Snow at the New House

It's so pretty!

Scientific Failure

So this post is to document my failure. For Christmas last year my mom got me a pH thermometer to help me learn more about the science behind my soaps-making. It had been on my Amazon Wishlist for awhile.  Since we were living with her at the time and everything in my house was packed up in a storage facility some where, I had to wait ages before I could use it. A few days ago I finally pulled it out and carefully read through the directions, but cannot figure out how to make it work. She also got me some pH test strips, so I am good on that end, but the thermometer itself does not recognize anything. 

I did some reading and it said if the piece dries out then it might need some special solution, so I bought that and let it sit for a day or so, but when I came to check on it this is what I found. The solution reacted with the environment of the basement, I guess? I don't know. All I know is my thermometer still doesn't work and I feel like an idiot. Oh well. That happens sometimes!

Oh, I did make some lotion bars last week that you can see in the background. They're pretty cool. 

A Winter Snowstorm

 We got another load of snow, which is lovely. I'm really enjoying my time off work and diving into some things I haven't had time for in ages. 

I put together this cute puzzle after Christmas. The pieces were a bit bigger than normal, which I liked, and there were still 1000 so it was pretty big. 

I also bought some Christmas fabric at Joann's when we visited my mom over the holidays. I used it to make some pillowcases and a quilt-top for the bed. 

Here is a 16" pillowcase cover. 

Here is another pillowcase cover. 

And another, though I think this is for a 12" pillow. 

And then I made a king-size quilt for the bed. I didn't have enough fabric for the backing, however, so I'll have to wait until the next time we visit (or I find another Joann's with seasonal fabric all year) to get some more. I love how each quilt block looks like a little present! I also used my Cricut to make vinyl name tags on the shams I sewed as well that look like Christmas gifts. They are so cute! Hopefully I'll get the quilt finished by next Christmas and can put it on the bed!