Homemade Shrinky Dinky Plastic... this was so fun (and cheap)!

This project turned out so fun that I just have to share it.
You need to save your P6 recyclable plastic containers for this. It's the stuff that salads and sandwiches and sometimes fruit comes in at the grocery store.

At the time we tried this, we only had one container that we shared between 5 people so our projects are truly dinky. We'll be saving more for next time.

Super easy.... you cut shapes out of the plastic that are about 4-5 times bigger than what you want them to end up being and let everyone color whatever they want with permanent markers.

You can use a whole punch if you want them to be attachable to key-chains or hung on string for necklaces.

Plus we attempted to make rings using strips of the sides of the plastic that started out as about 5 1/2 inches long.

Try to round out all corners because every sharp corner or jagged edge hardens into a thicker sharp corner and jagged edge.

Heat your oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Avoid double wall cookie sheets.

Line your art on the sheets and pop into the oven for 2-3 minutes. 

They shrink down and thicken up into little plastic pieces of art. They look cool in the light. 

You can press them flat with an oven mitt if they are too curled up for your liking.

We made the ring by taking it out of the oven right away and wrapping it around a highlighter. This is definitely an adult only step. It's super hot but not as bad as you might think. They cool VERY quickly so wrap fast.

This is the beautiful butterfly one that my mom made.

This is a great project for the whole family, lots of fun (and even boys liked it) and we look forward to next time when we have more containers and therefore more plastic for everyone to experiment with.

Making your own mascara for organic or allergy or money saving reasons.

Homemade is my favorite thing because it controls what we put in and on our bodies. Our homemade lip balm was the first product that we made and started selling like hot cakes because a lot of people agree with this mindset : )

Mascara has always bothered my eyes, so I don't wear it. If anyone SHOULD wear mascara, it's me because my eyelashes are tiny little itty bitty things that seem like they are the color of my skin. So I made some mascara following the recipe from ThankYourBody.com and loved it! 

I will give you the link to her blog as she deserves full credit and anything I do would just be copying her.

She gives a complete and easy to follow recipe and has feedback and questions from other people AND ideas for other colors besides black mascara. She has also gone through the trial period for us. Thank you.

I would love to hear from you if you have a story to tell about your own homemade mascara!

If you want to buy mascara tubes, you can click here.

To visit ThankYourBody.com's blog about how to do this, click here~

Golumpki Rolls... so delicious and easy to make

10 years ago in order to make me I'll I would have to buy almost every ingredient at the store during the week I wanted to make it. I bought a lot of pre-made meals and most of our food was processed somehow. We've come a long way since we bought our farm. And I truly do love it. I love having control over the food that we eat. And I love that as time goes by, we become less reliant on the world around us. Today I was able to make something where everything we needed was in our pantry with the exception of a 2 pound bag of sauerkraut . And to me - that rocks : )

 Here's what you need for the filling:
1 cup of hydrated hamburger rocks or 1/2 pound ground beef
1/4 cup hydrated onion or 1/2 cup chopped onion
Optional 1/4 cup dehydrated green bell pepper or 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
Salt and pepper to taste.

2 lb bag of sauerkraut 

 Heat up the hamburger, onion (bell pepper) and sauerkraut. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside cool while you make the dough.

You will need:

1 packet of dry active yeast

4 1/2 cups flour (white, wheat or a mix of both)

1 cup milk

1/4 cup organic cane sugar

1/3 cup butter

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

Add 1 packet of dry active yeast and 2 cups of flour to your mixing bowl.

On the stove top you gently heat milk, sugar, and salt to 115 degrees. I always use thermometer for this because my judgement of warm is not good for this process and it has to be warm enough to activate the yeast but not too hot so that you kill the yeast. 

Once it reaches 115 degrees, remove from heat, add two eggs. 

Add this mixture to your mixing bowl  with yeast and flour and mix on a low speed for 30 seconds and then on high for 3 minutes . Stir in the remain 2 1/3 cups flour and kneed with the dough hook for 7 minutes.

Put the dough in an oiled bowl (I use my kitchenaid 5 1/2 quart bowl, just lift the dough out, oil the bowl and plop dough back in, cover with a clean tea towel) and let rise for one hour in a warm location.

After the hour, punch it down and roll it out on a lightly floured counter top till it's about one quarter inch thick. You cut the dough into four by four squares and add a large spoonful of the mixture into the middle of each square pull up the four corners and pinch. 

Then you put the balls seems side down on a baking stone or a glass baking pan let rise for another for 30 minutes.

Then you bake them at 375 for 30 minutes or until the golden brown. 

I served these with a sauce that i had warming while they baked. I put 16 ounces of pureed tomatoes or tomato sauce in a pan with 16 oz can of beef consume, some garlic, splash of Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper.

Do It Yourself Bedroom Wall Decor Perpetual Autumn Dreams

We love the Fall. We would sleep in it all of the time if we could.
This wall treatment is my effort to capture that feeling for each night's sleep.
It was amazingly easy to do and I am so happy with it. Each night when we lay down to sleep, it feels like we're laying down under the stars and next to a tree with a warm gentle breeze : )
The tree is a wall decal that you can get at the bottom of this blog post.
It took about an hour to apply as it came in sections. The most time consuming part was trimming the paper. It was pretty easy.
Then we scattered the 3d leaves across the wall to give the illusion of movement. Also easy to install, just a screw into the wall. They are extra cool because they are 3d and add to the concept. I had extra leaves and I used them in my bathroom.
We also added those silly glow in the dark stars to our ceiling and used constellation shapes for the birthdays of our family. As the light goes out each night, we see the trees and then the stars. Ahhhhhh.....
I had extra leaves and I used them in my bathroom.

We would love to see and share any wall treatments you have done. Please send them to us at jenna@headinghomefarms.com.

You may also like our post on the DIY up-cycled kitchen island here.

Jewelry Organizer from a towel rack and shower curtain hooks.

Even the most steadfast homesteading chicks need to feel pretty every once in awhile.

 Jewelry accessorizes your day, your mood and your outfit. But not if it's all over your house and in different drawers and boxes. 

When I get ready in the morning, I am very seldom awake. It's better for me to have my jewelry out in the dressing part of my bathroom so I can put it on when I put on make up.

This is a glass shelf from Amazon with shower hooks to hang necklaces.

I do a lot of my shopping online because there are no stores close to me, plus I notice I buy less because there is no impulse buying.

On top I have assorted little baskets and bowls from around the house.

Now my stuff is in one place and I wear it more frequently because it's in my face convenient.

4 Home Made Dog Treat Recipes, (Biscuit, frozen, vegetarian, sweet potato or cookie)

This one is a home made frozen dog treat idea perfect for beating summer heat.

Brett Winn writes on HubPages, "In today's Internet age, it's the rare "dog mom" who hasn't purchased, made or at least heard about Frosty Paws® for dogs. Those who haven't have been missing out, or more perhaps accurately, their dogs have been missing out! Frosty Paws® are creamy, nutritious, healthful (but unfortunately somewhat expensive) frozen treats that dogs adore. Enjoyable year round, they're especially welcome in the summer months as they're the canine equivalent of ice cream. Homemade versions, which lack preservatives, are more healthful than store brands, and cost less as well!"

Read More... 

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SallysBakingAddiction.com has a great recipe for Home Made Peanut Butter Bacon Dog Treats.

 After all... bacon.

Sally write's, " After doing a lot of research on homemade dog treats, I confirmed with our vet that the combination of whole wheat flour, egg, milk, baking powder, oats, and peanut butter is perfectly healthy for a pup. I added chopped bacon because it completely drives him nuts."

Read More....

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Third, we have a vegetarian option from KingArthurFlour.com. They said, "Whether or not you have a vegetarian dog, these non-meat biscuits will be snapped up — literally! The recipe comes courtesy of King Arthur friend Elaine Aukstikalnis, who works in a veterinary office; Elaine regularly bakes these biscuits (which have been "vetted by the vet") to bring to work for "the patients."

Read More...

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And fourth, we have an organic sweet potato treat that we make right on our own farm regularly for our family and for clients. You can check out how to make them right here...