Ice Cream Cone Cozies Tutorial

I first saw this tutorial in my FaveCrafts newsletter. Then I clicked on the link to the tutorial designer Leigh Ann Tennant's Blog The Object Project  All I can say is this is one of my must do's for the grand kids. Come to think it, I'm going to make a bunch to keep in the cars, You never know when the immediate need for an ice cream fix will hit ya ☻
Click here for the Tutorial and check out her blog while your there. She has lots of other great ideas.

Releasing books into the Wild

I love books. At times I've owned more books then is good for me or my books. I mean hey, this could be getting close to Library standards. Well probably not that many, unless you'd of asked my non book reading husband. Now that I'm living or trying to live a simpler more earth friendly life I'm only keeping my most loved books you know the ones that are your best friends. The ones I'm not keeping go out into the adoptive world in a few different ways. I post a lot of them on the this is a way for me to trade them in for other books I want to read or add to my favorite book case. Sometimes a book I have have already been listed by many, many people. If I post this book it will probably sit on my shelf for a long, long time feeling very unloved. That's when I like to release them to the wild.

I came across BookCrossing about 4 years ago. My granddaughter was very sick and I had taken her over to the hospital for a test. They put us in a private waiting room and I reached over and found a children's book to read to her.

The book had all these funny stickers on it that said

I've been hooked ever since. Walter Sickers once said "Nothing links man to man like the frequent passage from hand to hand of a good book." What can be better that sending off a book into the wild, someone finds it, reads it, keeps it, or releases it again into the wild for others to repeat the sequence, Sometimes they log it into the bookcrossing website and you can go there and see the journey that you book is flying on. My grand kids and I have released a lot of books out at the Zoo. Its fun to then sit on a bench and watch someone find a book. I've let them at the Airport so they can find someone and fly away with them, though now that life has changed so, that probably is not a good idea, I mean it could involve bomb sniffing dogs and a lot of delayed planes. BookCrossing is earth-friendly, and gives you a way to share your books, clear your shelves, and conserve precious resources at the same time. So grab a book, any book. Register it with www.bookcrossing.com and jot its unique BookCrossing ID (BCID) down in the book, along with the website url or you can print some nifty free labels off their website. Release the book out into the wild and wait for it to write home to you. (You can also give the book to a friend, send it on a book ring etc-- just be sure to make a release note on it when you send it off into the world.) So what are you waiting for? Help make the world a library and recycle at the same time, through BookCrossing!

Why cloth diapers?

My Parents are on their 50th anniversary vacation, driving thru the Southern states. While they're gone my daughter has been painting their kitchen, dining room and bedrooms. I've been babysitting the #1GS. While we've been playing, I've been pondering the genius of cloth diapers. Wish they had diapers like these when my kids were in them. When DGS was born I made him some infant diapers. I found lots of free patterns on the Internet. Here's some links.




How to Sew a Fitted Cloth diaper (on the cheap!)

Free Cloth Diaper Patterns

DiaperPattern

Once he grew out of the cute newborn diapers I made out of bluejeans and polka dots I began pricing the Waterproof PUL Fabric Since our fabric stores do not carry this I found that buying it online was a pretty hefty price.

We stopped by

and fell in love with the bumGenius 3.0 One-Size Cloth Diapers. These diapers grow all the way to potty training. The website states that they "easily fit most babies from 7 pounds up to 35 pounds. One diaper for multiple children simplifies laundry and the diaper drawer. No more sorting by size or having to carry multiple diapers when going out. Three snap-downs on the front of the diaper (patent pending) adjust the rise as your baby grows. For newborns, fold down the insert stopper for an extra-small rise."

The price on new ones is a pretty hefty $17.95 Which is pretty worth it considering that you would not be buying diapers again after your initial investment. But then we found their used diaper drawer. First of all just seeing these used diapers makes you realize how will made they are, they still looked brand new, actually after using the used diapers for a year now, they still look brand new. And the prices of the used diapers are usually less that half price. They often run specials for the used diapers on their website. Click on their logo to check them out.

I don't work for Cotton Babies, even though it kinda sounds like it. Their diapers are just what we found that works for us, Grin. I will say that my DGS has had only 2 diaper rashes in his life, and both of those were when he was really sick and had diarrhea from antibiotics. My daughter lives on her disability income and not having to buy diapers has meant she can buy other things she needs for herself and her kids. And as a nurse I feel that cloth diapers are healthier for our babies. From A Tale of Two Diapers, "the OSHA "Material Safety Data Sheet on Superabsorbent Polymer" states, preexisting skin or breathing disorders may become aggravated through prolonged exposure. A study in the September 1999 issue of Archives of Environmental Health found that laboratory mice exposed to various brands of throwaway diapers suffered eye, nose, and throat irritation, including bronchoconstriction similar to that resulting from an asthma attack. The lead author of the study advised asthmatic mothers to avoid exposure to the chemicals found in most throwaway diapers.

How I came up with the Garden plan

Yesterday I was searching around on the Internet for a free garden planner. I came across this great website http://www.squidoo.com/VegetableGardenLayout with lots of nifty vegetable garden styles. On it they have a link to a free 1 month trial for

I signed up for the free trial and found that the software can't be any easier. I had my garden designed and printed in an hour even while I was babysitting the grand kids. Just click on the Grow veg.com logo to go to the free trial.

Books (Free Downloads) GARDENING, WILD FORAGING AND SELF SUFFICIENCY

I found this great website with lots of free book downloads. So far i've downloaded books on candle and soap making, gardening, Weaving loom plans, spinning, The Homesteader's Handbook To Raising Small Livestock, chicken raising, lots of shortwave radio stuff for my husband, The Formula Manual for making your own recipes for almost everything other than food, Natural Dyeing Of Textiles. You've got to check this out, my Kindle is goingto be filled up with losts of free books to read now.

Click here to go to this amazing collection of downloads.

Check Out This Website

Been wondering how I've been doing these fancy scrolling images and the smiley faces, hearts and such in my blog posts. Well I came across this great blog, Fantastic Find on which she states that she loves sharing good things, and boy doe she ever. On two of her posts, HTML Code Fun in Posts and HTML and ALT codes she taught me how to do all these fancy things. But that's not all, check out her great website for lots of freebies, free cookbooks, $$ savings, free music, and lots of frugal fun.