Charity Sloan, Author at SubEarthan Cottage

Posted on August 21, 2018November 1, 2018 by Charity — Leave a comment

Essential Oil Rollers Available at SubEarthan Cottage

When used properly, essential oils are a wonderful tool for health and well-being. After much research, I now offer seven essential oil blends at SubEarthan Cottage in convenient roll-on form. Each blend is able to be customized for dilution, which is very important if you intend to use them on children or sensitive individuals. You can also choose between coconut, sweet almond and olive oils for the carrier. If none of my blends work for your needs, there is the option to choose a single essential oil or your own custom blend.

I personally carry two blends with me at all times. They are “Peace” and “Balance”.

Peace

Peace is a blend of Frankincense, Lavender, Orange and Patchouli essential oils. I love it for days when things get a bit crazy. It’s like a mini-vacation in a bottle.

Balance

Balance is a blend of pure Clary Sage, Lavender, Frankincense and Myrrh essential oils. Those oils are thought to help with pms, mood swings and all the other fun that comes with monthly hormone shifts. Since the oils in Balance may effect hormones, this blend is not suitable for pregnant women.

Relax

Relax is a blend of pure Lavender, Frankincense and Orange essential oils. It’s great for helping you unwind after a busy day.

Focus

Focus is a blend of pure peppermint and orange essential oils. The bright, crisp scents may help keep you alert and focused.

Release

Release is a blend of pure lavender, peppermint and frankincense essential oils. I like rolling it on tense muscles.

Soothe

Soothe is a blend of pure eucalyptus, frankincense and lemon essential oils. It’s basically a nicer, less goopy version of the chest rub your mom made you use when you were sick. Eucalyptus is one of the essential oils that should not be used on children, so if you are interested in a version for children, let me know and I can swap the eucalyptus for something kid-friendly.

Spring

Spring is a blend of pure lavender, peppermint and lemon essential oils. If you’re like me, spring and fall are torture due to all the pollen in the air. These oils are supposed to help ease seasonal allergy symptoms. I personally haven’t put it to the test yet, but I’m sure by October I’ll be able to give a full review.

I go into more usage safety in the product listings, so be sure to read and ask questions if needed. I am always happy to make adjustments to the blends to better fit your needs.

Right now, everything at SubEarthan Cottage is on sale for 30% off, including the essential oil rollers, so now is a great time to try them for yourself.

Posted on April 3, 2018August 27, 2018 by Charity — Leave a comment

Key holder craft inspiration

We needed a better way to organize our keys. I thought about using hooks and scrap wood to make something, but I didn’t have any hooks on hand. I did, however have an old license plate, clothespins and hot glue, so this is what resulted.

I used hot glue because I could remove the clothespins without much, if any damage to the license plate. So far it’s holding up well, but if I were to make another, I might use something more permanent now that I know the concept works. I’d also use a ruler to line up the pins. I had “help” from the two year old this time, so I had to work fast to keep the glue gun safely away from little fingers.

Posted on February 15, 2018August 27, 2018 by Charity — Leave a comment

Children’s Messenger Bag

This morning I made a messenger bag using Merriment Design’s Kid-sized Messenger Bag Free Pattern and Sewing Tutorial. The size is also nice for a small messenger-style purse.

Her tutorial is awesome, so I’m just going to share the minor change I made. Instead of making a fabric strap, I used some webbing I had on hand. Not only did that save time, but it allowed me to make the whole thing with two fat quarters. You could also use a thick ribbon, upcycle an old belt or an old purse strap for the handle.

I like using a light colored fabric for the lining in most bags I make. It makes it easier to find whatever is inside.

The fabric is from a fat quarter bundle I found at Tuesday Morning. I always find fun things in their sewing and craft section.

Posted on December 21, 2017November 5, 2018 by Charity — Leave a comment

Better late than never gift bags.

Procrastination and chaos got the best of me and I didn’t get these gift bags finished until this morning. They’ve been half done since Thanksgiving, just waiting on me.

Large gift bag

But they are done and listed. I will ship them within one day until Christmas Eve, as will all of my completed (not made to order) items in my shop.

Medium gift bag

If you live in the Fort Worth area and would like to pick up your order, contact me for arrangements.

Small gift bag

All are available at SubEarthan Cottage Shop.

Posted on November 14, 2017August 27, 2018 by Charity — Leave a comment

Fruit and Nuts

We have eleven pecan trees, so along with the leaves, pecans cover our yard this time of year. We already had about ten pounds collected just from our front yard, so this weekend we took them to the farmer’s market to have them cracked. Even though we still have to separate the shell from the meat, it’s so much faster than doing it all by hand that it is totally worth it.

While we were there, Thadd discovered a big box full of bruised apples for five dollars, so I bought those, too. Thanks to my apple peeler-slicer-corer contraption, I was able to quickly get them ready to freeze for later. Here’s a similar apple peeler to the one I use:

Johnny Apple Peeler by VICTORIO VKP1010, Cast Iron, Suction Base

Some of the apples went straight to the stove with cinnamon and sugar to have as a sweet side and baked oatmeal topping.

I’m looking for more recipes to use the apples and pecans that aren’t overly sugary. So far, I’ve found a recipe for apple cider vinegar that makes use of the saved peels.

In the meantime, I made my favorite pecan dessert that is the opposite of not sugary: pecan pralines. (That’s puh-cahn prah-leans, y’all.) They are dangerously easy, especially when you have a ton of pecans on hand and the rest of the ingredients are kitchen staples.

Here’s the recipe I use:

Pecan Pralines

3/4 cup each of brown sugar and granulated sugar

1/2 cup of milk

1 cup of pecans

1 tablespoon of butter

1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Combine the sugars and milk in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook until it reaches the soft ball stage. (That’s when you can put a drop in cold water and it holds together in a ball shape but flattens on your finger when you take it out of the water.) I stir it pretty constantly and check it when it starts to look a little thicker.

Once it is at the soft ball stage, remove it from the heat and stir in the butter, vanilla and pecans until it’s well mixed. Drop the mixture by the spoonful onto waxed paper. If it gets too hard to spoon out, warm it back up for a bit on the stove. It’s best to have the waxed paper ready and work quickly, though. That way you don’t risk burning it and the resulting sadness.

Resist the temptation to try the yumminess immediately and let it cool. Seriously, let it cool. Hot melty sugar burns! The pralines will be more frosty opaque than glossy and easy to peel off the waxed paper when they are ready.

I usually get about sixteen pralines from one batch, but it will vary depending on how big you make them.

Enjoy!

Posted on November 9, 2017August 27, 2018 by Charity — Leave a comment

The Right Tools for the Job

After many attempts at using crochet hooks to manipulate stitches on my knitting machine, I broke down and bought the tools that were missing from my thrift store knitting machine. With the right tools, I’m able to do a couple of closed cast-on and bind-offs, correct dropped stitches fairly quickly, and have even learned how to do a tuck stitch.

Tuck-stitched wash cloth — My first tuck-stitched wash cloth

Now I need to figure out how to remember where I’m at in the tuck stitch to avoid the rows of holes I have at the top and bottom.

Posted on November 8, 2017August 27, 2018 by Charity — Leave a comment

Bath Towel Redo

Last Christmas we received a new set of bath towels. Many of our old ones had worn through in places and were ready to be retired. I hate to throw out something that still has some life left in it, so here’s what I did:

I cut the towels to salvage the most usable material possible. Then, I serged the edge with my serger. You could also use a wide zig-zag, fold and hem, or use bias binding to finish the edges and prevent fraying.

The white towels were cut down to about half-size. This makes them perfect for wiping up big spills or as a bath mat. The green towels on the right are smaller sized for kitchen and cleaning towels. The stack of squares in the middle can be used in place of disposable cotton squares for toner, make-up remover, etc.

The small squares are also handy for DIY dryer sheets. I keep a few in a small tub on the dryer soaking in diluted white vinegar and lavender essential oil. I wring one out slightly and toss it into the dryer to add a fresh, lavender scent to our laundry.

All made from two large, worn out bath towels.

Author: Charity