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Konad M69

Maybe it's me

Maybe it's me, maybe it's the New Year or maybe it's Pinterest that has got me doing and thinking all kinds of crazy things these days.

Thank you Pinterest for giving me a way to organize all of the products, ideas and things I love in picture form. Now I don't have to remember why I booked marked all of those web sights anymore. Now why didn't I think of that.

I am all excited about frozen crock-pot meals right now. The idea of having hot dinner waiting for us when we get home really works for us. I got this inspiration from this blog.
                                                               MammaAndBabyLove

She does all of her cooking once a month! OMG!

First we needed a new crock-pot. I bigger one that is programmable. Would you believe that we found 5qt crock-pots on sale at Macy's for $9.99. I grabbed two crock-pots and some of Martha Stewart glass-lock food storage containers and a chocolate bar. Used my $15.00 off coupon and got my crock-pots of $3.50 each.

Crock-Pot Lasagna &

Baked Potatoes &

It took hours.

Yet, I was able to reduce a weeks worth of groceries to a mere few inches.

Now let's hope we like crock-pot food.

Happy New Year!

So Hard to Blog When........

your hands are cramping and your shoulders are numb from.......

Crocheting your little heart out for your favorite niece,

.......a baby shower tomorrow

and

the nice lady at work who just delivered her first daughter!

Thanks you!

MonPetitViolon

for the creative patterns that have been keping me busy.......

With this....

and this.....

and this......

and this.....

and this......

wait, wait....

there is one more.....

Enjoy!

Homemade Lipbalm

I tend to collect all things crafty. What I end up with a nice stash of supplies with very little to show for it. A basket of beautiful wool yarn, dozens of knitting pattern books and magazines, cooking light cook books, jewelry making supplies, sewing fabric and patterns. I could go on and on, so I will. My latest collection, homemade beauty product supplies and not one beauty product to show for it. Yet!

I have all of this coconut oil (see previous post about homemade deodorant). I gaze at it on the shelve in the bathroom and think "what the heck am I going to do with all of this coconut oil". Spreading on toast is not an option at this point.

While browsing my favorite DIY Beauty Blog http://bathbodysupply.blogspot.com/ I found the exciting world of homemade lip balm. Totally non toxic and super easy and fun. So everyone on the blog-o-sphere is raving.

I set out to pick up a few supplies to fill in the blanks after the coconut oil. What I ended up with was four orders from four different on-line vender's and a stop of at the discount vitamin store. A bushel of supplies and not one balm to show for it. Yet!

Homemade Lip Balm

3 tsp. Beeswax

3 tsp. Shea Butter (or coconut oil)

3 tsp. cocoa Butter

2-3 drops Essential Oil

3 tsp. Sweet Almond Oil

1 Vi.t E Capsule

Melt butters in microwave of double boiler.

Add oils and stir well until it starts to cool and pour into a clean container.

Fills about four 1/2 oz tins.

(notice, no coconut oil. oh, well)

Martha Stewart crafts has an easy recipe for lip balm but what I really liked was the delicious flavor options she has put together.

Star Anise/ Mint

Rosemary/ Lemon

Tangerine/ Mint

Tangerine/ Star Anise

Geranium/ Lemon

Grapefruit/ Mint

Find the best deal on organic essential oils here.

http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/aroma/q-z.html

Martha also has a cute free download able label template for your own tins.

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/natural-beauties-lip-balms

Find super cool water proof labels for your inkjet printer here.

http://www.elementsbathandbody.com/Inkjet-Waterproof-Labels-c-120.html

There are many online sources for cosmetic jars and tins. I choose to use a plastic free option and decided the tins were the best option. I sure was excited to find those vintage slider tins from my childhood.

When you are buying your water proof labels get your slide tins also.

http://www.elementsbathandbody.com/25-oz-Slide-Tin-pr-688.html

This sight offers tins by the each. I purchased the screw top tins and my Hex jars here.

http://www.specialtybottle.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=55

A little better prices but you have to buy by the dozen or more.

http://www.papermart.com/Product%20Pages/Product.aspx?GroupID=19037&ParentGroupID=34790

Can't wait for my orders to arrive to give these a try. In the mean time I am gong to make my favorite LUSH dupe for Buffy Bar. I add ground coffee to mine. So delicious.

Daddy, Why he got no hair?

One time we were in Trader Joe's shopping for some healthful snacks. We didn't pay much attention to the young dad pushing his little girl in his cart until we heard her ask her dad this.

Daddy, Why he got no hair?

We all looked up and locked eyes at the exact same moment. While we are giggling a little, the embarrassed dad mutters something about "some people don't have hair" and wheeled out of there as fast as he could. The little girl just kept chatting away and asking questions. Another woman made a comment about how talkative she was. The dad said she was always like that and that her older sister was not as talkative at her age, but she sure was. It was a very cute a touching moment and we still laugh about it to this day.

We saw my parent off this morning after a yummy breakfast and headed to the thrift stores for a quick look. I got my eye out for BPA free food storage containers and vintage cosmetic jars for my homemade cosmetics (that I have never made before but have big dreams will work out just fine). How would you like to receive some delicious hand, face or cold cream in one of these beauties?

Or, how would you like to kiss this when he came to check to see if you "are ready to go yet?"

After the initial shock we laughed and laughed out loud until we could not stand it any more. His new hair even coordinated with his new shirt quite well. In case you are wondering about the sunglasses. He was trying to look cool.

Killer Bees!

My obsession for anything "Hive" related has not waned. In fact I have become even more obsessed. I went to Freddie's and picked up the hive drink dispenser as seen in a previous post. It was on sale, but I have no where to store it and will probably tuck in the attic until there is a time in my life to dispense large quantities of ice tea or lemonade. Maybe I need to plan a BBQ and invite all our friends. Sounds great! Now, if would just stop raining!

Look what I found. Actually I did not find it. The Ecco Diva fond it http://theecodiva.com/. I have loved this blog and I love it even more now that I found two things I love while reading it. Wool Dryer Balls and Hive inspired Spice Magnetic Spice Jars.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheSpiceConnection

I am all about making things myself at a bargain price but for the life of me I can not figure out the magnetic lid thing. Maybe the magnet is just clued to the inside of the lid. Any Ideas? You could all be getting these for gift if I figure it out.

Well I'll be. I have figured it out. Turns out it is impossible to find BPA free metal one piece lids and I am sure the gorilla glue I will use to adhere the magnet has poisonous gas that will not die. I think that I am willing to risk certain contamination for these totally cool spice jars. Poison anyone?

Have you ever seen these?

Wool Dryer Balls

I guess these are an old fashioned answer to dryer sheets to help with drying time and static electricity. They have been around forever. I have seen those plastic rubbery dryer balls while watching as seen on TV programming. This is one item I have never been tempted to purchase though.

Natural wool dryer balls instantly attracted me. Besides the fact they are totally gorgeous and cool looking. I new I could make these myself. I am always doing that. If you search Etsy.com you will see people selling these at a whopping $15.00 a pair.

I grabbed my bin from the top of my closet and low and behold I had a beautiful array of neutral and natural color wool scrap balls. Not quite enough to make a hat or anything really useful. The only reason I kept these scraps was because of the beautiful colors and they were 100% wool. Too nice to just donate. I am sure glad I kept them. Another bonus, these were a thrift store find some time ago. Almost free!

I quick internet search found numerous tutorials. So wrap, warp, wash, dry, wash, dry. Some laughing about the tangled mess of knee highs full of these balls that appeared from the washer. Low and behold I had my very own natural wool dryer balls. Do they really work? Who knows, but they sure are cool looking.

Olivia, I made some little ones just for you. You can play with them or your mom can use them when drying your diapers. One or the other. Not both! It is up to you.