Pin cushion jar

Yep, another pin cushion :)

Here are the things I got out to start with.

Cut out the batting, I cut it out in a circle so it would be smooth on top and found that I wanted it 'fluffy' so I added several layers, I found that the fabric piece I had out was too small, so this is a larger scrap.

I glued it to the lid, and then put it in the ring, gluing the edges down and then I cut a circle out to make it neater.

Here it is all finished, with the lid on. I did take it off so it will dry completely and not get stuck on the jar.

Homemade Marshmallows

Oh this was so fun, my daughter and I made our own marshmallows! We saw Alton Brown make them on Good Eats and just thought hey lets try. They taste good too! Here's the recipe.

Homemade Foot Scrub

Along the lines of making things at home, I thought I'd try making my own foot scrub. I looked up many on the web most of them have sugar or salt, something for the scrub part like corn meal, ground nuts, coffee grounds. Then an oil like olive or almond or many others oils.

The first one I made I wont share pictures because by the time I made it up it looked like mud. Coffee grounds, sugar and olive oil. It worked fine but I found it stained my white washcloths so I had to come up with something else.

This one is corn meal 1/4 cup, 1 tablespoon raw sugar and then enough almond oil(the body oil type from the health food store) to pull it together I would say about 2 teaspoons.




Here is what it looks like but wow does it smell yummy :) It's really nice, I like this one a lot.







Let me know if you try this and what you think?

Patriotic Apron

This is an apron I made for the upcoming 4th of July.

Applique apron

Here is an apron made with my embroidery machine, Husqvarna Designer 1. I used a design from Embroidery library. I did watch the how to video they have on their site, it was very helpful.

Homemade hand soap

I'm sure that everyone has noticed the rising; gas, milk, egg prices etc....
So I have been thinking, where I can save some money?
I am going to price this out to compare:
a 12 pack of Ivory soap $2.47
glycerin 6oz $2.84
water

I only used 1 bar of soap 0.20
1 teaspoon(1/3 of an ounce) of glycerin 0.16
total cost 0.36 cents
for six cups of liquid hand soap.

I did not price hand soap a the store so here it is from the web

Soft soap refill 40oz $7.79 @ drugstore.com
$ 7.79 divide by 40oz is 0.19 cents an ounce

Our homemade soap made 6 cups so that is 6 times 8oz = 48 ozs
So 0.36 cents for 48oz divided by 48oz = 0.0075 per ounce so less that 1 cent an ounce
Not too bad.

Ok so here is where I got my recipe

You see my purchases.
I just used my kitchen grater, and then washed in the dishwasher and it was very clean :)
then I put one cup boiling water and the grated soap bar in my blender, blended then let rest... after 20minutes added the glycerin, then added water to fill up to the six cup mark.
I just poured it in a container for now. I did refill some of our soap pumps with it and it's working great, I will see how the family likes it over time.
Very simple and makes me feel good about saving some money around here.
Let me know if you try it out and what you think?

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!!!

I wish all the Dad's out there Happy Father's Day today. My own father has gone on to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and I miss his very much. My Dad was a wonderful man, and a great Dad.
Today I wish my wonderful husband Happy Father's Day! God has blessed me with a committed partner, a good Daddy to our children and I love him very much! We are blessed to have been married 24 years, it will be 25 this August!

Listen, my sons, to a father's instruction;

pay attention and gain understanding.
Proverbs 4:1