Some pics of recent makes

Snowdrop fairies for the season table from a pattern I found in "All Year Round" which I bought from Myriad.The primrose version A woven felt basket addapted from the instructions in the book above. I will post instructions when I make the next one

Home made san-pro! Again, will post instructions when I make the next few

Face wash for sensitive skin

1 teaspoon of ready-brek or other instant porridge
1 teaspoon water/milk/rice milk/oat milk
1 teaspoon honey

Mix well, apply to face and leave for a couple of minutes to dry if required. Rinse thoroughly, and dry carefully.

I tried this this morning and found it really soothing. It didnt dry my skin out at all, and I usually find even plain water drying. My skin felt very smooth and nourished. If you wait for it to dry a bit, it exfoliates gently as you wash it off

Ribbon Toy Savers

These were designed (by me ;)) for use with slings but thinking about it they would work just as well with pushchair straps. They are really easy to make, good for using up odd ends of ribbon, or you can colour match your sling. They are supposed to be for toys, but can be used for other things like keys, or, if you chose a very strong ribbon or a strip of fabric instead, it could hold things like juice cups to stop the endless retrieval from the floor :)

To make your toy saver

Cut your ribbon to the length you want. The shorter it is, the easier it will be for your child to haul things back up themselves, but longer ones help you manouver toys up and into back carries.

Tie a loop at one end of your ribbon. It doesnt need to be very big; big enough to fit the other end of the ribbon through it. Cut the excess off as short as you can.

Fold the end of the ribbon over and attach half of a press studd, making sure you tuck the edge of the ribbon in to avoid fraying. Attach the other half of the popper some way down the ribbon. This will depend on the size of the things you want to 'save'.

The closed end

To use your saver
Slide the ribbon under one of your straps.

Feed the ribbon through the loop and pull to tension

Attach toy by looping the poppered end through some where on the toy. A ribbon tied in a bow around the neck of a soft toy works very well. Other toys may need some improvising.

I apologise that is picture is upside down

Scented valentines hearts

Cut two identical hearts out of felt. I used pinking shears because I like the effect. I used a paper pattern to make sure I got it right. Cut out any additions you want. I put a light pink flower on mine.

Sew applique onto first heart, using over stitch, then sew the two hearts together using a running stitch. Try not to leave too much gap between stitches. Leave a small gap for stuffing.

Stuff your heart with a small amount of dried flowers. Dont add too much or the seams will bulge and the flowers will escape through the gaps. Dried rose petals and buds have a nice 'valentine's' smell, and I added chamomile, just because I like it. Lavender smells nice, but is harder to keep contained inside the heart.

Sew up your gap, and Ta Da!!

These can be used as gifts, you can use them to scent clothes draws, position on the sofa as a natural air freshener, add a ribbon loop and use to decorate a season table. If you use chamomile flowers, and add a drop of lavender oil, you can pop it under your pillow to help you sleep. If you use rose, and add a drop of jasmine oil to go under your pillow, that apparently has a... erm... 'stimulant' effect ;)

Jewellery making- Bead fastening

Made this nursing necklace earlier, and thought I'd post up the bead fastening



The finished Necklace































A bead secured between 2 knots, and a loop knotted on the other side

The fastened necklace. Note, the loop should be only just big enough to pass the bead through, I guessed wrong on this one. Still works though

Mutli purpose Bath Melts

Recipe sourced from the Green Parenting Forum. This can be used as bath melts, massage tablets, and moisturising bars.

Melt some cocoabutter in a bowl, either over a pan of boiling water or at 10/20second intervals in the microwave. Organic fairly traded cocoabutter is available from www.akamuti.co.uk.

While this is melting, you prepare your icecube trays. Silicon pop out ones are the best, sometimes found in supermarkets, Poundland, and Ikea does nice heart shaped ones. If you want to use botanicals in your bath melts, half fill each segment with one that matches your chosen essential oils. If you are making massage bars or moisturiser bars, you dont need the botanicals. Add one or two drops of essential oils to each segment.

Top up your icecube trays with melted cocoabutter and pop them in the fridge for an hour or two to set.

Remember - cocoa butter smells of chocolate. Bear that in mind when choosing your oils. Peppermint oil+cocoa butter = mint chocolate scented bath time!

Bath salts

Fill your chosen container (an empty, clean, dry glass bottle or jar is best. Appletizer bottles are pretty and good for presents. Coffee jars are good for large amounts for everyday use) with coarse sea salt. http://www.summernaturals.co.uk/ sell good bulk qualities. If you want a small amount as a one off, or to try before you commit to making loads, sainsburys sell nice jar-sized containers for about 69p.

Empty the salt into a bowl and add about 10 drops of your favourite essential oil. Lavender and Jasmine is relaxing, lavender and peppermint is good for soothing aches and pains, and lavender and tea-tree is healing to postnatal women. Can you tell I like lavender. Stir vigorously until thoroughly mixed.

If you have some 'botanicals' ie dried flowers, add these and stir to distribute them. Botanicals are available from http://www.summernaturals.co.uk/ although check your local market first. Mine does them very reasonably.

Transfer back into your chosen container and label. A funnel can be useful to avoid making a mess. Remember, the salt will have expanded slightly with the oils, so the may not fit back in the bottle quite the same. Give the bottle the occasional tap on the table as you fill, to level the salt properly.

Wet Wipes Solution

Home made baby wipes are practical, cheap, and chemical free. This solution can be used with either cloth wipes (old fleece cut into squares or cheap flannels) or large (preferably organic) cotton wool pads as a disposable option. Cloth wipes can be dunked, squeezed and stored in a tupperware box, or you can pop the solution in a spray bottle to spray onto either wipe or babybum at the appropriate moment, and are chucked in with the clothnappy load. The cottonwool goes into nappysack with your 'sposie.

If you use tea-tree oil, the wipes are antiseptic and can be used to wipe down highchairs, tables etc.

Traditional Version
1 chamomile tea bag
2 mugs of boiling water
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 drops of lavender oil and 2 teatree oil
Stir

Busy Mama version
Pour a small amount of boiling water into container
Add chamomile tea-bag and stir vigourously with a spoon until small amount of strong chamomile tea is made
Remove teabag and top up with cold water (this means you can make up your wipes immediately and not waste time waiting for it to cool)
Sprinkle with essential oil of choice (I prefer teatree)

Other variations
Chamomile and Honey teabags
Glycerin instead of olive oil
Adding 1 blob of natural baby wash to traditional version
Plain water with small amount of babywash
Newborn version - plain, warm water
Nappy rash version - strong chamomile tea and liberal sprinkling of lavender oil (antiseptic, but gentler than teatree and doesnt sting)