HomeMade Christmas - DIY Bath Salts

Hi. I am Grace and I am 12 years old.  I am Carrie's oldest daughter and Leah & Lauren's favourite niece, of course!

Today I am writing a guest post to show you what I made for Christmas Gifts this year.  This is the third year that our family has done homemade Christmas.   I have 'participated' every year and this is probably my best year yet.

In 2009, I made pin cushions with a cross-stitched design on top and crochet dishcloths. In 2010, I made chocolates with my sister  (we used moulds).

This year I made Vanilla Scented Bath Salts.

Here's the finished product!

Here is the recipe (it makes approx. 1 jar)

- 2 cups of epsom salts
- essential oils (not all oils are good for bathing in, try vanilla, orange, lemon, mint, or lavender or     rosemary)
- food colour (optional)
- a tea spoon of sea salt (also optional, I didn't use them the first time I made this)
- a jar with a lid

Mix all the ingredients together, making sure its evenly mixed and put into jar(s).
Enjoy a relaxing bath.

- Grace

Soda Bread Anyone?

As you may or may not know, we have some Northern Irish blood in our family.  Growing up, soda bread was a staple in our home.  Seriously, our Mom made it almost daily!  

Even though it's been forever since I have lived under my parents roof, I love it when my Mom makes me soda bread.  Sometimes she brings a whole batch or two to my house and puts it in the freezer for me.  It's such a treat for breakfast with butter and homemade jam : )

It's been a while since my freezer has been stocked with soda bread and last week I thought to myself, "how hard can it be to make it".  Turns out it was pretty easy.  Can't believe it's taken me so long to make it!  If you're interested, here's the recipe:

Irish Soda Bread

1 2/3 cups of flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp cream of tarter

1 cup of buttermilk ( approx)

1.  Mix together dry ingredients.  

2.  Add in buttermilk.  

3.  Turn onto floured board.      

4.  Form into a circle.

5.  Cut into four.

6.  Bake in a frying pan at medium heat.  No oil or butter in the pan.

Flip when brown.  When you're ready to eat it, slice the quarter in half and pop the 2 halves in the toaster or toaster oven  to crisp them up a bit.   You can eat them without toasting them, but my preference is always to toast : )

Can You Keep A Secret?

Here is a sneak peak of the sweater/jacket I made my mom for Christmas!

(since my mom doesn't own a computer, I'm trusting that she won't see this post before Christmas :)
so shhh don't tell )

My Mom is shorter than me, and more petite in her frame.. so this sweater will fit her perfectly...(you will see its a little too short on me).

I used the Vogue Pattern V8756.  This was the first time I have used a lining on a shirt.  It was definitely harder to make with the lining, but it made all of the seams polished and smooth.

Also, this colour is SO my mom!  I cannot wait to give it to her!

I love the feeling of giving a really great gift to someone you love! :)

 

Whats the gift you are most excited to give this year?

- Leah

And the winners are...

And the winners of the  Better World Shopper Shopping Guide are:


the Teenanator and Angela :)


Please email us at rhubarb.diaries@gmail.com with your mailing address and we will get those books to you asap!


Thanks for your participation in our first ever giveaway!  


Carrie
P.S.  I used www.random.org to choose the winners:)

DIY Outdoor Christmas Arrangements II

So you may remember from here, that I have been working on early Christmas presents. Its been fun to do, and each one is a little different (no fun all being the same!)

Check out some more arrangements that I have done:

Some people have asked me where I got all my supplies - here are a few of my tricks, I have been trying to be as frugal as possible.

I had a curly willow tree in my front yard, it was planted 3 years ago and had grown the height of our house, so it was cut down this year, I am sure it will grow back again but I didn't want it to get too outta control plus you can buy this exact same stuff in the stores. I spray painted some of it orange, and some I left natural

Birch, it looks so much more impressive than other tree branches (which I also used). Some birch was from my parents house (who's tree needed alittle trimming) and I also bought some from Sobeys (3 for $15 - which has recently been reduced to 3 for $10. This is substancially cheaper than some I have seen for up to $50 for one piece. I guess it depends where you buy it from but also how long and fat the piece is.)

I bought fake berries for most arrangements from Michaels (on sale of course!) and I bought some dried eucalyptus too, I wasn't sure how that would last in the elements, but it seems to have done better than the berries. In one arrangement the plastic on the berries burst open showing white, and in another they turned purple.

For the foliage, I used some blue spruce for 2 which was also trimmed from trees at my parents house. Some I bought (also from Sobeys, 4 bunches for $20) but a trick I realized last year and just remembered after completing most of my arrangements is that you can buy a whole Christmas tree for $20 (mine was from Home Depot) and then i cut some branches off !

(I only wanted a small tree anyways, but I could have used the whole tree in arrangements and still bought a full size one for in the house).

I used pine cones in a lot of the arrangements, and its ridiculous how expensive pine cones are..... I just kept my eyes open while out for walks and picked them up. Essentially I figure I am helping the landscaping people because I am sure they don't agree well with a lawnmower! I also thought about knocking on peoples doors if necessary, I can't imagine people would mind.

I also bought some shiny Christmas ornaments from a second hand store, some were old and discoloured - which was perfect for being outside - and I have no experience how they will be in the cold weather.

Unfortunately, I think I got a little bored by the time I did my own planters, because they are the least exciting but still do the trick.

Anyone else doing any outdoor decorating?

Remember to check out our first ever giveaway! You could win a copy of Better World Shopper!

- Lauren

Our first Giveaway!

You may remember that last week, there was a post about Better World Shopper.  You can read about it here.

I've been in touch with the author of Better World Shopper, Dr. Ellis Jones.  He graciously offered us 2 books to giveaway on our blog.  So fun!



To be entered in the draw, just leave a comment with your name below.

You have until next Friday, December 16th, at noon, to enter, and you can only enter once. The winners will be chosen randomly. We'll announce the winners later that day, so be sure to check back then.

We'll post the two winners on Friday afternoon.

Best of luck!

~ Carrie

Gift Ideas

This isn't so much a wish list for myself but a list of great gift ideas if you still have gifts to buy and have no idea what to get.

As we have mentioned before on the blog, our family does 'make your own' christmas. This drastically reduces the number of gifts I buy.

But here are some ideas...
One tip that always helps - is to think whether its something you would like. Not everyone is the same, but its a good starting point.

I love consumables, lets face it, we don't need more 'stuff' to fill our homes. (unless someone has specifically asked for it)...

Plants, potted plants, orchids, cut flowers, herbs. These are a variation of my christmas gift. And they are great any time of the year. One thing to keep in mind is to think whether the recipient is a plant person - or will it just die? If so, then cut flowers are the way to go.

Chocolates.  We all love chocolate, but we don't always treat ourself to the really nice stuff, or the imported stuff. Whatever you do, stay away from the cheap, seasonal stuff (think $1 easter bunnies - do you really want to eat that? it tastes like plastic, sure its a good deal but......)

Tea or Coffee.  Depending on your recipients taste, you can buy some specialty loose tea, or fancy coffee. Think about buying local and organic.  Think about something you might not always buy yourself.

HomeMade treats  If you are a baker, then home made goodies are great - but one thing to think about is 'can it be frozen'? Since so many of us get tons of goodies, its hard to eat them all right away, and if they must be eaten within a few days then they might go to waste. So lately I have been thinking about freezable homemade treats. Cookies tend to work great - and so does zucchini bread.

One of the best gifts we got after our daughter was born - was meals.  It can be weird but if you agree to bring a meal over on a specified date - then its a day your recepient can look forward to enjoying a meal. You have to be pretty close to the people to do this though :)

Magazines.   I love magazines.  If you are sure of one, then a subscription is a great idea. Then they get to enjoy your gift all year long.  There are so many out there, and I think most people enjoy relaxing and reading.

Gift Certificates.   These can be touchy, since they can come across as a last minute "I couldn't think of anything" but I think they can also be thoughtful if they are for a specific store (instead of the whole mall) or for a service like a manicure.  Just make sure you think of the person, and what might be a treat for them.

Experiences.  Spend a day or a weekend together.  My sister has previously spent weekends at Great Wolf Lodge, and I know other friends who have spent a day and taken their kids to the Toronto Zoo. We are currently planning a winter cottage weekend with my husbands siblings.  It's a great way to create memories and worth so much more than a sweater from the mall.

And now here are a few that are probably less generic and maybe only I would want them...
Gardening gloves, or clippers. (I think my husband would also be happy to receive work gloves at any occasion) A Kreg jig for wood working projects. Red oven mitts, red & black tea towels (for our hopefully soon renovated kitchen). A pastry hand blender. Sometimes its hard to come up with a wish list, since we all have so much stuff and are fortunate enough to be able to buy what we want from time to time.

Even a phone call to catch up with people you haven't talked to in a while.  It reminds people that you are thinking about them.

-Lauren

How to leave a comment on a blog:)

Because It can be tricky figuring out how to leave a comment on a blog, I thought I would try to adress the question.  All of this is with help from the google/blogger website:)  So, here goes:

You can usually find a "comments" link at the end of each post, like this:

If you click this link, you will go to the comment posting page. The comment posting page looks like this:

In the upper left corner, there is an option to show or hide the original blog post that the comments relate to. The rest of the left-hand column contains any comments that have already been made. The profile photos of the comment authors may also display, depending on the blog's settings.

On the right hand side of the page is the space for you to enter your comment. Beneath that are the identity options. 

The options are these:

• Blogger username: Your display name will appear, along with a link to your profile and your photo (if you have one).
• Other: You can enter your name and a link to your website, without having to have a Blogger account.
• Anonymous: No identifying information is displayed. The comment is credited to "Anonymous" without a link.

And finally, you choose to publish your comment. 

Let me know if this helps!

~Carrie

p.s.  we love and value your comments here:)

Better World Shopper

With Christmas coming and all, I gotta tell you about one of my favourite websites.  The information on this site has radically changed the way that I shop.  The truth is that we vote with our wallets.  If you're anything like me, I want to be more and more a part of the solution and less and less a part of the problem.

BETTER WORLD SHOPPER is a site dedicated to providing people with a comprehensive, up-to-date, reliable account of the social and environmental responsibility of every company on the planet AND making it available in practical forms that individuals can use in their everyday lives. Coming out of more than 5 years of intensive research, this work is based on a comprehensive database of over 1000 companies and utilizes 25+ reliable sources of data to cover everything from the environment to human rights, community development to animal protection ( taken from website).


Companies and Products are given a grade, based on the following 5 areas of criteria:

Check out the website at www.betterworldshopper.com.  The website is so informative.  There is also an app you can download to your phone or a book that you order through the website.  Really great stuff!

-Carrie

Not your average wedding cake

Friends of mine that were recently married didn't want a 'traditional' wedding cake, so they created something that reflected them a little better - a four layer cake made entirely of CHEESE!

Not only was it great to look it - it was served up at the late night buffet - and extras were vacuumed sealed and I got four pieces of 'cake' to take home! (oh the perks to being in the wedding party).

(The photos are from www.parasolphoto.com. The cake topper was made by Kathy Bocchino (knottingwood) and was purchased on etsy.)