Craftiness – Obtaining Mercy

Planning a Productive Summer

June 3, 2021 by ObtainingMercy, posted in Bloggy Business, Craftiness, Links to Share, Uncategorized, What I'm Reading, What's Happening

As the temperatures rise and the activities of the school/college year wind down, we grab our coolest sunglasses and fix our eyes toward summer.

We head into this month of June with a huge list of To-dos, Must-sees and Can’t Misses. The 3 months stretch out before us uncluttered and full of promise.

The problem is that, usually somewhere around the middle of August, we realize that the To-dos didn’t get done, the Must-Sees weren’t viewed and the Can’t Misses were…well, missed.

With that in mind, I’ve created a cute little 90-day Summer Planner.

(The picture and title are clickable. Links may be affiliate links that provide us with a small commission at no extra expense to you.)

The Summer of Me Planner: 3-month Summer Calendar, 90 page Journal, Gratitude Notebook, To-Do List Organizer

It’s called “The Summer of Me” not to enforce a totally selfish mindset, but to remind us that WE only accomplish what WE plan to accomplish. No one else can set our goals for us. They must be something we’ve determined through prayer, Bible study, advice from trusted counselors and the Holy Spirit’s leading.

This little planner has 3 month calendar pages:

14 weekly pages:

Several pages for notes, summer activities and a look toward the Fall, and a Daily planner layout for each page of the Summer.

It has everything you need to plan a great Summer and actually succeed at having one!

When you pick one up, I’d love it if you left a review – pro or con – whether you like it or not. This is my first foray into self-publishing and I’d really like to know what you think!

The Summer of Me Planner: 3-month Summer Calendar, 90 page Journal, Gratitude Notebook, To-Do List Organizer

Thanks so much for reading.

In Him,

Alesha Kay

A Bit o’ This and That

August 8, 2014June 23, 2015 by ObtainingMercy, posted in Craftiness, Isaac Update

I took my mom to get a hair cut this morning. A few minutes after the hair stylist got started, my brother walked in the door. Turns out, his appointment was right after my mom's. Too funny!

Yesterday, we traveled to Orlando for some routine tests for Isaac. We asked folks on Facebook to pray about the procedure. It went so much better than we even anticipated. We were so grateful! The results of the test were good too. Our God is so good to us.

Remember, I made some homemade hair gel last week? Well, I am LOVING it!!! I highly recommend your giving it a try.

I also found another use for it: eyebrow fixative. I don't know about you, but as I get older, my eyebrows have gotten a little wild. ;) I never know what they're going to look like when I get home from church. It's embarrassing! So, I purchased a tube of brow fixative a while back, and it works well. It was getting old, though, and almost empty, so I thought I'd replace it with my new flax gel.

I simply removed the stopper from the top of the old tube, and rinsed it with hot water until it was clean. (The tube was clear plastic, so I could see when it was clean.) I washed the wand thoroughly as well. Then I used one of Isaac's medication syringes to draw up a bit of the flax gel and squirted it into the tube. Now, I have a lovely new tube of eyebrow fixative, and it didn't affect my pocketbook at all.

Today I mixed up a hair rinse, to follow my baking soda hair cleanser.

It is a combination of water, vinegar, aloe vera gel, honey, and a couple of essential oils. You can click here to find the recipe.

I'll be using it this weekend, and I will let you know how it goes.

Doug heads back to school on Monday, and Isaac and I will be fending for ourselves during the day. We are working on getting a nurse, but the process has been one of "hurry up and wait". I am trying to be patient and not push ahead of God's timing.

Praying you have a great weekend and that you spend time with God's people in church on Sunday!

Alesha

Homemade Hair Gel

August 2, 2014June 23, 2015 by ObtainingMercy, posted in Craftiness

So…

I made my own hair gel today.

I know! Very exciting!

I started with these:

Those are flax seeds. I added 1/2 cup of flax seeds to 2 cups of water, poured them into a pan, and brought them to a boil. As soon as I saw the foam on the top, I started to stir and removed it from the heat as soon as it was (almost) as thick as I wanted it to be.

Then I poured the seeds into a strainer, which was sitting on a funnel on top of a mason jar. I used a spoon to move the seeds around so the gel could drain out.

The whole process was really pretty messy, and I let the first batch get too thick and it wouldn't drain through the strainer. So, I added water and tried it again.

I got the recipe from here. The blogger adds lots of helpful tips about the procedure.

After adding 3 drops of lavender oil to the mixture, I ended up with this:

It's not crystal clear, like a store-bought gel, but that's ok with me. My hair is brown, so it won't affect the color.

I applied it to my wet hair, just like I would any other gel, and let it dry. It did not dry as crispy as my other gels, but the curls are very soft, which I really like.

I'll see how it holds the curls in the morning, after sleeping on it. I will spritz it with my lavender mist, and if I need to reapply it, that is easily done. The gel needs to be stored in the frig so that it lasts more than a few days.

I'm glad I tried it. I really do like it. I'm going to try to make a conditioning rinse soon, too. I'll let you know how that goes, as soon as I can find CLEAR aloe vera gel for the recipe. All I can find here in the Sunshine State is tinted blue for sunburn! Ha!