Lake Tahoe Trip

 

Update: a few weeks ago, Chris and I took a trip to Lake Tahoe with my sister Ruth and her husband Jordan. It was absolutely beautiful, and so much fun.

We spent a lot of time scrambling around the rocks, shrieking in delight over all of the crawdads, luring them out with bacon and scooping them into our buckets with nets. We must have caught 50 or 60.

Unfortunately, we didn't realize that if you keep them in a Styrofoam box for a few hours, they die. We went out for dinner that night.

It was a perfect combination of pine-forested mountains, rocky pools, and clear lake water. Someday, I think Chris and I will go back to camp and kayak and explore the area a little more. (We will be cooking for ourselves, though--the restaurants in the area are not a great alternative to dead crayfish.)...Doesn't Chris look cute with his little scruffy beard and boyish smirk? I think he looks darling (ahem, manly!) In these pictures.

 Here is my lovely sister Ruth, with her precious little girl Evelyn...

 Evelyn was a little dubious about the water and sand, but after a while she got used to it and started having a lot of fun. She was sweet and giggly, and fascinated by the crawdads. But more so with the potato chips and Oreos.

Aren't they precious? It makes me so happy when I see how much my sisters love their children and their husbands and my parents and each other. Love is just one of those things--you can feel it even when it isn't directed at you.

 It really is such a beautiful place...the mountains are just bending down to kiss the lake.

 Selfie! (Just for Elise!!)

It was so fun, and a much-needed break before school. Someday we'll go back and see this again:

Christmas Body Scrub

I love Christmas, and about this time of year I remember it is coming and I get really excited. I want to wear boots and scarves and gloves and fall colors, and I want to bake cookies and pie and have warm bread and soup for dinner. I start thinking about Christmas gifts, and that gets me even more excited...I absolutely LOVE giving gifts. It is the most exciting warm fuzzy thing ever. This year I am considering doing handmade gifts for everyone...just to make the gift giving experience even more exciting  and personal and last much, much longer.

So, I've been experimenting, and I've finally come up with the perfect recipe for a Christmas Body Scrub. Not only does it leave your skin feeling amazing, it SMELLS like Christmas!!

Here's my recipe:
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp cloves
zest of 1 orange
juice of 1/2 orange
1/8 c olive oil

In a bowl, combine white and brown sugar.Both sugars are exfoliating, though the white sugar is harsher (use more or less of each depending on how gritty you want this to be).

Using a mortar and pestle, grind the cloves until they are in small pieces. it's okay to still have some chunks. (Yesterday I was making this and I didn't have a mortar and pestle. Chris improvised by putting the cloves in a plastic baggie and smashing them with a weight. It actually worked really well :))

Add the cloves and orange zest to the sugar mixture. Mix thoroughly, then add the juice of 1/2 an orange and 1/8 cup of olive oil (I used canola oil, which also works, but olive oil is nicer.)

Mix and spoon into air-tight containers. I used little mason jars, but plastic would be better if you are planning on  using this in the shower, plus it prevents bacteria if you are going to have a bigger jar and be using this for a long time. My jars are tiny, and I want to use them for my hands and feet, so I used glass.

I found a cute printable for the lids online--there are tons of free ones. If you are giving these as a gift, It would be cute to add a little spoon and ribbon with instructions for use.

To use, stir the contents of the jar and spoon 1/8 tsp into your hand. Gently rub into wet skin. This is not a very gentle scrub, so don't rub too hard, and don't use it on your face. Rinse with water and feel how soft your hands are!! (And run around telling everyone to smell your hands!)

What do you think about homemade gifts? Give this recipe a try and tell me how it works for you!!

Stenciled Dishtowels

Hello All! I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, but our trip to Tahoe and the sudden start of school means I'm a little behind on blog updates. Plus, We've been doing so many projects we haven't had time to update on them all.

 The chair is progressing, but is currently stalled (Chris left all of his tools at Ruth's house, so we can't work on it until he gets them back). I am hoping to finish it this week, I'll keep you updated.

 In the meantime, I have a new favorite speedy craft! Stenciled and stamped Dishtowels. They are easy, cheap, and fun. Best of all, they allow for a lot of creativity and personalization! Here's what you need:
Floursack towels ($5 for 5 at Walmart)
Stencils ($1 at JoAnn's, or $5 for bigger ones at Hobby Lobby)
Fabric Medium ($2 at JoAnn's)
Acrylic Paint ($65 at JoAnn's)
Foam sponges ($3 at JoAnn's)
Rubber ABC stamps ($20 at JoAnn's, but I got mine on sale for $10)
Paper bags from your grocery store
You can cut the cost by just doing stencils, or even making your own! Here's how you do it:

1. Figure out how you want to fold your towels. I find that the neat little package the stores sell them in is almost NEVER how I fold mine. Fold them how YOU will fold them from now on, and iron them flat for a good work surface (I hate ironing, so I smoothed mine out and skipped this step ;))

2. Cut a paper bag to fit inside your towel. The paper bag will prevent the paint from bleeding through the first layer of towel. (I ran out of paper bags and started using the stencil backing--it was plastic, so it still didn't stick. Just don't use newspaper or paper towels, or anything that will stick to the paint when it dries.
  

 

3. Mix your paint. I chose to mix fabric medium with acrylic paint because there are more color options, but you can use fabric paint, too. Just make sure whatever paint you use is for fabric, so that you can wash and reuse these towels. For fabric medium and normal paint, you mix 1 part fabric medium for 2 parts normal paint.

4. For stenciling, position your stencil and use a foam sponge to apply paint. If you want to stamp words on the towel, apply paint with a sponge to the stamp and press the stamp carefully to the towel--not too hard, or you will have a border, not too light, or it won't show up.

 5.  Lay out the dishtowel to dry. DO NOT REMOVE THE PAPER BAG INSERT UNTIL FULLY DRY...It will make a big mess if you do.

 6. Wait 24 hours, then iron the towels. The heat from the iron works with the fabric medium to make your design permanent. Do not use the towels until after they have been ironed. That's it! Super easy!

 I made these for a friend's bridal shower, for a sick friend, and last night I did a few for my mom and mother-in-law. Here's some ideas for stencils:
-farm animals
-forks, knives, and spoons
-fruit or vegetables
-borders
-keys
-sail boats and anchors
-polka dots
And here's some ideas for sayings or words to stamp on (Some of these I used, others I just think would be cool)
-bring home the bacon
-let them eat cake
-home cooking is best
-hey honey
-let's eat
-kiss the cook
-eat at mom's
-eat your veggies
-I like my food dead. Not sick, not dying, dead.
-All your kind words and all your well wishes never replace your help with the dishes
-eat, drink, and be merry
-bon appetit
 -all good wives let their husbands eat dessert first
-I kiss better than I cook
-A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand
-Cooking should be entered into with abandon or not at all
-People who love to eat are always the best people
-I ate my willpower
-We love our bread, we love our butter, but most of all, we love each other
-Do you know the muffin man
-you don't have to like it, you just have to eat it

I think it would be fun to do holiday ones, too--handmade Christmas gifts!? ...Trees, gingerbread men, angels, bells, holly, reindeer...I think it would be really cool to have holiday dishtowels. :)