Stop and Smell the Roses

I started up a new summer internship, which means for the past month I've been focused on commuter life and not so much on homesteading. However, with this long weekend, I found a new project.

Book page flowers!

I love flowers - particularly roses. But roses are expensive and unfortunately they die. Pinterest to the rescue.

What is more quaint, vintage and crafty than roses made from old book pages?

Somehow I managed to get my second cold of the summer and despite being an adult, my mother insisted I stay home from church and not spread germs to the entire congregation. So I opened the windows, turned on quiet hymns, and crafted not one, but a dozen paper roses.

It was a calming way to relax and meditate on the beauty of nature and the grace of God. Monday is just around the corner, but if you'd like to try your hand at these next weekend or during a quiet moment this week, here's how.

You'll need:

1. Book pages (from any book you don't want or read)
2. Scissors
3. Cotton swabs
4. Hot glue gun and glue sticks
5. Flower tape
6. Fake stems
7. Vase

First Step:

You will need five different sizes of petals, from about 1/2 inch to 2 inches wise and 1 to 2 inches tall, depending on how large you want your rose. Mine are about 3 1/2 to 4 inches in diameter.

Cut the paper in rounded petal designs, but don't worry about making them all the same. In fact, I'd suggest creating different variations for each rose, to keep them pretty and natural.

You can stack multiple book pages to cut out more than one petal of each size at a time, which might save your sanity, so I'd suggest it.

Each rose takes about 3 - 5 petals in each of the five sizes.

Second Step:

Using a cotton swab as your base, wrap one longer petal around in a tube shape and glue it down, as shown:

Third Step:

Roll the top of your smallest petal size about halfway down:

Fourth Step:

Pinch the bottom to create a rounded petal and glue onto the base. The 3 - 4 smallest petals should fold inward, covering the middle base.

Example of pinching with a larger petal for detail

For the Rest:

Roll, pinch and glue each successive petal, but instead of folding inward, fold out. I found it easiest to use scissors to curl the edges (like you would gift ribbon). There really isn't a science to this, you just fill them in where they look best.

Curled outward using the scissor method

In the end, you will have this:

The bottom:

You can purchase green flower tape and stems to seal your bases and have a nice long stem. I don't have any yet, so mine are just resting on the cotton swabs. I'll update once I get the supplies!

Finally, find a vase (mason jars are my favorite), twine, ribbon or lace and create a nice home for your bouquet! Perfect for your counter top or bedside table and no watering required.

If you love these but would rather have someone else make them - let me know! I'll ask for enough money to cover supplies and a little labor, but I can make them out of any paper you'd like. It takes about 20 minutes start - to - finish for each rose!

Happy Summer :)

Success Tastes Good

So yes, my homesteading exploits have resulted in some marked failures. However, every now and again something goes wonderfully right.

In this case, it was Honey Oat bread and Sweet Potato Fries! (Not eaten together, of course)

Although my Pilgrim upbringing taught me to kneed and bake bread in an oven that you heat by building a fire within it, I decided to try the 21st century on and bake some in a new-fangled breach machine (that my mother has owned most of her married life, haha).

I found a recipe online for how to bake this in the oven, but I simply put the ingredients in my bread machine and let it cook. (SO much easier and faster than the 17th-century method, but without the epic smoky taste).

In the end, it looked like this:

I did substitute a 5.3 oz container of vanilla Greek yogurt for the 8 oz. of plain yogurt and used about half the allotted honey because that was all we had. It turned out delicious and everyone ate it. My brother said it tasted like pilgrim bread, which was a huge success. In the end, the bread was dense and filling!

Sweet potato fries were a new frontier in our house. My mother isn't a huge fan of said potatoes, but she let me use the olive oil, salt and pepper to flavor thin slices of sweet potato.

I baked them until golden (25ish minutes at 350 degrees F). My sister and mom still weren't huge fans, but my dad went back for seconds, so I'd say that was a success! Regardless, I love sweet potato fries, so I'll make them for myself!

Yum!

Conditioning lotion bars are NOT for hair

You may have just read my last post about my failed attempts at making dandelion syrup. What you might not have noticed is the terrible stringy/oily look of my hair in that last picture.

If you happened to be so observant, I'll offer up an explanation: homemade conditioner. Turns out the bar is fantastic as a body lotion and shaving cream. My legs have never been smoother! However, even a tiny amount of my conditioning bar resulted in horribly moisturized hair.

Check out this picture of my hair after drying all night AND being straightened:

Ewwwwwwwwwwww.

As you can see from my eyeball peeking out, I was less than amused. However, my mother and I were headed out in an hour to go BJ's grocery shopping. My solution? Corn starch. Yep, I ran about 1/2 cup of corn starch through my hair and brushed it out. Here is the before and after:

After tying it in a ponytail, it at least held up until I got home! Then I washed it and still had oily hair and ended up shampooing with my "old" shampoo three times before I could bear to go out in public. Lesson? Homemade shampoo has enough moisturizing ability that extra conditioner is absolutely NOT needed. Unless, of course, you are going for the greasy-I-forgot-to-shower look.

However, you still need one of these conditioning bars! Why? Like I said, it made my legs feel silky smooth after shaving with it. See below for how to make your own.

You will need:

1 small container

Coconut oil

Olive oil

Essential oil

Crock Pot

I am using a recycled Greek yogurt container. I made a very small bar because I was just testing this out, but the container provided a cute round mold for the conditioning bar.

Take some coconut oil, 1 tsp of olive oil (mine was infused with coffee beans) and 1 tsp of vanilla essential oil in jojoba oil and melt it together.

I bought my coconut oil from Soaper's Choice. It was $23 (shipping and handling included) for 7 lbs, which is by far the best deal. However, you can buy smaller amounts at any grocery store. Keep in mind most coconut oil melts at 76 degrees, but this one melts at 92 degrees. The higher melting point means the bar stays solid. If you use the 76 degrees, it might melt in the shower!

I'm not sure whose brilliant idea it was to put a solid into a pour-top container, so I just cut the top off!

Once everything is melted together, pour it into your container (using recycled containers is good stewardship of the earth!)

I stuck mine in the fridge to harden because it was already 8 p.m. by the time I had poured the conditioner. It was ready for a shower by my 9:30 ish bed time (haha).

It popped right out of the container and looked like this. What a cute bar!

If you wanted, you could probably add some natural colorant, but a white bar didn't bother me and it smelled like a French Vanilla Coffee! So yes, I tried rubbing it in my hands and massaging it onto the tips of my hair, but we saw how that worked...

But I also rubbed it on my legs and used it as shaving cream. My legs felt so soft and moisturized right out of the shower - no need for extra lotion! So go make your own, or better yet, for a couple dollars I'll make you one! :) 

Dandelion Syrup Failure

So, it sure is fun to share your successes for all to see, but as my dad taught me, you have to be willing to laugh at yourself. Today has been a day of, well, "failures" as far as my projects go.

Did you happen to see my first attempt at dandelion syrup?

Shockingly, I managed to get the pot clean and my mother graciously allowed me a second attempt.

I scavenged for more untreated dandelions, took the flowers, pulled out the petals, soaked them overnight and then strained the flowers out:

Here is what the water looked like before and after adding sugar and honey:

Mom and I stood over the pan for over an hour, carefully ensuring nothing burned. Finally, when it looked like this, we decided to pour it into mason jars.

Problem was, as soon as the mixture cooled, it started expanding like a volcano! Here is a great shot my brother got me attempting damage control:

In the end, I scraped out what I could and plan to make it into a sugar body scrub (hate to be wasteful!) and the rest took a hot bath until it all fizzled away to crispy sugar heaven.

I got a good laugh - I think dandelion syrup and I might have to break up.

So yes, that's a fail! My second failure? Stick around and I'll show you =)

DIY Shampoo!

I posted on Facebook yesterday about how amazed I was with how great my homemade shampoo worked!

Some people asked how I made it, so here we go:

First, I used some of the soap I've been making. It came out too soft to use as bar soap (too much oil!), so I melted it down, mixed it with water and let it sit over night. After a good stir I had liquid soap! This variety was made with olive oil and veggie shortening and is lemon scented, infused with green tea leaves.

You will need:

Homemade liquid soap (keep in mind a store-bought soap doesn't have the awesome naturalness of homemade kind, nor does it contain the glycerin you need for this to work)

Olive Oil

Coconut Milk
Honey
Guar Gum
Any Essential Oils for smelliness :)
Container

I took about 100 mL of the liquid soap and mixed it in with 1/4 cup of coconut milk, a bit more than 1 tsp of olive oil and 1 tsp of honey that my sister's boyfriend sent us from Kentucky (I'm sure any honey will work).

I added guar gum (you can buy it on Amazon) to thicken, but keep in mind this won't be as thick as your store-bought shampoo.

I took my immersion blender (bought it at Walmart for $20) and blended it all and put it into an empty fizzy water bottle. You could use a cute container of some sort if you'd rather, but I figured this worked great for me.

Because this is more liquidy, I used more of it than I would my Head and Shoulders (aren't I fancy?). It doesn't bubble and lather as much, but it is getting your hair clean.

One of the biggest tips is storage: you can't keep this in the shower or it will go bad! It needs cool, dark conditions, so either under the sink or in the fridge for the longest keep. I wouldn't suggest making more than you would use in about two weeks. I heard adding Vitamin E can help it stay longer, so you could try that too.

I used my regular conditioner (Herbal Essences Coconut and Orchid) afterward and my hair kept great for 3 days! I am working on homemade conditioner, so stay tuned.

Just a note on hair type: I have shoulder-length, thick, wavy, darkish hair. I am convincing my sister Emily to try the recipe too (she won't let me test on the cat - just kidding! I wouldn't do that).  I can't say how this will work if you have curly, straight, thin, lighter, etc. hair. Regardless, if you'd like to test some I can provide you with a little bit and you can see if you like it!

What!?! Another blog attempt

So this isn't the first and likely won't be the last time I start a blog with good intentions of keeping it up. I'd like to say I'm turning a new leaf, but I won't get anyone's hopes up and promise I will be successful at updating this every day. But dear Tory Cooney encouraged me that as long as I'm enjoying crazy homesteading exploits, I should keep a project journal. Since she is awesome, I'll give it another go.

Today's Project:

Summery Lemony Homemade Candle

Did you know you can make candles with Crisco? Yep. It's true. In fact, a 6 lb. container should burn non-stop for 45 days (for all you doomsday-preppers out there). But if you aren't so concerned with prepping and would rather just have a nice summery candle in a mason jar, here are my not-so-specific tricks of the trade.

You will need:
1 mason jar (or any other glass container - but seriously, 12 mason jars for less than $9 at Walmart makes them very worth it) (Also, don't use plastic)
Enough Crisco to fill the jar
Old crayons (I may or may not have borrowed some from Sunday School with the intention of replacing them with nice, new crayons)

Lemon essential oil (Or, for a cheaper version, steep lemon peels in olive oil for a few days in the sunshine - Thank you pilgrim life for the art of making smelly oils)

A crock pot or double boiler

Wicks (buy them on Amazon, or at a craft store)

Let's begin!

I'm not sure if I should blame the pilgrim in me or my laziness, but I'm not one for precise measurements (unless, of course, I'm using lye, because I might die). I just scooped the Crisco into my crock pot until I felt like I had enough. I wanted to do different layers of yellow shades, so I just did a little at a time (However, the last two were more or less the same color, gotta fix that next time).

While that melts, take a crayon and use a knife to shave off as much colorant as you want. This is all up to personal preference, but do remember that it will be lighter than it looks in the end because hard Crisco is white.

Once everything is all melted, pour some lemony goodness into it (the essential oil) and then pour the mixture into the mason jar.

HALT!

Did you put the wick in? Now is a good time for that. You can either tape or glue to the wick to the bottom of the jar. Again, I'm not one to be precise, so I just had the wick suspended from a random piece of wood I found in the basement. The oil doesn't harden immediately, so you have plenty of time to adjust the wick as you need.

If you want a layered look, you have to let each layer harden before adding the next layer. The time for the Crisco to melt takes about as long as it takes for a smaller layer of Crisco to harden. My mother suggested I measure out the colorant to make sure each layer is different (seems so difficult, haha, just teasing).

In the end, it looks like this (if you fail with the layers)! Also, here is a pine-scented candle I made from some left overs of an old candle and Crisco - the specks are green tea leaves.

So, you could spend the time to make these, or if you want one, just let me know and for a small fee ($5-7 depending on the scent) I will create you your very own! :)