Tipsy Tuesday: Body Wash

I have sensitive and dry skin and so does my husband {which means the kiddo's are doooooomed}. So it's really tempting to try every label on the rack to touting a new ingredient promising to make my skin hydrated! but do i yield?!? well, ok, i did for a while but now I have discovered a new method.

Now just as a side note, I used to make soap so I know it's possible to make my own stuff. For the record, I was working around a couple of different factors:
1) we are trying to get out of a mountain of debt (who isn't!?) and so the less I spend the better
2) The dollar store is always nice for cheap alternatives BUT I really wanted to cut down the toxins I was putting all over my largest organ (my skin).
3) Less toxins is better for the environment too, double win!

So what I was looking to accomplish really needed to meet all of these requirements and that's not easy to do. Lucky for me, Tree Hugging Mom had the answer! I am going on a couple of weeks now and I cannot complain a bit. It took some extra thought process to order the soap on amazon (not that you have to, I just didn't have a store nearby that carried it) but that was about it. Go to this linky for her blog entry OR I did a little copy/paste of it below for your convenience (you really should check it out though she's got lot's o great green info): 

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DIY: Homemade Body Wash

We’ve been using the following recipe for a few months now and I don’t think we will ever change.  It’s so easy to make.

First, get yourself a good sized pump bottle.  I recommend a pump bottle because the finished product is a little watery.  We just repurposed an old baby wash bottle and removed the labels.

Fill it half way with Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Baby Mild Castile Soap.  Fill the remaining with plain old water.  Voila! You have body wash!

And, if you like a little fragrance in your soap, you can add 15-20 drops of your favorite essential oils.  We chose a blend of Sweet Orange and Lemongrass.

Now, you may notice your skin feels a little tight at first, but I assure you that will go away after a week or so.  Your skin just has to get used to not having all of the added chemicals found in commerical products.

Plus, this stuff lathers just as good as the store bought washes and I have found that if you shut the water off while lathering, you won’t need to use very much at all (and you’ll be saving water too!).

UPDATE: I just tried the Dr Bronner’s Almond Castile soap diluted and I LOVE the smell!  Plus, no need to add Essential Oil (money saver!)

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It's easy, it's cheap, and my skin has no complaints! I give total props to this lovely lady for such an easy tip {now i just need to fix that lotion situation...hmmm}:

new direction....well any direction at all

Have you ever had that moment when you were just going a long and realized, "AH! This is what's important! THIS is what I want to do with my life/hair/job/other-random-situation" Wonderful right? And also rather daunting when you realize that you've kinda been floating in this sea and now your like, "wait the boat needs to be over there, turn this mutha-effa around!" if nothing else confusing to those watching you drive your ship so sporadically.

anyway.

i digress.

my point is, i know what i want out of my crafting, which maybe will lead to more direction with this blog. This past year has not been one that is perfect for starting a blog really. Getting married, moving like....a million times... and switching jobs etc. I just threw on here what I could!! I dunno, really, it's a hobby and a creative outlet, not my ultimate calling. That doesn't change the fact that i feel very strongly about a lifestyle and don't mind sharing about it though. its not just about creating, its about living mindfully. I cannot afford to be organic but I can afford to use every scrap of junk I have to make something before I just go and buy it. My skills need to improve....like a lot...but hey the less waste the better, I say. "Waste not want not" and all that. And believe me, its hard to keep to that when you're switching states and jobs and communities. But now things have settled down and i we find ourselves not just surviving but going back to what we loved.

So from here on out, this blog is not just about something shiny I got distracted by and decided to make; it'll be about our dedication to living a life less wasteful, less expensive and less toxic. I may even change the name (holy crap!) and look, whatever, I am awfully invigorated by this new focus. Happy Summer to you all, i look forward to it =D

Upcycled Top for my Niece

My niece's birthday is coming up and I wanted to make her something fun to celebrate finishing The Hobbit. She really loved it and thought that was just too cute! However, I am still looking to do that. While on the way to that, I came up with this:

All the way from Georgia, my niece in her new shirt :) She threw it on as soon as she got it and declared that she loved it. My work is complete!

I am really enjoying upcycling clothing! It is so much fun! i feel like this is missing something but not really sure....

Crafty-time Apron

This was my apron:

Which is no where near as fun as it could be. If I am making something fun and crafty i gotta FEEL fun and crafty, yeah?? So this needed a make-over.

Choose the appropriate materials for the makeover:

Stare at things for a while and formulate ideas. For example, this lovely striped material is a skirt with pockets. Who couldn't use more pockets when crafting?? Then cut:

Then embellish...

Love it all kinds...

Baby Bibs!

My brother and sister-in-law have welcomed a third bundle of joy into the world! Yay! So I am putting together a box of goodies for the family.

She is named after her grandmother, isn't that cute name? I've never done baby bibs before. I kept this one cute and simple, but thre came in the pack at Joann's so I decided to get fun with the other two. So I made one for mommy and one for daddy, each appealing to their more geeky humors :)

Here's Daddy's! Although I have been informed by my husband that technically in World of Warcraft the purple items are "epic" and the orange ones are "legendary." Dang it. Brother is sooooo gonna give me crap for that  /sigh... by the way I am quickly learning which fabric pens rock more than others.... see those green letters? yeah i did NOT like that pen.

This one is for Mommy! She's a trekee for sure. If Memmy had been a boy she would have been Ricker. It's true. Oh and you cannot really see it but i did some black glitter fabric spray on there behind the communicator, for some galactic fun :) Didn't go crazy though, you never know what kiddo's will be sensitive to.

So there you have it, my first venture into baby wear. Not perfect, but what else if family good for if not crafting experimentation?

Geekaliscious

I am such a closet geek, you have no idea. Ok maybe "closet" isn't the right term, but i don't think you'd know i am a geek at first glance. anyway. One of the joys of my life is all this geek crafting going on and I want to be a part of it SO BAD (this cannot be emphasized enough!!!) but I am not quite there yet, so until then I just relish the awesomeness of others. So this post is a dedication to that deep, life long love of the geekery. I am sure there will be other posts like this in the future, since geek craft isn't going anywhere (which is AWESOME)

Comic Book Shoes by VintageKitschMagpie
oh you know i love me some shoe redo and i am still head over heels for my own paper shoes so of course i dig what Magpie did here. FANtastic.

 

Comic Headbands by Janine Basil
Frickin CUTE. My friend is having a super hero/villain costume party soon....me thinks i will need one of these... at least that's what i am telling my husband ;)

Character Aprons!!! By Bethany Sew-&-Sew
Bethany has a wide selection, my favorite of the one's she has here is probably the Wonder Woman but I wonder if she could make me my personal fave: Rogue... hmmmm

 


HowTo on GeekCraft: Tetris Magnets
This is like the next step of great things to have on your refrigerator, up there with those magnetic word thingies. I will be making these soon :)

Future Gamer T by Poppyseeds
I really love the look of this tee, it incorporates the nostalgia and the more rustic look of materials versus a graphic. 

Hobbit Feet by LoBug Designs
How funny and creative is this? My niece is being read The Hobbit for the first time and her first analysis of the book was that it was funny because the Hobbits have furry feet. I can't help but think she would LOVE these.

Gamer Printable at Giggedy Geekmum

Isn't this fun? Go to the link and getcha one!

Star Wars Shower Tile

WA-HUT?!?! I love it. nothing says dedication quite like permanently adhering tiles to your wall in a mosaic of that which you love, cuz i think we can all agree that's not changing anytime soon.

Entry Door Make-Over

Hello All! My in-laws came to see the play we were in and before they got here I realized that I had a few things left to do make our little basement apartment complete.  One of them was the entry way door. 

The window of the door looks right into the hall way, which has the entry of the bathroom just to the right there and our bedroom at the end. The other wonderful thing is that the Front door is just at the top of the stairs so anyone coming in could potentially see me running naked from the bathroom to the bedroom because i forgot...i dunno...something...make it up i don't care! Ok maybe it would never happen but you get the point! It could and so...it's awkward. I have been using a scarf, did hte trick of covering the window but didn't look very good at all. 

The sign I wanted to keep there because my cousin gave it to me as a housewarming gift and it's got a very sweet saying.

A while back though, I found a big ol' piece of burlap that just begged to be used for something like this. 

In retrospect, I would have spent more time measuring and planning but with it being the week of the play and dress rehearsals, i was really anxious and short on time.  Sooooo i winged it and just started drawing the letters.

Like that yellow nail polish? for the play lol

 Of course, it was off center so i added a little something at the beginning to even it out...

 Which, it turned out, didn't even matter because this is how the door framed it anyway:

 I should probably iron it.... but it looks better than the scarf! yay!

The Prince is Giving a BALL!

So my husband and I signed up to be in the local community college's musical and it is A LOT OF WORK HOLY CRAP. Mainly because I had the great idea of helping with props too. Well we open TOMORROW (ACK!!) and my brother's wife is having her c-section tonight (oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh) so i am like a ball of nerves right now. Anyway! I thought you'd like to see some pictures of the fun props I have been making instead of crafting lol

 I didn't make the cart but i made the food!

They wanted a bright yellow power suite so i dyed this
baby and found these shoes at the salvation army

masks...

masks...

...and more masks!

Hello fake ipad...

or should i say iRule? :)

Comical Corsages

Waxed wine bottles

Copper wine glasses

fimo food! chocolates and shrimp cocktail

A photo of the royal family for a newspaper mock up