about the homemade deodorant

Angry Chicken posted her recipe for homemade deodorant ages ago, but I just got around to making it over Christmas break. That seems like ages ago too, but I thought now that I've been using it awhile, why not do a little recipe review? Especially with the hot summer months coming up? Okay, so I mixed this up one busy afternoon in January and it was really fun and easy. I followed Angry Chicken's recipe exactly. At that point I'd had the ingredients sitting around for several months so was way past due for trying the project. I scented mine with lavender and peppermint essential oils and I love it. Next time I might use more because the shea butter smells strong, just like Amy mentioned in her post. The texture of this is really hard--I have to scrape some up with the handle end of a plastic razor--then I form it into a little ball and work it in my fingers for just a few seconds. It softens up really fast with body heat, then I just work it into my underarms. There's something I like about the ritual of that and I also like the granola-hippie feel of using my homemade deodorant every morning. By the way, it leaves absolutely no white mark on my shirts--unlike the regular kind. And does it work??? I swear, it works amazingly well--100% no stink, and that is after months of use now. So if you were thinking of doing this project I highly recommend.
Work is crazy right now--good, but busy, so I'm glad the weekend is nigh. Hopefully I'll be making another fabric bucket and if all goes well with that one maybe I can consider a little (modest) tutorial sometime after. Other than that, I just want a simple homespun weekend. Reading with the boys, maybe some popcorn, maybe some games, that sort of thing. Happy weekend to you all.

a little boy

Once upon a time there was a little boy who was helping his mama clean her studio. He said, "Mommy, what can I play in your studio?" The mama thought. "Well, buttons, fabric scraps, magnets on the inspiration board. Hmm . . . oh, I know!"
The mama got down her old doll, Amy. It was the doll her grandmother had made her back in the 1970's. Amy has a very cool wardrobe of rockin' 70's clothes. The little boy was very interested in the doll, especially in dressing her.
He decided to try on his mama's old genie costume as well (her grandmother had made this too for halloween one year).
Amy was happy to see the light of day and be played with again.
The end!

fabric bucket--version 2

Yea! I got a little crafting time this weekend, and now that Easter crafting is over, I'm setting my sights on churning out several of these fabric buckets for Christmas giving. Yeah, kind of early to making Christmas gifts, I know, but I have strong feelings about getting as much done as early (insanely early is my wish) as possible so that we might really relax and enjoy the true meaning of Christmas this year. My plan is to fill these buckets with homemade treats such as jams, candied nuts, little cookie boxes or whatever we are doing closer to the time (maybe candied orange peels, since we grow so many oranges). My first attempt at a fabric bucket was here. I like this one much better. It's interlined with Peltex so it's much stiffer and these handles are much more practical. I also like the cleaner lines on this one.
It's certainly not perfectly sewn, but I'm no perfectionist. My goal in all of this is to give a heartfelt gift that is useful, somewhat personal, and does not pollute the earth.
Here's a preview of the next one. I have quite a bit of this linen just laying around, but I might do some in a nice practical canvas too if I run out of linen.

right now

washing::plastic eggs to go back into the "spring" box and store for next year
smelling::home grown roses throughout the house
enjoying::the freshened-up nature table

wearing::new shoes
looking::at this new poster on the mantle. I love how it reminds me so much of Ken holding a baby in our yard
reading:: these books, and they are so very good
inspired by::pictures on my "inspiration" wire
loving::the studio, now that I've finally cleaned and neatened it, with the little boys' help.
feeling pleased about::this mise en place I set up before coking tonight's dinner. It really does make things easier!

We are enjoying fabulous spring weather right now. Blissfully cool and in the 60's--a real treat. What are you loving right now?

Oh, and by the way, loved all the comments on my popcorn post. Thanks so much for all the insights and suggestions! Popcorn has universal appeal, I guess.

popcorn made from scratch

I made a very exciting discovery this weekend: popcorn made from scratch, with no special equipment and no microwave. That's right--low tech popcorn--who knew? You saw this post, right? Which led me to this picture on Soulemama's photostream, where so many mamas were commenting on the wonders of popcorn. Soulemama graciously answered my question, "so how do all you mamas pop your corn?"
Turns out it's headspinningly easy. Try this: take a big stockpot, the kind you use to make soup in, put in 1 T. canola oil and 1/2 c. popcorn (yeah, I was able to find just regular popcorn amongst all the microwave corn). Put it over medium-high heat, with the lid on, and wait. It will start popping on its own! When the popping begins to slow, remove it. That's it! No scary shaking of the pan or anything remotely skill-requiring! By the way, I found that the popcorn is even tastier and the salt sticks better when I use 2 T. of canola oil--I'm decadent that way.
Turns out Dieter and Faith and I are very into popcorn. Too bad I didn't know about this when I was "vegan 'til six"--what an excellent vegan snack. Anyway, here's the thing I'm so amazed over: how did we all get to thinking that we need an extra gadget to make simple popcorn? I remember growing up in the 70's having a cool oil popper with a hard clear lid so you could see the corn popping. Then in the 80's remember when everyone was getting air poppers? No way were my parents going for that--no flavor! Later, we all just started making mircrowave popcorn--but how gross is that, with all its chemicals and how it is so prone to burning. Yuck. So now, we can get back to basics. I can tell that "popcorn from scratch" is going to be one of our very favorite afternoon snacks.

I'm back to work today, feeling refreshed and fortified. Only eight more weeks until summer break (I was a bit optimistic when I said six before)--my mind is spinning with plans and ideas. Happy Monday to everyone!

the pleasures of a simple spring break

We have been having such a simple, slow and mellow spring break around here. And I love it! In truth, Faith and Ben are on a different school schedule than I am, so they are in school while I'm spring breaking. It's like that every year and it is very fun to be an "at home" mama for that week. One of the things Faith and I have been enjoying every afternoon when she gets home is a quick few rounds of Frog Juice. No matter that it's intended for much younger children. Who cares? We love witchy things, cute graphics and, frankly, an "easier" type game. Combined with a cup of tea, it's a perfect mother-daughter activity. Other than that, I've been reading, knitting, drawing and playing with the boys and generally resting. So nice for a change.





Can't believe it's almost over. No matter--only six more weeks of school then it's summer summer summer. So looking forward to that!

final thoughts on the vegan thing

So, Easter was the end of my little "Vegan 'til 6" experiment, and since then I've been trying to gather my thoughts on the experience. First of all, in many ways it was easier than I thought (and also harder--I'll get to that in a minute) insofar that I didn't feel terribly deprived most of the time and genuinely enjoyed the food I was eating. The oatmeal, the nuts, the beans and rice, the fresh fruit, the guacamole--all good. I also liked the instant upgrade to the healthiness of my diet, my increased awareness of how many animal products I really do eat throughout a day (more than I thought), and the freedom from so many distractions--muffins, cookies, junkfood--all out because they are rarely vegan.

On the other hand, it was hard. Hard because planning and cooking extra vegan food to have on hand for my (at work) lunches was very stressful and, near the end, just not doable. In week five I existed on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. In week six I got by on a thin potato soup. My idea that I was going to make lots of grilled and roasted veggies and interesting salads was just not realistic. I did do a little of that in the first few weeks, but here's what I have come to know and understand from the experiment: I have little kids. I have a teenage daughter who enjoys spending time with me. And I have a full time job. So spending lots of extra time cooking and cleaning up on the weekends so that I can follow a special diet? Not worth it. If anything, I've come to realize that I want to streamline my weekend cooking even more. My little boys are growing up so very fast and I love them so much at this age. I'd much rather be doing something fun with them than be tied up in in the kitchen. Faith we be gone and off to college in a little over two years (!) and I'd much rather spend time with her while she actually enjoys my company than be roasting up a batch of veggies for my lunches.

Yes, it's easy to cook beans, throw a tray of veggies into the oven for roasting, make a pot of brown rice to have onhand for the week, but all these kitchen tasks (and their cleanup) add up--at least they do for me. I still want to eat healthy and still intend to, but will be going back to my eating leftovers from last night's dinner for lunch routine. Hooray! And yes, throwing in more fruit and nuts and fewer animal products I anticipate.

{egg salad for lunch this week--a spring treat}

So, did anyone else play along on the vegan 'til 6 thing? I'd love to hear your thoughts too.

scenes from Easter weekend

We enjoyed a mellow weekend of Easter baskets, egg dying and hunting, and lots of dress up play by the boys. Hope your weekend was great too. Now we are spring breaking, so may not be around much here. Enjoy this beautiful time of year!

bedtime snack

I have been trying to get serious about the bedtime routine around here. It's so easy to think you have a bedtime routine of sorts but then it never really happens as it should. A week or two ago it dawned on me that if I truly want the kids to go to bed at a reasonable hour I'd better step up to the plate and become the "bedtime routine taskmaster." It's amazing how one little change in how you think about something can yield big results. Ken is on board with me on this, so all that is left has been to just really do it. I think especially when you work, and the evenings are getting longer, it's so easy to let the schedule go. But no more! It's good for all of us to have a routine.
One of the nice things that I have added in is the bedtime snack. I read about it in Sharifa Oppenheimer's book (I love her!) Heaven on Earth. She said that every night of her children's life they ate this comforting and sleep-inducing bedtime snack: whole wheat toast with honey and warm milk with honey and cinnamon. My children absolutely love it, and we follow the snack with stories so bedtime is not a struggle at all anymore. Pajamas go on before the snack. Now with the children in bed by 7:30 we at least have the possibility of some adult time. Hooray!

for their baskets

I've been planning to once again include a little "handmade" in Rainer and Dieter's Easter baskets. Two years ago I made them stuffed bunnies. Last year it was beanbag frogs. This year I decided upon these felt felt rabbits and soft stumps and I was fortunately able to finish them up over the weekend.
The pattern for the felt rabbits is from The Nature Corner. I've been wanting to try making this type of felt animal for a long time. They are all hand sewn, so much slower than I'd like, but I do love the "look" of this style of animal. There are lots of them in this book too. Inspiration for making the soft stumps came from this Flickr photo. I hope she doesn't mind. I basically made them the same way I made the mushrooms.
Each boys will get a bunny and a stump. I hope they like them. (Oh, yes, I know those bead tails are totally lame. I just don't have any pompoms, nor the yarn stash to make any. Maybe I can change them out in the future).
I'm just waiting for a few art supplies to arrive in the mail, then I'll have everything for their baskets--the handmade items, a new playsilk (we're desperately in need of green and blue!--the hard to find Kool Ade colors--thus these new playsilks are store bought), a couple wooden animals I've had waiting in the wings for a long time, and some art supplies. What are you giving in the baskets?

little paper baskets

We did such a fun little craft project on Sunday. We made paper folded baskets to give away as little gifts--

I'm trying to be mindful of making the holidays just as much about giving for my children as about getting a little something in their own baskets. And I love making these folded paper boxes. The instructions are in the springtime section of "The Children's Year." We attached a handle to make it a little basket of sorts. (A similar folded box is here. The one in The Children's Year involves some cutting, so I think is not technically origami).
We added some grass and a few candies (there are some wooden eggs in there too just for fun) and the boys can give them to loved ones. Perfect!

It was easy to involve the little ones in this. They can color on the cardstock. They also very much enjoyed pushing the brad through the handle (I use a small holepunch to make a hole).

And of course they enjoyed filling them as well.

Faith loves to get crafty too, so she joined us. She experimented with making baskets from pages of the latest Anthropologie catalog. I think they turned out cute.
Lined up on the mantle, waiting to be passed out. So fun.