DIY Lotion Bars & Lip Balm

After searching pinterest for the perfect recipe, I settled in on this recipe (although I didn't follow it perfectly).  I tried to go as organic as possible. I always have my coconut oil and essential oils on hand, but I ordered the cocoa butter and beeswax (the pellet kind) on Amazon.com.  I stuck a glass bowl inside a sauce pan with a little water on bottom of pan. threw in the cocoa butter til melted then added the coconut oil and beeswax, once it was all melted I added the essential oil. Then I poured them into a muffin pan (I greased the pan with coconut oil first) and then carefully poured the mixture into my lip balm tubes (I got them off of Amazon.com), I used some sort of eye dropper to get it in the tubes but I did make a mess still! You can stick them in the freezer to make them solid faster.

I made this at Christmas for gifts so I can't remember exactly how much I used but you basically use equal parts of the beeswax, cocoa butter and coconut oil then add drops of EO to your liking. I think I did about 8 oz of ea and 1 to 2 tsp of EO (give or take).. this made about a dozen lotion bars and a dozen lip balms (or maybe it was only 9, I so don't pay attention to these things). It was Christmas so I used peppermint EO and with the cocoa butter it was like chocolate peppermint, yum. I've also done lotion bars with lavender and ones with lemon EO, yum yum. I ALWAYS keep my lotion bar next to the kitchen sink, so after doing dishes I can lather my hands with this yummy homemade goodness.

My sister made me this beautiful wreath, made with magnolia leaves, for Christmas. Love it!

Kids Bathroom

Ok. This bathroom needed a major overhaul. It had horrid floors, wallpaper and lovely 70's hanging ceiling lights. It was such a choppy bathroom, you walked in and there was a sink and closet behind the one door, then there was another door that led into the main part of the bathroom which had another sink, toilet and bath. We decided to open up the bathroom and knock out that middle wall/door. So glad we did! The drain pipe was in that wall so we had to work around that but I think it turned out so much better! Sinks of course are from ikea! I copied the tile from my sister who used it in there bathroom, its so fun, 16 inch gray tile (home depot i think). Still a work in progress, need to make a backsplash behind each sink, redo the bath tile and hang some fun artwork. Thought I'd share the progress so far!

Coat Hanger

Fun way to hang our coats and the kids backpacks. I found an old shutter at an antique shop, painted it teal (of course), then coated it was some chocolate glaze. Put some old rusty hooks on it. Letters are old rusty nails I found at an antique shop & the exclamation point are some rusty pieces my husband found while metal detecting...

Dining Room Makeover

This dining room so needed color (have I said I love teal yet?).. AND most importantly it needed a ceiling light, it had NO light when we moved in..

What a difference a little paint will do! And the super cool ceiling light I found online at World Market. Can't see em well but curtains are from Ikea with cute little birds on them. Eventually we will rip out the nasty carpet & put in new floors, but gotta wait on that for a while!

Coffee Sack Fun

Coffee Sacks

Found these cool burlap coffee sacks at a flea market... cut them up, folded them over foam board, used some brads to attach them and stuck them on an old screen I had laying around. Cheap art for my dining room!

Old Window

Old Window

 I love love love old windows and doors! My sister brought me this cool old white window last year... took me awhile to figure out what to do with it. I decided to use it in my kitchen... I copied old family recipes & hung them up with mini clothes pins. found some old meat forks at an antique shop that I glued on... yum yum yum.