Stinky shoes? Whip up a few of these and your shoes (or your hubby’s shoes,wink-wink!) will smell fresh and clean. 
These instructions may seem a bit vague,but I wanted to do this project with things we already had. It’s meant to be a frugal project for using up leftover material scraps,thread and herbs,but feel free to go buy the supplies,if you need them.  In some of these pictures,you’ll see two pairs being worked on. Both are for my hubby (note the “manly”material I found! Hehehe!),one for his work shoes and one for his everyday shoes. What you’ll need:- Material that is at least 4 inches wide and 14 inches long,for each shoe. For larger shoes,you can make them bigger,for child’s shoes,adjust to make them smaller. Natural materials are always preferred over synthetic.
- Thread that will either blend in or contrast
- Old shoe laces,scrap ribbon or something else to connect your sachets with.
- White rice (don’t use brown- it can smell rancid from the fats)
- Dried herbs of your choice (we had tons of leftover dried rosemary and lavender herbs from our garden that we couldn’t use up,so that’s mostly what I used.)
- Essential oils,if you want to pump up the scent. I didn’t for these,but I will for other ones.
What to do:- Fold the material inside-out with the ends touching,press and sew the sides,leaving the end open. Repeat on the other strip of material. Turn the material right-side-out.
 - Mix the rice and herbs together (the rice absorbs moisture and the herbs give a nice scent,so any ratio is fine. I did about 50/50.) Add essential oils,if you’re using them.
 - Fill each sachet 3/4 of the way full with the rice/herb mixture.
- Tuck the material ends in,place the ribbon or shoe lace 2 inches into the opening and pin in place.
 - Sew the sachet closed,going over the ribbon/shoe lace twice to make certain it’s secure.
 - Repeat on the other sachet.
The purpose of the ribbon/shoe lace is two-fold. First,you will never be searching under the bed and in dark corners for the missing sachet,if they are permanently connects. Second,when they aren’t in use,you can hang them from a hanger or hook. Spiffy,huh? 
Do you think that camping means you can’t eat delicious,healthy food? Trust me,you can! And it’s easy,too. We whipped up a frittata in no time,for a hot and filling breakfast.  How delicious does that look?! Frittatas are basically baked eggs with tons of yummy ingredients. I’ll tell you what we used,but be creative and try out different combinations.
What you’ll need:- A campfire or grill
- A camping pan (8 to 12 inches wide)
- 2 to 3 eggs per person
- Butter or olive oil
- Fillings (we used asparagus,mixed mushrooms and blue cheese)
- Seasonings (we used sea salt,but you can add herbs,too)
What to do:- If using a campfire without a grate,level one side of the fire to set the pan on the wood/coals.
 - Put a few tablespoons of butter or olive oil in the pan and add anything that needs to be cooked or sauteed (such as asparagus,mushrooms,onions,meat,other veggies,etc.) and cook until done.
- Whisk the eggs in a bowl with the salt and seasonings,then poor the mixture over the fillings,adding any other ingredients (such as cheese)
- Give it all a quick stir to evenly distribute everything,then just let it cook.
- Once the center is set,remove the frittata from the heat and cut into wedges to serve.
We took our not-yet-six-month-old camping last week. Yep,we’re a little crazy,but if you’ve been around here awhile,you already know that.  Our four-year-old,Pumpkin,has been camping once before and did splendidly both times. This was the first trip for Babykins. We spent one night and had a ton of fun,but there are some things we’ll do differently,next time. What we did right- We brought lots of small chewy toys (she was teething–two teeth,now!) in ziplocs,for entertainment.
- We brought more clothes,diapers and wipes than we needed. Better to be safe than sorry!
- Since she is exclusively nursing,I brought nursing tops so that I could easily nurse the baby.
What we’ll change next time- We’ll bring a warm hat. It would have been much easier to keep her warm at night if her little head wasn’t losing so much heat!
- I’ll bring my baby wrap. Being able to carry her hand-free would have been wonderful!! I expect it will really help to keep her safe when she starts crawling,too.
Honestly,I can’t think of anything else that we needed. Our only real problems were that the weather turned unexpectedly cold (too cold for staying another night) and the baby was teething,so she woke often from the pain. We hope to stay for several days,next time. Here are some pictures of our adventure.  Me and my girls!  Exploring the stream  Discovering a jaw bone  Rock climbing at the playground  Digging for treasures  Lounging in her "camp chair" 
This is one of my new favorite summer treats! There were some scrumptious looking strawberries at the grocery store right next to the freshly baked angel food cake…who can resist that?! Instead of plain ol’strawberry shortcake,though,I wanted to get a bit creative. I decided to pull out the pie irons that we take camping and have some fun. If you aren’t familiar with pie irons,they are cast iron (sometimes aluminum) cooking tools to use over a campfire or grill. You can make “sandwiches”out of whatever you want and then grill them in the pie irons. We tried PB&J on our camping trip,but we just weren’t crazy about it. Tonight’s creation,however,we love! What you need:- Pie irons
- Butter
- Angel food cake
- Strawberries
- Dark chocolate,chopped
- Campfire or Grill
What to do:- Butter the inside of the pie irons.
- Put a slice of angel food cake in one side of the iron (we have “double sandwich irons”,but there are also single ones available).
 - Top with sliced strawberries and chocolate.
 - Put another slice of angel food cake on the top and secure the other side of the pie iron closed.
 - Put the pie iron in the fire (or on the grill) and wait several minutes. Flip and wait a few more minutes. (Cooking time depends on the heat of the fire and whether the pie iron is cast iron or aluminum,so check on the cake once in awhile to prevent burning!)
The chocolate will be melted and the cake will be lightly toasted. You can top the cake with whipped cream,if you have some,or even a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Yum! What’s your favorite pie iron recipe?
If your little one has ever had an ear infection,you know how miserable it can be. Pumpkin,our four-year-old,just had her very first ear infection a few days ago. It was actually pretty scary at first,because she woke up with a moderate fever that suddenly spiked to just under 103 degrees,but she had no other symptoms for hours! I kept asking her if anything hurt and she kept saying “no”. There wasn’t any ear pain at all until late in the day. Since I didn’t know what to treat,I made her some herbal iced tea to sip and we just waited for something to happen. Not a good way to spend your time! Once the ear pain hit,I finally knew what we were dealing with and I got busy consulting my most trusted herbal information sources. First off,here’s what we DIDN’T do. NO Fever ReducersWe parents have all been brainwashed into thinking that a fever should be “controlled”,but reducing a fever is one of the worst things we can do! God created our bodies with a complex and effective immune system. Messing with the first line of defense,a fever,can make an easy-to-fight-off infection become something requiring toxic medications. I’ll post more on this subject in a few days. NO AntibioticsMany pediatricians hand out antibiotics like candy (come to think of it,they shouldn’t be handing out candy so freely,either! ). If you were raised on antibiotics,it probably seems like I’m over-reacting,but antibiotics should not be administered unless they are absolutely necessary. When it comes to childhood illnesses,including ear infections,they are almost never needed. My post on antibiotics will be coming in the next week or two. Did you know that ear infections can be viral? Antibiotics are completely ineffective against a virus,though they are often prescribed anyways. Even worse,almost all ear infections will clear up on their own,even if they are bacterial! Out of 240 confirmed ear infections,only 7 (that’s just 3%) didn’t clear up on their own in four days or less. Did you catch that?! That means 97% of ear infections will clear up without antibiotics! So,the wait-and-see approach would avoid 97% of unnecessary antibiotics. The other 3% *might* be possible to treat with home remedies… Reduce Pain and Speed HealingI know that you’re cringing,right now. “Wait-and-see?! I can’t just sit here and watch my baby suffer for FOUR DAYS!”Deep breath. I’ve got you covered! First of all,it’s very unlikely that the pain will really last four days. Most children recover much more quickly than that. Here’s what to do while you wait for the infection to clear. Heat helps!I had chronic ear infections as a child and I vividly remember the one I had at the age of 16 when my ear drum burst. It HURT! (Yes,I was on antibiotics and they didn’t help at all.) What helped was heat. I sat in the recliner with a heating pad against my ear all day. Whenever I removed it,the pain would return,but as long as I had it on there,it hardly hurt at all. You must be VERY careful with a small child and heat. Please don’t leave them unattended. There are several different things you can use: - Electric heating pad:This has the most potential to burn since the temperature fluctuates,so keep your own hand on it!
- Rice-filled heating pad:Once it’s cooled enough to not burn,there is no risk of the heat increasing,so this is a good choice.
- Warm washcloth:It will need to be warmed often,as it won’t retain heat long,but the moist heat can really help.
- Onion:Yes,really! Bake for 20 minutes,with the skin on,slice in half and cool until it won’t burn. Hold the cut side against the ear until it is no longer warm. It also helps heal the infection.
Heal the infection*Safety Tip*:If there is any puss coming out of the ear,that means the ear drum is perforated (it tore,due to the pressure). It will heal,but DO NOT put anything at all inside an ear that is perforated. I will explain alternatives for perforated ear drums. - Lavender essential oil:Rub a few drops of lavender essential oil(make sure it’s a high quality oil,like the one from Mountain Rose Herbs) behind the ear. It helps to heal the infection,but it also relieves pain (try it the next time you get burnt!). Start just behind the ear and gently rub down along the path that the Eustachian tube follows. From where my finger is in the first picture,gently follow the curve of the jaw,like the second picture. This,along with the heat,helped quickly.
  - Ear drop oil: Garlic and mullein oil is highly effective in speeding up the process of healing. If you like,you can buy it ready-made in most healthfood stores,but here’s what to do if you’re making it yourself.
~Crush or mince 4 to 5 cloves of garlic and let it sit in a saucepan for 15 minutes (this allows the oxygen to activate the healing properties).
~Add 1/4 cup dried mullein.
~Add one ounce of olive oil and/or virgin coconut oil. I used a combination,since coconut oil is anti-viral (remember,ear infections can be nothing more than a virus!).
~Put the sauce pan inside of a larger sauce pan half filled with water (or use a double boiler,if you have one )
~Turn on the heat and get the oil warm,but do not “cook”the garlic. Once the oil is warm,turn off the heat and let sit. The hot water in the pan below will keep the oil warm for quite a long time.
~Once the oil is about to body temperature,strain out the garlic and herbs. Use a coffee filter or a clean tea towel,not just a mesh strainer or cheesecloth. It is crucial that you do not accidentally get bits of garlic and herbs in your child’s ear!
~Add essential oils,if you want. This will take the healing properties up a notch! I added one drop each of tea tree,eucalyptus,lavender and oregano. If your child has sensitive skin,you might want to keep have some garlic-mullein oil set aside without the other essential oils. Switch to the garlic-mullein oil if skin irritation occurs.
~Store the oil in a glass jar and heat it to body temperature by setting the jar in a bowl of hot water. Check the temperature of the oil on the inside of your wrist. Too hot and it will burn,too cold and it will cause pain.
~Use a dropper to put 2 to 3 drops in the ear. (Sing a song to keep the child distracted,since they will need to lay there for 30 seconds to allow the oil to get all the way in the ear canal.) The warmth of the oil helps to reduce the pain (as does the lavender oil) and can be used once an hour. Use at least four times a day,but preferably six or more,until the child is well.
~Also apply the oil to the bottoms of the child’s feet and cover with socks. This allows the garlic and essential oils to get into the system and fight the infection even more effectively!
[If the ear drum is perforated,apply this oil behind the ear once an hour and apply to the bottoms of the feet every 3 to 4 hours. I'd also recommend using the baked and cut onion against the ear,since everything must be indirect treatment. You can also put 2 or 3 drops of the oil on a cotton ball and hold/tape it against the ear opening.] - Garlic by mouth:If the child able to swallow it,finely chop some garlic and mix it with a spoonful of raw honey. Even just a small amount is extremely potent and will help to fight the infection. If the child is still breastfeeding,mama can take the garlic in honey 3 times a day and the benefits will be passed through the milk to the baby.
- Keep the head elevated:Try to figure out a way to keep the child propped up while sleeping. Laying down flat increases the pressure and,therefore,the pain. Just be sure that whatever you do doesn’t put a baby at risk of smothering.
We started this treatment in the early evening and Pumpkin’s fever broke and ear pain was gone in well under 24 hours (she was much better after just 12 hours!). *A few important safety notes:A high fever will make a child very tired and inactive,but if the child is unresponsive,get medical attention. Unresponsive means that a baby is limp and can’t seem to focus eyes on you,an older child may seem weak,confused and unable to answer questions. Also,a high fever can lead to dehydration,so push liquids as much as possible. Coconut water is an excellent choice,since it’s full of electrolytes. **Disclaimer:I am not a doctor. Please consider consulting a doctor,such as a naturopathic doctor or herbalist,for diagnosis and to determine the best course of treatment. This post is linked up at Frugal Days,Sustainable Ways,Healthy Today Wednesday,Wildcrafting Wednesdays,Natural Living Link-up and Your Green Resource If you’re new here,welcome! If you’ve been around for awhile,you are probably wondering where your “Fun Things Friday”post is. Sorry,ladies,but life overwhelmed me. Pumpkin,our four-year-old,got her first ever ear infection. In the interest of full disclosure,we did not get a diagnosis from a doctor,but the crying from ear pain along with the nearly 103 degree temperature narrowed it down for us. Next week I’ll be sharing our very effective all-natural,homemade ear infection remedies! 
Pumpkin is recovered,but she and Babykins (our five-month-old) are exhausted from a huge day of shopping. I printed off a ton of craft store coupons this morning and used almost all of them to buy supplies to make things for…my Etsy store! Yep,we will soon be opening an Etsy store,with products made by myself,my hubby and even my mom! It’s a very exciting endeavor for us and I can’t wait to show you all of the fun things we’re creating. 
Babykins is rolling,sitting (okay,she still tips,but not nearly as often),and she just said “mama”yesterday morning! Turns out that when she says it she mostly means “milk”,but I’ll take what I can get. She’s quite proud of her new communication abilities and her big sister is tirelessly cheering her on. My hubby is taking some vacation time this month and we’re going camping! We haven’t decided whether we’re doing one night or several,but we’re really looking forward to it. Any tips for us on camping with a baby? Pumpkin was 2 1/2 when we took her camping,so camping with a baby will be a new experience! I hope you lovely ladies enjoy your weekend! Have you felt like a failure for not having a WAP-approved grocery list and menu plan? Do you love “real foods”,but don’t think you live up to the standards of other “real foodies”? Have you read a real food blog and felt like you were spiritually or morally guilty because you don’t soak your grains or you put sugar in your oatmeal? DON’T! Please don’t get me wrong,I love the nutrition and flavor in our homemade,unprocessed foods. I love how we feel when we eat healthy meals. I love knowing that I’m making healthy decisions for my girls. I also love s’mores. Nope,not made-from-scratch marshmallows and graham crackers. The cheap ones from wal-mart. We do splurge on gourmet dark chocolate,but only because we like the flavor,not because it’s healthier. And you know what? I’m not a bad person for it. I’m not a bad Christian,either. My s’mores aren’t immoral or un-spiritual. I have seen many blogs (Christian and secular) that talk about real food as though it is the only decent choice and those of us who don’t eat 100% according to their standards are somehow horrible people (and parents) because of it. Believers are the “temple of the Holy Spirit”and we shouldn’t abuse our bodies. That doesn’t mean that eating 80% real food and 20% processed food is unbiblical.”Everything is permissible”for believers. There is no condemnation. BUT… Does this mean we should all just give up and live on Twinkies and Sprite? NO! “Everything is permissible,but not everything is beneficial”(1 Corinthians 10:23). Just because we can eat whatever we want doesn’t mean that we should. Eating mostly healthy foods won’t guarantee health,but in general our bodies function better if we give them the nutrients they need. Everybody agrees that being healthy is better than being sick. We all want to have energy and feel good. It is wise and it is good stewardship to take decent care of our bodies. I have seen Christians who have made an idol out of junk food and I have seen others make an idol out of “real”food. God gave us freedom to eat whatever we want,so why do we condemn each other? Rather than condemning each other,why don’t we all just encourage each other to do the best we can and to allow grace to cover the rest. “If I partake with thankfulness,why am I blamed for the food that I give thanks for? So whether you eat or drink,or whatever you do,do everything for the glory of God.”1 Corinthians 10:30-31
If you’re a first-time mom,you might be wondering how on earth you’re ever going to get anything done. You try to put the baby down to play so you can wash dishes or fold laundry,but you have to scoop her right back up again because she falls to pieces whenever she isn’t held. Yes,you can use a baby carrier part of the time (we have one!),but some things just need to be done without your little one attached to you. As with our first baby,we’ve taught our five-month-old to play happily on the floor,instead of screaming to be picked up. We can even walk in and out of the room without sparking a meltdown (unless she needs a diaper change). A couple of weeks ago,she would cry to be picked up. Not anymore! Hold Her When She’s Happy!Here’s the basic idea:Do whatever chores you need to do while the baby fusses. When she stops fussing and is happy,scoop her up and play with her. If we pick up our babies every time they cry,they will learn to cry to be held. We teach our little ones that when they are happy,that’s when they get what they want.Do you want a happy baby,too? How To:- Make sure baby is fed,burped and has a clean diaper on.
- Put baby in a safe place (on a blanket on the floor,or in a play pen).
- Put toys within baby’s reach.
- Stay close to baby (within a couple of feet) while you fold laundry or do some other chore.
- When baby fusses,concentrate on your chore.
- As soon as baby quits fussing,scoop him up and play. Sing songs,snuggle,etc.
- After several minutes,put baby back down and start again,repeating until baby does not fuss when put down.
Next Steps:- Once baby is comfortable with playing while you are next to him,move across the room and repeat the above steps.
- When baby plays happily while you are across the room,begin leaving the room for a few seconds and returning quickly. Hold and play with baby when he stays happy.
- Stretch out the time you leave the room (please be sure baby can’t hurt himself while you are gone!!!) and always reward happiness and ignore crying.
Before you know it,baby will entertain himself when he’s on the floor and stop crying for attention. Please be sure to hold your happy baby often,playing with him and loving on him! *Linked up at Better Mom Mondays! 
These wall decorations use the same method as the picture frames I made several months ago. These are in our baby’s room and I made similar ones for our fou-year-old’s room. What you’ll need: - Three wooden plaques from the craft store
- Three sheets of matching or complimentary craft paper
- Decoupage glue
- Acrylic paint in a complimentary color
- Ribbon and hooks,if desired,along with craft glue
- Sandpaper (fine),scissors,sponge applicators
What to do: - Lightly sand the wood,making sure to thoroughly clean off the dust.
 - Trace the surface to be covered with paper onto a piece of scratch paper,then cut out the shape and trace it onto the craft paper. (This method helps reduce mistakes )
 - Cut out the craft paper and set it aside.
- Paint the border of the wood (I did three coats,just to make sure it’s evenly covered).
 - Spread a thin layer of decoupage glue on the surface of the wood and very carefully center the paper on it. Smooth from the center (be gentle and don’t overwork it,or the paper will tear!) and allow to dry for an hour. Repeat on each plaque.
 - Gently spread a thin layer of the decoupage glue over the surface of the paper and over the painted edges,and allow to dry.
 - If you want to hang the decorations using ribbon,cut a length of ribbon,center it at the bottom of the wood’s edge and glue it on (it can be hung on a point,like I did,or level with the floor). Allow glue to dry.
And here they are,dressing up the baby girl’s room! 
Linked up at the Weekend Whatever I’m an “all or nothing”kind of girl. I don’t like things half done. Okay…I’m a perfectionist. Did you know that being a perfectionist can go hand in hand with being a procrastinator? It’s true. If I can’t get something completely done just the way I like to do it,I’ll often put it off until I have the time and energy to do it “right”. Several months ago,I wrote about accepting that there are many “right”ways to do things,but I’m still struggling with starting something that I’ll have to leave half-done for awhile. My ProblemHere’s what that looks like around here. “I can’t get the kitchen completely cleaned…I’ll wait until I can get it all done later.”“By the time I get everything set up for that project,it’ll be time to nurse the baby…I’ll wait until I can do it all at once.”“I can’t write an entire post right now…maybe after the girls are in bed.”Are you seeing a pattern here? It works the other way,too. Once I do get started on something,it makes me crazy to have to stop right in the middle. I’ll often try to finish things quickly,just to get them done so I won’t be leaving them *almost* done. When I have a big project going (like decorating for a wedding),I’ve been known to stay up half the night “finishing up”one thing or another. Before we had kids,I would do one huge cleaning and laundry day and stay up as late as necessary so that at the end I could look around and see EVERYTHING was clean and put away! *Happy sigh* I’m doing it right now. It’s lunch time and I’m hungry,but I’m trying to hold off on eating so I can finish this post! I can hear you all saying,“GO EAT!”,so I’ll be back… Okay,I’m back. Maybe you’re reading this and you’re thinking,“That’s better than what I do! I’m so laid back that nothing ever gets completely finished. I just do a little at a time,whenever the mood strikes.”If you’re relaxed about it and your hubby is happy with it,don’t worry. It’s the stress that I create by not getting anything done and then working like a crazy person to get it ALL done that is the problem. So,I know I can’t do it all,all the time and do it perfectly. (Yes,I can hear you all saying,“duh”. Sometimes I’m a little slow.) I also know that I *could* just decide to relax and be content with how I do things. I’m thinking hubby would prefer a partly cleaned kitchen over a national disaster area,though. (Can you tell that the kitchen is one of my biggest struggles?) I decided that I needed to figure out something that we can both cheerfully live with. And,honestly,I just *feel* better when my kitchen is clean,don’t you? My PlanInstead of trying to change how I do everything,I’m going to divide things up. - Housework:Clearly,my all-or-nothing approach usually leans towards the “nothing”side and that won’t work. I’m going to make a concerted effort to clean as I go and be content with doing what I can,when I can. Five minutes here and ten minutes there will leave me with a much cleaner house than waiting until I somehow have a couple of free hours to get it done.
- Projects:Once I have a project started,I can work on it as time and energy allows. For smaller projects,though,it often takes longer to do set up and clean up than to do the actual project. For those,I’ll have to just start setting up early in the day and work on it as I can to get done with the clean up by the end of the day. If I view a project as an all-day event (even if it could be done in an hour),I won’t feel so frustrated about having to stop. Occasionally,my hubby will take the girls on a day off and let me have a little time just to work on blogging projects.
Mostly what I will need to work on is being more intentional with my small chunks of time,rather than waiting for a big chunk of time to magically appear. What about you? Do you need to change how you manage your time and energy? | | Grab my blog button! <a href="http://creativechristianmama.com"target="_blank"><img src="http://creativechristianmama.com/button.jpg"alt="CreativeChristianMama.com"width="125"height="125"/></a> |
