A lovely little tutu...

Tutu's are on the rage, you know? The cute little tulle skirts that allow your little princess to feel MORE like a princess? These adorable little must haves are such a sinch to make! This one was made for a cutie pie to use as a prop in her 6 month pictures...

Well, here it is...



What's that??? A matching headband and bow? Oh my!



A headband was the perfect addition to make this complete. This is a crocheted headband made by yours truely and a custom bow to match made by Kaylie over at Kaylies Kreations.

I said she was a cutie pie, right?



Perfect for your little angels big day, photo props or just to show off!

Homemade Lotion and Heal All Salve

Last month a friend came to visit. Meet Dez everyone...



Well, we hadn't seen eachother in over a year so this visit had to be good. And, it was! We are long time friends from our high school days and both have husbands and two kids each now. Needless to say.. we had lots of catching up to do. Well, both of us have been looking into a more natural, safer, domestic ways of living. Part of my mission to be fully self- sufficient started here. Dez showed me how to make a homemade lotion and heal all salve. This was so much fun to make and let me tell you... they work AMAZING!!!

It started like this... a couple of lotion bottles, ointment containers, and a trip to the herb store for all of our supplies. First, we started with the lotion. This lotion was customized for my families EXTREMELY sensitive/dry skin. Great for the treatment of Eczema. Of course looking into different herbal properties you can customize a lotion to meet your personal needs. For my lotion I used oatmeal, lavender, comfrey, calendula, aloe vera, glycerin, vitamin E, olive oil, essential oils and bees wax.





Once you have the necessary ingredients start with placing 1-2 oz. of herbs in a jar, pour boiled water over herbs seal the lid and let sit for approx. 1 to 1 1/2 hours. About 10 to 20 minutes before herbs are ready measure out 3/4 cup oil (olive or jojoba) into a glass measuring cup or glass jar, add the bees wax and set the jar into a pan of water creating a double boiler effect. Stir occasionally. In the meantime, strain the herb water until you have one cup of herb water measured out. Add water to a blender. Once the wax has melted remove from water and allow to cool until it starts to harden. Add wax to blender while running on low speed, stop and scrape sides occasionally. As it sets it will solidify.



Pour into lotion bottles and use as often as you would like. Enjoy!





The homemade heal all salve is made using most of the same ingredients and a few more. For my heal all recipe I used lavender, oatmeal, st. johns wart, comfrey, peppermint, plantain, calendula, 20 drops tea tree oil. I made a small container of this for my mother-in-law whom suffers from fibermialgia and arthritis. She swears by this stuff now! She rubs a little into her knees or sore muscles and says it helps her aches in her joints. Sounds good to me! No promises though. ;)

To make this ointment put one cup oil and 1-2 oz. of herbs into a crockpot and cook on low for 3 to 5 hours. Strain herbs to save infused oil. Make a double boiler effect using a jar and a pot of boiling water. Add infused oil and 1 oz. bees wax to jar. Test with a popsicle stick to test for proper consistency. Once consistency is reached pour into containers, let the oil solidify. Keep in fridge or cool place. Lasts approx 6 months to 1 year in fridge.





Use the ointment in place of neosporin, I have used to clear up cold sores, stings, bites, cuts, rashes and any other irritant. As I stated earlier sometime just massaging it into your aches can be of help from this salve.

Let me know if you try any of your own combinations.

Enjoy!

Homemade Is My Future

I was born in the wrong century. Ya, I said that right. Being alive in the late 1800's or early 1900's would have been hard and steady but in my mind it sounds like a wonderful time. Life was simple. Men and women's roles were clearly defined. I am obsessed with organization and I feel that the day-in day-out chores and routines of the old times sounds perfect. You had a wash day, a baking day, etc.. No electricity, using a hip tub, heating water over a cook stove to fill the tub or to wash dishes. No T.V.s or outside entertainment. Kids found things to do, they were aloud to be innocent. Families pulled together more for the good of the whole family. Cost of living was less expensive and a family could survive off of a mans income alone. Neighbors seemed more generous and stores didn't run our lives and control our needs. Homemade goods were common and safe. Having a kitchen garden and canning foods to survive the winter. It all sounds too good to be true! I know, I am crazy. Right?

Well, because I find myself often fantasizing about this type of life I have set a challenge upon myself. I will try each month to find a new way to become more domesticated and self-reliant. What a better time to start this challenge, than these days where the current state of economy is forcing us all to be a little more frugal and make what little we have stretch. My homemade adventure is trying to encompass making as many homemade household items myself, in my own home.

A century ago making these common household products was common and not thought twice about. Now, with the economy at a low point and this push towards being "green" I feel encouraged to re-establish the norm of making these goods on a constant bases.

I started my adventure with the encouragement of my "cheap", I mean frugal husband. I love to cook and began making almost all my foods from scratch. He RAVED about them. I felt special because he began to brag about and share my foods. (I am not big headed really!) But, after the great reviews I just kept on it and continued to find new ways to make common foods from scratch. I couldn't just stop there. I was curious about making other items such as cleaners, clothes, and foods. Thus, I began this adventure of homemade living.

Here are some benefits of a homemade adventure:

Self-reliance- the more you make the less you depend on outside resources and big name distributors.

Creativity and Handiness- creating your own homemade products and materials will boost your creative thought. You will reach out to try new things and be encouraged by the new things you can make. When getting the supplies needed to make new products buy in bulk. This brings the cost down and allows you to have stock available. This is wonderful at the moment when you realize you just ran out of dish soap, but no worries, all you have to do is whip a batch up and you are set!

Green Living – because you make the products, you choose the building blocks and the method of production; use of chemically laden ingredients can be kept to a minimum if you so choose.

Savings– The more products you make, the more money you will save; I am speaking from personal experience as I save more money with each additional homemade item I tackle.

Health – when you create your own products you will undoubtedly be very choosy as to the health considerations each product will have on you and your family; and because you are in full control of production, you stand to cut out more and more items that can be detrimental to your health.

In the coming posts I plan to show you some of the recipes and ways I have already changed to become more self-reliant. I will also continue to post on new things I plan to try and let you know how they work! Please share any suggestions you may have to become more self-reliant.

Thanks!