Easy Homemade Lip Balm Recipe

This lip balm is the best. I've tried all sorts of expensive natural chapstick and been disappointed every time. When I started using my homemade stuff, I was able to go from constant, all day application to once in the morning and once at bedtime!

 

Ingredients:

2 tsp coconut oil

1 tsp beeswax

1 vitamin E capsule

5-10 drops of sweet almond oil 

*optional 5-10 drops essential oil such as sweet orange, peppermint, vanilla or cinnamon

Melt it all in a pan (be clever and use one that pours well) on low heat. If using essential oils, add after removing from the heat. Pour into containers.

Tips:
 *I bought a big brick of beeswax from a honey supplier. I use a sharp, heavy knife to shave off the wax and then pack it into the teaspoon. You can also buy beeswax in pellet form (much easier to deal with) or if you don't want to buy a lot of wax, a chopped beeswax tea light will do.
*Lip balm containers can be found at some health food stores or on Etsy
*I quadruple the recipe to fill approx 12-0.15oz containers (standard twist up size)

Picnic Perfect Lemonade by the Jar

This lemonade is the best I've ever made and it only takes 3 steps, 2 ingredients and I made 4 jars in less than 5 minutes. I'm thinking I could even add a shot of vodka for hard lemonade for a grown up BBQ!

Supplies & Ingredients:

250 mL Mason Jars (as many as you'd like!)
Measuring Cup and Spoons
Sugar
Lemon Juice
Hot (or boiling) water
Ice Cubes

1.) Add 1 heaping Tbsp of sugar and an inch of hot tap water to each mason jar. Put on the lid and shake to dissolve the sugar.


2.) Add 30 mL (2 Tbsp, 1/8 cup) or lemon juice to each jar.

3.) Pack full of ice cubes and screw the lid on. It will be perfect by the time you unpack your picnic lunch, just give it a little shake before you open it!

If you plan on drinking it right away, add 2-3 ice cubes and fill the rest of the way with cold water. Yum!

No More Ugly Ketchup Bottles

I was looking for a way to spruce up the look of condiments on burger night and decided on plain old mason jars- my favorite! Such a simple, classy and appealing way to serve condiments. no more ugly bottles around here. Or at least when there's company...

First I Spy Quilt for Sale

I finally got the nerve to list my 'Cotton Candy' I Spy quilt. I'm not sure why I was worried about posting. I think pricing quilts is just challenging! I'm hoping to have the boy quilt finished sometime this month, it's going to be adorable.

Tutorial: DIY Forward Facing Bookselves

I love forward facing bookshelves and have been wanting to buy some for quite a while. I'd been putting off making a purchase and snooping for tutorials for a while when I finally found a great tutorial on JOT.

In true Freya style, I skimmed the tut and winged it. Here's how I DIY'd all four of these shelves for under $25 including paint. It was actually really easy, especially since they did the cuts for free at the hardware store.

Supplies:
2x2x8 lumber (mine were cut into 4' lengths by the guy at Home Depot)
Trim, 2.5-3" tall and cut to the same length as your lumber. I used flat back baseboard trim with a simple profile.
Glossy Paint. Glossy is more durable. I used quick dry spray, but any kind you like works.
Flathead Wood Screws #12 x 3". We used 3 screws per 4' length
1.5" Finishing nails
Drill
Hammer or Nail Gun
Stud Finder
Level
Measuring Tape

1.) Paint your wood and trim the day before.

2.) Pick your spot on the wall. Use the stud finder to locate your studs and shift your position so the spacing is reasonably even. Using your level, make marks, on the studs, where you want the screws to go. We put the center screw on one stud and the outside screws into the next stud on either side.

3.) Pre-drill holes into the lumber and the wall. Staring in the center, screw the lumber to the wall. Check for level BEFORE you screw the end screws in!

4.) Decide on your spacing and continue on up the wall. We used 16" gaps between each of our 4 shelves.

5.) Nail trim to the front of your shelves. Make sure the bottom and corners are flush and nail away. Space the nails differently than the screws so you don't nail into metal! We used 4 nails on each shelf.

6.) Done! I just touched up the nail heads with a little white craft paint and that was it. The project only took and hour and a half or so after the painting was done.

One of my best bang-for-the-buck DIY projects so far. $2 per 2x2x8, $0.59 per foot for the trim, $8 for screws and nails and $5 for paint = $22 total!

Easy-Peasy DIY Wall Art

I found this genius idea somewhere on the world wide web and had to use it immediately! We're slowly re-decorating our house and there was a perfect unused spot on the wall for these little gems. All you need are embroidery hoops and fabric. So easy, and so darling!

Craft Kit: Creative Birthday Gift

Daniel had a party to go to this weekend, and I wanted to send him with something useful, that the parents and child would be glad to have!  I found a cardboard suitcase at Homesense and filled it with craft supplies.

Here's what we put inside:
Ruler Box with pencil crayons inside
Unfinished wooden box
People Pegs
Beads
Mini Easel and Canvas
Scissors
Paint
Alphabet Stickers
Craft Foam
Glue Tape
Clothes pins
Notebook


I personalized it by stamping "Aubrey's Craft Kit" on paper and sticking it to the inside of the lid. There are all sorts of more fancy ways I could have done it, but we were short on time!

Easy Wooden Alphabet Blocks Tutorial

Here are a few lost photos of some ABC blocks I made for Daniel when he was learning his letters. He still loves them and now he's using them to spell. They're so easy to make!

Supplies:
Jenga Blocks (I used a no-name brand and saved a few dollars)
Permanent Marker, preferably non-toxic
Paper
Optional-Stencils, if you don't like drawing!

1.) Plan your simple drawings for each letter on the sheet of paper. Simple is best. Here are the objects I used, in alphabetical order:
Apple, Balloon, Candles, Duck, Egg, Fire, Gingerbread man, Hat, Ice cream, Juicebox, Kite, Leaf, Mittens, Nose, Oven, Pencil, Queen, Rabbit, Stars, Teepee, Umbrella, Vacuum, Watermelon, Xylophone, Yarn, Zipper.

2.) Start drawing! It only took me one evening for the whole project because I made everything as simple as possible. I drew the upper and lower case letter with a picture of an object starting with that letter on one side, and left the other blank. I repeated the capital letter on both ends of the block as well.

3.) I used a few of the extra blocks for simple sight words as well. Right after I gave Daniel his blocks, he saw a coupon (he had just turned 3) and said "Mommy, why does this paper say 'off'?" I just about fell over! I wrote one word on each side On/Off, Mom/Dad, Open/Close, Yes/No, Go/Stop, Hi/Bye etc.

This is a great gift because you can personalize it for your child with color, drawings and sight words that you think they'd enjoy!

10 Minute Piggy Bank

Who doesn't love a great "no skills required" craft once in a while? This little project reminds me that simple, re-purposed materials are usually the most intriguing for a child.

A few months ago bought some lovely organic cream that came in a glass bottle (it makes me wish I enjoyed home-coffee as much as store-coffee so I could buy more cream).  I just couldn't resist the container and when I was done I didn't want to put it into the recycling bin, so I gave it to Daniel to play with.

My Dad was visiting and watching Daniel 'plink' the coins into the bottle when he suggested we make it into a real piggy bank. He just cut a little slot into the lid with a utility knife and it was done. It's been a favorite toy for quite a few months now. Good call by Papa!

Easy Wholesome Dinner for a Busy Day!

Time to share my go-to simple, healthy dinner with you. I make it on a hot day or when I'm super tired. Brie, crackers, fruit and nuts. Wholesome, pretty and delish!

 I slice my Brie in half and fill it with jam/jelly or pesto, then heat it in the toaster oven or microwave until it's warm and melty. Before Daniel liked Brie, I would add in whatever other cheese we had in fridge so he'd have some protein.

Yummy cracker assortment with dried fruit (raisins this time) and nuts in shot glasses. And mixed berries to round it out. Once in a while I'll scrap the dried fruit and nuts and make berries with yogurt and granola instead.

Enjoy a night off from cooking while your family scarfs nutritious food!

Quiet Book Photo Bonanza!

Baby Shower Basket post #3! I always wanted to make a quiet book for Daniel, but couldn't seem to carve out the time. Now Daniel's older and things are much easier so I decided to try it for the baby shower.  I think it's going to be a great toy for restaurants, traveling, church or the car. A few of the older kids got to test drive it, and hands down, the oven was the favorite! So, without further ado, here's the photo bonanza!

 

Fun, right? I hope my little peanut enjoys it as much as I would have when I was small!

Mini I-Spy Doll AND Tummy Time Quilt

Here is the mini I spy quilt I made for my goddaughter. Part of the Baby Shower gift basket. I made it big enough for tummy time, but small enough to use as a doll quilt when she's a little bigger, about 32"x 32".

I adore I spy quilts, but I really hate quilting, so mini is perfect! I decided to round the corners, use a zig zag stitch and embrace the quirkiness of my quilting skills. At least on the second attempt, the squares all lined up!

I've also finished my first I Spy crib quilt for sale. This one is not quirky at all! Just plain cute. I'm debating about listing it in my shop. I really love the cotton candy colors!

And last but not least, this little gem that's already been snatched up! I used a simple, self binding method and I think it may have won me over to quilting! It's so much easier.

Girly Baby Shower: Candy Buffet, Dolies and Tissue Paper Flowers

I finally organized the long-awaited shower for my little goddaughter! Our theme was "sweet" with super-girly decor and a candy buffet. I used glass jars, milk jugs and bowls to display the candy. The little sugar tongs were a nice (and sanitary!) touch.

I taped multiple doilies together (on the underside) in varying sizes to make runners for the candy buffet. I also cut small doilies in half and quarters to embellish the brown paper candy bags. I think they might be my favorite touch! The saltwater taffy, gourmet mini lollypops and cotton candy were some of the biggest hits.

I made the doily bunting with large and small doilies and craft string. I used two sizes, folding some in half (and gluing with stick glue) and leaving some round (either tape onto string or sandwich 2 doilies and glue) in a random pattern. I left about 4-8" between each. 

The tissue paper flowers were made from a Martha tutorial. Rather than floral wire I used white twist ties. For the bunting, you just cut down the tissue paper into quarters and tie them onto string before fluffing them out.

Here are our guests of honor; Mama and Little A, and the basket of goodies I made as the gift. I can't wait to show you what's in that basket, but this post is getting a little long!

Little one enjoying her teething ring. Babies LOVE these! They're my favorite shop item. I think...

My little Peanut and I. What a darling. I'm so lucky to be her godmama!