Earth Day Craft: Fabric Covered Foam Soap Dispenser

Happy Earth Day, folks. It's also Good Friday, which in my opinion is WAAAAAY more important. Hope you have a good one. No favorites of the week today, but here's a fun craft to try!

Here are a few links for Good Friday reference & reflection.
One from my alma mater: Preparing for Good Friday
An article from last year: A Good Friday Reflection

Anyway, on to the tutorial. Have you ever bought foam soap? It's totally brilliant if you've never tried it. The face wash I buy is in a foam dispenser & I got tired of throwing the container away. Let's face it, there's enough plastic in our landfills... So, I decided to recycle & revamp. These make a great Mother's Day gift, which is coming up, by the way!

Turn liquid soap to foam soap using this simple trick:
The secret is in the pump apparatus. Foam soap is just liquid soap diluted down with some air added. Just mix 1/3 liquid soap (stray away from the ones that have beads because these can get stuck in the pump) to 2/3 water, shake it up to mix. I've even done this with body wash to stretch a buck.

For the craft part of the project, all you need is an old foam soap/face wash container, fabric and decoupage.
Paint a layer of decoupage onto the bottle & attach your fabric. Your hands will get sticky, so be excited. Paint a layer of decoupage on top of the fabric, and smooth out any bubbles. Let this dry for an hour or two and put an extra layer on.  You can keep it simple, or you can add some letters or decoration, just remember to seal it on with another layer of--yep, you guessed it--decoupage. Let it dry completely before filling with the soap & water mixture. *Note: if your bottle is wonky, just cut two pieces of fabric that match up with the shape & attach to the front and back.*

Now, wash off that sticky decoupage with some hand crafted foam soap! Enjoy. Very self explanatory tutorial, but pictures to follow later (sorry... busy busy).

Also, found this in my daily email from Hugh. Brilliant if you ask me. Don't get so caught up in environmental causes and being "green" that you forget that people are most important.

Feel Like Running? & Book Club Love

The BolderBoulder was the first 10K I ever ran. In fact, the BB was the first race I ever ran. Period. I spontaneously signed up one year and trained a total of four days... (not recommended, that's why this post is coming to you 38 days before the race). I keep coming back every year. It's wonderful. So Denverites/Coloradoans/Boulderites/people who love to run and will be in the neighborhood, join me will you?

Let's get fit & get ready! I return from Peru the night before the race... so this year it's going to be interesting to say the least. Register here.

In other random news, book club was a lot of fun. No recipe post today because we were crunched for time and I barely had time to snap any pictures before the group arrived.

A great dialogue with great friends. It was a lovely evening. Strawberry goat cheese salad, chicken with tomatoes, garlic mashed potatoes. Homemade pecan sandies, vanilla ice cream and praline sauce for dessert. Yum. The next book we're tackling is Let's Take the Long Road Home by Gail Caldwell. I'm also putting on my list of books to read: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. The movie debuts in theatres tomorrow.

Holy Thursday and a rainy one here in the Mile-High city. Sipping on some fresh pressed coffee with almond syrup. Great day.

La Semana Santa: The Holiest of Weeks

Yesterday, Palm Sunday, began Holy Week. I wanted to post some helpful references and tips on how to make it a truly holy Holy Week and exactly what this week leading up to Easter is all about.

Palm Sunday
Daily readings for Monday of Holy Week
Daily readings for Tuesday of Holy Week
Daily readings for Wednesday of Holy Week
Daily readings for Holy Thursday, information about Holy Thursday
Daily readings for Good Friday of the Lord's Passion, information about Good Friday
Holy Saturday
Easter Sunday, information on Easter Sunday

Having a Blessed Holy Week, a reflection by Archbishop Dolan of New York
A site full of helpful reflections & resources

It's a beautiful time in the Church to reflect on the sacrifice & love that Jesus had for every one of us.

My alarm buzzed at 04:32 this morning & every bone in my body wanted to go back to sleep. I almost did until I thought about Jesus's sacrifice, all the more relevant this week. One more hour of sleep or feeding the flock at a local homeless shelter? Luckily, God gave me the grace to plant my feet on the floor & get moving. Made it downtown just a little late at 05:35 to help serve some of society's most neglected. It reminded me of what we celebrate this week, most especially of Holy Thursday where Jesus washes the disciples feet: "If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet" John 13:14. An outpouring of love. I experienced it today, and I hope you will experience it as well when you consider the sacrifice of the cross this week.

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Have a blessed & holy Holy Week!
-Nicole