Bullet Journal

This week I discovered a new way to organize my life.  I always have a bazillion lists I've written.  To-dos, shopping lists, don't forgets, tracking fit throwing, oh-I'm-having-a-brainstorm-here's-what-it-is . . . just to name a few.  I wanted to have a place to keep all that stuff so I bought myself a handy dandy note book.  Yes, I know there is an app for that, but frankly I hate typing on the phone.

Then I started looking for a really good way to organize all the things.  I found Bullet Journaling and I'm coupling it with activity tracking.  Bullet Journaling was invented by Ryder Carroll.  There are a lot of resources and tutorials all over the internet for bullet journals.  I did some research.  While I was researching I also found activity tracking.  It's basically a grid to fill in when you've completed something so you can see what you are really doing and where you need to do better.

I want to show you what I came up with.  It was actually really cathartic to develop the layouts and get all my bits and pieces organized.  Miss E wants one too.

 This is my future log.  Basically a list of all the big don't forgets for each month.

 This is my Birthdays and Anniversaries wheel.  This is an overview of all the Birthdays and Anniversaries I'm supposed to remember through the year.

My Vision Board and Weight Loss Tracker.  I think I'm going to call the vision board something else, though, because it is really going to be a collection of quotes and things that inspire me.

 Month overview.  I have a calendar, finance tracker, goals for the month, and monthly habit tracker.  For the finances I'm planning on tracking how much I'm spending on groceries and also on crafty things, so I will color code those entries.







This is my weekly layout.  I have a box at the top for each day of the week, with water tracker in them.  I'll be writing in my meal plan for the day in there.  The long columns for each a day is for my to-do lists.  My weekly goals and weekly habit trackers for me and Miss E.  I also have a section for notes and things I have that are up coming.


Obviously this is just the beginning, but I have some big ideas where all of this concerned.  I'll keep you all updated.  I'm thinking of making a printed planner, but that is still in the ideas section of my brain and (now) my bullet journal.

I'd love any feedback you might have about any of my posts.

Lotion Bars

I'm about to go in for a 6 month follow up with my oncologist.  I've been thinking about one of the most uncomfortable things about chemo and radiation therapy.  Dry, itchy skin.  I also wanted to do something nice for the folks currently dealing with cancer.  I decided lotion would be a good thing.  But then the hard part about store bought lotion is the alcohol content that can dry your skin further.  My radiologist had told me calendula oil is really good for scar tissue and dry skin.  The problem is it's pretty difficult to find good calendula lotion that isn't super spendy or laced with that pesky alcohol.  I recently went in search of something that would be better than store bought.  I landed on a super easy, three ingredient lotion bar.

I made these with a friend I haven't seen for a while.  We had a great time chatting and catching up as we worked making these fabulous lotion bars.

You'll need a good kitchen scale for this recipe because you need 2 oz by weight of each of these:

Calendula oil (Jojoba oil is nice too)  (found here)
Shea or cocoa Butter (found here and here)
Bees Wax pellets found here

You will also need a pan, a rubber spatula and silicone soap molds.

Put the oil, Shea butter and bees wax pellets in the pan over medium heat.  Heat until the Shea butter and the bees wax are just melted.  Don't let it boil.

Pour into the molds.  One batch filled this particular six hole mold. Allow it to set up.  It took about 30-45 minutes to cool completely and set up.  I learned the hard way not to move the mold until it was completely set up.

Wipe the pan out with a paper towel to make clean up much easier.

Peel the lotion out of the molds.  Ta-da! You have a handy dandy lotion bar that won't dry out your skin.

I put mine into some small plastic party favor bags that I had left over from Miss E's Birthday Party. I'm going to take them with me when I go in for my visit with the oncologist.  I'm hoping some of the patients there will get some good use out of the bars.

Mother's Day

Once again, it is time to wish all and sundry a Happy Mother's Day. This year not only am I an actual Momma but I'm also a God Momma. I have some really fantastic memories of going to pick wild flowers with my parents for our grandmothers and God Mothers for Mother's Day. This year I have some beautiful paper flowers my daughter (Miss E) made in art class and some really wonderful pinwheels she made in Girl Scouts.


I had the great privilege to help Miss E's Class make some tissue paper flowers for their moms. It was a little chaotic and (for some) frustrating, but fun. I have to remember the K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple stupid) motto when working with a large group of kids.


Here is our finished product.




Here's what you need (all of which can be found at the dollar tree):

Green Pipe cleaners

Tissue Paper (I used brights and pastels)

And basics: (Scissors, ruler and pencil.)



Start by making two piles of 5 sheets of tissue paper. you can be as creative or not as you want with color combinations. I had some kids decide to do multi-color flowers and other kids choose to do mono-color flowers. It really just depends on who you are making them for. Arrange your two piles as neatly as you can. I lined up one corner of each sheet in the pile. That helped them to be more tidy. Once the two stacks of 5 sheets of tissue paper are as tidy as you can get them you are going to fan fold (aka accordion fold) the who stack together. It doesn't need to be a super tight fold; this is mostly so cutting is easier.

Time to measure. For one of the two now folded stacks fold it in half end to end and cut it in half on the fold. For the other folded stack measure two sections of 7.5 in and you should have one 5 inch section left. I had the kids draw a line all the way down from their marks as a cutting guide. Cut on the lines. You should now have 5 sections of folded tissue paper.



(I left this step out when I did this with Miss E's class. I thought it would be a little confusing.) Before you attach the pipe cleaners you can adjust the width or tightness of your fan fold. different fold widths produce different looks for the flowers.



Refolded and ready for pipe cleaners 

When you are happy with your fold widths fold each section in half end to end. Insert the pipe cleaner into the fold. Then fold it over the top so that it is longer than the width of your paper. Twist the two ends together (Confused? I have pictures 😀) You will want to cinch it pretty tight around your paper to make the last step a bit easier.


Folded over the top


Twisted

Next decide what shape you want for the petals. I have the options with a finished product pictured below. Cut both ends the same way so you don't get a funky looking flower. If you are working with younger children it's okay if you skip this step.


Triangle


Inverted Triangle


Circle


Inverted Circle


Fringe

Now that you have the pipe cleaners attached and the ends trimmed to the shape you want it's time to make the flower appear. Starting with one side of the flower, open the fan. Insert the thumb of your left hand under the top layer of tissue paper. Holding the bottom four layers with your left hand use your right hand to bring the top layer up as far as you can. You have to be firm but gentle at the same time. you are going to work all the way around the flower pulling the top layer up as far as you can. Repeat this for each layer of tissue paper. Voila! You have a flower! It was really cool to see how the flowers for the kids turned out. Some of them looked tie-dyed. I've made them before with patterned paper. They turned out pretty nice too.


Fan out one side


Insert your thumb between layers


Keep working around the flower


All done

Back in Action

Hello I am back!  I've changed the name of the blog and I've updated the background.  I've come a long way since 2012.  Yeah, it's really been that long!

Let's see quick update on my crazy (sorta interesting) life.  In February of 2013 I had a minor operation to remove some large Fibroids from my uterus.  In June of the same year our daughter, Miss E, moved in (age 5 at the time).  We became foster parents.  Boy, do you have to do a lot of training for that!  Personally, I think that the rigors foster and adopting parents are put through; all prospective parents should have to go through.  I think people would be so much more prepared to be parents if they did.  But that's a rant for another time.

In January of 2014 I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  I started treatment two weeks later and finished chemo therapy in May of 2014.  I had Surgery July 3rd 2014 and started radiation therapy in August.  I was finally declared cancer free in November 2014. That was a long year, because dealing with the cancer and parenting Miss E and continuing to try to get through life in general can be very stressful.

Miss E can be stressful without all the other stuff thrown in anyway.  She has Reactive Attachment Disorder, Anxiety, and ADHD.  Currently she is 9 years old with the intelligence of a 12 year old and the emotional acuity of a 3 year old.  So, yeah, you can imagine how life can be sometimes.  Things seem to be improving each day as she is continually learning to cope with big emotions and the fact that life sometimes just doesn't go according to plan.

2015 was pretty uneventful.  I think we were all just recovering from the craziness of 2014.  In February of 2016 we officially adopted our daughter (yea!!).  And we've been clicking (well, limping) along ever since.  I started taking an antidepressant in January (I think) of this year and since then my brain has been on fire with lots of ideas, big and small, about crafts, recipes, parenting and other stuff.  I've actually been able to accomplish a lot of my big ideas too!  Now I'm ready to share some of them with you.

So that's me caught up.  

something yummy

Day one of this domestic goddess job has been pretty good.  I haven't accomplish all the stuff I wanted to, but that’s why there is tomorrow.  Right?  So my main goal for the day was to make something yummy for my hubby to take to work for his mid-shift meal.  I haven’t gone to the grocery store recently, so I’m dealing with what I have on hand…eggs + heavy cream + cheese + sundried tomatoes + pie crust = quiche.  I love making quiche.  The basic recipe I use is from “Broccoli Tree Forest” by Molly Katzen.  But I didn’t need to make a whole big quiche for one person.  I have these super cute little quiche dishes, so that’s what I used. 

Here is what I did:

Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Put the pre-made pie crust into the bottom of a buttered quiche dish and tore off the excess (there was a lot leftover, just wad it up and put it in the fridge for another project).  Grate some cheese into the bottom of the crust.  Add a few sundried tomatoes. 

In a separate bowl beat one egg fairly well, like you would for scrambled eggs.  Add 1/3 cup heavy cream.  Stir it well, but don’t beat it because it can make the heavy cream get too thick.  This is the custard.  Pour the custard over the cheese and sundried tomatoes.  Dust the top with paprika.  Bake at 400 F for about 20 minutes.  Check it by wiggling it a bit if it jiggles like Jello and has puffed up, it’s done.  If it sloshes like water and hasn’t puffed, it isn’t done.  Cook it for 5 more minutes and then check it again (repeat until it is done).

Then I thought since I had the oven on wouldn’t it be nice to have some sweet potato fries. I have my version of Sweet potato fries that I’ve been making for a long time, (sweet potatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, sage and olive oil).  The only problem was that I had a serious lack of sweet potatoes.  I had a butternut squash, so I adapted the recipe.  I added onions too, because I had a one that was starting to look a little sad.

Here is what I did:

Peel the butternut squash and cut it into similar length and width slices.  Slice ½ an onion, don’t dice it because it will just burn.  Slice 6-7 cloves of garlic into chunks.  Put all of these things into a large bowl.  Pour a generous amount of olive oil over the top.  Add salt, pepper and dried sage to taste.  Mix until everything is nicely coated with olive oil and the sage is evenly distributed.  Put in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Bake at 400 F for 20-30  minutes.  Stir them ½ way through the cooking time.  They are done when soft and yummy.

So mission accomplished make something yummy… 

Tomorrow, well my domicile needs some attention.  We have nice hard water so I am going to experiment with getting rid of the stains it leaves behind.

So I’ve been silent here for a quite a while.  I’ve been working through something that took all my time and attention.  Now I have dropped everything but waiting from my life.  I am now a domestic goddess.  I am no longer working and am now free to do all the fun stuff I want to do, at least until I am finished waiting.  Like a duck on its eggs, I am waiting to be matched with a birthparent, and receive my first child. 

Maybe I should back up and explain.  My dear husband and I discovered a while ago that we would not be able to have our own children.  So we made the decision to adopt.  After a lot of work, and mental energy we have finally made it to the waiting pool.  In the waiting pool, that is literally what we are doing, waiting…waiting…waiting.  We are waiting to be matched with a birthparent.  We are doing a domestic, open adoption, so it isn’t a first come first serve type of thing.  It’s a little like waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Part of our plan all along has been that when we have children I will be a full time mother.  My contract at work expired, and I chose not to renew.  So, now I am doing the housewife thing, with the hope that promotion to mom will come sooner than later.  In the mean time I plan to make the most of my free time…I am planning to post my doings here for other people to enjoy…starting tomorrow J

Babushka Doll Pencil Holders

I had this idea a long time ago.  It is another way to use your empty tin cans.  I've always thought little babushka dolls were very cute.  I've seen a lot of different ideas for babushka dolls.  I was originally going to make little felt brooches, but then I was also thinking about how I could use all those cans from making Santa Fe Soup.  So this is what I came up with :)  I hope you enjoy making them as much as I did!

Materials:

Babushka Doll Pattern (I got my pattern from here.*)

Materials

Felt in several colors (I used pink, red, green, purple dark blue and light blue)

Embroidery floss in a variety of colors

Needle

Small embellishments (like little rosettes, bows, beads); optional

Scissors

Tin cans in 3 different sizes

Hot glue gun & Glue

Craft Glue

Markers (definitely one for tracing onto the felt, other colors are optional)

Tape measure (a dressmaker’s tape measure not a construction measuring tape)

Square ruler

pliers

*I copy and pasted the image into a word document.  I resized the image to what I wanted and printed it.  Then I cut out the three largest, traced them onto thin cardboard (a cereal box is ideal) and used them as my template.  I made templates of the head scarves and faces as well.  I made the faces a bit larger than the opening in the scarf because I am going to layer it between the body and the scarf.  I also made the hole for the face in the scarf a tiny bit smaller than I wanted, because when you cut it out of the felt you will cut on the outside of your tracing line making the hole bigger.

Instructions:

Step 2

Step 7-a

Step 4

Step 7-b

Step 8-a

Step 8-b

1.      Using the Babushka doll templates, trace the parts for the babushka dolls.  I made all of their scarves red, their faces pink and then the largest I made have a purple body, the middle one a green body and the smallest one a dark blue body. 
2.       It is easier to sew the faces onto the pink circles before you cut them out.  I made little blue French knots for eyes, little red lazy daisy hearts for the mouth and did small stem stitch noses in black.  If you want you can use a pink marker and make little rosy cheeks.  If you aren’t comfortable making French knots, you can use beads for the eyes.
3.       Cut out the parts, be sure to cut just inside the lines.  To cut the face holes in the scarf pieces cut just outside the lines.  When you are finished you shouldn’t have any evidence of your traced lines.
4.       Attach the pieces together with craft glue.  Using a blanket stitch go around the face and the bottom of the scarf.  Use some decorative stitches to embellish the scarf and body.  If you would like you can add beads or rosettes to add further touches.
5.       Set your babushkas aside.  Make sure your tin cans are clean and free of their labels.  Use pliers to squish down the burr of metal left from detaching the lid.  Measure the height of your cans and add ½ inch.  Measure around the cans and add ¼ - ½ inch.
6.       Use your measurements to draw rectangles on your felt (or you can map it out on paper and then use that as a pattern).  You can make them all the same color or vary the colors.  Use a square to make sure the corners are square.  Measure the diagonals to ensure they measure the same.  Cut the rectangles out just on the inside of the lines.  Embellish the rectangles or leave them plain.
7.       To attach the rectangles to the cans, lay the cans on the end of their respective felt rectangle a little off center with more over hang at the opening end (see picture).  Lightly mark where the can will lie.  Put a bead of glue between the marks you made and attach the can to it.  Put a bead of glue on the edge of the felt glued to the can.  Bring the felt rectangle around the can and attach it to the glue (see picture).  The felt should overlap a little bit creating a seam.
8.       “Kerf” cut the two ends of felt over hang (see picture).  Apply a little hot glue to the ends of two or three kerfs and fold them down.  This just provides a finished look and protects you from any remaining sharp bits on the inside edge of the can.
9.       Attach your Babushkas to the side opposite the seam side with hot glue or craft glue.  Line up your cans larges to smallest.  Use them to store your pens, pencils, scissors or paint brushes, pins, paper clips or whatever you want.