DIY Fail!

I was told by more than one reader that it was nice to see that, sometimes (usually?),  DIY projects don’t turn out as planned and I had a special request to give my “fail” picture the headline treatment, so here it is.  As the old saying goes, “if you can laugh at yourself you’ll never cease to be amused.”

This project came together (more or less) eventually and you can read about how I did it here, or you can go to the site of the original tutorial and actually follow the instructions.

Hope this brought you a mid-week smile!

Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort?

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DIY Toddler Swing From Recycled Materials

I have an almost-2-year-old who LOVES to swing.  I have often thought of  how nice it would be to have a swing  for him in our yard but I’ve just never gotten around to getting one for him.

Then I saw this post on Pinterest:

Click the picture to go to their great tutorial for this totally recycled swing.

And, just a day or two later I saw this commercially made swing that costs over $100:

Click the picture to go to the manufacturer’s site.

These two swings morphed inside my brain.

I uttered the words that daily test my husband’s patience.   “I could make that!”

I went rummaging for supplies.

I knew I had an old pair of jeans with a poorly located tear that I’d been saving for just such a moment as this.

I remembered the wooden ladder  in the garage.  Those rungs would be perfect!

I could get a bit of rope at Dollar General for less than $3.

I was off and running.

Below is everything I learned.

Be sure to read all the way through to the end BEFORE you start the actual construction process for yourself.  This is VERY IMPORTANT!

Step one:

Find an old wooden ladder.  If you have a saw, cut 4 rungs out of it.  If you don’t have a saw use the claw end of a hammer, a screw driver, a power drill and the heel of your shoe to break 4 rungs out.  Or just go buy a saw.  The other way can be difficult.  Not that I did it that way.  I’m just guessing.  *ahem*

Step two:

Drill 2 holes in each rung.  Make sure that they line up to the width and length that you want them or else you’ll end up with 2 sticks that have extra holes in them.  Not that I did that either.  I’m just sayin’….

Step three:

Cut the legs off your old jeans.

Step four:

Thread the front and back dowels through the belt loops of the jeans.

Step five:

Lay your side dowels on top of the front and back dowels and thread your rope over, under, round and round the FRONT BAR ONLY.

Pay no attention to the extra hole. Just… you know… measure twice, drill once.

Fling your rope over a tree branch and repeat step five with the back holes of your dowels and VOILA!  You have a new swing for your little toddler that cost less than $3 and kept an old ladder and a pair of jeans out of the landfill.

Step six:

Put the baby in and watch him fall in love with the new toy you hand-crafted with love.

Uhm.

Wait.

Aw, crap.

He doesn’t look very happy at all.  Although, honestly, at this point I was laughing so hard I thought I might wet myself.  I can’t even imagine what my neighbors must have been thinking!

OK… that didn’t work out.

Back up.

Step seven:

Find smaller pants.

Step eight:

Take your swing down and repeat steps 4-6.  With the smaller pants I found I had to cut slits to fit the dowels through because the loops weren’t big enough.  Be strategic about this to be sure the remaining fabric/seams are strong enough to support your little one’s weight.

Step nine:

Chase your now VERY reluctant child through the yard, catch him and jam him, totally unwilling, into the new toy you have lovingly hand-crafted for him. Twice.

Step ten:

Wait for a moment until he realizes that things have improved.

Much better!  I wondered if sitting on the seam of the jeans would be uncomfortable for him but he didn’t seem to mind at all.  He wanted to swing for a very long time.  I did trim the rope and straighten it out after the trial run.  The pictures from “step eight” are actually the finished product.

Enjoy!

Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort?

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If we work on our goals together, they may be a little easier to achieve!  

 

Building with Old Pallets (AKA: A Hippie Mama With Power Tools)

I have never owned a power tool of any sort.  Not ever… not growing up (I’m sure my father must have owned some but I lived with my mom and 2 older sisters.  We were rock stars with a hammer and duct tape but that’s pretty much where our skills ended) or in the young and single post-college days or… ever.

A few weeks ago I went to the ReStore in search of something fabulous to upcycle into shelves for Sweet Hippie Daughter’s hoarder’s warehouse of junk room full of cherished belongings.

First, I must say that if you’ve never been to The ReStore you really must go at least once.  It’s this amazing trove of anything that has ever been/could ever be used to build/decorate/furnish a home.  It’s kind of like the Hope Depot version of the Salvation Army Thrift Store and the proceeds go toward helping Habitat for Humanity so you get to feel good about coming home with that super-cute screen door vintage 1962 that you just KNOW you are going to find the perfect place for.

Anyway, the shelves were a bust.  Nothing was calling my name…. until….

I heard it from across the room.

“Elizabeth!  I’m over here!”  I wandered toward the televisions.  I didn’t need a TV.  We already have 2 extras stashed in the attic.  ”No! Behind the TVs. Don’t leave me here! I want to go home with you!”

And there it was!

A tad rusty (no worries.  I’m up to date on my tetanus shots.) and blanketed under a layer of dust.  It was beautiful!

With this I could build an entire shelter for my family! Well… you know… if someone else cut all the wood up for me first and I didn’t have to work too far away from the electrical outlet.

I convinced Handsome Hippie Hubby that he really wanted to spend $5 on this Craftsman beauty and we brought it home.

Then, because God knew that I was now equipped to be a true craftsman (Hey! It says so right there on the side of my new drill!) He gave me a veritable treasure trove of wood pallets.

Do you know how many things you can build with wood pallets?

Me either.  But you can make a whole play structure!  And this person built a garden gate! And here are instructions for making a potting bench!  And here is a super cute porch swing!  This website gives FIFTY other projects you can make with old pallets!

For now, what I really needed was a compost bin.

We composted with such incredible efficiency that our box itself became compost and rotted down to nothing.  So, not having a proper bin, we have been chucking all of our kitchen scraps and yard clippings into a hidden corner of the yard.  That’s  all well and good but… you know… it’s garbage.  And it’s rotting.  And the squirrels occasionally spread pieces of it around.  And… it’s garbage.

So I drove the Hippie Van to my friend’s house and loaded up with 5 lovely wooden pallets.

I came home and carefully read the meticulous instructions on this website to build a very sturdy, level compost bin with a hinged accessibility panel.  It was beautiful!

Then I pretty much forgot all of the instructions and, with great enthusiasm, grabbed up my 90 pound drill (why are they so heavy?!  If hair dryers weighed that much women everywhere would have arms like Madonna) and box of shiny screws and headed outside to build something with my power tool.

I stood my pallets on end and screwed them together, skipping the “L” brackets from the instructions but adding 478 extra screws just because I could.

Then, standing there in the one spot in my yard that is ALWAYS mucky and muddy and dank, I was inspired!

I knew that one of my pallets was slightly smaller than the other 4 so I lay the last big one down like a bridge over the muck, supporting it with a few old bricks and I set my smaller pallet on top.  This way, the hinged gate would be kept up out of the muddy earth and so would my shoes.  Genius!

Know what’s not genius?

Starting a project without making sure you have everything you need.

So I loaded my children into the Hippie Mobile and we went to the local Hardware store.

This place is great!  It is everything good that people remember from the old days of “ma and pa” stores.  It’s locally owned and the staff truly knows their customers and they are genuinely helpful and knowledgeable.

That’s why I’m quite certain, when they see me coming, they quickly have an argument over who is going to have to deal with me…. the over enthusiastic Hippie Mama with 2 kids in tow who knows the name or intended purpose of NOTHING that is sold in the hardware store.

So, today, the sweet older lady drew the short straw and approached me with a cautious smile.  ”Can I help you find something today?” She asked, with a slight fearful quivering in her voice.

“Yes, thank you.”  I said, removing the screw from Chubby Hippie Baby’s fist before he actually got it all the way to his mouth and snatching Sweet Hippie Daughters hand back from the display bins of decorative rocks.  ”I need some… uhm…. you know the fasteners that move… like on doors….”

“Hinges?”

“Yes! Hinges!”  (One would think that a person who writes for several hours each week would have such a word right on the tip of her tongue but  one would be wrong.  I’m telling you I get stupid in the hardware store.  Perhaps it’s the paint fumes.)

She nodded, sagely.  ”They are on the back wall. Do you need help finding a specific size?”

Oh crap! They come in different sizes?!  

I smiled.  ”No, thank you.  I think I’ll just take a look and see what will work best for me.”

I think I heard a happy little sigh from her as I made my way back to the shiny brass odds and ends aisle.  She’d gotten off much easier than they guy that was there the day I first tried to figure out how to glue plastic water bottles together.

I found some hinges that seemed pretty reasonably priced and said that they could support a door that weighed up to 100 pounds.  I don’t have a clue how much my pallet weighed but, as I could lift it, I was pretty sure it weighed less than 100 pounds.

After taking a moment  to pretend to be a pirate with a giant iron hook for a hand in the chain aisle and spending a few minutes with Sweet Hippie Daughter cataloging ”Things in a Hardware Store That Should Not be Touched by Babies”  (there are several, to be certain) we paid and came back home where I attached the door in the wrong spot.

That didn’t matter, though!  With my beautiful new/old drill it was a simple matter to reverse the screws back out and do it over.  The second time was just right.  (If you know anything about carpentry and it’s not right, please don’t tell me.  I really don’t want to know.)

I finished up by adding a hook and eye latch to hold the door closed and a cinder-block step for short helpers.

Voila!  My beautiful new compost bin!

Isn’t it lovely? A little crooked, perhaps, but quite sturdy and a big improvement over a pile of garbage in the yard.

Being vertically challenged is no excuse for not taking the compost out now.

The face says it all.

I’m just like Steve and Blue. I can do anything I wanna do!

I was promised full support on project #2 as soon as I got project #1 finished.  Now I just have to decide… the swing?  The lawn chair?

Maybe I should swing by The ReStore tomorrow and see if they have a saw.  Just think what I could do then!

* Photo credit goes to awesomehippiegirl.  Thanks, Sweet Pea!  :)

Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort?

Why not follow LazyHippieMama on WordPress, by email or Facebook to get all the updates.

If we work on our goals together, they may be a little easier to achieve!  

Baking Cookies, Stealing Ideas, Awards and Thankfulness

hahahaha! It’s a Hippie Turkey from Zazzle.com!

I’m not really a very creative or crafty person.

There are a few reasons for this.

#1 – LAZY hippie mama.  Why spend a whole bunch of time hand-crocheting a blanket when I can, for about the same amount of money (have you priced good yarn lately?!) buy one at a craft show or local shop?  Maybe when I don’t have kids in the house and am not working and so forth I’ll feel more inspired to direct some energies toward being a producer and not just a consumer.  Time will tell.

#2 – I totally lack artistic talent of any kind.  I distinctly remember a sixth grade art project in which we were to draw our “dream room” in perspective using a pencil to draw as well as to shade.  I seriously labored over that project for weeks.  I thought of every little detail and studied pictures to notice how things appeared bigger or smaller as you looked at them from different angles.  I don’t think there were many school projects I ever threw myself into with such passion.  As I turned it in I was practically bursting with pride.  I had finally created a real work of art… not just one of those childish elementary school construction paper projects.  A few days later I got it back with a C- grade.  My dreams were crushed.  I gave up all hope of ever succeeding as an artist.  When, years later, I saw “A Christmas Story” I totally empathized with poor Ralphie who’s Wicked Witch of the West teacher just didn’t understand his efforts.

#3 – The Destructor.  If you don’t know about my Little Hippie Baby you can get some idea of what he’s like by reading this or this or this.  Perhaps when he reaches that special age where he knows not to drink the glue or try to cut the dog’s tail off with the scissors we can have some crafty supplies about the house.

So, knowing that, you will understand my bafflement when people say, “You should ask Hippie Mama to design the ultra-cool Christmas play sets.  She’s SO CREATIVE!”

I’m really not.

But I am pretty good at copying other people’s clever ideas… you know… when I feel ambitious.  A few times a year.

Last week, for instance.

Sweet Hippie Daughter has been struggling to master the skill of multiplying by 4, but she’s worked hard and I think she’s starting to get it.  (Please note that she has no trouble with 2s, 3s, or 5s.  I don’t get it either.)  I had the idea that she could bake cookies (she LOVES to cook) and quadruple the recipe.  Well… I didn’t have the idea.  I stole it from WeirdUnsocializedHomeschoolers.  They blogged about the benefits of setting your kids free (safely) in the kitchen a while back.

She did great!  She even multiplied the fractions (once I explained how that works)!  I was very proud of her.

Of course, this assignment had the pleasant side-effect of filling our kitchen with cookies.

Score!

It seemed only appropriate that we share the yummy abundance, so we made little Thanksgiving packages for all of our neighbors.  They really are great neighbors.  They are friendly and generally not too nosy and they don’t get mad at us when we are the last ones on the block to rake our leaves…. or at least, if they are mad they keep it to themselves.

We topped our cookies with a little homemade turkey note.

A few years ago I was at the library and they had a super cute turkey on the bulletin board made out of circles and triangles.  I can TOTALLY make circles and triangles!  So, now, that’s my go-to turkey design.

See what I mean about stealing other people’s ideas?

So, since this was such a rare and lovely day of creative expression and giving, I thought I would document it with pictures.

Cute, right?   Don’t you wish you were my neighbor?

In other news, Coffee Powered Mom gave me a great honor last week!  She awarded me the “Coffee Powered Writer Award” for my post “Is Home birth a Scary Option?”

This especially meant a lot to me because that post, in particular, is very close to my heart.  It was not a blast to the good doctors and nurses who have dedicated their lives to bringing babies safely into the world.  Rather, it was a plea to the American Medical System to empower women to make the choices that are best for them and their babies, without interference from the big businesses of pharmaceuticals and insurance.  I was trying to point out that we’ve gone so far from nature that natural now seems weird and unsafe to us.

Thank you CPM!  I love your blog, too!

If you, like me, enjoy stealing other people’s awesome ideas, CPM is a great resource!  This is one I’ve got great plans for.

Finally, it wouldn’t be thanksgiving week without making a thankful list!

Few things in the world make me happier than counting my blessings.  It can pull me out of a funk every time.  So here is a list of eight things I’m feeling especially thankful for today, in no particular order.

Why eight?

Because I told SHD to choose a number and that’s what she chose.

#1 I am thankful for my Handsome Hippy Hubby.  He really is the kindest, gentlest, most patient husband in the whole world.  He puts up with so much from me and gives so much of himself and, after all these years, he still kisses me and tells me he loves me every day.  I really love that guy!

#2 I am thankful for comfy shoes.

#3 I am thankful for baby wipes.  Seriously, I don’t know how a mommy could survive without them.

#4 I am thankful for my awesome office chair.  It’s just the right amount of tippy and swively so that I can be restless and productive at the same time.

#5 I am thankful for supportive undergarments.  Some things in life need to be firmly harnessed.  I have a feeling that this will only become more true as time goes on.

#6 I am thankful for my Kindle Fire.  It’s such a handy little tool!

#7 I am thankful for my BFF.  She’s always been there for me and she makes me laugh and she gave my Little Hippie Baby a very sweet little friend to have as his own BFF.

Little Hippie Baby and M. Love those boys!

#8 I’m thankful for people who respond to my blog posts by “liking” them or “commenting (even when they disagree)” or following me on Facebook.  All those little orange notification stars are like happy little surprises that come to me all day long and tell me, “Even though you can’t draw a picture in perspective and you are too lazy to knit your own socks, I think your writing is, at least occasionally, worth reading.”  They just make me feel good.

Happy Monday, dear readers!  It’s Thanksgiving week!  There is no better way to get your Hippie on than to give thanks.  Have fun with all that Thankfulness and I’ll see you back here in a day or two.

Our Little Refuge

I had mentioned once before that, through the National Wildlife Federation, you can certify your outdoor space as a Wildlife Habitat. 

For the past month or so, we’ve been studying our local ecology including the river, its connection to the great lakes, native plants and wildlife.  Creating our own little backyard refuge seemed like the perfect complement to all this!

NWF requires that your habitat have multiple food sources, a water source, some form of shelter for the animals and a place for them to raise their young.  These requirements can be met through natural means, like trees and grass, shrubs, vines, a stream or river, etc as well as through supplemental means, such as a feeder or bird house.

Our yard pretty much met the standards just because we have mature trees, lots of ivy everywhere and we live in a place rainy enough to create frequent puddles.

However, we thought it would be fun to add a few supplements to what’s already there and see if we could create a wildlife “show” right outside our window.

We started with water, since that’s so important and the one thing our yard can’t offer 100% of the time.  We found an old, bent cookie sheet in the recycling bin and a wire shelf collecting cobwebs in a corner of the garage.  We added a rock to keep it from blowing away and also, as Sweet Hippie Daughter says, to give the birds a little island to rest on.  In time, we plan to add a few plants to the bottom shelves and maybe some fake ivy or something to make it all a little prettier.

Next we made a bird feeder.  It was simple enough to create by poking a few sticks through the sides of an old juice bottle that SHD had decorated with pretty fall leaves she’d found.  Then we cut some holes and filled it up and hung it with a piece of twine.

Finally (by far my favorite!) we made a squirrel feeder.  I’m sorry to those of you who truly hate squirrels.  I think they’re sort of cute.  Plus my dog’s reaction to them makes me laugh.  We started with two old sneakers that no longer fit the girl and were far too grubby to donate to anyone else.  Then we cut the tops (including lids) off the tops of some 16.9oz water bottles and stuffed them into the toe to help the shoe keep it’s shape.  We nailed them to the tree and filled them with peanuts.  Voila!  Squirrel feeders!

Handsome Hippie Hubby tells me that he saw two blue jays and two sparrows eating at our bird feeder this morning and a squirrel with his head stuffed so far into one of the shoes only his bum and tail were showing.  I wish he’d caught a picture of that, but no doubt the little guy will be back when we refill.

So now we are official.  Though we have to wait 6-8 weeks for the signage to prove it.

Sweet Hippie Daughter learned about some different types of animals in our area, what they eat and how they nest.  I learned (once again) that it is not so hard to make a difference.  To me it was 20 minutes of digging through the recycling, cutting holes and pounding nails.  To a hungry little critter, it may mean a great deal.  That bird doesn’t know that my little yard isn’t a national park or grand aviary.  To him it’s a place to rest and be refreshed.

How easy it is to use that lesson in my life every day!  What little effort can I make today?  Making the tiny effort to give a single dollar, take an old coat to the homeless shelter, drop off some ratty towels at the humane society, say a kind word, send a thoughtful text…. these things that seem so little may be a very big deal to someone else.  Don’t put it off because you’re waiting for the grand gesture!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:  If everyone did a “little” bit, it would add up to something very big, indeed!

Have a wonderful weekend, dear readers!  Go get your hippie on!

 

The Ultimate (for me) Recycling Project Continues

Remember my awesome idea?  No?  Well go ahead and click the link.  It’s a short read.  I’ll wait…. hum dee doh dee la la la…..

Back?  Well, as previously mentioned, I have learned a lot. I have had some trial and error, but things are moving right along now.

What I’ve learned and experienced so far:

Hot glue works great on plastic but, for this project, you have to use SO MUCH of it that it’s not practical.

Old men who work in hardware stores do not take women wearing babies seriously.  Nor do they understand why anyone would ever have a need to glue plastic water bottles together.

Contact cement does, indeed, cement to anything it comes in contact with.  And it’s stinky.  So incredibly stinky.  Horrible, liver-rotting, brain-cell-killing fumes waft up from the can with eye-watering intensity.

Silicone is cheap and sticky and easy to clean up and relatively waterproof.  This is my adhesive of choice for my project now.  An added bonus is that it gives a bit of flexibility to the structure so that every little bump doesn’t break a piece off.

I still have a long way to go.  I’m about 1/8th done, but I’m moving much faster now that I have a good system.  I think.  Here’s hoping.

So, without further ado, here are the latest pictures.  You’ll notice we’ve moved it outside now because it no longer fits in the house.

Up close

The long view

With the Lovely Hippie Daughter, for perspective

I hope to have a recognizable frame completed by this time next week.  Which means it may have a recognizable frame before July 1.

But for now… any more guesses?  You are SO going to want one of these when I’m done!  Assuming it looks sort of like what I’ve got in my head.  Which may or may not happen.  I’ll keep you posted.

The Perfect Project: Learn Something, Give Something, Get Something and Have Fun

Visit http://www.nwf.org for your own registration kit.

The school year will end this week and, with that ending comes a beginning. The Hippie family is embarking on a whole new adventure.  My sweet 3rd-grader will be home schooled.  If you’re new to LHM and wondering why on earth such incredibly rational folks like us (teehee) would choose to make such an unconventional decision you can read all 100 reasons.

Knowing that I have the massive responsibility of my child’s educational future resting on my own shoulders has made me VERY alert for wonderful learning opportunities.  One such chance came to my attention recently and I’m excited to share it with you.

The National Wildlife Federation offers a very cool program in which your outdoor space – be it a farm, forest or 2nd floor balcony – can become a “Certified Wildlife Habitat.”  There are five requirements:

1) Provide a food source for native wildlife.  This can include nuts, berries, nectar, seeds or native plants.

2) Provide a water source: a bird bath, fountain, stream, pond, etc. (Hmmm…. an art project to build a stone bird bath?  Or even better… a motorized fountain?)

3) Provide shelter: a wooded area, a bird house, rock pile, thicket, or other natural cover.  (I’m thinking that there is a math lesson in the measuring and fractions involved in building a bird house.)

4) Provide a place to raise young: Mature trees, Nesting Box, Host Plants for caterpillars, cave, water garden, etc.

5) Send NWF a check for $20.  OK… obviously this is a fundraising thing for them.  But I’ve got no problem with that.  It’s a win-win, I say.

How simple and totally fun is that?  I’m so excited!

For our efforts we get:

1) A very cool chance to talk about, explore, and research the plants, animals and insects native to our area.

2) The opportunity to teach about the importance of caring for the planet and ALL of its inhabitants.

3) A certificate for our wildlife habitat.

4) A free one-year membership to NWF which includes a subscription to National Wildlife magazine and 10% discount on their merchandise.

5) A subscription to Wildife Online.

6) A press release for our local newspaper (I’m thinking… another learning opportunity about advertising & media?)

7) Inclusion in NWF’s National Registry of Habitats.

And for an additional $30, a very cool weather-proof recycled aluminum yard sign.

In the fall, when we start working on this project in earnest, I will share a bit more about exactly what we are doing to meet the stated requirements.  In the meantime, I’m keeping an eye out for other fun educational projects to add to our non-school year.  Any suggestions?

Lazy Hippies, Lying in the Sun

Sunscreen causes skin cancer!

*GASP!*

Yes, you heard that right.  Wide-ranging studies have now proven that sunscreen CAUSES skin cancer.

But so does sun damage.

Well… poop.  Now what do we do?

My asbestos (not the cancer-causing kind) friend predicted this.  When the report came out she challenged me to make my own sunscreen.  Probably not going to do that, now that I know what I know.  But it prompted this post. Stalker (or not), this one is for you, my friend.

Don’t worry.  Lazy Hippie Mama’s been doing some research.  Here’s what I learned:

First of all, nature gives us a guide.

Eating high-antioxidant foods as well as those rich in vitamin c or lycopene actually help make your skin more able to protect itself.  If you eat a lot of them you are less likely to burn.  Which foods would those be?  They are foods that are most readily available in summer and/or from the parts of the world where the sun is most intense.  They are strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, coconuts, citrus fruits, tomatoes, olives, beans and nuts.  With all these foods, feast!  God put what you need in the time and place you need it.

God also gave us big, beautiful brains.  Think when you choose your clothing.  If you run around naked, your skin may be in danger.  Not just from the sun, but from scrapes and scratches and bug bites and the lingering stares of creepy people at Wal-Mart.  Choose very breezy, lightweight fabrics and big floppy brimmed hats.  Dress like…. well…. dress like a hippie!  Hippies are awesome.  :)  Or a romantic, if you prefer.

AND…

The sun is NOT evil!  Sunshine is good for you.  Really very healthy.  Doctors recommend laying brand new babies in the sunshine to treat jaundice.  A lack of sun exposure will cause vitamin D deficiency and lead to weakened bone structure.  There is no need to slather a gallon of sunscreen on under your make-up every day.  You don’t need to hose your child down each time you step out the door.  Give your pores a break.  A 30 minute walk on a tree-lined street or a short visit to the park isn’t going to require protection for the average person.  If you are high risk, that may be different.  In that case, follow your doctor’s advice.  I’m not a doctor, just a lazy hippie mama.

If you are very quick to burn or are very sensitive, or just can’t stomach the idea of leaving your beautiful alabaster skin naked under those harsh UV rays, put a bit of coconut oil on.  Coconut oil, at room temperature, is a soft solid.  It is very creamy in texture and has a natural SPF of 4.  So it’s just a tiny bit of help on a sunny day and it is not only safe but very nourishing.  It actually helps cure and prevent acne!

Finally, know that not all sunscreen is equal!

30 minutes at the shady park in a t-shirt and shorts is not at all in the same league as an 8 hour day on the beach in a bikini.  When you go to the beach, WEAR SUNSCREEN!

The Environmental Working Group has done very extensive research on, what has to be, very nearly every commercial brand of sunscreen in existence (under the sun, as it were.  Hahaha).  There are lots of big scary sounding words on their website but there is a very user-friendly search tool which you can use to look for sunscreen that is safe.

The most safe?

Plain zinc oxide.  It’s the white stuff lifeguards used to (still do?) wear on their noses.  Safe enough for your baby’s bum.  In fact, that’s a very common place to find it… in diaper cream.  Zinc oxide is the only sunscreen the FDA approves of for babies under 6 months of age.  But if it contains nano-particles the safety is undetermined.  A nano-particle is 100x smaller than a human hair.  The effect of chemicals, compressed to such an extreme, has not been studied in depth because the technology is so new.   Pretty much all “clear” sunscreens (or even opaque ones) are “micronized.”  That’s fine.  But remember this:  All nanoparticles are micronized.  Not all micronized are nano.  Read labels carefully!

If you don’t want to look like a circa 1981 lifeguard, there are several choices that rank at a level 1 or 2 safety (0 being as safe as water, 6 & up being very dangerous) Common, easy-to-find brands that rank as a 1 or 2 are:

Burt’s Bees.  The baby stuff.  The others rank slightly lower.

Coppertone pure and simple SPF 50.  Again, read carefully, there are other Coppertone products that rank 6 or higher.

Kiss My Face, SPF 40.  Kiss My Face products, so far as I noticed, ranked consistently among the most safe.

I was surprised to see that Bare Minerals ranked very poorly.

Price didn’t seem to have much relation to safety or effectiveness.  The Coppertone Pure and Simple was less than $10.  I saw other brands that were $40 a bottle or more with a very poor rating.

If you have a brand that you are very loyal to, I recommend checking it out.

Both the EWG and the FDA recommend avoiding anything over SPF 50.  There are no benefits to a super-high SPF rating and there may be dangers.

Aerosols are not recommended either.  They get breathed in and, by it’s nature, sunscreen is water resistant, so it coats the lungs.  That can be dangerous, especially in young children.

Can you make your own effective sunscreen?  YES!  Google, “make my own sunscreen” and you’ll get dozens of useful links.  But you’ll need to get your hands on some ingredients such as emulsified wax or raspberry seed extract that may not be easily obtainable in your area.  They are not in mine. If you know of an “etsy shop” dealer who’s baking up some yummy scented, all-natural,  zinc-oxide/coconut oil based sunscreen, buy it up!  Chances are very good that it’s safer and more effective than any comparably priced item you’ll find at the drug store.

Now you know all you need to know about how to be safe in the sunshine.  Turn your computer off and go enjoy the beautiful summer day.  That’s what I”m going to do right now.  :)

Sneak Peek

Nothing makes my heart sing like my little girl’s smile!

Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed.  I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”

I haven’t failed.  I have found at least one way that My awesome idea won’t work.

But I made progress!

I learned that hot glue WILL work.  But I will need to use more of it.  And, at some point, there may need to be some twine involved.

But I made progress!

And it is still an AWESOME idea!  My little girl stares at it in wonder every day and giggles in anticipation for the day that it is completed.  Because she knows that, when this idea is complete, she is going to be the recipient of the best surprise EVER! She has no idea what it is, but she knows it’s truly fabulous.

Want a little sneak peek?

Here is the very beginning:

Close up:

And a little further along:

Some of this needs to be redone now.  Not failure.  LEARNING.

Attempt #2 has been started:

And it seems to be working.  Oh! I’m so excited!

As you see, the AWESOME idea will keep several plastic water bottles out of the landfill.  How many?  Current projections are 2,000-3,000!  Do you live in a 25 mile radius of me?  I’ll save you a trip to the recycling drop off if you call me and tell me you have a bag-o-bottles.  We drink a lot of bottled water but not that much.

An inspired hippie undertaking for this lazy mama, if I do say so myself.

Do you have a guess yet, what the finished product will be?

An Awesome Idea

“Lightbulb!”

Holy cow!  I woke up this morning with an AWESOME idea!   A really, truly, amazing, incredible, AWESOME idea!  It may be the best idea I have had in YEARS!

Intrigued?  Me too! I wonder if I can do it.  Is it possible?  Could it be?  If so… I could make A MILLION DOLLARS from this idea!  A BILLION!  A TRILLION!  Well.  Probably not.  But it is an AWESOME idea.

Awesome:  Inspiring awe (an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like)

Yup.  AWESOME!

I’m not going to tell you what it is.  But I’ll give you a clue:  It has to do with intentional repurposing in a very big way.

Come back in a day or two and I’ll tell you more.

Until then, wish me luck that I don’t burn my fingers on the hot glue gun.  (Oooo!  Could that be another clue?  Hmmm.  I think, yes!)