7 things you can make, not buy: Cosmetics
Interested in uplifting stories on the natural world, sustainable communities, simple food, and new thinking on how to live well? Please enter a valid email address and try again! No thanks
marta writes: how-to make a hot cocoa kit
HOW-TO MAKE A HOT COCOA KITby Destri of The Mother Huddle There just isn't much that a three year old can create that isn't something only a mother would love. I thought and thought about what my little boy could make his friends for Christmas and finally came up with a Hot Cocoa Kit. Over the course of a week we worked on little projects to add to the kit, and I can't tell you how much fun we had with it. He got to mash things, melt things, sprinkle things, dip things, fill things....all sorts of sensory play. If you find your kids getting restless for the big day to arrive this would be a great project to tackle until it comes. HOT COCOA KIT You may choose to only add one or two elements to the kit, but I will give you a list of what we used. Supplies: • hot cocoa • almond bark or chocolate chips • candy canes and sprinkles • coffee creamer, cinnamon, nutmeg • plastic spoons • marshmallows • mug • various containers and baggies to package Set The Stage Chocolate and Peppermint Spoons
DIY Clean eyes!
Eye make-up remover is so darn expensive! Here is a quick and cheap DIY Eye Make-up Remover recipe. If you have kids, you’ll have the materials! Ingredients: 1 C water 1½ TBSP Baby Shampoo (tear free) ⅛ TSP Baby Oil (Cocunut Oil or Olive Oil) EDIT! Materials: Mixing Bowl Measuring cup/spoons Bottle to put finished product in (I used an empty medicine bottle; an empty baby oil bottle would work GREAT) Small funnel (or improvise like me) Combine ingredients. Stir Pour I didn’t have a funnel.. and didn’t feel like messing with a make-shift one. I didn’t have enough room in my little bottle. Verdict: It works PERFECT! WAIT! What are some of your favorite uses for baby oil?? Hope everyone’s having fantástico weekend! # kristanlynn xoxo P.S.
Fun Summer Dessert: Watermelon Pie
One of my summertime childhood memories is eating the yummy watermelon sherbet dessert at Friendly’s restaurant. I loved it, so I decided to try to replicate this dessert for my own kids’ summertime memories! I made some “watermelon pie” for our 4th of July feast this year…to great success! My 4-year-old daughter loved it – like mother, like daughter! She saw it in the pan before I sliced it up…at that point it was still just a circle. When I started to cut the pie, making the watermelon slices, she exclaimed very earnestly, “Wow! The best part…watermelon pie was super simple to make! Ingredients: - Lime Sherbet - Vanilla ice cream or Pineapple sherbet - Red/Pink-colored sherbet…I couldn’t find this, so I bought Raspberry/Pineapple/Orange swirl sherbet, mixed it up with red food coloring and it was perfect! Directions:1. A funny tip…I served the watermelon pie on paper plates, but wanted to take a nice picture for this post, so I put my own slice on a real dish. Tagged as: pie
Snow-Globe Soap
Dec19 by Brenda Ponnay Stuff their stockings with something they can wash their hands with!By Brenda Ponnay What’s cuter than a button, small enough to fit in a stocking, won’t rot your teeth and leaves you squeaky clean? A mini snow-globe soap, of course! This is technically just “melt and pour” soap so it might be considered cheating to some hard-core soap enthusiasts but I’m not about to mess with lye or distilling vodka when I’ve got a small child acting as my personal assistant. First you’ll cut up the glycerine into 1-inch chunks. Don’t be fooled by the picture above. After you’ve poured the glycerine, let it cool just enough to form a thin skin on the top. After all your toys are arranged, you can add your snow. Next you’ll pop it in the freezer for about twenty minutes or until the cubes are cool to touch from the underside of the ice cube tray (be sure to check the middle). If you found us through Stumble Upon!
lollies - a little ART CANT HURT
a perfect rainy day thing to do! the colors make any day better! how to make LOLLIESyou will need: jolly ranchers, candy sticks, parchment paper, foil & a cookie sheet 1) lay a piece of foil on cookie sheet. cover foil with a piece of parchment paper.2) unwrap candies and place side by side on parchment paper in your choice of color & flavor combinations. use three candies together for extra large lollies, and only two candies together for regular lollies.3) heat candies in oven for about 5 minutes at 200 degrees. keep a close eye on the candies and take them out as soon as they've barely melted together. if you leave them in too long they will melt too much and you won't be able to put a stick into the lollie. alter the cook time accordingly.4) carefully take cookie sheet out of oven. immediately lay candy sticks into place on melted candies. slowly twirl in melted candy to coat the stick and so it will hold in the lollie. they're hot!
Lemon Sugar Scrub
Lemon is invigorating any time of year, but something about winter makes me crave that freshness of citrus. This lemon sugar scrub is a great gift and a fun project to make with girlfriends. You can use it as exfoliating body wash, hand scrub or even counter cleaning if you omit the oil… 2 lemons 1 cup of sugar A small jar 2 T cooking oil 2 T of Liquid soap (unscented) Squeeze the lemons into a small bowl. Next add the oil and the liquid soap Mix them all together until it looks creamy Start adding sugar a spoonful at a time and mixing it in Keep adding until it gets really thick and hard to stir. I decorated my jar with Japanese masking tape I made a label with my mini stamp kit Twist the lid back on and you're ready to gift this great winter lemon sugar scrub!
Pie Favors in a Jar {Recipes}
Just like “on a stick”, everything gets infinitely cuter when layered inside a mason jar and tied with a simple ribbon or tag. Favors are no exception! So make these delicious fruity pies in mini mason jars (or regular size!) then sit back and listen to your guests “ooh” and “aah” over how darn cute you are! Pie Crust Dough 2 12 oz. cans of cherry, apple or your favorite pie filling (Or mix blueberry and cherry!) 6 4 oz. mason jars, cleaned with lids and labels removed 1 baking sheet Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Fill your jars with your filling. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until pie dough is golden brown. image via: Related Watermelon Cake in Mason Jars: Perfect Summer Dessert Watermelon Cake If there is one food synonymous with summer in my opinion, it’s watermelon!
Sugar Lip Scrub *with tutorial* - BATH AND BEAUTY
Alright, so I wasn't all that interested in lip scrubs until I had a conversation with my sister. As usual, we were discussing Lush products (we both used to work there at different stores in different cities!) and the topic of lip scrubs came up. They sell these: I wouldn't pay $9 for them, but I'm cheap like that. But after talking about it with my sister so much, I thought I'd give it a try. If you want to try your hand at it, here's what I did: Ingredients:white sugarhoneyapricot kernel oilpure vanilla extractpeppermint essential oil You could always make substitutions, this is just what I did. Alright, now here are my extremely precise measurements and directions (har har har): 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. To use:Wet lips with water and rub a pea sized amount on lip. I like to finish up with my Rocky Mountain Soap Company peppermint lip butter! And because I know you're probably curious, it didn't taste half bad either!!
