Homemade Lip Balm

I decided I would take on another hobby.  Jan, whom I met through Operation Write Home, began making homemade salves and soaps.  After seeing her posts and reading about homemade body care, I thought I can do that.  What really pushed me was my son always gets horribly chapped lips (especially in the winter).  I have tried so many chapsticks and nothing really worked.  Then when he recently had the flu and wasn't drinking enough water, his lips were so chapped, they were bleeding.

The great thing about making your own products is knowing what is going into it.  You look at so many labels of items in stores and you can't pronounce half of them.  And you also wonder if it's really good for you.

 I found a simple lip balm recipe here but did a little variation.  This recipe doesn't make much but for the 1st batch it was just enough.  I used beeswax, mango butter (cocoa butter breaks out my skin & makes me very itchy), olive oil (i don't have almond oil), vitamin e and tea tree essential oil.  I did not add the honey as I read mixed reviews about using it.

To start, I put the beeswax, mango butter and olive oil into a glass measuring cup.  I bought one just for making this as I have read that it's hard to get it completely clean.  I also heard of people using a mason jar.  But you want something that can be heated.

Next, you need a double boiler (or create your own).  Add about 1 inch of water into the pot and then add your measuring cup.  You want to keep it on a low heat (I had to turn it up a bit because our stove is off).  While it's melting, stir continuously.  Once it's melted, remove the measuring cup & wipe off the water (you do not want water in your mixture).  Now is the time to add the vitamin e and essential oil.  Since tea tree oil can be pretty strong, I didn't add much.  I figured if it needs more, I will remember for the next batch. 

At this point, you need to move quickly.  It starts setting fast.  I used a lip balm tube (I bought it here but many options online to purchase).  And two pots.  I actually bought these at Joann in the beading section.  They are suppose to be used to store beads or other accessories.  But they work perfectly for my need.  Pour your mixture into the chosen containers.  Let it cool completely before adding the lids.  Then you add labels on your containers to make them look nice.  I just haven't printed any at the moment.

** One note **  I actually added a little more beeswax then the recipe called for (because I accidentally dumped more than I wanted & the oil was already in the measuring cup.  Oops!  But it wasn't a whole lot.  Before I cleaned up, I actually rubbed some of the balm off the glass & put on my lips.  It's a tad on the waxy side.  If I really wanted to "fix" it, I would put back into the measuring cup, melt it down & add a tiny bit more olive oil.  But I didn't.

Now the real test will be when I can use it on my son's lips and see how they do. 

Personal Mother's Day Cards

Mother's day is just around the corner and I figured I better get on the ball & make some cards.  I have said it before and I will say it again, making cards for family/friends is extremely difficult.  You want to make sure it's perfect and fits that person's 'style.'  So trying to come up with card ideas for 2 special women in my life was challenging. 

The first card is for my mom.  She absolutely loves roses.  It is hard being far away from my family (I am in NC and my parents are in CO).  But holidays are even harder.  As much as my mom knows how much I love her, it would be nice to give her a hug.  She means the world to me and is my best friend.

The second card is for my aunt (my mom's sister).  She has always been like a second mom to me.  I have always looked up to her and respect her.  I saw a card that Pam posted and loved the simplicity of it.  So I CASEd it.  Thanks Pam!  :)  Wasn't super thrilled how the mother's day banner turned out.  Despite my perfectionist self finding fault, I am sure she will love it. 

More Shirt Cards

Watched another YouTube video on an origami shirt.  They are super easy to make.  If I wasn't rushing to get cards together to ship, I would make more.

I came across some Father's Day cards I made last year.  Didn't get them ready to mail in time for the deadline.  At least I didn't need a bathtub to store them.  ;)

Father's Day

Why must I always do things the hard way?  HAHA  I watched a YouTube video on making shirt with tie cards.  I thought "I want to do that!"  But since I was using pattern paper for the shirt, I wanted a solid color for the tie.  Now since the tie is folded like origami, the paper has to be thin.  Cardstock is too hard to fold & makes it too thick.  I didn't have any thin solid colors.  So I went searching at many crafty/scrapbooking stores.  Everyone has cardstock.  I was about to give up when I thought I would try a different Michaels.  I found some thin pattern paper and the backside had a solid color. Now we are back in business. 

Here is a group picture of 3 different cards I made. 

This one is my favorite.  I just love the pattern paper.  I used small round brads for the collar & tie pin.

Used the same brads for the collar.  I didn't add a tie pin.  I like the striped paper but it doesn't fold well.

I had some "antique" square brads that I thought went really well with this paper.  So I used them 

for the collar.

Cute Little Monsters

I seem to have failed my crafting new year's resolution.  This is why I don't make resolutions.  Here it is March and I am behind.  I said I would join the challenge of 5 Christmas cards each month, none yet.  I said I would join in more challenges, none yet.  I said I would blog more, not so much.  But life keeps getting in the way.  Dealing with a horrible head cold that didn't seem to want to go away.  My son tracking out of school for 3 weeks.  During that time frame, he celebrated his 6th birthday (*sniff sniff* he's growing up way too fast!).  Hubby, son & I recently spent a week in Orlando, FL.  Spending a couple days at the Disney parks and one day at Legoland.

But things have calmed down.....for now.  I'm feeling better and my son is back in school.  Time for me to step it up.

Today, I made 8 cards with these darling monsters (4 with the green monster, 4 with the purple monster).  I used OWH sketch 153.

Paper - Recollections Paper Pack from Michaels

Monster Clipart -  My Cute Graphics

Practice Makes Perfect

Well ok, maybe practice doesn't make perfect.  But it does help improve your skills. 

After getting advice from Cora & watching many youtube videos, I thought I would try coloring some more.  Gamsol was recommended to use to help blend the colored pencils.  Of course, there are no stores near me that sell it.  Well, a couple do......if I want some massive jug of it.  I don't even know if I will like it!  So while I wait for my little bottle to arrive by mail, I tried baby oil again.  I printed a digi from Whimsy Stamps called "Santa's Puppy."  I know Christmas is over but at the time, it was the easiest digi in my files to find that had very simple lines. 

I am really happy with the way this turned out.  I wish I could get my colors a little darker/vibrant without having to press so hard.  But I guess that will come with practice.  The only thing I don't care for is the "border" that appeared on the outside of image due to the baby oil.  Not sure if it would have happened if I used a blending stub instead of a Q-tip.  But the blending stubs are coming with my little bottle of Gamsol.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Beary Much In Love

I got some goodies from my husband for Christmas that I had been itching to play with.  One of them was my box of Primsacolor colored pencils.  My sweet hubby even went above and beyond, because I asked for the 72 set and he bought me the 132 set!  So many choices!!

I've had this cute bear digi for awhile (back in the day before I started keeping record of who made what digi).  So I opened my pencil set and went to town.  Course, my 5 year old was really excited about Mommy's new pencils & he wanted to color too.  Sorry child, these are Mommy's pencils, go find your own!  He lost interest really fast & went to play with his firetruck instead.  I did use some baby oil to blend the colors.  Not too sure about that technique.  But haven't given up on it completely.

The papers are all from a huge paper pack I found on clearance at Joanne (for $4.50!!).  And part of the reason it was marked down, it was missing the front cover.  Well, it had a tiny corner still intact.  So I have no idea who makes the paper. 

The sketch is one of OWH's (#152 to be exact).  I actually saw a card that was posted on SRM's flickr page and thought I really like that layout.  Come to find out, it was from and OWHer.  Go figure!