How to Make Paprika and Poppy Seed Soap

Hi my name is Lisa and I am a soapaholic. I seriously love, love, love handmade soaps and lotions.

Since we are fans of hygiene, and I found a very past its prime bottle of poppy seeds in the back of the pantry, I thought I'd make myself a little Happy Mother's Day to me gift of poppy seed soap.

I also turned to my spice rack for non artificial soap dye. Paprika works for dying Easter eggs, let's see if it works for dying soap red (it does! The soap does not turn our skin colors either.)

How to Make Quick and Easy Paprika and Poppy Seed Soap - Artificial Dye Free!

How to Keep Dogs Out of the Garden

I took advantage of an actually-feels-like-Spring day to clear the flowerbeds of leaves and weeds. Like most DIY projects around here it:

1. Snowballing into another project - Operation: Keep Lacey Out of the Flower Beds

2. Required a  trip to the store for supplies.

Why I Bought a Condo

Looks like a free standing house, acts like a condo. The best of both worlds!

Husband and I were renters for a long time before we even considered buying a house. We were busy with lot of outside activities and knew that once we bought a house, we'd be married to the extra work and expenses it takes to keep a house running.  Our landlord never raised the rent which was another incentive to stay put.

Cheap rent that allowed us to buy off a bunch of bills and have money leftover for fun things kept us there longer than most of our relatives thought we should. I lost count how many times we were told we needed to buy a house to "be happy." One well meaning person not so subtly showed us house listings no matter what truth (not now) or excuse (We didn't realize we aren't happy. We were pretty happy on the awesome beach vacation we paid for in cash last summer) we gave him. 

Eventually our schedules calmed down. Husband and I decided it was time to go house shopping. Especially since my steady diet of DIY shows and shelter magazines had me itching to paint/remodel/decorate my home  in any way I wanted and without asking the landlord's permission. The idea of living somewhere where we could banish the white walls Husband and I rented forever influenced us to create an accent wall like this:

My Latest DIY Project!

Sometimes putting off a Must Do that's on your To Do list for too long bites you in the hard drive.

Welcome to my latest (and unwanted) DIY project!

This is my computer and very messy desk.

Yep. That's my computer, or as I like to call it the brains of this blogging outfit.

Instead of buying a whole new computer, Husband and I replace or upgrade the parts as needed. Sometimes we swap components between the two of us because he and I build our computers to do slightly different things. If we can't use it, we donate the old parts to a local charity that uses them to build Linux computers for the undeserved.

Amazon Gift Card Giveaway!

Once upon a time, all we had were design magazines. Each month, readers held their breath and hoped their snail mailed questions and comments where answered and printed in the magazine. It was hit and miss, mostly miss. If you saw an appliance you like in a kitchen tour and it was not given promotional consideration in the article, there was no easy way to search for it, let alone find a place that sells it.

The Internet and its design blogs changed all that. We can easily search for and find what we like, and have our questions answered. If you see that beautiful dishwasher you want to own (yep, mine is still broken) on a blog, a quick Internet search finds it and tells you where you can buy it.

And there was much rejoicing!

Although after you buy the appliance from the store, you’re still kind of stuck when it comes to asking the store for help designing and decorating the room around said new appliance.

Until…

Appliances Online 

How to Make a Simple Shelf with Recycled Fence Boards

Hands up. Who does not want more storage space in their bathroom?

Anyone?

I thought so. Me too.

I keep an extra bottle of shampoo, toiletries, etc.around because if I run out of something it is when I am in the middle of using it. Keeping an extra on deck also allows me to buy the plant based items we like to use when they go on sale for Earth Day. I buy them now and save them for later.

I need a place to store/hide/stuck this stuff in my small house, preferably in the bathrooms where I will be using it. It should be accessible but also hidden because no one needs to stare at my big bottle of castile soap waiting to be opened.

I have just the place – over the bathroom door.

To keep this year’s DIY New Year's Resolution, I’m going to use what I have on hand first. 

I hung a pair of plaster corbels from our old place in the master bathroom because I didn’t know what to do with that wall (I still don’t.) They aren’t working as little display shelves. I think they will work better as shelf supports.

I will use the second corbel to make an over the door shelf for the master bathroom.