosaur :)
We rode the caterpillar (pictured above) and the pirate ship and the swings! :) We had a blast!

Boo-Boo bags

I used to have my sewing machine in the living room so I could be with the family and sew, but I put it back in my sewing closet when we started back to school. I finally drug it out tonight and sewed up a few things. :) First is a boo-boo bag for kids. It's got rice in the inner pouch and has a washable cover. The cover is sorta like a pillow sham. It's meant to be kept in the freezer to use on a boo-boo instead of ice.


Then I made a boo-boo bag for grown ups. It's got rice in it and chamomile and mint for relaxation and sore muscle relief. I put straps so I can tie it around my waist (or shoulder or wherever) and still be mobile to take care of the kiddos. This has a pillow sham type removable cover as well. I put a little bit of padding in the straps for comfort. It can be heated up in the microwave for about a minute and stays warm for around 30 minutes. If you make this at home, make sure you don't heat it for more than a minute and a half and check it so you don't burn yourself. It can get very hot.

Conclusion to: I hope this makes you laugh

I would NOT recommend using the face peel in the previous post. It hurt so bad peeling that mess off. I peeled most of it then ended up getting in the shower to scrape the rest off. My face was really soft (and red) afterward. I don't think it removed any blackheads, but it did remove some hair. Maybe if I had put it on just a small area it would have worked. It could work as a wax maybe, but I've seen recipes w/o milk or gelatin that hopefully would smell better. I'm not sure why it ended up stinking so bad. I don't think I heated it too much, but maybe that's what happened. I do not believe I will be trying this recipe again! lol-I'd rather put an orbital sander on my face than use that. It would hurt about the same and stink less!

I hope this makes you laugh.

So, I decided to try this homemade face peel mask thing. It's 1T gelatin mixed with 1 1/2 T milk. I mixed it, microwaved it 10 seconds and applied it. Right away I noticed- it stinks! And the longer it is by my nose the more it smells like rotten milk. Then my husband informs me that gelatin is made from ground up pigs bones..yeah. and i got them smeared on my face.

New Soaps

This soap has peppermint from my very own garden! I love the way it turned out- my second attempt at a swirled look. The boys love the way it smells too, very minty.

This is a remilled soap that I added real milk and local honey to. :D Finally! I've been wanting a soap with real milk and honey in it... I used a soap mold I purchased and some old candy molds I had laying around (Blues Clues). They smell great too!

Dresses and headbands to match the purses...

After I made the purses the girls kept asking for matching dresses, so... They are pretty basic and turned out really well for my first try. They are a little big, but because of the tie they are slightly adjustable. Maybe they'll still fit next summer :)

Aly is being a bit hammy and insisted on wearing her glasses... i don't know where she gets that from ;)The tie shows the facing material is the same as inside the purse. Also, the headband is reversible with that same fabric on the other side.

Flannel pants for Elijah

These are the pants I made for Elijah. I made an identical pair for Wes. They both turned out great and now Mike wants me to make him some!

Happy now?

I made a few things for Mike for his birthday but was unable to post pics until after I gave them to him for obvious reasons. So one person in particular (you know who you are...lol) has been buggin me...

First is something I call a half-robe. It's meant to wrap around the waist and is reversible. Has a velcro closure. Also I put a loop at the top so he can hang it easily :) It's made out of a beach towel that we no longer used because of all the frayed edges. Next I made a mint green sunglasses case. It turned out rather feminine looking so I decided to make the black vinyl one (center). He agreed and so I use the green one. It's made of an old satin nightgown. Also I made a little pouch for his earbuds (right).

This is a close-up of the inside of the earbud pouch. The pouch and the sunglass case material was leftover from another project and has a felt-ish backing.

Before and After...

We've been working any spare moment on fixing rotten fascia and eaves and also painting our house. We are mostly through- just a tiny bit of painting left! Here's the before...


And here's the after...
The pictures don't exactly show all of our hard work. Most of the replaced wood is on the chimney and that side of the house. It had been needed to be done since we moved in. Oh- Also, check out the chair my Dad made me for my bday! (It's on the porch of the after pic). Sweet!

Made some boxers for Za

My first attempt at making some boxers- they turned out good and Isaiah seems to like them. He was actually very excited to get them, and enjoyed modeling them as well! Another JoAnn clearance fabric put to good use. :) btw, they have "WWJD" on them.


While I was sewing the shorts I realized I had nowhere to stick my pins, so after I finished I made this pincushion. Took just a few minutes and used up some quilt batting scraps I had laying around (thanks Mom!)

Chairs

About 3 months ago I decided to re-upholster my dining room chairs. The fabric was a nice cream color, which does not agree with having a family of 7. I did one chair right away, but we've gone 2 months with that one chair done and the others looking like this:


So today, after some motivation from my hubby, I decided to finish my chairs!
It took a couple hours and now my hands are sore :(
BUT Yay! They're done, and I think they look great. Now I can start on something else :)

Purses

I went to JoAnn to pick up some pinking shears and the girls found this purse they just had to have. So instead, I bought some clearance fabric and hesitantly told them i'd make them each one. Thanks to this awesome handbag tutorial they turned out fantastic. I may just make me one!
They were so happy and hardly believed that I made it. (Even though they watched almost the entire process.) Btw, not sure what type of hand signs they're throwing... we didn't teach them that, they're just silly happy :)
They have a pocket and are reversible.

girls' ballet recital

Lauren and Aly have been taking ballet this year, and their recital was a few days ago. They did great!

my awesome soap mold

I found a plan for this soap mold online. A friend of Mike offered to make it, and did an excellent job! Thank you!!! It is so cool- the ends pop off and the sides fold down.

This is my 2nd batch of soap...it's so fun! :)

Wesley's Napkins

I finally got around to helping Wesley with his napkins. They turned out great! He did all the sewing- I did the cutting and ironing.

Soap's done!

I finally did it! I made some beautiful soap! I didn't want to make plain soap even on my first try, so at the last minute I threw in some ground cinnamon, cloves and flax (great for exfoliating). It turned out great! It's all cut unevenly, but it's supposed to be, it's handmade! They will lighten up as they dry. Now I just have to wait 4 weeks for it to cure. ugh.. 4 -6weeks actually. Anyway, I can't wait to try my next soap! I have peppermint growing in my flowerbed, so I plan to incorporate that somehow.

Napkins

I joined a napkin swap- great encouragement for me to finish a project :) Not that I regularly don't finish. Maybe I have craft ADD or something. hahaha...

Anyway, I think my napkins turned out pretty good for a beginner. And it makes me feel good since I'm saving money and creating less waste. Now I just need to cut the fabric for Wes's napkins (he wanted to join too!) as soon as my finger heals! I have a new respect for those little rotary cutter thingies. His napkins are going to be nicer than mine- he picked great fabric!

Lunchtime

So today I made my kids fried bologna and cheese sandwiches for the first time ever... Don't know what possessed me to buy the stuff- guess I was really hungry when I was at the store :) Anyway, that had absolutely nothing to do with this story :) I told the boys they could go outside to eat as they often do on nice days. As I sat in peace inside I began to hear laughter increasing in volume until it turned into screaming, then laughter again. So I grabbed the camera and went to investigate. This is what I found:


Publish Post

(no one was injured in this video)

Sailing!

A good friend of ours took Mike and the boys sailing this past weekend near New Bern. They had a great time, even spent the night on the boat.

Our God is an Awesome God

Aly wanted to sing this - all her siblings performed it during the Easter service, but she was too young. She's been practicing on her own for weeks now and finally got the words. Still working on the hand motions though. :)

I made my own laundry detergent!

Yeehaw! I've been wanting to do this for a really long time... All you need is water, ivory soap, borax, washing soda and a large container. Borax is usually in the laundry aisle. AFTER I went through the trouble of finding "washing soda", I discovered it is actually sodium carbonate- the same as soda ash or PH add- common ingredients in the pool chemical section. For the bucket, I used a 3 gallon container that previously had alkalinity booster for the pool. But you could use a large tupperware or any container with a lid. Here's how you make it:

Grate 1 bar of Ivory soap (Walmart, 3 bars for $.89)

Add it to large pot with 6cups water on med-low heat.

Stir occasionally until melted- about 30 min.

When that is completely dissolved it will look like clear water.

Add 3/4 c. washing soda and 3/4 c. borax.

Stir until dissolved. The gritty feeling will be gone when it is fully dissolved.

Pour 1 Qt. of hot water into the bucket.

Add the dissolved soap and stir.

Add 1.5 Gal of water and stir again.

That's it! You can use it right away, but it will gel after 24 hours. It will look like boogers if it's done right! :) Actually a better description is egg-drop soup. Use 1/2 -3/4 cup per load depending on size. It works really well, and it has a pleasant smell that leaves your clothes smelling fresh and not full of chemicals. I estimate this costs $.03 per load, versus $.20-$.30 per load depending on the type of laundry detergent used. Also, I have stopped using fabric softener and find my clothes are very soft without it, due to using less harsh chemicals to wash them with. To combat static cling, I throw a couple balls of aluminum foil in the dryer. Fabric softener is known to aggravate skin conditions such as eczema, so I am hopeful this change will improve the condition of our skin. Also, I am planning to very soon make my own soap. That will cut down the cost of the laundry detergent to about $.01 per load. And since I am constantly doing laundry, I will be constantly saving money!

*hint* Vinegar is a good fabric softener and can be added during the rinse cycle. (Use about 1/2 cup) It evaporates completely and does not leave any vinegar smell. -thanks Jennifer!