Thursday, April 28, 2011

New Car Seat Cover

A friend just had a sweet little boy!

I made a carseat cover for her little Bryson. They are wonderful, they block the cold, wind, rain, and sun! Bonus, it attaches to the handle, so you don't have to worry about it blowing away.

I changed this one from the one I made. I made it reversible! She can choose which side she wants to display! I hope Mr. Bryson appreciates it.
What kind of things do you like to give as baby gifts?

Monday, April 25, 2011

Making Baby Food

I decided that I wanted to make my own baby food for Hayden. A lot of people thought I was nuts, but it is really easy and super quick! I steam everything in the microwave for about 5-10 minutes and I let it cool. Then, I dump it in the food processor and puree it until smooth. Some foods don't puree as well as others, but you just add a little water and you can get a pretty nice smooth texture for most foods. Then, they go into ice cube trays and into the freezer. I just thaw a few cubes out and it is ready for a meal. He loves it!
Homemade baby food takes up the majority of my freezer. on Twitpic
It fills my freezer, but it is so much cheaper than baby food. The jars at the store are anywhere from $.70 - $1 for 4-6 oz of food. But, he can eat 4 oz at each meal! I spent $5 on sweet potatoes this weekend and I have enough puree to last for a few weeks! Plus, steaming loses less of the nutrients. I can also buy local, organic, or whatever is freshest. OR, he loves his peaches, but they aren't in season yet, so I buy frozen. It tastes wonderful, it isn't like the canned baby food we all know and detest.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Avoid Loose Strings

I don't remember where I found the idea, but I read about a great idea to save the cut edges on fabric.

You are supposed to wash material before you sew it so it doesn't shrink after you've made the finished project. BUT, you always end up with lots of strings and you have to trim them all off. I follow several sewing and other project blogs and on one of them suggested sewing the ends up with a serger to prevent them from unraveling and tangling.

Well, I don't have a serger, but I have a handy-dandy sewing machine. So, I ran a quick stitch along each edge and then threw it in the wash.
Before washing.

I did have to trim a few loose strings, but not nearly as many as I usually have to. I'm so excited that I found a trick to save me that headache! I'll show you what I made soon!
After washing.

Do you have any handy-dandy little tricks that make something you enjoy a little easier?

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Mud Soap

I loved my test batch of Dead Sea Mud Soap so much that I made a bigger batch! It makes a wonderful face soap. I've been using it and my skin feels wonderful. I have even tested it on friends with very dry and acne prone skin and it cleans well without drying the skin out.

I used Dead Sea Mud (obviously) and mineral sea salt in the test batch. The only complaint was that it smelled like mud (wonder why), so this time I added a little rosemary, peppermint, and tea tree essential oils to cover the smell but still be good for skin.
Separated soap!

I was also going to be creative and make it a layered soap. So, I separated out about a third of the soap and left the mud out, but added a little extra salt. I should have considered that the mud portion would be more dense, but I didn't. So, the mud part tried to sink and the lighter layer tried to rise. It will obviously not be perfect layers, but I didn't mix the layers, so it should still be interesting.

Lighter layer on bottom.
You can see the lighter layer that didn't stay on bottom.



 What do you think? Pretty cool, huh?

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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Swappin' The Soap

I had planned on doing the last one, but it didn't happen. I was ready for this one though! I am participating in Bramble Berry's next soap swap! I am sending in my Chocolate Pumpkin soap (you can read about that adventure here and here) and I can't wait to get some soap back! I love trying soap from other soap makers.


I spend a little more time labeling these than I normally do, but it was only 12 bars and not a big batch. I think they look quite cute...

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Name It

I accidentally spilled the beans to my friend that the soap was for her birthday and she guessed the scent. So, I'm officially announcing that the scent of my funnel soap is Bramble Berry's karma synergistic eo. It is mostly patchouli, but also has citrus, floral, and ambergris. It smells so good! It is not just straight patchouli. It is pretty too!

Now it needs a name. I can't just leave it as karma soap. I want something fun that describes the scent and the fun tie-dyed look. Any ideas. Submit your ideas here or on Facebook. If your suggestion is chosen, you will win some of this fantastic soap (if you don't like patchouli, you can ask for something different).