Tales from Goshen: January 2014

Creative Gifting for a Crowd

Christmas 3:11 PM

Rachel puts the lip balm into containers before it solidifies.

One funny thing about using Pinterest is that when you begin to "research" an idea and start a board with all your idea/research pins, anyone who follows you can quickly identify what you're up to. They do have secret boards, but I rarely think to use them.

This past Christmas, since my nutso family still gives gifts to everybody instead of drawing names (which we really must begin to do...since the headcount is almost into the 30s), I gave serious thought to my gifts. Since I love creative, handmade gifts, I decided I would largely go that route. It did involve a substantial amount of planning and preparation, so I began getting things together around the end of October. Which involved a lot of pinning ideas onto a board I made on Pinterest. My sisters-in-law knew I was up to something.

One of the most amazing gifts I received after having Wyeth was a basket filled with bath salts, a bath sugar scrub, some body butter, a handmade crocheted washcloth and a knit hat for Wyeth. I love things like that - because I know it took a lot of time and thought to make it. It is such a personalized gift, and I felt so special and loved when I received it. Plus, while I love bath salts and scrubs, I'm not likely to buy them for myself, even though I love using them. And I figured I probably wasn't alone in that sentiment.

So I decided to put together gifts for my mom and sisters-in-law with handmade bath salts, sugar scrubs, containers of peppermint lip balm and a handmade crocheted washcloth. I didn't make Rachel one since her job requires her to pack minimally and travel all the time. Instead, I recruited her to help me make the salts, scrubs and lip balm! It turned out to be a really special way to spend an afternoon with my little sister (who happens to be one of my best friends).

Using the following basic lip balm recipe, we made a Peppermint Lip Balm for each person, with several to spare! It turned out to be an amazing lip balm - long lasting and awesome on your lips.

Peppermint Lip Balm

2 tbsp bees wax (I ordered beeswax beads online from here)

5 tsp Coconut Oil (also ordered online from here)

2 tbsp sweet almond oil (from here)

1 tsp honey

10 drops of essential peppermint oil

Melt everything (but do not boil) except the essential oil in a double boiler and then mix in the essential oil using a wooden chopstick. While everything is still liquid, use a syringe to pour into your containers. It solidifies pretty quickly.

I used little paint containers from Hobby Lobby, but you can also order tins or little glass Carmex-type tubs online from various suppliers, like Bulk Apothecary.

It was a lovely yellow color from the beeswax and smelled wonderful!

Phase two of our handmade creations was the bath salts and scrubs.

I used a combination of recipes to put these together, and there's a certain degree of "feeling your way through it" involved, so I can't give a truly specific recipe, but I can tell you loosely what we did.

I made each batch individually, since I was using different essential oils for each person. I tried to tailor each person's scents to them. I used the following essential oils: lavender, grapefruit, rosemary, peppermint and bergamot. I mixed the rosemary and peppermint together for some of the bath scrubs.

Bath Salts

In a large bowl, pour 1 cup of Epsom salts and 1 cup sea salts. (you can add more epsom salts if you like)

Toss them together with your hands to mix well.

Add about 30 drops of your desired essential oil and mix together well with your hands. You want it to smell pretty strongly of the oil so it will not fade away.

Using a funnel, pour the salts into your containers. (I got my containers from Hobby Lobby).

Sugar Scrub

Pour 2 cups of sugar (regular sugar, like you'd bake with) into a large bowl.

Add in approximately 1 cup of oil - I used almond oil and safflower oil (mostly almond, though).

You're basically using a 2:1 ratio of sugar, although if it feels too dry, add more oil. You want there to be enough oil to seep up through the sugar.

Then add in about 15 drops of essential oil. This is also an estimate as you want the scent to permeate the mixture and it may take more or less essential oil depending on the scent.

Scoop into your containers (again, from Hobby Lobby).

I did NOT give them to my sisters looking as they do above. We just used tape to label them while we were making them so they didn't get mixed up. I tied ribbons around each item with a label containing the contents and how to use each one. I made sure to warn everyone that when using the sugar scrub in the shower, be careful not to slip! The oils make the shower floor slippery.

And this is what the crocheted washcloths looked like. I had to teach myself to crochet to make these, but it was a good incentive for me. I'd been wanting to learn how for quite awhile. It was pretty fun! And again, this was something I could work on around the house while doing other things.

While my sisters-in-law got the Pampering Bath Items, I decided to knit hats for all my little nieces and nephews, as well as Dorien and Rene. (August and Brooklyn already have hand-knit hats from me).

Each hat to approximately 2 1/2 hours to knit, more or less. I used this pattern from Purl Bee and mostly scrap yarn that I had on hand leftover from other projects. I had to buy a little yarn, but not as much as you'd think. My niece Aden missed the picture above due to a nap, which is a shame cause I love her hat!

A better view of the different styles and color mixes.

There were 10 hats knit in all.

Another view of the hats, plus a thumb.

The picture quality of this whole post isn't great, and for that, I apologize.

But hopefully, you get the general idea.

For most of my brothers, I got them books they requested, along with some ties and a few other specifically requested things. I got the most joy out of the gifts I made, to be sure.

There is something special about making a gift for someone - your thoughts are on them as you make it, sew it, knit or crochet it - and it truly is blessed with love for them.

Fitting into the Cracks

2:18 PM

I have two quotes to share with you:

"Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand - and melting like a snowflake."

Francis Bacon, Sr.

The second quote springs from the first, and I found it on a blog just now. This post, in particular, if you're a "click to links" kind of person.

The blogger, Amy Hood, was making a point that life happens all the time. Not at some point in the future. In my second quote for you today, she happens to be talking about knitting and time:

"Knitting is practically made for mothers. It fits into the cracks of the day."

Her use of the phrase, "Cracks of the day", well, I hate to use the word "resonate", but it did. It resonated with me. (I hate to use it because it seems over-used). Anyway.

I so often feel like my day is segmented so many different ways that getting things done happens in the cracks. In between or among other things. Knitting is a perfect example. I have two knitting projects in the works right now, and I carry them upstairs and down with me as I go because I never know when a moment will open up for me to grab the project and work a few rows. Maybe while a child is reading aloud. While math workbooks are being done. While I'm waiting for a kettle to boil. While I'm watching a football game with Kyle. While......the list is endless.

There are so many different ways to make life work as a mom. My way, and I have a feeling I'm not alone here, but my way is to fit the things that are important to me in the cracks. Quiet times fit into a brief napping window. A load of laundry thrown in or swapped out while I dash upstairs to change a diaper. A pile of laundry folded while August is entertaining Wyeth. A few pages of a book read while waiting for the kids to clean up their room. Daydream about a painting project while making a sandwich or waiting for the microwave to ding. A run squeezed in when Kyle gets home from work and before I start dinner. A list made while the thoughts are handy and a pen and paper are nearby. A recipe pinned while nursing Wyeth. Finances organized and bills paid with a baby on my lap nursing and a toddler beside me sleeping.

You can look at life as shattered and complicated and challenging with all its myriad of interruptions and demands and schedules. OR. You can look at it as ripe with opportunities amid all those cracks.

I may not complete huge tasks in a day, but I can do a lot of little things that make me happy - whether it's contributing to a cleaner house, making progress on a knitting project, reading further in a book that interests me, making a quick batch of cookies or getting in a workout. These little things make life rich and full and beautiful. It does take initiative and a desire to make the most of every moment. And some days all I want to fit in may just be a nap. And so be it. Rest is just as important as the other stuff.

So, for all you out there searching for that elusive thing called time.....it's there. In the cracks of your day. Don't let a so-called "lack of time" keep you from anything. Cause as we both know, that's no excuse.