The checklist

I'm so far behind on so many things....  such is life.

So...here's my crafty checklist:

1. Finish Christmas ornament for swap, check out this cute pattern!
2. Finish Aria test knit (I love this one sooooo much!)  I'll post a link once the pattern is published.
3. Sew money envelope wallet for us - details of brainstorm below...
4. Sew snack bags for me, for Rammy, and more for Kara :)  cuz she said she liked'em
5. Sew crayon/art roll for Jared for his birthday (late!) - like one on pinterest with the broken link :(
6. Sew art pack/pencil crayon roll thingy for Sienna and Shauna for Christmas present extras
7. Sew interchangeable knitting needle holder for me  - still in planning stages
8. Sew baby boy diapers!!!  Yay!!!  We're having a boy!!!!

Ok...so that money system wallet...  I think maybe I'll make the envelopes with zippers...which might be a bit bulky but less than velcro...and seriously....I need a place for change in each of those envelopes!   Also... they will be deeper... with a seam along the bottom edge, separating the pocket part, from button holes...that I will string suede or leather strips through, to tie together inside a suede or leather outer wallet... will close with snaps... 
Sort of like a binder...where the envelopes are the paper....the leather is the binder...and the leather laces are the binder rings....make sense? no?  don't worry...I'll figure it out I'm sure....even if the first one is suuuuuuper ugly :)

Ok..and I'll need a pocket to keep coupons in...and a pocket to keep receipts in...I haven't decided if there should be a mini pocket on the back of each envelope to keep receipts for items purchased from that category...or if the receipts can just go inside the envelopes with the cash...hmmmmmm

Oh...and I did my meal plan for the WHOLE MONTH!

Knit time wasted!

Somehow it happened...I'm not sure when....but somewhere along the way I transitioned from being a very tight knitter....to being a very loose knitter (apparently).... now...I typically get gauge a couple of needles sizes down.
I have however...not yet learned to start my swatching a couple of needle sizes down...and arrrgh! that makes for a lot of wasted knitting time!

 File this under knitting lessons to self!

It's Monday....

...and I don't have a menu plan....

GASP!

I have spent the whole day cleaning the house and baking muffins in anticipation of our first small group night tonight though!...So...that's good right!

Perhaps it will be Tuesday Menu plan this week ;)

Menu Plan Monday!

Super super simple meal plan this week.... basically working from pantry items....

Monday:  Tacos...yum!
Tuesday:  Out
Wednesday:  Beef w Snowpeas & brown rice
Thursday:  Honey Mustard chicken w peas & corn
Friday:  Hmmm...what's for Friday...hmmmm   PITA PIZZAS!!!!  Yum!

Irish Cottage anyone??

Soo...I thought perhaps it would be faster to crochet some longies...I used to be so much faster at crochet.... ha!  NOOOOO

 I'm so slow now...I think I might be faster at knitting (and I'm a slow knitter)....maybe it's the single crochet...I've never been a fan of the single crochet....  :(

... so... perhaps I'll work on speeding up my knitting.... I'm going to try to change how I hold the yarn when I wrap/throw...  I watched a Stephanie Pearl McPhee video...man she's fast... and you know...when I first started knitting and did all long straight needles...I just naturally used that method, and always thought I was doing something weird and wrong!!!   man...I like...trained myself out of it!

...now... I pretty much only ever knit on circulars.... so...I'm going to try it again... there are other videos that show her working on circs.....wish me luck....  I'll likely fail.....lol..but this is my current obsession.....

Monday Meal Plan!

Soo...I've still been meal planning...but I've been doing it a little differently.    We really found the need with me going back to work to have everything planned out and organized so that we both have access to our calendar all the time!   So, I've gone back to using the google calendars.   I just made another calendar in a different colour, and I'm planning my meals on my google "meal plan" calendar now.  It's wonderful!   I love that I can just drag and drop the meals to rearrange them if we switch nights, or if for some reason we don't use one meal I can just drag it to the next week (assuming it's a pantry/freezer friendly meal).

So, anyways.   Our meals for this week are again super simple

Monday - Swiss Chalet leftovers (yes please!)
Tuesday - Tacos with fixins
Wednesday - Honey Mustard chicken with Peas and Corn
Thursday - Harold's birthday!!! Woot!  Ordering in food of his choosing (likely Chinese from Dragon Boat)
Friday - Beef and snow pea stir fry on brown rice (yum...still garden snow peas that I froze)

I'm still decluttering too...although I kindof fell off that horse for a bit.  Now, I'm back to motivated and I've done a fair bit this week.   Silly though :(  I forgot to take pictures..... ... bah!  I can't believe I've posted our super humiliating before pictures for all the world to see!...  It's OK..I know.... no one reads my blog ....hahaha....

Baby bum balm

I just made a batch of baby bum balm.   I am soooo pleased!  I hope it works a great as it looks. (update:  yes it does...it does work wonderfully!)

I used this post for instructions, although mine is a wee bit different.

I used grapeseed oil, because that's what I had leftover from when Pickle was super tiny and all the moisturizers left her red and screaming....  grapeseed oil was all we could use on her.

I bought a 6oz block of beeswax from an Etsy seller for $10 including shipping, and some calendula petals from another seller for about $3.    Since I already had the oil I consider that free.    I'm always saving things...so those tins are leftover tins from actual Dimpleskins Bum Bum Balm...which absolutely ROCKS and we've used it on Pickle since she was born..... it's $13 a tin.    I made my whole batch...equivalent to over 6 tins for the price of one.   I hope mine is good.   It's only got grapeseed oil, and the actual bum bum balm has several different oils, including coconut, and apricot kernal oil.     I suppose I could experiment sometime down the road if this first trial is at all a success.

So basically.... you make your infused oil....  cover the flower petals with oil...and let'em soak  (I did the fast method of putting it in the oven for a bit.  Preheat oven to 200F  and then turn it off.... then put your petal/oil mix in the oven and let it sit...for hours...I did overnight.

Now, for the actual bum balm making:

• grate one ounce of wax for every cup of oil you are using
• in a glass measuring cup (or whatever you're willing to give up forever) heat your oil/wax mixture on the stove in a small pot simmering water..... I used forks to keep the glass cup from touching the bottom...I need one of those wire rack thingies..
• Once wax is melted (this took a long while to get started, then went super fast) remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes
• Once 5 minutes has passed, stir in 8 drops of essential oil (Lavender) for every cup of oil you used
• Pour into your little containers, let cool,  enjoy pampered bottoms and extra money in your pocket  (to buy more yarn!)

 

There's the bum balm!  Upon first try...it seems a little less solid than the name brand....but better to be too soft than too hard right?  That's what I think anyways  :)  perhaps a wee bit more wax next time...or...maybe I just haven't waited long enough for it to fully harden.  :)  I am pleased!


Arrggg..I gotta say....formatting posts in blogger right now totally sucks :(  it was good for awhile...and now somehow something has changed...and tres frustrating again....arrrghhh!

Edit:  Nope...no need to change the amounts...the consistency is perrrrrfect!