Winter Coziness

Hot Drinks:

 

Candlelight and fire

Twinkle Lights

Warm couch blankets, and Read Alouds

Bread dough rising in the morning

Warm afternoon snack

Dessert Treats

Rolling Beeswax Candles

I have always used rolled beeswax candles at our dining table, and I always get asked if I made them myself. I hadn't ever made them because I had a supplier who sold the finished candles cheaper than I could find the wax sheets. Sadly, that store shut down, so I can finally answer "Yes, we did make these". 

The children had a lot of fun, and the house smelled so lovely while we were working. 

It's About Time

I have been asked more times than I can count how I am able to keep my home so clean, or told  that I am so lucky to have such a nice yard.

It isn't luck, or an unnatural skill.
It  all comes down to a decision on how I choose to spend my time. 

When my children were small I spent my time teaching them to clean up their messes. It took twice as long at the moment, but now it is habit for them to pick up their own messes, and they are a huge blessing to me now. 

I also choose to spend less time online, to not watch TV, play online games, talk on the phone etc, and instead choose to spend that time in upkeep of my home and caring for my family. 

My yard takes a LOT of work. I spend a minimum of an hour each day; watering, weeding, pruning, moving plants to the place they will be happiest, researching, mowing... Sometime much longer.  But I have decided having a haven for my kids to play, for me to relax in, and to attract nature is worth that time.

Another big piece to the puzzle is that by owning less "stuff" I don't have to spend as much time in upkeep of that "stuff", moving piles of papers, toys, gadgets around, because we just don't have too many, and everything has a place where it belongs.

These things are attainable, you just need to decide it is a priority, and adjust your schedule accordingly. 

Sugar Scrub

I have come up with a sugar scrub recipe that I absolutely LOVE. 

1/2 cup grapeseed oil (at your local grocery store, I have found brand matters)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 Tablespoon instant coffee 

Mix together and store in a mason jar. Use a spoon to scoop some out when you use it, so you don't introduce moisture (and bacteria) into the jar. 

I love grapeseed oil. I know coconut oil is all the rage, but it doesn't do anything for my really dry skin. Grapeseed oil absorbs and makes me feel beautifully moisturized. If you have oily skin, you probably want to go with a different oil though. 

Starting the new year battling clutter?

I want to encourage my dear readers to spend the beginning of this year simplifying.
Here is my archive of posts specifically mentioning clutter. 

I pray that it encourages you to live a simpler, more enjoyable life. 

If you have questions, please leave a comment, and if you are local I am more than happy to come by and help if you need it! 

Praying over your holiday cards

Don't forget to pray for those who send you  cards :)

We have done it a few different ways.

We have prayed as we received them in the mail.
We have taken a few each night after dinner.
And we have waited until after the season was over,  to  pray as we took them down.

It really is such a blessing to pray over correspondence, not only when you send each of yours out, but when you receive them as well.

Gift Wrapping

 I love making things beautiful. It's just part of how the Lord made me. The gifts that I give are no different.  Sure, the gift itself is great, but how much more cherished do the recipients feel, knowing I also decorated the package just for them? 

 

homemade candles  

I make homemade cards already, so I always have scrapbook paper on hand.

For my homemade soap, I started wrapping the whole bar like a gift in scrapbook paper.

I was going through a lot of paper, and the soap was hard to stack once it was wrapped, so  I tried just cutting a strip of paper and wrapping a sleeve around the soap. This also turned out elegantly and I do that quite often now as well (the bar on the left).

For homemade gifts in a jar just a pretty tag and some nice ribbon goes a long way! 

 House Seasoning

My go-to gift for little girls is a baking set. I just take inexpensive items  like store frosting and boxed cake mix, and whip out my trusty scrapbook paper and ribbon and dress it up. Little girls LOVE it, and they get to practice basic baking skills as well.

Even homemade playdough can be elegant when you dress up the packaging!

I have even taken empty Altoid tins, and clothespins and by using my trusty scrapbook paper, turned them into beautiful gifts!

I hope that this gives you a few ideas on how to inexpensively dress up your homemade gifts.

Branching Out with Jam

 Abigail wearing her "strawberry jam"dress, holding strawberry vanilla jam.

I have been making jam for a few years now. I started with raspberry freezer jam. We found we didn't like freezer jam much, and we also weren't huge fans of raspberry in general. So the next year I tried canning strawberry and blackberry jam.  That went really well so I stuck with what I knew for a couple years. Then I branched out to peach jam and plum jelly.

 This year I decided to try adding 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract at the end of cooking in both strawberry and peach jams and they were both HUGE hits.
The strawberry vanilla is AMAZING on ice cream, and the vanilla peach tastes just like peach cobbler according to my children! 

 I also mixed peaches and strawberries and made Strawberry Peach jam. This was my new favorite!

Freezer Apple Pie

Last year, I was sick of making applesauce, and decided I wanted to try saving some of the apples we had picked for pie. 

 I did an experiment. I sliced and peeled some apples and mixed them with my pie filling ingredients and froze them. 

Throughout last year I pulled out my 6 sample pie packs and they each turned into a delicious apple pie!
So now that I know it works, I want to share my idea with you!

To make the apple pie filling:

2 1/2 lbs apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (a variety is best)

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup white sugar

½ teaspoon pie spice

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Put all the ingredients in a gallon sized ziplock bag. Squish it all to make sure it is well mixed, and seal well. Freeze in flat layers.

The night before I want to make a pie, I  pull a bag out of the freezer, and put it into the fridge. The next day when I am ready to make my pie, I put a bottom layer of crust into my pan, pour in teh contents of the bag, then place the top pie crust over it. 

Bake at 375 until the top is beautifully browned.

How I make Oatmeal Soap and Salt Soap

  

Oatmeal Soap:
1. Before starting sprinkle some whole rolled oats in your molds.

2.Blend 1 ounce of rolled oats into your blender. (You wont use it all) Have it close by as you make your soap.

 

3. Follow steps 1-3 here, using the goat milk base in step 1.

4. In step 4, I add 3 tablespoons of oatmeal, milk and honey fragrance oil.

5. Stir in about half your powdered oatmeal and stir. Keep stirring until it stays mostly suspended in the liquid.

6. Pour into your molds quickly because it sets up very fast once the oatmeal is in.

7. Then you can sprinkle a little more powdered oatmeal on the top if you'd like, and it hasn't started solidifying yet.

8. Spritz with alcohol to finish the soap and break up any bubbles on the top of the soap

9. Let sit for 3+ hours, then pop out of mold.

Salt Soap

1. Measure out 6-8 ounces of medium grain pink Himalayan sea salt.

2. Follow steps 1-4 here. 

Use the Shea base in step 1. 

I use 2 Tablespoons of apricot freesia fragrance oil in step 4.

3. Stir in the salt, and get it well coated in the soap liquid. The salt will sink to the bottom.

4.Take a tablespoon and scoop it back out of the mix and pour a layer into your molds.Probably about 2 tablespoons,or enough salt to cover the bottom of your mold.

You will have to work fairly quickly to get smooth soap, because it will start to thicken up on you.

 5. After you  have an even coat of salt in each mold, pour the melted soap over the salt.

6. Spray with rubbing alcohol to disperse bubbles.