Did You Know

Don't you HATE when you put something in a plastic container and you can't get all of the food out of it?  I especially hate how when you put pasta in tupperware the food smell lingers for ever after wards.  Well I just read an interesting tip.  I have not tried it but I am sure it works wonders.  Take your plastic container and open it up.  Then take a newspaper and rip out one of the pages.  Ball up the news paper and put it inside of the plastic container.  Seal that puppy closed and leave over night.  The next day the news paper will have absorbed that lingering food smell!  WOO HOO  I'm going to have to give this a try.  Let me know how it goes if you try it.  :)  

Happy Sunday everyone! 

Tiny Tutorial

Before I left to go on vacation I made a headband for the person I got in the handmade gift exchange.  Her name is Dee from La Dee Da Crafts .  She said her favorite color was yellow and she loved head bands.  I was already making bow ties and so I went ahead and used my Bow Tie Tutorial and made this headband for her

So do you want one?  I know you do...okay so even if you said no here is a tutorial.  I am not re-doing the bow tie tutorial so you'll have to follow that for the bow tie part.  I am going to show you how I made the headband part.  I was SOOOOOOO easy and looked really cute.  Here's what you need.

You need some double fold bias tape and some elastic or a rubber.

Now measure your head where a head band would go.  Most people will measure about 21 to 22 inches or so.  Mine was some where in the middle.  I went ahead and cut my bias tape at 17 inches.  I did NOT fold under the raw edge so if you want to do this then you want to add an inch to your length and make it 18 inches.  Going with the 17 inches, I cut my elastic 5 inches.


Fold open your bias tape and insert your elastic half an inch or so and fold over

I sewed this shut with a zig zag stitch several times.  I did this to both sides. Make sure if you do not want the raw edge to fold it under before you sew it.  Also, make sure to NOT twist the bias tape or the elastic when you are attaching it.

Next I sewed along the edges to close off the bias tape and to give it a cute accent.  I used white to go along with my yellow and white theme.

Easy right?!  I am sure everyone has bias tape they are never going to use just sitting around.  If you don't have double fold, take single fold and just cut two of them and then lay them on top of each other.  This would be JUST as easy.  I think these turned out really cute so I might be making some of these for my etsy shop.  We'll see.  I always say I am going to do things and then don't follow through.

Want to see the purse I made to match the hair bow?

I wasn't sure if I liked the yellow flower or the white flower better so I made both.  I put a brooch clip and an alligator clip on both so she can put them in her hair too!  I hope she liked all of them.  I think they turned out cute.  I LOVED this yellow and white fabric.  I don't wear bows in my hair but making this one made me want to start!

Vacation

We got back from vacation yesterday evening.  MAN was that a long day.  I had a UTI and it meant basically needing to stop and use the bathroom pretty much every hour.  I think it was more often then the time I was 8 months pregnant and drove from Utah to Texas.  We also didn't have the kids DVD players.  They both broke on the trip and so I was REALLY worried about that.  The kids actually did pretty good.  The last hour or so was painful but other then that it went well.

What is it about being home that is just so nice?  The last couple of days we were in Alton Utah which is a small little town.  I had forgotten my home made deodorant at my mom's so I bought a travel size stick at walmart and I have got to tell you it was horrible!  I am NEVER going back to store bought deodorant again.  My brand new white shirt after wearing it with the storte bought stuff had yellow arm pits by the end of the day.  I wore a different brand new white shirt with my home made deodorant and it had no white pits at all.  Hmmmmmmm

ANY WAYS.  I have tons of pictures to go through and I'll pick some to post on here later.  Since today is thursday I will give you something I am thankful for.  NAPS!  haha  I am SOOOOOO thankful for naps.  Naps for me and naps for my kids.  We tried to go grocery shopping with super tired, cranky kids and it is a miracle we didn't kill one or both of them.  My daughter has decided she likes to hit.  WHERE do they learn this stuff?!  My boy went through a hitting phase as this age too.  Super frustrating.  Any suggestion on how to deal with it?  So far we have been doing time outs.

Everyone have a great Thursday and don't forget to think of something you are thankful for too!

Did You Know

I'm starting something new on my blog called "Did You Know"  These are all going to be really quick simple post that are about something simple.  Usually a simple solution to a problem that everyone deals with at times.  My first one for today is this, BEE STINGS.

I always did the baking soda and water.  You make a paste and put it on the sting.  Well, I just learned something new.  You take an alka-seltzer tablet and moisten it slightly and then stick it straight on the sting.  It contains baking soda which helps reduce inflammation and it contains asprin which relieves the pain.  The fizzing allows for both of those two factors to travel beneath the skin providing immediate relief!  Sweet right?!  I need to get some alka-seltzer tablets for our car first aid kit.  ( Note to self:  get a car first aid kit!  haha )

HELLO

We are in Utah having a great time.  I do not have internet on my lap top since I am not at home which means not much blogging for me since my pictures aren't on my moms lap top.  BUT we are having a great time and enjoying soaking up some sun!  So I don't neglect this blog for TOO long I have a simple and YUMMY recipe for all you folks who are grilling this summer.  It's is stuffed Jalapenos.  I have not tried them yet but my family raved about them.  My sister Kim found the recipe.  Here is what you need

1 lbs chorizo
10 big jalapenos
bacon
cheese

mix chorizo and a little bit of cheese.  Cut jalapenos and de-seed them.  Stuff with the chorizo and cheese mixture.  Close the jalapeno up and wrap it with a piece of bacon and secure it together with a tooth pick.  Next throw those puppies on the grill and enjoy!  Like I said, I haven't tried them yet but my sister made them for my family one time and they LOVED them!  I am hoping to make some when we get back to Cali!  Enjoy your 4th of July and hopefully I'll be back in a couple of days to post some more.

HUGE

My friend Amanda asked me if I would make her a HUGE purse for summer.  How could I pass that one up?!  I LOVE making purses and even more so, I love making them for friends.  So we decided on colors, I bought some fabric and then got started.  I think it turned out cute.  Wanna see?

This first picture is to give you an idea about how big it is.  That is my daughter in the chair next to the purse.  You know, the purse that is practically the same size as her....yup, it's big!  haha

A small pocket for cell phone, chap stick, keys....

 
3 gigantic pockets that go all the way across the other side for bottles, diapers, wipes.....

Aren't the ruffles pretty!?  I have some more things that got crafted this week but they are for my home made gift exchange.  I JUST mailed it off today so once she gets it I can post pictures  I made a tutorial out of one of the things I sent her too so as soon as she gets it ( and I actually have internet ) I will be posting a quick, fun, EASY tutorial.

On a side note, because I am goign to Utah for two weeks I will NOT really have internet. I am freaking out a bit but it will be okay!  ( at least that is what I keep telling myself. )  Normally I hook my lap top up to my phone but that is no longer an option since we started getting internet at our house.  We turn off the wireless option on my phone.  DOH!  We'll see if I can get a blog or two in between now and when I get back.  If not, have a great 4th of July and I'll see y'all when I get back!

Chocolate Cinnamon

Doesn't that sound yummy?  Chocolate cinnamon.  Well, it at least sounds yummy to me!  I FINALLY got around to using some of my empty chap stick tubes.  I also finally used the deodorant tubes I bought!  WOO HOO.  I am leaving tomorrow to drive to Utah AGAIN.  I have been promising my mom and dad some chocolate chap stick.  This time I wanted one with some Bees Wax in it.  I looked up some recipes and then adapted one for my liking.  Here is what I did.

Chocolate Cinnamon Chap Stick

1 Tablespoon Cocoa Butter

1 Tablespoons Sweet Almond Oil

1 Tablespoon Avocado Oil

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon & 1 teaspoon Beeswax

5-7 drops Cinnamon essential oil 

6 to 10 chocolate chips

I should have entered a drop or so of Vitamin E and I forgot!  I think this is plenty good for your lips without it though.  

Here's what you do.  Bees wax takes a while to melt.  You want to take the bees wax, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, olive oil and avocado oil and melt them together.  Do this either in 10 second increments in the microwave or use a double broiler.  Once the bees wax is all melted into the other oils you want to add you essential oil.  If using Cinnamon it is VERY strong.  I only used about 4 or 5 drops but I could have used a couple of more.  I would rather have too little then too much though.  Then add some vitamin E if you would like.  Stir in the chocolate chips until they melt.  I used 6 of them and again you could use more.  Whatever you would like.  This is just to add some flavor and to add some color.  Don't let it cool TOO long before pouring into whatever it is you have to hold it in.  I used my empty chap stick tubes and it took up about 9 to 10 of them.  

And here is the deodorant in their cute little roll up tubes

I can't WAIT to roll this on instead of using my finger!  WOO WOO for all natural home made products that won't cause harm or cancer!  YEAH BABY! 

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