I started with liquid hand soap. Since we have a farm, and I am just kind of messy (especially in the kitchen), I think we tend to use more hand soap than the average family. I usually buy it in the big containers, but I haven’t found any without all the chemical additives.

Overall, the project was pretty easy and not too time consuming. It usually takes me much longer than the estimated time to complete a project, but I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly this went. Maybe it’s because I actually have counter space to work on these days.

First, I got my supplies. I found some Burt’s Bee’s soap at Grocery Outlet (or the Used Food Store as my husband calls it). It was 99 cents…a pretty good deal. Then I went looking for glycerine and couldn’t find it at the drugstores, so I took advantage of our Amazon Prime 2 day shipping and ended up getting it (for $9) by the next day.

I then grated the soap, which I think looked suspiciously like Parmesan cheese.

Next I added the soap to 2 quarts of water and added 1 Tablespoon of glycerine. Since my bar of soap was only 4 ounces instead of eight ounces, I only used 2 quarts of water. I actually used a bit less, because I had read about many people ending up with soap that was too runny, and I figured it would be easier to thin it than to try to thicken it. I cooked this mixture over medium heat just until the soap melted.

At this point, it just looks like soapy water. I then left it on my stove overnight in order to thicken it up.

When I got up in the morning, it was pretty thick, so I knew I would have to add a bit of water and blend it with my hand mixer. But then I turned on the oven to bake something and forgot all about the soap. The heat from the oven softened it up to a great consistency, but it was still warm, so I thought it would thicken up again after a couple of hours. It didn’t. It stayed the perfect consistency.

I still ended up using my hand mixer to beat it a little bit, because the top layer sorted of hardened over.

I then poured it into a recycled soap bottle (only spilling a little bit). And there you have it: homemade hand soap for just a couple of dollars and a little work.

We haven’t had a chance to use it much, so I don’t have a good review on how it works or how it lasts long term. It is not sudsy, because I didn’t add a sudsing agent, so that is something to be aware of.

Do you make your own soap, or have you made any pinterest inspired projects?

2011 was a very full year for us…full of blessings and stresses.

We spent a lot of time researching laws in California for processing and selling poultry. And we successfully fought for our right to continue to sell chickens at the farmer’s market. This is not something that I ever thought that I would become passionate about, but life is not predictable.

I also quit my job to become a stay at home mom to our little bundle of joy who was born in October! We are loving being parents to our adorable boy (except for the moments like right now, when he refuses to go to bed). Being a wife and mom has been something that I have hoped for as long as I can remember, and God has blessed me abundantly in fulfilling those desires.

Even though I am no longer employed, I am sure I will stay plenty busy with the expanding farm business. The house that we recently moved into will also keep me busy. We moved into a fixer-upper on the same property that we have been living. It is a little closer to the farm fields and the packing shed, so that will be convenient. It needed a lot of work and will continue to be a work in progress. Our goal was to be moved in before the baby was born, and we sort of made it. My husband and brother-in-law moved our bed the day that my water broke. That was cutting it a little close.

2011 was an interesting year and I’m looking forward to seeing what 2012 has in store.

The inspiration for the idea board came from a scrapbooking banner that I found that pretty much commanded me to “Create, Dream, Craft”. I found a bulletin board with a frame and tore up pieces of scrapbook paper to glue to the edges. Then I added my inspirational banner, and a few embellishments, including a paper covered clothespin clip in the top right.

As you can see, I don’t have many ideas on the board yet, but it’s a start. When I think of things or see ideas that I love in magazines, I need to remember to jot them down or tear them out. I will keep you updated on how this works and hopefully I’ll have a few projects to share with you.

And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap,

Last night as my husband and I “settled our brains” for a very short night of sleep, I was wishing we were settling in for a long winter’s nap. I was reminded of this line from The Night Before Christmas
because Jason wore his winter hat to bed last night. Why was this necessary? Because it’s freezing cold!

I’m not used to temperatures in the negative numbers. I’ve lived here for a couple of years, but this is much colder than the last couple of winters. Cold enough that there is ice inside our kitchen windows. Brrr.

Frozen Window

But at least the view outside our windows is beautiful!

View from window

As a side note….Somehow I don’t remember the word “brains” in the poem. I always thought it just said “settled down”.

We call these turkeys “wild”, but we use the term loosely. A couple of years ago, there were some wild turkeys who made friends with our domestic turkeys. I really think they were just using them for the free food, but whatever the case, they became pals. Well, our domestic turkeys ended up running off with the wild turkeys. Such bad influences.

We have never seen our domestic turkeys again. But this past year, a wild turkey momma showed up with her four little babies. I guess she wanted to give them the same type of childhood that she had.

We love them and are protective of them. We don’t want them to end up on someone’s table for Thanksgiving dinner.

But at the same time, they drive us crazy. They are not as impressive when they are scratching and climbing around on your roof at 6:30 am.

(See the little turkey head sticking up?)

And they are not impressive when they poop all along your front walk.

They are not impressive when they tear apart the bale of straw that is for your chickens.

But they are impressive when they fly high into the trees.

And super impressive when they strut their stuff.

So, I guess we’ll keep them around. We’ll have to raise our own thanksgiving turkey.

Here are a few pictures I took while walking around our property. Pictures never capture the true feeling of standing on top of our hill where you have almost a full 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains and valleys. But they are still beautiful.

I would like to introduce you to Annie, Penelope and Harriet, though I’m not really sure which one is which.

They are delightful and easy to fall in love with. I love the way they do the “chicken scratch dance”. They scratch…jump back…then investigate. Scratch…jump back…then investigate. I also love watching my friend Vanessa imitate the “chicken scratch dance”.

(If you would like to know which name belongs to which chicken, you will have to ask Vanessa [she named Harriet and Penelope] or my Mom and Sister [who named Annie].)

And my sweet husband bought me some today. I jumped for joy! It will be months before they will even think about blooming here in the high desert. Isn’t it nice that Safeway brings us spring a bit early? And isn’t it nice that my husband is so awesome?

I would show you pictures of the happy flowers from today, but my camera is broken. But I’m sure I can find 923,000 pictures of daffodils on my hard drive.

There is one problem. My beloved camera, that I have had for years and have taken all over the country with me, decided to give up the ghost this week. I may have cried.

I’m not one to name my belongings, but it was like a friend to me. I know that’s cheesy, but I was pretty attached to my camera. It was small and compact and could fit in my pocket or purse. I could and did take it everywhere with me…hiking, sledding, roadtripping, to the river, around the farm, on our honeymoon, when we took the canoe out on the lake….you get the idea.

Let’s have a moment of silence for my camera.

Right now, our budget doesn’t really allow for a new camera. And someday, I really want a digital SLR. But our budget really doesn’t allow for that. (And I couldn’t take an SLR down the sledding hill with me.) So, I’d settle for another great point and shoot, but know that it will be a while before I can get one.

But today, as I was mourning the loss of my camera, and noticing so many picture-worthy moments, a flash went off. I have these “reward points” from a credit card that I need to use. I had thought about getting an i-pod with them, but just never have been sure. And thanks to my procrastination, I can now get a camera, which I would like much more than an i-pod, I’m sure. Now I just have to decide which one in my point range is the best for me. I think I’ll probably stick with a Canon SD. Mine was so good to me, and I don’t love change.

My family came up for a couple of days. (My brother, my sister and her hubby, and my mom)

At 2:00 am on Christmas day, it was pouring rain, so imagine our surprise when we woke up to a winter wonderland.

My mom and sister were enamored with my chickens, which I thought was so cute. So, they collected the eggs while I put the french toast casserole (with homemade bread) in the oven. (Actually, while they collected the eggs, I took pictures, and then put the casserole in the oven.)

Then we opened presents. My sister is a bit of an overachiever when it comes to wrapping gifts. She wrapped them all with pages out of old magazines such as Real Simple. Aren’t they awesome?

After gift opening, I put the prime rib in the oven and we set off to enjoy the amazing sledding hills. Seriously, what could be more fun on a Christmas afternoon?

Isn’t my mom adorable in her hat with her red sled?

We came back to a lovely dinner with my strawberry tablecloth and napkins and my red dishes. (I highly recommend getting married, you get lots of cool stuff. Including an a husband.)

After dinner, we sat around the table and read some verses and reflected on our many blessings, especially Christ. And then we sang Christmas carols around the table and we had so much fun that we decided to go caroling. (To my in-laws house about a minute away.)

And to top it all off, we made snow ice cream with eggnog. Yum! And played Strawberryland. What? You’ve never played Strawberryland? You’re missing out on some berry fun times.

It was such a fantastic day, I was overwhelmed with the beauty of it all! I am so blessed.