DIY Cloth Napkins

I came up with a real easy way to make your own cloth napkins. I used it when I made cloth baby wipes and its super easy. Best beginner project to start on. My napkins are made from pretty floral fabric and are going to spruce up my table for Easter. Here's how to make your own:

And there you have it! Something pretty, reusable, and easy to make.

DIY: Homemade Laundry Soap

A few weekends ago, I ran out of my traditional laundry soap. I used to use the liquid sunlight soap. I've been waiting for this last jug to run out for a long time now as I've been dying to try and make my own laundry soap.

Money is and has been tight, so I've been trying to save some wherever I can. I saw that if you make your own laundry soap, the cost per load is $0.05 vs Tide, which is $0.21. Sunlight is cheaper than Tide, but what beats $0.05 a load???

I used the recipe from this site and got all my ingredients and tools together (yes, tools :))

You'll need:

1 Cup Borax
1 Cup Washing Soda (Not baking soda - they are different)
1 Bar Soap (I found sunlight soap in the laundry isle)

Box Grater
Mixing bowl



I used my "tool" - a box grater and grated my bar of soap. It smelled so nice and lemony.

PS: I love lemon!

Put my soap in a mixing bowl with the borax and washing soda, sealed the lid on and shook it like mad, making sure its all mixed together.

Each load of laundry uses a tbsp of Laundry soap, maybe 2 if its extra dirty.

I'm very happy with the results, everything gets clean, and smells great. So far my little ones with their sensitive skin have not had any bad reaction to anything. I think I'm going with this stuff for a while.

Have you tried making your own laundry soap? What's your recipe? Let me know how it works for you :)

{crafted} taggy blanket

(crappy photo quality, I know -- charging up the big camera battery as we speak)

Just something small I made my boy. Its a little tiny blanket that has ribbon tags on it. Apparently babies like tags on things, and so I made him a taggy blanket. So far he only kind of likes it. Its ok though, it was only a half hour project at most.

Keeping Warm {homemade marshmallows}

Last Christmas I was looking for ideas on new treats to make while watching the food network. Lo and Behold! Alton Brown was creating marshmallows on his Good Eats show. It looked so easy. Of course, last year I attempted to make them with a hand mixer -its possible, just not recommended cause you have to stand and mix for 15 minutes or so.

Here is the recipe that I used -

Alton Browns Marshmallows

Ingredients

• 3 packages unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup ice cold water, divided
• 12 ounces granulated sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• Nonstick spray

Directions

Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with 1/2 cup of the water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.

In a small saucepan combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat.
Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Add the vanilla during the last minute of whipping. While the mixture is whipping prepare the pans as follows.

For regular marshmallows:

Combine the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Lightly spray a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use.

When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan, using a lightly oiled spatula for spreading evenly into the pan. Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners' sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining mixture, using additional if necessary. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

For miniature marshmallows:

Combine the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Line 4 half sheet pans with parchment paper, spray the paper with nonstick cooking spray and dust with the confectioners' sugar mixture.

Scoop the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round piping tip. Pipe the mixture onto the prepared sheet pans lengthwise, leaving about 1-inch between each strip. Sprinkle the tops with enough of the remaining cornstarch and sugar mixture to lightly cover. Let the strips set for 4 hours or up to overnight.
Cut into 1/2 inch pieces using a pizza wheel or scissors dusted with the confectioners' sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining sugar mixture and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

The stand mixer made things so easy. I set a timer, turned it on and walked away until the marshmallows were ready! Totally my kind of treats. Now they are ready for Christmas presents. Enjoy!

Keeping Warm {pocket warmers}

So its been getting colder out. Lots colder. Apparently its expected that this winter is going to be a bad one. Well, I've got a few tricks to combat that coldness. Right now as I type my hands are super cold. Once I'm finished this post, I'm going to nuke my pocket warmers and get my hands warm again.

These little babies are wonderful. They are like beanbags essentially (only I fill mine with rice), only you microwave them for 45 seconds or so and they warm you right up. I keep them in my jacket pockets or tuck them by my feet at night.

To make them you will need the following:

Sewing machine
Scissors
Fleece or felt material
thread
Pins
Rice

Cut out your shape from your material. I like the hearts, so I made a not so perfect heart and pinned it all together. 

Note: The pin that's circled is just a reminder pin for me not to sew the thing closed without putting the rice inside.

Sew almost all the way around the heart leaving a small opening for your rice. You can see I'm not perfect in turning corners yet, but I'm trying. 

Add your rice. Now dont fill it too full, you need to sew this bad boy closed yet.

What I did here was smush all the rice away from the opening and pin it away so it wouldn't get in the way of sewing it closed. You don't want to break a needle on a stray piece of rice. Sew up the hole carefully.

Now you're done! I hope this helps you keep warm this winter. Check back soon, I'll have a few other Keeping Warm posts to do.

Christmas DIY --- Advent Calendar

 Its a little late to start it, but its such a nice thing to have. I much prefer this to any cardboard calendar with cheapie chocolates. This year I used random scraps of stuff I had lying around to make this.

Supplies:
6 sheets of different coloured felt
Piece of material 20x30 inches
Thread
Sewing machine
Scissors
Pins
Glue gun
3M removable hooks to hang it from
24 little things for the pockets

 So I found an old flannel christmas sheet that was too small for our bed. I hacked cut it up and hemmed around the edges. Then I grabbed my felt and I was bad and eyeballed how big I needed the squares. Personally, I like that they aren't perfectly all the same.The average square is 3.5 inches and I left about half an inch inbetween them.

I pinned them up and got to sewing. Nothing fancy, but they will hold nicely.

 I'm just learning to sew, so the numbers intimidated me. I was too afraid to sew them on. I'll just say that I tried it out, and it looked like I closed my eyes and went full speed. I opted for my trusty glue gun.

We started a day late, but this means that we got 2 treats this morning instead of one. Sadie likes it so far.

Its kind of a girly calendar,  but that just means that I could make Lucas his own next year. I got Sadie a little people race car for the 24th, but its just a little too big to fit, so I am gonna stuff it in there on the 23rd.

What kinds of things have you been making for Christmas?

Blogging for mama while she's away - Hello Little Deer

Hello everyone! I'm coley and blog at Hello little deer! we are currently blogging for beautiful mama miranda while she is away with her beautiful new little one (gorgeous older one)!

today i'm sharing a little DIY project i've made a few times! These are fabric rose magnets that anyone can make, all you need is:



1. Candle
2. %100 polyester fabric ( i have a pink organza here)
3. Scissors
4. Beads or rhinestones ( your pick )
5. Thread
6. matches or something to light the candle with
7. needle
8. small magents
9. white glue or glue gun

First you cut a few squares, all of different sizes. You can cut as many as you want to and make it big or small! make sure to round the corners off:



once you have your squares cut out, hold them over the candle to burn (ruffle) the edges. repeat this process for all of your squares and arrange them withing each other as you'd like:



now you'll need to thread your needle to sew them in place. I like to use beads for the center but i've also used rhinestones!



glue your magnet on the back and VOILA! I have them in a variety of colours on my fridge, they're chic & pretty & easy to boot!



Thanks for reading, feel free to stop by hello little deer for more! well wishes to our beautiful friend and her new family member! we love you.

The Hospital Survival Kit for my husband

Its the day before "the big day". I'm a big crazy mess. Hardly slept last night. Woke up every couple hours from the same scary hospital dream, and then tried to get it out of my brain by watching a show on the iphone. That didn't work. I just ended up more frustrated and more tired. 5:50 am rolled around, and I was up before my 6am alarm. Grumpily, I had a shower, and as its been raining, I attempted to put on socks and shoes. Lets just say that shoes are not my style right now, and with that, I put on flip flops and braved the rain.

I was early to my appointment, so I did a little crocheting, chatted with the nurse. They asked me a million questions about my medical history, and then we did the fun part. Got hooked up to the heart rate monitors and listened to babys heart rate. I got to click the button every time he moved, and boy did he move. He impressed the nurse who was there asking me questions. Funny boy. Blood was taken, and then I was set free until tomorrow.

When I got home, I figured I'd pack up my version of a Hospital Survival Kit. Its for Tony, but hes required to share some of the treats I packed. 

This is what I packed:

Wired Magazine - geek type magazine for Tony (I like it too)
2 Dairy Milk chocolate bars for my chocoholic husband
Starbucks Frappachino Drinks cause if I couldnt sleep last night, I wont be able to sleep tonight
Starbucks Via iced something or other
Fibre 1 bars (for me)
Fruit and Veggie bars
Twizzlers

With all the coffee, he should be set for staying up with me at night...maybe.

Homemade iPhone case

So after I got my new iPhone, I played with it, admired it, and then plunked it into the abyss that is my purse.

My purse has no pockets, nothing fancy for your phone or keys or wallet. I realized when I got home that its probably the worst possible place for this gorgeous she-devil of mine. Yes, toss this brand new beauty in with the keys, purse garbage, foil pill packets, and cracker crumbs from baby mum mums....Seriously, what was I thinking???

So once I got home, I figured that until I get a new purse (which I desperatly need), I will make something that will cover my precious until it can be put in a seperate pocket away from the keys.

I used this pattern from allaboutami.tumblr.com and fashioned my iPhone a cozy. I have a LOT of hot pink yarn left, so of course, its hot pink. Bonus to that is that the other colours I have are lighter and will show the dirt from the bottom of my purse--ew. Seriously, I need to clean out my purse. It shall be on my to do list today.

Guest DIY post at Miss Larissa Bree's blog

I'm over at Larissa's blog doing a crafty little DIY while shes away on her well deserved vacation! Check it out here

Christmas Ornament #7 Yarn Ball

I had an abundant amount of Styrofoam balls lying around and many scraps of yarn and felt, so I decided to make ornaments with them.

I used:

• Styrofoam balls
• Green and Red felt
• Red and White yarn
• Hot Glue
• Ribbon

Wrapped the ball with my yarn bits (ran out of red, so used white on top) and then cut out my holly. Hot glued the bits together and TA DA! Ornament for the tree.

I will be making a lot of these I think. I have a giant bag of bits of yarn from the thrift store and I had to use it.

Speaking of thrift stores, I will post my latest finds from Value Village later.