Merry Making - Marigold Magic

Calendula from my garden

Ingredients: Marigold Oil, Beeswax, Lavender Essential Oil

Literally made with Love

Tin Time

The holidays are just around the corner, and when I can find the time I love merry making of crafts, tinctures, lotions, and potions. Even though the weather has been great out here, everyday chores have our hands drying out , and a few of us are getting small cuts and burns. Marigold Magic salve to the rescue. I extracted calendula flowers into oil. Those baby food jars come in handy for everything! Then melted some beeswax into the oil in a double boiler with a few drops of lavender essential oil for fragrance, the ingredients shown in the photo are not exact measurements. Poured into 2 oz tins, and then labeled for gifting. P.S. we've already started decorating for Christmas. A week ahead more than usual but hey we have been in the spirit , and they way life is we will do all the things that bring us joy when the heart calls it in ♡ 

 

 

 

Crafted With Love

Let me just express how grateful I am that January's mental storms have passed. I'm doing much better and have ramped up my creative productivity again. Plus February just seems to be flying by. We will celebrate Valentines night going to a movie, then enjoying homemade cupcakes when we get home. I want to share with you some of the humble offerings for home I've been working on, just in times for Valentines Day !

    

~  GYPSY ROSE  DREAMCATCHER  ~

I'm one who saves old candle stubs and wax from the scented melts used in warmers. My cabinet was getting pretty full from this collecting. Wicks are expensive in store, and this year I'm on a mission to use what I have at home instead of consumerism, when possible. Miscellaneous string was dredged through wax and then dried to make wicks. Tin and tuna cans make great candle containers.

  

 MELT   &   POUR

and now for the creations.....

 

 ~  COTTON CANDY ~

 

~  RISE  &  SHINE  ~

 ~  MYSTIQUE  ~

~  SEASHORE  ~

 and one more project...

I found these wine corks in the back of the cabinet. Pieces of a former life if you will.  Still rocking that sobriety! I glued milagros from jewelry making onto the cork. Now I'm putting them to use as wax seal stamps. Just a little press test below during candle making.  I officially seal this post with love for your Valentines and weekend.

Spicing Up Christmas

I love drying out remnant's of my teas in the kitchen's mini bay window. Cuttings and petals from the outdoors are often added to dry out. It looks like an open apothecary and smells lovely when I wash the dishes. Having a Christmas tree and access to pine put my ingredients to a holiday use. I combined an equal ratio of all dried goods in mason jars. there is no secret quantity or formula to potpourri, use what you have and scents that please you. Just boil low on the stove in a pot of water and enjoy the smell of a Christmas home.

Corner View ~ Traditions

One of the Christmas traditions that I carry on from my childhood is  gifting my children a new ornament every year. When they grow up and leave the nest they will have ornaments to decorate their own tree. This makes me sad to know one day the ornaments that adorned the tree all these Christmas's will not be on the tree and the children will be on their own. but such is life.

 

I upgraded these Dollar Store stars with initials made of wire and beads. These are for my nieces and nephews, I have many of them I just photographed a few ornaments. Children will grow out of clothes and toys but hopefully these keepsakes will bring joy each year as they are pulled out to put on the tree.

 A close up of the initial and bead work. I was drawn to the metallic hues and ornate cutouts, they jingle nicely too.

Here are our ornaments ready for the tree, which we still haven't gotten around to decorating yet. The peace sign was fun and easy to make out of wire craft branches. There are so many traditions and yet so little time at the moment that I shared with you a small one. What are some of your traditions?

Up The Hill We Go

It's Christmas Tree time! Taking a trip up to Apple Hill, Camino, C.A. to cut down a tree was the order of the day. and as the saying goes the best laid plans don't always go that way. Randomness ensued that day.

 If you spy the "Forest Hill Bridge" on your way to Apple Hill you then realize you were supposed to

 take interstate 50 not 80 from Sacramento. Little bit of California Gold for ya this is the tallest bridge in California. So we took the scenic route.

 Coloma had a cute historic town with an awesome camping resort filled with cabins and tepees. Past this was also the Marshall Gold Discovery State Park. and if we were not already on mission to another destination we would of got out and explored.

 What a long scenic drive but we finally made it!  High Hill Ranch  #1 was where we spent most of our day. We perused the arts and crafts booths, photo oped with props. Pony rides were near the beautiful pond were you can fish if you wish. Dogs are allowed at this ranch, but we left Chico at home. After enjoying the scenery it was time to get warmed up and have treats. 

 Woodsong Herbs intoxicating aromas invite you to take a look at all they have to offer. The lavender sachets pulled me in. I purchased a few goods here that will be at the end of the post. I'm a small business supporter today, and it feels great.

 Besides being works of art these soaps smelled so good, we took a while sniffing most of them. I got excited with these booths and am inspired to do my own homespun goods. The atmosphere and down to earth vibe has me wanting to move to Placerville.

 After pleasing our sense of smell it was time to taste! The Fudge Factory Farm # 40 was the next stop. We had hot chocolate and a treat in mind. So many choices. I love the fact that my son photobombed us.

 Fudge is the name of the game here. It was pretty busy so we had to look and move along unless we were ordering. The staff was friendly, shout out to the young man that assisted me, you rock kid! We walked out with hot coco's, chocolate milk, and this caramel apple. Next order of business was to cut down a Christmas tree as promised. And that turned into a dilemma.

 

 I spotted this bug on the walk up to the Christmas Tree farm and had to shoot it. This was just too perfect for my hippie heart. Once we walked further we realized a big Closed sign. This being Apple Hill with many tree farms I was disappointed that all but three were still open for the season. And at a start off rate of 76.00 dollars for a tree forget about it! Our day at Apple Hill ended and back down the Hill we went.

 At the end of the day we ended up getting a tree. Foodmaxx grocery store had the perfect tree sitting right in front when we pulled up. A 6-7 foot Noble Fir for $38.00 score! Our tree smells so good. Time to pull out the lights and ornaments.

Here's the gifts we purchased for our home from our trip. this adventure was a little crazy but was well worth the day spent out in nature with the family. I hope family togetherness is part of your upcoming week. The closer it gets to Christmas the more hectic it gets at Casa Sol Y Luna ( well for me that is).

Corner View ~ Paper

Graduation time has come to Casa Sol Y Luna.  Money/candy leis seem to be all the rage these past 3 years and with the awesomeness of Pinterest anyone can create one.

{M}'s Preschool promotion Lei.

{E}'s 6th grade Graduation Lei.

And with that being said it is officially summer break for me and the kids. Oh what will we do to pass  the time together? Here's the tutorials for the flowers & leaves. For a global take on today's corner view theme" paper" visit FuoriBorgo.

Homespun Gift Giving

Now that almost everyone received their gifts from me, I can reveal them to you all. When I get around to it I will post tutorials. We are all a little under the weather right now at the house.

These candy sleighs were a hit. I made these for our stockings, in place of just throwing in chocolates. All you need is candy and that handy dandy glue gun.

 

My nieces and nephews got a homemade ornament on their gift to adorn their tree. I purchased a roll of 12 ball ornaments at the dollar store. Mini jingle bells were added and the hot glue gun was used to make the initials. Epsom salt added quickly gives a pretty sparkle.

Who doesn't love a bucket of snow! Our part of California is sunny and green so faux snow for a White Christmas is a must. Add shaving cream to baking soda and voila you have cold powder snow.

I made these sensory play kits for all my nieces and nephews. Check out my 

 Moon Sand  post on how to make sand.

The aroma while making these was delectable. I included instructions on a Christmas card on how to use this Gingerbread scrub so everybody knows it's not to eat. Mommy Musings blog has the recipe and printables.

These lavender heat pillows were all hand sewn with love. Me and my sewing machine have a love /hate relationship. The dried lavender flowers were cultivated from my own plants. Fill with rice and any aromatic flower of your choice, and pop into the microwave for up to two minutes. Your sore muscles will thank you.

The adults received my "Comfort & Joy Baskets".  The time and effort that went into making  these gifts was a true labor of love that I look forward to doing again when the holidays roll around . 

Happy New Year's Eve Eve!

Making Moon Sand

Baby it's cold outside and we long for the days of warm rays and playing on the beach. Roaring waves and sandcastles are things to long for till Spring /Summer arrives next year. But alas don't despair you still can have sand play....indoors! Moon Sand is commercially sold in stores but you can make bulk quantity for much cheaper.

 All you need is two simple ingredients. 8 cups of flour and 1 cup oil. It can be any type of oil you choose, baby oil just makes this moon sand smell so good.

Add the ingredients to a bowl and mix. It really is that simple a 4 year old can do it.

Moon Sand is great sensory bin play. Of course it doesn't have to stay in the container, but in the moments of creativity can get messy.  {M} is making a snowman, which brings me to the next project and future post. 

Upcycled Crayons

I came up with this recycled/upcycled idea for crayons while cleaning up the kids art supplies. Instead of throwing away all those small and broken pieces I converted them into new bright and colorful stars. My 3 year old  received these in his stocking, they are the perfect size for toddler dexterity.

Materials needed : crayons, mold, pot of water, baby jar or any glass jar, bamboo skewer 

1. Gather all your old funky crayons and take of the paper wrappers . Go find your favorite shape molds

   2.  Fill a pot halfway with water and set to a boil. Put your crayons color selection in the jar and set in pot.

      3.  Stir the crayon with the skewer as it melts. Once the crayon is completely melted pour into your mold.(Be careful use tongs or a towel to take the jar out)

4.        Let the crayon cool completely and pop out, hand them over to the kids and watch them enjoy