DIY: Gutter Bookshelves

Items needed:

• Vinyl rain gutters – Our rain gutter shelves are all 5 feet or 2 1/2 feet long and the gutters come in 10 foot lengths.
• Brackets for the rain gutters – I used either 2 or 3 brackets per 5 feet of shelving depending on how much use I thought the shelf would get.
• End caps for the rain gutters. Be sure to get the appropriate number of right and left end caps.
• Wood screws that will fit through the hole in the brackets.
• Hack saw
• Sand paper
• Sharpie marker
• Tape measure
• Drill
• Level
• Marking pencil
• Stud finder – unless you are good at the whole hammer tap/listening thing

DIRECTIONS:

1. Spray paint the gutters...all sides(except back) I used one car to spray whole gutter, ends, and brackets!

1. Decide the length that you want your shelf to be. Measure and mark this length on the shelf with the Sharpie.

2. Cut the rain gutter with the hack saw

3. Decide where you want to put the shelves and find and mark the studs.

4. Determine the height that you want the top of the shelf to be and mark that point on one of the studs that will be close to the end of the shelf

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DIY: Make Your Own Lip Balm and Face Cream

I went on another limb and tried a friends homemade face cream (that can be used for almost anything...diaper rash, after shave, moisturizer, eye makeup remover, etc...) and also made homemade lip balm!

They were both so easy I could not believe the final products!

Olive Oil Face Cream

Ingredients:

1/8 t borax
1/4 c distilled water
1/2 c evoo
2 T grated beeswax

Directions:
Mix water and borax.

Mix evoo and beeswax and place in coffee mug or double broiler. If using mug, place in a pot of water and bring water to boil. Heat until beeswax is melted.

Meanwhile microwave water/borax until almost boiling.

Remove oil/wax from heat and pour water/borax in. Immediately mix with an electric beater until blended. Let set until cool (overnight is best). Stir and pour in a lidded container.

Thanks Leslie!

Lip Balm

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons beeswax (about 1 oz)
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
2 Tablespoons shea butter
12 lip balm containers
dropper

Directions:

1. Melt beeswax in a small pan or crockpot over low heat. Add coconut oil and shea butter until all ingredients a melted. Add a few drops essential oil if desired. I did not use any essential oil and it is smells wonderfully like honey!
2. Using a small medicinal dropper, pour the melted liquid into your lip balm containers. Add a few extra drops to the top after filling each container as the ingredients will shrink as they cool.
3. Cool completely to harden. Cover with cap and decorate or label as desired.

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DIY: Homemade Organic Vanilla Extract

Recently I have ventured out to make my own stuff (DIY=Do It Yourself Projects)...you will see more to come!

Thanks to Heavenly Homemaker I learned how to make homemade organic vanilla extract!

What you need:

A gallon jar (I used the Vodka container, I bought the one in glass)
One gallon of Vodka (the cheap stuff is fine) (To keep you from standing in the liquor section too long to calculate this…2 bottles of 1.75 liters each will be the exact amount you need to make a gallon of vanilla.)
80 Vanilla Beans (You’ll need about 3/4 pound to have 80 beans) – enter code hhm2011 for a 10% discounton Vanilla Beans through Olive Nation!! (thanks Heavenly Homemaker)
Kitchen shears

Step 1:

Begin by slicing through each bean lengthwise, leaving about one inch at the top of each bean uncut so that it stays together.

Step 2:

Place all of your cut Vanilla Beans into your jar

Step 3:

Once the jar is full with beans and vodka, put the lid on…then put the jar in a dark place (like in the back of a cabinet). It needs to stay there for FOUR to SIX MONTHS in order to become vanilla extract!

Occasionally, you should get it out and shake it up a bit, then put it back into it’s dark place

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