Showing posts with label natural alternatives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label natural alternatives. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Homemade Facial Lotion

So since I went all natural and homemade with my face wash, the only logical next step for me is an all natural homemade face lotion. So a lot of the green mommas on the forum I'm on swear up and down by Coconut Oil so I had to give it a try. Since I do have acne prone skin and eczema though I'm going to have to make it just 1 step at a time. The good thing about all this though is I'm learning lots about Essential Oils that I didn't know before.

Coconut Oil: The benefits of Coconut Oil can be attributed to the presence of lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid, and its properties such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti fungal, antibacterial, and soothing. It is also a rich source of Vitamin E (which we all know is great for skin) and it absorbs easily into skin. To use coconut oil in Acne, you need the very best one. Do not go for the unrefined, crude one, since it may be unhygienic and may contain dust particles. Go for the refined instead. The best choice will be Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil for this purpose.

So I started with one week of using just Coconut Oil alone to see how it works with my skin. By the end of the week I must say I LOVE Coconut Oil. It feels kinda heavy when you apply it (which made me worry that it would cause me to break out) but with in a few minutes it's completely absorbed (and I've not had any new break outs since using it). It really has kept my skin moist but in of it's self alone is not enough for treating my eczema. While it's kept my eczema "happy" I still have some patches all though they aren't flaky and dry "looking" I can feel them. So onto the first doctoring of my lotion! :-)

Lavender Essential Oil: The health benefits of lavender essential oil include its ability to remove nervous tension, relieve pain, disinfect scalp and skin, enhance blood circulation and treat respiratory problems. The health benefits of lavender oil for the skin can be attributed to its antiseptic and anti fungal properties. It is used to treat various skin disorders such as acne, wrinkles, psoriasis, and other inflammations. It heals wounds, cuts, burns, and sunburns rapidly as it aids in the formation of scar tissues. Lavender oil is added to chamomile to treat eczema.

So I bought a small metal bowl that has a lid to put my "Facial Lotion" in. I put about 2 TBS of Coconut Oil in the metal bowl and put the bowl in another bowl of warm water (so it would heat up the bowl containing my Facial Lotion). As the Coconut Oil heated it liquefied and I stirred it to help speed up the liquefying process.
heated Coconut Oil

 Once it was all liquid I added 5 drops of Lavender Oil to the Coconut Oil while still stirring. I gave it a good mixing for a few minutes. Then I poured out the warm water and added ice and cold water to the bowl and added the metal bowl back in and continued to stir as the metal bowl cooled the Coconut Oil started solidifying.
cooling coconut oil
Once it started to go from clear to whitish I quit stirring and placed the lid on top to let it cool all the way. So now my Facial Lotion is a mixture of Coconut Oil and Lavender Oil. I will use this for the next week before adding my next essential oil to the mix.

Castor Oil: It is believed that most of Castor oil's benefits are derived from its high concentration of unsaturated fatty acids. Castor oil is a natural emollient that penetrates the skin and helps stimulate the production of collagen and elastin which can soften and hydrate the skin. Therefore, Castor oil is a wonderful natural treatment for wrinkles since it restores and rejuvenates skin's natural youthful appearance by making skin smoother, softer and pliant.


Sandalwood Oil: On the skin, sandalwood oil relieves itching and inflammation of the skin, and is most effective in relieving dehydrated skin - making it great for anti-ageing skincare - and the astringent action has a great toning effect and is also used with great results in oily skin conditions and to prevent the skin from forming ugly scars and for fighting dry eczema. When used in a lotion or cream sandalwood oil can assist with chapped, dry or inflamed skin and has wonderful moisturizing and hydrating properties, which are great for anti-ageing skincare. The toning effect is useful when fighting oily skin.

New formulation:
2 TBS Coconut Oil
1/2 TSP Castor Oil
6 drops Lavender Oil
4 drops Sandalwood Oil

I've been using this mixture now for 1 week and my eczema is so much better now than before I started making my own face lotion 1 1/2 months ago. I think I will add a few more drops of Sandalwood Oil in the next batch though and I have a few other Essential Oils I would like to try in the lotion but I can't because they aren't recommended for use during pregnancy so I'll have to wait to try them out after Javan is born.
finished Facial Lotion
It doesn't look like much or real fancy but it does an awesome job!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Update on Wool Dryer Balls

I'm still using them and still can't tell if they are really helping with dry time. But I started having an issue with static since it's cold out now and the air is more dry so here are a few of the things that all worked to combat this issue.
1. A squirt bottle full of water! This was probably the most time consuming option but worked fine. Once everything was dry I put it on a hanger and misted it with some water. Once the items dried they were no longer static cling issues.
2. Changed settings on my dryer! On our dry you can set the dryer sensor to shut off at more dry, normal or less dry. I normally have it set to normal so I switched it to less dry and this kept all the shirts from drying completely so I didn't have to stand there misting them all :-) the only problem with this is that if I had jeans in the load I'd have to throw them back in and let them dry completely because I fold up all the kids jeans and they go in drawers and when hung up to finish drying they're stiff. So then I had to start sorting all the shirts from pants while not a big deal this added another step to my never ending washing.
3. White distilled vinegar as a fabric softener! I started using vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser in the washer and everything comes out of the dryer soft, fluffy and no static.

So while I'm still using the dryer balls I have now added white vinegar to our laundry routine because unlike commercial fabric softeners it doesn't coat the machine so I don't have to worry about residue that may or may not get on our cloth diapers.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Going "Poo Free"!!

So the ever curious person I am who's willing to try just about anything once (with in my limits because yes even I have limits) thought I'd give this a try to see if I liked it. By now your probably still wondering "what is she going on about? How do you go poo free?" Well most likely your thinking the wrong kinda poo! lol I'm talking about sham"poo" not "poo"poo!!
That's right and no I'm just not washing my hair that's yucky and I'd have dreads and I'm pretty sure my dear hubby would kick me out of our bed. Basically you use baking soda (BS) as your shampoo and apple cider vinegar (ACV) as your conditioner.
Baking soda helps remove natural oil build up with out stripping and removes the residue that styling products leave behind so your hair is cleaner and more manageable. Apple Cider Vinegar benefits as a conditioner are its acidity is close to that of natural hair and it's also an effective germ killer. From what people say there is a hair detox period of kinda manky oily hair for a few weeks. So in trying to avoid that phase as much as possible I have not been using any products in my hair for the past 3 weeks (to be honest this isn't hard for me I don't normally use products besides shampoo and conditioner) and have been washing my hair only 1 or 2 times a weeks. I was pleasantly surprised that my once a week washing hair routine didn't already cause me to have an oil slick for a head since I normally wash it every single day! The only thing I'm really slightly worried about at this point is 1. my hair color. yes pink is not my natural color or any other color that's on top of my hair at any given time but I'm not super worried about the color because I can always fix it :-) and 2. having a greasy head!! I touch my head probably over 100 times a day.  It's just my thing I like rubbing my scalp and when my hair and scalp feel manky I can't stand it!! So time to get started!!
On 11/11 I mixed up 2 different cups for my shower! In 1 I mixed 1 tablespoon of baking soda with 1 cup warm water and the other 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar with 1 cup warm water. I dumped the BS mixture on my head rubbed it in for a full minute then rinsed. My hair did not feel clean at all lol. It felt oily but I went ahead and finished up. I dumped the ACV mixture in rubs it in and let it set for a min. My hair still did not feel clean but what do I know maybe my idea of "clean" is wrong. So I got out the shower and blow dried my hair. My hair does not look oily but it feels oilyish to me.
11/12 my hair still feels the same and looks the same to me as yesterday. I'll probably wash it with the BS and ACV tomorrow and maybe make the BS mixture a little stronger but not sure I'll have to think about it over night I guess. So far I'm not really impressed or unimpressed with it but I will give it more time. Supposedly once your scalp gets used to the BS and ACV wash you only need to do it once a week and have amazing hair. That would be awesome!
11/13 so I added a little more BS and my hair still feels "funny" to me lol but hubby says it doesn't look oily or feel funny to him so I guess i'm going to keep trucking along with this.
11/14 no washing it today it feels so nasty to me and kinda is slicked down to my head but still doesn't look oily. ugh I'm really finding it hard to not wash it with shampoo lol
11/15 bought a natural bristle brush today it kinda helped it not feel so yucky just got my hair wet in the shower nothing else to it today
11/16 my hair still feels the same...yucky...but no time to do anything to it today didn't even get it wet in the shower (today was one of those mornings where I just wanted to scream but settled for crying) but tomorrow is a new day and if I get around to it I'm bleaching my hair. I'm think this will most likely get my hair to not feel yucky anymore because it will probably strip all the oil back out but eh I got to color my hair!! I'm just a bit worried about the combo of using BS after coloring and maybe not all color being washed out. It makes me a bit nervous but I will just rinse really really well before dumping the BS mixture on (hopefully my entry tomorrow wont read scalp burns or hair loss :-O)
11/17 well the coloring went great no explosions and I stayed poo free
11/18 no washing today
11/19 I washed with BS with 2 drops of Tea Tree Oil (TTO) and  rinsed with ACV I love the smell of TTO and it's great for my itchy scalp/eczema
11/20 no washing today and am going to try and go 2 more days with out washing it but will rinse it with water in the shower
11/21 didn't take a shower at all today since all we were going to do was clean and reorganize the garage and work in the back yard lol but I will be taking a shower first thing in the morning just not going to wash my hair.
11/22 just rinse and go
11/23 I did a deep condition with Coconut oil infused with some Lavender Essential Oil followed by washing with BS w/TTO and rinse with ACV then i put some more coconut oil in my hair before drying it to help with my less than stellar ends and let me tell you a little goes a long ways my hair looked like a cow snotted all over my head but it didn't feel like that it actually felt pretty nice and light not heavy and thick like it looked (none the less I was happy I had no where to go with my hair looking like that)
11/24 washed it again today to get rid of the cow snot look :-) this time I waited till my hair was dry and used a little coconut oil on my ends and it looks much better today

over all I'm very happy so far with going poo free and will continue on this journey of going a bit greener with my personal care :-)

*UPDATE*
12/1/10 ok so I'm giving up on going poo free because my hair I think is just too fried. It's breaking off so I'm going back to normal stuff to try and revive my hair. Maybe when my hair is a bit healthier I will try this again because it was awesome until I stripped the color out of my hair. So I'm not giving up just going to try it at a different time :-)

Sunday, November 21, 2010

The Oil Cleansing Facewash Method

So I read about how this was an awesome alternative to buying commercial face washes and it's a much healthier alternative for your skin. I am using Castor Oil, Sunflower Seed Oil and Tea Tree Oil. Castor Oil has potent anti-inflammatory properties, but is also healing and cleansing. Sunflower Seed Oil sinks into the skin better, aiding the Castor oil in transportation deep into the pores and allowing it to draw the dirt and grime to the surface of your skin where it can be wiped away. The essential fatty acids, though they are not naturally occurring in the body, are a necessity for the health of our cell membranes. These acids help restore the skins natural moisture balance and help prevent unnecessary dryness. Tea Tree Oil has beneficial medical properties when applied topically, including antiseptic, antibacterial, anti fungal,and antiviral action.

I mixed:
1 oz Castor Oil
2 oz Sunflower Seed Oil
0.1 ml of Tea Tree Oil

I used about a quarter size amount. I poured it into my hand and rubbed it together to heat it up. I massaged it in for a good i don't know 5 minutes. While doing this I let my sink fill up with hot water and stuck a wash cloth in it. After the 5 minute mini massage was done I wrung out the wash cloth and set it on my face to let the steam open my pores. I did this twice. Then I wiped my face down probably 3 times with the water and patted dry with a towel. My face didn't feel oily at all which I had expected since I was washing with oils. Instead it felt soft and velvety definitely not what I'm used to feeling after I wash my face. It normally feels dry and taut. I followed up with like the smallest of micro bits of Coconut Oil as my face lotion. So far I'm loving how my skin looks and feels just after this one go! :-) I'll add an update after using for 2 weeks.

*UPDATE* 12/30/10 my skin is doing great! I will never wash my face with anything else ever again! I haven't had really any break outs (like maybe 4 zits since i started using this and that like how many I used to get in 2 days) my pores are smaller and i have less black heads. They aren't all 100% gone but it's a vast improvement!
I even went out and got a fancy looking bottle for my new face wash!
(looks high dollar now doesn't it lol)

In this bottle now is:
3 oz Castor Oil
6 oz Sunflower Oil
15 drops Eucalyptus Oil
20 drops Tea Tree Oil

and unless my skin changes for some reason this is all that will ever be in this bottle. I love the smell of it too :-)

Saturday, November 6, 2010

100% Organic Cotton Vs. Plain 100% Cotton

There are many options when buying cloth diapers (to say in the least) and while trying to sort through which ones I wanted to invest in two options kept coming up. Organic or non-organic cotton and bleached or unbleached. So I've been doing quite a bit of reading and will cover bleach vs unbleached in a different blog. So here is the skinny on Organic vs Non-Organic Cotton. This is mainly about the farming and harvesting part since that is where there is a big difference really. These are lists of facts I've gathered from all my reading compiled into one place for maybe better understanding and easier comparison.


Non-Organic Cotton:
*typically treats seeds with fungicides or insecticides
*uses genetically modified organism seeds for approximately 70% of US grown cotton
*Synthetic fertilizers are applied to the soil
*soil requires intensive irrigation
*Highly toxic herbicides are applied to kill weeds
*Highly toxic pesticides are used for pest control
*25% of the worlds consumption of insecticides are used for pest control on cotton
*use toxic chemicals to defoliate for harvesting

Non-organic cotton farming uses 2.03 billion pounds of synthetic fertilizers (formaldehyde, sodium lauryl sulphate, parabens, chemical dyes etc) per year while only using 3% of the farmland.



Organic Cotton
*Uses untreated seeds
*Never uses genetically modified organism seeds
*Living soil is the basis of the organic farm
*Soil enriched by compost and other organic matter
*Builds strong soil through crop rotation
*Soil retains water efficiently
*Weeds are physically removed instead of chemical methods
*Uses beneficial insects, biological and cultural practices to control pests
*Maintains a balance between pests and their natural predators through healthy soil
*Relies mostly on the seasonal freeze for defoliation to harvest

 Benefits of growing organic:
*protects surface and groundwater quality
*reduced risk insect and disease control by replacing insecticide with the manipulation of ecosystems
*long-term prevention of pests through beneficial habitat planting
*conservation of biodiversity
*eliminates the use of toxic chemicals used in cotton
*organically grown crops also yield soils with higher organic matter content, thicker topsoil depth, higher polysaccharides content, and lower modulus of rupture; therefore reducing considerably soil erosion
*saves lives pesticides & hazardous chemicals are believed to cause up to a million cases of poisoning a year and 20,000 deaths)
*no formaldehyde  (used in the finished product) and according to NCI (National Cancer Institute) study, there is a link between formaldehyde exposure & cancer in the uppermost part of the throat
*no nickel is used which can cause skin rashes

USDA Organic Standards:(just a useful tidbit)
Four principal labels for organic cotton fiber products are:
1. 100% Organic Cotton. This must contain 100% organically produced cotton
2. Organic Cotton. This must contain 95% organically produced cotton
3. Made with Organic Cotton. This must contain at least 70% organically produced cotton.
4. Made with  __% Organic Cotton. This must contain the percentage of cotton advertised.

So I don't know about you but for me it's an easy choice when buying my cloth diapers to go for the organic option when ever available because if your baby is wearing non-organic cotton diapers they are exposed to the pesticides and chemicals that were used to grow and manufacture the fabric. I find buying organic when ever possible helps send a message that I want a better place and cleaner environment. And this is one thing I can feel great about supporting!

Monday, November 1, 2010

AIO vs Pre-fold with Cover

Someone asked me today what my thoughts on this topic were so here's what I told them!!

Good question! I have owned 1 AIO and never got around to using it, and let a friend have all my cloth diapers with the directions to return when done and 1 they never used them and 2 threw them away (needless to say it's a good thing he was one of my best friends cuz I wanted to kill him!!) . That being said at this point in time I have no plans to buy any AIO.


So from my readings this is what I think of AIO diapers:

Pluses!! They are the closest to a disposable diaper as you can get! They are a water proof cover, diaper and a liner all sewn into one, no stuffing just one thing to strap on to the baby. That being said you can buy diaper doublers, inserts or prefolds to add absorbency if you have a heavy wetter (in that case to me it seems like just as much work as a pre-fold with a cover).

AIO draw backs. They are like the ultimate diaper & so is the price! Also never having used one they seem like with everything sewn together it will take longer to dry and just like disposables you only get one use out of each diaper once used it has to be washed again. Lastly if something goes wrong with it that's a whole diaper gone :-(

Pre-fold/flats/contoured or fitted diapers can all be used with a cover. The reason I'm going to be using pre-folds and flats is because you are able to customize the fit as your baby as it grows and your baby's shape better than with an other diaper. The folding techniques are really really easy to do and with most covers you can just fold the pre-folds up like a newspaper and lay in the cover and go! Unlike AIO during every diaper change all you have to change out is the diaper not the cover unless it gets soiled so you need less covers. I also like the fact that if a cover does get dirty I can wash it in my sink really quick if I need it asap and they line dry in like 15 mins! The only cons I can think about for this type route of diapering is 1. not everyone knows how they work so you'll have to teach who ever might have to change your baby how to do it and 2 it takes maybe a few seconds longer than and AIO to do (I'm just assuming this since like I said I've never actually used and AIO but have used disposables before but with practice I'm sure prefold and cover will be just about as fast as AIO diapers).

And for an example I'm going to use BumGenius' products for pricing:

AIO (I was told you need 24 diapers to get through 2 days of diapering)

BumGenius 3.0 deluxe AIO (these come in x-small, s,m,l so you will have to buy more as your baby grows) $382.80

Organic option

BumGenius Elemental One-size AIO (fits baby from 7-35lbs) $598.80

Pre-Fold (you need 24) & Cover (you need 6)

BumGenius Flip One Size Diaper Cover (they are supposed to fit baby 7-35 pounds and I was told you need only 6 for 2 days) 6=$83.70

BumGenius Flip Insert Stay Dry (these aren't pre-folds but these are their non organic option) 24=$118.80

Organic option

BumGenius Flip Insert Organic (it's an actual prefold) 24=$190.80

Summary

AIO $382.80 vs Prefold & cover $202.50 and these AIO don't grow with the baby so you'll have to buy more as they get bigger! That's a $180.30 difference

Organic AIO $598.80 vs organic prefold & cover $274.50 with a difference of $324.30

So for me Prefold and Cover is a much economical option for me and I'd have less of a problem replacing them than an AIO if something did go wrong. I put in the two different price options because I plan to use as much organic products as possible and from what i've read organic cotton is more absorbent than regular cotton. So this is all just my personal opinion so take it for what it is lol bet you didn't think you'd get a novel for an answer :-D

Friday, October 29, 2010

totally geeking out over cloth diapers and swaddle blankets

lol I don't think I've ever been so excited to receive a package! I got my order from Cotton Babies today and it's full of fluffy stuff for my babies bottom!! I got a bunch of Indian Prefold Diapers, some Flip diapers with organic cotton inserts, some Hemp Babies inserts, Bummis snap diapers, and I can't wait to order more!! lol and I don't even have a baby yet to put them on! Also while at Target today I went in the baby section and found they carry Aden + Anais Swaddleplus blankets!! OMG!! I almost did  a jig right there in the store. They are made out of 100% Cotton Muslin. They are so soft and airy (which is a big deal here in Texas). They were only $30 for a package of 4!! I bought some other cute outfits too that they had! My husband thinks I've lost my mind with how completely giddy these few items have made me!! lol I probably have lost some of my sense from lack of sleep but I'll take this warm dopey feeling I got right now for a bit of sanity!! Just thought I'd share my joy!!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Wool Dryer Balls




So I went to my local Jo-Ann Fabric and bought 8 skeins of

 Patons Classic Wool.
I opted for this one mainly because of the way it felt. I personally know nothing about wool but it said it felts up and that's what I needed it to do :-) It was also a step up in price from LionBrand Fisherman Wool but like I said it felt nicer. Also there were these signs that said buy 5 skeins of Patons yarn get a free Patons tote :-) These totes are actually pretty nice and will be awesome for carrying around projects in!!

So let the wrapping begin! I started winding up the balls like the instructions said and let me tell you by the second one I was 1. bored and 2. while the ball was small had major issues with my hand cramping!! :-( I hung in there and wound up 6 balls in total! Here's where I changed things instead of tucking in the ends with a crochet hook (because if I'm going to go to that much trouble the least I could do was really anchor those ends) I threaded the end through a blunt needle and wound it back and forth about 6 times through the ball so I'm hoping it never unravels ;-)



I don't own a pair of pantyhose :-O so I used a pair of leg warmers and some old shoe string to tie up the balls to wash them and then dry them!
Then back to more wrapping!! I'll be ok if I never have to wrap yarn again ;-) or at least for a while! After finishing wrapping all 6 there is very little of the 8 skein left so I'm glad I did buy what I thought would be to much. Then back to the washer and I guess we'll end with the dryer and see how these bad boys work out once set loose on a load in the dryer :-) I've got my fingers crossed that all goes well and they work like they are supposed to!
Ok so I finished with the second wash and dry and here's the crappy part. I have like a bionic sniffer right now because of my pregnancy. Well the directions said just wash them with a load of laundry so I washed them with a load of my tops. Yeah my tops smell like a wet sheep now. I'm hoping once they cool down they'll not smell as bad (they smell fine now) because I really don't want to wash them again. So I'm going to toss the balls back into the wash once more but this time with somethings I wont be wearing :-) to give them another wash and see how they smell once they are all dry this time around.

(my finished dryer balls)
So far I can't really tell if they are helping cut down on dry time since my dryer has a sensor that shuts off once the clothes get dry so it's always a different time when my dryer shuts off but so far they are keeping everything soft and no static. So, so far I'm happy with the wool dryer balls I made but only time will tell. 

Monday, October 25, 2010

Excited about Cloth Diapering

Well since I seem to be stuck in a rut of doing nothing but sitting on my butt which is expanding and my husband lovingly laughed at when i pointed out the new dimples (hey at least someone finds it funny) and watching tv I thought maybe I'd try blogging again. I love writing but prefer paper and pen but you know what when my daughter picked it up and said what does f-u-c-k spell I figured it's probably better to not write on paper that's left around my house! So here we go.

So since our new baby is due in March I've been doing lots of research on which cloth diapers to buy. (which has lead to many weird vivid dreams involving cloth diapers i mean I'm dreaming about reading about cloth diapers and buying them and it's just stupid but it wakes me up and i don't feel rested bleh) So after much debate I've decided to finally start buying them thanks to info from my sister Tara who uses cloth diapers and my many hours of reading. Granted I'm going to have to buy a few every month to get all that I want and think I need (and some I don't need but just want to try :-D). I placed my first order last night! I'm super excited and can't wait to get them (I know I have nothing to use them on yet but I'm still excited to get them) I'm buying them off http://www.cottonbabies.com/ since they carry the ones I'm interested in and they have FREE shipping! Woohoo! So here's what I ordered yesterday:
  1. 1 Flip Organic Day Pack $59.95 it comes with 2 one-size diaper covers (i got the Bubble color) and 6 organic inserts. It also comes with 1 free package of flip disposable inserts
  2. 18 Indian Prefold Cloth Diapers in Infant size $27.00
  3. 3 Flip Covers in Moonbeam $29.85 (these were listed in their seconds/clearance section)
  4. 2 Bummis Super Snap in Small $23.90
  5. 3 Hemp Babies Diaper Doublers $9.00 size large they are 55% Hemp, 45% Certified Organic Cotton
This is only a portion of what I plan to buy because I also want to use the Bummis wraps so I'll be buying their Organic Kit they put together next time around. I love the fact that Cotton Babies is the company who actually makes one of the brands, BumGenius (Flip diapers), that I think will be a great diaper. So I had no problem with buying the 3 covers from their site that were "seconds" and the reviews from people who bought them said the "flaws" were undetectable. I hope this is true since I bought 3 of them ;-) I love to read and learn and have found that Autumn Beck's blog http://allaboutclothdiapers.com/ is full of tons of info and her readers are also great about sharing their experiences. I have also been reading up on some sites on how to make cloth diapers yourself (since 1. I know how to sew and 2. I got a kick-butt sewing machine 2 years ago and have used it 3 times) but I'll need to do quite a bit more reading before I jump into that but am really interested in it.
Speaking of projects I really need to get back to making and doing things. I've been so bored lately and now that we know for sure we are having a boy I need to get busy making things for him!! but I found my first project last night while reading on Bummis blog. http://blog.bummis.com/2010/10/make-your-own-felted-wool-dryer-balls.html So this is going to be my project for this week making Wool Dryer Balls. I'll also try to remember to post how these dryer balls work out for me. Hopefully this gets me back into the swing of things, and through out this week I'm going to hit up my huge collection of crochet patterns for baby stuff to start making. Because while dimples are cute on your face they aren't so cute on your butt!!