Natural Pine-sol

I have used vinegar/water mix for all my cleaning for over 10 years now. I've read about putting essential oils into it before but just never have.
I found this amazing recipe this year and have fallen enchanted by its smell this holiday season.
I'm definitely no expert on any of the evergreen trees besides Douglas firs for the obvious reason ( ho , ho, ho) blue spruce and cedar. Ask me to identify other types and pines and I'd be lost. There is just too many. All I know is that this is one of the varieties on my property but any would work.

You fill a half gallon jar with branches from your evergreen. Fill the jar completely and packed. Then pour in white vinegar to the top so that all the branches are covered. Put on a lid and let sit for 1 month.

After a month, carefully pour some into a spray bottle (1/4 of the spray bottle full)
Then dilute the rest of the way with water. Enjoy the beautiful lemony, pine smell when cleaning.

Homemade Chai Tea Mix

Out for delivery for Christmas presents to all my friends.
This is my homemade Chai tea dry mix in a jar.
I... LOVE...MAKING...THIS.....STUFF
It's so fun having a pot of hot water on the stove and the excitement of finishing up a batch and taste testing it and it tastes amazing and delicious.
Now! If I can stop making it for gifts and indulge myself and make a quart all for my own cabinet.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup dry milk powder
1 cup powdered original nondairy creamer
1 cup French Vanilla nondairy creamer
1 and 1/2 cup sugar
1 and 1/2 cup Lipton Unsweetened powdered instant tea
2 heaping teaspoons ground ginger
2 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 heaping teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 heaping teaspoon ground cloves

Mix well with your hands in a large bowl, then divide recipe and do half in a food processor . Then do the other half. Then mix together once more with hands in large bowl.
This recipe made about 11 small jelly mason jars full.
You put 4 heaping teaspoons in a cup of hot water. (Small-normal size coffee cup) this is smoothly flavored. For a richer , more bold taste. Add more.

Holiday Spiced Tea Mix

Out for delivery this holiday season. Who doesn't love something warm to sip on in this cold season? These are some of my favorites gifts to make. Partially because I can taste test them all day. 

For my Holiday Spiced tea I use:

1 and 1/2 cups Country Time lemonade

1 and 1/2 cup Liptons instant tea powder Unsweetened

2 and 1/2 cups Tang drink mix

1/2 cup of sugar 

3 and 1/2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice 

In a small to normal size coffee mug I use 3 teaspoons of the dry mix. This is for a bold flavor. Use less or more for your taste. 

Warning: when you make this it is very very dusty........

The recipe called for using a food processor but, oh man! It needs really mixed well but next time I would opt for using a gallon zip lock, sealing well and mixing by shaking. 

(It makes about 7 -8  jam jars) 

Weather Gnomes

Say hello, to Rainy, Cloudy, Sunny, Windy and Icy.
These are our Weather Gnomes. Every morning when my boys wake up they look outside and appreciate whatever the weather is for the day. Whichever gnome fits the days weather gets the special throne. Sometimes if it changes throughout the day, the boys will change it. From cloudy to rainy or from cloudy to sunny.

Streusel flavored butter

One of my favorite things on a bisquit is honey and butter. Even more so is honey butter itself . When my husband and I were first dating we both loved watching cooking channels and trying to duplicate the things they cooked. One of those items was an herb butter that I recreated and it was fabulous. After that my mind ran with the idea of flavored butters and it's such a delight to make. Some of my favorites are my Streusel flavored one I perfected for on top of desserts or on bisquit. My other favorite one is a spicy roasted garlic one that I melt on top of popcorn. Also, my roasted garlic and cracked peppercorn one. So I'm going to share the streusel on with you now and the other ones later.


Streusel flavored butter:

Make a homemade butter from heavy whipping cream or let a cube of butter soften at room temperature until completely soft.

Add two tablespoons of brown sugar

1/4 -1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

A dash of vanilla extract

Mash all the ingredients together in a bowl.

Get out a piece of wax paper and spoon butter mixture onto it.

Roll the butter up into a big block

Keep wax paper together and place in fridge until solid

Or/

Use your butter dish lid

Scoop soft butter into lid and smooth in

Place in fridge

Once it's solid

Remove from fridge and carefully use butter knife to extract the butter out of lid. Then put into the butter dish rightfully and leVe out to keep it softened for a couple days on counter while you enjoy.

Harvesting Cattails.

Since I was a little girl, I've been raised picking Cattails every single spring. June 1st always has a mark on my calender so I don't forget. Every year the cattails vary by a week or two on when you can harvest them, so it's always good to start early on checking them. The harvest window is really narrow between ready to too late. 

When harvesting cattails, you want the cattails that are completely closed in their leaves but have a plump, green cattail inside. You don't want cattails that have opened and have started to turn brown. 

Once you pick the cattails a foot or so below the tops, shuck them like you would corn on the cob. You will have a thick, green cattail. 

Under the edible cattail part, you will notice it changes to a softer green more velvety stem. Leave about an inch of that and cut. That will be your handle. When you cook them, you'll need a frying pan and some butter. Place them in the pan and put in about a tablespoon of butter. Cover with a lid and cook on medium until they turn a bright green color. Usually about 5-7 minutes. When you eat them, there is a long stick, similar to a toothpick that runs down the entire center. Use your teeth the grab the flesh of the cattail and pull the meat off the stick. Eat it similar to corn on the cob. When harvesting, estimate about 5 per person. The taste is very similar to broccoli.

Bubble wands

To make whimsical little homemade bubble Wands :

I used a thick copper wire roll from the hardware store- it was about $5 for 25ft of it. 

I started by making a making a loop and a stem. Then I took the wire and went back up the stem wrapping as I went, occasionally I would add a little bead and then keep wrapping. When I got to the loop, I wrapped around it also. The wrapping adds stability. You can wrap once or twice. Some of mine have two different size loops , one on each en d. I did try loops without wrapping twice and it was too flimsy. Definitely wraps the loops ..... 

St.Lucias Day

ST.Lucias Day was definitely a memorable holiday this year. It was better than I could have planned.

I planned to celebrate it yesterday (the actual holiday but that just didn't fit into the books) .... so today I woke up to a roaring storm. It knocked power out across the entire county and knocked trees over left and right. Our power never went off for more than 5 minutes but it flickered the entire day. We watched from our windows the wind throwing Christmas lights, outdoor furniture and the rain blowing sideways. 

I got my trusty ole' cast iron pot ready to cook soup on the woodstove just incase and got the boys to help me break open our bounty of walnuts we harvested off our property this year. It was like trying to break out of jail (well, in jail would be correct , not out) trying to open those shells without cracking them. We managed to get a heap of usable shells. I broke out the double broiler. Crossed my fingers the power stayed on. I poured in the beeswax and let the house begin to flourish with the smell of honey. We didn't have wicks, so we scavaged through my trusty crafting desk and got ourselves some string and made homemade wicks (instructions to come on later post.) We made the most adorable little walnut candles. After we were done the boys played with the wicks and wax and expiremented with making different size and shape candles of their own. We got 1 usable birthday candle out of it and a cat shaped candle with a wick for a tail. Later that day we made tissue paper lanterns with a mason jar and made a little handle on it. The boys were so excited they couldn't wait to use them. It had barely turned dark and my oldest immediately jumped up. He wanted to go shut the chickens with his new lantern. Well, as long as mom and all the dogs went with him for protection. So we went on a night journey across the property. We light up all the Christmas lights outside, shut the chicken coop and even went and got the package left at the gate. All under the light of one little candle in a homemade lantern. The smile and pride that radiates across my sons face was worth every second. He was a proud (knight?) carrying his lantern for everyone through the dark. Tomorrow to cap off all of today's celebrations we will read Lucia and the Light as the celebrations continue on until The Solstice. 

The apple star

The best way to tell a Waldorf story is to read it yourself first and familiarize yourself with it. Once you have the basic concept of the story, get the supplies you have to make the story come to life. I have a beautiful basket of ladies scarves I collect from thrift stores and yard sales. They come alive in all sorts of ways. The blue ones become waterfalls, the green ones become lush valleys of grass and the sometimes they are tied on the backs of chairs to celebrate special occasions. 

Once you've got your supplies ready, set the scene. Invite them to the "play." Act out the story from memory. It's okay if you forget parts, you will have memorized the basics. The acting out is what makes it so magical. Every time I tell a story it changes slightly. Once you've told the story, let the kids play with the pieces and tell stories of their own. Once you've told the story a couple times , ask them to tell the story. You be the audience for their best performance. 

There are many variations of this story but this one is my favorite. 

There once was a little apple seedling who sat lonely in a field, as night fell upon her she looked at the sky twinkling above her. The apple tree became very sad , for she wanted a star all of her own. Then much to her surprise the night fairy came down from the sky above and asked her "why are you so sad?" The little tree explained how "she just wanted one star to keep to herself", so the fairy granted her wish and told her, "when you become a large, mighty tree, I will bring you are a star... As the months progressed the young tree matured into a sapling. Shortly after, King Winter came to visit and blew his tremendous winds throughout the land, knocking the poor sapling around and breaking off her branches, but she recovered. The young apple tree grew stronger and bigger throughout the years and was visited many more times by King Winter and every time broken down a little more. The apple tree was still sad and lonely and still wished she had a star of her own until one day she had awoken on a beautiful spring day and looked out at her branches and much to her surprise, saw beautiful pink flowers. The apple tree was finally happy and so excited that she had her own beautiful flowers that she forgot all about the stars.. Throughout the spring her blossoms turned to baby apples and she was overjoyed with excitement to be a mother. Soon into summer the apples became larger and started turning hints of yellows and pinks when the Night Fairy appeared. The apple tree had forgotten all about her star wish and explained to the fairy that "I no longer need a star, for I have never been so happy before." But, the fairy still gave her what she wanted and went and kissed every apple, turning them red and ripe. The fairy told the apple tree that inside every apple baby of hers is a beautiful star. To this day, every time you open an apple, you will behold the apple trees star.

(im unsure who the original author of this tradition waldorf story )

While telling this story, we used these storytelling items.
: a small handful of clear plastic jewels (The Dolllar Store, craft section)
: a small handful of small gold bells (season item only The Dollar Store, christmas section)
: one earthy toned scarve
: King Storm gnome
: Night Fairy
: Wooden tree
: Acorn

We layed the scarf out and planted the apple seed (acorn)
Every time we mentioned the stars I would slowly pour the jewels and bells from one hand to the other above the scarf, so they glistened with the light and the sound was entrancing

Once the tree was large and mighty, we put the wood tree in our story.

After our story the kids played with the jewels and bells, exploring the texture and sounds. They used wooden bowels and little metal cups to separate and explore. They also were given scoops and tongs.

We cut up an apple after to study the star.....

Leaf spiral

During one of the warmer days this week we went outside to enjoy the day and burn some of our energy. While we were outside we grabbed our rakes and made a spiral to walk through out of the leaves that had fallen. It came out so beautiful and so much larger than pictures can do justice of. . Even our little feathered friends enjoyed the day walking through it And catching all the bugs we had uncovered. We  are going to make homemade laterns and walk a moonlit walk through it on St.Lucias day. 

Advent spiral

This year we redid our count advent spiral. It always feels like a good time to craft up a new Gnome. And in the spirit of Advent , we welcomed King Winter to our collected and gave him the temporary home on our advent spiral. We are only a couple days away from St.Lucy day and the days are getting darker earlier, cabin fever is setting in and we are all for crafting quietly and staying indoors. Today we made dried orange slices for our advent spiral in the name of Lucia. We went to the library yesterday and checked out the book Lucia and the Light. A couple days ago we made a spiral in our  yard out of the fallen leaves to walk. On St.Lucy day we plan to walk the spiral with homemade lanterns.