Natural Air Freshener

WOW! I am so happy that so many of you have enjoyed my recipe for natural deodorant! It feels good to use something for your body that is all natural, doesn't it!! Here is another eco-friendly DIY recipe for natural air freshener. I have always been a little 'granola/crunchy' in my thinking and more so after having children. Who wants to spray all those yucky chemicals around their house and bathroom just to get the icky smells out especially with little ones whose little brains and bodies are growing like crazy? This is my version of a better-for-you, less toxic spray that gets rid of the stinky smells in your bathroom, garbage can, diaper pail, etc. I hope you love it as much as I do!

Natural Air Freshener

1 spray bottle (I bought mine at Target for $1...yeah for Target!!)

16 drops of Tea Tree Oil (You can find this at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's or any natural foods store)

1 Cup Water

Get yourself one cup of water from your tap...if you don't like your tap water ie. too hard or whatever, you can use distilled water too...drop 16 drops of Tea Tree Oil into it and mix well. Pour into the spray bottle of your choice. That's it! Simple and easy, the way all DIY projects should be, right? Now, go find those icky smells and spray away!!

For the bathroom, I spray directly into the air just like you would with the other store bought sprays. One nice spritz usually does the trick...try it, your stinky areas will smell fresh and clean in no time...and you made it yourself...naturally! Go ahead and pat yourself on the back, you deserve it for helping the environment one air freshener at a time!!

A Noah Naptime Project

On Saturday, I had been looking through all the stuff that me and my trusty sewing machine have made in our new but flourishing relationship together. I realized in my little trip down memory lane that I have hardly made anything for Noah. Even in my list of to-do projects there isn't a whole lot going on for him. Oops...I think it's because he's at an age where I can't really sew him much, I mean how do you sew a dump truck or a fire engine that is made of plastic and he can take outside to get all dirty? I have been somewhat fearful of making him a shirt or even pants...until I came across this pants tutorial by Dana that showed me the light! WOW!!! She made it seem so easy that I just had to try making a pair while Noah and Penelope napped. Let me tell you, it was a breeze! These pants were done in no time at all and I think they came out pretty great. When I showed Noah his new pants after he woke up he ripped off his pj bottoms and threw them right on!! Man, that sure does make a momma feel good! And he looked super cute to boot!

Noah with the neighborhood kids getting an ice cream and wearing his new pants!

'Mom, these are so comfy, can you make me more?'

And a picture from tonight...My little Peanut, trying to get out the doggie door so she could be outside with daddy and big brother as they mow the lawn together.

Weekend Dress Dilemma

I've been meaning to post my latest dress but I have been debating whether or not I should change it up. Here's what I mean:

I found this great black and white flowery fabric and thought it would be perfect to make a long sundress using the shirred dress idea again but this time with no straps so it could be something to wear out to a romantic dinner with the hubby and no kids kinda thing. Now, since I am a shortie at only 5'2", I was able to use the full length of the fabric and have it just at where I thought would be the perfect length. What I also did when I made this dress is extend the shirring to well past my bustline with about 16 rows of shirring at 1/2 inches apart. Herein lies my dilemma...by extending the shirring past the bustline the fabric poofed out quite a bit around the mid-section. So, I have been tempted all weekend to rip out the seam in the back and slim it down somehow or then I thought maybe my long summer-y dress (and yes, I am very aware that summer is at it's end, thank you very much fall-like weather that seems like it is here to stay!!!!) would look much cuter if it was an above knee-length and therefore more of a short and poofy type dress. To cut or not to cut....that is the question?!

So, as you can see... I cut!! And I love the results! It kind of reminds me of a cute little "Charlotte" dress from Sex and the City (Love that show!) And now I think there are just so many possibilities that opened up for accessorizing it. I mean, check this out:

It looks so funky with a belt worn right at the very smallest part of your waist (the only place a big belt like this should be worn!!) and it would also look so cool with a little half-shrug that you tie in the front. I actually think I may wear it that way to a women's business luncheon I have to go to on Tuesday! How cute (and yet business-like) will that be!!!???

Dessert Tonight: Toffee Crackers

Tonight, after dinner...and more quite possibly after the kidlets go to bed...we are having Toffee Crackers for dessert! This is my super easy recipe for a really yummy chocolatey dessert that looks as if you spent a lot of time in your kitchen making it. Especially when you mention the word "toffee". Here is what you need:

Toffee Crackers

1 package saltine crackers

2 sticks butter, unsalted

1 cup brown sugar

12 oz. package of chocolate chips (milk or semi-sweet chocolate)

Line a jelly roll pan with foil and then line it with all the saltine crackers. In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar and stir constantly, allowing the mixture to boil for 3 minutes. Pour mixture over crackers. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Spread melted chips evenly over crackers. Refrigerate until set. Peel foil away and break apart into various sizes. ENJOY!

All your ingredients, only four, I know...it's soooo easy!

Line a jelly roll pan (a cookie sheet with edges) with foil...cover it well!!! Then line with your saltine crackers.

The butter and brown sugar mixture should boil for 3 minutes while continuously stirring. It should look like this...all frothy and foamy when ready.

Pour the boiling mixture directly onto your crackers all laid out so nicely. Don't worry, the foam will disappear like magic!

Spread it all around, covering every cracker...like this! Now, place this in your oven at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.

Remove the jelly roll pan from the oven and then sprinkle the entire package of chocolate chips on top...like this! Wait a few minutes to get them all melty. Now, take the back of your spoon and spread the melted chocolate chips around making everything nice and smooth.

Now the hard part, find a spot in your fridge or freezer for the jelly roll pan. If you chose fridge, let cool for about four hours or so. If you chose freezer, cool for about 20-30 minutes. The chocolate should be nice and hard when cooled and the toffee crackers should break nicely into pieces.

Dish it up and share with the ones you love....Mmmm...an easy dessert after dinner tonight!

Natural Deodorant

I've been thinking I should do a post about what many of you have been asking me about lately, the natural deodorant I use and make. It's a super simple recipe that smells great and it really works too! You just need a few simple ingredients and this recipe should make enough for 1 person for about 3 months. If you have ever thought about switching to natural deodorant you should do it!! It's much better for your body not to use aluminum which is found in many of your every day general deodorants, especially us ladies since aluminum has been linked to breast cancer. Here is my recipe:

Natural Deodorant

2-3 Tbsp Coconut Oil

1/8 Cup Baking Soda

1/8 Cup Arrowroot Powder or Cornstarch

Mix the baking soda and arrowroot powder (or cornstarch) together and then slowly start to add the coconut oil. Mmmm..smells so good...but don't worry you won't smell like a coconut all day! I like to buy organic, unrefined coconut oil so that it is the least processed. Coconut oil will be in a solid state up to room temps of 76 degrees so your end product will be more of a very thick paste. You can store your deodorant in a plastic food container, an old baby food jar (hey, why not repurpose!) or even your old empty deodorant container. I usually keep ours in the fridge since I like it pretty hard and that way I can just rub the "stone" on. But, if you like you can keep it out of the fridge and just rub it on by dipping your fingers into it kind of like a lotion.

Coconut oil is really good for you and has lots of antibacterial properties, that's what makes it work so well as a natural deodorant. You can also use coconut oil as a replacement for butter or vegetable oil in your baking. It has a shelf life up to two years. I hope you try this, it works amazingly well!

The basic ingredients...minus the baking soda...oops, I forgot to take a picture of that one!

A picture of what the thick paste should look like

After I put mine in the fridge it becomes rock-like, then I just pop it out of the container and rub it on...Presto! homemade good-for-you deodorant!

Sometimes Mistakes Are A Good Thing

So, after I made that rockin' sundress for me I just had to make one for little Miss P. I found a great yellow print with the cutest little bees on it and knew Penny had to have a little summer dress too. Even though summer is at it's end, I was thinking ahead and decided to make a really long dress...like down to the ankles long...and that way by next summer it would be more of a short-to-the-knees type dress. Well, that's where things went awry...when I tried the long dress on Penny, it seemed almost too long, hmm, or maybe she is just too short and chunky, anyways it just didn't look right. So, I decided to take it up a few inches and started cutting away by only eyeballing it. You know, sometimes it's just better to measure because my eyeballing it cut the dress too short and now it's more of a long top. Well, I figure by next summer it will be a normal sized top and went with it! Hooray for improvisation! And, since her summer dress is now a top I thought I would use some of the extra fabric and make the cute little bloomers I saw in Heather Ross' book, Weekend Sewing. I made the 18-24 months size figuring she'd be able to wear them next summer and to my excitement when I put them on her they actually fit her pretty nice right now...thank goodness for that puffy little cloth diaper bum of hers! Now she can get some use out of it this year a little bit too...Yay for mistakes!

(The improvised) Cute little summer outfit

Close up of the bloomers!

A close up of the top!

My little model!

OK momma, I'm done with this photo shoot...see ya later!

Summer = Swings and Sandboxes

Our summer has been so fun! It's sad to think that summer is coming to a close. Here are some pictures of my littles on one of our recent trips to a neighborhood park. We actually were able to entice Noah into swinging in the baby swings with how much fun Penny was having since he usually forgoes them for the "big kid swings". They both were having such a good time and Noah wanted nothing more than to go "more high!" so he could try to touch the clouds...aww, how cute! Even Penny couldn't resist having the wind blow through her hair! My little daredevils!! And, whenever we go to any park we have to make a stop at the sandbox, because, you know, it's just not right to skip it! Noah loves all the digger toys they always have and little Miss P enjoys excavating for pebbles and lost woodchips which she slyly tries to get into her mouth when you're not looking...ya gotta watch that one! These two are a really fun age for this kind of stuff and I love how much fun we can have...it's amazing how much time you can spend at the playground, an afternoon, easily gone in a blink of an eye...kind of like this summer has been!

The littles in flight

One of Noah's great smiles!

Yelling, 'More up, More up!!!!!!!!'

Penny all giggles!

Our little archeologist...naw, just looking for more things to put in her mouth!

Messy Mornings

I thought I would post some pictures of what our mornings have been looking like lately...well, Penelope's mornings to be exact! She absolutely loves her blueberries and I just had to snap some pictures of how blue this kid really gets. It's a good time, especially the clean up part. Man, I just love the sprayer hose on our kitchen faucet...whoever invented that thing is super awesome in my book!

Stuffing mounds of blueberries in her mouth...she just can't get enough!

Thinking, 'maybe if I wiggle a little bit I can put a few more down!'

What do you think about this Momma? I can't clean myself!!

Sunny Day, Sweepin' the Clouds Away...

Woo Hoo! I just put the finishing touches on my latest sewing project...a sundress! I had seen Heather Ross do the child's version on Martha and it seemed simple enough so I tried to make it in a bigger size since even I can't fit into a 2T. I went out and bought her totally rad book, Weekend Sewing and there are tons of cool and easy projects to do in it and as a bonus it comes with patterns. Although, I admit, I just tend to eyeball things and make mine up as I go, shhh...don't tell anyone! Ok, back to the dress...so, you need to get elastic thread and you basically shir with it instead of smocking with regular thread. Can you believe I actually know what all these terms mean?! My first attempt at this was right before Penelope's birthday party as I had envisioned wearing it at her party. Well, that attempt was a bust. I just couldn't get the shirring right. I was on the web figuring out what went wrong for a few nights and last night...DING...I finally figured it out!! For me, I needed to wind my bobbin really tight, not loose like Heather and many other bloggers have said, I think it just depends on your machine. So, now I have my lovely sundress just ready to wear when all this rain goes away...oh, and tornadoes, did you know we had 4 different sirens blaring last night right before bedtime!!! No worries, just tornado warnings being downgraded to tornado watches...the kiddies were in bed on time, and I was at my sewing machine soon after!

Sweet little sundress

Me, happy because I finished it!! Isn't the fabric fabulous!

Oh, and don't forget to watch my most favoritist (yes, this is a word...my word!!) show ever...it's baaaack...Project Runway!!! Tonight, 9pm CST on Lifetime!! Let the sewing begin! It's going to be the beginnings of one hot mess!

The Fruits of Our Labor

I am just so excited today! The littles and I were out playing in our backyard this afternoon and I happened to take a peek at our garden which I rarely do because as you know gardens seem to take a long time to get the beginnings of their fruits and then an even longer time to ripen those said fruits. Well, I'll just say it...I found the likes of various yummy things actually ripened, ready to pick and ready to eat! Ok, not many various yummy things but hey, it's a start! We had a few cherry tomatoes ready for the eatin', two jalepeno peppers, and blueberries...enough that I actually need a bowl to get them into the house...yay!! I'm still not quite sure how the blueberries made it into our garden. I think the mix up happened when I was at our local organic co-op getting heirloom tomato and bell pepper plants, I thought I had grabbed an italian eggplant plant which I thought would be a fun one to try and I must of grabbed the blueberries instead. But in my defense I had the kidlets and well, you know how that goes! We didn't even realize this until about a month or so ago, can you believe we are allowed to have a garden, we don't even know what we are planting!! HAHA! For now, the blueberries happen to be our rock steady fruit giver (I know, I just made up that term right now....bet'cha wish you were that cool!) right now, giving us a nice yield of little blue pops of summertime deliciousness, I think next spring I should plant more...and not by accident!

Oh, the magical tomato...they taste the best ripened on the vine...you know it!

A portrait of our blueberries...trust me, they taste as good as they look!

Noah, excited to bite into a tomato...I was too, I'll admit it!

Caught in the act! Penny was picking pine cones while I was picking the fruits from our garden!

Hot peppers...can you feel the heat!

The beginnings of our bountiful harvest...oh yeah!

Birthday Bash!

OK, I'm baaaccck! The party is over, the guests are all gone, my family has left for home (sniffle!) and the decorations are all taken down and put away...well, sort of! And now, I am finally getting to posting some pictures of that big bash we had for little Miss P. It was such a good time. We had lots of our friends, and some family too, come to help us celebrate Penelope turning the Big ONE!! All the kidlets had a chance to hit a pinata and take home some candy and toys, I do have to say that the pinata was such a great idea. It was so neat to see all the little ones try their hand at swinging at the big donkey flying in the air! I'll definitely have to remember that for future parties, it was a for sure hit! Penny seemed to have lots of fun. She had a moment of tears right before the cake because of me! I know, her own momma causing her to cry, geesh! I admit it though, it was my fault. I was trying to put her little birthday hat on her and as I was pulling the elastic under her chin I let go and zowie I stung her with it...I really am sorry babe! She brightened up quickly though, it's amazing what some pink frosting and your very own little cupcake will do to stop those tears! Well, my little one is one and has the pictures to prove it! I'm so sad but so happy...we made it through her first year...and those of you with kids know how that first year is full of milestones and mayhem! Long live our little Penelope, we wish you many, many more!

A game of catch with a balloon before the party starts

Birthday cupcakes...YUM!

Noah taking a swing at the pinata or as he called it the "horse"

Hooray for candy!

So, this was my fault...I was putting her birthday hat on and I stung her with the elastic...sorry baby!

See, much happier...cake makes everything better!

Penelope getting in to her gift opening...actually, more like 'yay, PAPER!!'

Ooooh, clothes! What girl doesn't need lots of these!