This past weekend we didn't find much at the Farmer's Market for gifts for our moms so we decided to stop at a few shops on the way home. The first shop, is actually two shops at someone's house. They have a huge barn full of awesome antiques and then another barn that has a mix of antiques with handmade and country type of gifts. Think quilts, handmade soaps and candles, pottery from local artists- but everything has that Farm house vibe to it. While we found a couple things there, nothing really said Buy Me, except for something for myself.
There was an entire shelf of old blue mason jars. There were only two large ones and then bunches of the smaller size. I quickly grabbed up the two larger ones and then sifted through the smaller ones for my favorite. I absolutely love old glass and the waviness and imperfections in them. This one had the most waviness and bubbles, so it came home with me. It was perfect because I had just bought some more calendula flowers and lavender flowers for my new venture and they needed a placed to be stored.
We then headed off to a local potter that I know, he does amazing work and I have a bunch of his pottery. We found this for my mom.
It's not really a pot for flowers or a plant because there isn't any drainage, but well rosemary doesn't need a ton of water and it was screaming for something to be put in it! It matches my parent's kitchen exactly and she really loved it. We also picked up a little something for K's mom, but I can't share that on here right now (she sometimes reads my blog) because he was/is? planning on going out there this weekend and will give it to her then. All I can say is it is gorgeous and she is going to love it.
I then came home and made my first batch of soap. This was an easy one. Nothing to it. I bought a Dr Bronners, unscented baby mild pure castile bar soap. I shredded it with a cheese grater, and put it over medium heat with 5 cups of water and a tbs of glycerin. You leave this over the heat until all the soap is melted down, remove from the heat and let it sit over night. In the morning you will have liquid face soap/ hand soap/ dish detergent i dont know, what ever else you'd like to clean with just some good liquid soap. Mine came out a little thick, so I had to add a bit more water, and beat it in my mixer. It's still a tinge on the thick side. K says its the consistency of snot (such a nice visual) But I have been using it as a face cleanser and it is so wonderful. One bar of soap filled 5 small 8oz mason jars and my entire bottle for dish washing.
Here is a little container I made of my soap for my mom. I took a pump that I had saved from hand soap and K punched a hole in the lid. Some gorilla glue and voila, instant hand soap dispenser. Now you might be asking, "What on earth is that lid next to the mason jar?" That my friends is a "recap". Back in November I helped fund a kickstarter project (if you don't know what kickstarter is, you must be living under a rock! haha just kidding, but seriously its one of the coolest websites created to help people like us have our dreams come true. If you don't know about it - go now! fund projects and help someone get their business off the ground) So anyway, I just got my two lids in the mail a few weeks ago and was trying to decide what I was going to use them for first. And for me, this is perfect for my face wash. Its a really good seal, you just pop open the little cap and can pour your face soap into your hand. There are so many uses for it though. Dressings, sauces, tea, water, pantry items, soap! anything you can think of - it's up to you.
Her kickstater has long ended, but if you want one of these caps (which yes, I know you do!) head on over to her website and pick one or two or three or..well you get the idea.. you will not be disappointed.
