This blog is moving over to it's new home at www.tangledsenses.com!

Over there you'll find my continuing blog, as well as build-in shopping capability.

All my old posts have been moved over, so head to www.tangledsense.com. See you there!

Short and Sweet

This post is a little late (my house has been down with some stomach bug) and I'm also going to keep it short, sweet and simple.

Just a reminder to check out my YouTube channel. It's got a few crochet videos. I plan on adding more, it's just hard to find a quiet moment to record. If you check out my soap videos, you'll see why. I can record those as I work, complete with all the chaos of the house.

Also, I do have a mailing list. I don't send much, but I do send out early notifications of sales and I'll be doing some naming contests and various other things. Newsletter subscribers find out first, so don't miss it!

And finally, facebook. Another good way to keep up with what's going on in Tangled land. Again, I don't post too often - a few times a week at most. It's just another great way for me to connect with folks.

Check out whatever you are interested in. See you around the interwebs!

DIY Activated Charcoal Masks

The commercial beauty industry seems to have finally latched on to an ingredient that has long been used in handmade products - activated charcoal.

Activated charcoal really is an awesome product. If you search the web you can find it in all sort of diy beauty recipes - even whitening toothpaste. Activated charcoal is a powerful detoxifying agent. So much so that it's even given in hospitals to people who have been poisoned. The activated charcoal binds with toxins The particles in activated charcoal are so fine that 50 grams has the surface area of 10 football fields. All that surface area means it has more opportunities to meet and absorb toxins. It also means that it can make a giant mess, so you have to be careful or you'll be cleaning it up for days. Don't ask me how I know.

I like to combine it with my go-to bentonite clay mask for extra skin purifying power.

Take about a tablespoon of calcium bentonite clay & add 1/4 teaspoon of activated charcoal. You want to make sure you're using either cosmetic grade or medicinal charcoal (you can get it in capsules, just break it open and use the insides). A little goes a long way. Mix it with about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, more or less to make it the consistency you want. You can use other liquids - milk, egg white, honey, green tea, greek yogurt - apple cider vinegar is just easy and works great, so that's what I normally use.

Mix everything in well. Remember with bentonite clay you don't want to use a metal bowl or spoon.

Yep, looks like tar. That's about right.

 

Spread it on thick and wait about 20 minutes. 



Then rinse off. Oh, and don't use your best washcloths because the black charcoal sticks to everything. And don't forget to moisturize!



10 Things I Love About Two

Check out my post 10 Things I Hate About Two  from last week.

My daughter is two and a half right now. There are definitely some things about this age that I will not miss. But there are some things I think I will always miss. The was I miss her toothless grins and how she was so proud when she took two or three steps successfully.

10. Holidays. Seriously fun. Last year she opened presents and hunted eggs and dressed in a Halloween costume. This year she's starting to get it. She remembers who Santa Claus is. She also gets excited about giving presents. Really cool.

9. Mommy is the master problem-solver. And all of her problems are easy to fix. Mommy's kisses make the owies better and chocolate milk and a cuddle can pretty much fix anything at this age. I don't imagine that'll last too much longer.

8. Fia kiss it? Yep, she kisses my owies. And if I cry (Yeah, I cry sometimes. I'm a girl. Comes with the territory.) she hugs me and rubs my face and tells me it's ok. There really is something to "kiss it and make it better."

7. Pretending. She's not around other kids much, but she's picked right up on pretending. She's done dramatic play stuff for a while - taking care of babies mostly. But it's been copying what she sees other people do, now she's started really pretending. It's a lot of fun.

6. Mommy's little helper. She wants to do chores. Some of them she's not particularly helpful at. Dishes for example. She loves to "wash fishes" but mostly she just splashes water around. But she also puts away her own shoes and toys and she's a good fetcher if you need something from across the roon. That's another one I don't expect to last much longer.

5. Cuddle bug. Yes, sometimes it can be annoying that she wants to be where I am all the time. But I also love that she wants to be with me all the time. And she loves to cuddle, which is good by me. There's not much in this world that is better than Sofia cuddles.

4. Easygoing and easy to please. When she's with me she asks to watch The Office or Spike (Fia-speak for Psych). When she's with her Papi she asks to watch Everybody Loves Raymond or the A-Team. When she's with her Papaw she asks to watch Spiderman or Green Lantern. She's got some favorites of her own - I've seen Frozen twice today - but mostly we get to watch what we want. She also likes to go to the store, visit friends or family, go on car rides, go on bike rides....she's very companionable. Life is easier in a lot of ways than it was when she was a little baby and I imagine easier than it will be when she's a preteen and doesn't want to anything.

3. Noticing the world.  At night she looks for the moon outside. When she meets a stranger she says "Hi. How are you doing?" She notices birds, flowers, trees...It's amazing watching her connect with the world in new ways.

2. The laughs. She is sooo funny. Every day she does something else funny. Yesterday at the grocery store, she took my hand in both of hers, looked at me very seriously and said "Don't feel it." If you've never seen Frozen, that will make absolutely no sense, lol. Or a while back she was in trouble and I told her she needed to listen to Mommy. She said, "Listen to Mommy." I said, "That's right. Mommy is your boss." She said, "Mommy is bossy." And I had to keep a straight face because she was in trouble. Wasn't easy.

1. The cuteness. Seriously? Just look at that face!

10 Things I Hate About Two

My daughter is 2 and some days she drives me absolutely bonkers.

Don't get me wrong, I love her, but it's like someone snuck in one night and replaces my sweet baby girl with a half-crazed monster. Here are my top ten things I will NOT miss when this stage is over.

10. Shouting Appropriate Things in Public. Ok, so I know I'm stuck with this one for a while. Actually, I'm thirty and I occasionally say things I shouldn't in public places ....Not a good sign. Mostly I can just shrug it off. I mean, she's 2. It's to be expected. So when she asks me if that man's tattoos are "owies with stars" or shouts out "Where's the frog?"(which does not sound like "Where's the frog?"-use your imagination) or screams "Don't hit Fia!" I can deal with it. The only one I still find a little embarrassing is really a silly one. She calls her dad Papi, and calls all other men Daddy. So she points at random people and says, "It's Daddy over there?" When we're out in public without her dad, it's just weird. I feel obligated to explain to everybody that she really doesn't think that strange man is her Daddy.

9. Mind maker upper can't make up her mind. She asks for milk. As soon as I get the milk, she asks for juice. She asks for cat pj's. Once they are on she wants princess pj's. She wants to sleep with her stuffed cat. And then it's the elephant. And then it's Minnie. JUST PICK SOMETHING ALREADY!

8. Unofficial bathroom inspections. We are potty training and an unwelcome side effect is her sudden need to go in every bathroom in every single place we go. Including parks without bathrooms and gas stations with nasty single bathrooms. She doesn't actually pee in them. Just sits and then washes her hands. But I can't say no, because you are supposed to ask for a potty anytime you have to go. I have seen bathrooms in stores that I didn't even know had bathrooms available. My local Petco has a public bathroom (who knew?) but Old Navy does not. In case you needed to know.

7. It's coming! The end of the naps. Save yourselves! I know, some kids nap right up to kindergarden. My kid is determined not to be one of them. But the loss of her nap is causing an extra dose of evening crazy. So my choice is between putting her to bed at 10 and letting her be exhausted, or ditching her nap and putting her to bed right after supper, which means I see her for 1.5 hours a day, or skipping the nap and putting her to bed at her normal time which means the last 2 hours she is awake she is impersonating demonspawn because she's too exhausted to think straight. There is no right answer.

6. My child's unstoppable urge to touch EVERYTHING! Every. Single. Thing.

5. The pain. Seriously, am I the only one who's child beats her up regularly? Headbuts to my face. Elbows in the stomach. Putting glasses on my face and embedding them in my skin. Ow, ow ow.

4. Pee everywhere. Pee in her pants and the carpet and the couch and my lap. And that's not all. If she poops herself, she tries to go potty too late. Of course this involves pulling off her poopy pants which causes the poop to spread. Makes me think that diapers forever really wouldn't be all that bad.

3. No? What is this word? The girl is nothing if not persistant.
Her: "Cookie?"
Me: "Not right now. Mommy's cooking supper."
Her: "Because I want a cookie."
Me: "You can't have one right now. I am cooking supper."
Her: "Mommy, I want a cookie."
Me: "I said no. You can have a cookie after supper."
Her: "Cookie?"
Me: "No cookie."
Her: "I want a cookie."
Me: "No."
Her: "Okay." *blink blink* "Cookie?"

2. "Why?" This is a new development. I knew it was coming. I don't even really mind answering. The thing is that she doesn't use it appropriately.
Her: "What is that?"
Me: "It's a toaster."
Her: "Why?"
Me: "Well....it toasts things."
Her: "Why?"
Me: "Because it's a toaster."
Her: "Why?"
Me: "Because it toasts things."
Not sure where else I can go with that explaination.

1. It's going waaay too fast. Sure age 2 is frustrating and difficult. But it's also speeding by. Stay-tuned for the 10 things I love about 2. Same tangled time. Same tangled channel.

The Return of the Laptop

My new year's resolution was to be regular with my blog posting......yeah, didn't happen. In my defense, there were extenuating circumstances. My computer hard drive failed. On my new computer. So frustrating.

But...

I have my computer back! Yay!

But...

I lost all the data I had on it. Grrr!

So, the computer is back but all my pictures and videos and programs are gone and I'm starting from scratch. Now that it's up and running I have lots of new soapy goodies in the shop and I got my Brambleberry soap swap box!!!

Here's the video of my haul:

And the 2nd one because the first was too long:


Love all my soaps:
Fresh Zucchini Flower by Indigo Moon
Milk & Honey by www.etsy.com/shop/HandStone
Violet by pandaleesoaps@wordpress.com
Cream Cheese Frosting by www.etsy.com/shop/TayliSoaps
Peppermint by Things Are Looking Up
Blueberry Delight & Oatmeal Milk & Honey by Potter Valley Soapworks
Sparkling Apple by www.RaindropsAndPages.com
Pineapple Cilantro by www.SleepingGypsyDesigns.storenvy.com
Champagne & Honey Ale - not sure
Salty Mariner & Lemon Verbena by Wendy's Beauty Closet
Soap with no scent label - Naturella Chandelle & Savons
Soapy Clean bicycle soap - not sure
And the felt food in the 2nd video is from Franconia Ridge Studio and they are AWESOME. She's got lots more stuff listed, so check out the shop!

I've promised a video to some of my crochet pattern purchasers to clarify a tricky stitch. It'll be done soon, I promise. I just have to rerecord it, and if you can't tell from this video, quiet alone time is hard to find in my house.

Thanks for watchreading and thanks so much for the wonderful trades!

P.S.

Very soon I'll be launching a new product that will only be available for shipping for a short time. Be sure to join my newsletter for a very special offer.

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My mirror

My daughter...

She's outgoing and vivacious and she's turned into quite the chatterbox. If you ever want to know exactly what you sound like, get yourself a two-year-old. She's soaks up everything she hears and later it will come flying out her mouth.

"Goodness" - that's me
"Sit down. Now. One, three, one, three, two" - that's her papi, although he does count better
"Stop. Please!" - also me, complete with exactly the right touch of annoyance
"Oh, man!" - her cousin
"My turn! My turn! My turn!" - other cousin

She's more than a parrot, though. For me, she's a mirror. Reflecting my words and some of my behaviors. It's created a new responsibility for me. She is watching everything I do. How I react when I'm happy or angry or sad - it's how she'll react too. How I treat other people. How I treat myself.

I still pretty new at this parenting thing. And I'm learning as I go. I think I handled Baby and Toddler pretty well. She's healthy. She knows most of her letters, some of her shapes and colors. She says "please" and "thank you" and "excuse me" in two languages. When we go somewhere, she tells everyone hello. When we leave she gives everyone a hug and kiss goodbye. She (generally) behaves in supermarkets and restaurants. She looks forward to Sunday School. Sure, I've made mistakes. Don't ask me about the Percocet scare. Or the time I left her alone in a room with a hot iron (good job, Mom!). But all in all, I think I've done a pretty good job.

But now....we're starting something completely different. So far, my role has been Caregiver. A tough job, but a relatively simple one. Now in addition to my Caregiver duties, I'm being handed the position of Example. Not a role I'm sure I'm qualified to take on.

It's forcing me to take a hard look at myself and the things I do. Could I be more patient? Could I be more thoughtful? Should I choose different words, different reactions? If she's going to be my reflection, then I need to be sure it's a reflection I want to see. So that's my goal for this year: to exhibit the values I want to see in my daughter.

I know I won't do a perfect job, but hopefully in two more years I will be able to look back and say "I think I've done a pretty good job."