Summer Hobbies

This summer has not gone the way I wanted it to. I have been sick with persistent bronchitis and it has prevented me from doing many of the things on my summer list.
Not one to be idle I took up a hobby. My father in law is an amazing carver. He took me under his wing and has been teaching me to carve. He and two other gentlemen meet on Fridays and spend the day carving. They are kind enough to share their love of carving with me.

Below are some of my carvings. I started out small and have only gone upward!

My very first carving was a thumb nail...get it....a thumb with a nail?

The first, but not the last cat I will ever carve.

I don't think I can ever have too many idea books!

My very own carving box for my tools!

The box filled with tools! My father in law made the box and Richard fixed the handle including my name!

Cardinals in the rough out stage, the shaping and the final Cardinal.

Carved and wood burned in preparation for paint.

Finished product. It is a plant stick. I just need to seal the base so it won't rot in the flower pot.

Mr. Mouse

I was told that I had to do a few things to be a "real" carver. One of them is to cut myself. I can now cross that off my list!

Yup, cut myself good!

The point is that a crafter can never be idle. We will always find SOMETHING crafty to do! : )

Non-toxic Air Fresheners

We have recently added two more "children" to our family. That brings us to four cats and two dogs. Having so many pets keeps me in a perpetual state of worry that my house will smell like a kennel. To combat this worry without having harmful chemicals constantly sprayed in my house. I searched all the healthy sites I normally haunt and after reading many recipes and suggestions here is what I decided to use.

Spirits and Essential Oils

The recipes I have seen suggest gin, vodka or rubbing alcohol, distilled water and essential oils. I bought the cheapest vodka I could find but I skipped the distilled water because I don't see a need for it. I filled my spray bottle about half way and added essential oils. For the first mixture I used orange and clove. I put in 20 drops of orange and 10 drops of clove. It smells like Christmas!

Solid Air Fresheners 

I found the recipe I ultimately used on Homespun With Love and gave it a try. It was hard to decide what scent to use so I opted for cedar. It always reminds me of Grandma's house.

Materials are gathered! : )

This is the salt and gelatine from my previous post. I paid $1.00 for both. What a way to save on the cost of materials!

I paid $2.00 for all of these at Goodwill and they are perfect for the gel air freshener!!

Now we wait...

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We All Scream for Ice Cream!!!

Summer in Texas is brutal. Where I live a typical day's temperature can climb over 100 degrees. That is just shy of the average temperature of the pits of Hades I am told.

During the summer months I admit that I consume ice cream, smoothies and popcicles at an almost alarming rate in an effort to stay cool. My entire family loves a cool treat on a hot day and when I say family I include my pups and kittens too!

My favorite ice cream recipe is from my mother. It is easy and yummy.  I make the pet friendly items primarily for the dogs but I share a little with the cats too. I mean, how can I resist those kitten eyes??

Soda Pop Ice Cream

4 cups cold soda pop
- you can use any flavor but I tend to like Big Red. It gives the ice cream a bubble gum flavor. 

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup whole milk

Mix all the ingredients and put it in your ice cream freezer.
Freeze as directed.
You can put the ice cream in the freezer after it comes out of the maker but I can never wait that long!

Try putting them in pops for a quick treat. I use push up pop molds. You can get them at Amazon dot com.

I used to go and buy Frosty Paws for my pups but the cost became a bit much and I wasn't sure what sort of stuff was in them. If I am eating better than my pets will too. They are family after all!!

Puppy Ice Cream

1 ripe banana

8 ounces of plain yogurt (Greek yogurt is ideal)

1 tablespoon of peanut butter 

Mash the banana and put it in your food processor. Add the yogurt and peanut butter. Blend till creamy. 

Put your ice cream into a container that is suitable for the size dog you have. 

I use yogurt cups because they are reusable and with a 77lb dog and a 30lb dog ice cube sized treats don't last long. 

If you don't want to give your family ice cream you can also freeze various fruit for a cool treat. I adore frozen grapes. They are bite sized and keep well when you are sitting outside. As they thaw they become slushy inside their skins so when you bite them you get a pop of icy grapey goodness!

You can also freeze bananas, strawberries and so on.

For your pups you can freeze beef broth or chicken broth. Add in a few fruits or veggies but remember that dogs don't need the added salt or spices so make sure that the broth is plain. 

These are just a few suggestions for keeping cool on a hot day. I hope you enjoy them! : )

Decorating the 5th Wall in Your House

Did you know that designers consider the ceiling the 5th wall in your house?
I certainly didn't until I was reading a decorating blog and came across it. I then googled "5th wall decorating" and was astounded at what I found! There are lots of great ideas out there! I loved the pictures I found HERE. They are not my style but it was really eye opening to see what others have done.
Once I realized that the ceiling could be a decorative area I went out to my box 'o' decor and drug out this amazing pink ceiling fixture that a dear friend gave me.

This light is non functional but it looks AMAZING in my bathroom! I consider it a jewel on my ceiling and I enjoy looking at it each time I go into the bathroom. It really helps that the pink is almost an exact match to the tile on my walls! I never would have thought to hang it in my bathroom as a decoration but that just goes to show you that crafters are always inspiring one another!

Making Your House Smell Good on a Budget

I have found that natural air fresheners are the way to go. You get amazing smells without all those harmful chemicals.

My number one way to freshen the air in my house is to boil spices and food flavorings (vanilla, almond and even butter!) or essential oils on the stove. There is no science to it. I just fill a pot with water and dump in the spices or essential oils I feel like smelling that day. You may be thinking about how expensive it is to buy spices JUST to boil them. It can be very expensive unless you are on the lookout!
I get my spices from a variety of places and for not much money.
- The Dollar Store carries off brand spices. They are food grade and can be used to cook as well as for a simmering potpourri.
-The bargain bin at your local grocery store. When spices expire the stores will mark them down dramatically to get rid of them. You can get high quality spices in a pretty decent variety for almost nothing.
-After the holidays are the same as the bargain bin. When January hits the stores are trying to unload all the extra stuff they bought and you can really stock up!
-Garage sales: Yes, I buy spices from garage sales but I will NOT cook with them. I don't think anyone would try to poison spices but I don't take a chance! ; )
Here is what I got on Saturday from a local estate sale.

The whole lot cost me $5.00. The bottles and cans of spices are full and the jars of liquid flavorings are full. This is a tremendous bargain because just ONE of the Spice Island jars is almost $5.00!! What I have pictured here will last me until December at least. 

The salt and Knox gelatin are not used in a simmering potpourri they will be used for a solid air freshener. There are a ton of recipes out there. I found this one on one of my favorite healthy home blogs.

Homemade Essential Oil Air Fresheners

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce granulated or powdered gelatin
• 2 cups cold water, divided
• 20-30 drops of your choice of essential oil
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• optional, food coloring to tint the air freshener

Also needed:

• heat-proof jars to hold the hot gelatin liquid
• a disposable chopstick or skewer to use as a stir stick

Bring one cup of water to a boil in a small saucepan.  Sprinkle the gelatin over the boiling water and whisk until smooth and all the gelatin is dissolved.  Add the salt and the second cup of cold water and whisk.  Set aside.
Add the desired amount of essential oil and food coloring, if using, to the jar(s).  Quickly pour the hot liquid gelatin over the essential oil and food coloring.  Stir until evenly colored.
Allow to cool, uncovered on a heat-proof surface.  When it reaches room temperature, place wherever you want a lovely scent.
You can find a variety of recipes for various scents using the above recipe at Foodie With Family.

Enjoy a great smelling house for not much money! : )

Choosing Colors for Your Home

The first rule of choosing color.......

there is no wrong color if you like it!

There are many schools of thought on color. Some say dark colors make a room look smaller while others say it brings out the drama. There are those who feel that a monochromatic color scheme is THE way to go. Others say that mixing colors and patterns can't be beat. Me? I do what I feel. If I like a color or pattern I go for it.

I have been told that my house looks like a rainbow exploded in it and that is just fine with me! : )
When I am looking at colors that I might want to put in my house I raid the paint chips at my local Lowe's. I bring home any and everything that looks like the color I want. I then hang the paint chips up and leave them there for a while. You can't trust the color in the store. You MUST bring it home and look at it under the lights in your house.

Color swatches to help me choose the right color for my bathroom.

Once you have a paint chip or two picked out utilize the sample sizes of the paint. At my local Lowe's you can get an 8oz sample color in various types of paint for about $3.00 each.
Bring those samples home and paint the wall. Yes, you will have streaks of paint on the wall but you can truly tell what looks good and what you can live with. You may find that sunny yellow really isn't that sunny when you get it home with it.

Last but not least. Paint isn't permanent! If you paint your walls a color that you find you don't like it isn't the end of the world. You just jot back to your paint store and choose another color!