DIY Heaven

I think I need to change the name of my blog.  Instead of Clutter & Chaos, I may have to rename it "All Things Handmade". 

My friend bought the DIY mineral foundation kit from Brambleberry.  She made me some foundation, but it was a shade too light and pretty sheer.  I kept bugging her to let me borrow her recipe book, just because I wanted to read all the recipes and see how hard they were.  Instead, she brought me her whole box of mineral make up ingredients.  She's used about a tablespoon out of the entire kit, and she accidentally bought two copies of the make up book, so I get to keep one.  (Sweet!)

Tonight I made myself the full coverage mineral foundation.  LOVE IT!  Then I looked through the box and I saw all those shades of brown.  I just couldn't help myself.  I made three small jars of eyeshadow.  THEN, I melted down a few tubes of lip balm and made THE PERFECT shade of lipstick. 

I know, I know.  I should post pictures.  I'm not good at self portraits.  You'll have to take my word for it.  I'm looking HOT right now.  Ratty capris and all. 

So, here's the handmade tally:  I am currently making all our lotion, body butter, lip balm, soap, vintage jewelry, some summer dresses for the girls, and now make-up.  I am a DIY addict.  I need therapy.

The same friend said she may be able to get me hooked up with the owner of a country store on the highway so I can sell soapy things and make some cash.  I have a whole fall line planned.  Now, to find the cash for supplies....

Crazy Woman

If you've ever been to Big Timber, Montana, you know that the town lies in the shadow of the Crazy Mountains.  If you ever stopped to pee at the rest area between Greycliff and Big Timber, you might know that they used to be called the Crazy Woman Mountains because some woman went crazy and left her wagon train and wandered into those mountains and died..... something like that.  It was a short stop; I didn't retain much from the historical marker. 

Now, if you had ever LIVED in Big Timber, Montana, you'd know that just about everyone has a T-shirt or sweatshirt from Crazy Woman Trading Company, and what do they say?  "Crazy Woman," of course.  So, why does everyone look at me like I'm crazy when I wear my crazy woman T-shirt?  Dang.  I should have gotten the hooded sweatshirt, because then I could wear it everyday in the fall.  Next time I visit......

Missed

In my blogging gaps of late, I have missed a few things.  One of them was sweet Josie's birthday.  She is now three.  I can hardly believe my baby is such a big girl now. 

Do you see the shovel in her hand?  I told my mom not to bother with toys.  This girl is outside constantly.  The shovel was her favorite birthday present. 

This hat and glasses was part of her gift from Nathan and I.  We also bought her a Dora backpack and a watering can for when she's playing in the flowerbeds. 

This was her birthday cake:

I tried the fondant cake again.  First problem:  I need new cake pans.  The layers need to be taller.  I love Joanna's stripes, but my cake wasn't tall enough for that.  However, I bought good food coloring this time and the colors were exactly what I was after.  Originally I had planned on doing flat flowers all over the top layer and butterflies in the middle, but the butterflies proved problematic for me, so roses it was!

After I cut the cake, my sister-in-law asked if I had taken a top-view picture.  I hadn't, so I took one.  This gives a better view of the flowers.  They did turn out cute.  

Okay, so you know how everyone says you have to make a heavy pound cake, or fondant won't work?  If you do that, you end up with yucky cake and really sugary frosting.  Well, it's a lie!  I made my cakes right off the box.  Then I froze them.  I also made a real buttercream frosting, so it would be fluffier than frosting like I usually make.  The cake was delicious and so was the buttercream.  Some of my family didn't like the fondant, but there was plenty of yummy cake and frosting under it.

So, this brings me to the real question.... Do I like fondant cakes better?  Honestly, I think the answer is no.  It takes forever and makes such a huge mess.  They are cute, but not necessarily cuter than a cake decorated with frosting.  (Especially since I found that buttercream recipe that pipes like a dream.) 

As soon as we sat Josie down to sing Happy Birthday, she started eating fondant flowers.  We couldn't get a decent picture of her because she was so distracted by the cake. 

(I'm looking less-than-fabulous, but then again, I had just spent all day making that cake and didn't have time to beautify before the party started.  Oh, well.)

At three I usually potty train my kiddos.  I realized the other day that Josie can't dress herself.  It's not because I always help her, because I don't.  But someone always helps her.  It's usually Mazie.  I've been making an extra effort to have Josie dress herself and told Mazie she could help her pick out clothes but not put them on.  Yesterday the girls went running down the hallway for clothes.  Josie cam out with one arm through her dress and her head stuck in the other arm hole. 

"Mom, can't!" she said.  This might take some work.

Winners!

I put the names in a bowl and had Dylan pick the winner for the necklace.  He drew.....

EARLGIRL!

Then Ethan said, "I want to pick one!"  I agreed.  The cuff bracelet with the black rose was up for grabs second.  Ethan picked....

MAMA ECHO!

But, picking one wasn't enough for Ethan.  He wanted to pick another winner.  The next item to give away was the large rose ring.  Ethan drew...

ASHLEY! 

So, there are my three winners for today.  Can I just tell you right now how bad I am at mailing things promptly?  I am.  It was different in Big Timber, because I went to the post office everyday.  Here the post office is 8 miles away, and I hate the post office here, so I avoid it whenever I can.  I will sincerely try to mail them before I leave for girls camp next week.

My Vintage Romance

It has been three weeks since I posted, and I kid you not, I have thought about this post everyday since I promised to put it up.  The problem was the photos.  I just cannot photograph jewelry nicely.  I know why.  Most of the stuff I see on Etsy and Ebay is photographed in a tabletop studio box with lighting other than a regular flash.  Thus, my pictures look lame and cannot do justice to the jewelry.  SO, if you will excuse the crummy photos, I'll show you my new love-- vintage inspired jewelry. 

This stuff is so simple to make, even a non-crafter can do it.  Trust me, some of it is just glue.

I saw these necklaces on Etsy and wanted one, but they were twenty bucks a piece, and I realized that also on Etsy, I could buy all the supplies.  I don't know exactly what everyone else puts under their roses, but I found a brass filigree that was the right size, and that is what I have been using.  This one is mine.  Half my wardrobe is that orange color, so it matches everything.  I have made a few as gifts in varying colors.  It looks great with a nice round neck or even a V neck. 

This second necklace is one I made because I loved the color of the violet beads and ordered them on a whim.  Can I just tell you that I don't own one thing that is this color?  I'm giving this one away.  Leave a comment if you want to be put in the drawing for it.

This is not vintage inspired, but I wanted to post it anyway.  We took our YW on a virtue hike and put a virtue banner up on the mountain overlooking the slope.  Sister Jenne, the YW president, said to me, "I wish we could give the girls something to wear to remind them of virtue." 

I replied, "Oh, I can do that!"  Building off the scripture in Proverbs 31:10, "Who can find a virtuous woman?  Her price is above rubies," I made one of these necklaces for each of the YW in our ward.  I put it on leather because we have some who don't like anything too girly.  I wanted to to be something they would wear to school everyday.

Back to my vintage love.... Oh the rings and the hair pins.  This is so addicting!

For some reason my camera's auto focus blurs every time I try to get really close to the subject.  Finally, I got a closer shot.  Isn't this so cute?

You know I can't stop at one.  I have to make several.  Here are more....

I need to have someone be a hand model for me, so you can see how these look on. 

Finally, the cuff bracelet....  Like the rings and hair pins, this is just a glue job.  Anyone can do this.  They charge $12 for these on Etsy.  (Of course, I spent WAYYYYY more than that buying supplies, but that's beside the point, right?)

I was trying to get a better angle.  Really, I need to get some kind of jewelry display to photograph on.  These pictures just don't do justice to the pieces. 

Okay, so today I am opening comments for the violet necklace.  If you want it, leave a comment.  If you plug this post in your blog, you can get a second entry into the basket.  I will draw a winner and post it.  If you don't win, never fear.... I'm giving away two of the other pieces in this post soon.

Now, let's see some comments!