Waxing Eloquent

I purchased a kit!  It seemed harmless at the time, a little tub of wax some cotton strips.  This seemed easy - so I set out to wax my eyebrows - proving once again why my family oh-so-lovingly dubbed me, Grace, of which I am the antithesis!

My first experience with it was a year ago it went....

Simple: heat tub of wax in microwave for 1-2 minutes.

Me: heat tub of wax in microwave 10-1....well, it was a little too warm!

Simple: Smooth on a paper-thin layer, using applicator. Apply strip and quickly zip-off in the opposite direction of hair growth.

Me: carefully apply small amount to wayward hairs at the eyebrow, but wax was a little too warm and not all of the hair I desired to remove came off. No problem, I will try again.

PROBLEM: using some rationale that I can still not explain expect that I did not want to waste the strips,  I decided to reuse the strip! After applying another thin coat and zipping it off I checked the mirror to admire my work ENTER the Husband.

Husband: what did you do to your eyebrow?

Me: waxed it

Husband: did you mean to?

Me: uh yes, then looking closer in the mirror noticed I had cleanly removed a large chunk of my eyebrow. I look at the strip - YUP, there it is!!  CRAPOLA!!!

Facebook post: Hypothetically speaking.....uhmm....my FRIEND wants to know...ahhh...how long does it take for eyebrows to grow back after an unfortunate turn of events while trying a to use a home warm wax kit....just wondering....for my friend! Anybody have an eyebrow pencil I ....I mean my friend can borrow??!!

Second, and I might add FINAL,try was tonight!

The lid to the wax was glued on, I figured once I heated it in the microwave it would loosen up, which it did.  But the wax spilled as I took the lid off and was all over my fingers.  That stuff is sooo hard to get off.  I was trying to get it off before my husband figures it out.  No such luck! 

Husband: did you know that you got wax on your make up sponge thingy?

Me: yup.

Husband: what are you doing, is it on your hands?

Me: yes, and I can't figure out how to get it off. I tried freezing it with ice, heating it with hot water - it just spreads and gets worse.

He snickered - I poked him in the chest with my waxy finger leaving a hairless reddened spot mid chest! 

Husband: picks up directions and reads  - use oil to remove.  He then goes and gets the vegetable oil and pour it on my hands! It worked!!

Me: Well, the wax is in the trash and I have a salon appointment next week!

Green and Clean

We are cleaning green!

    After reading up on waste and the environment, my husband and I were just amazed at how much of an impact we have on the environment everyday.  So, we decided that we wanted to makes some changes and live greener!
    We decided to start by making small changes.  I think the first thing we did was decide to not buy paper towels – seems simple – oy vey though, it seemed like a huge loss/inconvenience to me, I did not like it!  It seems silly now though, since we have not had paper towel over 2 years.
    Next we took a few classes as the public library. We learned about how the cleaners we use effect the streams/rivers and their inhabitants, even our animals and ourselves since we were inhaling these toxicants as we used them and leaving behind their caustic residue as we went “cleaned.”
    Once the decision was made to clean only with green products we decided to use up the cleaners, no sense in throwing them into the landfill.  We would use them up and replace them with homemade or bought products deemed green!
    Turns out we make all of our cleaning supplies from laundry detergent to toilet scrub! We are learning as we go.  Some products we like instantly and others have taken some tweaking!

Outcomes of our venture:

 1) We feel better about what we are doing for our health, by using non caustic products.

2) We feel great about decreasing our carbon footprint.

3) We have saved some mega-$$$! (unanticipated, much welcomed outcome!)

    In this entry I will list the supplies we keep on hand then I will go through and do tutorials or recipes on each of the products we use.

Green Clean Supplies:

v  Liquid Castile Soap

v  Baking Soda

v  Essential oils

o   Lavender

o   Tea Tree

o   Lemon

o   Orange

o   Peppermint

o   Rosemary

o   Eucalyptis

o   Other

v  Olive Oil

v  Vinegar

v  Borax

v  Alcohol

v  Borax

v  Washing soda

v  Epsom Salts

v  Cleaning cloths

o   Old t-shirts

o   Microfiber towels

o   Toothbrush

o   Newspaper

Ready, Set, Go!!  You can do it!

Poly-Satin Flowers: The Necklace

So, I did it!  And for the first one, I am really pleased!  Here is what I did. 

I made the flowers (see 9/12/11 post for tutorial) then cut out a piece of felt to use as backing then I glued (using hot glue) the flowers to the felt (then realized I had to recut some notches out of the felt so you could not see the felt behind the flowers.  Then I hot glued a pearl in the center of each flower. 

Then I took a necklace I bought for $1.00 at a resale shop and clipped the links in the middle and removed the center pearl.  I stuck a piece of metal like a jewelry pin (which I cut from piece of broken necklace and bent with pliers) then put the pin through the felt and pinched it with pliers...hard to describe but easy to do!

I then the center pearl that I cut off the necklace as the middle of the tan flower and used a few other pearls from another necklace I took apart for the centers of the other 4 flowers.

Then I tried it on!! :) Swwweet!  I am going to wear it to ArtPrize tonight!

Must love Dogs

Our dogs are our kids!  To love us is to love our dogs! ;) 

I just had to chuckle when I saw this sign!!  Now that's the dog-gone truth, if you come to our house - you must pass the sniff test!

Lemon Slice Ice

I saw these somewhere this summer and finally made them a few weeks ago!  I was delightfully surprised at how flavorful the lemon slice made each cube!  In the picture below I showed placing them in lemonade but I used them in water, sprite and ice tea as well - YUM!

Directions:  fill a cupcake pan with water, slice up a lemon and place on slice in each well, freeze and add to your favorite beverage!

Poly-Satin Flowers

Love this project!!  It is quick, simple, and cheap!  I spent $2.24 on some poly-satin material 1/8 of a yard of six yummy colors.

 

Choose your colors!

Use a tea-light to slightly melt the edges (watch your fingers!!)

This is how the edges will look.  Now repeat with various color and sizes.

 Stack them up and sew then together through the center.  (You can add a pretty button or bead to the centers)

If you would like to make a flower with petals vs the rounded look see below:

Cut small slits around the circumference

 I varied the number of "petals" on each flower.

Melt edges

These were a ton of fun to make because they are quick, easy and foolproof!  Instant gratification!! :)  I made one in just a few minutes, attached it to a bobby pin and put it to the side of my pony tail.  I also pinned one to my purse.

Other ideas:  use as a bow for gift bag, pin one or two in random places on your jeans, skirt, or blouse.  I am going to make a necklace out them too (I will post the pic once I am done!).

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your flower making and be sure to let me know how it goes and/or post other suggestions for use!

***My argument for those who think they can't: We were made by the utimate Creator, so everyone is creative and the best thing is we are all creative in different ways and can compliment each other!***

Create on, my friend!!!