Clear headlights

For those of you that are FB friends, sorry this is a repeat. I have discovered online that plain white toothpaste can make dull headlights a lot brighter. I just grabbed a $0.97 tube of plain toothpaste and a white kitchen rag and went to polishing. Here are the results:

They’re not brand new, but it’s definitely an improvement!

Weekend recap

Here was our weekend in pictures:

Wyatt made it into the local Watermelon Festival’s magazine.

    

(Sami M Photography)

He got into some watermelon and cupcakes at Mimi and Pop’s so he got to take a bath in the kitchen sink.

    

We had a great time visiting Justin at the Fire Department.

I think my little boy needs bowties for all occasions. Don’t let him fool you though; that blurry right hand was him trying to pull it off. I just managed to get him to “cheese” right before the shutter snapped.

 

Bath time bubble monster.

Homemade Lotion Bars

After completing our first honey harvest this year, Justin and I had a few pounds of beeswax. Let me just say that I know now why that stuff is so expensive. We cleaned it up by boiling it with water like the instructions here. It was a long process over the course of a week and a half.

Beeswax is a quite diverse material and you can make a multitude of products with it. All said, I decided I wanted to use a small portion of it to make solid lotion bars. I purchased one from a craft show several years ago and it was wonderful. I found a simple recipe online that goes like this:

1 part beeswax (I used 2 ounces)

1 part shea butter* (2 ounces or 4 tablespoons)

1 part coconut oil** (2 ounces or 4 tablespoons)

*Shea butter came from the Daytona flea market. It was $9.99 for a pound. **Coconut oil was from my local Piggly Wiggly in the cooking oil section. This container was $6.

Since this was a small batch, I used a mason jar instead of a pot for easier handling and pouring. I wouldn’t recommend you use a pot you ever intend to cook with because beeswax is nearly impossible to remove once it’s on a pot.

I also laid out my mold, scented oils, and pre-measured materials for easy mixing. Don’t forget to label which fragrances you’re using so you don’t get them mixed up later!

Melt the beeswax in a double boiler on low to medium heat. This takes a while. I would guess about ten minutes for even this small batch.

Once the beeswax is melted, add the coconut oil and mix until melted together.

After that, add the shea butter. I read online to always add the shea butter last because it can get grainy from the heat.

I used my handy dandy OveGlove for easy grip and help with pouring. My canning jar lifter made getting the jar out of the boiling water much safer.

 

I then poured the mixture into a candy mold. I would ideally have a cute honeycomb or bee themed mold but I grabbed this from Michaels because I didn’t want to have to wait for shipping.

I used bergamot essential oil for two of the molds and special fragrance oil from the soap making section of Michaels for the other two. They closely resemble my favorite Bath & Body Works scents: Plumeria and Pearberry. The final two are unscented. Let me warn you here. Justin and I did not like the smell of the shea butter. It was hard to mask with the oils so next time we might use cocoa butter. I have read online that cocoa butter is more pleasing to some people.

After about an hour, the wax should have cooled and they’re ready to pop out.

I bagged mine up in simple brown paper bags and marked the scents for my family and friends. I have had some lotion bars that seem to be harder and less likely to melt at room temp. I think we can add just a bit more beeswax to counteract the low melting point. You definitely don’t want to make these and leave them in your car on a hot South Georgia day! My next step is to find some small tins and smaller molds to make them a little safer in case anyone accidentally leaves them in the heat.

Daytona Trip

This past weekend, Justin, Wyatt, and I headed down to Daytona/Ormond Beach for a little fun in the sun. We had a blast. Wyatt didn’t care too much one way or the other about the ocean but he sure loved the sand and the pool. He is such a great baby. We are so blessed to have such and easy going kid.

 

      

I have a really awesome panorama app on my phone that allowed me to capture some great shots of an impending storm. It’s an iPhone app called DMD. It was free of course, because I am a cheap-o.

This panorama was shot from the top of the ferris wheel in Daytona, which explains the craziness in the middle. Apparently the panorama app likes for one to be still while taking a photo

 

 

 

While unpacking I found someone in my drawer! He is a silly kid!

 

End of May randomness

 

We didn’t do anything too spectacular during the last half of May. We just rocked on like normal and seem to enjoy just being around home a lot more. Wyatt is loving all the new produce coming in. He is being introduced to a lot of great foods and outdoor activities. That’s why he is eating in about half of these pics.

      

We discovered he really likes watermelon, ribs, squash, and blackberries!

     

Also, we have a little monkey on our hands. We not only have to chase him on horizontal surfaces, but vertical ones as well.    

I read the first ELEVEN books of the Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood books in MAY. My iPad makes it really handy to read at night when Justin is at work and Wyatt’s sleeping and also at lunch. The only one I haven’t read is the newest release that actually came out this month. I hope I can get it in from the library soon. Do you have any recommendations for me to read next?