Fizzy Baths are the Bomb!

I'm working on a few projects for an upcoming "Pickles & Ice Cream" baby shower I'm helping to host for my good friend. This past weekend, my beautiful sister-in-law, Jennica, & our good friend Heath let our creative juices & the essential oils flow - and we created some awesome Chai Tea Bath Bombs.

I found the best recipe at eHow here: How to Make a Chai Tea Bath Bomb, scoured the town for ingredients & got to work. I used the ingredients they suggested, along with a few others that I felt were good for scent.

The goal was to make bath bombs that looked like scoops of vanilla ice cream & smelled equally delicious. I'm going to be using them for another project that I'll post later.

Finding Citric Acid proved to be an interesting challenge, but I finally managed to get the only 2 bottles at Akin's Natural Foods store. I think next time, with better planning I'll opt to order the citric acid online, so that I can purchase more at one time.

Another challenge was the vanilla essential oil. When I finally found a small container of it, the price almost knocked me out. Apparently the best varieties can be valued at up to $300 for a small container! Even the $25 bottle I found was WAY out of my price range. Whew! The I considered using extract, but didn't want the bath bombs to turn out sticky, or to begin their fizzing reaction before they hit the tub. So, I settled on a "freshly baked cookie" scented oil from Target for about $3.00. It smells delicious, the instructions said that it was appropriate for use in soaps, and it fits into my budget. Perfect!

So, a little mixing, stirring, pouring, remixing, packing drying & baking &...voila! Perfect fizzy bath bombs - shaped like ice cream scoops. These would have been expensive to buy, and let's admit it....not 1/2 as much fun. ;) Can't wait to see them in action!

Getting stains out of carpet.....on the cheap!

Hey! I have been meaning to post about my new-found solution for cleaning carpets.

I have hard floors, and a couple of large area rugs - which we love. ;)

Unfortunately, after a little dog living with us and several years of foot traffic - one of our rugs was in REALLY bad shape. We cleaned the rug with commercial carpet cleaners and it worked, temporarily. Unfortunately, after a few weeks, some dark spots started appearing all over the carpet - wherever the rug cleaner had been applied. See the not so pretty picture below. It looks like something has been spilled & splashed all over the carpet, but it hasn't.

And, that's just a small portion. The entire carpet was this bad (or worse).

So, I found a recipe for making my own cleaning solution. I used 1/4 cup of white vinegar, 1/4 cup of laundry detergent (I used Simplicity - "free") and about 1.5 cups of warm water. Then I grabbed an old tooth brush, and got to scrubbing....surprisingly, I didn't have to scrub for long!


Finally, I let the solution set, and vacuumed over it after it was dry. What I ended up with was amazing! The results were fantastic. I was so pleased, I wanted to share it with you.

This was the cheapest & easiest carpet cleaning experience ever. Hope it works for you too!

More for the room - Pottery Barn Kids Brooke bedding

I love love love Pottery Barn Kids "Brooke" bedding. I think it's what I want to use in our little girl's room. The only thing holding me back is price. Just not sure whether it's worth it or not, even though it's got so many components that I love: owls, trees, birdies, bright colors & fun fabric, along with plenty of blue & green to compliment the room's paint.

My main hesitation stems from the fact that I already purchased some bedding at a "Just Between Friend's" consignment sale last month. I found a skirt, bumper & fitted sheet for about $45, and it was shabby chic & hand sewn. I loved it at the sale, and thought it would be a great buy, but now that it's home, I think it might be more floral than I want for every day. It's really cute, but may be a little too froufy for me. I know all of those of you who know me, know I occasionally enjoy a frou frou thing or two, but for the most part, I'd describe my tastes as comfortable & easy to live in. I tend to gravitate toward comfort in all things - decor, clothing, shoes....;)

Anyway, I'll post pictures of the Pottery Barn Kids "Brooke" bedding below & I'll include some pictures of the bedding I already picked up later for some of your opinions!

I also thought it might be fun to get some of my creative friends to sew a square each for a quilt that I could compile for our little one. It would be a sweet keepsake, if I could somehow keep it flowing. I really think that would be fun.

Here is the "Brooke" set. Do you see why I love it? (Sorry the image is so blurry - Blogger was giving me some major trouble this evening. After about 45 min. of messing with it....I gave up. ;)

Baby girl inspiration

Just wanted to collect a few thoughts for the upcoming nursery. I purchased a bedding set at the Just Between Friends (JBF) consignment sale earlier this week, but now I'm a little concerned that it's a little too "rosy" & "flowery" for my tastes.

I had visions of doing a lot with fun prints (a la Amy Butler), birds, owls, etc...and now I'm feeling a little buyer's remorse for buying such a flowery patterned motif. She'll be in the "blue" room, which is actually a nice gray blue shade, but I'm not sure if the things I bought will be sticking around or not. I'll post pics later.

Here's an idea I liked for a tree w/ flowers on the wall. I could perch birds on the limbs. ;)

Going from 1 to 2

This beautiful post was made by a friend on www.babyfit.com. I do not know the author, but it expresses the feelings I'm having lately about going from 1 to 2 better than I could have done myself.

I look at my little guy sometimes and think...how am I possibly going to be able to love someone else as much as you? I know God will give me the love it takes, but it's so hard to imagine. Then, I wonder if I have given him enough of my undivided time, and suddenly I'm so anxious to share more of myself with him.


Please enjoy this beautiful thought:

Loving Two

I walk along holding your 2-year-old hand, basking in the glow of our magical relationship. Suddenly I feel a kick from within, as if to remind me that our time alone is limited. And I wonder: how could I ever love another child as I love you?

Then she is born, and I watch you. I watch the pain you feel at having to share me as youve never shared me before.

I hear you telling me in your own way, Please love only me. And I hear myself telling you in mine, I cant, knowing, in fact, that I never can again.

You cry. I cry with you. I almost see our new baby as an intruder on the precious relationship we once shared. A relationship we can never quite have again.

But then, barely noticing, I find myself attached to that new being, and feeling almost guilty. Im afraid to let you see me enjoying her as though I am betraying you.

But then I notice your resentment change, first to curiosity, then to protectiveness, finally to genuine affection.

More days pass, and we are settling into a new routine. The memory of days with just the two of us is fading fast.

But something else is replacing those wonderful times we shared, just we two. There are new times only now, we are three. I watch the love between you grow, the way you look at each other, touch each other.

I watch how she adores you as I have for so long. I see how excited you are by each of her new accomplishments. And I begin to realize that I havent taken something from you, Ive given something to you. I notice that I am no longer afraid to share my love openly with both of you. I find that my love for each of you is as different as you are, but equally strong. And my question is finally answered, to my amazement. Yes, I can love another child as much as I love you only differently.

And although I realize that you may have to share my time, I now know youll never share my love. There is enough of that for both of you .you each have your own supply.

I love you-both. And I thank you both for blessing my life.

Summer Reading List - 2 yrs

This is the beginning of our summer reading list. I had started a post about this before, but now I can't seem to track it down...so...here goes. ;)

Title, Author, get it again?
details

Stone Soup, Heather Forest, Yes!
Better for slightly older audience, sharing theme, stone soup recipe in back of book. Same book I enjoyed as a child - still good!

Next Stop!, Sarah Ellis, ?
Easy reader, good for toddler, graphics slightly confusing, look for the mouse.

Bark George, Jules Feiffer, Yes!
Cute story, good for toddlers, cute graphics.

Hunter & Stripe and the Soccer Showdown, Laura Malone Elliot, ?
Probably not. Too much text for a toddler. Theme about competition - among friends, and keeping a friendship despite being on a losing team. Only read again if situation warrants. Older child may enjoy more.

Count!, Denise Fleming, Yes
Good for basic counting skills. Toddler friendly - colorful, fun graphics, uncomplicated.

I Know a Rhino, ..........., Yes
Cute story about a child's imagination, and some stuffed animal friends w/ good graphics, and cute rhymes.

Don't Worry Bear, .........., Yes
Story about a bear who befriends a caterpillar - and waits for the butterfly. ;)

How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?, Jane Yolen, YES!
Great for toddlers and older audiences. This series is wonderful. Full of humor & great lessons on manners. Definitely will get again.

How Do Dinosarus Get Well Soon? + audio cd, Jane Yolen, YES!
Again, great for toddlers and older children. Humor and great graphics about visiting the doctor, and recovering from being sick.

Arthur Writes a Story + audio cd, Marc Brown, Yes (older)
This would definitely have been better for a slightly older audience, but I think the story was interesting. About a child's active imagination! ;) We'll get it again when he's a little older. The audio cd is great too, because it signals children when to turn the page, but we aren't quite there yet.

Preschool Aerobic Fun (Audio CD), Georgiana Stewart, Yes
Fun active songs for young kids. Plenty of marching and moving. I wouldn't have purchased it, but it was great to borrow!

Unplugged Play

Today we spent the entire morning attempting unplugged (or semi-unplugged) play.


I've really been struggling with giving Jonas my undivided attention. At home it seems like there is always something to get done (laundry, sweeping, mopping, fun craft stuff, etc...) I feel like I've been pretty distracted. I try to carve out a lot of quality time for Jonas, but to be honest, he has SO much more energy than I do, and he wants me to be his personal playmate 24/7. Sometimes I need to take a break. Today however, I attempted to have an entire unplugged, active play morning with him. We read several books, Did some morning preschool aerobics to a fun kids cd, played soccer in the hallway into a laundry basket goal, swept together, played in our mini-sandbox, and swam in a pool from Papa Mark.

When the afternoon gets here, I may be too tired to get up and go....but we'll see. We had such a great time, and I really just love my little guy. I'm so glad he loves spending time with me. I just wish I had all the energy I needed to keep up.
(For those of you wondering what he's playing in...I attempted to make homemade "Moon Sand". Real Moon Sand is incredible stuff. It's moldable, soft, doesn't stick too much to clothing. It's not gritty, and doesn't get in hair, etc... It's also VERY expensive. I found a recipe to make something similar with corn starch & play sand. It's actually nothing like the real thing, but it is soft & not grimy....so we like it! ;) It also washes off REALLY easily. Let me know if you want the recipe & I can dig it up for you.

What does everyone else do for "unplugged play"? What's a typical day consist of? Do your kiddos play on their own, or do they want you to play with them?

Edible colored macaroni - Rainy day play!

Today Jonas & I had a blast creating edible colored macaroni. I made macaroni necklaces when I was young, and thought it might be a fun rainy day activity for us today. I came across this edible method online, here, and decided to give it a go.

It's SOOOOO Easy.
1. Get some small plastic baggies
2. Macaroni or other small noodles
3. Food coloring
4. White Vinegar

First, get your kiddo helper situated & give them a teaspoon and a small bowl of white vinegar. Fill the bag with desired amount of pasta, add 1 Teaspoon of white vinegar, add 5-6 drops of food coloring, then seal the bag. Shake shake shake it up, until pasta is well-coated with color & evenly distributed. Then, (carefully) pour out the pasta to dry. ( I used a cookie sheet, covered with foil & papertowels. )

We had a great time, although now my hands are a lovely shade of green. Note for the future....wear gloves. (lol)


What a great helper I have! Can't wait to display our necklaces. But our art has to dry first!

Jonas' Big Boy room inspiration board

Idea board for Jonas' Big Boy room: Still collecting ideas!

First - Some ideas from a room found on Apartment Therapy:

This goes along with antique bed frame we picked up at a garage sale for $5! Still needs a frame, but it will do!
Find some inspiring artwork - maybe from an old storybook.


Storage & Mobiles!

Then some great finds on Etsy:

Stores I love: boygirlparty by Susie Ghrahremani





Her prints are just perfect. Whimsical, but rooted. Jonas loves music & animals & being outdoors. I think he'd like these as much as I do. Then again, he also loves cars, trucks & robots, so we'll see where all of that takes us. :)

Here's some artwork from Guardian of the Night's Etsy Shop:





That's about it for now....more to come later!

Garage Sale Success....sort of

Well, after much stress...we finally got all of our possessions outside for a much-needed, much-anticipated, GARAGE SALE!

I wish I had a picture of it. So wonderful to get rid of so much STUFF!!!!

We had some wonderful friends who brought us some "big stuff" to sell, i/e tables & chairs, a headboard, double stroller, etc., and we advertised diligently on Craigslist. We were busy all morning, and opted to stay open until close to 3:30pm, because people kept coming. We also picked the most beautiful day. It's been over 100 deg. every day this month, but for some reason, a "cold" front came in that day, and we relished the 88 deg. high. Great weather for our shoppers.

We were preparing to close up shop when, we noticed a strange puddle of water snaking it's way through our garage sale, and down to the driveway. We watched with horror as it grew, and realized that our water heater was suddenly...leaking. This was particularly strange, because we had had absolutely no trouble with it at all, the entire 4 years we've lived here.

Ironically (or not, depending on how you look at it) we made roughly $20 less than we had to pay for our brand new water heater. Thankfully Clint was able to stifle the leak until Monday, and temporarily patch us up so that we still had hot water and A/C through the rest of the weekend, allowing us t skip the $158/hour plumbing fee.

Now, thanks to his ability to do pretty much anything he puts his mind to, the leak behind our bathroom toilet is fixed, our sink is no longer dripping & we have a brand new water heater up and running. I have an amazing husband. ;)

In the end, the sale ended up providing the exact amount we needed to repair our water heater (Thanks God!) and we sent 20 trash bags, 6 boxes, a TV & filing cabinet to Salvation Army. We've lost approximately 2 tons of weight from our house & are still in the mood to trim down.

Thanks friends for your tips & support. Thanks Sarah for helping man the garage sale.

This feels so good & we're excited about simplifying our lives even more!