Just Discovered: New Favorite Craft Blog

Sometimes people ask me where I get all my creative ideas. I kind of feel like the more creative ideas you surround yourself with, the more creative you become. It's seeing something and saying, "Hey, I can tweak this and make it better/prettier/easier."

Since I am very much a proponent for re-purposing, I was really excited to find this blog. Although I can't use all of her ideas (for example, I don't use dryer sheets since I mostly air-dry my clothes), most of them are cool, and many can be used for kids crafts too.

Also, in the spirit of a more eco-concious Christmas, I LOVED her packaging ideas for this year and last year. Check out Claire at blah to TADA! I hope you enjoy!

Baking Back to Back: Almost Vegan Banana Bread

I made some yummy banana bread yesterday, and the only animal product was eggs... ok, so that's not that hard. I pretty much just substituted the butter for a combo of almond butter and applesauce, soy milk for cow milk, then added some baking powder. But, still! It came out super good, and I figure it's that much healthier. Considering I'm not the best at baking (I can count on one hand the number of things I can actually bake), this was huge.

Here's what I did:

3/4 C sugar (I like brown)
3 med bananas*
1/2 C almond butter
1/4 C applesauce
5-7 drops liquid stevia
2 large eggs
1/2 C soy milk (or regular milk, almond milk... whatever!)
1 t vanilla
2 1/2 C wheat pastry flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
optional: chopped nuts, abt. 1 C

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mash bananas and sugar really well. Add almond butter and mix well. Add up to & incl. the vanilla; mix. Add dry ingredients and mix until all is just wet. Spray or lightly oil 2 8 or 9 in. loaf pans. Pour in 1/2 of batter into each pan. Bake approx. 1 hour, or until toothpick comes out clean.

*I freeze bananas if they get brown spots and I won't be able to use them in time. Just keep the skins on and throw them in the freezer. Then, take them out about an hour or more before you start baking. Because they've been frozen, they actually mash up really easy and smooth.

Baking Back to Back: Chocolate Breakfast Cookies

While perusing a kids cookbook in Michael's one day, I saw a rawther interesting breakfast item: cookies. I thought: "Holy cow! I could give my kids cookies for breakfast!" It was an amazing revelation.

So, being a good little researcher (we all have to learn something in college, right?), I searched on the internet. I came up with two HEALTHY cookie recipes. The first one was peanut butter and banana (I substitute the dried fruit with chocolate chips). The second I will put below with my variations, but here is the original link.


Chocolate PB Craisin Cookies - for Breakfast!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened dark cocoa (such as Hershey's Extra Dark Cocoa)
1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (I use wheat pastry flour)
1-1/4 cups precooked steel-cut oatmeal
1/2 cup granulated white sugar or brown sugar, plus 4-5 drops liquid stevia
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 - 3/4 cup craisins, chopped nuts, or other dried fruit in small pieces
2 large eggs (I like mine cakey)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (or almond butter)

(Please note: my cookies look worse than they taste; they're almost the consistency of brownie)

Instructions: Preheat oven 350 degrees. Mix sugar and peanut butter. Add applesauce, vanilla, stevia, oatmeal and eggs. Mix well. Add the rest of ingredients and mix. You may or may not need to add a few Tablespoons of liquid (milk, water, soy milk). If you want to shape the dough, refrigerate it 1/2 hour, then roll into small balls with lightly oiled hands, pressing the ball down with your thumb. Otherwise, drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Bake 15-20 min, or until slightly firm to the touch. Keep what you don't eat in the fridge. I warm mine in the toaster on cool mornings. Great for a morning on the run.

Greener Christmas Wrapping

Hi, all. Amazing how busy you get when kids are in school.

A few holidays ago I was absolutely disgusted with the amount of waste our Christmases created (bags and bags of garbage, most of which I don't think was recyclable). So, here are a few of my favorite green Christmas ideas. I'm not including any of my own pictures, but lots of links to pictures and tutorials.

1. Newspaper wrapping paper - All growing up, we knew which presents were from my grandparents because they were wrapped in the comics from the newspaper and tied with brown twine. I loved it, and was a little sad when they swtiched to regular wrapping paper. If you get the Sunday paper anyway (or neighbors do), save the comics (or car ads for Dads, maybe?) and use those. Then take off the tape when they're unwrapped and throw into recycling.

2. Fabric bags and/or furoshiki - Last year I went a little crazy with clearance fabrics. I got a smattering of different colors and weights so I could make gift bags. I've made several of all different sizes (several that fit DVDs, small boxes, large boxes; skinny and square, etc.). I haven't even made them all, but a did make about 10 or so. I LOVE it! LOVE it! "Wrapping" presents takes like 5 minutes, is super easy, and looks elegant. I use heavier weights for bags, and lightweights, like cotton and silky-types, for furoshiki (Japanese fabric wrapping). For furoshiki, just make sure the edges are surged or sewn like a hem to prevent fraying. I've included several tutorials below for different bag types, as well as a furoshiki diagram. Oh, and as a tip, drawstring bags don't work well for bags with large openings; a ribbon tied a few inches down works lots better! Oh, and either of these are fabulous projects for teaching young children or teenagers or friends to sew. The only thing is that if you use these bags for giving gifts, don't expect them back... people really like them.

http://www.makingthishome.com/2008/12/03/easy-fabric-gift-bag-tutorial/

http://www.craftideas.info/html/christmas_bag_tutorial_b.html

http://www.queenoframbles.com/quilting/?p=76

http://angrychicken.typepad.com/angry_chicken/2008/06/furoshiki-cooln.html

3. Make gift bows from old magazines or catalogues - Here's a tutorial on making bows from magazines, old maps, catalogues, etc. Great way to reuse something; easy to make, especially if you have a paper cutter.

4. If you are still really attached to normal wrapping paper, some ideas for reusing them, or using the little scraps that get left over, are: make a Christmas garland, decorate homemade Christmas cards, make Christmas ornaments or wreaths, or use them for paper mache. Even if you don't use wrapping paper, if other people send you something wrapped, use the leftover paper. I'll have more on this kind of stuff another time, with pictures. Here's a description of some different projects.

I hope these ideas are helpful. My favorite are the fabric bags, 'cause they make wrapping a breeze (even Santa loves borrowing ours, since he wants to save the planet too... the North Pole is getting too warm, right?) and, ultimately, they're an investment that pays off in the long run. I also made some we use for birthdays.

Halloween Part 2 - Carrot Leaf Cookies

This recipe can be adapted for any season, but this one here is for Halloween. We made something similar last Easter, and shaped the cookies like carrots and radishes. The ones we made today were shaped like leaves and "pumpkins" (aka circles).

Ingredients:

1 C butter, softened
1/2 C brown sugar
2 eggs
3 cups flour, white or wheat (plus some for rolling out dough)
1 t baking powder
3 med carrots or 4 small carrots, chopped into 1" sections
1/2 C applesauce
1/4 C water (approx.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Add flour and baking soda and mix.

In a blender, blend carrots, applesauce and water (add only enough water to get the carrots completely chopped up). Blended mix should be between 2-3 cups.


Add carrot mixture to flour mixture.

Roll out dough to about 1/2" thick, using LOTS of flour so the dough doesn't stick. Cut into shapes.

Bake cookies about 20 min on ungreased cookie sheet, until just barely browning on the edges. Makes about 3 - 5 dozen, depending on the size you cut them. Healthier alternative to other cookies, and yummy to boot.

For different colors, use blended peas for green and strawberries for pink... play with it; it's fun. Just keep in mind that the color is severely diminished by baking.

Halloween Part 1 - Decorations

Here are two very inexpensive and fun looking Halloween decorations:

1. Silhouette paper bags

Materials: silhouette patterns*, brown lunch paper bags, pencil, permanent black marker, electric tea lights

Directions: Open paper bag; position silhouette pattern in the paper bag. Trace with a pencil. If you can't see the silhouette, hold the paper bad up against a window. Take out the pattern and fill in the pencil marks with black permanent marker. (If you're really confident, use the black marker from the get go.) Insert electric tea light (or two) and place along a walkway or on a porch or wherever.



2. Pumpkin Jars

Materials: Empty glass jars, tape and permanent markers, red and yellow (or orange) food coloring, water, flashlight

Directions: Using the black marker, Design a pumpkin type face on the outside of your glass jar (if you want the face to come off easily, put clear tape where the face is). Drop 3 drops yellow and 1 drop red food coloring in jar; fill with water and put lid on. Place a flashlight behind the jar. Or, if you have a set of them, white Christmas lights strung behind them would look cool, too.

Easy, fun to do with kids, inexpensive, and still festive.

Healthy, Frugal, Yummy Popsicles and Smoothies

In our house, popsicles are a major relief in the summer. But, I can't stand otterpops or other super sugary popsicles. My kids can, but I just can't even stand having them in the house. We've found a few healthy, yummy, non-sugar laden options at local stores. They're pretty expensive, though.

I also hate wasting those little bits of fruit that just barely don't get consumed or have a slight bruise, etc.

This is why I love, love, love home popsicle molds. (Though you don't actually need them, as shown in this blog - look at the "For a Popsicle" post). And ice cube trays. And my freezer. Here's how I make my favorite summer treat -

Pre-popsicle time:

Whenever cutting/preparing/throwing away fruit, keep a freezer safe container ready. Put in slightly bruised portions, all you can get from fruits that have begun to dehydrate, strawberry tops (leaves haven't poisoned us yet), etc. I even put in leftover bits of fruit that my kids don't finish, since it will be in the freezer and bacteria won't be able to grow. Just don't put anything super slimy or covered in mold... that stuff is good for compost.


Keep the freezer safe bowl with fruit in the freezer until you have enough for or are ready to make popsicles. And make sure you remember where it is, 'cause you don't want freezer burned fruit.


Day of Directions: (basically, making a fruit smoothie)

Frozen fruit bits
Juice/milk/soymilk
popsicle mold or cups/popsicle sticks
Blender
empty Ice Cube Tray (if you have extra)

Put frozen fruit in blender. Add sufficient liquid so the fruit blends. Pour into molds, and stick molds in freezer. If there is leftover, pour into ice cube tray to use for smoothies (sorry for the ugly pic... I had just used ours up, and this at least illustrates the point).


Just wait a few hours and there's yummy, fantastically healthy popsicles. I have yet to feel the need to add sugar to any of these; the variety of fruit seems to keep it from being too tart.


For smoothies - Well, either just use the popsicle mix as a smoothie (that's basically what it is). Or, for a creamy version, put the smoothie cubes from the ice tray in the blender and add juice and cream (I use soy cream, since I don't do much dairy), blend and enjoy. Super easy. And our popsicles and smoothies cost us almost nothing!

Sexy Pasta

Ok, so it's not really sexy, but Sophia Lauren is. And I read this little article on her. It talks about how she eats. Granted, genes and metabolism probably have something to do with her great looks as well, but I am of the opinion that eating small portions of food that tastes good is probably better than going on diet after diet to stay skinny. But, that's me.

Anyway, this is what I made based on reading about healthy Italian fare.

Roasted Veg and Pasta

Roasting Veggies: Heat oven to 500+ degrees F. Cut large pieces of:

different colored sweet peppers,
heirloom tomatoes in quarters or eights (whole if cherry type),
garlic (leave the skin on; they'll pop out after being cooked),
onions quartered,
thick slices of zucchini, eggplant, portobello mushroom, or summer squash.

In large bowl or plastic bag, toss all veg except tomatoes and garlic with 1-3T oil and 1 t salt. Place in one layer on a cookie sheet (2 if you have too much). Put in oven for 5-10 min.


Cook Pasta: Cook enough portions for the number of people, about 1/2 C - 3/4 C per person.

Once cooked, place pasta on plates and then cover with an assortment of roasted veg. You might want some pieces cut a bit before putting it on. Garnish with fresh oregano if possible. Otherwise sprinkle with dried basil or oregano.


Roasted Veg can be saved in the fridge and added to tacos, enchiladas, pureed into pasta sauce, soups, or put in sandwiches (especially panini style or hot sandwiches). Super yum and lots of options. Sorry for no pics - everything gets eaten before I remember to take a pic.

Yarrow Does Stop Bleeding

So, this is a bugger of a wound. It's called shredding your knuckle instead of the cheese. 'Causes a fairly messy, bloody wound. After I ran to rinse it off, I thought I'd go get a band-aid, when I remembered yarrow.



What exactly is yarrow? It's the leafy type plant pictured above. I can't remember if I'd heard of it before, but it's definitely talked about in my favorite home remedy/cleaning/etc. literature (also above). Apparently Achilles is said to have used it for his soldiers' wound in battle.

All I know is that it's supposed to stop bleeding. So, I bought some seeds last year and threw it around. I used it for a wound my husband had a while back (cut off the edge of his thumb... major bleeding), but I couldn't tell if it really helped or not.

This time I used it on a wound-type I've had before. And it really worked. I crushed the plant as much as I could in my hand, put it on, applied a little pressure, lifted it to check after like 10 seconds.... no bleeding. Kept it on for another 10 seconds just to be sure. Went and rinsed it off. Didn't start bleeding again. I've never had that kind of bleeding stop that fast.

Where/how do I grow it? Well, I ordered the seeds online. And I strewed the seeds around my lawn. As long as you don't use herbicides on your lawn (I don't use anything on mine), it should grow a little here and there. It's not picky about soil or anything. You can mow it like grass, too. It can even make pretty flowers. Though I've heard it's a bugger to get rid of once you have it.

And if you don't want to grow it, I'm sure there are places you can order dried leaves online.

Oh, and I tried using cayenne pepper on a small wound the other day (also mentioned in my little book). It's supposed to help clotting. I used dried stuff and just dabbed a bunch on. The wound stung a bit, and did take a while to stop bleeding. But, it healed so friggin' quick. I wonder how the two would do in conjunction?

Harvesting from Compost

This is a picture of potatoes I harvested from my compost...

...yet, I just ran through all my old posts and was amazed that I've never written about composting. Craaaazy! I love compost. I couldn't garden for nothin' if it wasn't for compost. I've been composting since I was in an apartment and it made the difference between a dead plant and a living one sooooo many times.

This year I built "raised beds." Basically glorified wood squares. Not hard; all you need is wood (they can even cut the boards for you at a hardware store if you need it), an electric screwdriver/drill, drill bits, and screws. I didn't even square things off 'cause we're renting and I don't care if these last forever.

The raised bed on the right is one I composted in.

Anyway, point is, I didn't have enough dirt to fill the raised beds. So, for 3 of them I put in veg kitchen scraps/dry material with the occasional layer of peat moss or vermiculite. (I typically - not always - use the square foot gardening soil recipe.) Imagine my surprise when stuff started growing. I expected a green onion or two, but I had leeks, cabbage, potatoes and garlic all going strong. Also, I now have volunteer squash of some kind and some volunteer tomatoes.

I just let it go. And today, about 4 or 5 months later, my girls and I harvested potatoes. A lot? Nope. But, I just got food from... nothing. And I've already picked green onions and leeks from it when I needed to. All just from throwing my kitchen scraps in a heap and covering it with enough brown material (dry stuff like old leaves, untreated sawdust, shredded newspaper, non-glossy junk mail etc.) so it didn't reek.

Here's the girls holding the "baby" ones; they really liked playing with the tiny ones for some reason. Oh, and there's a carrot, but that's not from the compost.

Anyway, the long and short of it is, if you're not composting and you have an apartment, land, any kind of space... if you have any plants or want to plant things: compost. Do it. It has an awesome payout in natural fertilizer and possibly food, and costs almost nil.

(And also, composting on top of dry dead soil helps it retain water better and encourages earthworms; just make sure the scraps are totally covered or else you get fruit flies. Takes 3-6 months before you can plant in the soil.)

Make Your Own Art

So, I have finally decided my walls are too bare. I just can't stand it. And I love art. I think I picked it up from talking to my sister, who used to work at the Smithsonian in the Asian art section. About a year ago my hubby and I started looking into what makes an art piece that we actually like. Ok, it's mostly me. But, he gladly participates when I ask.

I would love love love love love to just throw down several k on etsy, supporting actual artists. But, my hubby won't go for that (the amount of money... he is totally for supporting small shops). So, in the meantime, we're looking at making art from the pictures we take or just from things at home. It's the "fake it 'til you make it" kind of idea. (In this case, making it is having several k to throw down on art.)

Here are my two current favorite ideas:

1. On a blog called Deliah Creates, I found her distressed canvas idea. (Also check out her current post on chore dice... I love it!) So far, my attempts haven't looked nearly as nice as hers, but they're still in the works. The great part about this: It costs only a few dollars (depending on the size of the piece) and really not a ton of time per canvas. I also found this site that has interesting transfer ideas.

I'm going to show pictures of my current attempts, but if you want to feel inspired, please check hers out. Like I said, I'm still figuring this out.





2. Magazine art. There was a piece of art I really liked created by the person who wrote this blog. She made a magazine collage thing. While I didn't like it nearly as much as the piece of art that originally brought me to her site, I did like the idea. This is what I've done with it (it's not finished):


I sketched a really basic picture of poppies on a thin canvas. I cut out magazine pages that had the colors I wanted to use. And then I put decoupage medium (the thin stuff) on a small section, cut out pieces and got to layering. It looks way cool from far away.


Anyway. It's been fun. The kids kind of enjoy it, too. And I must add, my other favorite source for art has been the goodwill near us. Some goodwill stores have a nicer goodwill section or store next to the regular store. I found some pretty nice stuff there. Also, the American Cancer Society has thrift stores that often carry nice things, as well as other local thrift shops. You just shouldn't take kids to these kind of stores... I found that out the hard way.

Funny Caterpillar Story

I am, in general, quite in favor of insects in the garden. After all, bees and moths and butterflies are my pollinators so that I don't have to bend over all day and try qtip my way into plant reproduction. I've found that most of the insects I see are actually eating the little buggers I can't see that would kill my plants. For example, even though I dumped out at least 8 earwigs from a lettuce plant last night, I'm not going to go hog wild and start dumping pesticides or try to kill the entire earwig population. The fact is, I'm pretty sure they're just eating aphids and during the day happen to hide from the sunlight in the nooks of my lettuce plants. I will admit, though... I had the creepy crawlies all over my skin for a good 10 min. And the earwigs did die a garbage disposal death.

I have had three exceptions to insect coexistence in two years of gardening. This year I found ants farming aphids on my fava bean plants. I just clipped off the tips of the infested branches, squashed 'em and haven't seen a problem since. (I actually keep the squashed bugs near or on the plant; I've heard a dead bug often gives off a chemical signal that tell other bugs to stay away. The exception to this is bees. Do NOT kill a bee and stick around... other bees come and will sting you.)

Earlier this year I also found cabbage caterpillars. Squashed 'em and moved on. No significant damage.

Last year, though, it was tomato caterpillars. I got most of them when they were young, but at the end of the year when I was cutting down the plants, I found the huge guy above. He was a monster of a caterpillar, and I knew if I didn't get him he would come back in butterfly form next year to wreak havoc on my tomatoes.

The kids were enthralled. They just wanted to sit and watch the poor bugger. I didn't want them to watch it die, but I couldn't get them to stay out front. So, I made them stand a good 4 feet off to my left. I placed the unfortunate on his brick execution table, raised the spade, and slammed it down. Then came the screams.

No, my kids are not so sensitive as to scream for a caterpillar's death. Somehow, I'd angled the spade just right so that green caterpillar guts squirted all four feet over to my four year old. She screamed for her now goopy clothes. My two year old just stood there, also covered in green guts, wondering what all the ruckus was about.


P.S. No, I don't know how to identify insect gender. Is there some psychology to the fact that I identified the executionee as a he? :P I am so totally kidding!

Recyclable Gardening - Milk Carton Planters

These are wicked inexpensive planters for those who want to garden but don't want to spend an absolute fortune on pots. I can't remember if I've shown these before, but here's a tutorial. It can also be used with water bottles, plastic milk jugs, sour cream containers... you name it, as long as at least the bottom half is waterproof.

Supplies:

2 matching waterproof containers, well washed (skip steps 1 and 2 for sour cream containers)
scissors and possible screw driver
tape (optional)
dirt/seeds/water

Step 1 - Cut the first carton 3" or so up from the bottom. It doesn't have to be exact, but try to keep the line fairly straight.



Step 2 - Cut the top off carton no. 2, keeping it as tall as possible. If using a milk jug, I'd suggest cutting off the handles.



Step 3 - Take carton no. 2 (the taller one) and punch 5-6 holes in the bottom with a screw driver or scissors.

Step 4 - Place carton no. 2 on the first carton. If the top carton is too big, make small slits in the sides of the bottom cartons. Here's the step where you can use tape if you really want to, but it usually isn't necessary.



Step 5 - Fill to 1/4" of the top with dirt/soil, get it moist and plant your seed according to the directions. Set outside and you've got yourself a wicked inexpensive planter that won't leak all over the place. They'll eventually (after several years) break down or compost or whatever, but that's ok, since it's easy to replace.

I've had great luck with these. Happy Spring, early Happy Earth Day and all that jazz!


P.S. I'm thinking of making the top of the carton where I just cut off the bottom into an upside down planter (plant sticking out the spout)... haven't gotten that far, and we'll see how it goes.

Working with Whey - My Oatmeal Dilemma

Several months ago, while discussing healthy foods with a friend, my friend mentioned that she uses her whey (leftover product from making cheese) in her oatmeal. Whey has protein in it, and probably other trace nutrients from milk. I decided to give it a go.

It sucked. I used only whey for my liquid, and the oatmeal tasted like a nasty acrid mush. My mouth still curls in disgust when I think of it. It makes my Dad's oatmeal taste nice. (cringe)

So, I have tried to make whey in oatmeal edible. I've used less of it, etc. No matter what I still taste a little of that acrid tang. I would recommend using it for no more than 1/3 of your oatmeal liquid.

In trying to doctor this up so my kids wouldn't turn their noses up at it, I discovered a nice little combo. Whey and nutmeg. Ground nutmeg helps cover most of the acrid aftertaste. I don't use a lot. Only a pinch. And if you like cinnamon, a small pinch (which goes a long way) is also very yummy.

Also of note, I have discovered there are two different kinds of whey (thank you wikipedia): sweet whey and acid whey. My whey is acid whey (it's leftover from making ricotta). Perhaps I'd have better results with sweet whey, but until I make a cheddar, swiss or rennet cheese, I'll just use nutmeg.

Any successful whey recipes any of ya'll use (including oatmeal)?

Where's the Idea Plumber?

So, my ideas are totally backed up. The only solution is an idea flush. That means I'll be posting 3-4 times a week for the next 2 weeks or so. Talk about crazy. It must be 'cause it's Spring.

Meal Planning, and then Some

I am not a calendar person, nor am I a consistent person. I've struggled for years with meal planning, studying consistently.... stuff of that nature. (Not things, like, say showering.) When I was a kid and teenager, my schedule and my food and my academic/exercise goals were set by parents, activities, sports and school. Now that I'm a grown-up, especially a stay-at-home mom, I have to set my goals, schedule, etc. myself. So... much... harder!

This past year I realized our family was eating out way too much. We were also starting to throw out a lot more food than I was comfortable with. So, I started loosely planning our meals once a week. It didn't work. At all.

So, in October of last year, I tried a new approach. I printed of several blank calendars. And then I planned a month of meals in one sitting. It takes about a half hour to an hour. I Love it! Why? Lots of reasons. Here are a few:

1. We have a varied diet. We never end up having pasta 3 nights in a row 'cause I can't get out of my zone or it's easy. When I plan, I sit down with a few cookbooks, the last months calendar, and any recipes I've printed. We're always trying something new.

2. Planning for leftovers, busy nights, and being out of town. When I know a day or night is going to be tiring, or we need to empty the fridge before a trip, I just calendar it in. Done and Done.

3. Setting food goals. For example, I have a goal to have a meal with bean or lentils at least once a week. I just feel like their a good inexpensive staple that we should get used to. Also, my husband and I have started making our own sushi. We decided we want one night each month to make sushi, so we can experiment.

4. Planning to use perishable ingredients. I'm still not the best at this, but I'm good with expensive ingredients. For example, when I buy proscuitto, I make a fancy carbonera and potato gatto on different nights that week. That way it doesn't go bad before I can use it.

5. Shopping list. Every month when I make a new menu calendar, I use the back of the last one to make a shopping list. I put the date of all the Saturdays in the month (our typical shopping day, since we like to shop as a family). Then I look at the meals for the next week. I figure out any perishables or specialty items that we'll need for the week and write them down. As time goes by and we run out of the normal staples, I just throw it on the bottom of the list for the next week.

6. Cooking dinner is way easier since I don't have to actually think of what to make or wonder if I have the ingredients.

7. Every month I get to reevaluate and remotivate myself.

I don't always get to every meal. Things come up; we eat out on occasion; I switch stuff around. I've been doing this for several months now, and it works for me. I don't expect it to be the answer for everyone. I still wanted to share it though. Here's a photo with a close up so you can see some of the menu items. (Unfortunately, I missed a night that has wantons and stir-fry, one of our favorites.)



One last thing. Two months ago I decided to expand my "calendar." I now have 3 calendars on my fridge. One is the menu. One is activities with/for my kids (art, library, music class, parks, walks, etc.) since I struggle with playing with my kids. One is for family and personal scripture study. I pick a scripture (one verse) to read with my kids at breakfast and we talk about it a little (I pick a theme for each week, like prayer or joy or friends). For myself, I do my best to keep it varied. I also plan in days to catch up, 'cause I am all too aware that I'm going to miss days. The stuff I miss, I put it on my calendar the next month.

Anyway, hope this helps jump start some ideas for others out there! Have fun finding the system that works for you!

Saving Water - Update

We figured out a way to transport the water outside, and I think I'm going to like it. At first, we bought a fairly heavy duty dolly, but it could barely lift the barrel and it was way heavy to move. So, feast your eyes on this:



We found a $10 spa/pool tube, 24 feet long, with connectors. Is it perfect? Heck no! I have to put a bucket under the connection because there's a bit of leakage no matter how tight I get the connector. It gets the water outside my door, though. And from there I can set up a hose to spread the water wherever I need it. Or at least I won't spill water in my house every time I carry a bucket through. Also, once the barrel is emptied, I can roll up the black tubing and carry the barrel back into the garage so I don't have this unsightly blue mass in my yard. So, total, the system cost us $30 (we got our water barrel for $20; they're usually $30 used, $60 new). How much will it save us in water? I have no clue, but I'm sure it will save not only money but peace of mind, so it's totally worth it.

Oh, and just for fun, here's a pretty pick of borage flowers. (Borage is totally edible, leaf and flower, and helps tomatoes and strawberries grow.)

Saving Water - Holy Laundry Madness, Batman!

While visiting some family, I heard someone complain about water being diverted from orchards to small lakes in order to try and save an endangered species of fish. This person thought it was terrible to take water from orchards that have been around for generations, effectively killing trees and livelihoods, for the sake of an obscure fish that obviously just can't cut it.

I am also upset to hear about the orchards. Even though they are typically monocultures (i.e. not very good for the soil), they do produce healthy food and livelihoods. However, two points made me very upset. The ecological biologist in me was quite upset at such a close-minded view of the fish, for two reasons: it's likely our fault that it's going extinct in the first place, and more importantly it's part of an elaborate ecosystem that could be severely damaged, affecting animals or plants that we do care about.

The other point that made me upset was that this was coming from a person who washes at least one load of laundry per day (often superfluously), used to wash kids every night (also unnecessary unless they're really dirty), and waters the garden every single day - sometimes twice (actually bad for the garden and water supply).

The real problem with California water probably isn't the orchards or the endangered fish. It's probably the way people in California WASTE water. I waste as well, often due to habits or convenience.

Here is a shocking picture:
This is a 55 gallon water barrel, filled 3/4 of the way full with the dirty water from one... ONE load of laundry. This is an old machine, granted. I can't justify getting a new one though, 'cause it will just end up in a landfill or used by someone who will also just waste the water from it.

Either way, that's about 35-40 gallons of water that used to be considered drinkable. That's enough to sustain my family for 5 days! Kind of ridiculous in my opinion to waste that much drinkable water. Or that much water in general.

Here's a pic from the side to give a better idea of how much water it is:
I was in total shock when I came in and saw how much water goes into a load of washing. For our family I do probably 5 full loads per week. That's soooo much wasted water! So, I've come up with a plan. I'm using the water in my garden.

Say what? Oh, yeah. Garden water. Will it kill my plants? No way. I think I posted about how I do my laundry a few weeks ago. My water is totally and absolutely appropriate and most likely beneficial for my garden. Can anyone use their laundry water? Nope. You gotta look into your detergents and make sure there's no toxins for your plant or you. Also, I wouldn't use water used to clean diapers or clothing with blood, feces, urine, etc. (Unless you use a different bucket and you're doing the humanure thing... however, I doubt that's most of us at this point.)

How do I transport it? Well... that's tricky. We're thinking of getting a dolly so I can wheel this big boy out to the garden (our washer is in the garage). For now, I'm transporting it in small bucket loads so I don't kill my back. It takes a while, but it's worth it and I am watering my garden. We'll figure out a way, even if it's extending the hose so I can feed it out the window to a spot behind the fence. We'll definitely have to see how it goes.

One good thing is how much we'll save in water. I can easily water 50 sq. ft. of garden per wash load. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to saturate my entire garden, and most likely the lawn, once a week (which is all most gardens need).



Another water saving idea: When I'm in the kitchen waiting for the faucet water to warm up (usually for washing dishes), I put the water in glass jars I keep by the sink. I can fill 3-4 spaghetti sauce jars while waiting for hot water. I keep that water beside the sink and use it several ways: as our water for boiling pasta, for our filtered water, for a cup of herbal tea... almost anything. If you live in an area with mosquitos, you might want to cover yours with the lid.

I'm also thinking of having a bucket by the shower, to put in to catch water that's wasted while waiting for the shower to warm up. I probably waste so much more water than I even realize. Here's hoping we can all find ways to reduce or reuse our consumed water. 'Cause if we all did something we wouldn't need to choose between our orchards and wildlife.

Motherly Advice

So, I was talking to a friend today who shares my motherly faux pas: we don't love our newborn babies! We don't gush; we don't bond; we just nurse and change diapers to our new little time absorber. Does this mean we don't love our kids? No way! Getting through the newborn stage is just a hurdle to a better time of life.

Anyway, the point is there are a few social stances, particularly around motherhood, that I think should be discussed more often. Why is it you never hear about some things until you're already in the thick of it?

Like, Mastitis. Hello! If a new mom is lucky someone warned her of mastitis and it's symptoms during pregnancy. But I didn't hear about it until a year plus after I had my first. Thank goodness I've never experienced it personally. What is so wrong about discussing something that can go wrong with our boobs? Do we just not talk about them enough amongst other females so that we can glean a bit of forewarning? I'm not sure. I just know a lot of new mom's who have already established nursing patterns and then hear about this horrible malady. I guess this one boils down to: why don't we talk about it when things go wrong with our breasts? At least with other women?

Another pregnancy related topic is Miscarriages. I wish we would talk about them more. I've had three, and I am happy for each one of them. They all taught me something about myself. I have known women who have had horrible and devastating miscarriage experiences. But, I've known many more women who have had normal, healthy (although sometimes painful) miscarriages. A healthy miscarriage is one where the built up uterine lining completely sloughs off. Otherwise you need a dilation and cuterage; this can still be healthy, but it is more involved. A healthy miscarriage is getting rid of a embryo/fetus that: 1) your body isn't ready to handle yet, or 2) is so genetically or environmentally out of whack that the baby most likely wouldn't survive if it was born.

Maybe the really horrible miscarriages would be easier for women to deal with if they didn't feel so alone. Many, many women have miscarriages. It's so much better to talk about a miscarriage, even if it wasn't traumatizing, because then someone else doesn't feel alone. It also helps women who have never had one. They tend to tiptoe around women who have miscarriages because they don't understand what it's like. If we talked more, we'd all be better able to cope and show compassion.

Then there's No Baby Cravings. As in not feeling compelled to hold or touch other people's babies. Or feeling the need to have one yourself. I feel lucky. I've known since I was a teenager I wanted to be a mom. Probably 'cause I have a brother 11 years younger than me that I loved to watch when he was younger.

Not everyone wants a baby, and that's ok! It's one of the greatest lessons I learned from a miscarriage. I was relieved when I miscarried. I had tried to convince myself I needed to be happy about being pregnant, but it just wasn't true. If you don't want a baby, dread being pregnant, or already are and are miserable, then that's how you feel. Be responsible, but don't lie, especially to yourself.

Don't misunderstand me on one point. I believe in personal revelation from God, and if you get a personal message from heaven (hopefully not the lightening rod version) letting you know to have a baby, listen. Still, obeying doesn't mean burying your feelings. You need to be honest with yourself.

Which leads to my main faux pas: Not Loving Newborns. How did we end up with the notion that all moms immediately bond with and fall in love with their babies? I know a handful of women in my acquaintance who don't, including myself. All of them are relieved to find someone else who doesn't love/bond with/gush over their brand new baby. Loving someone is a choice; it is also a process.

I do know women who have an immediate bond. Maybe their incredibly talented in loving; maybe their chemical reaction is stronger. I don't know. As long as they don't stare incredulously at me when I say I don't love or crave newborns, they can love/crave/bond with/gush over newborns all they want, and I won't treat them like they're crazy.


One day while I was in the grocery store a child of mine was climbing between two crates with an ice chest balanced on top, and I was trying to get her out to prevent some kind of painful accident. A woman and her husband moving to the checkout line noticed me. Out of the blue she began to ask me about my children and pregnancy and, basically, how to cope. Ends up she and her husband just found out they were pregnant. They were probably already in their 30s (not a bad thing), and probably used to working and just having the two of them.

I realized after a few sentences that she was panicking about being pregnant. So, I told her that I didn't love my babies at first; that time taught me to love them and their personalities. I also told her it was ok to not feel ready, or to not even want to be pregnant. My husband also piped in that they'd have to do more take out than going to restaurants for the first bit (soooo true).

Her shoulders relaxed and I could see the half amazed look as she realized that she didn't have to live up to our societal image of the ideal new mom. I really hope that woman, her husband and their new baby are ok. I think they will be. I really hope we can all open up a bit more and broaden our view of what a mother should be.... herself. Maybe then no one will feel like they have to ask a complete stranger for emotional support in a grocery store.

Oh my Honey

A few weeks ago I went on a local raw honey shopping spree. Since my kids are old enough (over 1 year) and one has had allergy problems before, I've been wanting to try raw honey for a while. Local raw honey is supposed to be good for preventing allergies as it contains pollen from allergens in your area. I don't know personally if it works, but either way it's also fun to support local producers.

What I wasn't expecting was the selection. (I knew about pricing, which is way more expensive.) I didn't know I'd be able to pick from several different local brands and lots of different flavors. I came home with 4 flavors from two companies: Wildflower, Sage, Mango, and Alfalfa.

Never have my taste-buds been so enthralled by honey. Holy cow. The Wildflower and Sage honey are the most like the honey you buy at the store. Still, they have awesome undertones. These are my daughters favorites.

Mango smells and tastes like mango. With honey, of course. I hadn't expected such a pronounced flavor. There is a bit of an aftertaste, but if you have it with bread or yogurt, it's loverly.

Alfalfa is my favorite. It's a deep amber color and it tastes divine. It's so rich and deep it almost tastes dark. You don't need much for a full flavor experience. I love it.

So, what's the end story? I don't care if it's more expensive; I am never going back to regular store honey. I never realized how much depth it lacks. Even my husband, who has never been a fan of honey, likes this honey. Local raw honey is just that good.

Green Laundry Love

Laundry can be such a chore. And it builds up so fast. But, there are some things I really love about laundry. Like, hanging my clothes out to dry. Now that it's starting to warm up (or out of the rainy season for some of us), we're getting close to a time when you can hang your knickers out.

Doesn't that take longer? Sure does. But, I still love it. At first, it was out of necessity. We moved into a new place and bought an old used washer but no dryer. I liked the idea of saving electricity anyway. We invested in collapsible clothes dryers (about $60 worth, new), which work great. I get about two loads done, up to 3 on a nice hot day.Luckily for me, just before the torrential rains (I'm exaggerating) an inspired friend was getting rid of her dryer and kept asking me if I wanted it. I figured it was better off in my garage than a dump, and it ended up being incredibly useful. I could've hung my clothes inside, but man would our house have been cramped for a few months. Guess I'm not that motivated (sigh). Anyway, here are some of my pros and cons to line/hang/sun-drying.

the Benefits of Sun-drying: Save electricity and give yourself a green ego boost without having to buy an expensive new eco-dryer. Your clothes smell like real sunshine. And spending more time outdoors, which can give a major emotional boost. Oh, and getting to do at least one household chore slowly, giving your brain a breather from the chaos that is modern life. Ahhhh.

the Detriments of Sun-drying: It takes longer; you can't just plow through the laundry in one crazy folding day. Bugs. As in, the occasional spider thinking your clothes horse is the perfect perch or a moth liking your clothes as a hiding place. These two problems only occur if A) you keep your clothes out overnight, and B) you don't use any kind of scent to keep the bugs away (I put some lavender oil and eucalyptus oil in with any washload I intend to hang-dry). Also, if you happen to leave your clothes out in the rain, you may or may not end up with mud splattered on your clothes.


To make my laundry even more economically and ecologically friendly, I use soapnuts (I use Naturoli brand; they also make a heavenly massage oil) with a drop of lavender and eucalyptus oil on the bag holding the nuts. I use Borax with whites. And I use 1/2C white vinegar as a fabric softener. I have yet to discover a really great homemade ecologically friendly stain treatment, but since most of the stains wash out with what I do anyway, I don't really sweat it. I've been using these for over a year with great success.

Someday I'm even going to drain my wash water into a big bucket and use that water in my garden. Since everything I use is plant based with no detergents (I'm pretty sure borax is ok; let me know of I'm wrong), there's absolutely no problem with using it for a garden, especially for flowers. And when my soapnuts are almost dead, I save them in a small container. When it's full, I boil the nuts to get the rest of the saponin (active agent) out and then use that soap to wash my car.

How do you keep your laundry green?

The Consumeristic Green

So, does the marketing behind "being green" ever strike anyone else as funny? Even incongruent?

I just think it's interesting how easy it is to "save the environment" (according to the marketing) by buying a new green item and throwing out the old environmentally wasteful product. I'm sure many people who really care about the environment wouldn't so easily throw something away. I mean, if you really think about even the petroleum that it takes to manufacture and ship your new green item to you, and then the old item's pollution in landfills... you'd have to have a dang polluting product to make it worthwhile to throw out.

Anyway, I just think it's funny (in one of those not so funny ways).

Interesting Movie, Interesting Book

My parents are right-winged... extremely so. I imagine if they read this post, they'd be mortified. (As it is, my Dad said his feelings are hurt because I didn't buy him the Sarah Palin book for Christmas.)

Last night I watched "Food, Inc." I've been pretty interested in seeing it for a while. I ran across a blog talking about it while I was killing time*. So, I checked to see if I could put it in our delivered movie queue, when, lo and behold, I was able to watch it online right then. Woohoo! My hubby (who is incredibly indulgent about my fruity tendencies) watched with me.

If you decide to watch it, I'd suggest going into it with an open but critically objective mind. It's not a watch and go on with life documentary. You have to be ready to evaluate how you're going to let it affect your life. Anyway, that's my take on it (and, actually, most documentaries).

I liked it, and so did my husband. We are making changes to the food we purchase and eat (I'll post about my new honey another time). We are also lucky enough to be well enough off to afford those kinds of changes. Of course, if you read this from Consumption Rebellion, changing your food purchasing habits doesn't have to break the bank. (Luckily for me, she just posted about this.)


As for the book... what do you think of the title "The Humanure Handbook"? When I told my husband the title of this next book in my reading queue, he looked at me and said, "Please tell me that doesn't mean what I think it means."

It does... kind of. It's a book that explores how nature dealt with our excretions pre-sewage system, the enormous water and pollution damage the current system has created, and a fairly simple process for safely composting humanure so that it is nearly pathogen free. Just as an aside, the water treatment methods explained in the book (as in what our cities use today) sounds a lot like meat (specifically meat pathogen) treatment described in "Food, Inc."

You want to know something awesome? The guy who wrote the book published it himself because no publishing company would touch it, and then he made it available to download FREE on his website. Is that not so totally cool? That's when you know someone really cares about the message that they're putting out. He also includes basic instructions on how to make/find everything you'd need for this. (Just to state it: the author makes some decidedly atheist comments; doesn't mean I can't glean something from the other 250 pages.)

Does this mean I get to humanure? (sigh) Somehow I doubt it's going to happen at this point. Besides my hubby's reaction there's also the fact that we're renting and I just don't think we're allowed to uninstall a toilet. I don't know where we'd put a humanure friendly toilet! I'm just going to be happy that we're changing out incoming, and work on changing the outgoing later.


*killing time - isn't that such a sad figure of speech? When you actually consider the imagery behind it... it makes me never want to kill time again. Though I'm not sure what exactly writing my posts would be... therapy, I guess.

Watercolors and other Kids Painting

My girls love to paint. And I love them painting. It takes a little set up, but then they just paint. It keeps them from being in front of the TV, and it's fun to see. The paintings are also great to send to grandparents!

First off, watercolors. We got our first set of watercolors from a friend when my oldest was 2 or 3. We've gone through many of the plastic tray sets since then. In fact, the cost was kind of adding up. Recently I decided I wanted to get some quality art and craft materials for my kids. Using some Christmas gift money, we went to the craft store. We did it all in one go. If your craft store has weekly cupons and its close enough for a weekly trip, it's actually more economical to do a little at a time.

Here's the point I want to make about watercolors: If you plan on having your kids paint with watercolors fairly often, get the paint in tubes! I have a picture of our set here, next to the plastic tray set we still have. It costs something in the realm of $2.50 for one of the plastic tray sets, maybe $1.50 if you have a cupon. We get probably 8 good uses out of it. The tube set we got cost $13, or $8 with a 40% cupon. Based on what I've used so far, I'll get anywhere from 50-75 good uses out of them. Allowing for the different prices, that's 10-35 more uses for us. Since mommy is the only one allowed to touch the paint tubes, the colors only get mixed up on the palette, and the kids get pure colors to start with every time they paint. Since the paint is more concentrated and doesn't get as overloaded and diluted with water, they also have more control and seem more confident in their creations. The downside: I'm not sure if they're non-toxic. Since my kids don't put paint in their mouths, I don't really worry about it. Not everyone is that lucky, though.

Basically, I'm saying,with little artists in the house, decent quality paints are worth the expense to me. Just wanted to share in case anyone else gets frustrated with the expense of paints for their kids.

On a less monetary note: there are so many fun ways to paint! Or do crafts for that matter. We've started checking out kid craft books from the local library. One I have really liked is Crafty Kids Paper & Paint. It has a lot of ideas you could find online, but my kids like to look through the book and choose what to do. We just did q-tip paintings and paper towel food coloring paintings. Another fun resource is kidscraftweekly. You can sign up for a newsletter to be emailed to you, and it has fun home craft ideas for kids. I just love painting and crafts and coloring for my kids. It keeps them engaged and is so much fun.

Happy painting!

Really fun Refashioned Girls Dress

I did remember to take a before picture this time. Yay! This was originally a regular knit t-shirt. The color is wrong for me, though.

What did I do to it? I tried it on my daughter and measured how much I needed to take it in on each side just above her waist as well as at the arm pit. Turn inside out. Plot the two points and draw a curved line connecting the dots to each other and connecting to the end of the sleeve and the bottom of the shirt. Sew along the line (use ball point needle and zig-zag or knit stitch if sewing a knit). You may want to start with a basting stitch. Try it on again before cutting the excess fabric. Put a final stitch in if you need to and cut the extra fabric. If it's a knit, no need to zig-zag or serge edges.

For the frill, measure the circumference of the bottom of the shirt/dress. Cut fabric curves (see the second picture on this site if you need to visualize). You'll need to do several sets, enough to measure somewhere 2-3x the circumference of the bottom of the skirt (measure along inner curve). Keep the fabric approx. the same width all along (it's a little forgiving).

Sew pieces together at short sides, keeping the inner curve next to each other. Be careful that your seam faces the same way each time you sew. It should make one really long circle/oval. Hem the outer curve. Run a basting stitch along the inner curve. Gather basting until inner curve matches the bottom of the shirt/dress. Attach to the inside of the bottom of the dress with a zig-zag stitch and take out basting.

For the "flower" (which didn't turn out as I'd planned), I loosely followed the instructions at this blog. It may not look perfect, but it looked well enough for me. And my daughter LOVES this dress.

Egg Shell Skin Vs. the Monster Zit

This was just too awesome not to share. So, if you google, yahoo or bing egg shell dermabrasion, you get info on how you can take that fragile little skin from between the egg shell and egg to use for a skin treatment. I hope that makes sense. Look it up if you have questions; I think there are even vids on it.

Apparently, that skin draws out toxins and wastes from the egg while the chick is forming. So, when removed and carefully adhered to the skin, it can potentially draw out toxins. Awesome in theory, right? No expensive face treatment needed, right?

Ok, so I tried this. First of all, this does work (I'll say how in a minute). However, if you're looking for an all over the face treatment, don't count on it. It's lots of work getting the fragile skin in big enough pieces, and then you have to use hours of time and lots of eggs to cover your entire face. What a pain!

However, if you get monster zits like me, this is the awesomest thing EVER! A monster zit, for me, is a deeper skin infection than a regular zit. It usually never forms a head or takes about a week to do so. They are often so painful that if anything touches it pain sears through my face. As a teenager I actually had one that split my skin when I accidentally tapped it lightly with a paper plate. The problem is they're so painful that I can't help but try to relieve the pain any way that I can, which is not good for my skin at all.

This is why I love the egg shell skin. When I get a big painful zit, I put on a piece just big enough to cover the zit (rinse really well!) and just around it. I let it sit 10 min. I often do 2 or 3 sets of these because the zits are so bad. After I'm done I rinse and moisturize. Afterward, the pain is gone, the zit is smaller, and it disappears within about 2 days.

Just had to share, because if anyone else deals with this incredibly annoying, hideous, painful searing type of infection, you are probably like me: you want to do anything you can without killing your face. Oh, and for areas of recurrent infection, I've tried putting a layer of honey over the infected area for 20 min every night for 3 days or so. Honey is antibacterial and it seems to help. Good luck!

I love Vinegar!

When I first started getting into the whole frugal and eco living idea, I found articles on some of my favorite blogs that have to do with cleaning. There's lots out there, even on places like MSN. I grew up, like probably most of you, with products. Hey, products aren't all bad. But, I never washed a floor without lysol or pine fresh growing up. So, I thought it would be fun to try out something different.

Enter vinegar. I love it! There are lots of uses for apple cider vinegar and tons for white vinegar (just look at this site with 1001 uses for white vinegar). I mostly use vinegar in three ways: as a fabric softener, as a deodorizer, and as a general cleaner. Since vinegar is a renewable resource (just look up how to make it), I am even more of a fan. I buy mine in bulk instead of making it, because I just haven't really had a chance/success yet. I'll let you know if it ever works for me!

Fabric Softener - I put a 1/2 C in during the rinse cycle or 1 C in at the beginning of a cycle (if I'm going to be busy or out of the house). Since I typically hang my clothes to dry, I absolutely notice a difference when I use vinegar. My jeans used to come out like stiff dry newspaper; like, they were crunchy feeling. After I started using the vinegar, they're normal, and our clothes never feel stiff. You do not smell the vinegar; it's very diluted anyway, and then also dries itself out, even in the dryer. Love it!

Deodorizer - So, when there's a particularly foul stench and I don't have a fresh lemon (which is most of the time; cut fresh lemon peel is an amazing deodorizer), I put out a little custard bowl with some vinegar. Sometimes I put in a drop of peppermint oil or lavender oil, but that's optional. Once I had a friend who was pregnant coming over so I put out custard cups with vinegar, dried mint leaves and fresh cut ginger all over the house. She said it was the first time she'd come to a house and not felt nauseated by smells.

General cleaner - I keep a spray bottle of a solution of 1 part vinegar: 8 parts water at all times. I adore this! I use it to spray and wipe my counters, tables, stair railing, bathroom sinks... almost everything. I even use it to wash my floor. I just spray and wipe a bit at a time. If something won't come up, I give it a few sprays, wait 3 minutes, and go back and it wipes right up. For cleaning really bad stove scum, tile grout, toilet bowls, or clearing out a clogged drain, I use full strength vinegar with a little baking soda. (I hear non-aluminum is better; I prefer non-aluminum baking soda 'cause there's no metallic smell.) Since baking soda is a non-renewable resource, I recommend using it sparingly. I let vinegar do the heavy lifting.

So, I really really really like vinegar. It's really inexpensive. It's non-toxic. I can wipe the kitchen table or counters and if my kids put food on it right after, I know they're not going to be poisoned. And there's almost no smell. As opposed to product cleaners... I can barely tolerate the smell of those anymore; they give me a headache. Which means they probably aren't that good for us. I only use products for two reasons: I have some that I might as well use up and there are a very few things that products do head and shoulders better on certain messes. (Example, goo-gone is way better at sticker mess than vinegar.)

Warning: Do not put vinegar water (unless extremely diluted) in your garden! It holds onto nitrogen and kills plants. You can put it on grass growing in sidewalk cracks, though.

A Summery Autumn in Winter

No, I'm not bragging about the warm weather down here. Over Christmas break, I decided to do something I've been meaning to do for ages but just haven't gotten around to: figuring out my season. As in, the "season" of my skin's color tone. I first started to appreciate seasons and skin tone after my second daughter, a redhead, was born. My first daughter looks great in pink (much to my chagrin, since I'm not a "pink" person), but everything that looked great on my first looks pretty bad on my second. So, I talked to some older friends about it and was reintroduced to the idea of the seasons.

Now, over the years I've learned various tidbits about skin tone from various women's events. I've heard about skin undertones (everyone is pink, purple, green or yellow if I remember right). I've heard about hair and eyes determining your season (which is not accurate as far as I'm concerned). One site I read at one point said that even within all skin colors there are the different seasons. Maybe that ties into the skin undertone thing; I don't know. All I did know is that I was having trouble finding out how to actually determine my skin tone, and then, more importantly, what colors to wear in clothing, make-up, etc. once I have figured it out.

Enter one of my new favorite websites: http://www.beauty-and-the-bath.com/Season-Color-Analysis.html .

It has a drop down color palette for ever season, and on the side are links for all the seasons to determine more. It's worthwhile to read through for every season, because they put in different tips for different seasons that should actually be in all of them.

For example, under the link for summer skin tones is the best do-it-yourself method for determining skin tone. You take a piece of fabric (you can use fabric, existing clothing, a towel, whatever as long as it will cover the top of your torso). Drape the fabric over your shoulders. Stand in front of a mirror. Close your eyes. Open them. Do you notice the fabric or your face? It took me a while to really get it down. I noticed that even if I stood there for a while, if I had the wrong color on, my eyes were naturally drawn to the color. And the right colors, I just saw my face and barely noticed the color. Thinking about it, wearing the wrong color draws people to look at your body. If women wore the right color, I wonder if men would notice their faces more than their bodies. Just a thought.

Second critical piece of info for me: autumns can cross a bit into the other seasons. You see, I discovered I'm an autumn with some summer tendencies (hence the title of the post). I can pull off some summer colors, mostly in the blues, but sticking with mostly autumn colors look waaaaaaay better on me. I also changed the color of my blush and lip gloss (I love burt's bees camel shimmer gloss), and I think it looks lots better.

Anyway, it's been a fun discovery for me. Now I just get to revamp my wardrobe, 'cause I pretty much have mostly the wrong colors.

On another note, I just found my new favorite make-up tip: filling in your eyebrows a shade or two darker than your hair (unless your hair is already dark; then just fill them in, I guess). Not only does it define your eyebrows, it makes your hair look like you've had it highlighted without ever dying your hair!

Cardboard Dollhouse/Fort

I meant to get this posted before Christmas. You know, with all the boxes still in the house. But, kids intervened and I completely forgot I'd even started the post. Well, here goes "How to make a Cardboard Dollhouse/Fort":

materials:
*a medium sized cardboard box (like the size of a diaper pack from Costco) - book boxes, t-shirt boxes or other double layered boxes work best as they're sturdier; but if you don't plan on keeping it long any box will do
*razor blade
*packing tape
*stickers, paint, crayons, markers (optional)


Instructions:

Step 1 - Make sure you are working on a surface that can withstand a razor blade... so not your kitchen table. With the razor blade cut off all the flaps from one side of the box. This makes your front opening. I guess if you wanted to be able to close "doors" you could keep on the two long sides, but I don't know if you'd have enough scratch cardboard for the inside. Cut off a short flap from the other side (at what will be the back top side of the dollhouse).
Step 2 - Make a cut through the middle of the top of the box. Then cut little trapezoids out of each side of the cut you just made - about 3, short side of the trapezoid on the cut line. These make the sides off the roof.

Step 3 - Using one of the short flaps you cut off, make a small rectangle. It's going to be the top of the roof, so you want two edges to match the length of the roof sides. Mark on where you cut trapezoids out of the roof sides. With a pencil, mark out trapezoids with the long side on the edges. Cut out the excess. It should look something like the roof top above.

Step 4 - Tape the back of the box together, except the top. Put the top of the roof on the sides of the roof. They should fit without needing tape, but you can tape it if you really want to.

Step 5 - Next comes the inside. Use a small flap you cut off for the vertical line, and a long flap for the horizontal line. You will probably need to make the horizontal flap a little thinner, but keep it 8" longer than what you need it. For both of these pieces, cut a rectangle out of the short edges that is 4" deep and 2" shy of either side. I didn't make mine a full 4" and I was sorry for it. You should end up with a 4" x 2" nub on each of the four corners.

Step 6 - Draw a line through the middle of the "floor" of the dollhouse. Cut out a 2 1/2" slit at either end of the line. You may need to widen it a bit. Put the vertical piece from step 5 upright inside the dollhouse, feeding the nubs into the corresponding slits. Fold one nub to the right and one to the left. Tape down (should be on the very bottom of the dollhouse).

Step 7 - Draw a line down the middle of the horizontal piece you made in step 5, parallel to the shorter sides. Cut 2 1/2" slits like you did in step 6. Put the horizontal piece in the dollhouse. Feed the nubs from the vertical piece into the two slits you just cut, taping one to the right and one to the left.

Step 8 - With a pencil, mark where the nubs of the horizontal piece hit the sides of the dollhouse. You will need to cut 2 1/2" slits at all four marks. After that, feed them through that same way as in step 6 and 7, taping them down.

Step 9 - Have the kids, paint, color, whatever. They LOVE this part.

If you wanted to do a shorter house, like the one pictured below, just skip steps 5-8. It's way easier and the kids may not even care about a second story. I'm sure these same principles could be used to make a cardboard castle, too, if you wanted to get really creative. Feel free to comment about any erroneous or confusing instructions!