Declutter Challenge: Week 26

I am halfway through my 52 week challenge! I have to say that it is getting easier and easier to do. Now, if I see something that I've been telling myself I will get rid of when I clean, I don't wait until I clean! I pick it up and get rid of it. Currently, those things are going out to the garage into one of two piles, donate or garage sale. I know you are probably saying that I'm not really getting rid of it. But, I think it counts because I am regularly taking things to be donated. I don't have too many things that just need to go to the trash because I am good about throwing away things that should be tossed. BUT, that brings us to this week's challenge.

I have kept every card and note that I have ever been given since I was born. You think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. I have all of the notes that my friends and I passed back and forth in middle school. Do you have any idea how many show boxes that is? I decided it was time to clean those out.

I will say that this challenge took longer than some of the others. As I was going through all of the cards, I made sure to read them. It is time to stop keeping them, but I did want to read them. I know I won't remember what they all said, but I read them anyway. I went through my notes first and most of those I did not read, I just made a note of who it was from and smiled fondly at the memories of the people that gave them to me. I did open a few and had to laugh at the things we wrote and to remember who are middle school crushes were. Those went into the recycle bin. I considered shredding them, but I don't think anyone cares who my middle school crush was.

Then, I started going through cards. Some, I did keep. The 2nd birthday card from my Motch was something I wanted to keep. Others, I read and smiles at and put in the "to go" pile. I let go of many things that I've been holding on to and I thing that was good for me. I held on to the last card my mom sent me because I need to, I'm not ready to let that go. I held on to a couple from people that were very close to me. I will say that I shed more than a few tears reading the cards. Sympathy cards from when we lost mom, birthday cards from loved ones that are gone and lost friends, and even a few just because. All in all, it was an emotional cleaning, but it needed to be done and done it is. I won't forget the people that gave me the cards and I won't forget that they care about me and really that is what is most important.

What did you get rid of this week?

Landscape Soap

I saw this idea on the soap challenge at Great Cakes Soapworks blog. I didn't have time to participate because of school and all those pesky things teachers do at the end of the year, but I saved the ideas for later. I loved the idea of a landscape soap and I really wanted to try one.

I decided to make my Twilight Seduction soap a landscape soap. I wanted it to look like twilight over water. So, I studied lots of pictures of twilight, which isn't easy because most of what came up on the first search involved Edward and Bella. Not helpful! But, I finally found some pictures that I loved.

I decided that for my first try, I would use fewer colors than are generally associated with sunsets. I wanted the moon high in the sky, but when I made the batch for my moon, I didn't think about the fact that the sun is still present. Oh well, I'll do that next time. My fragrance is a blend of vanilla and mint. I didn't want the vanilla to discolor the entire soap, so I only used vanilla half of the soap. So, here are the steps I took for my masterpiece.

1. Make soap. This step is critical.
2. Divide soap in half. Scent half that will make up the water with a vanilla blend, add shredded soap to look like reflections, and color with a mix of ultramarine blue, violet, and black oxide (more next time.) Pout into bottom of mold.

 

3. Scent other half of soap with mint eo blend. Divide this into three equalish portions in plastic cups. Color one yellow (use brighter yellow next time). Spoon carefully on top of water. I liked this because it didn't break the other layer and added texture.

 4. Color other portion pink/orange (brighter next time). Spoon over yellow.

 5. Add white thin soap log that you spent a lot of time trying to make into a nice circle. Next time, don't let the embed soap sit so long. It was hard to make round.

 6. Color the last bit of soap blue, violet, and black (darker next time, but not as dark as the water). Cover pink layer and that pesky moon. Don't smooth it out. It looks nice like that.

 7. Wrap up nicely for gel or not as you prefer. Clean up the mess you made.

 8. Pull out of mold and admire. Then cut.

 9. Don't fret about sad looking water layer. The vanilla will make it darker. A lot darker I hope.

 10. Celebrate the discoloring power of vanilla, for once:)

Notes for next time:

1. Make the moon round, not oval.
2. Make the water darker. 
3. Add a setting sun.
4. Make the colors brighter
5. Make less of a mess

Have you ever made a landscape soap? If so, do you have any tips?

Twilight Seduction Soap

I made this soap last week and I have to say that I was surprised that I only got one comment about sparkling vampires. In truth, the name has nothing to do with vampires. I have three scents that I grouped together because they are deep, rich, and wonderful. The first, I decided to name Moonlight Temptation because one of the fragrances in the blend was called moonlight. I wanted the other two names to tie into the first. Moonlight is a dark chocolate blend and this one is vanilla, I wanted to come up with something to represent light.

I brainstormed dawn, daylight, sunrise, and a few others that didn't catch me. When twilight came to mind, I loved the name Twilight Seduction. I knew that most would assume it had something to do with the movies or books, but it truly doesn't. The three names I decided on are Moonlight Temptation, Twilight Seduction, and Midnight Enchantment. See, nothing to do with vampires.

I was going for the moon over the water with the colors of twilight. I even put moonlight shimmers in the water. Not bad for my first try!

Website Description:

"Twilight is that moment of time in between two opposing periods of each day. The time when light still exists in the world as darkness slowly takes over and day becomes night. To create the scent of twilight, warm vanilla and cool peppermint are brought together to exist as that moment in which opposing forces vie for your full attention. In that moment neither exists without the other and you will be drawn into the seductive embrace of Twilight Seduction.

Shea and cocoa butter create a creamy bar of soap that will leave behind silky soft skin and take away that dry, itchy feeling. Let the thick lather surround you as it washes away your worries and leave you feeling relaxed, refreshed, and emotionally recharged."

Declutter Challenge: Week 25

I had an idea for this week, but I opened up the hall closet to stuff some towels in and I changed my mind. My before shot magically disappeared, so I can't share the horror with you. Trust me, it was bad. Stuff just got showed in wherever it would fit. There were things buried that we obviously didn't need. Plus, we had so many towels, it was a little ridiculous. There are two adults living here, why do we need so many towels. There are even plenty in the guest bath.

So, I pulled everything out, which my toddler thought was more fun than anything in the world and he helped pull stuff to the floor, all the while saying "helper." I sorted the towels and kept a handful of the nicest to go back in the closet. They all had to fit on one shelf too! I did keep our beach (pool) towels and the best of the animal towels for bathing Kili and fosters. I cleaned out the box of doggie care stuff and got rid of the Bitter Yuck, it was to keep my cat from chewing cords, but she just licked it off and then chewed the cords. I put all of the cleaning stuff, personal care, and such on the same shelf. I have one empty shelf that will be used for sheets, but those were still in the wash yesterday. Extra toilet paper and my foot soaking bowl are at the bottom.

Apparently, I was slow about putting the towels in too, but we have more than two green towels :) I moved all the extra towels to the guest bathroom for now. My brother is moving from Hawaii, so I'll see if he wants any because I don't think he spent money to ship towels over. After he takes what he wants, I'll keep a few for guests and the rest will be decluttered. I only ended up getting rid of a few towels, washcloths, a neck warmer, and some shower attachment that was here when we moved in. Hayden had so much fun with that! He would talk into one end and put the other to his ear, when I looked at him he said "telephone." AHHHHH! They grow so fast.

So, it may not seem like much, but remember, the challenge is only one thing a week! Besides, I now have a usable hall closet and a set of towels to give to someone else. SCORE! The first week is always the hardest, but I hope you've joined me by now; if so, I'd love to hear from you.

Berry Smoothie Recipe

As some of you may know, I have been working on changing my lifestyle to be healthier and more fit. If you want to know more, read about it here. One big change for us is eating more veggies. Eating plenty of fruit is not a challenge, but getting a healthy variety of veggies is.

So, when I read about green smoothies, I started experimenting. I loved the saltier versions with more veggies, but we also wanted to see about making some fruity yogurt smoothies too. We tried using water and it all separated and became quite gross to try and drink down. We then tried grape and apple juices, but it was hard to make it taste good with any veggies in it. It we left out the veggies and just used sweet fruit, it tasted fine. However, the point is to get more veggies!

Well, I was at the store the other day and I saw a bottle of V-8 Acai Berry Blend (or something close to that). I came up with an idea :) This idea actually turned out delicious.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz Acai Berry Juice
• 1 cup nonfat greek yogurt
• 2 handfuls of fresh spinach
• 5 strawberries
• 1/2 cup frozen berry blend
• 1/4 cup fresh cherries
• dab of honey

Instructions:

1. Throw everything into a blender and blend until smooth-ish.
2. Pour into 2 glasses and enjoy!

This was so good, I think the key was getting a juice that complemented what went in to the mix. Plus, V-8 has veggies mixed into it, but the smoothie was awesome! The juice makes it higher in calories, but I think it makes it taste better and stay together better. With the yogurt, it has a little more protein, so you can use it to replace a snack or small meal. I haven't tried experimenting with any supplements, but if you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them.

What are your favorite smoothie recipes?

Soap Donation

I wanted to let everyone know that I am currently running a little low on soap. I packed up a box yesterday and took it to Care and Share and donated it for the evacuees of the Waldo Canyon Fire. They are still in need of food and other personal care items, if you are able to help out in any way.

I have quite a few batches on the curing racks and I am making more soap, but I am completely out of some soaps. Please be understanding and patient with me while I get my soap store built back up. I promise, I'll be working hard.

Please keep all of the evacuees and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Market Booth

I know I promised you pictures of my new booth, but if you remember, I had my market dates wrong. So, I didn't get pictures that Saturday like I planned. I did have two markets last week, so I got pictures. It is just taking me longer to get them shared.

Here is the entire booth. Notice the cute little blond kid in the front :)

 As you can see, I now have two sets of shelves. I really like the both because it gets everything up off of the table. I still have my little doggie steps that I keep covered with fabric. I still like them, so what get rid of them?

Look at how cute my signs are! Notice the little hand in the corner, he is everywhere :)

 I love the new signs. We had some lumber sitting around in the garage, so we cut it up and painted it. We used a paint marker to write on them and small dowels to make them stand upright. Changing my prices will be more work, but I think it looks nicer than the plastic stand up signs. Plus, these don't blow over as easily.

My other set of shelves that we fashioned from shutter doors.

 I'm not completely sold on how I set out my soaps. I want something that bring them up to and keeps them in a line. I just haven't figured out what I want to do yet. If you have a suggestion, let me hear it!

I love this fabric! It looks like little waves. Yes, the hand is back and trying to run off with a package of travel soaps this time.

I really think I might buy some more of this fabric and make it into a table runner for the tops of the tables. I played with it some on Saturday and I like it, so I'm going to see if I can find the fabric again.

What do you think? Do you have any suggestions for more improvements?