Thursday

Needle Felting

My first attempt at Needle felting with the kit I purchased from Donna. It was fun, but I definitely need to take a class! lol
Here is the definition:

Needle felting is a popular fibre arts craft conducted without the use of water. Special barbed felting needles that are used in industrial felting machines are used by the artist as a sculpting tool. Using a single needle or a small group of needles (2-5) in a hand-held tool, these needles are used to sculpt the wool fibre. The barbs catch the scales on the fibre and push them through the layers of wool, tangling them and binding them together, much like the wet felting process. Fine details can be achieved using this technique, and it is popular for 2D and 3D felted work.
Felting kit







XoXo
Michelle / Simple Pleasures

Wednesday

Country Folk Art Festival, Meet Donna

Meet Donna of Esther's Place Fiber Studio, I met her at the Country Folk Art Festival. Donna is awesome, she was very friendly and super informative and spent lots of time talking with us and showing us the art of spinning. I bought one of her needle felting kits as I always wanted to try it. When I got home, I read her brochure and went on her website and was thrilled to find out her and her daughter Natasha give classes on many fiber crafts. I am definitely going to sign up for some as her shop is about a half an hour from my home in Big Rock, Illinois.



I am going to show a post about my little needle felting kit and show you the outcome!

XoXo
Michelle / Simple Pleasures

Tuesday

Country Folk Art Festival, Meet Lucy ...

I had the honor of meeting Lucy Rox of Lucys Lazy Dazy Folk Art and Primitives. She is as nice as she is talented. I wanted to share some photos with you of this artists incredible work.




Lucy herself, isn't she the cutest! Please click on her name above to go to her website where you will be in awe of her incredible talent!

XoXo
Michelle / Simple Pleasures

Monday

Sometimes ...

You just need a little cute in your day!

Look closely, do you see a pink and white shoe?

Hmmm, and a couple of little legs...



Ah Oh, who's that peeking out from under the clothes rack?
Yep, that's the toddler I care for and adore!

Happy Monday!
XoXo
Michelle / Simple Pleasures

Friday

Redecorated Amish Room

My son gave me a full size bed and I decided to make the Amish room into a guest room. It also serves as my sewing room. I am looking for a navy blue prim coverlet at a reasonable price if anyone has any sources please let me know. Take a look and see what you think.




I'll be back to share a swap with you this weekend. Have a great day!
xoxo
Michelle / Simple Pleasures

Wednesday

Drying Apples for Crafts

I needed to make some dried apples for a craft project I was working on so I thought I would show you how I do it.
Slice apples about 1/4 inch thick
Add 2 teas salt to approx 2 cups of lemon juice
Soak apples for 20 minutes to prevent browning
Take slices out and blot dry
Bake at 150* (single layer) on cookie sheet
until dried, should take approx 3-4 hrs.


XoXo
Michelle / Simple Pleasures

Beckys Homestead, Meet Becky

I wanted to share a very interesting site with you that I have been following since 2007. It's called "Becky's Homestead". Becky did something a lot of dream of doing and that is leave the suburbs, build a small home and become self sufficient. I found her videos on Utube 5 years ago and have been hooked ever since. Becky lives in a 800 sq foot log home with no mortgage.When she sold her suburban home she used the cash to purchase a small log cabin kit. She has horses, a mule and chickens. She has some very interesting information to share, so check it out when you have time.



 XoXo
Michelle / Simple Pleasures

Monday

Quick Halloween Craft and Thank You's!

I wanted to show you a super quick Halloween craft I made this weekend. Another garland using paint chips. (These were the large size chips). I used my hole punch and strung them on Autumn colored yarn. 5 minute crafts are so fun!



I rarely win giveaways, I'm just not lucky, I tell ya! But maybe my luck is changing because I won 2 giveaways recently. Look what I won over at The Rusty Thimble. Isn't this witch the cutest! And look at all of these goodies from  Our Little Red Saltbox! Thank you very much gals!




It seems like everyone has I phones now a days so my son told me to get with it! So I got one on Saturday and since the camera is so handy, I took lots of pictures with it this weekend. So I will be sharing all kinds of things with you soon!

 P.S for all of you who have an I phone, what are some of your favorite apps?

XoXo
Michelle / Simple Pleasures

Saturday

Winner of my Amish Giveaway

Thank you everyone for entering and for following my blog. I want to announce that the winner of my Amish giveaway is Tammy, from Country girl at home! Congratulations Tammy and I hope you will enjoy it!





Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
XoXo
Michelle / Simple Pleasures

Wednesday

Prim Grunge Candles

I thought I would share my directions for making prim candles with you. If I am making a large batch I use the crock pot that I have just for waxing. If I am making a small batch, I melt a block of wax in a pie tin over a pot of water. Then add 1/2  crayon each of: black, brown, maroon and gold. I then added quite a bit of sand, stirred it up and gave each candle a quick coat. Then went back with a spoon and poured the mixture over them and rotated through all the candles until they were well covered. It was very easy, although I dropped quite a few candles, as you can tell by the splashes on my stove! lol.
My advice is to make sure the wax isn't too hot or it just melts back off and I probably wouldn't have added the black crayon, they were a little dark. I also sometimes add cinnamon, oatmeal or other spices.  Here are some pictures of the mess, procedure.
Bask in the glory of your talents!! lol







I really had a lot of fun making these candles, it was a super cheap project and a great way to use up all the cheap candles I had laying around. Hope you enjoyed the lesson.
XoXo
Michelle / Simple Pleasures

Sunday

Just a Reminder ...

My Amish giveaway ends soon. I will be picking a winner on this Saturday the 15th. Make sure you are a follower of my blog and sign up to win!


XoXo
Michelle / Simple Pleasures

Wednesday

New Shoes / Happy Feet, Haflinger

 I wanted to share with you some new shoes that I purchased a few weeks ago. I have plantar fasciitis and shouldn't wear cheap, flat shoes, so this summer I threw away all my cheap shoes, kept the good ones and basically wore my Crocs, med rx all summer and wore them out! Although they are good shoes and a good buy at about $30, they make your feet sweaty in the summer. I love slides, clogs, whatever you call them and I found this awesome pair of Haflinger's that I have been wearing for the last month, I paid about $85 for them but they are worth it to me. I know the style may not be for everyone but they have different styles and oh my feet are so happy, my plantar fasciitis is much better and my foot temperature is perfect! I wanted to share some photos with you.
(No, I'm not getting paid for this post I just love to share a good thing with you, but if they want to send me a pair of shoes I wouldn't complain!) ha ha.

The pair I purchased

I would have bought these if they had them!

Sunflowers, so cute!

Slippers

Slippers

Company History
Founded 50 years ago as a family-owned business, Haflinger is the largest manufacturer of boiled wool in Germany.


Boiled wool and wool felt have been used in Europe for at least 60 years, but are relatively new materials in this country. It is the wellness properties, breathability and softness of both materials that are the secret of their success! Furthermore, wool is a natural insulator—it keeps your feet cool in the summer and warm in the winter, guaranteeing year round comfort. Haflinger boiled wool and wool felt footwear benefits both healthy and problem feet alike!

Breathability has such a tremendous impact on your well-being, but so few people really understand the reasons. It is breathabilty that will keep your foot at room temperature all the time, never giving you a hot sweaty foot so common in synthetic materials. Synthetic materials are not breathable and will cause your feet to get hot and to perspire. Consequently, your veins will open up, circulation slows down and you will get tired. In a day and age where we are mobile longer in life and travel more than ever, conserving energy is so important!


XoXo
Michelle / Simple Pleasures

Homemade Cleaning Products

About 6 years ago I read an article about the dangers of chemicals in cleaning products, I had no idea how harmful they can be to us, our pets and the environment. I researched homemade recipes that are Eco friendly and came up with quite a list. Over the next few years I tested many of them and tweaked some to my liking. The best part of natural cleaning is that you need very few ingredients to keep your house clean and germ free and you can purchase everything at the grocery store! I have to confess I use a lot of Shaklee products too!
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Some of the ingredients you need to keep on hand
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Some of the finished products
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Window Cleaner/Antibacterial Spray
2 cups of water
1/4 cup of white vinegar
(Mix and keep in plastic spray bottle)
(I use this on glass, ceramic tile, counter tops, anywhere except wood)
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Soft Scrub Cleanser
1cup of baking soda
5 teaspoons of Glycerin (or use water)
Essential oil, 3 drops
(Mix and keep in plastic container)
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All Purpose Cleaner/Floor Cleaner
1 Tablespoon of Dr Bonner's Soap (I like the Peppermint)
2 cups of water
1/4 cup of white vinegar
(Mix and keep in plastic spray bottle)
(I spray this solution right on the floor as I go and use a bucket of warm water for rinsing the mop)
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Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Borax Powder
(I keep a plastic container in the bathroom and sprinkle in toilet as needed and scrub with brush)
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Furniture Polish (for real wood)
1cup of olive oil
3 Tablespoons of lemon juice
(keep in plastic bottle and wipe on with a soft cloth and buff dry your furniture will love you!)
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Laundry Soap
(Front or top load machine, makes 10 gallons)
4  Cups - hot tap water
Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax
Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves
Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken. Stir and fill a used, clean bottle half with soap and then half with water.(I use empty water jugs and old detergent containers) Shake before each use it will gel
You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons if you want it scented (add once soap has cooled),I use lavender and make a few gallons with tee tree oil, its a disinfectant and is good for really dirty clothes.
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Stain Fighter
2 teaspoons of peroxide
to 4 ounces of water
(keep in dark place or dark bottle)
I use this to spray on stains on clothes before washing
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Fabric Softener
I use Trader Joe's Lavender Sachets you throw them in the dryer and when they start to loose their smell you can rip them open and vacuum up the lavender to keep your carpet smelling nice
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These are the basic recipes I use, you can google lots of other recipes and give them a try. I also make some health and beauty products that I will share another time. If you try any of them email me and let me know how you liked them.

 XoXo
Michelle / Simple Pleasures