**DISCLAIMER: I created my wrap with a triple seam for security, but know that this seam should be closely inspected REGULARLY. Repair ANY sign of weakness. Your child’s safety while being worn is far more important than saving any amount of money.**
Hello, friends!
Does it seem a little dusty around here or is that just me? I guess that goes with having a newborn…blogging falls wayyy down on the priority list! Sleep becomes the focus of just about every hour. 🙂
Speaking of both the newborn AND sleep, I’ve found that I can combine both when I wear him. I have an Ergo that I LOVE, but I always hesitate to take it out of the car (because I forget to put it back in there and then I’ve found myself out and about on multiple occasions without it…no bueno…so it stays in the car now) and it also seems a little bit bulky for the house while he’s so small.
Around Thanksgiving, I started to consider purchasing a Moby Wrap. When we were at some friends’ house for Thanksgiving, she let me try hers on when I mentioned it. I was surprised to find that A) I LOVED IT way more than I thought I would, and B) it was only a blooming long piece of knit fabric! I stood there and said, “Ummm, yeah, I can make this for cheap. Can I measure yours?!” So I did. 🙂
Moby Wraps are one long piece of 100% cotton jersey knit fabric that is around 6 yards long (yes, YARDS) and 22 inches wide and tapers at the end (to reduce bulk when tying), then is serged around the edges. That’s IT.
So, I made THREE wraps for significantly less still than ONE name brand wrap would have cost. (I should mention that I took advantage of Fabric.com’s Black Friday sales, so all of my fabric was on sale!) There are other ways to do this, including no-sew options (just google it), but this is how I did it. I found that this method most closely matched the original product while staying the cheapest possible route.
Here’s what you need:
100% cotton jersey knit fabric (this is the one I’m using in the photos below. I also ordered this one and this one, if you want some other options without searching high and low!). I’m 5’4″ and a size 2-4, so I only needed my wrap to be 5 yards long, so I ordered 2.5 yards. Increase to 3 yards if you need a longer wrap. Regardless–look for a 100% cotton jersey knit that only has a 20-25% stretch across the grain; anything else will be too stretchy and not as secure for your babe! Also, the heavier the fabric, the better (don’t order “tissue knit”)!
Fabric scissors
Coordinating thread (I used white for the purpose of the tutorial so that you could see my stitches…normally I would have used a gray thread for this fabric!)
Sewing machine
Serger/Overlocker (optional)
Yard stick
Bowl or plate that is 7″ in diameter (or cut out a 7″ paper circle to use as a template)
Water- or air-soluble fabric marker
Pins
**DISCLAIMER: I created my wrap with a triple seam for security, but know that this seam should be closely inspected REGULARLY. Repair ANY sign of weakness. Your child’s safety while being worn is far more important than saving any amount of money.**
Let’s get started, shall we?
(I want to note that the seam in the middle serves two purposes: 1) original Moby Wraps have a tag on them that marks the middle, which aids in tying it, so the seam marks the middle on these, and 2) it allows you to buy half the fabric!)
**DISCLAIMER: I created my wrap with a triple seam for security, but know that this seam should be closely inspected REGULARLY. Repair ANY sign of weakness. Your child’s safety while being worn is far more important than saving any amount of money.**
Sorry, no, I didn’t change out of my running pants or t-shirt…and I had no make-up on, so you don’t get to see my face. 🙂
As for how long this takes, it SHOULD take less than an hour. However…there’s a chunky little 8-week-old person living in my house that refused to nap yesterday and preferred to alternate between crying and feasting on his fist, so this took me a couple of days, working in 5-minute increments. 🙂
P.S. These are the tension settings I used for my Brother 1034D. It took quite a bit of trial and error to get it set right for knit fabric, so I thought I’d share in hopes of saving you some time (and so I can remember next time)!
Happy sewing and Merry Christmas from ours to yours!
Today, I’m sharing my favorite power-oil combination! I keep each of these oils on hand for their various uses, and at one point, decided to combine them and their super properties. I apply it right out of the shower after lightly toweling off to lock in the most moisture, but it’s great for use throughout the day as well. I’ll let the individual oils do the talking and convincing, so let’s take a look at their properties and uses…
Sweet Almond Oil: high in vitamin E, extremely moisturizing–great for dry, itchy skin, and even eczema, great for sore muscles and joints and more, if a food-grade oil is taken internally!
Grapeseed Oil: Used to treat and great for…arthritis, edema, dermatitis, acne, wrinkles, dry and itchy skin, age spots, sun burns, chapped lips, wounds, bruising, stretch marks, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, chronic venous insufficiency, premature aging, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), dandruff.
Coconut Oil: Oh, don’t even get me started! Coconut has been made popular enough by now that if you’re interested in this blog post, you are probably quite familiar with its uses and qualities. But, just in case you aren’t…The health benefits of coconut oil include hair care, skin care, stress relief, maintaining cholesterol levels, weight loss, increased immunity, proper digestion and metabolism, relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV and cancer, dental care, and bone strength. These benefits of oil can be attributed to the presence of lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid, and its properties such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial and soothing properties.
Vitamin E Oil: Best known for its antioxidant properties, which fight against free radicals that cause damage to cell structure. It provides protection against toxins such as air pollution, premenstrual syndrome, eye disorders such as cataracts, neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes, healing scars, including those from acne, intense moisturizing properties (best used with a carrier oil if used daily), minimizing brown spots and wrinkles and more!
As you can see, I use a small travel-size plastic bottle, but you can keep it in whatever you like. The only thing you eed to know is that sunlight can damage these oils, so if you’re not going to keep the mixture in a dark cabinet (like I do), then you need to store it in either a dark/opaque container OR a container that blocks UV rays (many of the bottles that these oils come in are treated to block UV rays)!
This mixture will keep for a long time, though I recommend mixing it in smaller batches that can be used within three months.
**Please note: I am not medically-trained or qualified to give medical advice for treatment of diseases or ailments. My knowledge is simply from my own research, so I encourage you to do your own research as well. I have included some of my informational sources (though this is not an all-inclusive list, these are the articles I used to put this post together). Please contact your doctor for their professional opinion in treating any specific problems you have or think you have!**
Do you guys remember back in July when I was talking about how I would be aiming to bring some simplicity back into my life? Well, I’ve made it through nearly all of those books and have read some additional as well. One was called Easy Green Living, by Renée Loux. So far, it’s one of my favorites for its all-encompassing and easy-to-understand chapters. (My other favorite is Skinny Bitch: Home, Beauty & Style: A No-Nonsense Guide to Cutting the Crap Out of Your Life for a Better Body and a Kinder World, by Kim Barnouin – again, remember my disclaimer on her colorful language!) Both books break down words like dioxins, parahydroxybenzoate, phthalates, and perfluorinated compounds in ways that make sense, that I can remember and that help me to understand their impact on my health. And EASY ways to remove them. I still have a lot of studying to do, but my ultimate goal is to put together a guide on easy ways to be green and why it matters (like buying unbleached coffee filters–bought for the same price at the same place–instead of bleached coffee filters for a dioxin-free cup of coffee…EASY and IMPACTFUL).
So let’s talk about organic produce. Everyone has unique budgets and priorities, but for me, I’ve been sticking to EWG’s “Dirty Dozen Plus” list (top 12 produce you should buy organic if at all possible, as they are the top pesticide-sprayed fruits/veggies and buying organic therefore reduces your overall exposure to pesticides by leaps and bounds!):
Apples
Celery
Sweet Peppers
Peaches
Strawberries
Nectarines – Imported
Grapes
Spinach
Lettuce
Cucumbers
Blueberries – Domestic
Potatoes
Plus… + Green Beans + Kale/Greens
They have a free app you can download for both iPhone and Android, which is really handy if you’re in the grocery store and don’t remember if it’s imported or domestic blueberries you’re supposed to buy organic! You can check out their web site or their app to see where all produce is rated. They also have a “Clean 15” list, which are the lowest in pesticides and therefore you can save your sweet grocery budget on conventionally-grown versions of these items!
Anyway, moving on to what this post is actually about; whether you’re buying all conventional, all organic, or a mixture of the two, you need to clean that produce when you bring it home, right? And you probably don’t want to clean it with something that has more questionable chemicals in it than the pesticides you started with, do you? And if you guys know me, you know I’m not spending a chunk of change on a “natural” produce wash from a natural food store when I know I could create something out of the stuff in my pantry.
Renée Loux includes three different produce washes in her book. One is called, “Extra-Strength Lemon Peel Produce Wash.” It calls for 4 cups of filtered water, 3 tablespoons of white vinegar, 2 tablespoons of Lemon Peel Concentrate (which is below and is the whole point of this novel!), 2 teaspoons of baking soda and 4 drops of grapefruit seed extract. You mix them together until the baking soda has dissolved and can put it into a spray bottle to spritz your produce or a bowl to dunk it all together.
So, if you’ve read this post thus far, congratulations. If your eyes skimmed past all of the words and straight to the pictures, hello and welcome. 🙂
Lemon Peel Concentrate
You need: – 4 organic* lemons – 1 cup vodka (cheap is fine)
*No, you wouldn’t normally buy lemons organic, but you’re using the peel, which is where the pesticides are, in order to make a produce wash to remove the pesticides from your conventionally-grown produce. So, yes, organic is important…otherwise, you’d be rendering this produce wash pointless. 🙂
1. Give the organic lemons a good scrub in a water bath.
2. Peel away the yellow part of the peel, leaving behind the bitter white pith. I started this with a paring knife, but after the first half of the first lemon, I realized I didn’t have all afternoon to sit around carefully peeling lemons. I remembered that Pampered Chef Apple Peeler/Corer we got as a wedding present that we haven’t used yet and set it up. It worked like a dream!
3. Place your lemon peels in a jar and cover with vodka.
4. Sealing the lid tightly, let stand for 2 weeks in a dark & cool place.
5. When the concentrate it ready, strain out the solids and store, for up to a year, in a cool, dark place.
6. Wash some produce and read the health benefits of citrus peel extracts here (yep, this can be consumed and used in a recipe much like vanilla extract would be!)
Speaking of which…vanilla extract is made almost the exact same way, only it sits for 2-3 months. My first batch is close to finishing!
And you know what to do when life gives you lemons, right? 😀
I’ve been making my own greek yogurt for almost a year now. I make a new batch every week, so I always have it on hand for breakfast (with homemade granola, yum!) or can use it as a base for dips, sauces, soups, smoothies, etc. I love having it…especially since I know it’s as pure as the milk I use and it only costs as much as a half-gallon of milk. I’ve had a myriad of friends and family ask me how it’s done, so after sharing it via e-mails and facebook messages, I decided I should just post it here and share it with all!
You’ll need:
8-cup glass bowl (Pyrex makes an 8-cup batter bowl with a lid–it works perfectly for this if you have one)
8 cups (half-gallon) of milk of your choice (I prefer 2% because it doesn’t taste sour and is creamier, but you can do skim milk and you end up with 0% fat yogurt)
kitchen thermometer that goes up to at least 180 degrees
fine-mesh metal strainer (the bigger the weave of your strainer, the more milk solids will slip through, which you don’t want)
1 Tbs. of plain yogurt (store-bought or you can use some from your last batch, once you get started, if it’s less than a week old)
Start by pouring the milk into your glass bowl. It’s not necessary to cover it, but I place the lid over the bowl (I don’t push it down and seal it) so that it heats up faster. (You can heat your milk over the stove, but you have to continually stir it, so I just like to put mine in the microwave and leave it.) Regardless of how you heat your milk, heat it to 180 degrees. This takes 13 minutes in my microwave, but microwaves can vary a lot, so you’ll have to check yours every couple of minutes the first time to make sure you’re not over-heating it…then, once you know, you know. You are denaturing the proteins in the milk, which opens them up to grow live cultures later in the process.
Once it reaches 180, let it cool back down on your counter to 110-120 degrees.
*Note: while your milk is cooling, it will likely develop a “skin” on the surface. Don’t mix this in or else you’ll have small pieces of it in your yogurt. Rather, just pull it to the side and scoop it off with a a spoon.
Stir in your Tbs. of yogurt–this is your live culture starter, so if the temp is above 120 degrees, you will effectively kill the culture and have to start all over.
Now, you need to incubate it for 12-14 hours. I’ve done this in both the crock pot and in the oven and the oven works best for me. You need to keep it around 100-110 degrees the whole time, so that the bacteria can grow. Some ovens can be set as low as 100, mine cannot, so I place the lid back on my bowl, wrap it in a towel (not pictured), turn the oven on for 60 seconds to take the chill off, turn it off, turn the oven light on, place my bowl right in front of the oven light and close the oven for 12-14 hours. The light should keep it warm enough. (I always start my yogurt the day before and then it can just hang out overnight, so I don’t run the risk of needing my oven for something.)
Once it’s done incubating, it will be like one gelatinous solid (there will probably be some clear-yellowish liquid hanging out on top–that’s whey). If you just want yogurt, stop now–you have yogurt. If you want greek yogurt, proceed to strain off the whey, which is what makes greek yogurt so thick.
Place your strainer inside of a bowl if you want to keep the whey (you can use it to make ricotta or, my favorite use, I substitute it for water in my whole-wheat bread recipes and it keeps the bread from becoming too dense!), otherwise just place it in the sink and pour your yogurt in. Try not to let it splash into the strainer, but pour it gently. Let it strain for an hour.
Once it’s done straining, pour the yogurt into a bowl, letting it “fall” out of the strainer on its own…if you use a spatula to scrape it off, you will essentially scrape some of it through the strainer.
(I pour my whey into a mason jar and refrigerate it until I’m ready to make bread!)
Now you’ll whisk the yogurt until it’s smooth. Refrigerate it and once it’s cold, it’s all ready for you to add fruit, granola, honey, etc. or just eat it plain (or use it in recipes). It is SO handy to always have it in the fridge!
It sounds like an involved process, but once you do it, you’ll realize that your actual hands-on time is really minimal. If you’ve read all the way through this, you’ll have no problem. If you let yours incubate over night and think through having time to strain it when it’s done, it will be really simple to incorporate it into your weekly routine and you’ll be saving yourself a lot of money and will have pure greek yogurt!
Lately, that’s what has stayed front of mind as I think about the upcoming year. Simplicity. Spurred on by some time unplugged (I’ll get to that in the second part of this novel) and a domino effect of sorts started by making my own…everything.
First, it started with going “no-poo” (mentioned here) back in November of 2011. Then, I proceeded to watch every documentary available on Netflix that was related to or was about organic farming vs. conventional farming, the effect of chemicals in the home (household cleaners and beauty products alike) and/or the how the ecosystem works. Then, we started an organic garden a couple of months ago.
A few days ago, I bought a water bath canner (I’d been waiting for it to go on sale, which it finally did) and, after a trip to the farmer’s market, spent part of my weekend making and canning pasta/pizza sauce from scratch with farmer’s market (mostly organic) freshly-picked whole tomatoes. Next up is jams. I’m coming close to perfecting my bread recipe (low in sugar and oil, 100% whole wheat + ground flax seed and still beautifully hearty and light at the same time). Last week, I learned how to make my own fresh almond butter and granola (which goes beautifully with the batch of greek yogurt I make every week).
You get the picture.
I’ve been learning how to rid our home of chemicals and processed foods. I’ve thrown away countless bottles of half-used lotions, creams, cleaners, etc. My rule of thumb is that if I can’t safely consume it, I’ll think long and hard before I use it to clean our house, clothes (the occasional bleach cycle is the exception) or our bodies. My cabinets are becoming clutter-free, my recipes are becoming something I’m proud to serve to people and my beauty “routine” has become so, so simple.
No, I haven’t made my life easier; it would be [a whole lot] easier (and cheaper on the food side sometimes–not all of the time) to buy processed foods, pre-made cleaners and beauty products. But my life is simpler for the mere fact that I know what I am consuming and/or lathering all over my skin and hair. And I’m healthier for it.
So why is this important to me?
Because, first of all, you can’t take in this much information about these topics without feeling a sense of need to change how you’re living and treating your body.
Second, it’s important to me to keep both myself and my husband healthy (as much of it is in my control, anyway…which you know isn’t any at all, if you believe in the same God I do)…and because someday, babies will be welcomed into the home we’re working to build. And so it’s important to me to begin making small changes every week to clean up our habits so that by the time that season of life rolls around, I’ll feel a little more, in theory, “ready.” I want to have these recipes (for home cleaners and the like) down and the habits made so that it will be easy to see through in the long run.
I AM actually saving money by making bread, granola, greek yogurt, household cleaners, “shampoo” and “conditioner,” lotion bars, deodorant, pasta sauce, pizza dough, etc. from scratch. I’m investing my time, but I’m saving A LOT of money. Because of that, I feel much more at ease about buying the organic versions of the “dirty dozen” fruits/vegetables.
Finally, because there’s a great sense of pride that goes along with “making your own.”
So here’s the thing: I realize that the Lord has recently placed me within a season of life that allows me more free time…or at least an extremely flexible schedule, and we don’t have littles yet, which makes these changes and ventures 100% easier.
My heart’s desire is to be responsible and to be a good steward with the flexibility he’s given me. I want to build a clean and safe home, but I also want to pour into the lives of the people around us. You may or may not know this, but Cowboy and I will be leaving Wichita to move across the country next May-June to begin residency at a naval hospital. Away from our church, our families and our [in some cases, lifelong] friends. So, as a result, I’ve been focusing on unplugging as much as possible. My phone is no longer with me at all times and my blog posts have become few and far between. I don’t dislike my phone (OK, really, I’m talking about every stinking facebook notification that would make my phone buzz…I put a stop to that) or my blog (I love you guys), but I simply needed to re-focus the time I was investing in those things. I’m focusing on being available for people (not something that comes naturally to me as I like to stay busy with my own to-do lists and projects) and having the attitude of willingness to drop whatever I’m doing or whatever I had planned for day to be able to spend some time with people. The Lord is growing me and preparing me (though I’m not entirely sure what all for) and I feel so incredibly grateful for this current season of flexibility as the clock ticks on our time left in Wichita.
So, while My Yellow Umbrella isn’t going anywhere, understand that the posts probably won’t be as often as they once were. Just know I’m redirecting that time into relationships. I will however, give you a round-up, Instagram-style of what’s been going on in our house lately. 🙂
From top to bottom, left to right: 1. 25 lbs. of organic farmer’s market tomatoes became 3.5 quarts of canned pizza/pasta sauce for the winter! 2. Yikes, a tiny little mouse popped out of the box of mason jars I was digging through in the garage. He was set free in the back yard shortly after the photo was taken. 🙂 3. Cowboy took me on a mystery date…to the rodeo!! 4. New canning set! 5. Cooper is sleeping well these days. 6. Homemade citronella candles (all soy wax!) 7. Finally finished hand-painting the sign for the living room. It reads, “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. – Abraham Lincoln” 8. Full set of 8 metal bowls/plates/cups for camping…for $5 at a warehouse sale! 9. Homemade bread and fresh basil. Yummmmm.
UPDATE 12/27/12: I’ve been using an alternate recipe since my second batch of lotion bars. See the alternate recipe below!
Hello, friends! The good news is we survived Monday. The bad news is we have four days to go (unless you love your job, in which case you’re probably peachy right about now). I do love my day job, but I also love my weekends. It’s my time to really focus on projects, get things accomplished and cross things off of my ever-growing to-do list (this is self-inflicted, though).
This weekend, I made my own lotion bars and lip balm! The lotion bars were inspired by this blog, which I encourage you to visit. Her post is pretty compelling on why you should think twice about what’s in store-bought lotions.
I tweaked her recipe just a bit and went with canola oil instead of vegetable oil. I used bergamot essential oil because I LOVE the smell of bergamot. It reminds me of a nice cup of hot earl grey tea, so it brings a slight smile to my face every time I use the lotion bars!
What You Need:
Original recipe:
Beeswax (I picked mine up at Hobby Lobby since it was convenient and I had a 40% off coupon, which made it $8.99 for the 1-lb. block)
Vegetable shortening
Canola oil
Essential oil, of your choice (this is optional, but you can really customize these to your liking with just a few drops of essential oils)
Form/mold (I used a soap mold, also from HL, as it was also on sale, but you could use really anything you want. Try a silicone pan/mold for some fun shapes!)
Alternate Recipe:
Cocoa butter
Beeswax
Coconut Oil
Optional: Vitamin E Oil and Grapeseed Oil
Optional: essential oil of your choice; use one that will mix nicely with the coconut and cocoa butter smell (they are strong on their own) and make sure to use an essential oil that is OK for your skin!
What You Do:
Both recipes: Melt a 1:1:1 ratio of all three ingredients (you’re going to add the essential oils at the end, if you’re using them) in a double boiler or a small pan inside of a larger pan of boiling water. (NOTE: I did try to melt these together in my microwave, but the beeswax started sparking. Apparently this will happen in some microwaves and will be fine in others, so be careful if you try this!)
Once everything is melted together, stir well, remove from heat and, if you’re going to use them, add the essential oils. (And if you’re using them, pour in 2 teaspoons of vitamin E oil and 2 tablespoons of grapeseed oil.) I used around 25 drops of bergamot for 4 bars in the original recipe.
Pay attention to any directions that come with your mold…for example, mine specifically noted that anything above 150 degrees could melt the mold. Since my mixture was closer to 165 degrees, I let it cool in the pan on my counter before pouring it into the mold. Nothing would be worse than pouring your mixture into the mold, just to watch the mold melt away! If you’re using silicone, you shouldn’t have to worry about this. 🙂
Once the bars have cooled, pop them out of your mold and enjoy!
To use, rub them between your hands and your body heat will soften the bar enough for you to get what you need. It WILL be extremely oily at first, but it WILL soak in after a couple of minutes. The air in our house has been extremely dry lately (thanks, winter), which wreaks havoc on our skin. That’s probably the top “problem” I hear about from Cowboy, so to say these have been a hit would be an understatement. Not only do they smell good, but I’ve found that once it soaks into your skin, it sort of leaves a super-soft, non-waxy protective layer that doesn’t wash off with water (like, if you’re washing your hands) like lotion would. I’m pretty much obsessed with these things! I even mailed one to my brother today because his hands have been on the verge of cracking open (sorry for the mental picture) every winter for as long as I’ve known him (i.e. since the day he was born). Mom–shhh, don’t tell Jason! 🙂
You could fancy these up lots of different ways–different molds/shapes, some food/icing coloring, some smaller shapes you could add to the top (like a tiny heart on top of a big heart of a leaf on top of a more plain bar, like mine)…and of course add your own favorite scents. Make them your own!
While I had the beeswax out, I thought I would also make my own lip balm. I just needed to find something awesome to keep the balm in. Then I remembered these adorable tiny jars I picked up at a Goodwill in Kansas City a couple of years ago. I thought they were the cutest little jars I’d ever seen, but never really had a great use for them…until now!
I paid a whopping 29 cents for each one. Score!
For this mixture, I used beeswax, olive oil and essential oil (again, bergamot)
Using the same method, melt together a 1:1 ratio of beeswax and olive oil (you really could use any oil you want, but olive oil is awesome for your skin. I think I might add in some coconut oil next time, too!), stir in your essential oil (I used 2-3 drops per jar) and pour into a container of your choice!
Voilá! Now you have two items to make from scratch that won’t take a lot of time or money and you’ll managed to have remove even more chemicals and other yucky stuff from your home and your daily routine.
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Happy sewing and Merry Christmas from ours to yours!
