DIY face cream

What else would you do at 11 pm on a Friday night when you should be getting some sleep for a big Saturday but DIY-ing face cream?  Normal, right?  I have been wanting to change up my skin care routine for awhile now.  Ever since I reached my mid-thirties, my skin turned from oily to dry seemingly overnight.  I need a cream that is way more moisturizing and maybe some thing for my wrinkles!  I got some bright ideas from an essential oil gathering I went to recently (thanks, Nicole!).  Here is what you need:

Essential oils.  I used Lavender, Frankincense, Lemon and Geranium.  6 drops of each per cup of coconut oil.

Coconut oil.  I used the solid coconut oil (1 cup) along with a few tablespoons of my carrier oil (liquid) because I didn't have any Vitamin E or shea butter on hand and I had to do this NOW.  I wanted to use something liquid to make the texture a bit softer.  I had the big tub of coconut oil for some time now.  When I ordered it from Amazon, I was disappointed that it was liquid.  It sat in my kitchen cabinet for a few months.  When I checked it yesterday, it was solid!  Yay!

Glass jars.  I got these stubby mason jars from Wal-mart for less than $5 for the pack of 4.

Take all your ingredients and put them in a bowl (just don't use a plastic bowl) and blend with a hand mixer.  I mixed up a triple batch, because I do things in excess and was going to give the extras away.

Transfer to your glass jars.

Boom.  Done.

Actually, I was able to get 4 jars out of this recipe (3 cups coconut oil, 1/4 cup carrier coconut oil and 18 drops each of lemon, lavender, frank and geranium).

Your welcome. G'night.

Addiction...

It has been like forever since I did an addiction post.  Maybe its because I have not had an "addiction" lately.  Or maybe I did but I was just too lazy to write a blog post about it.  In any event, I have one now and have the energy to write about it.  So without further ado, my current addiction is....

































Staining with this combo.

I love the dark walnut alone.  However, the Classic Gray alone is way too light for me.  But the combination of the two with 3 parts gray to 1 part dark walnut (thanks for the ratio tip, Sonia;))?  Yup, fav stain color ever!

For instance, it is great on wooden crates...

On a large floating shelf...

(This floating shelf was my latest DIY project and I am not quite done styling it yet so this is only a teaser.  The shelf post will be coming soon.  Now that the shelf is up, there are a million other projects I feel I need to tackle.  Domino effect.)

And on some DIY signs I made for my Mom for her birthday...

(Not sure why these look darker here but in person, they are more consistent with the color of the other photos.  Maybe because this is an iPhone pic at night.)

I think it is pretty neat that there is a range of tones that come out with the stain depending on the wood.  Its a surprise every time:)

And I have big plans to sand down our bedroom dresser and stain it with this mixture (which leads me to a whole other project, master bedroom redo including our new king bed, making and upholstering a headboard, "new" nightstands and switching out the mirror above the dresser).

Stay tuned for more staining projects....

Let there be light.

I am lucky to have a Grandma that has sheds full of fun treasures.  I shopped in her sheds in September and came home with these goodies.

 (There is also an old, tattered American flag in there)

Now, I am pretty sure this is a warming lamp from a little chicken coop she used to have in her yard years and years ago.

It was a bit filthy.  I was looking for a cute, industrial type light for above my kitchen sink.  And I knew I could make this one work.  I just had to use a little ingenuity.

First, I removed the socket and cord from the lamp.

Then I washed the lamp.  I stupidly used an SOS pad and scratched it up a little but you can't really see the scratches unless you are right up close.    Thankfully, with it hanging above the sink, no one will be up close;)

Then I had to figure out how to mount it to the existing can light fixture.

I bought this pendant light fixture from Menards (I think).
 

Make sure you turn your breaker OFF and check to make sure the power is really off to the area.  I was able to mount the lamp to the bottom part of the pendent fixture fairly easily.  I had to leave the trim (outer ring that you can see) from the can light as the hole for the can light was too large for the top part of the pendant light kit to cover.  I ended up painting the ring with some metallic silver paint so it would look like it belonged with the pendent light.  Then I cut the wires going to the socket part (the thing you screw the light bulb in to) in the can light and wired my new pendent light fixture to this.  I just left the housing of the can light as is.  Then I was able to rig the pendent fixture up and here is the finished product.

And I am in love with it!

I am so happy I finally tackled this and got it up.  It looks exactly how I was hoping it would look!!  It took me so long to get this up partly because I was busy with holidays and the kids' birthdays and Craftshop and partly because I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the long list of projects I made myself in my mind.  I was so overwhelmed, I entered a slight paralysis phase and was unable to do anything.  Finally, I decided to tackle one project and not think about the rest and it worked:)

Next up, reupholstering this settee...

1

Dear Sydney,

Today you are 1.  You have endured 1 loop around the sun on this crazy Earth.  In this crazy life, with your crazy family.  Mostly, you have survived one year growing up alongside your crazy brother.

(He was all excited to get his house pillow and take pics with you only to refuse to put that spoon down and no make eye contact or any other face than that one.  Crazy kid.)

This last year has held more joy than I have ever known.  It's like I was waiting for you to complete us all along.

And then you were here and all was just right.  Adding the perfect amount of sweetness and softness that we were missing.

You sure made it easy and fun to have a baby again.  But it would silly to be sad about leaving your babyhood behind when we get to wake up to this girl everyday...

This girl that is so goofy and loves to play peek-a-boo with anything she can find.   She who can easily scale the stairs and walk around the room while holding onto furniture but is not quite ready to walk independently yet.  She who loves Minnie Mouse and singing and dancing.  "Her" who has so quietly and without force made her way to the center of our hearts (which I did not know how that was possible before but now I do).

Which makes me excited to watch you grow in this next year.  And the year after that.  And the year after that.

But before we do that, lets remember your 1 year old toes...

Your petite 1 year old little body standing with assistance of a 1995 Barbie Dream House filled with Marvel superheroes taking baths, doing push ups, riding the elevator and cooking dinner.

Your 1 year old bedroom...

But because Mother Nature decided today was the perfect day for a blizzard, we will celebrate all of your first year next weekend.

Loved your first year.  Loved every minute.

Love you,
Mama