Homemade, Last Minute Gift Idea!

Oatmeal, Milk and Tea Bath Soak

Not counting today, there are 4 more shopping days until Christmas!

Seriously though, who wants to brave the mall in the next few days? Even if you're lucky enough to find a parking spot that isn't a 15 minute walk from the building you're bound to start pulling your hair out once you enter that first store. 

Elbowing my way through a crowd while trying to shop isn't my idea of fun!

So why not mix up something quick and useful for those people on your list that need to relax, instead of hitting the stores? Then, you can make a little extra to use for yourself when you're done with all that wrapping!

I whipped up 8 cups of this Oatmeal and Tea bath soak in 15 minutes over the weekend to pop into stockings and give as teacher gifts. What teacher doesn't want to soak in a yummy smelling bath after a long day with little ones? 

Here is what you will need:

**these are estimated amounts, please add and subtract to your liking**

1/2 cup of Oats 

1/3 cup of corn starch

1 cup of powdered milk

6 tablespoons {or tea bags} of loose tea or herbs of your choice

{I used peach, chamomile, jasmine green tea and citrus}

Food processor

Small jars {under $2 at craft stores}

Process the oats in the food processor until they are a powdery consistency - 

takes a bit of time.

Add in all remaining ingredients and process until well mixed. 

Use one flavor of tea, or mix and match!

NOTE: If your tea leaves aren't finely processed 

you may need to crush them up a bit in a bag, 

or process separately like the oatmeal.

Fill your bottles! I added some ribbon and homemade gift tags as well.

Each gift was packaged up with a bath pouf and directions.

That's it!

To use: 

Place 2 to 3 tablespoons in a cheesecloth bag.

I made these little pouches as well and added decorative ribbon to the top,

 like a little sachet. 

Personally I like to use 3 layers of cheese cloth per bag to catch the small tea leaves.

Feel free to purchase small bags at craft stores if you'd rather.

Add to a warm bath. 

You can also place the bath soak directly into the tub if you don't mind the small 

pieces of tea floating around you.

Relax and enjoy!


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Family Photo Shoot Overload!

Please do not copy pictures, they are the property of Angela Ryan Photography
and Punkin' Heads and Dooda Loo's! Thanks for understanding.

During my mini drop-off-the-face-of-the-Earth hiatus last month we had our family photo's done by Angela Ryan Photography.

I was stunned by the engagement pictures she had taken of one of my close friends and emailed her right away to see if she had any openings, and if we could afford her since money is tight.

Much to my surprise Angela was able to fit us in the following weekend, and I couldn't have been happier with her rates! Actually, I was shocked that she was right in our price range, I thought for sure she would be very expensive. 

We have a BEAUTIFUL old gentleman's farm up the road from us that I knew had to be the backdrop for our pictures. Lucky for us, I teach there on Saturday mornings and was able to convince the elderly owner {with the help of a homemade, fresh out of the oven pear tart!} to allow us to play around on his property for photos.

So off we went on a VERY chilly November morning, wearing some cute outfits, and dragging with us a million and one props to try and keep Maddy occupied.

My sister's family also met us there and we got some great shots of our girls together.

My sister and I jumped in for a picture with the girls too!

But, there's always a glitch, right?

Maddy and I woke up miserably sick {if you look closely you can see my puffy eyes that NO amount of make-up would hide}.

It's hard to believe that Angela was able to get any good shots with our runny noses, a toddler that didn't want to sit still and a husband that was on a strict time constraint to get to work.

She did a WONDERFUL job! I can't even begin to describe how happy I am with our experience. I felt like a princess, and we had a blast!

Angela was amazing with Maddy, keeping her occupied and smiling. She brought along props {like the pennant banner, chalkboard and the bench}, toys and treats - including M&M's and fruit snacks for good little girls that smiled {hey, bribery is a GREAT thing!}. She was so down to earth, friendly and professional that we felt right at home posing for her, no awkwardness at all. It was almost as if we had known her forever.

Maddy warmed right up to her, even  giving her a hug as soon as we arrived, and then quickly became her looney-tune self which made for some great candid shots.

And then of course we got plenty of these too....ohhh to be 2 and 3 years old again!
They make me laugh :)

If you are in the Massachusetts area and looking for a wonderful photographer who has your interests at hand I highly recommend Angela! She captured our family and personality beautifully.

I can't wait to go through this all again next year. But, for now I have all of these wonderful memories hanging on our walls that I get to gawk at each day.

Thanks Angela for giving us this little gift - every time I pass a photo in my house it brings a smile to my face and warmth to my heart. I couldn't ask for anything more!

Toddler Stamped Gift Tags

Maddy and I checked another project off our list for our homemade Christmas!

And she did most of the work {perfect!}.

These gift tags are the perfect craft for a toddler that likes to stamp. They came out so cute that we even hung a few on the tree for ornaments. 

What you will need:

Card stock ( I used a natural color)

stamps (ours were from the $1 bin at the craft store)

ink pads

paper punch, pinking shears or scissors

hole punch

string, twine or ribbon

Start by having your child (or yourself) stamp random patterns on the card stock.

We started with pink, then changed to turquoise, then lime green.

Having a Diego Tattoo seemed to help the process  :)

Once you are done stamping your sheet should resemble this:

I made sure to stop the Punkin' before she overfilled the paper.

Now, grab a paper punch - I used a large tag shape. You can use a circle, star, really whatever shape you would like.

If you would rather you could also use pinking shears or scissors and cut a square or rectangle like I did in this post.

This part was fun for Mads, although I did have to oversee and help out here and there.

Ahem, don't mind the finger nails...

Punch as many as you can out of your sheet of card stock.

Now, use  your hole punch to make a hole. Then, add some string or ribbon.

Last but not least, add a name or phrase.

We added some phrases for the tags we used as ornaments. Some Examples:

Jingle Bells, Merry & Bright, and our names.

Mads helped, hence the name not being straight!

Great way to get your toddler involved in a craft that can be used for anything!

Have fun stamping :)

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Well, Hello Sugar!

Ahhh. It feels good to be back online at home! After 3 weeks of my computer being down and out we FINALLY have it back up and running, and SUPER FAST. Like, excitingly fast. As in the hubs and I are fighting over it, fast. But I won ;)

Anyways, I hope you're all ready to be seeing alot of me over the next few days, I have so much to get out of my head and onto the blog.

Tonight I figured I would start with one of the homemade gifts we will be giving for Christmas this year.

We are TRYING to implement a mostly homemade gift theme for parents, siblings and friends this year. And leaving the store bought presents for the kiddos in hopes to cut down on the amount of money spent, and to try and bring a little bit of holiday spirit back into our lives.

If you hadn't noticed (and if you didn't you must live on a secluded island somewhere!) Christmas has become ridiculously commercialized. Giving has become a shoppers dream. Shop 'til you drop or until your wallet can't take anymore pain. Stop wherever you can, at whatever store and purchase whatever useless item you can find for that friend you speak to MAYBE 4 times a year.

Yes, I like gifts just as much as the next person, but to be honest I would so much rather get a phone call or a letter in the mail from someone I rarely see rather than a battery operated spinning spaghetti fork (BIG joke in my family!). To me something that speaks from the heart is what this season is about. So really, you don't need to run out and buy me ANOTHER set of Rudolph the Stick Reindeer hand towels, or a polar bear that poops jelly beans just because I sent you a Christmas card.

The first gift I want to share with you has to do with my love for vanilla.

DISCLAIMER: For those on my list that are foodies, or adult beverage guru's don't read any further because you are about to ruin your gift!

The other night I made up one of my favorite flavored sugars and even a flavored sea salt (My Baking Addiction put that idea in my head!). Vanilla sugar is wonderful to mix in drinks, sprinkle on desserts, etc. My kitchen STILL has a lovely vanilla scent to it after scraping all the vanilla beans out of the pods - I love it! And the sea salt is proving to be delicious as a margarita glass garnish! I also sprinkled some on watermelon this morning - YUMMY!

For gifts we are pairing the jars with small bottles of tequila and margarita glasses or with some gourmet coffee and mug cozies depending on the recipient.

Side note: Don't you love my new name stamp from Pick Your Plum?

I'm smitten!

To make the salt you will need:
1/2 cup Sea Salt
2 Vanilla Beans (tip: order them online, much cheaper!)
Jars

Place salt in a bowl.
Slice the beans length wise and scrape the beans out of the pods.
Save the pods for the sugar.
With your fingers rub the beans into the salt until well mixed. Place in the jars and embellish!

For the sugar:
1 Cup granulated sugar
(I use organic granulated, or turbinado if you want more of a molasses flavor)
2 Vanilla pods with seeds removed
Jars

Layer the pods and sugar in the jars.
I try to make 3 to 4 layers - a few vanilla pod slices then an inch of sugar, etc.
Allow to sit in a cool place for 2 days. The longer it sits the stronger the vanilla sugar.
Remove vanilla pods and embellish the jars.

Enjoy! The possibilities are endless with these two super simple recipes :)

And if you have extra vanilla beans left over - why not try some homemade vanilla extract?

1/2 Cup of Vodka (Grey Goose is what I used)
2 whole Vanilla Beans (be sure to slice down the side of them so the beans can soak as well).
Pour Vodka over the beans and allow to sit for 6 weeks, be sure to shake vigorously once a week.

Okay, I'll spare you any more recipes. Apparently I have a vanilla fetish.

It's good to be back! I missed you all BIG TIME. My little friends inside the computer have become a big part of my life, and never again do I want to go almost a month without you. The withdrawals were starting to set in for sure!

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Easy Like Sunday Morning

Surrounded by coupons, coffee, my babe in her snowman jammies, and Christmas music playing in the background....

I am 100% content.

Sunday mornings are a blessing in disguise in my house. So easy, quiet and peaceful.

The hubs works Saturday nights and doesn't walk through door until about 4am on Sunday.

So, with him in bed until noon the Punkin and I have a nice quiet, TV free morning to ourselves.

Time to sit back take a deep breath and make a mental list of all the things I need to do 

during the upcoming week.

I think today I'll make a nice big family dinner, start wrapping presents and enjoy my little family since the Monday morning chaos will be coming far too soon.

But, for now, Im going to go back to snuggling with my peanut 

and enjoying the calm serenity that today has to offer.

Source: Uploaded by user via Katie on Pinterest

I {heart} you Sunday morning. I just wish you lasted longer than you do.

Happy Sunday to all of you! Hope you are all doing something that makes you smile.