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Birthday Bliss

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When a member of our family celebrates a birthday, that festivity does not only last one day, but several. We share multiple meals, eat a plethora of desserts and of course exchange a multitude of presents.

As I’m sure many of you know, the little ones in our lives are always making gifts for others.  Whether it be a drawing, a hand-strung necklace, a small piece of fabric that is a “mini blanket,” my girls are always at the ready to shower any birthday celebrant with many a gift.   Because of this, I am always trying to find new and creative ideas for gifts that the recipient can actually use, yet my kids can make as well.

Well in one short day a special lady in our life is celebrating her birthday and the girls and I found the perfect gift idea…bath salts.  It is very cost effective, very useful (especially when the birthday girl is quite the athlete), and is very easy and fun to make with the kids!

The basic recipe is as follows:

1 cup Epsom salt

1 cup course sea salt

20 drops of essential oil of your choosing

Any glass jar with a lid (We reused an old honey jar.)

Place the salts in a bowl and mix well.  Take out about ¾ cup of the salt mixture and place in a smaller bowl. Add the essential oil and mix well.

Then add the salts with the essential oils back into the large bowl with the remaining salts.  Mix well.  Pour into a glass jar and tightly fit on the lid.  That’s it!

I hope you all enjoy this fun, easy project with your little ones!

Laundry Day

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Laundry.  The word itself sent shivers down my spine.  I hated it.  From as far back as I can remember I loathed laundry day.  The sorting, the washing, the drying, the folding, the putting away.  Everything.  I had been known to wait until laundry was pouring out of the hamper, and even sometimes pouring out of the laundry room, before I would tackle the task.  I think the reason I always hated it so much was because I always felt so rushed.

In high school I was studying, working, playing sports or busy with band and pushed the job of laundry off on others, mainly my mom.  In college I would be so bogged down with reading and writing papers that I never felt I had time for it.  As a married woman and then a mother, my time was spent with my young family and the mountains of student papers that needed to be graded and lessons that needed to be planned, so the laundry just got pushed to the back burner.

Two years ago I decided that enough was enough and something had to give. I felt like my entire life I had spread myself too thin and because of that I was giving a partial attempt at everything.  It was at this time when I started to slow down, become mindful of my life, and take a step back.

Many things in my life changed after this realization.  But one aspect that I never, ever thought could change was my feeling toward that dreaded word…laundry.  But my how I have come around.  I think I may, in this post, even admit that I like laundry.

I like looking back upon the clothes that my family has worn, so thankful that we are able to have these garments to cloth us.  I enjoy the sound of the laundry tumbling in the background as my girls’ voices rise and fall in their imaginary play.  And I love hanging the clothes on the line to dry in the crisp, clean air.  Right now that line is in my basement, but oh how I look forward to a bit of warmer weather so I can get those items out in the fresh air again.  Yes, I think I have definitely come around when it comes to this very basic household task.  And boy am I thankful for that.

***

Two years ago my brother-in-law gave me a container filled with homemade laundry detergent for Mother’s Day.  I have used the recipe ever since, and have been able to save quite a bit of money in the process.  Enjoy!

3 cups white vinegar

2 cups Borax

2 cups baking soda

2 cups washing soda

½ cup castile soap (any scent you would like)

Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer (be sure to mix after each ingredient is added) and store in a sealed tub.  Add the vinegar first, then Borax, the baking soda, the washing soda, and finally the castile soap.  The mixture will be a little mushy at first, but will solidify more once it sits for a bit.

I have a high efficiency washer and this soap works just great.  I use about ¼ cup of the detergent per load.

An important note: Although all of these ingredients are naturally derived, they can still be very harmful if consumed.  I am always sure to just have my little ones observe the making of the detergent and I leave the actual preparing to the adults.

“Sew” Much Fun

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It seems that every year when January and February roll around I get this need to do a project.  Last year it was the girls’ new, shared bedroom.  Out with the crib and whole nursery scene and in with the “big girl stuff,” as my girls like to say.

This year when January rolled around I again got this yearning for some sort of crafty undertaking.  I happened to be on a blog that I love and follow regularly, SouleMama.com, and she had some pictures of the most adorable little flannel night gowns and I knew that I had found my project.

In her post she mentioned that she used a Butterick B4910 pattern for the gowns and I began to get a little nervous.  Now you see, I had never actually used a pattern in my entire life.  My sewing skills up until this point consisted of items like one-seam sun dresses, pillow case dresses, quilts, and fabric napkins.  So you can image my surprise when I carefully opened the Butterick package to find those lovely brown pieces of tissue paper with print all over them.  Oh my.  Talk about a flood of anxiety!

But after some work, I realized that I truly LOVED this whole sewing thing.  And then I became obsessed.  I made 6 nightgowns (some for my girls, some for a birthday present, some just to make for when I come across anyone who may want one).  Here are two of the gowns I made for my girls for their Valentine’s Day present.

Then I thought to myself, “My goodness, if I can make this gown, why not try the shirt and pants that are in the pattern as well?”  So on I went with my sewing, a little bit each day, and my how I have realized this is an amazing way to relax and unwind at the end of a crazy day.  Here are some of the PJs I made out of some vintage cotton curtains I thrifted.  I felt like Maria straight out of Sound of Music…ha!

Once I was on the repurposing kick, I found an old sling I used with my youngest and decided to make a school bag for her because she will be starting preschool in the fall.

I definitely believe I have found a new love, and it is my Brother sewing machine.

Inspiration

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Last week in my post about our Red Wigglers, I mentioned that we purchased our most recent batch from Growing Power, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Growing Power is truly one of the most amazing places I have been in my lifetime, and it is no wonder why there were only a few people on our tour who were even from the Midwest. People travel from all over the globe to visit founder Will Allen’s urban garden, situated in a food desert on the north side of Milwaukee. If anyone reading this post is ever in the area you must, must, must stop by for a tour.

For my birthday, my husband told me that my present was going to be a family trip to Growing Power. Now that is my kind of present! Love it!

I’m not sure what exactly I was anticipating going into this trip, but Growing Power far exceeded every single one of my expectations! Not only were there thousands upon thousands of plants being grown in this facility, there were mushrooms, fish, chickens, turkeys, bees and goats. Solar cells and cisterns. It was unbelievable.

And what is more amazing than all of this is their outreach programs. Growing Power sells their food at a store front food stand, sources their food to local restaurants, collects waste from local breweries and coffee houses for use in their compost bins, and they have unbelievable youth education programs. One man on our tour was there with his three young children and he was from Milwaukee. He told my husband and I that Growing Power even does a CSA-type food drop off for many of the local schools. He said that on Mondays parents can turn in a sheet if they want a box of food on Friday, and then on Friday the students are sent home with their box filled with vegetables from Growing Power and a new order form for the following week. I was floored.

Why can’t every community do something of this nature? All children deserve to have their bodies nourished with this healthy food. All children deserve amazing educational opportunities like the ones that Growing Power offers to youth of their community. I believe with every fiber of my being that something like this is possible in every city in our nation. Growing Power reaffirmed my belief that this is actually possible. I am truly inspired.

Chocolate Anyone?

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Two years ago, a small group of students, a co-worker and I conducted research on local farmsteads that were over one hundred years old.  While visiting one of these farms, the wife of the farmer invited us to join her inside for coffee and chocolate chip cookies.  Now, anyone who knows me will tell you that there are two things that I never turn down:  coffee and sweets.  So I was more than pleased to partake in this fabulous activity.

Once we got settled at the hand-crafted wooden table nestled against one wall in her century old kitchen, she brought out piping hot cups of coffee and the BEST chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted!  After eating three of those scrumptious things, I asked her if I could have a copy of the recipe.  She quickly pulled out an old note card that had yellowed around the edges and had been opened, closed and folded so many times that I could scarcely make out the script on the card.  But by golly, I really wanted that recipe!  So I slid my chair right next to this elderly woman, whom I had just met, and had her read the recipe aloud to me while I quickly jotted it down on a piece of loose leaf from one of my student’s notebooks.

I have been using this recipe ever since.  Everyone in my family agrees that this is the greatest recipe on earth.  So when Valentine’s Day came along this week, my husband and I decided to make a special treat for the girls…chocolate chip cookie sundaes!  We all thoroughly enjoyed, and had to be rolled away from the table J

Here is the recipe:  (Something you should know about all of my recipes:   I use all organic ingredients, local flour when it is available, pasture butter and non-homogenized milk.  I think it makes a huge difference in the end product.  Just an fyi.)

1 cup butter

1 cup coconut oil (The original recipe called for shortening, but I replace all shortening in my baking recipes with coconut oil.  Be sure to use the coconut oil in its solid state when measuring the 1 cup.)

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

Cream well.

Add: 1 egg, 1 tablespoon milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda

Add: 3 ¾ cups flour

Add: 1 bag of chocolate chips

Bake at 375 degrees for 9 minutes.

Enjoy!

Welcome!

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Welcome to Making of a Home!  I am so thankful that you have taken the time to look at my blog!

Please be sure to read the “About” page for more information about what led to this new and exciting adventure.  I hope you enjoy what you see here and continue to follow my posts.  I will be updating the site daily with new stories, pictures, recipes, ideas and much more!

Please feel free to pass along the web address to any like-minded individuals whom you believe would enjoy the site.  And you are also welcome to use any of the ideas posted on the site as long as you give credit where credit is due….As I use to constantly tell my high school English students, “Site your source please!”  I would greatly appreciate it!

Happy reading and enjoy!