While Walking My Dogs

Pinterest 365 – Day 10 – DIY Watering Can

Posted on November 10, 2012 by gracieed

This past summer I planted tomatoes in containers on our deck. I would water them everyday, sometimes with the hose and other times, when I was in a rush, with a pitcher. I often thought it would be nice to have some kind of watering can.

Well today I have one and it works beautifully. It was also completely free and non-wasty. Yeah!

I found the tutorial on the “A Journey to a Dream” blog.

It was super easy and fast. First, I made sure to save my 1/2 gallon milk carton and wash it. Then I found a sharp needle and a candle (I needed the flame). The tutorial talked about heating the needle with a match flame, but I’m a chicken with matches so I lit a candle and ran the needle through that flame. It’s important that the needle is hot so it will melt the plastic lid. And melt it does – like butter!

After I finished making a number of holes in the lid, I filled the bottle with water and attached the lid. The water flowed out beautifully and will work perfectly the next time I need to water a plant. I think I will make a couple more. And I’m seriously considering these as Christmas gifts (just kidding :-))

“Does this mean you’re not going to use the hose anymore? ‘Cause that would be fine with me. I’m not a huge fan of the hose.”

Posted in Backyard, Gardening, Homemade, Pinterest, Recycling, Repurposing, Saving Money | Tagged backyard, Gardening, homemade, Pinterest, recycling, repurposing, saving money | 3 Comments

Pinterest 365 – Day 9 – Cinnamon Spice Soap

Posted on November 9, 2012 by gracieed

Today I made soap. I’ve made it before, but I needed a new batch and Mike had made a request for some Cinnamon Spice soap. The recipe I use is from the Soapmaker’s Companion, by Susan Miller Cavitch. It’s called the Soap Essentials bar made from olive oil, coconut oil and palm oil. Very simple, and so luxurious. Rebecca’s Soap Deli News is also an excellent source for instructions and ingredients to make cold process soap. Another resource I use is the Soap Queen for tutorials and supplies.

I am in awe of the soap making process. First, that someone figured out that if you mix oil and lye (sodium hydroxide) you’ll get soap. The discovery process can be mysterious. I love making soap, but I have to say that I always feel like I am forever a beginner, mainly because of the chemical process. I’m nervous of messing up some step that will cause me waste a batch. So far I’ve not had to throw anything out, so maybe my nervousness is a good thing. I will put a caution here: LYE (sodium hydroxide) is not to be messed around with. It’s an incredibly corrosive alkaline and both wet lye and dry lye solutions are highly caustic and may cause chemical burns, permanent injury or scarring, and blindness. Lye may be harmful or fatal if swallowed. Don’t take this lightly and by all means make sure you have eye protection, latex gloves and keep your limbs covered.

This recipe says that it will yield 40 bars, but my soap mold yields 48 for me (my bars are a little smaller). Mike and I go through about 2 bars every two weeks so a batch will last us 48 weeks. It will take 5-6 weeks to cure and will be ready sometime around the 2nd week of December. Patience is required for this soap, but it is so worth it.

Here are my steps (abbreviated version):

1. Mix lye with distilled water (let sit until the temperature drops to 80 degrees)

2. Mix oils together and heat to 80 degrees

3. When both lye and oils reach 80 degrees slowly drizzle lye into the oil stirring constantly.

4. When you’re able to see a trace of oil on the surface, mix in the fragrance and pour into the mold.

I don’t have any pictures of my soap in the mold because at that point you have to move really fast to get it covered. I will take a picture tomorrow to show you how it looks in the mold.

“This is me (Ellie) when I was about 3. Thankfully I grew into my ears, but you can imagine that it takes ALOT of soap to clean these babies!”

Posted in Homemade, Pinterest, Soap | Tagged homemade, Pinterest, Soap | Leave a comment

Pinterest 365 – Day 8 – Beaded Star

Posted on November 8, 2012 by gracieed

I have always been fascinated with beads. A friend of mine and I went through the ‘beading phase’ of crafting a few years ago making bracelets and necklaces and spending hours in bead shops searching through all the colors and styles of beads. We even took a class at our local bead shop. I would scour Ebay for ‘bulk beads’ at really good prices and ended up with quite a stash. Then I discovered that you could knit with beads and made a few bracelets. I gave them all away, but this picture to the right shows you what they looked like. This isn’t my creation, but is a good example.

I found this tutorial on the ‘How Did You Make This’ blog and pinned it to my ‘All Manner of Crafts’ board. The little star trio just intrigued me. I clicked through to the tutorial to find that it was quite simple. I dug out my beading supplies (seed beads, thread, beading needle) and followed the lesson to the letter. It really was easy, but you need to have the patience of Job when you’re working with seed beads. They are super small, look really cool, but like to skip and dance all over the surface you’re working on. I imagine if I was a professional at this, I would own some sort of gadget that would eliminate this dilemma, but I don’t so I just worked very carefully and slowly.

I had a few color choices, but I settled on a variegated green set of beads. The instructions were excellent and the pictures in the tutorial were very helpful.

While the tutorial configured the stars for jewelry, I think I might use mine as decoration on a gift card or some sort of paper craft. Not sure yet, but when I decide, I will post a picture.

I wondered if there were any other patterns (say a dog paw or bone) available online, so I googled ‘bead patterns’ and was introduced to entirely new world. There is a history to beading that I was unfamiliar with as well as an entire language. I have just scratched the surface and already I can see why I am fascinated by beads.

“Hey mom – figure out a dog paw pattern, then make it into a collar for me. Oh and can you make it match my blue eye?”

Posted in Homemade, Knitting, Pinterest, Uncategorized | Tagged homemade, knitting, Pinterest | Leave a comment

Pinterest 365 – Day 7 – Pumpkin Spice Sugar Scrub

Posted on November 7, 2012 by gracieed

In keeping with my love of all things pumpkin, today I made a Pumpkin Spice Sugar Scrub. You can find the pin on my ‘Homemade Beauty’ board, but the recipe comes from the Idea Room blog. I have made sugar scrubs before, but this one intrigued me because of all the fall scents. I keep my scrub right by the kitchen sink and use it when I’m finished doing the dishes. During the winter I find that my skin gets very dry and I’m constantly dousing my hands in lotion. These scrubs really help to keep my skin soft.

This scrub was really straight forward to make. Just mix all the dry ingredients and then add your oil. The recipe suggested either almond oil or coconut oil. I chose coconut because that’s what I had. I had to add an extra step of melting the coconut oil in the microwave because it’s solid at room temperature. After it was melted I just incorporated it into the sugar and spices.

The final product fit nicely into my pint mason jar and would make a wonderful gift for someone or just for pampering yourself. Speaking of ‘pampering yourself’, I came across the funniest website yesterday. It’s called EmergencyCompliment.com and it literally gives out random compliments that are hysterical. For instance, “Your hair smells like freshly cut grass.” There are two buttons that give you the choice of a.) Thanks! I feel better or b.) I still feel crappy. The compliments are really great and just the ticket if you’re in need of a little chuckle.

“Nope Woody, it’s not pumpkin pie. Some sort of sugar, scrubby thing that only smells like pumpkin pie.”

Posted in Homemade, Pinterest, Pumpkins, Recipes | Tagged homemade, Pinterest, pumpkins, recipes | 1 Comment

Pinterest 365 – Day 6 – Jack Be Little Pumpkin

Posted on November 6, 2012 by gracieed

I was able to combine another two of my loves today: knitting and pumpkins. I actually have a pumpkin board on Pinterest to collect all things pumpkin. For me pumpkins mark the beginning of Fall (no matter how hot the weather is :-)) and all the comforts that come with the Autumn season. And it means that Starbuck’s starts offering their Pumpkin Spice Lattes!

I saw this little guy a while ago on The Sitting Tree’s blog and just had to give it a go. The pattern called for knitting with DPN’s (double pointed needles) and I shared a few days ago how I don’t like using them because they’re so fiddly, so I changed to the Magic Loop technique of knitting in the round and it worked out great.

I found this orange-rust yarn in my stash and it knit up beautifully. The pattern called for size 4 needles, but I only had size 5. Ordinarily I wouldn’t recommend being cavalier with the needle size because it can adjust the finished size of your object, but in this case I wasn’t too worried; it’s only a pumpkin, not a sweater.

I knit for 3 inches and then cinched up the bottom part, stuffed with fiberfill, closed the top and drew the yarn tail through the bottom to create the pumpkin effect. The pattern finished with instructions to make the stem using the i-cord technique, but I chose to just crochet a quick little stem and tie it on. It was so fast to knit up that I’m working away on pumpkin #2. I think I might knit up a family of pumpkins and display them on my mantel. I’ll share a photo in a few days.

For now, happy pumpkin season

“Did I vote? You bet I did! I voted ‘yes’ on longer walks, more treats and more being allowed to chase squirrels and ‘no’ on vet visits and baths.”

Posted in Crochet, Homemade, Knitting, Pinterest, Pumpkins, Yarn | Tagged crochet, homemade, knitting, Pinterest, pumpkins, yarn | Leave a comment

Pinterest 365 – Day 5 – Super Hero Capes

Posted on November 5, 2012 by gracieed

A friend of mine asked me to make some Super Hero Capes for her grandkids, so I made my way over to my favorite research tool, Pinterest, and searched for Super Hero Capes for kids. I found this tutorial from the Long Thread that is very well presented and just about the right instructional level for my skill.

I needed to create the pattern first; the tutorial just gives you measurements. I used a piece of packing paper that had arrived with a Pampered Chef purchase. (Flexing my repurposing/recycling muscles!) Once I had the pattern set, I started cutting out the fabric. I am making three, the first one you’re seeing here. I cut out the kid’s initial in a contrasting color and ironed it on with Heat-n-Bond, then secured it with a straight stitch. Then I sewed the red layer to a black lining layer (right sides together) and then turned the cape inside out. I ironed my seams and then top stitched around the entire cape. I used Velcro to secure the cape around the neck because it will rip apart easily in case the Super Heroes decide they need to remove their capes quickly :-).

It was fun to work on this project and has re-ignited by love of sewing. You may be seeing more sewing stuff soon.

“Super heroes? Well the only one I can think of is Woody. If you have ever see him catch a tennis ball – you’d swear he’s flying through the air. Hey mom, you should make him one of those capes with a big “W” on it. He’d really like that.”

Posted in Homemade, Pinterest, Repurposing, sewing, Uncategorized | Tagged homemade, Pinterest, repurposing, sewing | Leave a comment

Pinterest 365 – Day 4 – Chicken Vegetable Casserole

Posted on November 4, 2012 by gracieed

I do love a casserole. What I love even more is when the entire dinner is baked as one dish. This casserole didn’t have a title so I’m calling it the Chicken Vegetable Casserole. I think it’s important to call things what they are :-). There isn’t a link, just a recipe description in the comment section. I have included it below.

Casseroles are the one area where I’m a little bit sad about switching to a wheat-free lifestyle. In college, a really good friend shared her Chicken & Broccoli Casserole with me one evening after a long study session. It was sooooo good that I had to have the recipe. For the next 22 years this casserole was part of our regular menu. But now that we’ve switched to no wheat we can’t eat it. The chicken and broccoli are fine, but the cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soups and the bread crumbs are unfortunately chock full of wheat. I’m going to see if I can make some substitutions, but don’t think it will be the same.

This casserole was sooooo easy to make. It literally took 10 minutes to prepare, 1 hour to cook and smelled so good. It looked even better after it was cooked and tasted tremendous.

Fill a 9X13 dish with 1/3 vegetable (there’s green beans in the original picture, but I chose to use broccoli), 1/3 red potatoes diced and 1/3 raw chicken. Sprinkle a packet of Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix over the entire casserole and follow with a stick of melted butter.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. So easy and so good.

Today Ellie is going to show you how she eats her dinner. She would prefer to eat our dinner, but broccoli doesn’t agree with her (if you know what I mean)

Posted in Homemade, Meal planning, Pinterest, Recipes, Saving Money | Tagged homemade, meal planning, Pinterest, recipes, saving money | 4 Comments

Pinterest 365 – Day 3 – Homemade Laundry Detergent

Posted on November 3, 2012 by gracieed

Today I am making a batch of powdered laundry detergent from a blog called Great Oak Circle. It calls for four ingredients: washing soda, baking soda, Fels Naptha soap (which smells wonderful, by the way) and borax. I use the washing soda and the borax in my dishwasher detergent soap so I had that on hand, and I bought the soap, but I was concerned about my batch of baking soda. I bought it at a big box store about a year ago and haven’t really had a use for 15 pounds of baking soda until now. Can’t even remember why I thought I needed that much, but now I am concerned that it had lost its potency. So before going out to buy more, I thought I would do some research.

Did you know that there’s a website called www.doesitgobad.com? There is a list of items that at one point or another someone wondered if they go bad. For instance, vanilla extract, coffee, sugar, flour, ketchup, chocolate and many more. They did a wonderful job of explaining how to store baking soda, the shelf life and how to test if it’s still good. I love a good experiment so I added 3 Tbsp of white vinegar to a Pyrex jug and then 1 tsp of my baking soda. The website said, “If there are some bubbles on the mixture’s surface that means the powder is still potent enough to do its duty.” Well if ‘some bubbles’ means a version of Mt. Vesuvius then my baking soda is good to go.

I grated my soap and mixed all the ingredients together. The blog suggested storing the soap in 4 quart-sized mason jars, but I chose to use the plastic container from our previous purchase of laundry soap. It’s not nearly as pretty as the mason jars, but maybe I’ll work on customizing it for our household at some point. It also makes me feel uber-repurposey.

It cost me $7 to make this batch and at 2 Tbsp per load will last us 128 loads or about 8 months. You really can’t beat that!

So I’m off to do a load of laundry. I’ll let you know how it works out.

“Are you sure that’s not cheese mom? It sure looks like cheese. Are you messing with us?”

Posted in Cleaning, Homemade, Pinterest, Repurposing, Saving Money | Tagged Cleaning, homemade, Pinterest, repurposing, saving money | 2 Comments

Pinterest 365 – Day 2 – Sockee Poo

Posted on November 2, 2012 by gracieed

It’s not often that I get to combine two of my loves: dogs and knitting. I discovered this pattern for Doggie Poo Bag Pouches that uses sock yarn. As I alluded to in a previous post, I have a bunch of yarn and some of that is sock yarn. Now, I haven’t actually knit a sock yet {on the list of things to do}, but I still buy sock yarn. So, I was delighted when I saw this pattern for something that can use my stash and be useful at the same time.

I use the biodegradable rolls of doggie poo bags to take care of my dogs’ business when we’re walking (I like to call it ‘policing your brass’) and many times the rolls would unroll in my pocket causing me to have a bunch of bags just wadded up in my pocket. I tried the hard carrier cases, but they always seemed to whack me on the wrist (because I attach them to the leash handle) or were too big to fit in my pockets.

These poo bag carriers (or Sockee Poos as I like to call them) are made from washable, microfiber yarn and superwash merino wool, are small enough to hold a roll of 20 bags, can fit in your pocket or can be attached to the leash handle, and look super cute.

I used Deborah Norville’s Serenity Garden Yarn and a size 3 circular needle using Magic Loop. I tried the pattern with DPN’s (Double Pointed Needles) and was frustrated with the fiddly-ness of the DPN’s. Then I found this great tutorial on YouTube that taught me how to do Magic Loop. I’m addicted to Magic Loop now.

I made two different kinds (although the pictures only show the roll-top edge); one with a roll-top edging and the other with a ribbed sock edging. I also made my edging shorter – 1″ not 1 1/2″ like the pattern. The average dimensions of mine are 5″ X 3 1/4″. The pattern called for an i-cord drawstring, but I don’t like to knit i-cord, so I found some black, heavyweight string and a cute dog bone toggle to cinch the bag together. The yarn is variegated so each Sockee Poo is a different collection of colors.

If you have any people in your life that would enjoy a Sockee Poo, they are available now in my Etsy Shop for $9. They come with a roll of 20 biodegradable poop bags. With Christmas around the corner they would make a cute stocking stuffer or gift for your dog sitter, groomer or walker.

“Finally something we can get behind. Get it – ‘get behind’? I’ll bet you didn’t know that dogs have a wonderful sense of humor.”

Posted in Dogs, Knitting, Pinterest, Repurposing | Tagged Dogs, knitting, Pinterest | Leave a comment

Pinterest 365 – Day 1 – Mosaic Tutorial

Posted on November 1, 2012 by gracieed

Today I tackled the Pottery Barn Inspired Mosaic Tutorial by Remodelaholic. I was drawn to this project because of the colors, but as I read the tutorial, it was the simplicity and inexpensive cost that sold me on it. Oh and the Mod Podge. My final design didn’t look very mosaic-y, more like a hodge podge quilt, but I quite like it.

I loved picking out the colors of my scrap paper and cutting out the 1″ squares for the mosaic. I chose to assemble my project with a recycled art canvas that I picked up at a garage sale for 50 cents. I started out by painting over the watercolor with white acrylic paint, and then using the Mod Podge for both the glue to adhere the paper as well as for the final sealer. The tutorial called for paper glue, but I found the Mod Podge worked just fine. I worked from the outside in like the tutorial indicated, but if I were to do this again, I would work from the top down. It’s easier to hide mistakes that way.