Happy and Healthy - Dry skin? Try an Oatmeal Bath

I have used lotion to ward off dry skin for most of my life. When I got pregnant with my first child I started to look at what goes into my cosmetics as well as my hair and skin care products. Needless to say, I was shocked, and started to look to natural alternatives. We live in a year round dry climate where it can snow at least 6 months out of the year. My kids have never really needed any lotions to keep their skin hydrated. They drink lots of water, bathe every 2 - 3 days, and when their skin gets dry we just add oatmeal to their bath. There is not a simpler, more natural, and cost effect method. It can cost $6 for an 8 pack of commercial oatmeal bath powder. This will cost as much as the oatmeal you use. It is also good for itch relief.

Oatmeal Bath
By Tiffany Teske

Ingredients
~ 1 c Organic old fashioned, quick cooking, or instant oatmeal (They all work just as well)

Directions
Grind your oatmeal in a coffee grinder or food processor. Put in your oats and grind until they are a fine powder. If you would like to make a large batch of powder you can grind in smaller batches and store in a jar with a lid for up to 6 months in a cool place. Add 1/2 - 1 c directly to your bath water or about a 1/3 c to a baby bath and swirl around with your hand. The water will look milky and feel silky. In a powdered form the oats will go down the drain without any problems.

If you don't want to or can't grind your oats you can add 1 - 2 cups whole old fashioned oats to a sock, knot the sock just above the oats so they are snug in the sock, and put it all in your bath for 15 - 20 minutes. Wring out the sock several times. Oatmeal powder will make your tub more slippery than usual, so take care.

Monster Puke Bubble Bath - A Good Homemade Birthday Party Gift for a Boy (or a Girl)

Quin, my daughter, likes to make the birthday gifts that she gives to her friends. I used to be somewhat unsure about giving handmade gifts at a birthday party but I have since learned that most of my friends and their children really appreciate them. I know that my kids have more toys than they know what to do with, so it is always nice when they receive something unique and made just with them in mind. One of our standbys is play dough. What kids doesn't love it? Some moms that I know don't like it, because it can be "messy" when it dries up but you can always use it outdoors. You can find my recipe here. Crayon cakes are another favorite which you can find out how to make here. For more ideas you can look for the label "gifts you can make" on the right hand side of my blog, midway down...


Recently, Quin went to the party of a fellow preschool classmate and we wanted to make him something different. We decided that a four year old boy would probably like the idea of foaming monster puke bubble bath. Quin herself loved the idea. I found the recipe on Craftbits.com. I liked that the ingredients could be customized to our liking and the the ingredients were mostly natural. In the end, when Quin tried our bubble bath, it was not very foamy but did make the bath tub a nice green. I think it is because I used hand soap as my liquid soap when I should have used liquid dish washing soap.

Monster Puke Bubble Bath
Originally on Craftbits



Ingredients
1 cup of Olive oil
1/2 cup of Liquid soap (dish washing soap)
1/4 cup of Honey
1/2 tsp of Green food coloring
1 tbs of Peppermint fragrance or extract (I used peppermint essential oil so I used 1/2 teaspoon plus a few drops. I just wanted enough for a good scent.)


Directions
Mix all the ingredients together. We put ours in a recycled plastic peanut butter jar and had more than enough leftover for our own test run in the bath. We made a paper label to go over the PB label, put on some monster stickers, then attached a circle of recycled fabric and a plastic monster toy to the lid with hemp cord. Voila!

It was a hit with the recipient :)

Goodies From Winnipeg, Sooke, & Vancouver - Part One

I was lucky enough to see my friend and fellow artist, Serena, not once, but twice, on her recent road trip from Winnipeg to Vancouver. Both visits were super short but also super sweet, since Quin could not keep her hands off of Jason and Serena's little boy, Sebastian. Serena and I have traded our art work in the past. You can see the lovely original works I own from her, both above and below. She has a shop called Heaven's Earth on Etsy. In fact we met via Etsy.


This time we traded prints of our work. Here are the ones Serena gave me. I love them both and can't wait to mat and frame them.


Two Teal Flowers By Serena Wilson Stubson


Blast Off by Serena Wilson Stubson

We were also given some edible goodies, yum! I had read on Serena's blog about pickles she made and she brought me some! I LOVE pickles but homemade ones are THE BEST. I have to admit I have not opened them yet, as I am a bit weird... when I get something new, I tend to savor it in that form for awhile before opening, using, etc. You should see when I get packages in the mail, sometimes I won't even open them for days, to increase the level of anticipation. Yeah, strange, but I know I am not the only one. Anyway, I like opening the cupboard and seeing the beautiful pickles, all lined up and cozy in their jar...




I love green salsa, a little fact Serena was not even aware of when she handed me this lovely little jar. As soon as the jar of Mrs. Renfro's in gone, I am cracking this puppy open. I has got to be good, one of the ingredients is LOVE ♥ ! Thanks my friend... stay tuned for part two of the goodies...

Birthday Gifts You Can Make - Part Two - Crayon "Cakes"

Crayon "cakes" are the second craft we made for our friend Aven's third birthday. These are so simple and they help a child to reduce, reuse, and recycle because they can take all their crayon stumps and make them into a sort of super crayon.


These crayon cakes draw raves from both kids and adults a like. They do not roll so they are awesome for plane rides, car rides, going out to eat... And the top part of the cake ends up being wax that rises to the top and separates from the color in the wax, so when you put the cakes right side up the non color part of the cake is on the table, so they don't leave colored wax on whatever you set them on.


Sooooo, let's get started...
How To Make Crayon Cakes


You will need:
- Old crayons
I collect bags of crayons when I see them at the thrift store. I also take crayons home from restaurants that give each child a new package of three crayons when they come for dinner. Then, of course, there are the crayons we use at home. It is difficult to say how many you might need. It depends on how many finished cakes you want and the size of your crayon numbs. I would say you need about 18 one inch crayons pieces per muffin pan that makes 6 muffins, and maybe 12 one inch crayon pieces per muffin pan that makes 12 muffins. Just experiment the first time. Wax crayons are better than soy, and they say not to mix them, but I really don't pay any attention to what mine are made of and I have not had a problem.
- Silicon or metal muffin pans
My mother gave me a ton of silicon pans that are shaped (snowflakes, jack o lanterns, Christmas trees) and while I gave them a whirl for making muffins, they never cooked right and made the muffins taste like plastic... I was a bit leery of the thought of baking in silicon anyway. Since I like to find new uses for the things I own, I turned them into our crayon cake making pans. Metal pans work fine, too, and you can often find them in various shapes and sizes for a very reasonable prices at the thrift store. I would not use silicon pans for baking food after making crayon cakes in them, and I am not sure what to say about using metal ones for both purposes. I have a different set of metal pans I use for crayon cakes and non food molds. You do not need oil either type of pan. The cakes will pop right out when they have cooled and hardened.
- Baking sheet
- Cooling rack

Making the Cakes
1) Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.


2) Gather your crayons and put them in a water proof container along with warm water (if the water is too hot the crayons will start to melt). After a minute or two you can pour out the water. The paper around the crayon should now come off very quickly with little effort (I wish I would have thought of this step the first few times I made these. It would have saved my husband, child, and I, a lot of peeling time!). Remove all the paper from your crayons.


3) Do not oil your pans. Break crayons into approximately one inch pieces. There is a lot of leeway here, so find your own way you like to do things. I tend to put many shades of the same color into each tin, so maybe 5 kinds of green, from hunter to seafoam, all in the same tin. You can also do something like all the primary colors together like red, blue, and yellow. Some colors seem to mix together and get muddy while others stay apart. In theory, if you let them melt and don't stir them or jostle them, they should stay separate. Just have fun and experiment. If using many colors, try to mix them so that all the pieces of one color are not together. Do not over fill the tin. Stop filling when the pieces are just below the top. They will melt down to a thickness of about half of the pan.


4) Put the pan on a baking sheet, just in case anything melts over. Put the pan and sheet in the oven and turn the heat off. Leave the pans in the oven and check the progress of the cakes melting. You do not need to watch over them. Just do what you like and check them occasionally. Once they look completely melted remove them from the oven and put the sheet on a cooling rack or trivet. Once the cakes have hardened you can pop them out of the pan.


5) Stack three cakes or more together and tie with a ribbon, jute, raffia, whatever you like. I save all the ribbon and decorations we get on gifts for this purpose. You can attach a little tag or include a recipe card with the gift that tells the recipient how to make their own crayon cakes.


You can make a coloring book out of computer paper to go with the cakes. You can trace over the images in coloring books using carbon paper or by holding the page and paper on the window like using a light box. Or you can draw simple line drawing by hand. Gather together your pages and cut a front and back cover from decorative paper. Using a hole punch, punch two holes on the left side on the top half of the page and two holes on the bottom half. Pass ribbon through the holes and tie. Yes, coloring books are cheap, but this way you can tailor the drawings to the little one's interests. And who would not like a special coloring book made just for them?

One last post on making birthday gifts to come... stay tuned. For the first project, Play Dough, click here.

Summer Fun - Making Bubbles - Homemade Bubble Solution

Everytime someone gives my daughter bubbles from the store, I think, "I should check out how to make refills for these. It can't be that hard." Finally, I have gotten around to it. My good friend, Hannah, recently visited us from Colorado. She is a artsy craftsy girl, whom I have had lots of fun with over the years. She has experience in bubble making so she gave me the following link to some good homemade bubble solution recipes. They are on a site called The Bubble Blowers Museum. Check it out, it is super fun! Everything you ever wanted to know about bubble blowing...


I decided to use the first recipe in the link. It is very simple to make bubble solution and my three year old had fun helping. We used Sunlight dish washing liquid, although Hannah insists that Joy is the best, I couldn't find any. The Sunlight works well. And my daughter loves that the bubble solution is colored instead of clear. I found 100% vegetable glycerin at my local health food store for about $6 for the bottle, which should make many many more batches of bubbles. I cut this recipe in half, since a gallon of bubble solution is A LOT. I need to find a gallon jug for the future. Bubble solution makes a nice small gift for the kids in your life. In a future post I will explore making homemade wands for blowing, as well as packaging for gift giving. These bubbles work great! My only complaint is that they are not completely non toxic. I want to explore bubbles made from natural soaps. That way if a little one gets some in their mouth or eyes all will be ok. If anyone has any experience with this please leave me a comment...

Exploratorium Bubble Formula
from the Exploratorium web site
2/3 cup Joy dishwashing soap
1 gallon water
2 to 3 tablespoons of glycerin (available in pharmacies or chemical supply houses)

The photos below were part of the inspiration for my finally making bubble solution. We just returned home from a visit to see good friends and family. While there, my daughter was taught by her little friend, E, some of the joys of making bubbles with increased wind power! E's daddy brought out a fan and they spent a ton o' time making jet propelled bubbles. So sweet!


Yesterday my husband actually pointed out a sale on "bubble making fans" in a store flyer. We will never look at a fan in the same way again...



Images by Tiffany Teske

Etsy Baby Shower Gifts - Part One - Lynn's Lovelies

This spring I was fortunate enough to participate in a very special baby shower. A large group event, it included people from all over the WORLD, and it was actually "virtual". Etsy sellers who make items for babies, got together to throw a baby shower for Esty Sellers who were having babies. My Etsy friend, HeavensEarth, told me about the opportunity. I was assigned to four lovely Etsians, and each one sent me a LOVELY gift for my babe-to-be. I had originally thought to showcase each seller, and the images I had taken of their gifts, right away, but then life got in the way, and well, now my baby-to-be is here! She is about two and half weeks old, which means that some of the items already fit. I figured it would be more fun to show my images AND the images of my baby, Emmanuelle, wearing the items that were made with such care and generosity.

Let's start with LynnsLovelies.


Lynn emailed me to introduce herself and to ask me what colors I like. I told her orange and pink, and that I like bold colors. She specifically crocheted a custom gift for Emmanuelle. I enjoyed communicating with Lynn. She has since sent me a lovely email. And she packaged her gift in bright colors with a nice handwritten note, and dried rose petals. She has gone above and beyond in her kindness.


Lynn's attention to the details really shows. Both in her packaging and in her handiwork. Many of the items in Lynn's shop are in sweet pastel colors, but I love that she created an amazing set of hat and booties that is so flashy, fresh, and fun. I am sure if you like something in Lynn's shop, but you would like it to be changed to suit your tastes, that she would be happy to oblige.

And now for La Belle Emmanuelle modeling Lynn's creations...


(Don't you just LOVE the scalloped edge on this sweet little hat?)


(And the super cute milk tongue on Emmanuelle?)


(And the sweet little buttons in the middle of the adorable flowers on these booties?)


(I even love the little hole in the top of the hat, which I am told is common for crocheted work, which goes out from the middle).

Thank you so much, Lynn! It means so much to me that my little one, who is the second girl in our family, has some handmade items that she can call her very own. We will cherish them!!

Handmade Gifts ARE THE BEST!

My lovely friend, Kirstin, sent a thoughtful AND handmade gift that I just have to share. They are burp cloths for the little girl I am expecting in June. Kirstin could not find what she was looking for when it came to burp clothes when she had her darling little boy, Wesley, so she did the sensible thing and decided to make her own. K comes for a family of talented people who sew. In fact, she and her sister Holly, gave me lessons years ago. Thanks, K, for the very nice and super handy gift. And for the wonderful hand written letter. Always so nice to get snail mail :)

PS The giraffe print fabric is so cute... did you know that giraffes and zebras are my favorite animals?

Handmade Vitamin E Face Scrub

Today I got around to making myself some new face scrub. I have been wanting to make the Vitamin E face scrub in the Big Ass Book of Crafts by Mark Montano. It is an AMAZING book that I blogged about here.

Making personal care products is super easy. And they are so much better for you than a lot of toxic items you can buy. I have started to make a lot of the products I use. And they make great gifts!

Vitamin E Face Scrub
by Mark Montano

What You Will Need:
~ 1 cup finely granulated salt (I buy sea salt in bulk at my local health food store and it is really cheap)
~ 15 drops vitamin E oil
~ 2 teaspoons olive oil
~ 1/4 bar unused glycerin facial soap (or your regular facial soap)
~ Large mixing bowl
~ Cheese grater
~ Moisture-proof container

1) Grate the bar of soap using the smallest holes on the cheese grater. Don't worry if the glycerin soap sticks together. When you start to mix it with the other ingredients it will come apart.
2) Pour your salt, vitamin E, and olive oil in the bowl and mix well.
3) Add grated soap and mix throughly.
4) Pour the mixture into your container.


I tried this tonight and its great. My skin is smooth from the exfoliation of the salt, and the oils are moisturizing. I won't use this everyday, especially since I live in a pretty dry culture. I will use it once every few days.

Handmade Vitamin E Face Scrub

Today I got around to making myself some new face scrub. I have been wanting to make the Vitamin E face scrub in the Big Ass Book of Crafts by Mark Montano. It is an AMAZING book that I blogged about here.

Making personal care products is super easy. And they are so much better for you than a lot of toxic items you can buy. I have started to make a lot of the products I use. And they make great gifts!

Vitamin E Face Scrub
by Mark Montano

What You Will Need:
~ 1 cup finely granulated salt (I buy sea salt in bulk at my local health food store and it is really cheap)
~ 15 drops vitamin E oil
~ 2 teaspoons olive oil
~ 1/4 bar unused glycerin facial soap (or your regular facial soap)
~ Large mixing bowl
~ Cheese grater
~ Moisture-proof container

1) Grate the bar of soap using the smallest holes on the cheese grater. Don't worry if the glycerin soap sticks together. When you start to mix it with the other ingredients it will come apart.
2) Pour your salt, vitamin E, and olive oil in the bowl and mix well.
3) Add grated soap and mix throughly.
4) Pour the mixture into your container.


I tried this tonight and its great. My skin is smooth from the exfoliation of the salt, and the oils are moisturizing. I won't use this everyday, especially since I live in a pretty dry culture. I will use it once every few days.

Gifts in the Mail

I have been meaning to blog about this for about a week... and yes, I know that still means it would have been two weeks since Valentine's Day, but come on, can you ever really have had enough of the day of love?

My lovely friend and fellow crafter from EveryDayCreate, Bri, who by the way posted a killer interview and follow up about me on her blog The Craft Begins, was chosen as my secret Valentine, by Stacy, who had the great idea. AND I was chosen for Bri! So, I mailed her a little collection of goodies, which I didn't want to blog about here, until she received them. And she sent me an equally cool box of things. Here they are, since pictures are worth a thousand words...

My box to Bri:


Ok, I am still talking, or typing, even though I was supposed to let the photo do it for me... Matted print, photo card, photo magnets, photo pendant, candy necklace, and chocolate!

Bri's box to me:


It should be noted that there were a couple more chocolates that were eaten before I could take a pic, LOL! And my daughter took off with the very cute heart bean bag that was also in this box... The heart with my initials hangs on a door knob and holds my valentines. So cute and so vintage. And the Love Mix is awesome! Nothing like a mixed CD. I truly love it when people send them to me. Thanks, Bri!


May it be noted that Bri lives in Arizona, near the Mexican border, and I live in the Canadian Rockies, so it took awhile for our packages to reach one another. So fun! Like having a pen pal when I was a kid...

My Favorite Christmas Cards and Gifts

Ok, so I think I might as well continue posting about Christmas, until January 1st, when I plan to start a whole new line up of exciting things...

My favorite Christmas gifts were homemade, OF COURSE! My favorite card was made by our friend, Corinne, who is a silly silly girl. She made a card that is not only cheery but has a lot to say. I love it when people actually write in their cards, instead of just picking a preprinted message and signing. Thanks, Corinne!




My favorite store bought card came from my hubby. He also had a lot to write and while I will not write all the sappy personal stuff here, he basically said a lot of things that made me swoon like how I am dedicated to all I do, especially being a mother and how he feels blessed to have me as a wife and Quin as a daughter. Honestly, this was the best card and gift. I love words of love, and to know I am appreciated. I am not sure what I did to deserve my husband but I am blessed indeed!


My favorite gift was made by our friend, Annie, her mom, Louise, and her son, William. They made us a gift "basket", of sorts. The bottom had a Christmas themed plate/bowl, which held little canning jars full of homemade goodies, plus a bottle of hard cider. The bowl was lined with tinsel, a great idea which we put to use right away on our tree. And the three jars contained Mango Peach Salsa, Apple Butter, and Creton. I decided to look up recipes for each to share with you. These are not Annie's recipes, but I am working on getting those...


APPLE BUTTER
Rather than repost the recipe here, I will link you to the site, because not only is the recipe there but there are step by step photos to go with it!

MANGO PEACH SALSA
The combo of mango and peaches with onions and garlic is a winner on a burrito or with chips. I got this simple recipe from Vegetarian About.com.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:

* 2 mangos, peeled and chopped
* 2 fresh peaches, peeled and chopped
* 1 sweet onion, diced
* 2 cloves garlic
* 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
* juice of one lime
* dash salt and pepper

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients and chill. If you have a food processor, you can process all the ingredients in chunks, rather than dicing and chopping. Chill before serving.

CRETON
If you are not French-Canadian or at least Canadian, you may not know what creton is. If you do, you can consider yourself a real foodie... Now if the above two recipes are good for vegetarians, creton is not. It is for carnivores. Creton is a spread made from pork. Many people in Quebec eat it for breakfast, and I can say it has always been available at any brunch I ate in Quebec (but as a veggie, it just kind of makes me queasy to look at it). It is not healthy but is said to be delicious (but then again so it vegemite!). The person who submitted this recipe to RecipeZaar likes to eat it on crackers or toast with hot mustard. Enjoy!

Emeril Lagasse's Creton
SERVES 6
Ingredients

* 1 1/4 lbs ground pork
* 3/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
* 3/4 cup whole milk
* 1/4 cup fine breadcrumb

Directions
1. In a large saute pan, add the pork and cook until no longer pink, about 3 minutes.
2. Add the onions and garlic, and cook for 1 minute.
3. Add the salt, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add the milk and bread crumbs and cook for 3 minutes over medium heat, stirring to break up the meat.
5. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pork is very tender and most of the liquid is evaporated, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
6. Remove the lid and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick and all the liquid is evaporated, about 10 to 15 minutes.
7. Remove from the heat and adjust the seasoning, to taste.
8. Transfer to a decorative bowl or several smaller ramekins, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula.
9. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled and firm, at least 4 hours or overnight.
10. Serve with thinly sliced French bread or toasted French bread croutons