These are just beautiful!!!  

   Hello everyone.  I was surfing on Pinterest the other day and came across these beautiful pillowcases.    What a wonderful way to brighten any room. Maybe you cant crochet, but what a reason to learn.  Its been a long time since I've seen my crochet needles, but this is going to make me dig them out and give this a try.   Another "to do" on my list for this coming winter projects.    

Crochet Like Crazy...

Welcome to the final week of On the Edge...

This weeks task: Crochet Edging...FINALLY!!!

Difficulty Level: 2 Chocolates plus 3 Bonus Chocolates, just for fun

  

It's time for the icing on the cake, the crowning glory, the creme-de-la-creme, the Bomb with a capital B. Get the hook out, ladies. Let's crochet like crazy. (insert wild excited screams here)

To get the party started...

Eat a chocolate.  A girl's gotta be fortified.

 

Load your hook with a slip knot. Make sure you have about an 8" tail. Don't cut the tail.

Slide your hook under a blanket stitch.  Start your stitch from the right side of the pillow case. I like to start by the side seam.

Complete a single crochet. 

Directions for how to start the first single crochet: Slide hook under blanket stitch. Hook working yarn (yarn on skein), bring it under the blanket stitch, yarn over hook and through both loops on the crochet hook.

In the same manner, work two more single crochets into the same blanket stitch.

Stitch three single crochets into each blanket stitch all the way around the pillow case. This will be the foundation for the scallop pattern.

When you get back to where you started:

• Chain one; 
• Single crochet into the first foundation stitch you made; 
• Skip two foundation stitches; 
• Stitch FIVE double crochets into the next foundation stitch (all five double crochets go into the SAME foundation stitch); 
• Skip two foundation stitches; 
• Stitch a single crochet into the next foundation stitch; 
• Skip two foundation stitches; 
• Stitch FIVE double crochets into the next foundation stitch;
• Skip two foundation stitches;
• Single crochet into the next foundation stitch.

You should now have two scallops on your pillowcase.

Don't adjust your monitor.  This next photo of the first completed scallop is really blurry.  Eat another chocolate. Maybe then you won't notice so much.

 

Continue the scallop pattern (sc, skip 2, 5 dc, skip 2) all the way around the pillowcase.

 

When you get back where you started, slip stitch into the first single crochet of the pattern. (A slip stitch simply means to insert your hook, pull the working yarn through the stitch and through the loop on your hook.  It is a way to connect things.)

Cut your working yarn about 10" inches from the hook. Make the loop on your hook kind of big-ish.  Put the end of the working yarn through the loop and pull to tighten. Do not cut the tail.

 

You now have two "tails" of yarn to deal with. Weave the yarn tails, one at a time, through at least two scallops. To do this, put the yarn tail on a needle. Sneak the needle through the middle of the stitches. Pull the yarn through. I usually weave the yarn in for about 5" in one direction and then come back the other way for an inch or two. Pull the yarn taut. Trim yarn close to your work. Give your work a little tug.  The end should "disappear".  Weave in the other yarn tail.

You are done! Fini! Completo! You go girl. Slip a pillow into your new Posh Pillowcase.  Doesn't it look dandy? Find a sunny spot on the couch. Lay your head on the new Posh Pillow and enjoy those last three chocolates.  You deserve it.

Thanks so much for sewing, and crocheting, and eating chocolates with me. Up next at You Go Girl...a tutorial on how to let your jeans out. Chocolate always comes with a price tag. Just kidding. Actually, sometime in the next couple of weeks I will post the pattern for this crochet border. Stay tuned.

And finally, I have started an On the Edge... Flickr group to post pictures of your amazing work. You can join here. I am dying to see all your lovely lovelies

Check this site out.   Wonderful ideas and instructions.

http://yougogirl.typepad.com/you_go_girl/2010/03/crochet-like-crazy.html

Crochet Like Crazy...

Welcome to the final week of On the Edge...

This weeks task: Crochet Edging...FINALLY!!!

Difficulty Level: 2 Chocolates plus 3 Bonus Chocolates, just for fun

  

It's time for the icing on the cake, the crowning glory, the creme-de-la-creme, the Bomb with a capital B. Get the hook out, ladies. Let's crochet like crazy. (insert wild excited screams here)

To get the party started...

Eat a chocolate.  A girl's gotta be fortified.

 

Load your hook with a slip knot. Make sure you have about an 8" tail. Don't cut the tail.

Slide your hook under a blanket stitch.  Start your stitch from the right side of the pillow case. I like to start by the side seam.

Complete a single crochet. 

Directions for how to start the first single crochet: Slide hook under blanket stitch. Hook working yarn (yarn on skein), bring it under the blanket stitch, yarn over hook and through both loops on the crochet hook.

In the same manner, work two more single crochets into the same blanket stitch.

Stitch three single crochets into each blanket stitch all the way around the pillow case. This will be the foundation for the scallop pattern.

When you get back to where you started:

• Chain one; 
• Single crochet into the first foundation stitch you made; 
• Skip two foundation stitches; 
• Stitch FIVE double crochets into the next foundation stitch (all five double crochets go into the SAME foundation stitch); 
• Skip two foundation stitches; 
• Stitch a single crochet into the next foundation stitch; 
• Skip two foundation stitches; 
• Stitch FIVE double crochets into the next foundation stitch;
• Skip two foundation stitches;
• Single crochet into the next foundation stitch.

You should now have two scallops on your pillowcase.

Don't adjust your monitor.  This next photo of the first completed scallop is really blurry.  Eat another chocolate. Maybe then you won't notice so much.

 

Continue the scallop pattern (sc, skip 2, 5 dc, skip 2) all the way around the pillowcase.

 

When you get back where you started, slip stitch into the first single crochet of the pattern. (A slip stitch simply means to insert your hook, pull the working yarn through the stitch and through the loop on your hook.  It is a way to connect things.)

Cut your working yarn about 10" inches from the hook. Make the loop on your hook kind of big-ish.  Put the end of the working yarn through the loop and pull to tighten. Do not cut the tail.

 

You now have two "tails" of yarn to deal with. Weave the yarn tails, one at a time, through at least two scallops. To do this, put the yarn tail on a needle. Sneak the needle through the middle of the stitches. Pull the yarn through. I usually weave the yarn in for about 5" in one direction and then come back the other way for an inch or two. Pull the yarn taut. Trim yarn close to your work. Give your work a little tug.  The end should "disappear".  Weave in the other yarn tail.

You are done! Fini! Completo! You go girl. Slip a pillow into your new Posh Pillowcase.  Doesn't it look dandy? Find a sunny spot on the couch. Lay your head on the new Posh Pillow and enjoy those last three chocolates.  You deserve it.

Thanks so much for sewing, and crocheting, and eating chocolates with me. Up next at You Go Girl...a tutorial on how to let your jeans out. Chocolate always comes with a price tag. Just kidding. Actually, sometime in the next couple of weeks I will post the pattern for this crochet border. Stay tuned.

And finally, I have started an On the Edge... Flickr group to post pictures of your amazing work. You can join here. I am dying to see all your lovely lovelies

AROMA SPHERES

Found this post on Aromahead Blog.  Is this not the coolest thing?  What a great idea and way to put your favorite fragrances all around the house.  And what great gifts!!!!!  Check them out.

Aroma Spheres

by Andrea Butjein

I love walking into a room and being met with the aroma of essential oils! I guess it’s not surprising that I’ve always loved aroma spheres.

My friends Minta and Terry ofEssential Elements have taken ceramic diffusers to a whole new level of beauty! They call their inspiring aroma spheres “Pottery Potpourri.”

Each bag of handcrafted Aroma-Spheres has spheres of assorted sizes and shapes, and a few impressed with designs and inspirational words.

A few drops of essential oils on a ceramic Aroma-Sphere is a simple method for diffusing the oils in a small, personal space. These precious diffusers can be used in every room at home and also at work. All you do is add essential oils to the ceramic spheres, and the aroma naturally fills the space. Easy, right?

I have five sets placed around the house: in the bathroom, kitchen, living room, bedroom and my office. They live in small bowls and I keep a few bottles of various essential oils next to the spheres for easy use.

Last summer I bought 25 bags (they are only $10 a bag) and on graduation day, I gave a set to each of the Aromatherapy Certification Program graduates. Essential Elements Aroma Spheres are a great gift, and each set has its own unique designs!

http://www.aromahead.com/blog/2012/11/28/aroma-spheres/

CARROTS, EGGS, OR COFFEE?

I came across this and just had to post it.  This is so true to everyone's life every day.  What would we do without the knowledge and wisdom from our Grandmothers.

Carrots, Eggs, Or Coffee?

The following may seem rather out of place with regard to our normal subject-matter, but I thought it was a great message and wanted to share.
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Photo courtesy of Free From The Dark on Facebook

A young woman went to her Grandmother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her.  She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up.  She was tired of fighting and struggling.

Her Grandmother took her to the kitchen.  She filled three pots with water.  In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.

She let them sit and boil without saying a word.  In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners.  She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.  She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.  Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her Granddaughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?" 

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.  She did and noted that they were soft and mushy.  She then asked her to take an egg and break it.  After pulling off the shell, she observed the hardened egg.  Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee.

The daughter smiled as she tasted its deep flavor and inhaled its rich aroma.  The daughter then asked, "What's the point, Grandma?"

Her Grandmother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity - boiling water - but each reacted differently.  The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting.  However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it became weak.  The egg had been fragile.  Its thin, outer shell had protected its liquid interior.  But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however.  After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her Granddaughter.  "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?  Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"

Think of this: Which am I?  Am I the carrot that seems strong?  But with pain and adversity, do I wilt and lose my strength?  Am I the egg that starts with a fluid spirit but, after death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, I become hardened and stiff?  Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?  Or am I like the coffee bean?  The bean actually changes the hot water - the very circumstance that brings the adversity, the pain, the hardship – into something quite wonderful.  When the water gets hot, it releases it's fragrance and flavor.  If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better, and change the situation around you for the better.  

When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level?  How do you handle adversity?

ARE YOU A CARROT, AN EGG, OR A COFFEE BEAN?

~ Author Unknown

http://www.backwoodssurvivalblog.com/2013/02/carrots-eggs-or-coffee.html

LEMON LAVENDER AROMATHERAPY CANDLE

Found this on a blog called Homespum With Love.  This looks like a wonderful idea for another use of our oils.   http://homespunwithlove.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/make-your-own-lemon-lavender.html





         Make Your Own Lemon LavenderAromatherapy Candle



64

• How can one not love the scent, never mind the taste of lemon and lavender. Whether you are baking and enjoying the scents or burning a fragrant aromatherapy candle, it is pure joy!

We have found a wealth of knowledge on aromatherapy, essential oils and recipes using essential oils from the 
Aromahead Blog. 

Such things as this recipe for making a 

beeswax aromatherapy candle.




64

•                    Lemon Lavender Aromatherapy Candle

The Aromahead Blog
Ingredients

Beeswax (6-8 oz)
Essential Oil (I used 2 ml patchouli and 2 ml vetiver)

Supplies:
4 oz glass jar
1 wick
A set of chop sticks
Pyrex measuring cup
Small soup pot
10 ml graduated cylinder (optional)
Instructions
Measure 6 oz. of beeswax (1 and 1/2 jar full). If you want the candle to fill right to the top use 8 oz. (2 jars full).
Wipe your Pyrex cup with jojoba.
Melt the beeswax in the Pyrex (see video for details).
Place the wick in the jar using the chop sticks shown in the video.
Measure your essential oil.
Once the beeswax is melted, add the essential oil to the beeswax and stir.
Pour slowly into the glass jar so to not disturb the wick.
Allow it to solidify for several hours before burning.



64

• You might call the combination of Lemon and Lavender a bit of Yin and Yang. Or you just might call it delightful.

64

• Lemon and lavender and two beautiful scents of Summer. And when Summer has slowly begun to turn into Fall, and you want to bring back a little of Summer, having a lovely scented Lemon Lavender aromatherapy candle to light will delight your senses.

64

• The ways to incorporate candles into our lives are endless.Place this candle in the kitchen and burn it in the morning as you sip a relaxing cup of tea. Burn it during quiet time devotions or Bible reading. Simply burn and enjoy

.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET ESSENTIAL OILS IN YOUR EYES

Accidents happen; so it’s a good idea to be prepared ahead of time in case of an emergency. Everyone’s skin type is different, and essential oils are powerful; so if you use an essential oil that seems to irritate or burn your skin, you should dilute the oil by rubbing a carrier oil (olive oil, almond oil…even vegetable oil) into the spot. This dilutes the oil. Don’t use water, as oil and water don’t mix. Once you’ve emulsified the oil this way, you can wash it away with soap and water; but always dilute it with a carrier oil first.

While some people have sensitive skin, everyone has sensitive eyes. So, what do you do if you get essential oils in your eyes? Since essential oils and water do not mix, you need a substance that is safe to use in your eyes and that will quickly emulsify the essential oil, allowing water to quickly flush it all away. The answer is milk or cream. If you get essential oils in your eyes, quickly flush the eye with milk or cream until it stop burning. This should happen almost immediately. At that point, you can flush the eyes with fresh water to remove the milk.

Some aromatherapy authors advise using a fixed oil in the eye, but while this is good on the skin, it doesn’t remove the essential oil quickly enough from the eye. And while it may not hurt, it’s not fun to have olive oil in your eye either.

We had the opportunity to see this work twice this past week in two different families. Both times, a child had accidentally gotten a hold of the peppermint oil and rubbed it into her eye. Both times, the milk worked immediately. During an emergency is not the time to look up what to do. Know what to do ahead of time!

Eyes: Milk or Cream

Sensitive Skin: Plain Olive Oil or Vegetable Oil