Nursing Necklace

So, the Dragon has become quite grabby while nursing. Before I got my hair cut last weekend, I was wearing it up in a clip most of the time so I was spared the ridiculous strength of my 7.5 month old. Now that it's shorter though, I wear it down more and well...let's just say I need to keep all the hair that post-partum hair loss didn't already steal from me. The dragon also is a lot more distracted these days and these necklaces are supposed to help with that. I've seen some super cute ones for sale on the interwebs, but I wanted to try making one for less money. One of the ones I really liked on Esty was $14 plus shipping. I spent about $14 at Michaels today and I'll be able to make five necklaces with these materials (with extra cord to spare).

Here are the materials I bought:

 

I cut off pieces of the green, blue, and gray cords (Bamboo) and braided them together.

 

Next I looped the cord around a Cabone Ring that I found in the crochet section. I figured wood would be friendly for the Dragon to chew on if he so desires.

Then I threaded a blue bead on the cord and tied a knot above it.

 

Next, I threaded on a light blue bead, but left this one with the ability to slide up and down.

I tied the two sides together at the top. We'll see in the morning how the dragon likes it! Now I just have to choose the color combinations for the next one :)





Homemade washing soaps: part 3

Fabric Softener!

I also got this recipe from the blog Building It On Pennies: http://www.buildingitonpennies.com/2011/12/homemade-laundry-soap-even-he-safe.html

 

I spent some time in the hair aisle at Walmart choosing my conditioner scent :) I went with Everlasting Sunshine...descriptive isn't it? It smells lovely though.

 

This recipe is SUPER SIMPLE. Just mix together 2 cups of conditioner (pretty much the whole bottle), 3 cups of vinegar, and 10 cups of water. The blog says not to shake the mixture as it creates a lot of foam. I stirred it together in the big 5 gallon bucket and then poured it into another gallon pitcher.

 

Here are my 3 gallons of laundry detergent and fabric softener...all made for super cheap! I just recently ran out of Gain Fabric Softener, but so far I like my homemade one fine.



Homemade washing soaps: part 2

Laundry Detergent!

To give credit where credit is due, this is the site I got the laundry detergent recipe from: http://www.buildingitonpennies.com/2011/12/homemade-laundry-soap-even-he-safe.html

Ingredients:
1/3 bar of Fels-Naptha soap (found in the laundry aisle)
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda

To start, I grated the Fels-Naptha using a grater I bought specifically for this project (so, not for food consumption).

Next, I melted the Fels-Naptha in a large pot of a 1/2 gallon of water.

 

Once that melted, I added the Borax and washing soda. This boiled for five minutes for the soaps to combine while I stirred occasionally.

Then, in a large 5 gallon bucket, I added 1.5 gallons of cold water. To this I added the melted soap concoction. Using the immersion blender, I stirred the mixture, let it sit for 30 minutes, then stirred again.



Once gelled together, I poured the detergent into two gallon containers. Let the laundry-ing begin!

Review: While I do believe this detergent cleans well, it separated a lot which I don't love. I keep a spatula (the one pictured actually) in the laundry room to stir occasionally. When I run out of this stuff, I think I will try a powdered detergent recipe.

Homemade washing soaps: part 1

Many months ago my DIY cleaning product journey began in the kitchen via pinterest (of course). Homemade dishwasher detergent. I won't lie; what first drew my eye to this project was the cute jar. It seemed like such a neat way to make something super cheap but vital to the kitchen. I don't have step by step pics, but I do have the finished jar (which I got to use my Cricut for...yippee!).

 

 

I will admit, the results are not that professional looking ;) It was very hard to fit all the words on the jar with the limited Cricut fonts I own. However, that is not the most disappointing part of this project. While the website I got the recipe from ( http://simplydesigning.blogspot.com/2011/05/hard-water-stains-dishwasher-detergent.html) claims it cleans very well, this was not the case in our dishwasher. I used the detergent faithfully for several months until I finally had to admit to myself that is just doesn't clean well enough. Absolutely no food could be left on the dishes, and even though I used vinegar as a rinse aid every time, there was always a streaky feeling left on the glassware. I have since gone back to my trusted Cascade pouches. Now, I will say that our dishwasher is not of the highest quality and I would replace it if the money tree in the backyard wasn't barren but alas, at this point in time, I'll have to rely on Cascade to do the job. 

Game Day Onesies!

As I've mentioned, we are an SEC house divided. Go Dawgs!!! (And Roll Tide too) Ever since finding out the dragon was a boy, I've been thinking about how to make house divided game day attire. At first, I thought I would take identical team onesies and try to take them apart and sew them back together (like the front of one to the back of the other). However, upon further thought this didn't seem like it would show each team's "spirit" the best. Then I happened upon DIY tie onesies on pinterest and I was hooked! I love the little ties on baby boys. I have stickers to celebrate each month for the dragon. I searched around to find the tutorial that made the most sense to me. This is it: http://www.crapivemade.com/2009/03/appliqued-tie-onesie.html

To start I bought a pack of short sleeve onesies and a pack of long sleeve onesies. Then I went off to my favorite store, Hobby Lobby, and bought UGA and Alabama fabric. I also got some fusible webbing.

1) I cut out a piece of fabric slightly bigger than the piece of webbing.

 

 

2) With this webbing, I took off the loose piece of paper and stuck it to the "wrong" side of the fabric.

 



 

3) Then I ironed the webbing to the fabric.

 

4) Next, I used the pattern from the afore mentioned site and cut out the knot and tie.

 

 

 

5) Then I cut the two different fabrics at the same time so that I could get matching halves.

 

 

 

6) Next, I ironed the pieces onto the onesies.



 

7) The next step is optional. Sew the tie onto the onesie. The fusible webbing is supposed to be washable, but sewing secures it. I sewed the two short-sleeved onesies. But my sewing skills are still new, so I held off sewing the long-sleeved onesies for now. 

 

 

And a picture of the long-sleeved, unsewn onesies.

I also made a shirt for my adorable nephew. His is all Georgia :) I used a different site's tutorial and I don't like the finished product as much. I might have to make him another ;)

Wine Cork Strip Board

This project is SUPER easy. All you need is a yard stick (or flat dowel rod, which I found at Hobby Lobby), a glue gun, a picture hanging hook, and all those wine corks you've been saving.

flat dowel rod

 

 

 Screw the picture hook into the back of the dowel rod.

 

Use a hot glue gun to glue each cork to the rod. I laid out the corks next to the rod first to see which order I wanted. I tried to alternate plastic and real corks and separate the same corks from each other. I also made sure that I glued each one down so that the words or design showed clearly.

 And viola! Hang on a wall and you're done. I've since tacked a couple of birth announcements up there :)

 

Mini Black Forest Cheesecakes

Bama has been craving cheesecake for a while. (He even cheated on me by buying a Sara Lee one from the store! A brand, btw, that has the most obnoxious catch-phrase ever: "Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee." It hurts my ears every time.) Anywho...this prompted me to finally make some cheesecake. I made mini ones since we had a get-together to go to. Plus, everything's better in mini-form :)

Here is the website where I got the recipe: http://www.bakersroyale.com/cheesecake/mini-black-forest-cheesecakes/

I used cupcake tins instead of mini cheesecake tins, which I did look for at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Michaels but was unsuccessful.

Ingredients:
Cheesecake:

• 1/2 cup(s) of boiling water
• 1 tablespoon of gelatin
• 1/3 cup(s) of sugar
• 2 cups of Oreo cookies, crushed
• 1 1/4 cups of heavy cream
• 8 ounces of cream cheese (I used fat-free)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 cup(s) of semi-sweet chocolate, melted (I use an awesome Pampered Chef bowl to melt chocolate in the microwave)

• 1/4 cup(s) cherry reduction sauce*

* Homemade cherry sauce:

• 1 cup cherries (pitted)
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:
* Homemade cherry sauce:

1. Add cherries, water, sugar, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice in a pot over low medium heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer, stir frequently until mixture is reduced by half. Push mixture through a strainer to remove any skin. Pour mixture into a shallow bowl to cool.

Cheesecake:

1. Mix gelatin and sugar in a bowl; add boiling water and stir until gelatin completely dissolves, about 5 minutes.

 

2. Press crushed Oreos to bottom of cupcake tins. I used paper liners to help with clean up and to make traveling easier. (I crushed them in a bag with a rolling pin, but I did not crush them fine enough which made some of the cheesecakes a little too crumbly out of the wrapper)

 

3. Beat heavy cream to medium peaks. Add cream cheese, lemon, salt, beat on medium-high speed unitl mixture is smooth, about 3 minutes.

4. Add a large dollop of cream cheese to to the gelatin and fold to blend. Add remaining cream cheese mixture to gelatin and slowly fold until well incorporated.
5. For this next step you can either divide the batter into thirds in three bowls, or "eyeball" it and pour out a third into another bowl. Then add the cooled, melted chocolate to the 2/3 portion and the 1/4 cup cherry sauce to the 1/3 portion.

cherry sauce added

chocolate added

 

6. Layer cupcake tins with chocolate filling, cherry filling and then chocolate filling once more. (Unfortunately, since I used cupcake tins instead of the original recipe's cheesecake things, I started out with too many, so I didn't have enough chocolate left to make a second layer of chocolate on top of the cherry. Next time, I think I would just start with 12 and that should leave enough batter.)

7. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Garnish with whip cream and cherry.

 attempting to show the layers...

 



 

*Homemade Whipped Cream

 

Ingredients:

1 cup Heavy Cream

1 tbsp powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

Directions:

Beat heavy cream until almost stiff peaks. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Continue beating to stiff peaks. (Do not overbeat)

 

I put the whipped cream in a pastry bag and piped it on top of the cheesecakes. I added a cherry (unpitted), which Bama wasn't a fan of. If you want pitted cherries on top, you'll have to sacrifice the elegance of the stemmed cherry.

Gum Paste Gerber Daisies

I mentioned that I don't do "Ace of Cakes" type creations, but a friend asked if I could make some cupcakes for a bridal shower she was throwing with Gerber daisies on them. Since I love this friend SO much (and I know the bride, who is also cool), I decided I'd give them a try. I did some research online and used a coupon at Michaels (or was it Hobby Lobby...I forget) to purchase a gum paste flower kit. I used Wilton Gum Paste and colored it with gel colors. The colors didn't come out as vibrantly as I would have liked, but over all I was pretty happy with the outcome.

 



 

I found a tip online to make the centers of the flowers. You roll a little gum paste and then press it into a wire mesh sieve. It worked brilliantly! Another tip I found was to use paper towel/toilet paper tubes as flower formers. I cut the tubes in half and then sat the flowers inside to dry. This curves them a bit. It worked well, but some of them were a little too curved. I think that can be fixed by cutting down the sides of the tubes a bit. Fancy, "professional" forms of these items can be purchased of course, but if they can be done with household items...bonus!

 

 

I made my chocolate cake cupcakes and white cake cupcakes. I frosted them with whipped chocolate ganache and whipped cream cheese frostings.

 

 



Dawg-Tide Pride Flower Pots

This particular project was in the works for at least a couple months. It's a Pinterest idea (of course). This is the site it comes from:
http://www.popularpix.com/pic-65.html
It doesn't really give directions, just this photo:

I thought this was totally awesome and promptly bought the pots and even a can of blue spray paint. But then later I saw this picture and inspiration struck! (I'd include a link, but Pinterest says it could be spam).

 

 



 



The idea for this blog came after I started this project, so I don't have great step-by-step pictures, but you'll be able to get the idea.

 

First, I bought 6 pots. 1 larger pot and 5 smaller ones. In the end, I only needed 4 small pots (which worked out because I could only get a shorter piece of rebar, so 5 small pots wouldn't have worked anyways).

 

Next, I spray painted the pots. I already had "crimson" and white spray paint, so I only needed to buy some black. (I painted all 6 pots...I'll use the last one somewhere else)

 

Then, using my Cricut, I cut out letters to say Go Dawgs and Roll Tide. I printed them on vinyl sheets. I put each word on a separate pot. Go Dawgs went on the black pots. Roll Tide went on the crimson pots.

 

Next, I pounded the rebar into the ground (sorry, didn't measure), threaded the big white pot, and filled it with soil.



 

 

Then, I threaded the "Tide" pot at an angle (well, as photo evidence proves, I put the "Roll" pot on first and had to change it out. Told you I'd include mistakes ;) )

 

 

And repeat:

 

 

Finally, I planted each pot with some flowers. 

 

 

Close-up.

 

 

The dragon wanted to help me plant the flowers :)

 

 

Materials needed for this project:

 

Clay pots: 1 large pot, 4 or 5 smaller pots. (I got them on sale at Michaels...score!)

 

Rebar: I found this at Home Depot near the lumber section. I bought a 4 ft piece (the next size up was 10 ft...too long). The original pic I got this idea from said to buy a 62" piece, thus needing 6 total pots.

 

Spray paint: I used Cherry Red (for Crimson), White, and Black. They were all different finishes, which I think adds a little dimention (but this wasn't intentional since I was using what I'd already had).

 

Rubber Mallet: to pound rebar into ground

 

Newspaper: to spray paint on

 

Flowers: hopefully I can keep them alive :)

 

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I think Uga is too :)