Amy's New Business "Venture"

Amy found a new business to start on Pinterest last night......



Fresh Water Shrimp Farming at Home

 

I guess this makes perfect sense considering this is the wedding cake she wants when the time comes~~~~~

 

 

 



Dryer Balls DIY

I found a cool tutorial on making your own dryer balls ~ from 100% wool yarn.  And would be money saving in the long run.  The original link I followed was to http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2014/04/how-to-make-your-own-energy-saving-wool-dryer-balls.html.  Jillee has tons of great ideas for the home ~ well worth looking into her blog and exploring!

In January, Amy went and bought me 2 skeins of "Love This Wool" from Hobby Lobby.  I double checked the label because I had read the balls would not "felt" properly with a wool blend.  These particular skeins were 90% wool, 10% acrylic.  We returned them last week and got the same brand but 100% wool.  The 2 different skeins were side by side at HL ~ very misleading!

Anyway,  out of the 2 skeins I thought I would get enough dryer balls for 2 sets ~ one for me and one for Mom (who strongly hinted that she needed these too). However, after I round them into balls, I got 5 balls of approximately tennis ball size ~ a set is 4-5 balls.  So back to Hobby Lobby for more yarn.

After you get your ball shape ~ you secure the yarn.  I followed Jillee's instructions and then repeated the process several times for each ball.  I didn't want to have the dryer balls that disentigrated into a tangled mess.

I tied them into a leg of knee high hose, tied acrylic yarn in between each ball and started washing and drying in hot water.  Then I decided to take a short cut ~ put the hose wrapped balls into a big ceramic popcorn bowl (thanks Brenda) and poured boiling water over them ~ then weighted them down with a plate and my metal utensil holder, to keep them under the water.  After several hours, I dried them.  I repeated that process twice.  The 1st and 5th time, I washed them in the washer.

Now, they are "felted".  I was a little apprehensive to take off the hose because I still had visions of them falling apart.  Not only did they not fall apart, they were felted to the hose and I had to peel them off.  One ball still has a nice chunk of hose on it that I can't get off.

And why make these ~~~~~ glad you asked.....they are supposed to cut your drying time in half, using a natural product is better for your clothes than dryer sheets loaded with chemicals, this set of balls should last a year (each skein was $5.99, I used 2 for the set, so $11.98 for a year instead of $3-4 a month for dryer sheets and fabric softener. Knowing that I will need another set in a year, I can now watch for this yarn to go on sale instead of paying full price!)

I did scent mine with lavender essential oil ~ just 3-4 drops on each one.  Laundry day is today, so they will get their first work out! 

ready to be washed & dried

the finished product!  They shrunk in the process.  Use all 5 per load!

the hose stuck to the ball.

The hardest part of this whole process ~ getting the hose off the balls!

First load done ~ 45 minutes instead of an hour and no unraveled balls!  And no static in our knit shirts and sweaters.  Load in now is jeans ~ so they will get a good workout this time ~ next load is towels.  I'll report back!

****I did 4 loads ~ the drying time on each load was cut by 20 or more minutes.  This includes the 2 loads of jeans/bath towels.  I imagine in the summer, that drying time will reduce more with the lighter weight clothing.  And there was no static in any of our clothing.  So far, this is a successful experiment! 

Needlepoint Patterns from Pinterest

Freebies  are AWESOME~ to find me on Pinterest click on this link https://www.pinterest.com/missmomof7/.  The easiest way I have found to print out these goodies ~ click on the pin, on the next screen, right click and copy.  I then paste them into a file to wait for printing.  When you get to the print stage, check the box on the print screen that says...fit to page.  That way you get the whole pattern that is pictured.  Looks like some Thanksgiving stiching will be happening soon with these cute patterns I found! 

Rainbow Loom Bracelets for Honduras

Between Amy & my neice Bethany ~ 375 rainbow loom bracelets were made to give to the VBS children in Honduras.  Amy, Granny & I also bought tiny looms, bands, and clasps to make 20 "kits" to give to people down there.  Each kit also included picture instructions.  EVERYONE loved receiving these bracelets ~ tiny babies to great grandmas!  What precious smiles & "gracias" from everyone!

Sorry some are sideways ~ Will let me borrow his little camera to take and it doesn't automatically flip the pictures like mine does.  This little girl was 4 and her name is Raquel.  She is probably Amy's youngest to tutor in making the bracelets.  Everytime she stretched an elastic band over the loom, she looked up and grinned at us!  The bigger kids needed to get into the act too!  You can buy the bands in Honduras but not the looms.  Amy left her loom with Sharon & her sister Samantha.  Now Michaels needs to have a good sale so Amy can get another!

We've Gone & Come Back

We've spent the last week in El Progresso, Honduras.

 

Amy and I worked on a Childrens Bible School Team.  5 different churches, a Boys Home & the International school were our locations.  100's of children ~ gave/received hugs, heard the gospel, sang, did crafts, ate candy & played games.

 

Greg was on a construction team that layed a tile floor in a church sanctuary.  They put in long hours at this church ~ laying the tile and leveling each tile on the uneven concrete slab floor.

 

We got home about an hour ago.  Got the firstload of laundry in the washer.  Downloaded the pictures to the laptop.  And just about ready to sleep in my own bed ~ yay!

 

Sharon, Denia, Amy & Mirna~

 



Throwback Thursday Pictures

I dug in the family archives to find these jewels ~ memories from my childhood!

David, Brenda, Sandy, Donna (my grandmother made our dresses)

cousins Buzzy & Sandy

Its me!

Julia & me

Hey its my sister in law ~ Sabrina

Sandy, MaMa & me celebrating our September birthdays!

at Lake Spivey with the Vinings

me & Julia

Hunting eggs ~ mom, Brenda & me

Greg, Brenda, me, Sabrina ~ her 1st birthday!

Brenda, me, Amanda

my kindergarten graduation dress made by my grandmother

my Papa, Roy White

He Numbers Our Days

The Lord knows the number of days we will have on this earth.  He knows how we will perish from this life to eternity & He knows where that eternity will be spent.   Sometimes we have a time when we know the end is near and sometimes the end is sudden.

The beginning of December, my Uncle was diagnosed with Liver Cancer.  The Lord decided his passing would be quick ~ on the morning of December 24.

2 years ago, my Aunt had a stroke and has been plagued with health complications ever since.  Her passing into eternity was early this morning.

My cousins are dealing with the loss of both parents, less than a month apart.  My Aunt & Uncle leave behind ~ 3 children, 6 grandchildren, and 4  great grandchildren. 

I know we will all be reunited one day.  They are in the presence of the Almighty Creator of the Universe!  What a joy to know that!