Happy V-day!

I originally pinned this ring a few months ago, and even though I’m not a big jewelry person the gem and size of the ring really appealed to me. Plus I liked the price.  To be honest, most of the jewelry I like is usually reallllly expensive.

The husband, being the darling that he is, bought it for me for Valentine’s day. It’s funny, we’ve been together For. Ev. Er. and I think this is only the second piece of jewelry that he’s ever bought me.

He wins.

Pinterest Review: YOU GUYS. I MADE SOAP.

There’s this pin that I pinned to Pinterest (for good measure: pin, pinny, pinnalator. there. I’m done.) and I kept thinking how fun it would be to make soap. Then I thought about it some more, and didn’t really do much with it.

Part of my aversion to soap making is that, Hello! You can buy soap at the store for, like, a dollar. So it’s not really saving me a whole lot of money, and if you’re buying all these fancy-pants oils and whatnot then it doesn’t really make sense. That crap can get reeeeeaaaaally expensive.

Then I read a post that basically said the same thing, but in the entry she said that she doesn’t do it to *save* money, she does it for the joy of having this made-by-her beauty in her home that she and her family can enjoy. Ok, that makes more sense to me. Still expensive, but if I really enjoy the process then maybe I can make something lovely and not mind investing the money into it.

I wanted to start with something pretty easy, and I was super scared of the whole lye thing. I didn’t want to burn off my eyeballs or anything. So I decided that making a simple recipe that I could use for laundry and dishes was the best plan.

I bought a can of vegetable shortening at the store for $3. I ordered the lye online (but have since found if for way cheaper here). I settled on tea tree oil as the scent, since it’s for laundry and dishes it didn’t have to be fancy. Then I bought a scale, a handmixer, and some dedicated soap-making supplies.

It was a little spendy for all the startup, but I can use the scale for other things, so I guess it’s not that big of a deal.

The actual soap making process was a snap. So easy. Really. I used the exact recipe and tutorial from this video, and it worked like a charm. I may have over-blended it sightly, since my trace was a little thicker than her video, but whatevs. I figured if I royally screwed it up I was just washing dishes and laundry, so what did it matter?

Well. I poured the soap into a plastic-lined cardboard box, and let it sit for two days. When I took it out and cut it up I was feeling very pleased with myself. I totally did it, you guys. For realsies, all by myself. The hardest part was leaving it alone to cure for 3+ weeks, but that part is finally over, and I think it was worth the wait.

Since the soap has cured I’ve been using it for dishes (I haven’t made laundry soap with it yet, but I’ll keep you posted when I do). You only get a crappy iPhone camera picture because I haven’t taken any real pictures, but it’s soap. There’s not that much to see. The real magic is lathering that stuff on a sponge and washing up some dishes knowing that I MADE THAT. I did that. It’s functional, it works well, it smells great, and it gives me no small amount of joy to see that bar get used up.

I can’t wait to do it again, and this time I think I’ll do something citrus-y like lemongrass or grapefruit. I’m so proud of myself, and it will actually be very cheap to do again since I have already bought everything. I’ll just need another tub of shortening ($3!) and it will yield a heck of a lot of soap.

I have my eye on a shampoo bar next, I think. I’ve been fascinated with shampoo bars ever since I bought one from Lush. I can’t wait to try it.

Pinterest Review: Miracle Cake Release

So, one of my New Year’s resolutions was to post more on my blog — I miss chronicling the stuff we’ve been up to. Unfortunately, as you can see, it’s January 22nd and this is my first post.

*sigh*

I did have one idea, though, that I think may work well: doing a sort of Pinterest roundup or review of some of the crap I pin that I actually make/try. Short and sweet, and if I don’t have to post many (or any!) pics then that might make it easier to write a few entries now and then.

Onward!

First up, I want to talk about the Miracle Pan release. It sounds sort of boring, but I effing hate it when cakes stick to the pan. It hurts my feelings and makes me want to punch things. Especially when it’s something like Pineapple Upside Down cake, and the presentation hinges on the damn thing coming out of the damn pan.

I tried this stuff, and seriously. It’s amazeballs. We don’t bake anything without using it. You just paint it on using a pastry brush, and it’s worked on everything we’ve thrown at it, including the deadly upside-down cake.

Very simple to make: equal parts shortening, vegetable oil, and flour. I store mine in one of those glass gravy jars (after I washed it, though…) and even the husband uses it. He actually stopped in the middle of making brownies so I could make more cake release because he didn’t want to cook the brownies without it.

Awesome.

I recommend you give it a shot — takes about 30 seconds, and will make your baking life a whole lot easier.

Get the full tutorial from Apronofgrace.com.

Phoebe is SEVEN

Today Phoebe turned 7 years old. I kind of can't believe it, in that OMG-I'm-getting-so-old-it-seems-like-she-was-just-born-yesterday kind of way.

I wanted to do a slideshow for Phoebe like I did for Charlie and Belle, but truthfully I just ran out of time. Poor Phoebe has had to put with up boxes and tape and a yardsale and getting rid of massive amounts of toys and junk in lieu of a birthday party. And I'm sort of unsympathetic, so be sure to shed a tear or two for this underprivileged child, wouldja?

Actually, she was pretty great, and took it all in stride. She got her precious damn rollerskates that she's been asking for (since January, for realsies) so she was completely satisfied. Also, the annual Woodchopper's festival was this weekend, and I sort of had her convinced when we took her to the fair that Bryan and I orchestrated the entire setup for her. I know, I'm a dirty, dirty liar.

The cool thing was that there were fireworks this evening to end the festival, so although she didn't get a party, she did end her evening with a bang. Get it?

Bryan and I explained to her that next year will be different. We won't be in the middle of a move, and we'll be in a much bigger city with many more things to do for her birthday. She immediately decided she wanted a gymnastics party. Depending on how I feel, I might prefer to move again instead.

So, this concludes the ridiculous birthday and holiday bonanza that is the month of May in our household. Instead of taking a nice long nap, we have to get ready for the movers. They'll be here in 10 days. *gulp*

KCWC: Day 6

Alternately titled: Today is my birthday!

We didn’t really have any big plans which was honestly fine with me, but I did get some birthday money that was burning a hole in my pocket (thanks dad!) so Bryan suggested we head out to Beckley to spend it.  Because:

A) He knows there’s a JoAnn fabrics there
B) JoAnn fabrics was having a sale
C) There’s a Starbucks in Beckley
D) All of the above are some of my favorite things

Isn’t he the bestest?

Instead of sewing for today’s challenge I bought a ton of fabric instead.  My fabric-shopping choices out here are pretty limited, so while going to JoAnn’s might seem boring to most people, it’s a huge deal for me.  Most of my cute fabric has to be purchased online, which is hazardous.  You can’t tell how thick a knit is by a picture on your monitor, or how bright or muted colors may be.  It’s a crapshoot.  It’s nice to actually pick up a bolt and feel the fabric and see how big the pattern repeat is.  You know?

I will admit that even though they were having a sale, I did get a little crazy up in there.  I couldn’t help it.  My husband not only waited patiently, he actually encouraged the craziness.  This is one of the (many) reasons why I love him so.

In case you’re wondering (and I’m telling you anyway), the materials are (from bottom to top):

1. Grey suiting destined to be a seashore dress for Phoebe
2. 5.8 oz denim destined to be more puppet show shorts for the middles
3. 6 oz denim destined to be class picnic shorts for the middles
4 & 5. sky blue cotton with a floral pattern & yellow broadcloth (will probably go together to be a kimono dress for Thea)
6 & 7. white cotton with a green, yellow, and navy diamond pattern and navy broadcloth (will probably go together to be another kimono dress for Thea)
8. a really fun pink patterned cotton destined to be a class picnic blouse for Charlie
9. navy patterned cotton destined to be a seashore dress for Charlie
10. a purple patterned cotton destined to be a class picnic blouse for Phoebe
11. some yellow striped glitter knit that will be as many Tees for Two as I can squeeze out of it

Whew.

I may or may not stick with that list, depending on how my mood strikes me, but I bought yardage according to those projects so I would at least have a plan.  Otherwise, I could’ve been in there for hours.

I also got a 45mm Olfa rotary cutter and extra blade, one white spool of serger thread (I have 3 in my machine right now, and the fourth spool is pink. ha!), black cotton thread, and 4 different colors of piping.  Can you believe I can’t buy piping locally?  INSANE.  My husband also picked out a self-healing cutting mat to go with my rotary cutter.

Non-sewing related birthday goodness: coconut mocha frappuccinos (soooo good), burgers from Sonic, and a cute little cardigan that was priced at $19.99 and rang up for $4.  It was a damn. fine. day.