A Bookworm Creates

In my exploration of diy beauty recipes I stumbled on this vapor rub shower tablet recipe from  The Homespun Hydrangea  (click link for her recipe and blog). My sinuses are horrible.  I mean horrible, so these vapor rub cubes are nice for when I hope into a hot shower to help get things draining.  And the work! As long as I put them in just the right place in my shower. The HH recommends in a dish near the drain, but that didn't work for me.  That little soap "dish" spot next to the bar in my shower was the best spot for me. What You Need 3 tablespoons of your prefered vapor rub. 1 cup cornstarch 2 tablespoons water 1 ice cube tray Mixing bowl Optional - blue and green coloring Instructions 1. Mix vapor rub and cornstarch until well blended.  The more you mix it the more the vapor rub will loosen up. 2. Once mixed up slowly add the water until it forms a thick paste.  Also add a few drops of blue and a few drops of green coloring...

I seriously might have to make some more of these.   They are so easy. You. might be asking, 'Why can't I just put my scrub from the other posts into an ice cube tray and be done with it?' Why? They won't harden up.  This recipe calls for melt and pour soap. For these I did two different recipe attempts. First up -   Lavender Sugar Scrub Cubes Ingredients 1/4 cup coconut oil (or your preferred oil) 1/4 cup melt and pour glycerin soap 10 drop lavender fragrance or essential oil 1 cup sugar Wow! I've been using a lot of sugar lately! Directions Measure out your coconut oil and put in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup. The melt and pour glycerin soap block I bought came in sectioned cubes and I cut four cubes off and grated the cubes.  For a 1/4 a cup I ended up grating 1 cube, but I suspect my measurement was a bit off.  You can also cut the glycerin soap into small chunks and melt that way.  My math suggests eac...

For the second post in my DIY Beauty Recipe series (I have 3 other posts planned so stay tuned) I'm tackling DIY Foot Scrub. What makes this scrub different from the previous scrub? This foot scrub contains Epsom salt.  Epsom salt, while not technically a salt, is high in magnesium which is very good for you.  It has several beneficial properties both internally, externally, and for your garden. In this post we are focusing on the external benefits.  When I was 21 I fell down some stairs at work and badly sprained my ankle.  Ever since whenever the weather is bad or about to be bad my ankle acts up.  Epsom salt foot soaks usually helped.  Epsom salt can help with inflammation... Why not just continue with the soaks? It's winter and my heels are horrible.  Who else is in that dry skin boat? I decided to combine the two issues into one product.  Ideally, you can substitute sugar for this the salt in this basic scrub recipe....

In your head you have this amazing shirt design idea.  Or you keep looking for a shirt you love, but either can't find what you are looking for or it isn't exactly what you want.  Maybe the font is wrong or something.    And you can't help but thinking... I want to try to design and make my own shirt.  If anybody is considering making their own shirts and not using drop shippers, this post might be for you. First off you'll need the Supplies : - Shirts. Obviously.  Some places you can find blank shirts for as little as $2 (closer to $3-5 in most places, or you can get them on sale.  Joann's seems to have periods of time where you can get 3 for $9, 4 for $10, or even 5 for $10!  Hobby Lobby sells for around $4 each.  I've even seen them at Walmart for $2 (sizes and colors are extremely limited)! I can't tell you Michael's prices - the nearest store is over an hour away.   - Your preferred method of designing the shirts. Do...

Step 1 - Put resin in heat resistant bowl.  On occasion I have to "destroy" my resin pendants.  It could be for any reason. A book has had its copyright renewed. A pendant doesn't get enough views/sells.  It's an "oops" pendant that didn't turn out perfect or close to perfect.  Anything can happen. On this instance it's all three. But I don't have to let them sit around collecting dust, wasting renewal fees, or even - shudders - get thrown in the trash. Step Two - Pour hot water over the bezels Resin has one downside and anybody who has looked at most of my book page pendant listings on Etsy can figure it out. Hot Water. Wait? What?   Step Four - Use tweezers to remove bezel from water Step Three - Cover the Bowl (This traps in the heat) Step Five- Insert sharp object between bezel and resin Hot water can soften up the resin.  It can indent the resin.  It can even soften it up enough where I c...

Practice Part One Here - > Part One - Getting Started You've been practicing your letters. You've been practicing joining those letters together. You been writing words.  But things aren't always going to go smoothly. Some tips. When you first buy your pen it might not work at first.  Especially if you are using a fountain pen. Practice Make certain the ink cartridge has been pierced.  It has? Run the nib under a slight stream of water until the water turns inky.  Start writing without drying off the tip.  You might have to repeat this process a few times. Regular Lined Paper Practice Paper  You can raise your pen to the light to see if there is ink between the tines of the nib.  If you see light, either do the water trick (if new) or just scratch away on your paper until the ink starts to flow again. It will.  I have this issue on the days I missed a practice session. Or left the pe...

Has your sterling silver jewelry tarnished? It happens sometimes when you don't wear it that often. Here's a tip. 1. Line a bowl or something with aluminum foil. 2. Put the jewelry in the covered bowl. 3. Cover the jewelry with baking soda. 4. Pour hot (not boiling) water over the baking soda to help it disolve.  (I used water from the coffeemaker.) The chemical reaction will cause the baking soda to bubble and after doing this a time or two the tarnish will be gone. 5. Wash jewelry with cool water and dry.  Voila!