Grace at Home

In the twinkling light of Christmas' close arrival, we thought it quite apropos to share a few of our favorite pass-times which occupy us during the season of Christmas. One of our very favorite ways to spread Christmas cheer is to have an abundance of handmade lovelies on hand for wrapping up and giving away, or perhaps to set on a nearby table! 'Tis so much fun to light the fire, and bring your craft box down with your siblings and put things together to send to friends, or for your home while listening to Christmas Carols. We pray you will be inspired by the 'lovelies' we have compiled below! 

Blessings, 

-- Bethany & Johanna

Spicy Old-Fashioned Pomanders

You will need >>

One Medium Orange

Bottle of Whole Cloves

Masking Tape (optional)

Ribbon

Powdered Cinnamon

and Nutmeg

powdered orris root (optional)

1 nail

Start by placing the strips of masking tape around the orange to "reserve" space for the ribbon. Make one circle around the middle of the orange or two circles at right angles to each other. Now stick cloves into the remaining surface. Use the nail to make holes in the orange skin, then push the long pointed ends of the cloves through the holes. Leave a little space between each clove (about the size of another clove). When the fruit is full of cloves take off the tape. Mix the spices and orris root together in a bowl and roll the pomander in the mixture. Put the pomander in a cardboard box or paper bag somewhere where it is warm and the air circulates, like a high kitchen cabinet. Every day for a week, take it down and roll it in the spice mixture. In a few weeks it will be dry. Then you can glue on the ribbon where the masking tape was. You can even add bows, dried flowers, spices, and of course a ribbon loop for hanging!

Dried Citrus Ornaments

You will need >> 

Citrus fruit such as lemons, limes and oranges

Wire ornament hanger or string

Oven

Slice citrus fruit about ¼ inch thick. Place fruit slices on cookie sheet and bake on lowest setting. Leave oven door open and flip fruit periodically. This step can take several hours and must be closely monitored. When the slices become slightly dry and rubber like to the touch, they are ready. Remove slices from oven and punch a hole near the top. Insert metal ornament hanger or string. To personalize your ornaments paint them with glitter or a frosting glaze. {Source}

Homemade Cinnamon Ornaments

You will need >>

1/2 c. ground cinnamon

1/2 c. applesauce

Mix 1/. ground cinnamon and 1/2 c. applesauce until it makes a dough. Sprinkle cinnamon on work surface and roll out dough. You can place dough between wax paper and roll out. Cut desired shapes with cookie cutters. Poke hole in shape with toothpick for hanging the ornament; for a larger hole, use a drinking straw. Place in dehydrator or 150 degree F oven until dry. Use string or ribbon to hang your ornaments.

Postscript :: please use discretion when visiting the above links; we do not claim to endorse all views.


White Christmas Pie 

{Taken from White Christmas Pie by Wanda Brunstetter, book review coming soon!:D}

• 1 tablespoon Know gelatin
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped until stiff
• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 3 {9 inch} baked pie shells

In a small bowl soak gelatin in cold water, set aside. In a saucepan, mix 1/2 cup of the sugar, flour, salt and milk. Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture come to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, remove from heat. Stir in gelatin. Cool. when partially set, beat until smooth. Blend in vanilla, almond extract, and whipped cream. In a separate bowl beat egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff. Add 1/2 cup sugar and beat until soft peaks form. Fold in gelatin mixture, and the flaked cocnut. Place in pie shells and keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Makes 2 9-inch pies.

Little BABY on the hay,

Soon there'll be another day

When NAILS SHALL PIERCE

Your hands and feet

As You provide our SIN'S DEFEAT.

RISEN JESUS on the Throne,

WE LIFT OUR PRAISE TO YOU ALONE-

For YOU'RE the gift that we receive

The moment that our HEARTS BELIEVE.

{Roy Lessin}

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Today for our Home Is Were The Heart Is post, we diecided to share with you some neat homemade soap recipe links! Please enjoy! ~Bethany Ann & Johanna Rose

 

Soap Making Links:

• Milky Rose Soap
• Cucumber Soap
• Vegan Lavender Soap
• Chocolate Soap
• Coffee and Cream Soap
• Vanilla and Almond Soap
• Coconut and Olive Oil Soap
• Peaches and Cream Bath Bar
• Cinnamon Soap

Home Is Where The Heart Is

{Welcome to this months Home Is Where The Heart Is post! We hope that these posts will encourage you in your femininity and in the womanly domain of being a homemaker and home keeper. We hope that these recipes and tips will encourage you and get you excited about being a godly homemaker and that they would be a blessing to you! ~Bethany Ann & Johanna Rose}

Simple Tips & Tricks

• Acne Tip: To help close your pores and keep your face clean, simply splash your face with COLD water often throughout the day.
• Shiny Hair Trick: To help keep natural hair oils, when you shower, rinse your hair with the COLDEST water that you can stand. Hot water only kills and washes away your hair’s natural shine! 
• Ring Trick: It may sound weird, but clean all your rings with shampoo (baby shampoo works very well too)! My Mom had a jeweler tell once her to try it, and she did and we have never cleaned our rings with anything else since then!
• Hiccups’ Trick: When you have the hiccups, just take a paper towel and put it over a glass of water. Then drink through the towel, this works every time!
• Ribbon Trick: To keep ribbon from fraying (such as a Bible’s ribbon marker) put a bit of everyday glue on the end and spread around and let dry.
• Old Fashioned Paper Trick: To make a piece of paper look old-fashioned take a used tea bag and squeeze any excess liquid out. Then dab it all over a piece of paper and let dry to make it look old-fashioned.
• Upset Stomach Tip: To relieve nausea place one teaspoon of ground cinnamon into a cup. Pour over it half a cup of boiling water. Once mixture settles, drink and you will get great results!
• Fruit Pie Trick: When making a fruit pie, brush the lower crust with an unbeaten egg white. This helps prevent juice from soaking through your crust.

Homemade Mozzarella Cheese Recipe

• 1 gallon milk {Be sure that it is not ultra-pasteurized, any other kind will work including goat and cow milk!}
• 1 teaspoon citric acid*
• 1/4 of a rennet tablet*
• 2 teaspoons cheese salt*

Place milk in a large pot with thermometer. Sprinkle citric acid over the milk and stir. Turn heat to medium-low and heat milk to 90 degrees, stirring occasionally. While you are heating the milk, dissolve 1/4 rennet tablet in 1/4 cup cool water. When milk has reached 90 degrees, turn off heat. Pour rennet over slotted spoon into the milk and stir for 20-30 seconds. Remove thermometer and let the milk sit undisturbed for 8-10 minutes. Milk should be like thick gelatin. Cut the curd into a grid pattern. Stir gently for a minute and then remove the curd using your slotted spoon, placing it in a microwave-safe bowl, trying to leave as much of the whey {yellowish liquid} behind. Pour off any extra liquid without loosing the curds. Heat in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir, pour off liquid and heat for 35-40 seconds more. Stir and pour off any extra liquid. The cheese should start to stick together and look stringy. If the curds are not sticking together and you have removed most of the liquid, heat for 35-40 seconds more. Once your curds are sticking together and you have removed most of the liquid, add your cheese salt, adding a little at a time. Now heat cheese for 35-40 seconds more until it is stretchy like taffy. The cheese will be really hot so use rubber gloves, work with the cheese, pulling and stretching it. Do this until cheese is smooth and shiny. Shape into a log by kneading on a counter top. Place cheese into a bowl of ice cold water for about 5 minutes to firm up. Yields one pound of cheese.

* Citric acid, rennet and cheese salt can sometimes be found at specialty shops. You can purchase it online from New England Cheese Supply.

{Recipe found on Heart, Hands, Home Blog. See original post and pictures HERE!}

Home is Where the Heart Is

"For where your treasure is there your heart will be also."
{Matthew 6:21}

How to Keep Freshly-Cut Flowers Longer ::

Find a nice sized bucket, and fill it with water, and into this big drink plunge the stem of each flower within the first sixty seconds of a trice after you cut it. This is bloom-preservation principle number one. A cut stem, if not put into water at once, begins to suck in air which later will form “blocks” to prevent the sucking up of needed moisture when the stem does finally reach water. The result of such goings-on is a droopy, under-privileged looking flower that will soon lie down and die.

Second principle for cut flowers preservation is proper treatment or “hardening” of the stem so that it can drink up more water and keep the blossom fresh longer. This hardening treatment varies with the type of stem.

Woody Stem Plants, Shrubs

Examples: Chrysanthemums, Lilacs

Hard, woody stem plants, because of their internal structure, usually draw water very slowly. To speed up their moisture intake, smash the cut ends with a hammer for about two or three inches up the stems. This will expose the fibers and allow the stem to take up all the moisture it needs.

Hollow Stem Plants

Example: Dahlias, Delphiniums

The hollow stems of these plants have very little fiber surface and are quite hard around the outside. To open and soften the fiber layer so that it will absorb more water, dip the cut ends of the stems to a depth of four to six inches in boiling water, let stand a moment, then plunge into cold water.

Milky Sap Plants

Examples: Poppies, Poinsettias

In these plants, the action is reversed from the usual. Instead of the cut stem sucking up water, it lets its moisture run down, along with the heavy sap. They can be made to last two or three days in water if, when cut, the stems are immediately plunged into cold water and then, as soon as possible, held over a flame for about 30 seconds before being put back into water. Burning forms a callous at end, stops “bleeding.”

Flowers Requiring No Stem Water

Examples: Camellias, Gardenias, Orchids

These flowers hold a great deal of moisture. They need no water in container, only a light daily syringing of water on blooms. Syringe corsages, keep in refrigerator.

Annuals

Examples: Marigolds, Cornflowers, Asters

These require nothing more than immediate submersion of cut ends in water, and hardening in cool darkness for several hours.

Bulbous Flowers

Examples: Tulips, Lilies, Gladioli

These require immediate submersion in water in deep containers, with all of the stem surface under water right up to the flower head. Then keep in deep water in the coolest possible place for three or four hours, or longer.

~*~

Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe ::

Ingredients:

• 1 cup grated Ivory soap
• 1/2 cup Borax
• 1/2 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
• Essential Oils or Fragrances {Optional}

Directions: Grade Ivory soap {you can get a bit more than one cup from one bar of soap}. Mix with Borax and Washing Soda. Store in a airtight container and use 1 tablespoon for every wash load.

Homemade Fabric Softener Recipe ::

Ingredients:

• 1 cup baking soda
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 8 cups white vinegar
• Essential Oils

Directions:

First mix the vinegar and water together then add the baking soda gradually, stirring the whole time. You will want to make sure to use a large pail to accommodate the fizzing activity from the baking soda and vinegar reaction.

Use a funnel to pour this mixture into a washed, gallon sized milk jug (plastic), add 1/3 teaspoon of your favorite essential oil, cap and seal then shake well.

To use: Shake each time before use, adding 1/2 to 1 cup at the start of the rinse cycle.

Homemade Hand Sanitizer Recipe ::

Ingredients:

• Aloe Vera Gel (make sure you get gel and not juice or it will be way too thin!)
• Isopropyl Alcohol (70%)
• Essential oil
• Small pump or flip top bottles

Mix equal parts of aloe Vera gel and alcohol.  I just eyeball it, but you can measure if you feel more comfortable.  Then add essential oil to desired strength.  I use 8-10 drops depending on what scent I am using. You can also make this using glycerin in place of the aloe Vera gel, but it can be pretty thin.  Use Tea Tree or Lavender oil for extra anti-bacterial protection.  Pour into your favorite containers and you are ready to go. This only cost pennies to make and you can use your favorite scent.  Try lemon for a light, clean scent, orange for a fruitier scent or peppermint for a scent kids love!

*Notes: There are some articles out there that say unless it is 60 percent alcohol it is not effective, so you can add more alcohol.  I use tea tree oil which has anti-bacterial properties, so I leave mine at half and half.  Nothing is guaranteed to protect you from all germs, so use what you are comfortable with for your family.

The above recipe was found at Heart, Hands, Home blog. See original post HERE!