Welcome back to Link Love Thursday!  Thank you for being patient during my hiatus.  This upcoming week, look for a continuation of the Make it Yourself series, and remodel reveals.  I’m so excited about these!

Here are the features from last week.  As always – such talent and creativity!

Pint Sized Treasures: No Bake Oreo Cheesecake Bites

Hoyby Crafts: Chalkboard Coasters

I Dream of Jeanne: Beach Theme Family Room

Busy Mom’s Helper: Homemade Fruit Leather

Brown Acre: Mobile and Curtains

Please link up anything you have created lately.  I can’t wait to see what you post!

Tweet

Hi everybody!  I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I will not be having my weekly link party today.  I have a conference this week, and I’ll be out of town next week (although I do plan on still having the link party next week, and will have features from last week’s party).  I do have some upcoming posts that I’m very excited about, so come back to check those out!

I hope you all have a great week!

Tweet

Hi, friends!  Welcome back to Link Love Thursday!  Thank you so much for joining and linking up.  If this is your first time at the party, here is some background: you can grab a button from my Link Parties page.  Feel free to link up anything that you’re proud of – recipes, crafts, parties, articles – you get the idea.  Also, please look around – there are always some awesome links here.  If you link up and leave, you’ll seriously be missing out!

I’ve been staying strong at 75-100 links each week, which is right where I’d like to keep it   I like to get to know the people who link up at my party, and have a chance to check out all of the links.  Maybe down the road I’ll try to grow this link party a little bit more, but probably not anytime soon.

Now for this week’s features!  Here they are:

Mama Ging: Spicy Mexican Fudge

Potlucks on the Porch: Decorating Tips for Renters

My Life as Robin’s Wife: Overnight Stuffed Cinnamon French Toast

So Sew Easy: Saucy Pencil Skirt

Lori’s Culinary Creations: Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

I can’t wait to see what you’ve been up to this week!

Tweet

Welcome to Part One of my make it yourself series!  This series is going to feature everyday items that you can make yourself.  This saves money, but more importantly, it helps you and your family avoid toxins.  I won’t get into the details on these posts (maybe on a later post…), but I would suggest doing some research about what is in the products we use, and what it does to your body.

I started making my own products about a year ago and fell in love with them.  My skin is very sensitive, so I’ve never been able to use products with fragrances or dyes, but I thought all natural products were good enough.  I don’t want to oversell these or anything, but once I started making my own lotions and soaps, my skin has felt better than ever.  That’s when I figured that it’s probably more important that I use homemade products on my kids than it is that I use them on myself.  I started experimenting with some homemade children’s hygiene products and found they were very easy to make, and their skin was even smoother than before.

Another benefit of these items is that they make great and inexpensive gifts!  Personally, my favorite gifts are those that are homemade and those that are functional.  These are the best of both worlds.  I like to make a big batch and then use them for baby gifts all year.  They last for a very long time, so you don’t have to worry about them “expiring” before you give it to a mother-to-be.

Here is the first post of this series: homemade baby hygiene items.  I did a lot of research on these “recipes,” and then tried making them on my own to see which “ingredients” I liked the best.  I honestly cannot believe how much more I like them than store bought products.  Here they are!:

Baby Wipes:

Items Needed: 1 roll Viva Brand choose-a-size paper towels (this is not a sponsored post – please don’t use another brand for these, they will be way too scratchy for the baby!), 2.5 cups water, 2 tbsp organic baby wash or liquid baby mild castille soap (I like the soaps from Dr. Bronner’s), 2 tbsp organic baby oil (see recipe for this below) – you can also substitute extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil, 2 capsules Vitamin E, 1 tbsp pure aloe vera, 1 tbsp jojoba oil (this is optional – I love using it in baby products, but the wipes turn out great without it) empty wipes container or food container with a slit cut in the lid

1. Cut the paper towel roll in half, so that it’s slightly larger than the size of a toilet paper roll
2. Boil the water, and then cool it to room temperature
3. Mix the baby wash or soap, oil, Vitamin E, jojoba oil, and aloe vera into the water
4. Put the paper towel roll so that it is standing up in the wipes container
5. Pour the water mixture over the paper towel roll so that it’s “soggy.” 
6. Push down on the paper towel roll until you can close the lid of the wipes container.
7. Turn the container upside down on top of a towel and keep it there for 5 minutes.
8. Turn the container upright again and pull out the cardboard center of the paper towel roll.  This should pull out the first wipe as well, if not, you can just use your hand to pull it out.
9. Slip the first wipe through the top of the container, and you’re good to go!

Another option is to make reusable baby wipes.  For these, you can use organic cloth squares, and soak them in the mixture above for 60 minutes.  Squeeze out the extra moisture, and keep them in an airtight container (an empty wipes container will work).  After using one, you can wash it with your laundry.

Facial & Hand Cleansing Wipes:

Items Needed: 1 ½ cups very warm water, 1 tbsp coconut oil, 1 tbsp liquid baby mild castille soap, 6 drops essential oil (I like to use lavender and lemon for these), 1 roll Viva paper towels, 1 wipes container

1. Mix all items together until the coconut oil is melted.
2. Pour the mixture over the paper towels.
3. Once saturated, let it sit for 10 minutes.
4. Pull out the cardboard center of the paper towels.
5. Put wipes into wipes container.

Baby Wash / Baby Soap

Items Needed: ¼ cup liquid baby mild castile soap, ¾ cup distilled water, 8 drops essential oils (optional), 2 capsules Vitamin E, foaming soap dispenser

1. Mix all items together well.
2. Pour into foaming soap dispenser (this is the only dispenser that has an opening large enough for the thickness of the mixture).

Diaper Rash Cream

First, a side note.  Because this is somewhat difficult to make, and requires a double broiler, I would suggest first trying a mixture of coconut oil and arrowroot powder.  If that doesn’t work, I would then try the following “recipe:”

Items Needed: 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil (you may also use jojoba oil, or a mix of these oils), 2 tbsp grated beeswax or 1 capsule Vitamin E (personally, I like to use a little bit of both), 6 drops grapefruit seed extract (this serves as a preservative and it is optional), 1 tbsp chamomile flowers (optional), ¼ cup shea butter, 1 tsp arrowroot or zinc oxide powder, small jar, wire whisk or electric mixer, rubber spatula, double boiler (or you can use a makeshift double broiler with a large and small saucepan)

1. On low heat, pour the oil into the top of the double boiler.  Add the chamomile flowers. 
2. Add most, but not all, of the grated beeswax or Vitamin E and stir until melted.  Let it heat for 60 minutes on low heat.
3. Take out a teaspoon of the mixture, and put in the refrigerator for one minute.  This will show you what the consistency of the final product will be.  If it’s too hard, add more oil.  If it’s too soft, add more beeswax.
4. Remove from heat and strain out the chamomile flowers (I use cheesecloth for this).
5. Add the arrowroot or zinc oxide powder, grapefruit seed extract, and shea butter.  Stir well – use a blender or electric mixer if necessary.

Skin Remedy

This homemade skin remedy helps heal scrapes, burns, cuts, chapped lips, cradle cap, and rashes.  With these maladies, I would suggest using just coconut oil first.  If it doesn’t heal quickly, I would then suggest this calendula salve:

Items Needed: ¼ cup dried calendula petals, ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/8 cup grated beeswax, 8 drops essential oil (I like to use lavender)

1. Put olive oil and calendula petals in small crockpot on low for 3 hours
2. Strain with cheesecloth – let oil drip into a glass jar very slowly (this is key!)
3. Pour oil into saucepan and heat on low.  Add beeswax, and stir occasionally until melted.
4. Remove from heat and add essential oil.

Baby Oil

Items Needed: ½ cup organic extra virgin olive oil, ½ cup coconut oil, 2 tbsp chamomile flowers, 1 tbsp apricot kernel oil (optional), 8 drops essential oils (I like to use lavender for this), squeeze bottle (such as an empty baby oil bottle)

1. Heat all items in saucepan on low heat until the coconut oil is melted.
2. Remove the pan from heat, and let it cool.
3. Once the mixture is at room temperature, put it into a squeeze bottle, and it’s ready to be used.

Baby Powder

Items Needed: ½ cup arrowroot powder, 1 tsp chamomile flowers, ¼ cup corn starch, 1/3 cup white cosmetic clay (optional), glass shaker (such as a shaker for salt and pepper, parmesan cheese, or powdered sugar)

1. Powder the chamomile flowers with blender or food processor.
2. Mix the flowers well with the rest of the items.
3. Pour into the glass shaker, and it can be used right away.

Baby Lotion

Items Needed: 2 cups water, ½ cup olive oil, ¼ cup coconut oil, ¼ cup grated beeswax, 2 Vitamin E capsules, 2 tbsp shea butter or cocoa butter, 1 tsp aloe vera, 1 tsp 100% lanolin, 1 medium size mason jar with a lid, glass jars for holding the lotion – (sidenote: you can add essential oils if you’d like, but I like the smell from the shea butter and cocoa butter, so I personally don’t use the essential oils for the baby lotion)

1. Combine all items in a mason jar with a lid (only screw the lid on loosely)
2. Fill a medium saucepan with 2 cups of water – put on the stove on medium heat.
3. Put the mason jar with the items in the pan on the stove and let it heat and begin to melt, shaking occasionally.
4. Once it is completely melted, remove from heat and let cool.
5. Once the mixture is cool, transfer it to a glass jar.  Don’t use a bottle that pumps – it will be too thick.

Tweet

Welcome back to Link Love Thursday!

First, I have some exciting news!  I’m working on a series of how to make your own organic homemade products, such as hygiene and cleaning products.  I’ve been doing a lot of research and experimenting, which is why I didn’t get a chance to post at all this week!  I’d rather not post anything than post something I’m not extremely proud of.  Look back shortly for the posts in this series!  There will be 4 categories: baby products, hygiene products, remedies, and cleaning products.

Secondly, I think it’s obvious that the biggest audience for Link Love Thursday is other bloggers.  Most of these bloggers are new and learning (like me!), so I wanted to feature one blog and one post that have been very helpful to me.  Here they are:

   Moms Make Money (this site has all the info you will ever need for making money through your blog)

 Ducks ‘n a Row: Go Very Green with Your Blog Posts (a guide on keeping your posts up to date and timeless)

Now on to the link features for the week!  Here’s what we’ve got:

 Rain on a Tin Roof: Burlap Entry Bench Made from Chairs

 Blissful Sewing: Sewing Pattern for Girl’s Sundress

 Ashley’s Dandelion Wishes: Grapevine Lolly Wreath

 Mums Make Lists: Secret Pasta Sauce Every Mum Needs

 Plucky’s Second Thought: Classic Italian Turkey Meatballs

Thanks to you all for joining the party this week!  Please click around on the other links – I promise you’ll find some gems

Tweet

Welcome to another Link Love Thursday!!

First, the announcements: as many of you know, I am working on a book about children’s acts of kindness.  A part of this book will include true stories and examples.  If you personally know a child and would like an excerpt of him or her to be included in the book, please let me know!  The best way to get in touch with me is to send me a Facebook message (see the column on the right for a link to my FB page).  Together we’ll create a short summary of the kind deeds the child has performed, and then I will send a release form to the parents or guardians.

Now for this week’s features…..here’s what we’ve got!:

  Seasoned Homemaker: Spring Cleaning Tips

 Made in a Day: DIY Lined-Lampshade Fabric Tray with HGTV’s Home Fabrics

 The Motherhood Chronicles: The Bestest Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies (with coconut oil)

 Dear Beautiful You: Olive Garden Breadsticks Country Style

 The Pinning Mama: Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Please link up anything that you’re proud of!  And take a look around – you’ll definitely find some pin-worthy links.  Thank you so much for joining!

Tweet

I feel funny writing a post about photography when clearly I am not the best photographer.  However, I’ve been learning a lot and when I look over my scrapbooks, the quality of my pictures has improved unbelievably in the past few months.  The best part is that I haven’t spent any money – I have just learned simple photography techniques, practiced new features of the iPhone camera, experimented with free photo apps, and used free photo websites.

When I started off trying to learn more about taking better pictures with my iPhone, I was shocked by how much I had been missing out on.  I have to say, that after practicing with these, I am loving all of the photo features the iPhone offers.  I compiled all of these into this list of tips.  Here, I will cover techniques, features, and settings of taking pictures with an iPhone.  I will then have a follow up post with free photo apps and photo editing websites (this is now written!  Click here.).

.  When reading these tips, please note that I am referring to an iPhone 4S.  If you have another type of iPhone, some of these features may not apply to you.

Photography Techniques: These tips apply to taking pictures from any camera.  Most of the time it’s the skill of the photographer, not necessarily the quality of the camera, that determines how well pictures turn out.

• Lighting: Whenever possible, use natural light.  Rather than turning lights on in a room, open up the curtains and let in the light from outside.  The catch to this, however, is to be careful with sunlight – there are times when too much direct sunlight causes photos to come out too bright.  In fact, early morning and early evening are great times to take outdoor pictures, while the middle of the day is the best time to take indoor pictures (both times of course, using natural light).  This article from Cambridge in Colour has more information about using lighting to improve your pictures.  The following pictures are from their site as well; they show the difference between how much natural light you have when taking your photo:

• Clear Lens: This seems obvious, but you should always make sure that the lens on your camera is clear from smudges.  Anything on the lens will show up in pictures, so you want to keep it as clear as possible.
• Steady Hand: When taking the photo, keep your hand as still as possible.  Camera movement will cause the photo to come out blurry.
• Take Multiple Photos: When you’re able, take multiple photos in a row.  This will allow you to go through and find the best one.  In fact, professional photographers will generally only use about 10% of all the photos they take in a session.
• Photo Light Box: If you are truly trying to take a professional-looking photo of one object (rather than people or scenery), use a photo light box.  This is especially helpful for bloggers or online sellers who are trying to take pictures of final products – such as crafts or meals.  These make a huge difference in how your photo comes out.  You can either buy a photo light box, or you can make one on your own that will work just as well.  This post from Never Homemaker explains how to make a photo light box.  The picture below is from that post.

iPhone Camera and Photo Settings: Most iPhone users are not aware of all of the photo features and settings that are available to them.  Experiment with these a little bit, and you will see which ones work best for you.

• HDR Feature: HDR, or high dynamic range, is a feature of the iPhone camera.  You can turn this feature on by opening the camera, and tapping the Options button at the top.  Or, you can turn it on in your Settings (under Settings, go to Photos & Camera, and scroll down to HDR).  With this feature, your camera will actually take three pictures: one in which light is underexposed, one in which light is overexposed, and one in which the lighting has ideal exposure.  This will drastically improve the light and dark areas of your photos.  HDR is best for photos with strong back lighting, photos with strong sunlight, or landscape photos.  It will not work as well when objects in the photo are moving or when you want vivid colors.  However, you can always make the colors more vivid using photo editing website (more on this in my upcoming post).  Here is an example of photos with and without the HDR feature:

• Focus Feature: The iPhone 4S will automatically focus on an object that is in the center of the photo.  If you’d like to focus on a different object, just tap the object on your phone screen.  A blue box will appear and the object inside that box will now be the focus (the most clear object) of the photo.  If you’d like to lock in that object as the focus, just tap and hold until AE/AF lock appears at the bottom of the screen.  Here is an example of using the iphoto tap to focus feature (this picture is from the Sanziro site):

• Photo Timing: If it sometimes feels as though there is a delay in the time you press the photo button and the time your phone takes the picture, it’s because the picture actually snaps when you release the button, not when you press it.  This set up is ideal because sometimes when your fingers hits the button on the phone, it slightly bumps the camera and may cause a blurry picture.  If you want to completely avoid blur, you can keep your finger on the button to snap the picture for a while until you are ready – this way the camera will have very limited movement when the picture snaps.  You can also use the volume “up” button to snap the picture, which will not bump the camera as much as the snap picture button.
• Grid Feature: Under Options (when your camera is open and ready to take a picture, tap the Options button at the top), just slide the Grid screen to “On.”  This will create a grid of nine squares on your screen – these lines will not show up on the photo when you take it.  The purpose of the grid feature is to make it easy to follow the “rule of thirds.”  This is an artistic and photography rule that states that the main elements of a photo should fall on one of the lines or intersections in an imaginary nine-square grid, rather than being directly in the center.  Of course, there are times when a main object should be in the center of the photo, so the grid features is not always applicable.  An additional purpose of the grid feature is to make sure that the camera is not tilted.
• Panorama feature: You can also find this option under Options when the camera on your phone is open.  Simply turn it on and it will be ready to use.  This is used to take panoramic, rather than traditional photos.  Start with the camera all the way to one side of the panoramic scene, and tap the button you would take to take the picture.  That button will then say “Done.”  Scan the camera across the scene you want to capture – your phone will take multiple pictures while you do this.  When you get to the other end, tap the “Done” button.  Your phone will automatically merge the photos together to create a panoramic image.  Please note that the photo will not appear panoramic when viewing it in your phone, but when you email or upload it, you will be able to see the panoramic image.  Here is a picture taken with the panoramic feature of the iPhone:

• Edit Photo Feature: Once you take a picture, you can open it up in Photos.  In the top right, you can tap the “Edit” option – this will allow you to crop the photo, remove red eye, rotate, and auto-enhance.  There are apps that will do this too, but this is the easiest and fastest way.  This is perfect if you take a great photo that you want to share right away.
• Snapshot of Phone Screen: The final feature you can use on the iPhone is to take a photo of your current phone screen.  For instance, you can take a picture of a text message, an internet page that you’re on, or anything that happens to be on your screen at the time.  First, you hold down the “Sleep” button (on the top of your phone, on the right side) – while holding that button, you hit the “Home” button, which is the main, large button on the front of your phone.  This may not sound like a useful function, but it’s actually come in handy quite a bit!  Here’s a picture I took while using my Pandora app:

I hope this was helpful!  Don’t forget to check out my follow up post on the best free photo apps and websites.  I’m still a beginner with improving my photo quality, so if you have any additional tips, please let me know with a comment!  P.S. Anybody feeling a beach trip? 

Tweet

Hello, friends!  Welcome to another Link Love Thursday!  I’m excited for this one because I have an awesome giveaway.  This week I teamed up with Mother’s Niche to offer 5 of these adorable quiet books (below).  I have seen them both in their entirety, and they are just wonderful!  Each book has cute little quiet activities for children to complete – it’s perfect to keep in the car or bring along with you to keep kids busy.  I want to explain more, but really, you just have to see them for yourself, they are so cute.  If you don’t have children of your own, they would make a great gift for the kids in your life.  Be sure to stop by Mother’s Niche – it’s one of my new favorite sites, and sure to be one of yours too!

Now…how to enter!  First you have to either like both Mother’s Niche and I on Facebook, or subscribe to both sites through email.  Then, just let me know that you have done this, and you are entered to win!  You can let me know by sending me a Facebook message or an email at angie@easylivingmom.com.  Good luck to all!

On to the features from last week!  The links are getting better each week – I have so much fun looking through all of them.  Here are the links I chose from last week’s party:

 Family Home and Life: Lollipop Seeds

Second Chance to Dream: 12 Skin Care Recipes Using Coconut Oil

Chica Chocolatina: Shirley Temple Milkshake

Inspired Healthy Organized: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Crafty Journal: Spiral Organizer

And…..it’s party time!  Show me anything that you’re proud of!  If you haven’t already, grab a link party button from my Link Parties page.

Tweet

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that you’re borderline addicted to Pinterest.  I noticed that the majority of the traffic to my site comes from Pinterest, which makes sense because I spend a lot of time over there!  Since it became so popular, there have been a lot of Pinterest spin-off sites.  After looking through quite a few of them, I put together a list of my favorites.  If you’re a blogger, you can use these sites to a larger audience.  An added bonus is that most of these sites have apps as well!  Enjoy!

1. HomeTalk: This site is very similar to Pinterest, but focuses only on home and garden topics.  You can also ask questions and receive answers from the community. 
2. Houzz: On this site you can look at ideas for different rooms, look at others’ ideas, create idea books, and find professionals in your area to help with your renovations.
3. Project Decor: Project Décor lets you browse items to create an ideal room.  You can then get feedback from the community about the room, and then buy the items through the site.
4. Dwelling Gawker: This site lets you browse through posts, items for the home, ideas, and websites submitted by architecture and design bloggers.  You can search for ideas and create your own boards.
5. Food Gawker: This site is very similar to Pinterest, but focuses only on food and recipes.  You can browse through the recipes, find popular items, or search for what you want.
6. I Wanna Nom: I Wanna Nom allows you to browse food pins and create boards.  You can also rate recipes while you share them with your I Wanna Nom community.
7. Image Spark: This site focuses only on pictures and images.  You can create “mood boards” to save the pictures that you like.  It’s especially interesting for photographers and artists.
8. Trippy: Trippy is similar to Pinterest, but has only travel-related pins.  You can create “ideal” trips, share your travel experiences with others, or plan an upcoming vacation.
9. Wanderfly: This site is also like a Pinterest for travel.  You can get travel advice and recommendations and find travel ideas.  Last year it was purchased by Trip Advisor.
10. Craft Gawker: Craft Gawker is perfect for those who love crafts and want more ideas.  It is very similar to Pinterest, but has only craft ideas.
11. PolyVore: Polyvore is a fashion site that has only fashion pins.  On this site, however, you can purchase items rather than just gather ideas.
12. Tailored: This site lets you collect wedding-related ideas.  It’s no secret that many brides-to-be get a lot of wedding ideas from Pinterest.  This site caters to this audience.
13. All I Really Want: This site is also geared toward the wedding planning crowd.  It allows you to create your own unique registry from items across different websites and then share it with others.
14. Zootool: Zootool lets you save not only clips from web pages, but also documents, videos, and pictures.  It’s a social media version of Dropbox.
15. StumbleUpon: Stumble Upon is similar to Pinterest, but caters to men and women.  You can choose your areas of interest, and then find web posts within those areas.  A lot of the posts are articles, rather than crafts, recipes, or decorating ideas.
16. Ology: Ology allows users to share entertainment news with their community.  It’s a quick way to find everything that’s trending on the web.
17. Wanelo: Wanelo stands for want, need, love.  It is basically an online shop that works like Pinterest.  You can find and save items that you can buy later if you choose.  It’s a great site to find unique items.
18. We Heart It: We Heart It is very similar to Pinterest, where you can browse ideas and pictures, then share them with your community.  It is geared toward a younger crowd, as most of the “pins” are about youth topics, and most users are younger than Pinterest users.
19. Manteresting: Simply said, this is Pinterest for men.  However, I love this site and find a lot for myself on here as well!
20. Gentlemint: Gentlemint is another Pinterest for men….because men really love the ideas from Pinterest, but are too manly to use it themselves

Tweet