Archive for November, 2008

I decided that I just didn’t like the new theme that I spent hours customizing.  Go figure.  So, I changed the theme again.

This time I just went for a minimalist look.  Bob said that the busy theme really took away from the pictures I was posting.  I would rather have the focus be the things I am sharing than the theme graphics.

I am going to change it once more when I have the time to make some custom graphics. I already know what I want to do, I just don’t have the time right now.  Basically, it will be another simple theme, but with a custom header image.  I am sticking with the white background.

In the meantime, this design is cute.

On another blog related note, this is my final post in the National Blog Posting Month – NaBloPoMo.  I cannot believe I did it!  It was not as hard as I thought it would be.  It was fun, too.  I am definitely going to keep it up with at least 5 posts a week.

What do you get when you combine the Christmas Tree Soaps from yesterday, the Snowflake Soaps from a couple of weeks ago, and carved eraser stamps in cute Christmas designs with gift bags, cardstock, and some markers?

Adorable Christmas soap gift bags.

I gave these out to relatives at Thanksgiving because who wants Christmas soap after Christmas?

Materials:

Wilton six cavity silicone Christmas tree mold
12 oz. clear melt and pour soap base
fragrance oil in a Christmas scent – I used Brambleberry’s Hollyberry
blue and yellow (or green) liquid soap colorant
opalescent green mica
alcohol in a spray bottle
Pyrex measuring cup, spoon, microwave

Cut up the soap and put it into the glass measuring cup.

Melt in microwave in 30 second intervals, until fully melted.

Add fragrance oil. You should always add fragrance before color, since some fragrances alter the soap’s color.

Add yellow and blue colorant until desired shade is reached. To make green, you will use more yellow than blue. Add just a few drops at a time. Remember, you can add more, but you can’t take the color out once it’s added.

Stir mica into the colored soap.

Divide evenly into the six cavities of the mold. Spray liberally with alcohol after to remove any surface bubbles from your soap.

(That is alcohol on the outside of my mold.)

Allow to fully harden for at least a few hours. Pull away the sides to let some air in and the soaps should pop right out of the mold when you apply pressure to the bottom of each cavity.

Enjoy your soap!

Happy Thanksgiving, to all my readers!

I hope your day is filled with friends, family, and good food. If you are alone, I hope that you are filled with peace and relaxation – and good food.

We watched a short video at church last Sunday (yes, we go to one of those churches) about thankfulness. It reminded us that no matter what our circumstances, we can always be thankful that we have a God who is with us through everything. 2008 was a hard year for many people, but ours is a God that stands with us through hard times, as well as good. That is our true blessing.

I know I needed that reminder. It is so easy to focus on all of the things that I have struggled with over the past year. This year was hard for me and that is not even taking into account the tightening economy and uncertainty about the future. But I can be thankful that my struggles have brought me so much closer to the Lord and I finally have peace, even though my circumstances have not changed.

I am not trying to be trite. I know that it can be annoying to hear, in the midst of a really hard time, that it will bring you closer to God, expecially if you are not feeling it at that moment. Sometimes, that is the last thing I want to hear. Sometimes, I get caught up in the self-pity and anger about life.

That is where I was for a lot of the summer and into fall, even. But God brought me back into His loving arms. The Lord is my strength is not just a logo on Christian goods. I was not getting through the day when I was trying to do it on my own.

I am not sure how this went from a “Happy Thanksgiving” post to a testimonial. It just sort of flowed out of me.

I just want you all to know, if you don’t already, that He is there for you. He knows your hurts. He is waiting for you to call out to Him.

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful that I will get to see our extended family, who we do not see nearly enough. I am thankful for the nice car we have to drive there that my father-in-law so graciously gave to us. I am thankful that I get to share my baking with a wider audience (I love to bake for people). But more than anything, I am thankful that I know God, after so many years of not knowing Him. I am thankful that we have a God who welcomes us back, again and again, meets us where we are at, and offers us his love and his grace.

The Christmas tree soap tutorial will have to wait until Friday. I am exhausted. I have been on the go all day. I did 7 loads of laundry at the laundry room in our apartment complex, went grocery shopping, made soap, made lunch, made some stamps, made soap gift bags decorated with the stamps, baked a pie, baked four dozen rolls, and made two pizzas for dinner. And then I packed because we are leaving in the morning.

I will have the tutorial up for Friday, though.

Here are the soaps I made today. I used the same method as with the snowflake soaps.  (Except that you need to use clear base for the red soap, or else you will have to add so much red that your soap will make red bubbles.)  They are scented with peppermint essential oil.

Today, the kids asked me if they could have the day off, since the public school kids are off this week. I decided that it would be a good idea, so they went off to watch a movie in my room and I had a chance to get some much needed stuff done.

I cleaned and made some soap. Unfortunately, when I was cleaning, I hurt one of the joints on my hand and was pretty much out of commission for the rest of the day. I was hoping to get more done.

On the bright side, I took step-by-step pictures of the soap I made and I am going to post a tutorial tomorrow.

Right now, it hurts to type, so I have to cut it short.

Tomorrow, I have to make rolls and a chocolate cream pie, assemble soap gift bags, do laundry, go to the store, get the three kids bathed, clean out the car (which should be pretty easy, since we keep it relatively clean), and pack. Whew! I am getting tired just thinking about it!

Since I probably won’t get to my post until later in the day, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Well, I am done with editing my theme for tonight at least. I am not 100% happy with it, but it is getting late. One of these days, I will find a theme that I heart forever. For now, I am off to bed.

Feedback welcome.

Tonight, I am playing around with a new blog design, so if things look a little strange, that is why. Or maybe it is because my new design is strange. Who knows?

If you have been a reader for long, you know that I change designs often. I do the same thing with my living room/dining room. My husband hates it. Hopefully, on the blog it is more welcomed.

I am going to switch over to the new theme, which I already customized before I uploaded it. I have to see how it looks before I know what other changes to make. The only problem is that I need to go read a bedtime story to Little E, so I can’t make the changes until I am finished.

I will let you know when the design is finalized.

I am making a chocolate cream pie for Thanksgiving dinner at my parents-in-law’s house, so I decided to make a practice pie tonight.

I bought some pie crust cutters at Christmas Tree Shops for $1.99 the other day. They cut out shapes, then imprint details. This was my first time using them. It was fun.

This picture is from before baking.

This one is after the crust was baked and filled.

The crust pulled into the middle a little, as you can see from the edges. Next time, I will have to fill it with dried beans to weight it.

The crust was amazing. I used a recipe for pate brisee from – where else? – Martha Stewart.

I have to give the rest away, so I don’t eat it all.  (This is the part where you wish you lived next door to me.)

Remember when I told you about making risotto in the crockpot? Well, last night I made the Tomato and Sausage Risotto recipe from Martha Stewart that I posted a couple of months ago using that method. It came out wonderful!

Skip step one. Do step two and three, except for the wine. Then add the mixture to the crockpot with the tomatoes and 3 cups of water. (I did not use the wine, but if you do, you might also need to reduce the water by the same amount.)

Cook in the crock pot for 2 hours, stirring after the first hour. It was still a little watery when the two hours was up, but the rice was tender.

Then do step 5. At this point, I left the lid off and the mixture thickened nicely, as it cooled.

This is a wonderful, creamy dish.