Teacup Candle

I love crafts that don't involve me going to the craft store.  Something about going to Michaels and roaming down the aisles of overpriced, perfectly prepared materials just feels like cheating (plus, the temptation to make impulse purchases is often more than I can bear :-)

This craftstoreless craft was inspired by Martha Stewart.  Of course, her finished product is more perfectly beautiful, but I got a kick out of adding my own little twist.

I found this mini teacup at a thrift store for 2.99.  (a bit overpriced, but I liked the fact that it was miniature, which seemed especially suited for a candle.)

I wanted the wax inside of the cup to be brown to look like a real cup of tea, but didn't have any old brown candles I wanted to part with.   But then I realized that of course this is the perfect time of year to be in need of brown candle wax....after Christmas sales!!   I bought a red and green taper candle at Walgreens for 9 cents each.

Using a hammer, I smashed open one of the candles to extricate the wick.  (By the way- I didn't actually use the candle in the picture for the wax- you'll notice that the red is only painted on)

 I broke the red and green candles into pieces and melted the wax.  Everyone seems to say that wax should be melted in a double boiler or in a special wax melter contraption.  I melted mine under the broiler in the stove.  This method actually worked fine the first time, but the second time the glass container I was using got too hot and shattered.  (terrible, TERRIBLE mess...next time I may use a double boiler)

Because I was using an old wick, I needed to tie something to the end so that it would sink.  I used a paperclip that I folded in half and twisted around the wick.

I left the wick extra long to imitate a teabag string, and held it in place with a popsicle stick while the wax was cooling.

Tracing around a tea bag label as a guide, I cut my own label out of cardstock and used it to write a birthday greeting to my sister (an avid tea drinker- as are all the women in our family)

Such a fun little craft...I think I'll be on the lookout for pretty teacups at garage sales from now on!

Restaurant Napkin Doll Tutorial

If you have been following this blog for a while you may remember a post I did about a year ago with ideas for passing the time while waiting with your family at a restaurant. Well, the other day, I was browsing Valerie's blog Frugal Family Fun and was tickled to find a great idea to add to the list.

Wouldn't your kids love it if you could make them a little doll to play with every time you went to a restaurant? You can! I tried this tutorial the other day and it was EASY and turned out cute (and I can assure you that I am especially UN-talented at all things origami-related).

If you try it, I'd love to know how it turns out for you (and whether you impress any waitresses with your fun new skill)!

Homemade Yogurt in a Crock Pot

Did you know that you can make delicious homemade yogurt in your crockpot- AND that it's EASY?

I didn't either until a couple of days ago when I found this site.

It really works! Here's what I did:

1. Put 3 cups of whole milk in my crock pot on the low setting for 2 1/2 hours.

2. Unplugged the crock pot. Let it sit with the lid on for 2 3/4 hours (ish)

3. Took 1 1/2 cups of the warm milk and mixed it with 1/3 cup Dannon plain yogurt.

4. Poured the yogurt back into the crock pot, put lid back on.

5. Wrapped crock pot in beach towel and left it unplugged and insulated overnight (or at least 8 hours- I left mine for 13 hours)

That's it! The next morning it thickened into a very nice yogurt. I like my yogurt extra thick though; so I let it drain for about forty minutes through a coffee filter-lined colander in the refrigerator. The whey that runs off is good for using in homemade bread (or so I hear- I'm going to try it in a couple days).

If my daughter were a little older, I would have had her help me and taught her a little bit about bacteria along the way. Here, by the way, is a site that gives a good overview of the science of yogurt.

Do you have any experiences with homemade yogurt? Any good recipes or things I should try?

Homemade Baby wipes

A while back my husband's cousin Kim gave me a tip on how to save money by making my own baby wipes. I put off doing it for a long time because I thought it would be a lot of work. I just made them a couple of days ago, and I'm pleased to report that it really wasn't alot of work. And they work great- just as good as store-bought.

Here is what you need:

1 tall container (an old upright babywipes container or a tupperware)
1 strong paper towel roll (Bounty or Viva work well)
1 cup water boiled and cooled
2 Tablespoons baby shampoo
2 Tablespoons baby lotion
Vitamin E oil from 3 punctured caplets (optional- nice on baby's skin)
1 Tablespoon white vinegar (optional- to help avoid yeast and to inhibit mold in the wipes)

1. Cut the paper towels in half. I used a big serrated bread knife, but if you had an electric saw that would be even better. Don't worry about getting the cardboard center out yet.2. Whisk together the other ingredients in a bowl.3. Place half of the paper towel in the container (fringey side down).

4. Pour the solution over the wipes.

5. When the solution has penetrated the roll, pull the cardboard center out of the roll.
6. Pull wipes from the center and thread them through the opening at the top of your container. (My mother-in-law showed me that sometimes clipping the opening a little further back makes the wipes come through more easily without breaking off)

All done!

For more good ideas today, head over here.