Personal touch

Never too early to be thinking about Operation Christmas Child! I crocheted a bunch of barrettes this year to put in the shoe boxes which I plan on doing again this year but am also working on some of these. I already buy these small dolls for the boxes at Walmart and saw the idea of crocheting a blanket for them on someone else's site. It is just a simple granny square but what a nice personal touch. I just did this one this weekend and hope to get several more done.

Anti-inflammatory, Autoimmune, Digestive Aid TEA

     I make this tea for myself every morning and I truly believe it helps. I got tired of all the meds for fibromyalgia and started seeking natural ways to cope. This is just one of the things I use in my daily protocol to help.
     While fibromyalgia is not specifically an autoimmune disease, it often gets lumped in with them, so I have come across a lot of reading on autoimmune diseases and these ingredients are supposed to help them as well.
     An added bonus for me since I also have digestive problems is in addition to being anti-inflammatory and helping those with some autoimmune diseases, these ingredients also help ease digestive issues.
     Whole pages could be and have been written about the health benefits of turmeric, ginger, black cumin seeds, peppermint and even honey. In fact it has been said of black cumin seeds that they help everything but death. I do not know about all that but they do help a lot of ailments and in addition to tea I put them in smoothies and use them in cooking. Some studies suggest that black cumin seeds, ginger and turmeric even have cancer fighting properties.
     If you are on medication please check with your doctor before drinking this tea as some herbs react with some medications. Sometimes in addition to the below ingredients I add green tea leaves as well. I have also heard that black pepper or red pepper flakes help bring out the medicinal properties in ginger and turmeric but that seemed a bit much for putting in my tea. Please enjoy this tea and I hope it helps you.

Ingredients

1. Slice of ginger, finely chopped or grated

2. Slice of turmeric, finely chopped or grated

3. 1 tablespoon of black cumin seeds 

4. 1 tablespoon of fresh mint, chopped

5. 1 tablespoon of honey

6. 1 mug of boiling hot water

Steep ginger, turmeric, mint and black cumin seeds in mug of hot water and cover for 10 minutes. Remove ingredients, add honey and enjoy.

If you do not want to waste the ingredients when you take them out, blend them in with your favorite smoothie. I do this often. 

I use a tea infuser that sits right in my mug and has a lid.

Easter Egg Barrettes

Finished up these cute Easter Egg barrettes last night. For the base I used this simple pattern and then added an edge to a few of them.  http://lacycrochet.blogspot.com/2013/03/easter-egg-crochet-ornament.html?m=1

Shamrock Barrettes

I made these Shamrock barrettes this morning. I think they will be super cute in my daughter's hair! I used the same Shamrock pattern as I did the headband I previously posted. I then hot glued a plastic rhinestone in the middle and hot glued the whole thing to a hair clip. The pattern is here http://midwesternmoms.com/how-to-crochet-a-shamrock/

Easter

Easter barrettes!

Saint Patrick's Day

Getting ready for Saint Patrick's Day! I finished this cute headband up this morning and now think I will make some barrettes. The headband is just two rows of double crochet with a picot stitch edging. I got the pattern for the clover / shamrock from this website.  http://midwesternmoms.com/how-to-crochet-a-shamrock/   It is pretty simple and easy. :)

Princess Wardrobe

Unfortunately I do not have a before picture. I took an old brown, wood beat up dresser that I acquired for free and turned it into a princess wardrobe for my daughter. I took all but the bottom drawer out, sanded it down, painted it and put on a coat of varnish. I topped it off with some Frozen wall stickers. This was one of her big Christmas presents. I had kept it hidden in the garage, brought it in after she had gone to bed, covered it with a sheet and revealed it to her Chridtmad morning. She loved it!

Crochet Barrettes

I had so much much fun making the barrettes for Operation Christmas Child in my previous post and received so many compliments that I started making them upon request. My daughter loves them and has matching ones now for most of her outfits.  If you are interested in buying any please check out my Etsy Shop or contact me via Facebook at Arctic Lily's Loops

Patriotic, red, white and blue.

Christmas! You cannot really tell in the picture but the bottom two were made using sparkly yarn.

Flowers and starfish

Buttons!

Operation Christmas Child

The We love participating in Operation Christmas Child each year and blessing children in the name of Jesus. This year I crocheted 50 barrettes to put in the boxes the ladies group I am a part of is putting together. We will be having a box packing party with our kids, which should be a great time. I have been picking up other items throughout the year to add as well. A great time to pick up things are at after Christmas sales and during back to school time. Here is the link for more information on this amazing international program. Operation Christmas Child

Below are the boxes my family put together on our own last year. The boys 10-14 category is the category that receives the least amount of boxes so I encourage you to pack a box for this group. These boys are probably out in the work force already or at the very least has a big responsibility around the home and neighborhood. I packed tools that may help them with those responsibilities and possibly to even help them earn income. However they are still boys who want to have fun so I also packed some toys and fun items for when they are able to play.

Because the boxes are clear I used bandannas as a liner, so that they still had that element of surprise. I also hot glued strips of scrapbook paper to the tops so that even though they were not wrapped presents, they still had that Christmas touch.

In the plastic soapbox you see in the girl's shoe box below underneath the crayons I took a stack of colored paper and cut it to fit the soapbox.

Crock Pot Creamy Chicken

This is a family favorite and is so super easy to make. Unfortunately I do not know the original source. I got it from a friend on facebook many years ago and have been making it ever since. The recipe calls for it to be served over pasta but we are a rice loving family and serve it over rice instead. For the creamed soup, I use Pacific Natural Foods Organic Cream of Chicken Soup, I order it in bulk on Amazon.

Ingredients
--1 can cream-of-something soup

--1/2 cup chicken broth
--frozen chicken pieces - enough to feed four adults (I use 4 chick. Breasts)
--packet of Italian salad dressing mix (I make my own).
--2 cloves minced garlic
--block of cream cheese (to add later)
--cooked noodles or rice (I use two cups uncooked rice in my rice cooker)

The Directions.

Put everything except for the cream cheese into the crockpot. Cook on low for 6 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and begins to shred. Shred the chicken with two large forks, and mix in the block of cream cheese. Switch the crock to high and cook for another 30 minutes, or until the cream cheese is fully melted.

Serve over pasta or rice