jingle balm- DIY

Here's a fun little idea for handmade gifts for friends. I originally thought this idea would be great for my friend's daughter to make. Kate is eleven and perfectly capable of doing the entire project by herself.  

But then I had so much fun making it myself, I thought if I had co-workers, I'd make these for them. I'm going to give them to girl friends as a party favor at a Christmas brunch.

Supplies needed:

Natural lip balm base
Flavouring (optional)
Glass container to melt base in
Tins or tubes
Colorant (optional)

Everything you need for this project is available here.

 

There are plenty of recipes online for homemade lip balm. Its a fairly easy recipe. You will just need to find a few special ingredients.

But to make it even easier, you can buy premade lip balm base and add your own flavor and color.  Once your supplies arrive, it's just a matter of melting the balm base in the microwave and then adding flavor and color.  You can mix flavors to make gourmet balms. The sky is the limit. I ordered creme de menthe flavor because I thought that would be Christmasy.

Plastic lip balm tubes are super cheap. I opted for tins because I think they are cute.  Each tin was .50 but if you are making a lot of lip balm, you could buy them bulk and get them for much less.

I didn't spend a lot of time creating a great lable for the tins because I knew I wanted to put them in little felt pockets. But if you have some graphic design skills, you could make some really great lables. I printed my labels on water proof paper so they don't wear off as fast.

I told Birdie to pucker up to model our lip balm. This is what I got...

 Once you are balmed, it's time to find some miseltoe. You are ready to kiss someone.  Unless you are a little brother.

Merry balm making!

have you heard the exciting news about cool whip?

Today was preschool "graduation". Is it not almost embarrassing how these days, kids "graduate" from every grade? But it was fun to go to. Thom's class sang and danced for the parents. Sugar Daddy couldn't make it. He is entrenched in preparation for a trial that I fear may cause a heart attack. If not that, then at least premature aging.



After much deliberation, (which I won't burden you with here, because I know that, after years of childlessness, it is extremely boring to hear about other people's children's education) we have decided not to send The Rodent to kindergarten next year. Instead, he will go to a class at the same preschool which is in between preschool and kindergarten. In fact, we love his school so much that we plan to keep him there K-8th grade.



Anyway, with summer break here, I am on the hunt for fun, educational (or quasi) kid projects. If you have one that you think is fab, leave a comment and let me know about it. Here is the first craft we will be making.


Those people over at Martha Stewart Omnimedia sure are crafty!



On a more serious note, I wanted to let everyone know the exciting news that Cool Whip now comes in a can! I am seriously psyched about this because Cool Whip is the one processed food that I absolutely love, even if it is essentially like eating PVC pipe. Imagine, making wonderful little Cool Whip stars on Jell-O, strawberry shortcake, fresh berries, pudding. . . ahhhh, the possibilities are endless.