DIY Gift: Lip Balm & Why My Husband Refuses To Wash Dishes From Now On

It maybe after the Holidays, but I still wanted to provide ways that you can create great gifts for a loved one. Maybe save the idea for next year or use it as a way to get brownie points for Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day. You never need an excuse to give a small gift that you made.

One new idea we tried this year was DIY herbal lip balm. I've been enamored with Rose Mountain Herbs for quite some time now. Not only do they sell great, healthy products but they also provide a blog and YouTube Channel that inspires your inner herbalist. Have I said enough good things about this company yet? Are you still reading this? Hope so.

Well, their YouTube channel has a great tutorial on how to make lip balm. It seemed so simple we thought we would try it out.


First off, you will need:
1/2 C Calendula Oil
1 oz Bees Wax
1/2 teaspoon lavender oil
20+ lip balm tubes (we did have left over lip balm)









It was so fun trying out this recipe! But I highly suggest you use specific cookware just for wax products. We'll get to that later. But basically you start off with melting the one ounce of wax. I did this by cutting off an ounce, shaving it, then place in a double boiler. Shavings will melt quicker than just a block. While it's melting, go ahead and take the caps of of the lip balm tubes or tins.

After the wax is completely melted into a liquid, you pour in the cup of calendula oil. Next step: don't freak out when the wax slightly solidifies like this:

The wax slightly solidified because the oil was room temperature. So just keep the heat up so the wax can melt back down to a full liquid. This is also when you add the 1/2 teaspoon of lavender oil. You can actually use a 1/2 teaspoon of any kind of essential oil for flavoring. I might use mint oil next time.

After everything is all smooth & mixed, you then have a very short amount of time to pour the balm into the tubes. To make it easier for us, we poured the balm into a measuring cup with a spout. Then poured it into each tube and let it dry.

The only issue I had was that it appears the wax dried before it could get to the very bottom of the tube. It didn't take too long for the entire tube to dry. We labeled and presto! 20 lip balm tubes to go out as stocking stuffers!

Now for the downside. Due to this little experiment we had a double boiler pan, spoon, and measuring cup that were seriously coated in wax and oil. I did my best with hot water to wash it out before my husband came home, but I wasn't able to get it all. He wasn't impressed. Needless to say you should try to to all this with older kitchen equipment or purchase cheap tools that can be dedicated just to wax projects.

Everyone that received lip balm for Christmas love it. And we were able to make it with local beeswax purchased at the Farmer's Market along with lavender oil I made with lavender branches my in-laws gave to me. Next year I hope to have enough dried calendula to make my own calendula oil too! What other essential oils do you think I should add for flavor?

Goodbye 2012

So it's been quite a year, eh? The last few weeks have just flown by us. It did include a lot of knitting...

And painting...

And baking...

Within the next few weeks I'll cover several DIY gift ideas and recipes, but today I wanted to share a story of beauty and danger.

So as many of you know, several people predicted some catastrophic event to happen December 21st of 2012. This is mostly thanks to the Mayan calendar ending on that day. That is until archeologist found a new Mayan calendar this past summer that goes far past that date. Either way, my darling husband wanted to celebrate his birthday (December 20th) and Yule/Winter Solstice (December 21st) by camping at a near by lake. That's right. Camping. In a tent. In the middle of December.

We packed a lot, but nothing could fully prepare us.

About a week or so before this trip, we were looking ok. The weather was hovering around 40-50 degrees. There was a little wind here or there, but nothing extreme. That is until the day before our trip. There was a large cold front that brought rain and bitter wind. That wind lasted through the next day. Thankfully, two of our friends were crazy enough to join us that night.

Key word for that night: LAYERS

Ashley & I joined our husbands a little late. We both worked that day and eventually found the camp site around 8 p.m. By that time, the wind took down one tent and was in the process of taking down another tent and a tarp that sheltered our fire. Thankfully that blaze lasted throughout the night even without the tarp. We had hoped to have a delicious dinner, s'mores for dessert, and late night of fun. But the cold reality was ramen that took forever to cook, taking turns warming in my car, and a early bedtime.

My husband keeping our dog warm

I have no idea how cold it got for us that night, but I do know the wind chill in the city was 21 degrees with wind gust at 30 + miles an hour. So with that being said, we decided that the four of us (and the dog) needed to stay in one tent.

This held all five of us!

Needless to say no one slept well that night. It was frigid and the wind often woke many of us up. I was just waiting for dawn to break. For the longest night of the year to be over. And after what felt like a lifetime, we began to see the sun's rays. We then witnessed a beauty that made the whole trip worth while.

A new dawn on Lake Barkley

The world may not of ended. Nothing different even happened that day. But there's something to be said about seeing the sunrise after such a dark evening. We were able to have an early New Year's Day and speak about our hopes and dreams for the new time ahead. But with a still frigid wind in the air, we quickly packed up and headed back to our warm homes.

So why share this story? I think it's a good example on the end of one year and looking forward to a new. That night was hideous; but sometimes we have to go through awful times to move on to a beautiful morning. 2013 is the new dawn. And I greatly look forward to what adventures lie ahead of us. Here's at least a peek of what I do know that will happen in the new year:

Projects to make our home more efficient!

Journeys to enjoy nature!

Holistic projects!

And I'm so happy to share all of these adventures with you. Thanks for sticking with me this year. 2012 was good to us. But I'm over it. I'm ready for 2013. Bring it!

DIY Festivus: Homemade Wreath

So what would you say if I told you that you could get a fabulous holiday wreath that matches your decorations, is the perfect dimension, and is free. That's right. A wreath that cost nothing.

My mantle isn't so bare anymore!

So the beautiful wreath above didn't cost me a dime. It's mostly thanks to the fact I made it myself. And even that only took about an hour. Here's how you can make a wreath of your own.

What you need:
- About 8 branches that you probably cut off from your live tree to make room for the base. One time an employee from the tree store gave me extra branches from previous trimmings!
- About 5 branches of other winter plants: holly, mistletoe, etc. This one is optional.
- Zip ties of all shapes & sizes
- Extra gift-wrapping ribbon
- Extra holiday ornaments

You will first need to decide how large you want your wreath to be. After you determine that, lay the tree branches in the wreath shape you desire. It maybe easier getting a metal wreath form, but I have never used one.

Once the branches are laid out, you then have the hard work of using zip ties to connect the branches. As I said, you may want to use a wreath form, but I've always just tied the main parts of the branches together. You will need to be discrete, but don't worry too much. You can always cover up some of the zip ties with the optional holiday plants/ ribbon/ ornaments. And don't forget to snip the ends after you get it locked.

Also a warning: you may want to use gloves. I broke out after making my wreath.

After you get the wreath secure enough, you can then embellish it with it anything you want. You can even use some finer zip ties. Basically work the garnish into any of the empty spaces between the branches. Ribbon is normally the last part I add that way I can cover up anything left that needs to be covered up.

And there you have it: a beautiful wreath that's ready to be hung up on a door or wall. You can also take in some pride that you made it yourself. And it's thrifty! What could be better?

A wreath from two years ago. It's a little more messy, but I wanted to show a more ribbon/ornament look

If you're getting tired of DIY holiday ideas, don't worry. It's almost over. But until January 2nd, I'm going to milk Festivus as much as I can. Love this time of year!

DIY Festivus: Gift For Newly Weds

So there was a gift I made for one of our favorite couples last year. It was their first Christmas as a married couple. So I searched for a great gift to commemorate it. Thanks to this thrifty blogger, I found the perfect present: an ornament made from their wedding announcement.

The photo I took last year only to realize I couldn't post it until AFTER I gave it to them.

So here's all you need for this beautiful ornament:
- A plastic ornament bulb (it's like 2 bucks at Hobby Lobby)
- The couple's wedding announcement/invitation/or program
- Scissors
- A pencil or dowel rod
- Glue

Making the ornament literately takes no time. First you slice up the wedding announcement horizontally. Try to keep some of the important details within the lines, especially the names, time, and address.

After that, take each strip and use the pencil/doll rod to roll up strips of paper. That will give you the rolled banner affect. After each strip is rolled, you can finagle the paper so the name or date is straight.

Then you need to get out the halved ornament. Gently place the rolls where you'd like them to be. This will take a bit of patience and work. I was able to build what I wanted in one half. On the other half, lay a little glue here and there on the lip that connects the halves. Then you simply place the top half and hold until the glue is secure... and voilà! You have a beautiful ornament for your friend.

The ornament one year later...

I plan to try more of these through out the years. Maybe even attempt baby announcements! So for about $2, you can provide your loved on a one-of-a-kind gift. Not even Hallmark can do that!

DIY Festivus: Mantle Sign

So it's finally December. Can you smell it in the air? Christmas lights are up, everyone is rushing to the mall, and coffee stores are featuring holiday-themed flavors. It's Festivus!

Some of the delicious brews at our favorite coffee shop

As you can guess from my lack of posts, we've been busy. Outside of our normal duties, we're also busy decorating our home in a full holiday fashion. This is the first time we get to decorate our new home for Festivus. I'm so excited!

But I  also wanted to share one decoration I made this year that literally cost just $4 and 20 minutes for me to make.

So here's what you need:
4 Frames (bought at the Dollar Store)
Holiday-themed background (I used scrap booking paper I had from a 2011 project)
A Pencil
A Permanent Marker

It doesn't get much simpler my friends. Cut the background paper the proper size to fit in the frame. Then I drew the letters with a pencil at first followed by the permanent marker. Added some lines where needed. You can use paint, but I feel the marker is easier to control. And it practically dries instantly.

Not my most flattering photo but you get the point.

If you are not comfortable enough to do this free hand, you have a few options. There are a lot of stencils out there for the letters. And a ruler can be easily applied to sketch guidelines so it all matches.

For years I've been trying to find a good way to draw a snowflake. And if you are in the same dilemia & would like to know how I drew mine, here's a quick step by step tutorial. The design is open enough to make imperfections lovely.

After you draw out what you like & it dries, it's ready to go back into the frame then be placed in the desirable spot. For our mantel, I did intentionally pick one "odd" frame and overlapped the frames to give a 3D effect.

So there you have it! A quick, easy, and cheap way to add a new decoration to your home this season. I hope to share a few more ideas throughout the month when it comes to either decorations or gifts. I'm also pleased to share a photo of this year's Christmas tree! Are all your decorations up yet?

Happy Festivus!

Beginning Of Festivus: Thanksgiving

Well, we have finally arrived to my favorite time of year: Festivus! And that includes up coming Thanksgiving. We will be visiting my husband's family in just a few short days. But we decided to have a small Thanksgiving meal with one of our second families in Western Kentucky.

The Bargers & The Appels

You've probably seen the two a few times through out this blog. We decided to have a little feast this weekend. But since there's only four of us, we came up with an inexpensive way to have a portion-appropriate feast.

Here's what we featured:
- Lemon-Thyme Chicken
- Skillet Cream Corn with Bacon
- Homemade Canned Green Beans (from our good friend, Dillon)

What can I say? My man knows how to cook

My husband was in charge of this feast (we'll get to what I was up to in a moment). Here's how our recipes went:

Lemon-Thyme Chicken (which we found in the all-new ultimate Southern Living Cookbook)
1 lemon, cut half
1/2 medium onion
1 (5-pound) whole roast chicken (ours was actually quartered, but we still made it work)
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 t chopped thyme
1 t coarse salt
1 t ground pepper
1 cup chick broth
1/2 c dry white wine (we had a pinot grigio)
2 T all-purpose flour

First you normally shove the lemon into the chicken cavity. We ended up squeezing lemon juice over the quartered pieces.

Then stir together butter, garlic, and 2 t of thyme. Loosen the skin on the chicken by gently pushing your fingers in between the skin and meat. Do not totally detach the skin. Pour the butter mixture under the skin. Pour the rest over the skin. If you have a whole chicken, tie the legs together.

Place the chick, breast side up, on a lightly greased rack in a lightly greased shallow roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes. Then reduce heat to 400 degrees and bake for 55 minutes or until meat thermometer inserted into thigh registers 180 degrees. Baste occasionally with drippings and turn pan for even browning.

For the gravy, add broth to reserved drippings in pan and stir to loosen browned bits from bottom. Whisk together pan drippings, wine, and flour in a small saucepan for 5 minutes.


Skillet Cream Corn:
6 bacon slices
1/2 Vidalia onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
3 cups fresh corn kernels (if your ambitious, that's about 6 ears)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
A dash of salt
A dash of pepper
1 T butter
1 T basil

Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Then do the typical drain on a paper towel. Reserve 2 Tablespoons of drippings in skillet. After it drains, crumble bacon and set aside.

Saute onion and garlic in hot drippings skillet for 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in the corn and cook for 5-7 minutes or until golden. Remove from heat.

Cook the flour in a large clean skillet over medium. Bake & stir occasionally for 5 minutes or until golden. Slowly whisk half-and-half until smooth. Add corn mixture along with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes of until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter and basil. Sprinkle with bacon and serve.


Homemade Canned Green Beans:
We obviously just heated the green beans in a pot. But we added a bit of rosemary to spice it up. We are so grateful to our friend who sold us the chicken & threw in a couple goodies like the canned green beans. He also gave us deliciously canned apples, black eyed peas, and salsa!

Our little feast turned out perfectly, but alas, my photos did not. You have to trust that it was delicious. And even better, it filled up four tummies without over doing the table. If you need to have a smaller holiday feast, this is the way to go. It was also very thrifty. The whole thing was maybe $40 at the most? Probably less.

Oh, and what was I doing while my amazing husband was cooking? Starting up the Christmas decore of course!

This is just a preview of Ashley's & my work. There is much more ahead. But that's for another day. I hope you all have a delicious Thanksgiving. And be sure to take the time to count your blessing and express thanks for a wonderful things you have in your life. I have too many to count. But a loving husband, great friends, a good family, a roof over my head are just to name a few. What are you thankful for this year?

Wild Card Recipe: Cheeseburger Pasta

Sorry for another delay my friends. Alas, work always seems to overwhelm me at times. But I guess that's why it's called work right? Last week we held our 2012 election coverage. Needless to say it took a bit out of me.

Anyways, to make it up to you, I'm going to share a recipe for one of my favorite dishes. And it's been awhile since I've done a wild card recipe. It's a tasty comfort food: cheeseburger pasta. It's a staple at our home and even better- it is incredibly easy & cheap to make! I did make a few changes to original recipe I found.


All you need:
- 1 lb of ground beef
- 3 cloves of garlic diced
- 1 Tablespoon of onion power
- 1 can of condensed tomato soup
- 1 can of condensed cheese soup
- 1 1/2 cups of water
- 2 cups of uncooked shell pasta
- 1 pinch of oregano, thyme, and basil

One of of the best things about this meal is that you make in just one skillet. Begin by sauteing the garlic in some olive oil. Then throw in the beef.

There's nothing better than cooking up some local ground beef

 During that time, I toss in a couple dashes of onion powder. After the beef fully cooks, you can begin the... colorful part: pouring in the soups.

Yep. It looks gross, but it's worth it, my friends!

I normally stir in both soups a little bit before adding the water and pasta. Get the concoction to a boil then reduce heat to medium before letting it cook for another 10 minutes or so. All the while, keep stirring on occasion.

Don't worry, it will slowly become something much more delicious-looking. Just keep stirring. I had a few occasions where parts of the bottom stuck to skillet.

 You will basically cook it until the water is reduced and the noodles are tender. When you only have about a minute or so more, add the oregano, thyme & basil. After another minute and a few more stirs, you're done! It's ready to enjoy.

Pure yumminess

So there you have it, super tasty cheeseburger pasta. You basically have your own hamburger helper with less msg! One day I want to figure out a more natural replacement for the two soups, but there's at least reduced sodium versions out there.

It'll be a busy week ahead. In a few hours, I'll be off to help at our station's televised telethon. It's our 56th annual Telethon of Stars. We work with the Lions Club to raise money for several charities throughout our four state area. If you'd like to do your part, send a nice donation their way.