THE HOUSE HAS NOT SOLD...BOO!!!!

Okay so you may have noticed that I haven't been posting much lately.  One reason is because the house is pretty much done in terms of what we want (are willing) to do to it at this point, so I have NO material to post about...and the other reason is that I am living in the hum drums a little lately.  I just don't feel like blogging.  I feel as if I am kind of in a holding pattern because the house has not sold yet.

We have had two showings in the past month or so, which initially was super exciting as we anticipated that someone might want to purchase it...we were crossing our fingers and praying, praying, praying.  However, apparently neither looker wanted to make the purchase.  The first one didn't want anything with stairs...so why in the world did they even come for a look, I ask????? The last one did seem somewhat interested and even wanted more information about the house which we gave them but....silence....we haven't heard anything more.

I tell you I am SOOOOO bummed and I'm like SELL ALREADY stupid house!!! (Don't get me wrong I love my house and I am truly thankful for it.  It's beautiful, it's safe and warm and it's been a good home for my family) but I just want to get moving.  We have already found the house we want in the country with 5 acres, grapevines, fruit trees and raised bed gardens already in place. It's truly perfect for us at this point in our life.  We have a contract on it and financial pre-approval we just have to wait for our house to sell.

Truth is I'm scared we will lose this perfect place if ours doesn't sell soon. We've already asked the owners to extend our contract once.  I don't think they will do it again.  Plus, I've already been making mental notes of just how I want to decorate it....choosing colors and fabrics...etc.  More importantly, I have been researching all about organic gardening and taking care of those luscious fruit trees and grapevines that I love so much and I would totally love to be moved in by planting season...high and lofty hopes I know; but, I do know and have faith in the One who makes good things happen....GOD! He knows exactly what He's doing and has perfect timing for everything.  So if that house is in His plans for our future it will be ours and it will happen at just the right time....I guess I'm just not as patient as He is... :)  God gave us the house we have now at the right price, right interest rate and at the right time and I know he can do it again...that's FAITH!!!

Anyway, since I don't really have any pictures to post today I will leave you with the link to our (hopefully) new house.

It's nothing fancy...quite plain actually...but I call that a blank canvas waiting for the artists touch. The inside listing photos are HORRIBLE (Century 21 should be shot)...hehehe. There are no photos of the raised garden beds in the back yard but you can see from the other photos just how beautiful the land (yard) is.  Not lying...I'm having a hard time waiting on God this time around.  PRAY FOR ME!!!

Have a great day!

Ciao,

DOES ANYBODY USE BAR SOAP ANYMORE?...

Does anybody use bar soap anymore?

I will admit that I have been using liquid body wash for many years.  I just don't like how store bought bar soap makes my skin feel and truthfully, liquid soap is easier to use....You squirt a little onto your loofah and suds away.  Plus, you never have to worry about the soap slipping out of your hands and smashing onto the shower floor like you do with bar soap...and there is never any puddles of gooey, gloppy, melting soap on the shower shelf.

HOWEVER, I am dead set on carrying some homemade, organic bar soaps in my someday boutique.  Soaps that are actually good for your skin with essential oils and vitamins that really do moisturize instead of dry your skin.  Soaps that are chemical free unlike the soaps (bar or liquid) that you find in the stores.  With that said, I had to find something that will make my bar soaps easier to use...you know, so we can thwart the bending over and picking up the soap off the shower floor when it slips from your hands problem.

I thought about doing "soap on a rope" but even with that, once the soap melts enough the rope falls off and you are still left with bar soap that just won't stay in your hands.  That just won't do! However, with my new found skill of crochet, I have found the answer to the bar soap conundrum.  The solution....SOAP SACKS!!!

They are little drawstring cinch sacks made to hold soap...bar soap, and they work great!!!  These are made from 100% cotton yarn in three different patterns.

We have the "Massaging" soap sack...the raised bobble stitch is good for messaging your sore aching body.

The "Exfoliating" soap sack does just that...exfoliates and sloughs off dead dry skin and would be great on your knees and elbows...but gentle enough for your face too.

The "Sudsy" sack has plenty of "holes" to produce lots of suds.  Everyone likes suds and I'm sure everyone is going to love these soap sacks.

These are really simple to use.  You simply slide your bar of soap into the top of the sack and pull the string to close it; then, use it like you would a loofah or soap on a rope.  It's that easy and when your soap runs out you just pop in another bar.  There's never any waste either.  Unlike liquid soap it will not spill and go down the drain and when the bar you have in there gets too small just add another bar to the sack.

These would be great for kids too as there would be no more accidents of spilled liquid soap or the temptation to use the entire bottle for one bath.  Everything they need is in the bag...literally.

One more great thing about these sacks is that when you are done in the shower you can hang it, soap and all, by the string to dry...which means no more melting soap sitting in a puddle....SEE THESE REALLY ARE A GREAT SOLUTION TO THE BAR SOAP PROBLEM!!!

Since I hadn't made any homemade organic soaps to try out in my sacks yet, I decided to try the new Aloe and Avocado soap from Yardley London.  It smells great and the avocado oil is really good for the skin.

I have to say I think these little sacks are going to be a big hit in the boutique...and if there really isn't anyone using bar soap anymore...I can call them "Money" sacks and sell them as change purses.  Ha.

Hey now there's an idea!! LOL

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

AMAZING TEXTURE WITH MY NEW FOUND SKILL....CROCHET!!

So I mentioned the other day that I have been teaching myself to crochet...with the help of Youtube and other visual sights, of course.

My mom crocheted all the time when I was growing up and, while I tried to learn it as a youngster, I never quite got the hang of it...I guess my left handed brain just couldn't wrap itself around it or something.  Nevertheless I gave up and decided that it was a hobby better suited for old people anyway.  Well I guess the day has come...I am now officially OLD because I have once again tried my hand at crochet...and I am succeeding this time around.  What's more, I have found it to be quite fun and relaxing.  Intriguing actually, because there are SOOOO many beautiful things you can achieve just by weaving a little yarn together.

You might ask why I have decided to take up crochet.  Actually I am not "taking up" crochet as a new full time hobby.  I just decided that there was something I wanted to make for my new boutique that I am wanting to start.  There are LOTS of handmade things and DIY projects I am going to be making for my little store and I had to start somewhere.  Most of the big stuff is going to have to wait until I have a craft room again but I figured I could do the little things while I am waiting for that craft room.

Anyway long story short, I want to carry some spa like bath and body essentials, like handmade bath poufs in my little store.  I got the bright idea to make crocheted bath poufs...loofahs...from natural fiber materials.  I thought about hiring someone I know who crochets to make them for me but I really want everything I sell to be made with my own hands...That was a pretty BIG issue on this one since I didn't know how to crochet!! However, I was determined that I could make this happen and went in search of some tutorials.  I found everything I was looking for including the patterns.  Even better I found tutorials, which I truly needed, because I had no idea how to follow the patterns or make the different stitches.

Truth be told, crocheting is really pretty easy once you learn how to make each stitch and I think I am doing pretty good for someone who couldn't even do the chain stitch just a few short weeks ago.

See for yourself...

I found the pattern for the ruffled loofah on Youtube and the pattern for the chain loop loofah HERE.  I found the bobble or "popcorn" pattern on another sight and adapted it to form the round shape for a loofah.

Unfortunately these are made with acrylic yarn instead of all natural materials.  I was planning to use cotton but was warned that these might be too dense to dry properly and could mildew.  It was said that acrylic dries faster and won't mildew and was the better choice so I had to compromise in this situation.  However, I still think they are absolutely wonderful and will be a big seller...besides isn't the texture to die for?  Yes, I think a big bowl full of these sitting on any bathroom vanity would be simply gorgeous.

Each texture has a different feel on your skin.  The lumpy one is perfect for massage. The loopy one is soft and luxurious and the ruffled one is great for exfoliation.

I am SOOO glad I finally learned to crochet.  My mind is churning with all the beautiful and beneficial things I can make now with my few found skill.

Until next time, have a good one!!!

Ciao,

SECRET AGENT/SPY DECOR...

Okay guys, this a different sort of post than I've ever done but I couldn't resist because this is just SOOOO cute.

As you all know I am a Sunday School/Kids church teacher at my church.  Recently our new Sunday School Superintendent determined that our Sunday School and Kids church rooms needed a cohesive theme throughout for the quarter and it was decided that...."SECRET AGENT"...should be the theme. Since I am the lead over kids church it was my job to decorate the kids church area for that theme.  I googled and searched Pinterest for ideas and this is what I came up with...

This is the entrance to the Kids Church area...

Now I know this is a home decor blog but humor me this once...as you might decide to do a theme like this in your pre-teen aged boys bedroom...if you happen to have one of those like I do...See my little "secret agent" on the left!

The Headquarters sign was made from black posterboard and yellow duct tape.  I printed the letters from my computer in 500 pt. "STENCIL" font.

The doors were covered in aluminum foil using spray adhesive.  The "guard" image was found on the internet and was printed off at www.blockposters.com and it was totally free.

The "vault" like door has a chip/dip platter spray painted silver for a handle and hung with a push pin through the center (that means no damage to the door when it's time to take it down).  The entrance code pad is a large calculator from dollar tree.  The secret to getting it stay on the door was to leave it in it's cardboard package and tape the whole thing to the door with shiny silver techno duct tape which I also found at dollar tree.  The green "Retinal Scanner was printed off the internet and taped to the door.  The little silver box is a "thumb print" scanner and was made from a room freshener I found for $1 at the grocery store and spray painted silver.

Open the headquarters "vault" with the secret code; of course, and you enter the registration room...

Where the kids registered to become AGENTS OF TRUTH. The posters on this wall were also made at www.blockposters.com with plain printer paper from images I found on the interest.  (PS...in case your interested, Block Posters.com is a totally free site where you can download any image you want and turn it into any size poster you want.)  A totally GREAT resource!!!  

The footprints and magnifying glasses are also plain printer paper printed from images I found on the internet.  Super easy and totally free.

Of course we had to give our new agents directions (clues) as to where everything was at so I made up signs to guide them to the different areas...These were made from posterboard.

Now moving right along we will enter into the hub of where everything happens...the classroom...or "TRAINING CENTER" I should say...

We have command central...with maps and clocks and cool music "spy" equipment.

No training center would be complete without a target range!

Or a body outline. Painters tape isn't just for painting anymore! Hehehe. I free handed the outline on the floor with painters tape...it's a little wonky but the kids loved it and it's one of my favorite things too!!

Of course every training room needs a briefing and assignment area.

You might have noticed that all the doors in this main area have signs saying what they are.  These are Sunday school classrooms.  The Evidence room is my Sunday school class so I especially wanted this door to be cool...

Though hard to see it all in this HORRIBLE picture, I covered the door in foil, added a "calculator" entrance code pad and three "combination code" vault handles made from plastic paper plate holders that I spray painted silver.  I love how it turned out...(I will try to upload a better picture of it later).  

Anyway, EVERYTHING turned out SUPER CUTE. The kids and even the adults love it....yes, because it's totally COOL!!! and what boy (or Sunday school student) do you know who wouldn't love a room decked out in "SPY" gear?   

This was really easy (and fun) to do.  Inexpensive too, and the best part is there was no painting or major projects involved.  The only supplies used were just printer paper, posterboard, aluminum foil, spray adhesive, duct tape, chip dip platters, plastic paper plate holders a couple calculators and few maps and things I already had.  You might say it is a "disposable" theme. There's not a lot of money or time tied up into it and when you are finished with it you simply take it all down and throw it away. No repainting, no re-anything.  So easy and just plain cool!!

So, are you feeling all "secret agenty" now?  Me too, so I think I am going to head on over to the thrift store and "spy" out some cute "secret agent" gear for my Sunday school class.

Have a great rest of the week!

Ta Ta,