Hand Crocheted Baby Blanket

WOOHOO! 

I've added a hand crocheted baby blanket to etsy HERE! 

I've only had my handmade soap on my etsy site but I decided to throw in my other loved hobby in the mix. The first piece of crocheted loveliness on my etsy site is a beautiful color blocked ombre pink baby blanket/afghan. It is vibrant, yet so so soft. 

This color block idea came from a super cute blog I came across on etsy, The Sweeter Side of Mommyhood (her new blog).  Check out HER blankets she made, as well as the tutorials she posted on how to create them HERE (her old blog).  I'm so thankful she shared because I absolutely LOVE how my ombre version of her color block blankets turned out!  Thanks, Jacquie!!

 Be sure to check it out.  AND make sure to come back, as I will be adding more fun crocheted pieces.  Tis the season to crochet! 

 

Wall of Frames!

Because, who doesn't like a good ol' wall o' frames? :)
 
I've had my house for ONE YEAR now (I can't believe it! Time flies!) and I haven't even made one single DIY cheapo home decor post!  I've been neglecting my blog, I know, but I've been having too much fun doing other cool stuff...meh...Ok, I have no good excuse.  Time to put the big girl undies (I absolutely loathe that "P" word for women's underwear and refuse to type it, let alone say it) on and get back on the wagon. 

BACK TO THE POINT...so I have a good sized wall in my dining room, a perfect palate for fun wall art!  I thought I'd share what I've done with the space, as I have gotten lots of compliments on it!  Little do they all know that majority of the objects on the wall are from, shhhhhhhh, thrift stores and garage sales!  CHEAP!  I'm cheap.  I don't care.  I mean come on, I'm 24 25 and own a house, car, and have a bajillion bills to pay each month...I'm all for cheap.

I always wanted a wall where I could just put up a bunch of empty frames, thanks to all of the pinterest ideas.  So I did just that.  I was on a mission to find some cool lookin, empty picture frames.  Our tiny little town of 3500 or so has three thrift stores.  I hit the frickin jackpot.  They each had tons of frames, lots of different sizes, shapes, and designs.  Decisions decisions.  I went for the more vintage looking detailed ones.  I had found a couple vintage oval cameos at a garage sale, the week I closed on my house, that I couldn't pass up for the wall as well (yes I had already planned to do a wall of frames on that particular wall before I even bought the house).  I think I spent maybe a total of 15 bucks?  It wasn't much!

My kitchen and dining room are painted in vintage colors; coral, yellow, and aqua.  I've decorated with old metal signs and records, a lot of which my family had saved from way back when (more pics to come).  The dining room wall is a vintage yellow, so I planned to paint all of my objects with the other colors of the kitchen.  I already had some teal, beige, and aqua spray paint, along with leftover coral wall paint. 

After the painting was finished, I made a layout on the floor below the wall of how I wanted to place my frames/cameos.  I still had a couple records to use, so I decided to add those in for fun accent pieces.  I absolutely loved how it turned out!  So fun!  Here comes my attempt at good photography (hence all the angles and close ups I took).

Be sure to click on the pics to have a bigger better view!

My darling sister gave me a nice black cabinet that fit perfect in that area and is great storage for crystal and party glasses!  Thanks sis!

Easter and Spring Soaps

I can't believe that Spring and Easter are almost here!!  Good thing I made a couple types of soap for this time of year!  Check them out! 




These and many more handmade soaps are at Soapisticated.etsy.com.

Tid Bit on Homemade Soap

Here is a tid bit of info about the oils and butters I use in my vegan/natural soaps (cold and hot process) and how they are good for your skin!

Soaps bought from the store contain so many harsh chemicals used to produce the lather, creaminess, and hardness of the bar, which in turn can strip your skin from the nutrients and moisture it needs. My soaps from scratch are rid of all of those things, leaving your skin with the correct nutrients, moisture, and conditioner it really needs!

Natural/vegan/soap from scratch is great for those with acne, eczema, dry, or sensitive skin (especially my soaps without fragrance or color, which will be up soon)!

Olive Oil: Rich in vitamins and minerals, this oil is nourishing and calming to the skin. This oil attracts external moisture to the skin, which helps keep the skin soft and supple. The properties of this oil gives the bar hardness, lather, moisture, and is very conditioning. Olive oil is usually the main oil in my soap bars, along with palm and coconut.

Canola Oil: This oil gives the bar lather, softness, and great conditioning properties!

Coconut oil: When used moderately and correctly, this oil is emollient, moisturizing, conditioning and protecting to the skin. It gives the bar hardness and a fluffy lather.

Palm Oil: This oil makes a hard, mild bar of soap that cleans very well. It's properties give the bar hardness, lather, conditioning, and a silky feel.

Castor Oil: This oil is an excellent humectant, attracting and holding moisture to the skin. Very rich in fatty acids adding conditioner, moisturizer, softness, a fluffy lather to the soap!

Shea Butter: Shea butter is said to be very beneficial for treating dry skin, blemishes, skin discoloration, scars, and wrinkles. It is very moisturizing, cleansing, nourishing, and silky.

I also use other ingredients such as ground oats, ground flaxseed, sugar, spices, seeds, and herbs to give soaps more healing, nutritional properties for your skin as well as amazing exfoliates.

Some herbs and spices can be used for natural colorants too along with their nutritional content.

Honey, goats milk, and coconut milk are also sometimes added for that extra boost of moisturizer and conditioner.

Heck, you can even make BEER SOAP! Beer is actually very good for your skin! "Hops, an ingredient found in beer, itself is known for its relaxing properties. Hops contains poly-phenols thought to account for its anti-bacterial and preservative effects (beers long life) and it also contains skin-softening amino acids." I will be making this soon for the guys out there (or for you beer lovin ladies as well!). It doesn't actually smell like beer, or have any alcohol left in the soap, however I do have a yummy Oatmeal Stout Fragrance I need to try out! :)

There are so many combos of ingredients you can use to make soap, all of which are so much better for your skin than store bought! Hope I've answered some questions!

How's THAT for an afternoon read? ;)