Smile for no reason: July 2014

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Creating a Light Box To Take Better Pictures

Taking pictures for a blog post can be a difficult task. Do you have enough sunlight? If you have sunlight, is it in the optimal position to use, depending on the time of day, when you need to take the picture? If you are using a light bulb, will it make everything turn yellow? If you need to use the flash, will it wash everything out? All very important questions.

Recently, Katie, at Boost your Photography, shared how she created a light tent using a box, some tissue paper, and lights. That link here. I want to share with you a picture I took after I had completed creating my light box.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

The Tuesday Inquiry

Good morning, everyone! Hope you have had plenty of caffeine this morning.

Because it is time once again for, The Tuesday Inquiry.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Everyday Life Photography

Good morning everyone! It is the start to another beautiful week. My handsome husband and I drove the countryside taking pictures of everyday life yesterday. I am sharing one of the pictures that I took yesterday. Please join us once again, for your Monday, Everyday Life Photography Link Up Party. Link up any exciting pictures you took last week and share them with us. If you created a fantastic new recipe share them here, also. Any link parties you want to share, link them up here. I can not wait to see what everyone has to share!

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Liebster Award Nomination

I was recently nominated for the Liebster Award. The Liebster award is passed around the blogging community to those who have fewer than 200 subscribers. This is a simple way of getting to know one another. I was nominated by 3GLOL. Bobbi's blog has DIY's, recipes and the Teach Me Tuesday Party. Make sure you go and check out her blog. She was nominating people on Facebook who have less than 200 followers. I have recently added my blog to Face book and I have no idea what I am doing.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

How to Make Fabric Softener With Vinegar

Last weekend, I shared a post of how to make 3 ingredient laundry detergent. This weekend I am sharing how to make your own fabric softener. As was the detergent recipe, this is another recipe I received at my soap making class.

1 cup baking soda

6 cups of vinegar

40 drops of any essential oil

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

The Tuesday Inquiry

Good morning, everyone! Hope you have had plenty of caffeine this morning. Because it is time once again for The Tuesday Inquiry.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Everyday Life Photography

Good morning everyone. I hope everyone had a great weekend. And you have plenty of coffee this morning to jump start your Monday. Because it is time, once again, for your Monday, Everyday Life Photography Link Up Party. Link up any exciting pictures you took last week and share them with us. If you created a fantastic new recipe share them here, also. Any link parties you want to share, link them up here. I can not wait to see what everyone has to share!

Saturday, July 19, 2014

How To Make Your Own Laundry Soap Using 3 Ingredients

Last month I took a class at my local community college. In that class, I learned how to make bath bars. But, the instructor also gave us a recipe for laundry soap, which we made in class. The recipe calls for only 3 ingredients,

1 cup of Borax detergent booster

1 bar of Fels-Naptha

1 cup of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

The Tuesday Inquiry

It is time once again for The Tuesday Inquiry

This week we pose the question....

Monday, July 14, 2014

Everyday Life Photography

I hope everyone had a great weekend. And you have plenty of coffee this morning to jump start your Monday. Because it is time, once again, for your Monday, Everyday Life Photography Link Up Party. Link up any exciting pictures you took last week and share them with us. If you created a fantastic new recipe share them here, also. Any link parties you want to share, link them up here. I can not wait to see what everyone has to share!

Friday, July 11, 2014

Create A Refreshing Drink With Water and Fuit

This summer, I have no idea why, but I am not interested in drinking water. I understand why we need water on these warm summer days, but lately, I am reaching for fruit juices. While the juice that I drink does not contain high fructose corn syrup, I still need to put the juice back on the store shelf and drink my water.

Last week, I was watching Pink So Foxy on YouTube and she shared how she makes fruit infused water in Mason jars. I thought I would try making this to "spice up" the just plain water that I was "Not" drinking.

First I filled my Mason jar drinking glass with filtered water.
I cut up some strawberries and added them to the Mason jar. I cut up some fresh nectarines and added them. The possibilities are endless. These fruits were just what I had on hand.

Christine then screwed a Mason jar lid on to the top of the jar and explained you can either chill the water or drink it right away. Well, I did not have a Mason lid, so, I cut a piece of parchment paper large enough to cover the mouth of the jar, secured it tightly with a rubber band, and placed the drink in the refrigerator to chill for 2 hours.

After 2 hours in the refrigerator, the fruit had infused with the water giving the water a nice sweet taste. Not a sickly, sweet taste that I was used to with the sweetened fruit juices. The softened fruit was an added little treat. I squeezed a small amount of lemon juice in the water as I was cutting up the lemon for the picture. This gave the water a nice, little added tang.

The Mason jar is a quart jar. Meaning 32 ounces of water. The recommended amount of water one needs to drink in one day is 64 ounces of water. At the present moment, I drink one Mason jar a day. But I figure one jar is better than no water at all. Which is basically what I was previously drinking.

Since watching Christine's video, I have noticed the many different varieties of fruit infused water that others have shared on Google +. The drinks they share look wonderful and I can not wait to try those.

Let me know in the comments below some of your favorite fruit infused water drinks.

Have a blessed day!