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!

Extending the Life of Your Hairstyle

I promised my friend Rebekah I'd write about this many moons ago. Last January I was perusing some of my fav blogs when I found this article called "Going poo-free" (as in no shampoo ever again). I also let a friend/hairstylist cut my hair.* She told me she washed her hair once or twice a week. I talked about it with another friend who's mom washes her hair once a week (I think), and uses a specific product for her scalp. Here are the tips I heard for going more than one day without washing your hair:

1. If your scalp starts to get oily, lightly sprinkle/rub some baby powder or corn starch in. It absorbs the oil and deters future oil.

2. Spritz roots with hair spray before going to bed; it'll dry up the oil, but your hair won't be stiff in the morning.

3. Rat just the roots. Gives hair lift, so there's less contact with scalp oils, and it doesn't look matted down.

4. Nioxin used once a week to help with the scalp.

5. If you have your hair colored or highlighted, you shouldn't wash as often anyway; coloring dries out the hair.


So, my story. Starting in January, I began by going every other day without washing my hair. After about two weeks my hair was starting to get used to it. Then I went to every three days. Then, twice a week. And last, I made a big jump to once a week. (I waited a month before making any changes.) For now, once a week is my limit. If I try to go farther than that my scalp itches and I just don't like it. Not that I've seriously tried. I like once a week. Every Saturday morning, I pamper myself a little. I do a face mask; I exfoliate my skin and heels; I wash and spend time styling my hair. I take that one morning where I spend 45 min. or so on me. For a mom, that's a lot.

My routine is this (pics are under the day of the week I took them on):

Sat - Wash and style hair. If I don't style it on wash day, it looks kind of bad the rest of the week.

Sun - Just wake up, put my hair up to shower, and go. No styling necessary, and it's my best hair day.


Mon. - use baby powder at the roots and rat roots. I can wear it down, up, half-up, whatever.

Tues.- Maybe use baby powder, but usually not. I usually start wearing my hair at least halfway up.



Wed.- pony tail or pig tails or back in a hair clip


Thurs - Definitely a pony tail and headband. Almost every week.

Fri - Pony tail, french braid, tight bun, or dork knots. Kind of sucks for my hair to feel it's icky if I'm on a date, but I still prefer Sat as my wash day.

Here are my big pros for this: I spend less time in the shower and save money and water; I feel better about my hair because, overall, it looks much better than when I tried to style it every single day (even my ponytails look better); I use less shampoo. Cons: Sometimes I have an itchy scalp on the last day; my hair doesn't always look nice Wed-Fri, so if I go out on those nights, it's not quite as fun... but hair still looks ok.

Note that I don't use tips 2, 4, or 5. So, there's plenty more you can do, I just don't. Happy hair styling!


*Please note: I have cut my hair since high school with three exceptions by two friends I watched VERY closely before I let them touch my hair. After many many bad experiences, I figured that if I was going to be angry at anyone for my bad haircut, it would be me. And before I let those two ladies cut my hair, I made absolutely sure I'd seen enough that they couldn't disappoint me. So, it took me a long time before I actually heard any of this advice.