Coconut oil body lotion

I deleted the original source that I got this from, it was originally titled whipped body butter, I think. It's been so long since I made this and since I've posted anything that I honestly can't remember.

I personally don't like this lotion, I find it to be to greasy but I must admit it does work really well. My hands were softer, my feet stopped cracking but I just couldn't get over the fact that felt like I needed a shower after using it because of the greasy feeling it leaves on your skin.

You need one jar of coconut oil, don't melt it otherwise it won't work, just scrape it out of the jar with a spoon.
Essential oil
Vitamin E gel

Put the coconut oil in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until it is light and fluffy.
Add half a teaspoon of vitamin E gel and two drops of the essential oil. Mix together, put it in a nice container and it is ready to use :)

A very crafty day

Today was a very crafty day at work, because of where I work (group home) we can not have any decorations that can not be bolted down. My co-worker found instructions in an old craft book of hers to make a vase out of an old book. We didn't have any old books on hand and to be honest the thought of cutting up a book to make a craft absolutely horrifies me. Instead we used a pad of construction paper. Admittidly if it had been a full pad of paper it would have ended up looking a lot better.

The instructions to make this are very simple, along the bound edge draw an outline of half of a vase, cut out the shape through all of the pages using an exacto knife, glue the first and last page together. We used the scraps of leftover construction paper to make flowers, they were flopping a bit so we added pipe cleaners to the back of the stems.

And using two old, small, cardboard boxes we made these two vases with construction paper glued on the outside to make these vases.

We also tried origami and I must admit that it was a huge failure even with step by step picture instructions. I remember folding notes into fun shapes and animals in school and making paper cranes, drinking cups, sail boats etc... all with no problem and now I can not make a crane to save my life. I should have taken pictures of the great disaster but I did not. I will be trying it again soon but I will most likely use you tube videos instead of pictures from a book.

Playing with the glue gun

While at Hallmark I saw some cute glasses that they called Hillbilly wine glasses that were really just jars with a handle. While googling them I came across many different pictures, ideas and names for them and discovered that they were easy to make. All you need is a glue gun (although I saw some people used glue made specifically for glass, and no I don't remember the name of that glue since I didn't really pay attention), some candlesticks and jars.

Even though I was intrigued by them I wasn't planning on making any until today when by pure chance while at the thrift store looking for some old Goosebumps books (my kids discovered my sisters old collection of them and have become addicted) I saw three candlesticks and a huge collection of old canning jars.

Not only did I get a lot of the books (for $0.50 each and buy 3 get 1 free) I also managed to make these for under $2.

Before

After

I do have them more spaced out on my desk, I just grouped them together for the picture but they look much nicer than the old plastic basket I was using to hold everything, although I have realized that I am almost out of paper clips lol.

I think that I am going to tint the jars by painting them with a mixture of elmers glue and food coloring so that the pretty designs on the jars are more visible.

Crochet - Filet leaf square - the start of an afghan

Many years ago I bought a pattern off of e-bay planning to make this gorgeous fall blanket, some of the yarn is as old as the pattern. I was disappointed that I paid a fair bit for a pattern that turned out to be nothing more than a chart and a color guide that someone tore out of a book or a magazine. It wasn't even the full pattern.

I do really want this blanket for me it's just that at the time (in 2006) I had just started crocheting again after 10 years (I learned as a child and stopped when I was 12) and my son was a newborn and I wanted to make things for him first. One thing led to another, there was always something to make for someone else, then I learned to knit and well, now I have decided that I am actually going to make this. Don't get me wrong, I will be surprised if I actually finish it this year because it is the time of year when I start to make hats and scarves and slippers so who knows if I will actually work on the blanket?

At any rate here is square #1

The color is not the actual color of the yarn, I really need to start using my camera instead of my phone to take pictures.

Painting at work

I was given a picture of pictures that someone thought would look great at work. Having no way to find the originals (although I am taking a wild guess that they came from pinterest since most people that I know lately are obsessed with that site.) I decided to try painting them myself.

To be honest I have very little talent when it comes to drawing or painting but I really like how these turned out.

I raided my kids stash of acrylic paints and used a sponge paintbrush for the background and a random loose brush that was in the bottom of the bag for the tree and birds.

I really like how they turned out unfortunately the colors match nothing at work except my dull beige office that will hopefully be a bright tropical blue soon. I may just end up putting at least one of them up at home.

I really like the second one but I am not sure if I should add something to it or not, a silhouette of a bird, maybe a butterfly? Or just leave it alone? I can't decide so for the moment I am just going to leave it the way that it is.