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Best Surprise Ever!

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pantry

Can I still post about something crafty even if I didn’t do it myself? I was in Chicago for 10 days a couple weeks ago and came home to find this!

I had wanted to convert this little room off of the kitchen into a pantry for a while now and well, with the arrival of Jackson, it got pushed further and further to the back burner. The previous owner used the room as a small breakfast nook but since it has an entire wall of windows and faced the morning sun, it got way too hot for us to enjoy breakfast comfortably. And plus, I’ve always wanted a large pantry.

Now we have plenty of room for the blender, crockpot, juicer, coffee maker, microwave, food processor, large mixer, toaster and then some! And now that the microwave is out of the kitchen, we have more counter space as well. I’ve always dreamed of having large glass containers filled with granola and cereal and such. Now we can!

Dude, Jim, if I wasn’t already head over heels in love with you, this would have definitely pushed me over! Now, since you did so well with this project, perhaps we can talk about the bookshelves for the playroom? I kid, I kid! (not really.)

Signs of Life

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ztomoatoes_sm

Finally! For some reason, these tomatoes are taking forever to come in. Hurry up little ones…I want to eat you!

Tomato Basil Sandwiches

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Tomato Basil Sandwich, VeganYumYum

Tomatoes? Basil? and Cream Cheese?! You throw in a foot massage and this sandwich is seriously heaven on earth (Eww. Food and feet? Sorry for that mental image!)

I bought almost all of the ingredients at the farmer’s market this weekend with the sole purpose of making this sandwich. I love knowing that the tomatoes were actually grown just a few houses down from ours. I sometimes dream of turning the 2/3 of an acre we’re not using into a CSA garden. But then again, I also dream of Brad Pitt. I, unfortunately, have neither the time nor energy to devote more then a dream to either one at this time in my life. Maybe in the future. Mmm, Brad Pitt.

Soapless Baby Soap

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baby soap
Sensitive skin kinda runs in our family. Lotions with lots of additives or perfumes usually cause some sort of reaction among my sisters, mother and I. It’s crazy but lately just sitting next to someone who has a ton of perfume on makes my skin itch (see perfume pollution). Erring on the side of caution (and craftyness!), I thought it might be a good idea to make Jackson’s soap.

The recipe I found Green Home was a bit vague but the ingredients were easy enough to find at Sun Harvest. Actually, I couldn’t find the powders the recipe called for so I just got dried lavender and chamomile buds and ground them in my food processor. You would not believe how yummy the mixture smelled!

I had a small muslin bag left over from an herbal soak so I just used that. I scooped two tablespoons of the “soap” into the bag and then plopped it into the water. We also used the little bag to wash little Jack with. Nice since I always forget to bring wash cloths to the sink! It seriously smelled like Jackson was swimming in this amazing Lavender-Chamomile-Sweet Almond tea.

Jackson didn’t seem to care one way or another about his new wash (all he wanted were his water toys!) but he smelled so lovely when we took him out. Just the smallest hint of lavender and the chamomile could be smelled on his hair. So much better then your standard baby bath smell!

Soapless Baby Soap

Materials:
– 2 tbsp dried lavender
– 2 tbsp dried chamomile
– 1/2 c oatmeal
– 1 tbsp cornstarch
– 2 tsp sweet almond oil

Instructions:
1. Grind lavender, chamomile, and oatmeal in a food processor until powdery.
2. In a medium sized bowl, mix in the rest of the ingredients.
3. Scoop two tbsp of the “soap” into a muslin bag and was your sweet baby all over!

Rice Pillow = Amazing

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Make a Rice Pillow Tutorial, Wise Craft

Where as the jury is still out on the success of the diaper disks (see last entry), there is absolutely no question about the “awesome-ness” of this rice pillow! My shoulders and neck were aching the night after I made this one (thanks to carrying around a hefty 17 lb. baby). I threw this gem in the microwave for 2 minutes and then fell asleep with it around my neck. By the morning, all signs of aches and pains were long gone. Why haven’t I made one of these sooner?!

I followed the tutorial exactly with the exception of dividing the fabric in half (+ .25″ seam allowance) and stitching two different fabric pieces together. Did that make any sense? Just look at the picture, I’m sure you’ll understand what I’m trying to say!

So, I completed 3 out of the 4 projects for my Tried & True: Weekly Plans. Not too bad!

Diaper Disks

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Make Your Own Deoderant Disks, Full Circle Baby

So the jury is still out on these suckers. I think it’s possible they’re working but Jim is almost 100% certain that they’re not doing anything. We’ll give it a little while longer. Maybe when Jackson’s poo really starts to stink (he’s still just on breastmilk and rice cereal) we’ll notice a difference.

This really is a super easy project though so I won’t feel too bad if these don’t work. I used a cupcake sheet but ran out of paper liners and seriously regretted this when it came time to pop them out of the molds. The ones with paper liners came out whole while the ones without, pretty much crumbled to pieces. They’ll still work but they definitely don’t look pretty!

The recipe didn’t really say how much of the essential oil to use so I added a ton and then added some more. They were super fragrant at first but eventually that wore off. In hindsight, I think maybe using lemon essential oil was a mistake. Every once and a while I catch the funky scent of lemon flavored poo. It’s a very weird smell. Maybe lavender would have been better?

I made a little net pouch that hangs over the edge of my trash can (diaper pail). That didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked either but it works, I guess. I’ve been in a bit of a craft slump lately. Tons of ideas are floating through my head but when I try to bring them to fruition, they don’t turn out so well. This ever happen to you guys? Guess you just have to work through it.

Crockpot Creations

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Yay, the very first completed project from my very first Tried and True: Weekly Plans post! Wasn’t that quick?! Aren’t you amazed by my speed and efficiency?

Ok, ok. I admit it. This one was already cooking by the time I published that post. I know it’s kinda cheating but hey, I got a 6 month old baby over here!

So back to the crockpot…I spent at least 30 minutes looking for a good recipe to use but ended up just sort of “trash can-ing” it. (You know, throwing in veggies that if I didn’t use soon, would more then likely end up in the trash can) Basically, I diced all the veggies, threw in a couple cloves of garlic and topped the whole thing off with fake ground beef and a two cans of diced organic Italian tomatoes.

I set the whole mixture to cook on low and was able to work on the Weekly Plans post, nurse Jackson, eat dinner, make diaper pail disks (oops, I cheated again!) and work on new promos for Gerbera Designs. Six hours later, I had enough food for a dinner this week and still have enough to freeze for another time!

I freaking love my slow cooker.

Weekly Plans

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Ok, that Future Projects list is getting crazy long. Going to start making weekly lists of projects I hope to complete. Maybe it’ll convince me to start working on those great crafty links instead of spending hours on the internet trying to find them!

Weekly Plans:
1. How To Make a Repeat Pattern (I’d love to design some robot fabric with Spoonflower!)
2. Rice Pillow (I owe my prenatal yoga instructor a big “Thanks!”)
3. Deoderant Disks for Diaper Pail (We’ll be needing these now that he’s eating solids)
4. Slow Cooker Recipes (Gotta break in our new slow cooker!)

What are your weekly plans?

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