Shower Melts for Stuffy Noses

  Everyone here has been so gunked up, stuffy and generally feeling blah. Its a cruddy mix of colds and allergies . I made a small batch of shower melts to help open us up.  I used a regular size ice tray and this batch made 6. I've made these before using Vick's vapor rub but this go around I used Maty's. I had read good things about it and wanted to give it a try for our grandson. Since I had it on hand , I used it for this batch; and they smell divine! Vick's now has a lavender rub , and Maty's has a lavender and chamomile rub. I think I will try those next and make some relaxing bath melts. 

  Anyway, as you can see, I used the store brand of corn starch and food coloring. These brands are cost effective and work great.  You do not need food coloring,  but I used a mix of blue and green to get this minty shade. These are easy to make and only take a few minutes to throw together.

My handy dandy supplies are corn starch, measuring cup, cup of water, spoon, fork, food coloring vapor rub, plastic bowl and ice cube tray. . Yes, that is marker on our kitchen table. You will also find paint, crayon, glitter and glue on it if you look hard enough. This table has seen us through many homeschool years. I treasure each spot. Thanks Momma and Daddy for giving us this jewel so many years ago.

Maty's vapor rub. It is petroleum free. I love the fact it has peppermint ! Y'all know I'm crazy over peppermint! I bought it at Food City for around $5. It is also available at Walmart and Amazon. 

For this small batch I used 1 1/2 tablespoons of vapor rub.

I added the vapor rub to 1/2 cup corn starch.

Using a fork, mix the vapor rub into the corn starch until it is well combined and looks "grainy". It should resemble flour when you cut butter or shortening into it.

Add water by the spoonful , one at a time , until the mixture makes a thick paste. I got carried away with the water on this batch but no worries. I dusted the finished product with corn starch to soak up the extra wetness. This is also the time to add food coloring if you want. I used 2 drops green and 2 drops blue to get this minty shade.

Pour into an ice tray or other mold and freeze for about 20 - 30 minutes.

Remove your melts from the mold. I tossed mine with corn starch to soak up the extra wetness. You can store them in a cool , dry area in an airtight container. We keep ours in the fridge. Toss one in the shower with you to have some nice , sinus opening vapor.

I hope you enjoy this simple DIY . It is a great way to get some cold and allergy relief. Blessings ! ~ Nikki

My Writing Space

I find that I can be more faithful to writing , studying or planning when I have a dedicated spot to work.  When we first moved into this house, I had a small antique desk in this spot, but while it was a wonderful place to write; it did not meet my multi - tasking need for a sewing table also. I found this gem on a Facebook yard sale site for $20. It is large enough to sew on, and gives me plenty of space to spread out and write or whatever. 

I love having the white curtain hanging in my bedroom. Actually it is a king size sheet that I got on sale a few years ago. Our old house had two large windows in the master bedroom that let in all this amazing, natural light. I did not want to cover it up but I did want to have some privacy for our room. I found several of these flat sheets at our local thrift store. I put them on our windows and put a white and lavender bedspread on the bed. Oh my! The ambience was amazing! Every time I walked into our room I relaxed .  Our room now only has one window so we need all the natural light we can get. At night when the moon is shining through  the white curtain, it is so relaxing . Makes for a great sleep environment. When I have the curtain open I get to look out at our meandering country road . It is not as close as it looks in the photo, angles lol. 

Do you have dedicated writing space? Blessings ! Nikki

Happy New Year ! Welcome 2018 !

I hope everyone has had a blessed beginning to the new year. 2018 ! How did we get here so fast? Time sure is flying by! We had a great holiday season. We got to spend the holidays with our family and our grandson Deidel got to stay for Christmas Eve and spend 4 days this weekend to celebrate the New Year. Of course our blessings started a new Christmas tradition a few years ago as the boys married and started their own homes. They all come home to stay on Christmas Eve so we can have Christmas Day together. I hope this is one tradition that keeps going. It is always a blessing to have our children home.
I have definitely been slacking on my blogs. So many excuses to give but really, I'm trying to let God carry me through these transitions in life and just try to get back to doing things that I love, and enjoy Blogging is one of those things. I have to prioritize my days. I have to find time for these little things. Even if no one ever comes back to read these blogs, I will someday. I want to look back and enjoy the memories. On that note, I enjoy going to the Way Back Machine site and looking at our old Homeschool Blogger blogs. Such fun !!You should try it if you ever had a web page or old blog.
Its been a cold start to the new year here in the Smokies. We had some snow and ice last night and bitterly cold temps. It was a light snow, but rumor has it that more is coming. We shall see. For now the goal is staying warm .
Stay tuned to the blog, if you're still there at all. My goals are being planned and I'm trusting God in helping me to carry them out. Pray for me ! Blessings to all ! ~ Nikki