Showing posts with label swap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swap. Show all posts

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Mom's Night Out and Homemade Swap

Last night I went to my last Mom's Night Out, kid free, for a while. Once my 3rd child is born, he'll be going with me when I meet up with friends, at least for a while. The mom's night out was at my very good friend's house and I was so glad I was able to attend. This mom's night out included moms from one of our homeschool groups. The nice thing about homeschooling is you get the opportunity to connect with other parents who want to take a primary role in raising and educating their children. I knew about half of the ladies there before last night. It was neat being around a group of natural minded mamas. With natural minded mamas, most are versed somewhat in natural products. So we decided to also do a swap of homemade goods. So everyone brought appetizers and/or drinks and something they made to swap, which could be a body produce, laundry product, food, or something else. It was a fun evening. I made these awesome shower discs

10 ladies participated and this is what was swapped last night. Some of us were hoping my baby would decide to make his entrance and since several women have given birth at home, I knew they had experience. Also being my 3rd, I sort of know what to expect. I say sort of because every birth is a little different. But he's still cooking and that's okay too. Honestly, as much as I like the idea of a home birth, I still feel more comfortable giving birth in a hospital. 

Bath Salts

Peppermint and Lime Scrub

Lip Balm

Aromatherapy Inhaler

Three Layer Flower Pattern

Allergy and Sinus Shower Discs - what I made

Homemade Fabric Softener

Muffin Mix

Detox Bath Salts

Mini Cheddar Cheese Loaves

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Baby Item and Toy Swap

So many fun baby items/toys!
I participated in another swap today and will be attending another one tonight! I have to say again, I feel so blessed to have so many crafty and talented friends and acquaintances. Some of these ladies are so so very talented and make the cutest stuff. Some have shops and sell their items. Others of us are just happy they let us participate with them. :)

This morning the swap was a Baby Item/Toy Swap. Each lady made a baby item or baby toy and we traded our goods at the park. We had 13 ladies participate in the swap this morning. One was unable to make it at the last minute as she had a sick kid. So the rest of us traded items and got 12 neat things! It was a fun morning and we each got a lot of cute things.

The Mixes in a Jar/Baked Goods Swap was going on at the same time our Baby Item/Toy Swap was so I got a few mixes in a jar and baked goods since that group had a few extra. So sweet! By the way, we are all part of the same mommy group and a lot of them participated in both. I wasn't sure if I would be able to make this one so I didn't want to hand off two things to trade in case I was having my baby boy!

Here's what I got and made for the swap.

Color Sensory Books
Sensory Bottle
Teething ring, I wanted to make this originally but couldn't find the rings.
Pacifier Pouch
Knitted Baby Bib, so cute!
Taggy Blanket
Nursing Pads
Fabric Nursing Necklace - LOVE THIS and have wanted to make/buy one for a while

Bandana Drool Bib
Sensory Baby Bean Bag
Diaper Rash Ointment
Baby Wash
Here is what I snagged from the Mixes in a Jar/Baked Goods Swap, which I hope to participate in one in the future. It looked really amazing as well.


I was gifted Chocolate-Peanut Butter Blondies Mix, Decaf Cappuccino Mix, and some cookies, yum!

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Color Sensory Books

In the midst of the baby on his way, I decided to participate in two swaps with some friends. I really wanted to do a third, Mixes in a Jar/Baked Goods Swap, but it would have been too much. Besides participating in the Mom's Night Out, Sip 'n' Swap: Homemade Edition, I'm also participating in a Baby Item/Toy Swap! For this swap, I made color sensory books. I had to get these done early, just like I got the shower discs done early.

These were pretty easy to make, just took time since I needed to make 15 of them. I took several colors of thick card stock, added a textured foam animal that was that color, put it on the matching color page, wrote the color and animal name. Then I secured the books with binder rings. I think they turned out cute. Princess approves of them!






Monday, August 3, 2015

Easy to Make Sinus and Allergy Shower Discs

I'm participating in two more swaps. The next one is a Sip, Swap, and Snack, Homemade Edition. Nobody knows what people are going to be swapping but it has to be homemade. I got this idea from the last swap I did, the Crunchy Body Swap. Someone made some citrus shower discs and I thought I should make some but would gear them toward sinuses and allergies since Fall and Winter will be here before we know it. I decided to make mini discs and ended up making 72. I wanted to have enough for 20 women to get 3 each and have some left over. Some will probably break as you're getting them out of the liners. I think I lost 4 of the 72. I'm not sure how many ladies will be participating in this upcoming swap as the last day to commit is this Friday. However, being as pregnant as I am, I had to get this done.

Here's how you make these awesome discs! I made two kinds. One geared toward adults and one geared toward kids age 2-10. You can basically add any combination of essential oils you want, as long as they are considered safe for who ever will be using the discs. In the main disc, I used Eucalyptus, lavender, and cedarwood, which are all good at helping with allergies and sinuses. In the kid safe version, I used a a KidSafe blend*.

Allergy Shower Discs 
a knock-off of Vick's Shower Tablets

2 cups baking soda
2/3 cups of water
pure Eucalyptus essential oil (not recommended for children under 10)
pure Lavendar essential oil
pure Cedarwood essential oil
foil mini muffin liners
mini muffin pan
food coloring, optional

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your mini muffin pan with foil cupcake liners. Then mix the baking soda and water, it should be a thick paste. Add food coloring if you want. Fill each muffin liner halfway with the baking soda mix, add 2-3 drops of each essential oil, then add more baking soda mix on top. Then bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool completely. Then carefully remove the discs from the liners. Add another 2-3 drops of essential oil to each disc. Let dry and wrap individually in plastic wrap. Store in a sealed container. I put these in snack size baggies, since I always have plenty of those, and will add a label to each one. I put three per bag.

*To make it kid friendly, avoid Eucalyptus essential oil. I used Plant Therapy's KidSafe, Sniffle Stopper. I also added a few drops of green food coloring to the mix so we could easily tell the difference.

Another good combination would be peppermint, lavender, and lemon. However, since I'm about to have another baby, I'm going to avoid peppermint essential oil since I'll be breastfeeding.








Monday, November 24, 2014

Christmas Toy Exchange

I participated in a Christmas toy exchange this year. It was fun! Apparently I like doing exchanges. Recently I participated in a Toddler Busy Bag Swap, where I got 16 different busy bags! About a month later, I participated in the Toddler Busy Bag Swap 2. Last year, I participated in a Busy Bags for 4-5 Year Olds Swap.  

For the Christmas Toy Exchange, the coordinator wanted to keep it relatively small. There were 9 of us who participated, so we each made 9 of the same things. Most of the items are little things that can be put in a stocking. Some items were bigger. Nevertheless, I now have things to put in my children's Christmas stockings and near the fire place on Christmas morning! Here is what was exchanged!


Felt button coloring matching game

Penguin hand puppet, this is what I made. :)

Bubble Wand

Marble maze

Pretend ice cream cone

Puzzle

Fishing game

Puppet theater

Magnetic/chalk board

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Toddler Busy Bag Swap 2, 6 busy bags for toddlers

I met some friends to do another toddler busy bag swap. I love these swaps! Since I had some left over busy bags from the previous swap, I was able to bring them and exchange them for these awesome busy bags! I know these activities will keep Princess busy. Here are six more busy bags for toddlers!

Geo Board

Beading and making jewelry practice

Marble Maze - there's a marble inside the felt

Wiffle Ball Weaving

Cupcake Felt

Pom Pom stuff it in the container activity

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