"Boo Boo Salve"

It has been a while since I have made my own healing Balms. Mostly because it is kind of expensive to do so. But I must say-I do prefer them. I love knowing what is in stuff, and have a certain pride that comes with doing it myself. Think Tom Hanks in 'Castaway', when he first made fire. It is pretty much like that, when you make something from scratch, use it and then: it WORKS!! Wow. What a rush!

Because of this, I always stock pile recipes for DIY stuff on my computer. Mostly to do 'someday', but this is the first one that I was like, "Hey, I think I might actually make that. Soon!" My boys are always getting scratched up, and I can never find our tiny tube of Neosporin. A glass jar? I can find that.

Here is the original link:

http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/2012/11/healing-boo-boo-salve-a-k-a-homemade-natural-neosporin/

Her pictures and directions are top notch, so if you feel like making this, follow her. =)

But since this is ME, with anything that I see, I follow the directions & ingredients; and then add my own spin on it. After reading all of the comments (Which I ALWAYS do. Some of the best suggestions, mess ups, and tips are always in there, as well as any questions/answers that you may have yourself.), I figured out that:

1) You must not add Honey when it is too hot, and you must continually stir it-even throughout the cooling process, so it doesn't separate. Good to know!
2) Adding Vitamin E will keep this from going rancid faster since it does have Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Thanks for the tip! (I have always added Vitamin E before, and I am a big believer in it because I have had fabulous results.)
3) Then, Helichrysum Essential Oil. This was an interesting find. I had never heard of it, but after doing some research, I think this stuff is amazing!

A brief description of it's benefits and uses are here:

http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/learn/eo/helichrysum.html

Properties: Antiallergenic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antispasmodic, astringent, cholagogue, cicatrizant, diuretic, expectorant, hepatic, nervine, stimulant
Benefits: Acne, allergies, asthma, bronchitis, bruising, burns, colds, cough, dermatitis, eczema, fever, lethargy, liver congestion, muscular aches and pains, nervous exhaustion, rheumatism, scarring, spleen congestion, sprains, stretch marks, sunburn, wounds. The antibacterial and anti-inflammatory actions of this oil make it a wonderful addition to burn or bruise blends.

Wow! So I decided that this would definitely be in my salve. Along with everything she suggests, Vitamin E, and Emu oil. Emu oil is another thing I have fallen in love with when making my own stuff. It has amazing benefits for your skin and has added something special to my Balms in the past.

The kids had a snow day, and since I already had everything here (After shopping at my favorite Natural Herb Shop here in town a few days ago), I thought, "Why not now?". I got off my butt, gathered my supplies, and started. It was very easy, I will say that. I was pleasantly surprised. When it came time for the Balm to cool, I just put it on a plate and sat in front of a fan, constantly stirring-rotating between the 3 until they set. It took about 30 minutes, but since I was watching the Ghost Adventures marathon-I was totally okay with this. It turned out great!

These are my ingredients: (minus the Coconut Oil & EVOO. Those were in the kitchen.) This is dried Comfrey, Dried Calendula, Beeswax, Lavender E.O., Helichrysum E.O., Emu Oil, And Vitamin E.

 

 

 

  

 

This is me stirring them with my tiny whisk, during the cooling process.

 

 

 

 

 

This is them all done. Yay!

 

 

 

 

Since Miles has been congested over the past few days, I made some of her Homemade Vicks Vapor Rub. Link below. I went the Peppermint E.O. and Campor E.O. route, and added a few drops of Lavender E.O. in as well.

 

http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/2012/12/homemade-vicks-vapor-rub/

 



 

I LOVE Chuck. The show is brilliant, or was. It's not on anymore. Unless you count the DVD's playing at my house. My kids are even fans, and frankly I am sad for anyone that hasn't heard of-or watched this show. So for my birthday, I decided that I wanted a shirt to show off my total nerdiness. Unfortunately, the shirt selection out there on the world wide web left something to be desired. Either it wasn't what I wanted, not big enough, or cost too much. So what to do, what to do??? Oh, yeah-I could make my own. =) Just figured I would walk you through the process...(There are more than one shirt, since I painted 4 of them tonight, but this is the process.) Ok, I start out by finding a Logo I liked on Google, and drew it onto paper. Then I made copies, so I didn't ruin my original.

Then I drew it onto Freezer Paper, tracing over my original, and cut out with an exacto knife. You put the iron on 'Cotton' setting, and iron on the freezer paper-wax side down. Make sure you put some freezer paper on the inside of the shirt where you will be painting-wax side up-so that the paint doesn't go through to the backside. Once it's on, paint the background...I chose red to match the Logo on the DVD box.

When the background paint dries, iron on the foreground letter freezer paper, and paint.

After the letters are all dry, peel off all the freezer paper. If any of the paint has leaked through, you may have to just touch up a little bit. Place a big piece of freezer paper over all the painting, and iron on cotton setting again for about 20 seconds.

Take the freezer paper out of the inside and done, done, done!!! I love how they turned out, and can't wait for mine to dry so I can wear it!

This is my next one to do....

Another photo album by Smilebox

Open letter to the makers of Eco-Friendly Shower heads...

To the makers of the Eco-Friendly Shower Head I bought:

Stop. Just Don't. You are truly terrible at making shower heads. Really. Have you ever taken a shower with one of your products? Yes? Be honest now. Let me start out by saying- I have. And I was left utterly underwhelmed. I bought your shower head because the one I had was complete crap,  and to satisfy some "green" guilt I have since I am seriously too lazy to recycle most of the time. To tell you the truth, I have a recycling garbage can to make it easy. I don't even have to sort anything! I literally just have to dump things that can be recycled in, and I really just can't be bothered. But, if I buy something with the words "Water Saving" and "Eco-Friendly", I feel justified in taking long showers, because it would technically be like taking a 2 minute shower with all the water that is being saved. Global warming would cease to exist, and peace would be restored to the world, right?!?

Guess not.

Your product said it has a "powerful full stream". Excuse me? If you call standing under a light meadow mist 'powerful', then you clearly went to one of those over-priced creative schools where you did macaroni art to learn Geography, and no answer was wrong because they didn't want to crush your soul. I'm sorry, I only went to public school where we did boring book learning, and were taught that such a word meant something like strong, forceful, vigorous, mighty. Might be my mistake, because I know that it is possible to make one.

The relaxing 'massage' setting you promised? Oy! I felt like I was being jumped into a gang by the beating I took! It was a full 25 seconds of  "Oh, my....what the frick is happening to my face right now?!?", as I got pelted with boulders of water going the speed of light straight into my eyes; and I blindly fumbled around with soapy hands trying to find the switch to get back the useless "full stream" mode. How have you not been investigated for abuse yet? It's either kitten whisper soft, or Muhammad Ali punching drops of water onto your body.

Wait, There is a 'pulsing massage' setting. Good Lord, I am terrified to find out what that feels like!

You also have a 'drip' setting.? I assume that is what you are supposed to put it on while you are lathering shampoo into your hair? To save some of the water you mentioned? The shower head is supposed to do all the "water saving" for me, so don't put extra steps into my shower routine, okay? Though since this is an Eco-friendly shower head, the people making this are probably fairly 'granola', am I right? Your shampoo doesn't lather, because normal shampoo is full of chemicals that are responsible for melting the ice caps off our beautiful planet, so you guys just use hopes and dreams to will your hair clean, correct? I really think your 'drip' setting is a collection of all the people that feel like a total Drip from buying your janky product.

I will be re-installing my completely garbage, water-hoarding shower head ASAP. Because unlike some people who like to use their shower time to solve world problems, I tend to like to use my showering time to get clean. Preferably before the hot water runs out and my hair is still not damp enough to administer shampoo. Silly me, with my high expectations and all. Though, if I kept your shower head in I might have enough time standing around, waiting to get wet to figure out the cure for cancer. In which case I would send you a letter thanking you for making me a multi-millionaire. Hmmm....nope. Still not worth it. Absolute crap, old shower head it is. At least now I can take a 30 minute shower, and not feel guilty at all about wasting any water. Apparently there are suckers out there that buy what you are selling, so I can use up the water that they are saving, right?

As for me? I'm taking your water-saving rubbish back and retrieving my hard earned money, as soon as my sight is 100% returned. You should seriously think about changing professions, or re-marketing your so-called "shower heads" as "produce misters". You could get a big contract with a supermarket or two. Maybe sell just 'massage' setting ones to Firemen, and they could put fires out in record time? You're welcome. And hey: Thanks for all the bruises.

Sincerely yours,

Tammy H.


   

Question of the day...

I am just curious....why is it that when Non-LDS (or Mormon) people want to find out about my church-they look at websites that are made by EX-LDS people, and not the actual church?

Say you were married, and you ended up getting a divorce. If I wanted to find out what kind of person you truley were, should I ask YOU, or your bitter EX? What kind of things do you think I would hear more about you from your former spouse? The good? Or every horrible thing you ever did that bugged/annoyed/hurt/irritated them? I'm not saying that my church is perfect, because my church is made up of humans, but if you want to find out about it go to lds.org or Mormon.org. There are answers to your questions there, by people who actually know what they are talking about. I feel that though humans are imperfect, every ones beliefs are perfect to them-no matter what they may be. I happen to believe in this. You may believe in the more Mainstream Christianity that includes the Trinity (as my husband does), or Wicca (as a very good friend does). I have a sister that believes in Mother Earth and Father Sky. My point of view is this-as long as your beliefs are true to you, and they make you feel good and strive to be the best version of you imaginable-that is fantastic! I applaud you. I won't judge you for your beliefs, and I ask you don't judge me for mine. Respect is where it's at! We are all just trying to get through everyday life, and nobody should make life harder on anyone. If you don't believe the same as someone else, WHO CARES?!?

I absolutely LOVE the saying by John Lennon:

"It matters not who you love,
 where you love,
why you love,
when you love or how you love.
It matters only that you love."

Ok, enough. I was really just bothered by some things I was reading on a blog, where a bunch of angry people were commenting about my church, and they were either formerly Mormon and scorned by people, or hearing about my church second hand from a non-Mormon. If I want to learn about Buddhism, I surely would not go and ask an LDS person, or some random biased website that I know nothing about the author..... I would go straight to the source. And at the end of day, I guess, that is all I am asking.

Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That)

If you know me, you will know that I am slightly somewhat completely in love with Flight of the Conchords. They are brilliant and comedic songwriters, and may I say it's an absolute travesty that they don't have a show any more. Okay, okay-rant over. Jemaine is my favorite. It may be the sexy accent, the nerdy glasses, his contagious giggle, his height...I don't know. But I do have a mad crush. =)

Aside form that-they were asked to write a song for charity to help sick kids. This is the song they came up with after interviewing kids. It is amazing! I think this needs to played on the radio. All. The. Time. Take a listen and fall in love with it like I did. If you feel like donating to the cause of helping out sick children, there are a few links on YouTube. Enjoy, and leave me a comment on what you think of it.

If you have seen The new Muppet movie, Bret (on left above) wrote-and won a Grammy for his song "Man or Muppet". And if you have kids that love the movie Rio-like mine do, Jemaine (on the right) does the voice, and wrote the song for Nigel. He is a fantastic evil bird.

Strawberry Pie

 

 

http://gratefulprayerthankfulheart.blogspot.com/2011/04/strawberry-pie.html

 

 

     I found this recipe on Pinterest, and just knew it had to be made! Which is surprising, considering I really am not a fan of pies. I think my extreme dislike of pies is due to the fact that I really hate pie crust. The poor pie filling is just guilty by association. Sad really. There are only two pies I like, and they must be made in a graham cracker crust-no exceptions. My all time favorite pie is Sour Cream Lemon Pie (YUM!!), and a close second is Strawberry. But it has to have the jell-o type goo in it or no deal. That is why this one was a must have, once I changed out the crust of course. =)

 

     We went to my mom's house to have dinner, and decided to make this for dessert. (Bad idea. I didn't really think about how long this would take to set up.) But I didn't know, so we plunked ahead with the plan. My oldest son, Ben, is in scouts-and I have been very, very lazy about doing anything with him this summer to pass off in his book, so I thought I would ask if he wanted to make it for us. He did! He really was the one in charge of doing all of it. I cut a few strawberries, washed them, and dumped in the Jell-o. Also, out of necessity I showed him how to stir a boiling pot without shooting everything out the side of the pan. Slowly, slowly!!!! Other than that, it was him. Below are a few pictures documenting him.





His favorite part because he was allowed to use Grandma's super sharp knives.

 

Dividing strawberries...

Stirring the sugar, water and cornstarch.

My hand adding the Jell-o. I should be a hand model. =)

Little known fact.....hand on the hip makes it taste better. It's true.

My proud Baby. He even decorated it all himself. Side note- He just told me, "That was how I was saying 'I love you', because I didn't have enough room to write it for you." AWWWWW!!

     He had so much fun doing this, he asked to do this all the time. =) It was so, SO good!! There really are no words other than, "you must make this now!" We followed he recipe exactly, other than replacing the crust. In doing this, I ended up with a smaller crust, so we had some of the Jell-o goo left, but you can always add strawberries to that and make it into strawberry shortcake!

     The blog this came from is very interesting, and I recommend you follow that as well. =)

With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart Blog
http://gratefulprayerthankfulheart.blogspot.com/2011/04/strawberry-pie.html

Strawberry Pie

3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 cups sugar (It is a SWEET dessert, you might want to reduce the sugar. We like it sweet)
1 1/2 cups water
3 oz box strawberry Jell-O
2 cups sliced strawberries

Pre-bake a 10" pie shell.

Line bottom with the sliced strawberries

Combine cornstarch, sugar and water in small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add the Jell-O and stir until dissolved. Pour over the strawberries and refrigerate until set.

Serve with whipped cream

ENJOY!!!

What Love Sounds Like

This is that song that says exactly what I want to say in my marriage. Alan means so much to me, and even though it is REALLY hard at times, I don't want to give up. I think the best of him, and love him very much. I wish he would listen to it, but it isn't "his kind of music". That isn't important though. All that matters is it means something to me, and can stand as a sort of anthem for when I am feeling down.

Listen to it and see what you think. (It might be a good idea to buy his album too. =) All of his songs are amazing.) Lyrics are below so you can sing along!!!!



Jason Mraz  "I Won't Give Up"


When I look into your eyes
It's like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
There's so much they hold
And just like them old stars
I see that you've come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up

And when you're needing your space
To do some navigating
I'll be here patiently waiting
To see what you find

'Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No, I won't give up

I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily
I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make

Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use the tools and gifts we got
Yeah, we got a lot at stake
And in the end you're still my friend, at least we did intend for us to work
We didn't break, we didn't burn
We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in
I had to learn what I've got, and what I'm not
And who I am.

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up
Still looking up...

I won't give up on us
God knows I'm tough, he knows
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up...

Why? Why is this necessary?

*Let me start off by saying that I am not judging anyone who owns one of these. I just personally don't understand the reason for them.

What am I talking about? Hands-free soap dispensers.

Have you seen the commercials?

"You don't know what germs are on your soap!"

Distraught actress nearly faints, after looking at the now ominous soap pump by her sink. *GASP!* 

"Buy our hands-free soap dispenser and you will never have to touch another germy pump again!"

Huge sigh of relief as her nasty pump disappears, and is magically replaced with the new hands-free soap being sold as if it were a tiny Superhero, sent to save her from any bad thing that would ever dare to confront her again. DAY SAVED!!

Um, I just have to ask....Who in the world touches a soap pump (or bar of soap for that matter) without the sole purpose of washing their hands immediately? I mean-isn't that why you are touching it? And also, say you are grabbing a bar of soap....What germs are there? Isn't soap self-cleaning? Isn't that the whole purpose of soap? To kill germs? If germs are hanging out on your soap, you are better off cleaning your hands with baby spit since that at least dissolves everything. Well, that or you should at least switch soap brands to one that actually does it's ONLY job.

It reminds me of a scene from Friends, which sadly plays in my head  pretty much every time I take a shower. I confess, I do giggle nearly every time too.

Chandler and Joey were talking about soap and the shower for some reason, and Joey says to Chandler,

 "Just remember what you wash first, and what I wash last..." (Or something to that effect)

And Chandler gets significantly horrified to realize that he has been washing his face with Joey's butt soap. Sure, it makes me laugh, but again....it's soap. Once it is wet, it pretty much cleans itself. That was the whole reason for the invention of it.

So again I ask, "What are the purpose of these hands-free dispensers?"

 My guess is just to feed into the "Germ Hysteria" our society seems to be affected by. I played in mud, ate dog food out of our dog's bowl, and swam in the disgusting creek in our neighborhood-and shock of all shocks-I am alive and well enough to post this blog. Must be a miracle.

I say, bring on the germs! Let our kids bodies learn to fight them so they don't get sick at the drop of a hat. I will always have hands-ON pumps, and will gladly use bar soap in the shower. And I predict that I will not die from the 'supposed' germs hanging around on them. Especially considering all the germs that are festering on the water spout, or the bathroom door handle. Now those are gross!

This scene from New Girl kinda fits into what I'm saying, and makes me laugh when I see it. Go ahead and take a minute to watch it. You won't regret it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPTyNI9bf00&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL2125EA36CDC9CE04

Part 2 of Photo Shoot.....



Best one I got featuring Mr."I love dogs" part 1 & 2, Mr. "I love basketball more than I love Chirstmas", and Mr ."T.C.F.S." (That is "Too Cool For School" for those that don't hang out with my sister.)

 The rest of the shoot went like this....



So happy to be done taking pictures!

Next time I will wait a day or so before trying to get so many pictures from them. =)

Happy!! Be Happy!! SMILE!!!

If you have ever read my blog, you will know that I am an avid Pinterester. Pinterestee? Pinterest addict, for sure. It's like crack for the budget conscious crafter. They have everything, and I mean EVERYTHING you could ever possibly want. Every genius blogger on this lovely world wide web has their ideas and creations stolen, er...umm, I mean "pinned" and put on there to share. It is amazing. And on this amazing website, I found the inspiration for the Mother's Day gift I am giving myself this year.....

(Yes, I said giving myself. My dear hubby is notorious for doing nothing but a card, and my crafty soul is tired of being disappointed year after year. So I have started trolling the crafty sites every year to see what I want, then I make my kids make it with me. We are all happy.)

These were the pictures I liked, but decided to take the elements I loved and make my own.

This is from Pinterest. I wish I could credit the person who made it, but the link is SPAM. Sigh.

This is also from Pinterest. Again, I can't credit the owner, since it was pinned from Google.

I loved the block letters from one, but the black and white of the other, so while on a failed trip to Michaels, I picked up some of their white wooden letters that are about 12 inches tall. Then I grabbed a 4 spot frame, which actually turns out to be the EXACT frame as the bottom picture. If you think finding a horizontal, 4 spot frame is easy-let me tell you how wrong you are! They are very difficult! At least around here. But I got this beauty for 40% off! Walmart prices at Michaels AND I didn't even have a coupon.!!Could've had a steal if I owned a printer that worked. Lame. So this "failed trip" turned out to be worth it. (Side note-Armour Etch is also EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO FIND! I would wager it is right up there with Unicorns and kids that clean the house "just to be helpful" and not because they are asked to, to the point of Mom pulling her hair out in frustration. That hard.Ok, rant over.)

It was now time for a good old fashioned PHOTO SHOOT!! I love taking pictures of my kids. I DO. But, if you were ever around me when I am oh, I don't know-10 or so pictures in, you might think me a liar. My neighbors must have thought there was an escapee from the local mental hospital next door.

"Look at me....."



"Smile! Smile! HAPPY! Look happy, not like you are in pain, Nick." 

"Look at me.! Seriously?!?! You three be ready for when I can get Miles to actually look!! Smile....Smile! LOOK at ME and SMILE!!!"

"HAPPY!! HAPPY!! (in a desperate, edging on shrill voice) I SAID LOOK HAPPY!!!

Now, I'm not going to say that any of those were actual quotes. They may, or may not have been....I guess it really all depends on what you think of me after reading that. =)

After many, many pictures I was able to pick out one for each of them that I liked.

Then off to Fred Meyers to get them developed. Shoved them into a frame and Ta Da!!



Super easy, and not expensive at all! Happy Mother's Day to me!