Handmade Gifts

I meant to put this post out before the holidays but then it would have been a spoiler for all my family members that read my blog!  So I'm posting them now so anyone can use them as inspiration for birthday or other gift occasions in the new year!

1.  Lip Balm
These were the biggest hits!  I made 50 tubes of lip balm in just about an hour.  I learned how to make these through a friend who hosted a class with a DoTerra Essential Oil representative.  The recipe is simple: 1 tsp bees wax pellets (Hansi organics off Amazon), 1 tsp shea butter (you can also use cocoa butter), 1 tsp coconut oil, 3-5 drops essential oil.  You can also add a little Vitamin E oil.  The woman showed us how to use the silicone cupcake liners as double boilers.  Melt everything together (add the essential oil toward the end) and then pour into containers.    

 I made lavender and peppermint lip balms and labeled them with the ingredients and gifted some of them in these little mesh drawstring bags.  The biggest expense is the container.  I got mine for a fair price at Amazon (about 22 cents per tube).  However, now that I know I can do this process successfully and I am now in LOVE with the lip balm, I can buy 100 tubes at a time for a better price.  I barely put a dent in the other materials.  I estimate the cost per balm to be about 50-60 cents.

2.  Rainbow Hand Kites
This was an idea found on pinterest.  I gave these to my kids for Christmas and they loved them!  I bought the ribbon at Dollar Tree and there was enough ribbon for 6 kites.  The wood rings are 3 inches in diameter and the best deal I found was at www.craftamerica.com   After measuring each color and tying them in rainbow order, I hot glued the knots to the ribbon and to the wood.  I sealed the ribbon edges with a lighter. These cost $2 each to make and took about 15 minutes each.

3.  Stamped Fabric Gifts
Stampin' Up stamps can be used with fabric paint and will wash off easily.  I used my stamps to make a shirt and some dish towels.  These take less than 5 minutes to make each one.

For this shirt, I stamped the flower in the center, then used the eraser end of a pencil to do the beads.  I outlined the flower with white and silver puffy paint.  Once the glitter puffy paint dries, it looks really pretty.

These are Aunt Martha's flour sack towels from Amazon.  I could have found less expensive ones, but theses were the perfect size and texture I wanted so I didn't mind paying a little more.  I used a ruler to line and space the stamps evenly at the bottom of the dish towel.  I stamped the kids' hands to make the trees then decorated them with puffy paint and painted the trunks.  The possiblities for this project are endless!  Different stamps or handprint designs can make a great gift for any occasion.

4.  Wooden Puzzles

I bought wooden puzzles at Hobby Lobby and had my son draw his own design and paint them himself.  He gave one to his sister and one to my nephew.  

5.  Salt Dough Ornaments
There are several variations of this recipe on Pinterest.  Many of them post equal parts salt, flour, and water. However, my dough was too wet, so I started with 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup flour and gradually added water starting with 1/4 cup until I got the dough consistency I wanted.  Roll them out into whatever shapes you want.  Use a straw to make a ribbon hole for ornaments.  You could also cut them into squares to make coasters or shape them into whatever you want.  Bake them at 200 degrees for 2 hours, turn them over halfway through.  I made these at school with my students and my son made the ones pictured below.

Tis the Season for some Saving!

It's been a while since I've shared my accomplishments.  Where to even begin?

First off, I was blessed with the opportunity to serve one of my neighbors.  She recently had back surgery so I offered to prepare her a meal.  A few days later, she called and said she got a free turkey from Winco (they were giving away free turkeys with $100 purchase) and asked if I would like it.  I gratefully accepted it and it was a huge 25 pounder!

Thanksgiving Day, we did our traditional buffet meal with my in-laws then watched movies at their house in the afternoon.  I made 2 pumpkin pies a few days earlier and we had one that night.  Friday morning, I made the turkey.  We had turkey dinner with the other pumpkin pie on Friday night and had the church missionaries over.  The leftover turkey gave us meat for sandwiches all weekend, meat for 2 large pots of soups, and there is still some in the freezer!  I made a turkey vegetable soup and white turkey chili.  I baked four loaves of bread and sent 2 quarts of soup with a loaf to my neighbor who gave me the turkey.  The remaining bread and soup was served at my son's family birthday party.

This year we decided to do a simple family party for Austin.  He wanted a Monster's Inc theme.  I made a chocolate cake and used green frosting to make a Mike Wazowski and also made frosted sugar cookies that looked like monsters with candy eyeballs.  Austin saw a "Pin the eye on Mike Wazowski" game at Party City and said "we can make this" and so for $1 worth of poster board, we made our own game to play with his cousins.  We got plain green goodie bags and Austin drew on them.

 Austin was sad he couldn't invite his school friends, but it seems the trend is to invite the whole class so no one is left out.   So I asked his teacher if I could do a story with the class on his birthday.  Austin chose the story "Mouse Paint" which involves a little magic trick of using a paper paint pot to change the white mice to different colors.  The kids loved it!  We ended the activity with cookies, juice, and a goodie bag for each student with a poem, some white cardstock, and a mini set of watercolors!  Afterschool, I took him to King Putt mini golf with his cousin and 2 friends from church.  Even by doing all this, I still spent only about half of what I have had to spend in previous years for his parties.

I did not shop Black Friday this year!  Instead, I used the time to make several gifts by hand which I will share in another post.  I ordered a few Christmas gifts online from independent crafters on Etsy and Facebook.

72 Hour Emergency Kit

One of my goals this summer was to update my 72 hour emergency kit.  I hadn't realized how long it had been until I pulled out Austin's emergency clothes and they were 2T!!

A well packed emergency kit has all the basic necessities included so that you can grab it and go if you need to evacuate your area at a moment's notice and have food and goods to sustain you for three days.  As hard as it is to fathom a disaster in your area, they do happen, and the more prepared you are, the less stress the situation will be on you and your loved ones.

First, I went through my old kit and kept what was in good condition and bought some additional items at the dollar store to add to my kit.  I wanted to come up with a better system so it will be easier to update in the future.

First, I got an old rolling suitcase and packed all the goods that do not need to be checked or changed out along with a large container of water that is good for several years.  In the event we have to go on foot, this will hopefully be easier to transport.

Next, I packed a backpack with the emergency food that will need to be replaced annually.  I made sure that everything in the kit would last at least a year.  I had to be creative with packing enough food that would adequately sustain us, fit into the backpack, and would also be something the baby could eat.  So I used applesauce cups, Snack Pack puddings, peanut butter, saltine crackers, peanuts, Capri Sun juice pouches and graham crackers.  I also packed foods that are normally in my pantry so that before the emergency food expires I can easily swap it out and it can be consumed before expiration.  I was able to fit a day's worth of food for the four of us with plastic utensils in a gallon Ziploc.  I packed three of these.  The jars of peanut butter didn't fit, so I packed those separately (one jar of PB each day to be spread on the crackers) and then packed the Capri Suns in 3 sets of 4.

Finally, I packed a backpack with an extra change of clothes for each family member and some basic toiletries (cleansing wipes, toothbrush/paste, comb, sunscreen, roll of toilet paper, etc) and little flashlights with extra batteries.  I packed some diapers that are much larger for the baby so they will be good in the emergency kit for a long time.  Also, packing extra clothes with elastic waists (esp for the kids) will account for any growth they might have in the upcoming year.  I also packed long sleeves and long pants rather than shirts and shorts so that it will work for any season (clothes can be cut in the summer or kept long to protect from the sun).  I also packed a little zipper pouch with several $1 bills and a copy of everyone's birth certificate and our marraige license.

The suitcase was labeled and placed in the garage as it won't be affected by temp changes.  The backpacks are stored in my closet so I can easily access them every summer to update them.

Here are some of the things stored in the suitcase:  ax, camp shovel, tarps, blankets, ponchos, emergency blankets, waterproof matches, lighter, emergency candle,  rope, duct tape, water, canteens and iodine tablets, paper/pen, compass, wind-up flashlight, radio, Swiss Army knife, deck of cards, children's book and little toys.

Repurposing with Duct Tape!

Don't you love the cute duct tape designs they have now?  There are several designs at Michael's and using a 40% off coupon can get you a great price.  Duct tape is so fast and easy to work with and can enhance any container!

Here are a few things I have done with duct tape:

1.  Repurposing a Clorox/Lysol wipe container:  You can store plastic grocery bags in your pantry or car.  I use one by my sink to store used Bounce dryer sheets.  I use the dryer sheets to scour my dirty dishes and clean sinks and counter tops.

2.  Decorate an upcycled can:  A stripe of duct tape with some ribbon or raffia tied around it can be a cute gift container for cookies or punch holes in the sides and add wire to make a little bucket.

More ideas to come!  Keep checking vivamomvegas or subscribe for notifications!

New Baby Survival Kit

I thought of this as a great gift idea when we brought our daughter home from the hospital and we had almost ran out of TP in our house!  Then I thought of other practical things that are good to have on hand and made up a little note to go with it.

New Baby Survival Kit

 Paper plates and plastic silverware

Who has time to do the dishes?

Emergency supply of toilet paper

Run out of this and you’re literally SOL!

Paper towels

To keep the house sort of clean!

Emergency supply of chocolate

 When things get sour, have something sweet!

Diapers

Can never have enough!

Congrats on your new bundle of joy! 

Baby travel kit

I wish I would have set up something like this when I had my first baby!  I hate lugging around a huge diaper bag when I'm just going out for a short time.  So now I have created a set up of on-the-go diaper and feeding supplies that will easily fit into my regular purse.

 I bought a set of 10 mini containers at Dollar Tree.  I put formula in three containers labeled with the amount of water required to make the bottle and numbered them.  I put rice cereal in three containers and numbered them.  I have several of the travel Huggies containers that come with the Costco cases.  I put one diaper, a small stack of wipes in a Ziploc sandwich bag, and two paper towels (still connected) folded up to use as a liner for the changing table.  I decorated them with stickers and numbered them so I know when I've used the 3rd one, I need to refill them.

For the feeding kit, I used a plastic school box.  I place a little juice (stored in fridge) with bib and spoon and cereal.  A little container of formula can fit in here too, then I can slip a bottle in the side of my purse.  

All of these are set on my counter with some spare diapers and wipes in the back so that everything I need to refill the kits is in the kitchen.