Puff Stitch Scarf & Slouchy Beanie

Puff Stitch Scarf & Slouchy Beanie

 

Earlier this year, I was asked to make a birthday present for my mother's friend.  I came up with this...

 

I love this little combo.  It's made from extremely soft acrylic yarn that's washable.  It's stylish and EXTREMELY warm!  Come follow my page on Facebook and order your custom made set! 

I hold daily discount contests so come join the fun & get what you want at a discounted price!

 

This isn't your typical Granny's Crochet!



Naturally beautiful, CHEMICAL FREE Hair! Want it? Here's how...

Let me just start by saying....

I LOVE MY HAIR!!!

Now that I've started making my own DIY/Homemade Hair Products!

Ok, so I know this is a little up close and personal...  With my hair all in my eyes and all, but I was just trying to give you a little peek at that SHINE!!!  I've NEVER had hair so healthy, strong and shiny!  I get no fly aways, no frizz.. I don't have to straighten it or even blow dry it (unless I'm in a hurry)!  It's naturally straight, but it would always frizz up a little or I'd get these little "fly aways"or terrible static...  Not so much anymore!  I'm completely in love with my hair!

The best part...  It was CHEAP and CHEMICAL FREE!

Ok, so you're wondering what I've done to make my hair look like this........ 

                   Right???




Coconut Milk!  That's the secret!  Coconut milk, Coconut milk & More Coconut Milk...  With a couple NATURAL extras...  It's that simple!  Well, almost.... 

Here are my recipes.....

Coconut Milk Shampoo:  (Use Daily)

Mix 1 part Dr. Bronners Liquid Soap to 1 part Coconut Milk.

I used 1 cup Dr. Bronners & 1 cup Coconut Milk.   

Wet hair, lather & rinse! 

Conditioning ACV Rinse: (Use Daily)

1 cup Water

1 Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar

A couple drops of honey

5-7 drops of your fav essential oil (optional)

Rinse daily after shampooing.  You can leave it in your hair or rinse it out..  Whatever you wanna do!   

Coconut Milk Deep Conditioner: (Use Once a Week)

1 Can Coconut Milk (or make your own which is WAY better)

1 Tbsp Honey

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Mix it up, put it in a bottle and apply to dry hair.  Apply just enough to completely saturate your hair.  Leave it in for about an hour then shampoo out!

See... Pretty simple, huh?

If you wanna read more about WHY I'm using these ingredients on my hair, go to my earlier post Homemade Conditioning Rinse & Coconut Milk Deep Conditioner (<~~You can just click on the link)

I've seriously only been using these recipes for about a month now & my hair is 110 times healthier than it was before!  I can truthfully say I have 100% chemical free hair & it looks WAY better than ever before!!  Who's gonna join me in the run for the world's healthiest hair??? 

Want to make your own coconut milk?  If you live in a non tropical area like I do, the best way to get fresh coconut milk is to buy NON-Sweetened, Organic Coconut flakes, water & a blender then follow this tuturial...  Here. <~~~This page gives you a video demonstration as well as teach you a few things about coconuts and coconut milk!  It's pretty interesting...  Check it out!





Crochet Ruffle Bottom Diaper Cover & Matching Headband

Before I went to bed last night, I received the CUTEST picture!  Well, it was a collage picture so I received the CUTEST pictures!

It's time like these when I love my little homemade business!  All my hard work, all my time crunching, all my "OMG, how am I gonna get these 4 orders done and get the laundry done and get the kids to their football and gymnastics practices AND get dishes done AND cook something for dinner AND get the kids bathed ANDDDD get hoomework done.... AHHHHH", seems to disappear & I get absolutely nothing but the thrill, the excitement, the full heartedness of the love people have for my products and I realize why I just love what I do. 

Seriously!?!?  Amy Adams is one of THE BEST photographers ever and RakJPatterns can seriously make some adorable patterns that are extremely easy to follow!!   If you live in the Indianola, IA area, go see Amy for your pictures!  If you crochet, go check out RakJ!  If you want one of these adorable sets for your adorable little girl or if you're a photographer that would want one of these for a photo prop, go see me on Facebook or Etsy. 


Alright, so now that you've seen this beauty....  I've got another surprise for you!!  Yeah, I got not only one ADORABLE collage of this babydoll in the diaper cover set, but I got one of a beautiful little girl in her Barefoot Sandals!  Oh yeah...  I'm tellin ya, Amy is awesome! 

These are my Ballerina Barefoot Flower Sandals.  If you're interested in some for yourself, go to my Facebook or Etsy.  These are perfect to wear with your sundresses, a pair of rolled up old jeans or your swimsuit!  Wear them to your backyard barbeque, while lounging around in the shade or wear them to the beach!  These things are adorable!  Start the trend in your area...  Foot Jewelry is big this summer.  Give someone a little view of your feet in something they haven't already seen a hundred times!  One of my customers recently said, "I keep forgetting to take a picture for you.  Everytime I wear them, I'm just having too much fun.  I think these just bring out the fun".  Yeah... They're that awesome :) 

Makeup Remover & Face Wash - Easy & Cheap

The last time I went shopping, I completely forgot I was almost out of my makeup remover...  So a couple of nights ago, I went to wash my face & UH OH, I was out!  AHH!!  It was late & I seriously didn't feel like going to the store to buy face cleaner so I just used my typical cleaner & tried my best to keep it away from my eyes cause that stuff hurts!  It worked great on the REST of my face, but my eyes still had eyeliner & mascara on them.  The waterproof kind!  I was so tired, I said "screw it" and went to bed.  The next morning, I WAS SCARY!!!  My face was all oily & shiny, my eyes were smudged with black all around, I looked like I had wrinkles that I've never seen before (Seriously, I'm only 29...  Do I already have wrinkles??  AHH).  I had black junk IN my eyes..  I looked like a pretty nasty wreck!  Granted, this isn't the only time I've gone to bed with eye makeup on, but it WAS the only time I'd gone to bed PURPOSELY with eye make up on.  The other times, I'd either had a few to drink or was just flat out POOPED! 

Sorry, no pictures of my beautiful, shiny, oily, black smudged self that morning!  haha...  You get NO visuals! 

My sweet, sweet husband actually didn't say anything about my roughness though.  Cudos to you honey!  Point for the hubster. 

Anyway, seeing yourself look 10 years older, overnight, simply because you didn't wash off your makeup will make you want to find a solution quick!  Problem was, I wasn't going to the store looking like THAT to pick up more cleaner.  haha!  That's when my little friend google came into play.  I started researching natural or homemade ways to clean that eye makeup off and seriously got upset at myself for not doing this the night before!  Google has about a billion things normal people keep in their house that'll double as a great makeup remover & I had about a thousand of those things in my cabinets!  (Over exaggeration maybe?  Maybe... but the possibilities seem endless when you're searching)

Here's what I decided to use:
2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp Coconut Oil
1 1/2 Tbsp Baby Wash/Shampoo

Mix it all together, put it in some sort of container, keep it in your bathroom cabinet or leave it by your sink (if you put it in a pretty little container).  Before you go to bed each night, put a little of the cleaner on your cotton swab, on your washcloth, on your little circle face pad, on your paper towel, whatever you decide to use and wipe your face off.  Eyes and all...  It doesn't irritate your eyes or skin at all.  I have sensitive skin and this treats my skin VERY well.  The baby wash is gentle and mild enough to clean my face without irritating it and the coconut oil leaves my skin oil free (yeah, sounds weird, but the good oil gets rid of the bad oil, I guess) without drying my skin.  Oh yeah, and if you have an acne problem, guess what!!  Coconut oil helps prevent acne!!  Check it out here!! 

Oh, by the way...  My husband may have went quite a while not saying anything about how rough I looked (Point-Hubster, remember?), but once I cleaned my face with this cleaner, he definitely noticed!  "Babe, your face looks a LOT less shiny"  haha...  (Maybe I'm taking that point back!)

What do you use to wash your face?  Which homemade recipe works best for your skin? 

Peek-a-Boo Flower Headbands

Peek-a-Boo Flower Headbands

This summer, headbands and sandals have been selling like crazy for Tiffany's Crochet Creations.  Typically, fall and winter months are the best selling times of the year for crochet companies, since soft yarn crocheted together can be so warm & snuggly.  This summer, I decided to come up with a few creations that were feasible for warm months! 

My newest creation: the Peek-a-Boo Flower Headband. 



You can purchase your beautiful Peek-a-Boo Flower Headbands on Facebook or in my Etsy Shop. 

Mention this blog post to receive 4 for $14!  That's only $3.50 per headband!!

You choose your own color combination.  Sizes from Preemie to Adult are available!!  Come by and see me to receive something beautiful, customized just for you!  It doesn't matter where you live... Shop online!!

Make your own Fabric Softener & Dryer Sheets WITHOUT Hair Conditioner!

I do laundry once a week (or at least my HOPE is to only do laundry once a week) and that day's Today... Yuck!!  While I began my first load, I started thinking I haven't written a blog post in a while...  Well, what better to write about than what I'm doing today, right?  Here goes... 


I've made a blog post once before telling you how to make your own fabric softener but the recipe used Hair Conditioner.  There are TONS of recipes out there, and most of them tell you to use hair conditioner.  The recipe worked GREAT!!  Well, since I've started living a little more "Green", I've stopped buying hair conditioner.  I use ACV to rince my hair and Coconut Milk Conditioner to deep condition my hair.  Without buying conditioner, I've been trying out new ways to soften my laundry & "de-static" it. 

First, I tried putting straight vinegar into the softener tub in my washer..  It worked great, but I was going through tons of vinegar!  I wondered if I could get by with using less...  So I tried!  I started filling it halfway up with vinegar, and it worked!  Soooo...  Then I decided I wanted it to smell better.  I started adding essential oil.  I was pretty happy with the results!  Then, I wanted something in my dryer.  I started filling up a spray bottle with vinegar & essential oil.  I would spray the towels and socks in the loads I was drying.   My clothes came out static free & smelling very nice. 

So then I got tired of seeing all this stuff on top of my washer & dryer AND got tired of all the steps.  Come on....  isn't washing & drying & folding & hanging & putting up enough steps as it is?  So now, here's what I do:

Fabric Softener:

Ingredients:
1 gallon of half empty white vinegar
vinegar
water
essential oil.

Take the half gallon of vinegar & fill it the rest of the way up with water.   Add your choice of essential oil to make the scent you like!  Mix it all up & add it to your rinse cycle with every load, or fill your softener tub everytime you wash!

Dryer Sheets:

Fabric Softener (same as you made above)
bowl
wash cloths

Instead of spraying all the socks, washcloths and towels with each load, I decided to start making reusable "dryer sheets".  All I do is put my wash clothes in a bowl and pour my fabric softener over it.  Make sure they're saturated.  Squeeze out any extra and put them outside to dry!  Keep them in an airtight container until you're ready to use.  Add a washcloth to your dryer when you put your load in!  One washcloth should last 3-5 dryer cycles. 

So now, I have 3 containers sitting on the shelves above my washer & dryer; fabric softener, dryer sheet container & my laundry detergent!  It looks WAY less cluttered now! 

Oh, by the way, I also use homemade laundry detergent.  I didn't make up this recipe myself so to make your own, go HERE.

What's your laundry routine? 

Homemade Conditioning Rinse & Coconut Conditioner Recipes

My mother, brother & 3 nephews came to visit us for the 4th!  :)  It's 1:30pm and right in the heat of the day.  At my house, it's 102 degrees at this very moment.  It's HOTTTTT!  The kids are all outside playing in the water, the big boys (my husband and brother) are playing Xbox and my mother & I are researching different homemade recipes, in the comfort of the air conditiong!!  I love that I've gotten her into the homemade/DIY obsession with me.  Love you mom!! 

While looking around my house for something new to create, I remembered I was almost out of my commercial conditioner.  I was using Pantene...  The big bottles you buy at Sam's (so it took a really long time to finally run out of it).  I've been itching to make myself some homemade conditioner.  I threw out the last little bit of that questionable stuff to give me an excuse to finally make myself some homemade goodness!  I decided to make myself some regular, everyday conditioner (more of a rinse) and a deep conditioner that I plan on using once a week...... 

They work WONDERFULLY!!!  

Seriously, the everyday conditioner probably cost me a cent to make.  I haven't done the math, but once you look at how little of anything I had to use, you'll see that it's basically nothing out of the pocket per use.  The deep conditioner cost barely a little more than the rinse, but less than $2 for a whole bottle.  CRAZY!  For a deep conditioner, I'm spending less than $2 and actually know what every ingredient in it is! 

So, you're probably waiting for the recipes now, right?  I'll make you wait no longer...  Here they are!  

Everyday Conditioning Rinse

1 cup Water

1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

 A couple drops of Honey

5-7 drops of your favorite essential oil

Here's an explanation of why I used the ingredients I used.  Water, of course, is necessary for absolutely everything living.  It's the base of everything... Or should be if it's not.  Apple Cider Vinegar removes buildup in your hair as well as helps balance the ph level of your hair.  Your hair has numerous cuticle scales which cover and protect the surface of each hair shaft.  Rinsing with Apple Cider Vinegar helps close these scales which results in shinier, smoother hair that's easier to manage.  Honey holds in water molecules so it works as a great moisturizer.  Honey is sticky and many people question it's health benefits for their hair.  Making your hair sticky would definitely make it hard to pass a comb or brush through your hair without damaging it, but dissolving just a couple of drops into a water/acv solution takes away the sticky and leaves the moisturizing benefits! :)  Of course, I added the essential oils to make your hair smell amazing, so you use whatever your favorite is.  I used lavendar!      

After using the everyday conditioning rinse, I didn't even have to brush my hair!  I have naturally, very straight hair anyway, so that probably helps, but just a simple run through with my fingers and letting it dry on it's own is all I needed.  My hair is soft and light after using this rinse.  It feels healthy.  It's not weighed down or oily like it felt after using some of the other conditioners I would buy at the retailers.  This recipe is definitely a keeper for my household. 

Coconut Milk Deep Conditioner

1 Can Coconut Milk

1 Tbsp Honey

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

You'll have to keep the Coconut Milk conditioner refrigerated, as coconut milk does spoil, just like any milk.  If you have normal, healthy hair, you'll need to use the coconut milk conditioner once every two weeks.  If you have dyed hair, use it once a week.  If you have dry/damaged hair, use it 3 times a week for 2 weeks...  Once a week for 2 weeks...  Then you can use it once every 2 weeks. 

This stuff is amazing!  So long name brand conditioners...  Hello homemade GOODNESS!  My hair's never felt or looked healthier!