Easter sewing part 2

Carrots

I’ve really enjoyed being a pattern tester for many different pattern companies. When the opportunity came up to create some adorable egg and carrot place mats with Eunoia Patterns, I knew I just had to participate!

I just happened to have some Easter themed fabric on hand, probably was something from my mom’s fabric stash many many years ago that was used for the eggs. The fabric used for the carrots was remnants from a baby quilt I made for a great nephew.

The patterns for the egg and the carrot are sold desperately or you can purchase the bundle to get both patterns. The pattern link will be posted below, please note, these are affiliate links, when you purchase a pattern I so make a tiny commission off the sale.

Spring Bundle Table Set

Carrot mug rug

Each pdf pattern includes template for the placemat, mug rug/utensils holder, great detailed instructions and fabulous photos of complete sets from several different pattern testers.

It’s a bunny sewing time.

There has been so much happening around the world lately, An epidemic that’s put most of the world on orders to just stay home. Fortunately for me, I’m usually home, either watching little ones or being creative.

This year I have gotten the Opportunity to create some adorable bunny items. In this post I’ll share about the fun Peek-a-bunny basket created by the company Ellie and Mac.

This pattern features 3 different sizes of baskets, options for a handle or without, the cute bunny ears or add a ruffle. Nice extra included in the pattern is the bunny face SVG or the appliqué file.

The bunny baskets I made are the small size, perfect as an Easter basket from grandma

. Each basket made has its own unique cuteness, you can find the pattern here:

Peek-a-Bunny Basket & Storage Pattern

The link above is an affiliate link. I get a small commission off any pattern you purchase off my link

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The Adalynn dress for girls

I got pleasure of testing this beautiful pattern, my cousins daughter just so happens to be the recipient of the product this pattern created 😊. I have been loving getting back I to sewing already g with my love of making handmade soaps.

The Adalynn is such an amazing and fun dress! What little girl doesn’t love getting her twirl on? Options are endless, short sleeves, long sleeves, with or without a ruffle and POCKETS!! Grab the pattern while is still on special!

#mammacandoit #mcdi #MCDIgirlsAdalynn

Find this pattern here:

The Adalynn Dress | Girl 2t-16

Soy wax melts back in stock!

  
This last summer I decided to try my hand at making soy wax melts, I have done candles for years so I had the wax on hand. Little did I know that these would become so popular for me. 

2 of my most popular scents are Fresh cut grass and Black Raspberry & vanilla. Both yummy, fresh and wonderful!  

   
These 2 scents and several others are now stocked up and on display at the Hoffman House Antique Mall here in Molalla Oregon.

This new item to my line of other bath and body items has been so much fun to create. I am pleased that they are so popular. 

As an appreciation to my loyal customers these wax melts are just $3.00 this month! From March 1st to March 31 2016 they see 25% off. Regular price of $4.00. Now is the time to go stock up.

  
You will fine the following scents on display in my booth

Cucumber mint

Black Raspberry & Vanilla

Berries & Cream

Passion-Tini Punch

Rise & Shine

Fresh cut grass

Espresso

Chia tea

Sandalwood

Beach breeze 

Vanilla bean Noel

Stress relief

Vineyard 

Peppercorn Lime

Some of these are new scents to my wax line. Stop by, have a sniff and stock up today!

Thank you!

Michele

Left over butternut squash?? Make it into soup!!!

A couple nights ago I made tasty butternut squash to go with dinner. Unfortunately I am the only one in the house that night that wanted it. 

So hence leftovers. Lucky for me it turns in to awesome butternut squash soup!!!!

With me already baking the squash, it was already seasoned with butter, black pepper, salt, thyme and sage. 

I got myself a small sauce pan, scooped out all the butternut from the shell, cut it in to chunks added some chicken broth and water. Brought to a slight boil and turned it down to simmer. Once warmed all the way through I took a masher and started working on the squash. Now I could have just dumped this in to a food processor, but honestly I didn’t want to clean that up too.

Once the squash was all “mashed” I added a teaspoon of honey, stirred it in. Made sure the heat on the burner was turned all the way down. Added some grated Parmesan cheese and heavy whipping cream. Let simmer for a couple minutes, then enjoyed!!

  
What I made did about 2 bowls full. Yummy to my tummy.

Yes I was selfish, that really wasn’t hard, no one else wanted it. My hubby is working over night, my adult children had take out, so yummy soup for me 😍

Ingredients:

Half a butternut squash already cooked and seasoned

3/4 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup water

Teaspoon honey 

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Thanks for stopping by,

Michele 

Black Currant and Raspberry Soap.

Oh  the smell of fall, crisp cool air in the mornings, warm days or nice and rainy. Any way you look at it, the smells are wonderful! 

While on vacation I signed up to do a soap compition at Soap Challenge Club. This month is the Clyde Slide technique. 

For this soap I was attempted to use some bright colors to bring out the current and raspberry smells of the soap. I used a neon pink and neon blue along with black. So far out of the mold the colors are pretty, but softer than what I wanted. Though I have to admit the soap is still pretty. 

  
The process to create the Clyde slide is to create a feathering swirl while not really “stirring the pot” lol. I love swirls, I love having a challenge to bring out more creativity in my soaps and other crafts. 

Personally, I am looking forward to trying this technique again to see how it will turn out in other soaps. 

Oh, let’s now forget about the scent! Black Currant and Raspberry. Along with the black currant and raspberry fragrance I added clary sage and cinnamon leaf essential oils, giving this soap a little more earthy crisp fall scent. Oh it’s heavenly!

If you can head on over to soap challenge and check out all the other soap artisans who have created works of art! 
Thank you 

Michele 

  Other side of the soap 

Benefits of lip balms

I’ve been making lip balms for years, one of the things I love most is you can use it for more than just your lips! While it’s soothing, creamy texture makes your lips happy, smooth and moisturizer, it’s got great properties for other areas of your face, hands, elbows etc. 

I have found when I get a cold and have that dreaded sore, dry, cracked nose from blowing to much. I just put a little bit of my lip balm on a clean finger and massage it on to my nose and upper lip. This gets a great “seal” around the tender areas to help bring your tender skin back to its normal conditions.

I’ve used my lip balm on dry cracks on my hands, heels (always put on clean finger, then wash hands after applying to feet) and rough elbows. 

My favorite lip balm for all of this is peppermint. I love the tingling, cooling effect it has. Of course I love all my other flavors of lip balm, but the properties of peppermint is great during a cold. 

Each batch of my wonderful lip balms comsist of the following ingredients:

Beeswax; an emollient and a humectant, drawing moisture to the skin and sealing it in, reports Botanical.com. Beeswax also contains vitamin A, which may be beneficial in softening and rehydrating dry skin and in cell reconstruction

Shea butter; unrefined shea butter contains vitamins and minerals such as vitamins A and E, as well as essential fatty acids. It has a creamy color and a very distinct smell. It has been used for centuries for its moisturizing, anti-inflammatory and antiaging properties. Read more about Shea butter Here

Sweet almond oil; The high level of vitamin E in almond oil is said to do wonders for the skin. It hydrates and moisturizes, has been used as a treatment for itchy and dry skin, and may help skin conditions like eczema. For more info on sweet almond oil look Here

Babassu oil boasts super moisturizing properties that heal dry skin and improve skin’s elasticity. The oil is very similar to coconut oil in many ways. To find out more about babassu oil look Here

Flavoring or Essential oils. 

As you can see each ingredient is special in these lip balms. I personally use these and have for a good 14 years. 

  

Drawing Salve

This week my husband managed to get a spider bite on the top of his foot. The placement of the bite was in the most irritating spot.  He spent 2 days just miserable, foot all red and swollen stuffed in his work boots. Poor guy was just having a hard time walking. 

So after listening him complain, I’m amazed I let it go on for 2 days, started digging in to my essential oil books and looking online for recipes to natural help. That’s when I stumbled on to The nerdy farm wife blog. The recipe for what I found is attached to her link. 

 
I was excited, I have the ingredients to make this! Well except the herb infused olive oil, granted she has a solution to speeding up the infusion, I just didn’t have the herbs. 

I made only 2 modifications to this recipe, only because of what I had on hand, her recipe has amazing ingredients check it out  here. 

My recipe, I substituted grape seed oil for the infused olive oil and for the essential oil I added eucalyptus EO along with  the lavender and tea tree, making to total amounts of drops right at the 40 as the recipe suggest. 

What I love about this salve its a great drawing salve for bug bites, spider bites, slivers, boils.

I choose grape seed oil as my replacement for some of the benifits the oil has for skin. Grape seed oil has beneficial compounds such as linoleum acid, helps in reducing swelling, healing wounds and so much more! Check out more of this wonderful oils properties Here.

Activated charcoal is know for drawing poison from the skin.

Bentonite clay helps pull toxins from the body

Castor oil has been reported to have antivira, antibacterial, anti fungal and has been used topically to treat skin conditions and reduce pain. Check out more information Here.

I mixed this all up, put it into a glass container. That night my hubby came limping home, I shown him what I made, told him to put it on his foot and cover with a bandage. He was skeptical, but did follow my direction. Next morning he got up and exclaimed “I can put weight on my foot  with out it hurting!!!”  He repeated the process of putting on the salve and bandage for the day. By end of that work day he was very pleased with the results. 

Thanks for stopping by

Michele 

New soaps on the curing rack

This past week these wonderful soaps went onto the curing rack.  I realized when I made each batch, it had been a while, like a few years, since I had made 2 of these beauties. 

My favorite soap that smells wonderful, but does not contain any fragrance is my Coffee Soap.  I use brewed coffee as the liquid, coffee butter as part of the oils and coffee grounds swirled in as a touch of color and an exfoliant. Oh let’s not forget the cute little coffee beans used as accents on each bar of soap! 

  
Next is my Green Tea Soap.  in this soap I used green matcha tea butter and just a light amount for green tea fragrance.  The scent is very faint, the color is a beautiful light green. No extra swirls or frills, just a beautiful lightly scented bar of soap.

  
For the last one on this list is my peppermint soap.  Now I make this often, unlike the other two, I for some reason didn’t have any available with my other soaps! HOW CAN THAT HAPPEN?!?!?! This is a staple soap for many! With fall approaching soon, this will be a great refreshing, wake me up soap for many. 

   
 
Soaps will be ready around sept 1, 2015. That’s when each bar should be well cured and ready to use

Thanks for stopping by!

Michele

phlebotomy day with my husband

Today is Sunday, the Sunday that falls in my husbands 3 week rotation to have his phlebotomy. My husband has been, so we say blessed with (not really) high iron rich blood. The high iron content in his blood, if not controlled, can have the same affect on his liver that alcohol can have. For more info about Hemochromatosis.

While in the waiting room I looked up at the glass near the receptionist window. The following quote was written on the glass.

Every soul is beautiful and precious, is worthy of dignity and respect, deserving of peace, joy and love.

~Bryant McGill 

This quote reminds me of how we are called by God to love and care for one another. 

Every 3 weeks, Tracy does what is called a bleed, he gives blood, sad to say his blood is considered unusable due to its high iron content. His treatment, as we will call it, happens in the same facility that cancer treatments happen. Watching these nurses care for the patients has been amazing. These nurses truly care for those they tend to.  So much respect and admiration goes out to these nurses for what they do. 

Here is a verse that speaks to my heart;

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (‭Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭32‬ NIV)

  

My husband Tracy waiting for his “treatment”.