Welcome to my blog! I am a stay at home mom of two beautiful children. I am a nurse, but decided to stay at home when my daughter was born premature. My son has ADHD, so taking care of two special needs children has become a challenge. This blog is about our crazy, wild life! I hope you enjoy!
Here is my first official tutorial! It may not be perfect so if you have any questions please leave a comment!
How to make Handmade Soap
Things you will need:
Melt and Pour soap: Clear
Melt and pour soap: White
Soap dyes: any color you choose
Soap scent of your choice
A spray bottle filled with rubbing alcohol
Measuring cup
Silicone or plastic pan
Cookie cutters of various shapes and sizes
First step: Turn the radio to your fave station and get ready for some fun!!
Melt about 6 ounces of the white soap in the microwave. I recommend melting it for 20 seconds at a time until it is all liquid with no soap lumps. Then, add the soap dye until you achieve the desired color.
I did pink for my first color!
Pour the soap into your plastic mold and let it set until it is hard. This takes 5 to 10 mins.
Take the soap out of the mold.
Use cookie cutters to cut out little soap shapes.
Make a decent size pile of the little shapes.
Melt 4 ounces of the white soap and color it a different color. Pour the soap in the plastic mold. The soap may not take up the full mold but this is ok. It will be cut into shapes in the next step.
After the soap hardens, remove the soap and again cut use a cookie cutter to cut it into shapes. This time, make different shapes than you did before.
Melt 6 ounces of the clear soap.
Pour the clear soap into the plastic pan. Quickly add the shapes in any pattern you want. Use about half of the shapes. Allow the soap to harden.
Melt another 6 ounces of the clear soap. Mix your fragrance into the 6 ounces of clear soap. I used cucumber melon and used 20 drops. Use the spray bottle of alcohol and spray it over the soap in the plastic pan. Be sure to cover all the soap! Then, pour the additional 6 ounces of clear soap into the pan. Take the remaining shapes and place them in the 2nd soap layer in any pattern you choose.
Let your soap harden and then remove it from the plastic pan. It should look something like this- clear soap with two layers of shapes.
Use a larger cookie cutter to cut the soap into shapes. If you don't have a large cookie cutter you can take a knife and cut the soap into squares.
Here is the finished soap! So pretty!!
You can use different colors and different cookie cutter shapes each time so the soap comes out unique!
This is my first attempt at melt and pour soap. I think it came out pretty good! It was A LOT of fun! There are so many possibilities, I can't wait to try more.
After pouring your first layer, use a small square cookie cutter to make a checkerboard pattern.
Then pour on the layers!
Use cookie cutters to cut out the shape of the soap.
And your done! Be sure to add a nice scent to your soap, I used blueberry for mine.
When my daughter was in the hospital we stayed at an amazing place called David's House. This is a house where families can stay while their children are in CHAD. I was so relieved that we got a room at David's House. Leaving my baby every night was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Being at David's House made it alittle bit easier. It took only five minutes to get from David's House back to the hospital.
Imagine your child being in the hospital and you have no place to eat, no place to sleep and no place to shower. David's House provided all of these things. 15 rooms are available for families to stay in. There is a large kitchen where food is provided and most nights volunteers would cook a hot meal for the families.
David's House brought together the families of the children in the hospital. It became a support system so that I didn't have to go through this experience alone. I met many other mom's and dad's who had babies in the ICN and it was a gift to be able to talk and vent to them and to support each other. Many of the families I still keep close contact with.
I remember one night, a group of volunteers came in and made tacos. My son and I sat with other families and enjoyed a family style supper together. I don't remember the conversation that night, but I remember everyone talking and laughing. I was a nice break from the stress at the hospital.
What I will be most thankful for about David's House is being able to have my son stay with me. My daughter was in the hospital for 11 weeks and that whole time he was able to be with me. I didn't have to choose between which child to be with. I was able to have my family together. And, my son was able to connect and bond with his new sister. It was hard enough to leave my baby, I didn't have the strength the leave my son too.
My son's favorite part about David's House was the playground! They have a great, big playground in their front yard. Most nights we would eat supper and then sit outside so he could play and be a kid. Everyone at David's House loved him and was so nice to him. He was very spoiled there! Always being given cookies or little treats from the staff.
There was always a feeling of hope at David's House. There was a peaceful, relaxing feeling whenever you were there. David's House was not just a place to stay, it became our family while my daughter was sick and it will now always be our family. I will always be thankful for David's House.
Play this video to hear the story and love of David's House.
My son and I will be doing a radio interview this week. He was telling my grandma about it and he said,"Just think, first the radio, then the TV and then theaters!". I am glad he has high hopes for himself!
I have been thinking about my son a lot lately. He is really pushing the limits since we started with a behavioral therapist. She says we just have to stay strong, that things will get worse before they get better. I am just tired of seeing him suffer, I want just one thing to come easy for him.
He is amazing. He is so so funny and has the greatest little spirit. Every parent worries about their child's future. I hope my son takes the right path. I hope that he can control his impulses and use his energy in positive ways instead of negative. He could make huge changes in this world if he put his mind to it. My wish for him is that he always stays true to himself. I wish that he will make all his dreams come true and never give up on himself. I hope that he will push himself to be the person I know he can become. When I look into his eyes, I see the wonder and amazement. I hope he never loses his childhood curiosity. I love my baby!
Monday, December 12, 2011
HomemadeChirstmasGifts
We have limited money this year so we made gifts for everyone in our family. It was great because we made it into a fun family project!
First we madepicture frames. These were wooden frames that we got at Micheals. We just painted them and added some stickers. Be sure to pick out which picture you want to use first so that you can make the frame stand either lenghtwise or widthwise to fit the picture.
Second, I made a bird house for my mother in law. I also got the birdhouse at Micheals. I painted it all purple, then I added scrapbook paper with modgepodge to the sides. I also added cute little bird stickers to decorate and some purple ribbon.
Then came the nieces....I made crocheted hats and bought some mittens at walmart. I had to make 5 hats but only have pictures of two. The patterns for these hats I got off etsy.
I also made hair clips and hair clip holders for the girls with winter birthdays in my family. These were made by glueing ribbon, bows, and buttons to metal clips. Make sure to use fray check on the ends of the ribbon to keep them from fraying. The clip holders were made with felt flowers, ribbon, buttons and a little hot glue!
I did the kids' chirstmas pictures this weekend! I found a neat idea of how to make a christmas background online. It was suppose to be white christmast lights with a white sheet hanging over them. I only had a colored christmas lights and a green sheet, but I think they came out pretty neat!
