Inspiration, Motivation & Green Mossy Spheres

Is it inspiration or motivation, or maybe a little bit of both.  I pin, bookmark, and dog ear many a page of great ideas that I want to do.  Sometimes, more than others, I get a surge of energy to get it done and it is completely stress free.  Maybe because the weather is changing, and we are focusing indoors, or the fact that we had a great rejuvenating vacation or possibly because my focus is on making the house inviting for the monotone gray months.  Regardless of the motivator, I am getting stuff done. 

I loved the moss spheres that were in the most recent Martha Stewart magazine.  Not only a statement piece on the dining room table behind our Nuremberg angel, but it will be a perfect bout of winter color come January.  It is a relativity easy project, almost meditative piecing on the bits of moss, and I am going through hot glue like it is going out of style.  I think that I am going to try to pound out a handful more to give as gifts.  What types of things are inspiring you right now?

December's White Rose

A white rose

 Taken during our trip to California, it is perfect for stepping off into the giving season of December.  

Pure 

Crisp

 Full of promise

Several years ago I gave myself a challenge, doing an entirely handmade holiday.  This year, I am reaching back to that sentiment.  I am mostly done with Christmas shopping or at least the planning.  Most gifts this year will either be homemade, sourced from local/regional artisans, or may be tools to aide others in doing more for themselves. 

The month is off like a flash with sports, meetings, holiday events and appointments filling each day this week.  I hope to enjoy every bit of this month and head into the new year feeling that I accomplished all that I needed to this year and start again with a clean slate.  Pure, crisp, and full of promise. 

The Coupon Book

 Just before we left town, Charles could hardly contain his excitement as he gave us the Christmas present he made for us at school. Looking forward to opening the annual ornament, we were surprised by a little coupon book! Such a cute idea! There are ten coupons:

Feed the kitten 

Clean my room 

Set the table 

Spend time with my parents, for 1 hr.

Be nice to my sister, for 1 hr. 

Do the dishes 

Vacuum 

Make my bed, for 1 week 

Mow the lawn 

Don't complain about food

His eyes lit up as we read them, but he jostled a little from foot to foot and mentioned that each coupon was only good for one use. We loved how thoughtful the illustrated book was. It wasn't just ideas that every kid wrote down. There were two that are favorites of mine. Mow the lawn, with a picture of himself driving the tractor. Obviously he feels he is old enough now to be responsible for that task. The second is 'don't complain about food.' This showed me that he was being thoughtful to include things that we would especially appreciate.

When we returned from vacation and walked into the house he noticed the little book right away where we left it on the window sill. "mom", he said quite seriously, "remember when you use a coupon, you have to give it too me so that I can shred it." This struck me as hilarious! He is such a conscientious kid, and for the most part doesn't need a coupon book. I think he just wants to be sure that we don't pull the 'be nice to my sister' card more than once!

Crafty Mamas

 I am not ready to thrust myself into Christmas shopping.  The bulk of that will happen after Thanksgiving and final harvests.  However, when thinking about hostess gifts, teachers gifts, and nice little things that are homemade, you do need to get a bit of a jump on it.  A small group of ladies decided in September that maybe we should gather a few times before the holidays, drink wine, and make gifts.

Last night was the first such session and was filled with laughter, friendship, storytelling and snacking with a little bit of crafting mixed in.  I chose two crafts.  The first was making a chai tea mix.  The recipe was simple and came highly rated.  Trying to keep the powdered mix as natural as possible I substituted the powdered vanilla creamer with the vanilla sugar that I had made with the remnants of the vanilla extract beans.  This worked perfectly, but altered the final volume amounts so I didn't end up with as much as I'd anticipated.  I was about three cups short for filling jars, (we got 14 half pint jars from a double recipe) but I was pretty happy with the ease of it.  With the jars will be a tag for use instructions and a recipe card with the chai cake from Domestic Sensualist (check it out)!

The second craft smelled amazing and I am excited to try.  We did bath teas.  Little tea bags filled with floral goodies, salts, and essential oils that can hang from the bath faucet with the water flowing through, or just bob in the tub.  The unbleached satchels I had for putting the mixture in may also be used to rub the skin.  They smell fantastic and are the perfect little hostess gift wrapped in a box in twos or threes. (with a double recipe of this we ended up with 35 generously filled bags)

Not to shabby for a crafty mama's night where trust me, we did more gabbing than actual crafting in the end!

Happy Friday!! 

Bath Tea

(single recipe)

1 C sea salt

1 C Epsom salt

8-10 drops clove oil

10-15 drops sweet orange oil

mix the above together, then add

1 1/2 C hibiscus flowers

1/2 C chamomile 

1/2 C lavender

Then place 3 Tbs. into each bag

There are tons of variations so if you're interested peruse online.  I don't think the proportions are are set in stone, just make a mixture based on preference.   I like the idea of adding oatmeal to them too.

Adventures in Soap Making

What does one do when you have a sick little fever girl sleeping on the couch?
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Spend way too much time on pinterest, how cool is this?!

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Help the husband get the cold frames up and warming

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and

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What else?  Make soap!

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Today I'm sharing my first soap making adventure over here!  Come visit!

Happy Weekend!

Perfect Start

 Isn't this just the perfect sight to start your day?  After last weekends busyness, this weekend will focus on home, with a smattering of kid commitments.  Though it is trying to feel like winter today, the rest of the weekend will be more fall like...perfect for leaf collection and hen relocation.  Oh yes and my crafty mind is at work mulling over the approaching holidays.  Loads of family, friends and hostess gifts to create.  I think it may just be the right time to fill my kitchen with the smell of the seasons first gingerbread!  Happy Friday!