Homemade Gel Air Freshener

This is one of my favorite things to make because it's so easy and smells so good!  I love having my house smell good but I hate worrying about a candle burning with a little one running around.  You can always buy gel air fresheners at the store but these homemade ones are way better for a few different reasons.  You can control the amount of scent that generates, they are so inexpensive to make, and you don't have to worry about what's inside that gel (if you use natural scented oils) when someone sticks their finger in to play with it or thinks it's some form of food.

1.) The first thing you want to do is buy a couple glass jars or glass candle holders.  I bought some 7 ounce glass candle holder jars with lid at JoAnn Fabrics for $1 each.

2.) Add whatever color food coloring you want your gel to be in the glass.  I must warn you, don't try to make a fancy color like I did, you only need about 2 drops or else you will get a dark color that looks black even though you swore you were trying to make a pretty royal purple.  

3.) Add the scented oil.  The amount depends on you and how strong you want your air freshener to smell.  I usually add roughly 3 teaspoons to each 7oz jar.  I love a stronger scent and also the fragrance I use is a stronger smelling fragrance.

4.) Next you want to get 1 1/2 cups of water boiling.  Once it starts to boil, whisk in 4 envelopes of Gelatine.  Once that's dissolved, add in 1/2 cup of cold water and 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt, whisk until the salt dissolves.  The salt is VERY important, without it you will have a moldy mess in a few days.

5.) Lastly, you want to pour your hot liquid mixture into the jars with the food coloring and oil.  You need to stir it to make sure everything is mixed in together, I like to use a disposable plastic knife.

You want to let the air freshener sit for about 12 hours so it has time to turn into a gel.  Once you have your gel air freshener you can place them anywhere you would like or hand them out as gifts.  My 7oz jar usually last for 3-4 weeks.

Edible Finger Paint

To make this clear before I begin, just because I call it "edible" finger paints, doesn't mean sit down at the table with a spoon and have at it.  I don't want to use the term "non-toxic" because some of those ingredients in that "non-toxic" finger paint you can buy at the store make me quiver just thinking about my sweet princess having a taste when my back is turned.  The ingredients in this finger paint are very simple and can all be found in your kitchen.  Now grab yourself some granulated sugar, corn flour, water, and food coloring and let the fun begin.

1.) In a pot mix about 1/4 cup of sugar with 1/4 cup of white corn flour.  I highly recommend using white corn flour since the yellow won't give you the same vibrant color when you add the food coloring.  Also keep in mind, corn FLOUR is ground finer than corn MEAL so be sure you have corn flour or else you will be wondering where you went wrong once you have your finished product.

2.) Add a splash of water at a time over medium heat until you have a paste like consistency.  Remember, if you add too much water just throw in a bit more corn flour. 

3.) Once you have the perfect consistency for your finger paint pour it into whatever container you wish to hold the paint in, keep in mind your mixture is slightly warm.  I like to use glass baby food jars that way I always have the lid to cover them up afterwards and not have to worry about it spilling everywhere.  I usually don't store the paint for more than 24 hours, not saying you can't, I've just never had leftovers to try it out.

4.) Once you have the paint separated in the containers, squeeze in about 4 drops of food coloring.  I find using a plastic knife works best to stir the paint with since you can just throw it away afterwards.  Be careful not to add too much food coloring because you wouldn't want your child walking around with brightly colored hands while other parents give you looks out of the corner of their eyes wondering when the last time you bathed your child was.

You then will have your final product.....Edible Finger Paint!

Rainbow Crayons

If your house is anything like mine, you have broken crayons everywhere, sometimes in the weirdest places.  I have a two year old who loves to color but also loves to leave her crayons all over the floor to be stepped on.  To me, once a crayon is broken, it doesn't work as good and it gets thrown in a sandwich bag to sit until I finally get tired of looking at it and throw them away.  Well throw away no more, this is a genius idea I should have thought of years ago.  Then again I didn't have broken crayons all over my house years ago.  To do this is very simple, all you need to do is......

1.) Gather some broken crayons (if you don't have any but still want to make these awesome crayons you can always get a box for $1, sometimes cheaper, and break them into pieces)  Next is the fun part, taking off all the paper on each crayon and getting underneath your nails all messy.

2.) Have your oven preheating around 250 degrees,  

3.) Get some kind of mold that is oven safe.  I love the silicon ones that have the neat shapes and they are also really easy to remove the crayon piece when the project is done.  If you don't have anything fancy, just use regular cupcake tins.  Don't be concerned about making a mess out of your pans (I know I was the first time I did it) once the crayon is dry, it pops out very easily.

4.) Place the broken crayons in the mold.  You can choose whatever colors you want to go together from one color to as many colors as you want.

5.) Place the molds with the crayons in the oven for roughly 8-10 minutes.  This is just a estimate, keep a eye out for the crayons to melt, once they are melted, take them out.  Be sure not to overcook them or else they will start to boil and leave small bubbles when they dry.

6.) Let them cool completely, pop them right out, and let the fun begin!