Homemade Hand and Body Lotion with pictures

Ingrdients:

2/3 cup of Aloe Vera
1/2 cup of organic hemp oil 
1/2 cup of sesame oil,
10 grams of beeswax,
1/2 cup of either coconut or cocoa oil,
1/2 tsp of liquid lecithin or lanolin oil,
30 drops of vitamin E oil,
50-70 drops of a mix of the essential oils of your choice (for example 20 drops of lavender, 1 tsp of vanilla extract, 20 drops of  chamomile oil)
 Directions:

• First sterilize the following equipment with water and hydrogen peroxide (really cheap at Costco by the way) a saucepan, blender,pyrex measuring cup and rubber spatula. 
• Place Olive Oil (best price on organic I have found is at Costco), sesame oil, beeswax and cocoa butter in a Pyrex measuring cup. Then take a medium size saucepan and place the Pyrex measuring cup in it or oils without the pyrex but you must watch closer. Put water around the Pyrex measuring cup. With the burner on the lowest setting (do not allow mixture to boil or bubble) allow the oils to melt. 

• When the oils have melted, stir them together, pour into the blender and refrigerate until cool. About an hour.
• Place the cooled oils in the blender. Turn blender on the lowest setting and then pour in the aloe vera very slowly. Use a spatula to mix the oils together if needed.
• When aloe vera and oils are mixed together pour in the emulsifier (lecithin or lanolin)
• Then add the essential oils of your choice and vitamin E. Blend it all together. 
• Place in sterile container. Refrigerate most of mix. Keep a small amount in your bathroom where you will use the moisturizer. Remember it has no preservatives so it will grow mold if kept too long. Will keep for up to 3 months if kept in the fridge. For this reason I recommend making small batches as needed. If you keep unrefrigerated use within one month.

Learning to Knit

So one of the items on my "to do" list for the new year was learn to knit. Utilizing youtube.com I have now learned to knit and purl! I am well on my way to my first organic cotton homemade scarf. Phew! It is a lot of work at first. I think I have pulled the scarf apart 15 times. I kept forgetting if I was on a "purl" stitch or a "knit" stitch. After figuring out a way to keep track I have my first ten rows of scarf! 

 I learned both the stitches with these two videos from youtube.com. Here are the links. Knit here. Purl here.
I found organic cotton yarn and organic wool yarn on amazon.com for a decent price. Turns out they also sell it at Fred Meyers. Although it is cheaper on amazon by a few dollars. In my picture I am using the organic cotton yarn. I can't wait to finish my scarf and then try a hat! That will involve learning to knit in the round. I have a lot to learn yet. I love learning to do things by hand that I have previously taken for granted and purchased in the store. Another knitting goal is to make a big floor pillow like one I saw on CB2.com. Why pay for it when I can make it? If anyone has any knitting tips I will take them.

Play time ideas for Baby that are simple and homemade

 Now granted these pictures are not of the items I will talk about in my post but I found  my camera and so had to share pictures of Olivia playing! She loves books. She goes over to her bookshelf and often crawls over to me with the book she wants me to read to her. Her favorites so far are "MR Brown Can Moo", "In My Nest", "Polar Bear Polar Bear What do you Hear?" and "The Berenstein Bears and the Spooky Old Tree". She is just like her mama!

 So on to today's topic: Simple Homemade things for Baby to play with. I don't recommend anyone younger than 10 months play with these things. Olivia is just now old enough and with close adult supervision we have had lots of fun!

• Olivia is at the stage where she likes to touch and feel different textures. When I made pasta the other day I set some cooked pasta and uncooked aside in a stainless steel bowl for her to run her fingers through and play with. It entertained her the entire time I cooked dinner! She was squealing in delight. She did eat about a quarter of the cooked pasta. What she didn't eat I put on the compost pile(0:
• Another simple thing (but messy so baby should be naked and floor should be covered) is to mix corn flour with water (I call it glop) and let her go at it in a contained area. Olivia loves the squishy feel!
• Buy a plain piece of untreated pine or some other wood. Cut into 3 inch blocks, then sand and coat with beeswax. You have perfect non-toxic blocks. (which by the way are super expensive to buy online!)
• Homemade Bubble Bath. Most babies love baths. Miss Olivia loves bubbles in her bath. We make our own bubble bath by mixing our non-toxic dish soap with water and sugar. You will need half a cup of dish soap, 1.5 cups of water and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Mix together and poor in the bath under running water.
• I have to watch Olivia closely with this one. It is edible but too much would make her sick. Homemade play dough. My recipe is 1 cup of organic flour,1/2 cup of sea salt, 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar, 1 cup of filtered water, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Mix together, cook over medium heat for 5 minutes (don't let it burn, it happens easily and quickly), let cool, then PLAY! Store in airtight container. Storage is variable depending on how you store it. I bought some food based food dyes for coloring!
• Homemade finger paint. Now warning this one is messy!!! So cheap to make. You need 1.5 tablespoons of white sugar, 1/2 cup of cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 cup of cold water, natural based food dyes. Mix all together except the dye in a medium saucepan over low heat. Gradually add food coloring until it reaches your desired color. Cook and stir for ten minutes. Until the mixture thickens to the paint consistency you want. Remove pan from heat. Store in an old glass jar. You may use immediately. Again not sure how long I can store for since I just started doing this.

Recipes found in "The Everything Green Baby Book"

Last Minute Gift Ideas

So this year when it comes to Christmas shopping I have been a bit of a procrastinator. Partly due to the fact that the accountant and I have been sharing one car. Making it difficult for me to get out and shop since we don't live near a bus line or public transportation of any kind. The other reason is our Christmas budget is not very big and I like to be creative, buy or make things people like. I won't share what I actually made since family reads this and they would know what they are getting. I will share what we made/bought for a few friends and Jason's work gift exchange.

Little Artist Craft Box. This is a box of items you can tailor to the child you have in mind. Here are some of the items I considered putting in mine:
An old used men's button down shirt. Sleeves cut to fit the child. This is for the child to wear while painting.
Package of multi colored construction paper
White roll of paper (or butcher paper)
Box of crayons
Scissors
Stencils
Paint set
Markers
Modeling clay
Bag of fabric scraps
glue
Glitter
Colorful pencils
A Book of drawing ideas

A "taste" of Italy gift basket. I bought the basket at the goodwill then filled it with a bag of dried pasta (from trader joes), organic olive oil, dried basil, oregano, gourmet olives (all from trader joes), an italian cookbook (found one that looked new at the goodwill), Recipe cards