Last Minute Gift Making

It’s been snowing since midnight Friday, beautiful but too windy yet to go out, perhaps when it finally stops.  So we baked cookies and  made a few treats for our four-legged friends.

It’s Laundry Day

I always thought it would be kind of complicated to make my own laundry detergent.  Why?  No idea.  It has been sitting there patiently on my list of things to do this year.  So after finding the necessary ingredients (thank you Target, you are worth the drive) I took to it today.  Having lost (of course) the original recipe I had found from the library, I remembered this post over at Red Gate Gardens last month.  So after assembling my three ingredients, two mixing bowls and grater, I managed to get it done in say, oh 10 minutes (minus photography time of course).  Because I do like a nice scent we used a bar of handmade honeysuckle soap that I bought from Etsy earlier this year.  It almost looked good enough to eat, the washing soda in the green mixing bowl and those sweet white curlicues laying on top.

I know that this is definitely the way to go from now on.  Less trash, less money, another handmade off the checklist.

$30.05

Glad to have a farmer as a neighbor.

Homemade raspberry yogurt.  Homemade strawberry yogurt.  One dozen eggs.  1/2 dozen cider donuts.  Handful beets.  2 handfuls carrots.  One head cabbage.  3 ripe tomatoes.  One dozen ears corn.  2 pints blueberries.

Another Great Find…

First, a thanks, to all my family, friends and fellow Twitterbugs, Bloggers, and Facebook pals who sent me loving wishes yesterday as I headed to my divorce hearing.  It has been a long journey to get here (14 month separation) but in the end I felt confident going in that I gave the marriage every opportunity I could in the face of dealing with addiction and that every second and dollar of it was worth the outcome for both myself and my girls.

So on a lighter  note, I said previously that I was going to try to make up some sandwich and snack bags to rid ourselves of the plastic baggy lunch waste.  Coming to face with some serious reality, like lack of time and the outdoors being a priority in this lovely weather, I decided to rely on the talents of other creative  mothers out there to do the job for me.  So I headed where I always do first, Etsy, because I believe wholeheartedly in supporting small time artisans and purveyors of the handmade, homemade lifestyle.

And so yesterday I got this lovely package from Little Green Pea, who sent the loveliest of sandwich and snack bags and they are  just what I needed.  I have ordered a second group from another seller and will post when I get them.

So if you were looking for another easy way to cut back on waste, here is a nice recommendation and if you are less pressed for time than I am you can break out that fabric stash and make your own.