Surface Freshener

In our kitchen, we've got a freestanding cupboard with a butcher block on top. We rarely cut things directly on it (besides bread), but it still gathers a lot of kitchen smells.

Every so often, after I've cleaned it thoroughly and it still smells like onions, I spray it down with my essential oil Fresh & Clean spray. I mix this stuff up in a little bottle that I bought at Vitamin Cottage. The essential oils in this mix are relatively cheap and great to have around for other stuff too (like burns- the tea tree and lavender, not the citrus).



And since I was making up a new batch of it today, I thought I'd share the recipe.

Just make sure you get real essential oils, not the synthetic crap. Over time, the synthetic stuff will actually start to smell funky itself. And the fake oils don't have any of the great properties of the real essential oils (Tea Tree and Lavender are both antiseptic).

Fresh & Clean Spray
3-6 drops Tea Tree Essentail Oil
3-6 drops Lavender Essential Oil
6-9 drops Orange, Lemon or Grapefruit Essential Oil (or a combination of these)
Water (enough to fill bottle)

-Mix all of the ingredients in clean bottle with spray top. Shake well before using and keep out of the reach of children.

I also use this stuff on the counters, in the sink, in trash cans and on my yoga mats. Everything just smells nice and fresh after this. And as for applying it to food prep surfaces… tea tree oil is in mouthwash and toothpaste and people cook with lavender, so I'm really not that worried about it. I'd rather use this than that scary antibacterial stuff out there. I suggest wiping the surface with a damp cloth after spraying if it worries you.

PRECAUTIONARY NOTE- Although our kids' pediatrician recommends tea tree oil for just about every scrape and scratch the kids have, I've heard that tea tree oil and lavender should be used sparingly (or not at all) on prepubescent boys because it may cause them to grow boobs (although not permanently). This caution is only for applying the oils directly to the body, but still, I thought I should mention it.

Crazy.

ADDED NOTE- If you're interested in the fun label, I made it myself using PhotoShop brushes downloaded from Designfruit. Wow, I had no idea that you could do that. I was up way too late last night playing with them. So, so fun.

Saturday Funnies- Eddie Izzard and Technology

There's quite a few f-bombs in this one, but so funny.
(Just thought I'd warn you.)



He cracks me up. He's got downloadable ring tones on his site, but you can only get them if you're in England.

Lucky you, Elora.

Margarita Jell-O Shots

When I was in college, I came up with the following recipes. We once made so many of these for a party that we had to empty our entire fridge in order to store them. Most everyone who drinks loves these things. Just keep em away from the kiddies.

The Margarita Gelatine recipe has the consistency of regular jell-o shots; you can either pour these into real shot glasses (if you happen to have a large enough collection- Thanks Aurora for lending me these!) or into little disposable cups.

The Margarita Knox Blox are much firmer; you can pour them into one pan, cut them and eat with your fingers.



The limes and salt pictured above are completely optional. I added the lime slices to the shot glasses and the salt to the knox blox, cause I was trying to class them up a bit. :)

(Because I am nothing if not classy, as evidenced by the fact that I'm posting a recipe for jell-o shots.)

Ingredients for Margarita Gelatine Shots
2 envelopes Unflavored Gelatine
1 cup cold tequila (you can also make these less strong by decreasing the tequila somewhat and making up the difference with cold water)
3 cups margarita mix (or 2 1/2 cups mix plus 1/2 cup water- depending on desired sweetness)
Lime wedges for garnish



Ingredients for Margarita Knox Blox Shots
4 envelopes Unflavored Gelatine
1 cup cold tequila (you can also make these less strong by decreasing the tequila somewhat and making up the difference with cold water)
3 cups margarita mix (or 2 1/2 cups mix plus 1/2 cup water- depending on desired sweetness)
Margarita salt for dipping once solidified and cut.
(You'll notice that these are basically the same recipe, except for the amount of gelatine.)



The Directions are the same for both recipes
-A few hours before you begin, put the bottle of tequila in the fridge (if it isn't already cold).
-Heat up the margarita mix (or mix and water) in a pan.
-While mix is heating, put tequila in a large bowl and sprinkle gelatine over it. Let this stand for 1 minute.
-Add the hot mix and stir until the gelatine is completely dissolved, about 5 minutes.
-Either pour into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan or into individual cups (depending on whether you're making knox blox or shots).
-Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours.
-If using pan, cut into 1-inch squares and eat with your fingers.
-If using individual cups, run finger around it to loosen and use your tongue and a sucking maneuver to get jell-o into your mouth. Like I said... Cla-Say!

(Note- you can adjust the amount of tequila and margarita mix with water as needed- the recipes here are fairly strong, but the following ratio should be maintained… 1 cup of cold to 3 cups of boiling. It's fairly simple if you remember that.)

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Grommeted Ribbon Ties

Using grommets is the one of the best things ever. I own an entire box of them (I buy them whenever notions are on sale) because they are so satisfying to use. So quick. And easy. And you get to hit them with a hammer.

I attached them to some sturdy ribbon, creating little loops to hang up garlands...



and wreaths.



(As usual, clicking the pics will take you to larger ones in Flickr.)




PS- Sorry for those of you that came by when all that consisted of this post was "Gromm." Apparently, hitting Enter publishes the post. Who knew?

Hummm...

This promises to be a good game.



We also just made up the rule that each player is allowed to invent one word per game as long as they give a definition and can use it in a sentence. And they have to be able to pronounce it.

Added Note- Joey took the picture of the finished game. You can see it here.

Heifer International

I'm sure that many of you have already started your Christmas shopping, and before you get too far into it, I would like to let you know about the a great place to shop, especially for the person who has everything.

Heifer International is a fantastic non-profit organization. The idea behind the foundation is to give impoverished people training along with 'starter' animals. These animals can provide eggs, milk, wool, meat and even honey and help these people lift themselves from poverty. And, in the end, because of their principle of 'passing on the gift', the recipients eventually become donors themselves, raising the standard of living in their entire community as they share the offspring of their original animals.

If you make a donation in someone's name, that person will receive a card describing the gift in detail and a family in need will receive the animals. Depending on how much you want to spend, you can either do an entire donation or a share of one. They even have some shares starting at $10.00. (Note- clicking on any of the pictures below will take you to the printable gift inserts, which provide more info for that particular gift.)

A couple of the many things they provide are…

-Flocks of chicks, ducks and geese. I think one of these would be perfect for a teacher to represent her flock of young minds. I mean really, how many World's Greatest Teacher mugs can one person have?



-The knitting basket includes 2 llamas and 2 sheep. A share of this would be a fantastic gift for your favorite knitter, maybe along with a few skeins of some fair trade yarn to bring the whole thing full circle.



-You could even give a bunch of tree seedlings (for controlling erosion) to all of your coworkers that can't see the forest for the trees. All for only $10 each. And I'm sure you can find a more inspirational quote to go along with them. Myself, I like this one found here...

The great French Marshall Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected that the tree was slow growing and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The Marshall replied, 'In that case, there is no time to lose; plant it this afternoon!' -- John F. Kennedy



If you decide you want to give a bunch of different donations, you can go to this link here to do them all at once.

And if you would like these as gifts for yourself, you can always give a hint to your loved ones by emailing a link to this post. ;)

It's fairly simple to create a registry for weddings, baby showers, anniversaries, birthdays, graduations and holidays. This little guy set up one for his birthday.

Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?

Saturday Funnies

Just stopped in to share the following headline from The Onion with you...

Underfunded Schools Forced To Cut Past Tense from Language Programs

"At first I think the decision to drop the past tense from class is ridiculous, and I feel very upset by it," said David Keller, a seventh-grade student at Hampstead School in Fort Meyers, FL. "But now, it's almost like it never happens."



Hope you have a great weekend!