Upcycling.........

a white boys turtleneck and 3 ladies t-shirts into......

 this dress!!!!

 Here's the skirt I used for 'inspiration'. :)  I cut out and made Callie's dress on Saturday morning/early afternoon.  It's for our special outfits for Mother's Day.  I've had my skirt for years, but I'm FINALLY getting around to wearing it!!

 Some last minute gifts for Mother's Day at church.

 Wheat Therapy Hot/Cold packs.  These are peppermint scented.

 The table all set up with Mother's Day gifts I made for the ladies at church.  It was fun to make all these things.  Note...I didn't make the flowers!! :)

 Callie modeling her dress on Sunday.

 from the side...

 and the back......She did have her hair up in a cute bun, but mid-way through the service it came sliding right down.

 The dress' lower ruffle being nearly 8 feet in diameter makes for great twirl power!!

 around....

 and around again!!!!



Making Sugar Scrubs

This was a first for us.  We made several different kinds of sugar scrubs yesterday for Teacher's Appreciation Day and Mother's Day gifts.  Simon wanted to help.  Here we all with all our ingredients and containers.

 Mixing it up and being silly.  I told Simon, he could make this up for his girlfriend one day!! :)  He looked at me as if I was a crazy woman! lol

 A few short minutes later, we had our first batch completed!! 

 The dark scrub is Brown Sugar-n-Spice Scrub.  The white one is Peppermint Glimmer Sugar Scrub.  The light brown is Coconut Sugar Scrub.  They were fast an easy to make. 

 Here they are all packaged, labeled and ready to gift.

 For those interested in trying this at home...

~PEPPERMINT GLIMMER SUGAR SCRUB~

1 cup oil (I was out of olive oil and used canola)

several drops of peppermint oil (you can find this in the candle/soap making supplies at a craft store)

2 cups white sugar

Mix up and put into an air tight container.  To use, simply scoop a teaspoon or so in your hands, scrub in a circular motion on your skin.  Let in sit for a few minutes and rinse well.  Pat or air dry.  Makes your skin feel wonderful!!

 ~COCONUT SUGAR SCRUB~

1 cup olive oil

2-3 cups of organic cane sugar (if you want a drier sugar scrub use closer to 3 cups.  Using 2 cups will produce a more moist scrub)

several drops of coconut oil

Follow the same directions as above. :)

 ~BROWN SUGAR-n-SPICE SCRUB~

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup organic cane sugar

2 tsp. cinn.

2 tsp. nutmeg

2 tsp. ginger

1 cup olive oil

Mix and package the same as above.

 I also made some using almond oil along with the coconut oil scents.  The variations on making these scrubs are endless!!!  It also is an easy project for kids to help with.  Just remind them NOT TO EAT the scrub!!! :)



Learning the Hard Way....

Once upon a time there lived a family of 6 in a modest white house castle with two white pillars, a green roof and door.  Each and every Sunday, the queen of the castle would prepare a tasty meal for her royal family.  The youngest members of the family would eat loudly, forgetting all manners with burping and giggling, and other things. 

This distressed the queen so much that one day she made a decree. 

"If you don't stop being so silly at the table and forgetting your manners, we shall have a formal dinner and you will have to dress up in your fanciest clothes!!!" 

The smallest prince, with a giggle and gleam in his eye kept on doing what he was doing.  The eldest boy was laughing so hard that his face turned red as a beet.  The King and the Queen and their royal guest sat in silence and gazed in wonder at how silly the princes and princess were acting. 

"All right." the queen stated in her firmest, royal voice. "Tomorrow, you shall dress in your finest clothes.  The table will be set with the finest china and I shall teach you how to behave at a formal meal." 

The two eldest princes, along with the royal guest washed the dishes after dinner.  They consulted amongst themselves.  They didn't think their queen mother would actually go through with her decree.  Much to their suprise and dismay, the next day she set the table with her finest china.  Prepared a 4 course meal.  She instructed her royal children to dress in their finest.  They balked.  They whined.  They said, "Do we HAVE to!!!"  Without further ado, they were all seated at the table.  They even had to wait until the princess and the queen was seated before they could sit. 

 The first course was a simple bowl of Chicken/Potato Soup.  The Queen instructed each of her children the proper way to eat a bowl of soup.  They were quite distressed to hear that they had to wipe their mouths BEFORE. THEY. TOOK. A. DRINK!!!

 Course #2 was a simple salad.  They learned which fork was the salad fork.

 The main course consisted of mashed potatoes, roast-n-gravy and green beans. 

 The last course, dessert, was just 2 cookies---snickerdoodle and white chocolate chunk.  The queen was quite tired at this point.  She had a ton of fine china to wash, dry and put away.  But, the 3 princes and 1 princess had learned a lot from this one meal.  Behavior around the castle dinner table has much improved since that night. 

Sometimes lessons have to be taught the hard way for all involved.  This was definitely a 'hands-on' learning experience. :)



Some April Sewing....

I made this purse set for Samuel's teacher one afternoon.  He gave it to her as an Easter gift.  She was thrilled to receive an unexpected suprise!!  It was fun to make.

 The purse had 2 small divided pockets....

.....and a zippered pocket inside.

 Samuel made this sweet card for his teacher.  This is the inside view.

 The front/back cover....

 Jenny needed a Sunday dress, so I spent a Saturday afternoon making this for her.  Doll clothes are fun make, but take almost as long as big people clothes!! :)

 We spent a day in Columbus with the kids during their Spring Break.  I have pictures on my cell phone that I need to upload.  Anyways, I saw this adorable white shirt in one of the store windows.  They had sold out of all the shirts except for the one on display.  I came back and found an old t-shirt and some scraps of lace trims and made one for Callie.  Here she is modeling it, late at night, chocolate face and all!!!  :)



A box of chocolates.....

....from Dietsch!!! 

These are my favorite chocolates here in Findlay.  I was treated to a box of hard & chewy pieces(I'm a NO creme girl) a couple of weeks ago. 

 I let each one of the kids pick their very own special piece of candy from the display.  This was a first for all of them!!!

 Did I make this box last?  Nope!!!  I probably ate 1/3 of the box that day!!!  Boy, was it yummy!!!!

 Samuel picked out a choc. covered pretzel.

 Simon picked out a turtle!

 Callie picked out a white choc. covered pretzel.  Seth also picked out a choc. covered pretzel, but for some reason I didn't get a picture of him. 

Thanks a bunch to my brother/sister-in-law for this special treat!!!  It was worth EVERY. SINGLE. CALORIE!!!!:)

Silly poses, crazy hair and more!!!

Just some crazy scenes from April....

I looked up from cutting out something and saw this sight perched behind me and ran for the camera!!!

 My daughter was in the hugging mood!!

 Don't ya love the wild hair do!!!

 I didn't realize just how much lighter Callie's hair was compared to mine, until I saw this picture!!  I do think her hair will be longer than mine.  She is praying for Jesus to make her hair grow like Rapunzel's!!!  I told her she better pray and ask Jesus to help her take care of hair that long.  She just looks at me with a smile and says, "Mommy, I'll ask Jesus to help YOU be able to fix my hair!!"  *sigh*

 Seth tried to get some pictures of a bird's nest in our prize-winning pine tree. :)

 11 of the 50 gifts I am making for our church to give to the mothers on Sunday for Mother's Day.  I made these on Saturday. 

 Another bird picture....yep these are out of order....

 Simon and Callie wanted Lego shirts.  We bought shirts for .49 cents a piece at the Salvation Army.  Washed them up and then they got to paint the logo on.  Super-cheap Lego shirts!!!

 They were very happy to wear their new shirts the next day!!

 A kitchen-aid stand mixer cover I was asked to make for someone.  I made this reversible and was very
happy with the way it turned out.  Now I want to make a reversible one for ME!!! :)

 I like to add 'pockets' to the sides for wooden spoons, etc....

 The reverse side....

That's all for now!! :)