Whipped (Peppermint) Body Butter

I have been inspired by my sister's craftiness to look into homemade body/beauty products. I have spent considerable time, as I am prone to do, online researching various reasons, methods, and recipes for making everything from face wash to body butter and shave cream. The reasons to do this are quite compelling. First of all, there is the laundry list of harmful, or potentially harmful ingredients in many of the products we put on our skin daily. The skin is our largest organ, making up about 10 percent of our body mass, and absorbs chemicals not only into the layers of skin, but also into our blood stream and body systems. The CDC has an excellent explanation of skin absorption of toxins on their website, found here: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/skin/. Another reason to make  your own homemade body products is the cost (hubby likes this reason). Organic or low-ingredient cosmetic and beauty products are, contrary to common sense, quite expensive. A single bottle of good face wash costs anywhere from $15 to $30, and an excellent face wash can cost $60 or more (just go to Ulta and check it out). The same few ingredients, however, can make a myriad of products for use in your bathroom, at a cost of <$10, usually <$5 per jar/bottle. So, I've decided to order the ingredients, and give it a shot. My intention is to details of all the stuff I make, but don't hold your breath, in case I get busy & it doesn't happen. After all, this is my first real post in 3 years.

Anyway, here is what I did. It turned out GREAT! And I plan to make a bunch more of this and other things to give as Christmas gifts (further justifying the start-up cost).

Whipped Body Butter:
Recipe obtained from Homemade Mommy's blog, whom I've been following since I started looking into this. Here's the link to the recipe, which was a link she had on her page: http://healthylivinghowto.com/1/post/2013/11/how-to-make-healthy-body-butter.html

There were lots of other recipes, and they may be just as good, or possibly better, but I only ordered Shea Butter, and not Cocoa Butter (well, it's on order, but hasn't arrived yet). So, I decided to start with this one, since I have all the ingredients on hand.

The recipe is quite simple.
1/2 cup Shea Butter (I got raw, organic, unrefined on Amazon)
1/4 cup Coconut Oil (NOT fractionated- this should be the solid-at-room-temperature stuff)
1/4 cup Sweet Almond Oil (the original recipe called for jojoba oil, but I didn't have it, and it's expensive)
Essential oils- I used Peppermint & Rosemary this time, but will probably try a different blend next time.

Steps:
1. Melt the 3 carrier oils in a double boiler (I used a glass dish in my cast iron pan with water)
   Tip: Be sure no water can get into the oils- it might ruin the whole project. Also, be sure the water       never comes to a boil. Just put it on low (I set mine to 2, I think).

2. Refrigerate for 1 hour. No longer! I got busy doing something else, and left mine in there for 10         minutes or so longer, and some of it started to harden. Then I had to wait for it to melt again.
3. Add Essential Oils (I kept adding as I smelled/tried it, so don't worry about starting slow & adding      more later. I used about 15 drops of Peppermint & 10 or so of Rosemary to mine.

(Here I'm adding a final drop or 2 after it's all whipped up)

4. Whip. Using a kitchen mixer (this will NOT harm your kitchen mixer- it's all food-grade stuff),            whip on high (mine has a "whip" setting) for a LONG time- several minutes, at least.  You can see      in the pictures that it starts to thicken up and turn more white. It starts to look like whipped cream        or whipped frosting. Don't stop too early or you won't have the right consistency or as much                product.

 (You can see the difference in texture from the top pic where it's like butter icing to the bottom, where it's more like thick whipped cream)

5. Put it in a pretty jar & "Voila!" You have yummy whipped body butter to use or give as a lovely          handmade gift.

This recipe made enough for me to fill two 8oz jelly jars. I'm going to be looking for fancier containers for the ones I give as gifts.

This smells heavenly, too. I am a big fan of peppermint anything, especially around the holidays, when it just smells like Christmas.

Let me know what you think, and especially if you try it out yourself. :)

And.... I'm back! (I hope)

A LOT has happened in the THREE YEARS(!!!) since I last posted here (hello, Captain Obvious). I've (finally) finished my doctorate (YAY!!), and I am starting to get my house, and other things under control. Well, sort of. I don't think things will ever actually be under control, but I at least feel somewhat free to sit here & post this weekend. Nathan is almost 9, and Warren is a big 4 & 1/2. They're both doing well in homeschooling, and we've gone from an "unschooling" approach to a much more structured one, especially for Nathan. Warren is more interested in "doing school" than Nathan was at his age, so I've bought some curriculum, but it's still kinda hit-or-miss.


As of this post, I am in my 21st week of pregnancy, and Little Bean (as we've named this unborn) is finally starting to make him/herself known. I had the first unsolicited comment about my pregnant status from a lady at Chick-Fil-A last week (she asked when I was due), and this morning, hubby felt LB kicking for the first time! A Daddy-Quickening. I've been feeling the LB kick around since mid-morning, but mostly kicking down, where it can't be felt from the outside. We have decided NOT to find out the gender of this child until LB is born. We're working on a fun way that big brothers can do the reveal after the birth.

I have the big ultrasound scheduled for this Monday, where we'll find out if Little Bean seems to be developing normally, or if there is any concern. They found a Choroid Plexus Cyst at the last U/S (at 18 weeks). The cyst itself is absolutely nothing to think twice about, except that it CAN be a "soft marker" for Trisomy 18. I did have genetic testing done- the accurate one where they take a lot of my blood & analyze it for baby's chromosomes. That test was normal, with a 98% reliability. So, in all likelihood, this U/S will just be a nice chance to see Little Bean kicking around more clearly, and put our minds at ease about development. I hope.

Stay tuned for some upcoming projects I've been working on. Some that I've been doing over the last couple of years, taking pics, but not taking the time to sit down and post, and one that I just did today (Whipped Body Butter!).

Crafty Hats

So, it's been forever since I have posted anything, I know.  I'm sorry.  Life happens.  Anyway, on to the fun craft that Jen R. and I did last night!

So, our MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers) group had a Tea Party this morning, and each table (assigned groups) was responsible for our own decorations, theme, and food.  Our table, Chemistry Chicas, decided to do a vintage garden theme, and several of us wanted to make our own hats.  We tried to get together a few times, but it ended up being just Jen and me at my house, and everybody else on their own.  Jen found this great pattern for a fabric flower that made a great headpiece she glued to a headband (I'll try to link her blog when she gets it up).  I had made a felt pillbox hat and was going to go with Jackie O. style, but nobody else seemed to really dig that, and one of the other moms made her own fascinator hat in chic retro style, so I was inspired to follow suit. 

I couldn't find my gardeny dress that I made to wear, so I was going with a black-and-white number I picked up at the thrift shop this week (although I ended up wearing a black, white, and red one I had).  So, after pouring through the "images" I found when I Googled "fascinator," I finally decided that I really wanted to do one with a shaped base.  I pondered that for a few minutes before coming up with an old (washed) large yogurt container as the base piece.  It was a really big one, so the curve was just about right, and it was thin enough to really have negligible weight and sufficient give while still being sturdy.  I'll detail my process below.


So I cut out the shape I wanted:

Since my dress is black and white, I decided to cover this in a plain matte black (bottom weight, nothing special).  So I traced the shape of the base piece on my fabric, and cut about 1/2 inch outside the line (it doesn't have to be perfect), then a second piece exactly on the line, or even a little inside the line.

I used a hot glue gun (I think I used the low-temp one for this) to glue the large piece onto the top of the base piece, and around the edge, turning the fabric under and gluing.

Next, I trimmed the smaller fabric piece to a little less than the size of the base and glued it on the underside.

Voila!! The base is done and ready for embellishment.  Inspired by some of the hats at the recent royal wedding, I decided to go with some tulle in an asymmetric sortof bow, which I hot-glued close to the center of the base piece.  To do this, I cut about 2 feet (?) of tulle, about 8-10 inches wide, and looped it, with one loop wildly longer than the other, and the raw ends underneath.  I sortof tucked the raw sides inside (like turning them under as if to hem, but then not).

I had purchased a few different embellishments and wasn't sure what I would use, but in the end, I decided to go with standard hat-fare, and just used feathers.  I used black and white small feathers (well, my whites were off-white, but...), alternating them with mostly black, and white as just an accent.  I hot-glued them on top of the place where I glued the tulle. and facing the front of the hat, pointing towards the larger loop.  See the pic- it's much clearer than the explanation.  Then, for some additional flare, I added a peacock feather I had leftover from another old project.  To cover up all the glue and the ends of the feathers, I added a black faceted button-type novelty (with the high-temp hot glue).

I thought it was very pretty at this point, and was tempted to call it done, but when I tried it on, Jen pointed out that the black feathers almost disappeared in my dark hair.  So, I decided to add some red ribbon to spice it up and make it pop.  So I found some wide (very lightly wired) ribbon, and just glued it on- no hemming necessary.  I just glued the ends under and left the edge sticking out almost like a brim.  I think the effect was really quite lovely.

I also high-temp glued a barette to the bottom of the underside (although I accidentally got it backwards, it still worked).  I was careful to open the barrette before gluing so it would still work.  And that is my beautiful hat.

I thought it turned out rather well, and looked pretty on, too.  I actually won the "Fancy Nancy" award at the tea party.  I think it was the peacock feather that did it.  I wouldn't wear it with the peacock anywhere besides a silly party, but when I got home I removed the peacock feather, and I think it would do for a wedding- royal or otherwise.  I may just have to find a place to wear it.  Or maybe I'll make another to go with a different dress the next time I need to dress up.  It was a lot of fun to make and to wear as well.  I would love it if hats came back, what fun!!!

And here's the cute flower one Jen made.

Use the Good Dishes

One of my favorite things about any holiday, especially at my mother's house, is dressing the table.  My mother has, to my recollecting, three full sets of fine china, two full sets of silver, at least one set of crystal water glasses, and too many fine serving dishes to enumerate.  I know that a lot of families have these nice things either on display or locked in a chest somewhere gathering dust, but my mother, God bless her, breaks them out at every occasion.  It is really a blessing that she has enough pieces to use them at our over-large family gatherings, since it is often my family of origin, my in-laws, and my sister's husband and stepson and sometimes her husband's uncle.  Whether it is Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, or just someone's birthday dinner, we love to use the good dishes.  It's fun!  It makes any occasion "special," and makes everyone feel like we're really celebrating something worthwhile (at least it does me).  I also think it shows respect to the people in attendance.  It sends the message that they are worthy of your best things.  Sure, if you use those things it is possible something will get broken, but if you don't what's the point of having it?  I feel that way about a lot of things, actually.  There's a country song that says it all, "wear your red dress and use your good dishes, make a big mess and make lots of wishes..."  (How You Live, by Point of Grace).  I really think that is the way to live.  I let my kids play in their good clothes (sometimes), I encourage the kids to have fun making crafts and art and science projects on my kitchen table.  So what if we get paint on the counter?  It'll wipe up.  And if Warren's new shirt gets strawberries on it, either it will wash out or we'll have a new shirt to eat strawberries in.  I don't mean I'm completely careless.  I try to make Nathan wear the older shoes to play outside in the dirt, and I have a spare bib in my diaper bag.  I usually make the kids eat on plastic plates for regular meals.  But on special occasions, even they get to eat on the fine china. 

Taking a "Time Out"

My oldest son, Nathan, who is 5 years-old, is definitely what  you'd call a "high-energy" kid.  If you could harness the energy that kid uses in a day, you could power Manhattan!  I was very sorry when he stopped taking regular naps when he was about 4 years-old.  We tried the forced nap time thing, but honestly, it usually took more of my energy and effort to fight and cajole him into being quiet for 30 minutes than it did just to let him be.  At almost 5-and-a-half, we really don't even consider naps any more.  Even after playing hard at the park all morning, he will seldom be asleep when we get home (though sometimes).  Although he really is a great and well-behaved child with a generally sweet and cooperative demeanor, he does sometime get too wild or have a bad attitude (sarcastic gasp!).  I suppose it is partly related to all the energy he has, partly genetic, and partly learned from the way he sees his parents (well, mostly his father) react, but I think it's mostly that he's 5.  Like most 5 year-olds, he likes to get his way, and he is learning what his place is in his world, and where the (ever-moving) boundaries are now.  At 5, and with a baby brother and young dog, I give him more responsibility and trust than I did even 6 months ago.  Usually, my trust is well-placed, but he is only 5, after all.  Sometimes he makes mistakes, and sometimes I have to remind myself that it is I who made the mistake of putting too much on his small shoulders.  I expect a lot of him partly because I'm trying to teach him to be responsible, and to treat him like a "big boy", and partly because he acts like a big boy enough that I sometimes forget how little he is.   And honestly, sometimes because I really need the help.  It is a learning process for him, certainly, but it is for his parents at least as much.  Our theme for this week, as we are visiting grandparents and aunts and uncles, is RESPECT.  Other than reminding him of it and talking about it, I haven't yet decided what I'll do for lessons on respect.  Hopefully I'll get to that as soon as I finish writing this blog.

Speaking of writing this blog, my original intent was to write about a great technique that I learned of during a MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting a couple of weeks ago.  The speaker was a kindergarten teacher of some experience who gave me all sorts of inspirations and ideas for teaching and playing with the boys.  One of my favorite things she showed us, though, was her "time out bottle."  I don't call it that at my house, we call it the Calming Bottle or sometimes just the Blue Bottle.  It is simply a thick plastic bottle (clear, like a water bottle) with an amount of Karo Light corn syrup and about 3 drops of blue food coloring in it.  I used about 1.5 to 2 Tbsp of syrup, and added a pinch of multicolored glitter to mine.  The idea is to sit with the bottle and turn and twist it until all of the syrup coats the bottle, and the bottle looks blue.  It is basically a mindfulness exercise that promotes calm, and helps center the person.  The amount of Karo determines how long the exercise takes, and how difficult.  For young children, you might put more syrup, and for older ones or adults, you would use less.  My parents (both therapists) thought it was a terrific idea, and I think Mom wants to make several for her clients (she is an addictions counselor).  I think it is a great tool for parents, especially those with a high-strung child.  Nathan has always responded well to imagery. When he was having regular trouble with a bad attitude a year or so ago, we would talk to him about throwing the attitude away or or otherwise trapping or detaining it.  He came up with the most creative ways of getting rid of the attitudes, including drowning them, throwing them out the window, putting bombs on them, and other very "boy" things.  I really think the creative outlet of coming up with various ways of detaining or killing an attitude helped improve his mood.   So, now that the major problem is too much energy, we talk about trapping the excess energy in the blue bottle.  It is still somewhat new in our house, but so far I think it is working as intended.  At the very least, it is a good way of timing a "time out" without telling the child that's exactly what's going on, and while giving the child some control (or sense of) over the amount of time he or she spends calming down.  Rather than the kid bouncing on the bed or sitting there thinking how much he hates being sent to his room, while his energy is only mounting, hopefully this exercise offers the opportunity to focus on accomplishing a small task to show mom that his attitude has improved or energy is trapped,  or whatever the particular issue of the moment.  If we think it is so, it will be.  It helps us turn a negative into a positive and gives the child a chance to seize control of himself and the situation, while effecting a positive change, which is exactly our ultimate goal for our children, isn't it?

A Day at the Park

After dropping Bryan off at the airport this morning, we drove to my dad's office to see when he would be available for the picnic lunch my sister and I had planned.  To my surprised delight, he was available immediately, and we all took off for the park.  Dad played Badminton with Nathan in the grass at Greensboro's Bicentennial Gardens while I took pictures of them playing and Warren in the grass.  Chica and Joel eventually arrived, and we had hoagie-roll sandwiches with leftover chicken and ham and cheese from the weekend.  Everybody played in the grass and laughed.  Nathan and Dad flew (I use the term loosely) Nathan's kite.  We had a wonderful time, and it seemed oddly normal.  Maybe it is because my brother and sister and I have played together at the park countless times in our lives, or maybe it is meant that we should live near to one another and share in each others lives, or maybe it is simply that we were all very relaxed today with hardly any agenda.  But whatever the reason, it was simply lovely.  The weather was wonderful and the park was clean and not crowded.  Neither was it desolate, though.  There was a nice-looking family with two young boys at another picnic table.  The  other wore a head scarf and worked on her laptop computer much of the time we were there.  They were there when we arrived and still when we left.   group of older people sat talking at the table below ours for a long time, but eventually left.  We stayed a long time, but it didn't really seem like it, even though I was looking after two small children.  Dad eventually had to go back to work, but took Joel's car so the rest of us could stay and play longer.  Joel and Chica played soccer with Nathan, and it was really good to see them getting along and laughing so much.

Nathan really enjoyed the attention of his aunt,  uncle and grandfather, and Warren enjoyed the sunshine and the grass.  Warren also enjoyed the badminton rackets, and attempting to eat the shuttlecocks.

It seems I am currently unable to post pics, so I'll have to try to get those up tomorrow.  Right now I am going to turn the Xoom off and go to sleep before I start babbling incoherently.

I got on Mom's laptop and was able to upload pics today!! Yay!

Easter

We are in Greensboro,  NC this week, even though Bryan and I were looking forward to Eastrr at our own church this year.  Bryan is flying to Kentucky Monday, and staying through Thursday, and I didn't want to be stuck at home with the kids , so we decided the best plan woud be for us to drive down for Easter, stay, and DH can fly out of and back into here before we go to the Duke Walk, and then drive home.  Then we found out that Pop needs a quadruple bypass, so we will be going to Asheville to visit them during the week of the surgery, which is conveniently scheduled the Monday following the walk.  I'm happy to see my famiky this week, and his next week, but I'm already starting to miss hubby, and I'm worried for Pop.

We had a lovely Easter today, though.  Pop and MomB drove over drom Asheville yesterday morning, and we enjoyed the day hunting Easter eggs with Nathan at a downtown Presbyterian church, shopping (the moms and I, mostly), eating (there's usually food involved in our gatherings- we are southern!), and telling jokes.  Bryan and I are so very blessed to have parents who consider each ither best friends.  It is not at all unusual for us to all share a holoday together.  In fact, we plan every Thanksgiving so that we swap houses each year: my mom's one year, then MomB's the next.  It's wonderful!!  So we went to Eaater church at my sister's 9:45 United Methodist church service.  I think it's alright, but Bryan really doesn't care for the downtown church.  To tell the truth, the sermon was alright, but the music was disappointing.  Call me old fashioned, but I really enjoy some good old Easter hymns, such as He Lives or Were You There? or The Old Rugged Cross.  But they not only didn't sing any hymns, but the usic they did choose wasn't really all that Eastery.  Oh well.  Dinner of lamb and ham, corn puding, salt potatoes, parmesan broccoli, deviled eggs, and lemon cake was fabulous!

And to top it off, Bryan and I got to go to icecream and a movir sans children!!  We aaw Hanna, which wasn't horrible, but honestly wasn't highly entertaining, either.  I mifht write a review of this movie some time this week, along with some more insight anout our trip to NC.