Some of our Christmas diy decoration and activities

 This was the salt dough ornaments that we made ,I posted them in a previous post. I made them in to a door wreath.

 This little snowman was made from a bottle. I used felt to cover the bottle and an old sock for the details.

 I made gingerbread men and brownies for my sons school. They loved them...

 These are ornaments we made from Popsicle sticks. Kids painted them and glittered them..

And our christmas tree..

Homemade vapor rub

Just finished making our vapor rub, winter is here and so are those nasty little viruses and stuffy noses.  And so in our home we started with sneezes and stuffy noses:-) this vapor rub helps relieve this uncomfortable feeling and helps you breath a little bit better when it's  time for bed, especially for kids. Use it straight after a nice hot bath and get in to bed and keep warm.
Another good thing that you should do when your not feeling well with a cold is drink fresh ginger tea with a cinnamon stick, you could add honey for better results . If you can't have too much honey for any reason then just try to have at least one or two cups with the honey and the rest plain.
The other thing that should be done is a nice chicken ,onion and garlic soup again through out the day.  Now back with the vapor rub.
I used:
1/2 cup mango butter you could use coco butter too
1/2 cup olive oil
50 drops eucalyptus essential oil
40 drops peppermint
20 drops spearmint
10 drops tea tree.

Melt the butter and the oil in a double boiler and stir with a wooden or plastic spoon, remove from the heat and add your essential oils. Transfer the vapor rub in a glass or plastic container with a lid.
You could leave it out until it sets or if your inpatient like me put it in the refrigerator for about half an hour.. Remove and store in a cool and dark place.. Use it after a hot  bath or just when you need a little relief from a stuffy nose or bad chest.
This is nice effective and easy.. I don't like to use the store bought Vicks brand as it has petroleum and other chemicals in it that are not good for you and the thought off rubbing petroleum on my kids and my self isn't all that inviting:-) another thing you could do is put a spoon of the vapor rub in boiling  water in a bowl and put you head over it covered with a large towel and breath in the fumes with your nose.. This is super good and very reliving ..

Paper clay

Christmas crafts..

Christmas is a big deal in our home , we love to craft and bake in this time of year and we love making a lot of good memories. Christmas decorations are on through out the house and you can smell ginger and cinnamon everywhere.. Love it:-)
I would like to share  our yesterday's crafts with you, we made Christmas ornaments out of ice pops sticks. We painted them and glittered  them. Kids loved it.  We also made salt dough ornaments a couple of days ago. I will share the recipe with you below.

Salt dough recipe:
1/2 cup salt( I like to use a little bit more salt)
1 cup plain flour
2 tsp cream of  tartar
1/2 cup water.
Put all ingridients In a large bowl and make your dough.. Roll out and cut out your ornaments with cookie cutters. Don't forget to make a hole for the string . Use the back of a painting brush and poke the top of the ornament. Bake in the oven on 180 degrees C for about 20 minutes.
Take the ornaments out and let them cool down for a couple of hours or until the next day. Then you can paint them with acrylic paint and glitter.
Now some people say you have to put them in the over on low heat so they don't urn brown and burn for  3 hours, but I didn't have that kind of patience so I did mine in 20 minutes on medium and they turned out ok, just keep an eye on them.

Rolling out the dough

Kids cutting out there shapes

Happy happy painting

Some ready painted ones

Mr and Mrs Claus.

Lollipops stick house and manger 

Christmas trees

The 25 days of December Christmas movie list.

In our house we love Christmas and everything that involves Christmas. Decorations, food,treats and movie nights.. We have big movie nights in our house with snacks and treats. The fire place is on and Christmas lights are twinkling..
I wanted to share with you 25 movies for the month of  December . A movie every night up until Christmas Day.
Make the movie nights special with some yummy and easy snacks.
Ill give you some ideas:
1)pop corn off course
2) hot chocolate
3) carrots sticks

4) cucumbers
5) savory dip
6) potato chips
7) home made whole wheat pizza
8) gingerbread cookies
9) whole wheat toasted cheese and bacon sandwiches
10) fruit salad with orange and cinnamon sauce
11) apple slices with caramel sauce dip( yumm)

These are a few I can remember and think about right now.. But mostly something you can eat with your fingers ,something that doesn't make a lot off mess..
We all get together in the kitchen and prepare the snacks, kids take them in the sitting room while I clean the mess and Daddy Doolittle prepares the movie.. It's a family affair with everyone involved and helping out.. We have a movie night every Saturday on school nights and if its school holiday we have some extra ones.. With less snacks of course. Good memories for everyone.
So here's the list:                                                                                                              

Christmas movie list

1 A Christmas Carol (1938)

2It's a Wonderful Life (1946.                                                                                   

3 home alone 1990.     

4 home alone 2 lost in New York 1992.          

5 Miracle on 34th Street 1947

6 Christmas Vacation (1989)

7 White Christmas (1954)

8 The Muppet Christmas Carol 1992

9 How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) ( short movie )

10 the snow man ( short movie)

11 Father Christmas ( short movie)

12 Elf (2003) funny

13 A Christmas Carol (2009).            

14 How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

15 The Nutcracker (1993)

16 The Polar Express (2004) my very favorite :-)

17 The Santa Clause (1994)

18 Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) my kids love this one

19  "Santa Clause 2: The Mrs. Clause

20 The Nightmare Before Christmas

21 Mr. Magoo's Christmas Special

22 Christmas Story, A (1983)

 23 Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town 

24The Little Drummer Boy 

25 Cricket on the Hearth

Christmas cartoons:

1 Mickey's Christmas Carol

2 Curious George: A Very Monkey Christm
3 Elmo's Christmas countdown.

4 frosty the snowman ( kids cartoon) 

5 Toy Tinkers (1949 ) Disney's

6  Mickey's  once Upon a Christmas

7 Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas

Christmas stocking DIY

A couple off years back I made my boys Christmas stockings out of potato sacks. I got our neighborhood  shop to save me some and I hand drew a boot shape and cut it out, then I traced it on the burlap and cut it out. I made it a few inches bigger to allow for folding and stitching.
Stitched everything together and turned it out so the stitched side was in.
Then I got some felt and cut out letters for there names which again I drew and cut out on paper first and traced on the felt. I used fabric glue and stuck them on ... Easy...
I plan on gluing some red or tartan ribbon on the top off the stocking to change the look a little and make it look a bit nicer.. They come out every year for Santa to visit and fill them up...

Healthy oat raisin cookies...

Today I will be sharing a healthy cookie recipe , Oat raisin cookies.. Packed with nutrition and health without using any refined sugar .. Kids can practically have these for breakfast with a glass off milk without feeling guilty that you feed them cookies.. And kids love them..
For benefits of raisins go to this link:http://www.3fatchicks.com/10-health-benefits-of-raisins/

And for  oat benefits go here:http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=54

So on with the recipe:

You will need:

• 1 cup oats( not fast cook)
• I cup butter or coconut oil
• 1 cup agave syrup
• I tsp baking soda
• I tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs( substitute with banana) this is what I do so 2 medium sized bananas mashed
• I tsp cinnamon 
• I tsp gloves( optional)
• I cup whole grain flour
• I cup oats

What you do is this:

Preheat your oven to 150 degrees C and line your cookie trays with parchment paper.

Beat butter until creamy and fluffy, add your agave syrup and beat, add your eggs or banana and beat until creamy 

Add your vanilla, cinnamon and gloves if using and then sieve though your flour and baking soda, add your oats and raisins. By this time you would like to stir all off the mixture with a rubber spatula its easier.  Scoop out with a ice cream scoop equal sized balls on your cookie tray and flatten a little with the back off a spoon. Turn up your oven to 185 degrees C and cook for about 15 minutes , until edges are golden brown. 

Take out off the oven and let them cool down.. And enjoy!!!!

  

  

Whole wheat ,oat, Refined sugar and egg free chocolate banana cookies..

Today's post is about sugar and egg free cookies, these are moist and super yummy.. Made with whole wheat flour and oat flour , the eggs are substituted with banana and sugar with Agave syrup.

They can be made without the coco powder for a plain vanilla cookie. 

So what you will need:

• 1 1/2 cups organic whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oat flour
• 2 medium sized bananas mashed 
• I cup agave syrup
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 4 tbsp organic coco
• 1 cup of real butter( I also use coconut  oil instead off the butter)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Prepare your cookie trays with baking paper or grease them with olive oil.

Preheat the oven on 150 degrees C.

So what to do is this:

With a mixer beat the butter until soft and pale , add the agave syrup and the coco powder, beat a little longer and then  add the banana. Mix well untill smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla extract.

Sieve through the flours and  baking soda and mix well with a spatula ...

With a ice cream scoop , scoop out the cookie dough in to equal sized balls. Press the balls on top to flatten them a little bit.

Turn the oven up to 185 degrees C and cook for 15 minutes until the edges are golden brown ..

Leave on the counter to cool down and enjoy...

Diy body butter

Hi there in this post I will share with you how to make your own body butter, its super great and leaves skin soft and healthy. All natural ingredients are used , in fact you could even eat it if you like.
So here it goes.
You will need:

• I cup coconut oil
• Half a cup mango or coco butter melted
• Stand up mixer or hand mixer
• Essential oils . I like to use rose geranium, lavender , vanilla.

So first in a double boiler melt the coco butter or mango butter, when melted add the coconut oil and take off he stove. Add in your essential oils . Transfer your bowl in the refrigerator for about half an hour. What you need is the butters to start to solidify a little, just to turn a pale color. Then you beat the mixture with a mixer until it fluffs up like fresh cream.
It will look white and fluffy and feel super soft and great. Transfer your butter in a glass container with a lid and store it in a cool place. Keep it away from direct sunlight as the coconut oil will melt when it' gets hot, you could still use it just fine but it will loose that fluffy look and feel.
You could give these out with a nice label and ribbon as gifts for Christmas .

You could use cinnamon and glove essential oils to make these Christmassy , or coco powder to give your skin an extra glow ..
Hope you enjoyed this post.. Wishing you all happy positive thoughts.

DIY mouthwash

I wrote this post this morning and when I was all done I touched the button Publish and something happened and my post got erased!! And I was not happy to say the least:-)
But here I am again so today I will tell you all,about my mouthwash I made last night.. It is super good and tasty too.
I will write about the benefits of the spices I used to make this super smell good mouthwash..

 Cinnamon improves taste and aroma, in addition to being antimicrobial and a modest pain reliever. The inner bark is the part of the plant from which either the powder or the more concentrated oil is derived, and is the only part approved for use as a medicinal herb by the prestigious German Commission E. 

Cinnamon has properties that are antimicrobial, antiviral, antifungal, and slightly anesthetic, which can be beneficial for sore tissues. The oil and bark have been traditional folk remedies for many years. For example, the oil was listed as part of the household inventory of herbal medicines in 1834 of Maryland's Homewood House, built by one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. It has historically been used to numb teeth and gums, including the gums of teething infants.

Cinnamon is also considered one of the most concentrated sources of antioxidants.

Clove:

The reason clove is helpful to oral pain and disease is because it is an antiseptic, antifungal, antibacterial and anesthetic. Over the centuries clove was often used for pain relief and infection control during oral procedures. Clove has a numbing affect that eases pain, and it's other properties can help prevent or even reverse infection or soreness.

So lets get on with our mouthwash :

• 2 tsp cinnamon 
• 2 tsp clove
• 1 tsp nutmeg 
• 1cup vodka
• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 tsp stevia( optional) I didn't use it in mine I like the taste of the spices as they are.
• I empty clean bottle

So you boil your water and add your spices , give a nice stir with a spoon and  now you will have to leave them to soak for about 4 hours or overnight. When the time is up you use a sieve and strain out the water, add the vodka and stevia if using and transfer the mouthwash to a clean bottle .. 

To use: Poor about 1/4 off the mouthwash to your cup and 1/2 of water , swish it in your mouth spit out and repeat until all the mixture is done from the cup .

You will have a fresh clean mouth ,breath that smells good and a bacteria free mouth.. You will feel a tinkling in your mouth but that is just the mouthwash working and killing the nasty little bacteria in your mouth.. If you feel you want it stronger add more mouthwash or less for weaker one..

Hope you try this out .. Have a good day:-)

Laundry detergent borax free..

I ran out off my borax and I needed to do the laundry today as I have piles of dirty stinky cloths to wash.. So until my borax arrives in the mail I made a liquid Landry detergent that doesn't use BORAX.. This would make it easy for people that can't get a hold of borax and its super cheap ..
This is a little bit  more time consipuming but it turned out well..  I filled up 4 litters with this recipe and one cup extra.. So to will need.:

• I cup baking soda
• I green soap grated   that is 2cups( found in the laundry isle) or 2 cups grated Castile soap.
• 4 liters water
• 1 cup water
• Essential oils ( I used , pergamont ,tea tree) 40 drops of pergamont and 10 of tea tree
• I 4 liter container
• 1 large pot

So you crate your soap and place 2 cups of it in a pot, my soap made exactly 2 cups grated  soap.

Add the one cup water and heat up and whisk while the soap dissolves and melts, when its all melted add the baking soda and whisk well, add the 4 liters off water and mix very very well. Transfer the mixture in your container and add the essential oils. 

Use 1 cup to you load and shake well before using each time..

Easy as pie .. 

Painting with spices..

We had a fun afternoon yesterday , we were on our afternoon walks with our bikes and dogs and my eldest had an idea to paint with flowers. So we collected what flowers we found , and it was a limited selection since now is autumn and there are loads of fields around us and not so many flowers. We found orange , red ,pink ones and some purple ones from our garden. We got home and placed them in to boiling water to get the color our of them.. The flowers we found were on shrubs.. I read that poppies are great for red , daisies for yellow and some other spring flowers.. However we tried and didn't get the strong desired color that we were looking for.. 

So then I had the idea to try out spices , I know this was done in the olden days with added egg yolk to make vibrant colors.. . So I got out my beet root powder ,cinnamon , cocoa, turmeric.. We mixed them with some hot water and white vinigar to make our paints.. I tell you our kitchen smelled wonderful ..
We got some paper and paint brushes a glass of water to clean out each color and we started painting.. The colors were so vibrant and earthy and the paintings turned out so great..
Kids loved every minute of this activity and wanted more and more paper to create more paintings.. We spend an hour painting and mixing colors in to get new shades..
We let our painting  dry and then went back to look at them and talk about what we had painted, the paints were autumn colors and shades so the kids based the paintings on Autumn , leafes , trees and wind.. I hope you try this out it is worth every minute and try with other spices and herbs to get more colors.. I used what I had and the turn out was excellent .. I will say that when paintings dry they do go a deeper not so vibrant color..
Have a great day..

 The windy trees

Autumn storm

Autumn leaf collection 

 The golden pirate ship

The autumn tree

The golden flower

Our paints

An autumn tree..