17 Oct
i haven’t carved a pumpkin for halloween yet this year. hellz, i haven’t even bought them yet! i know, i know… at least i got the mums on the porch steps and the rest of the spooky decorations in the yard up
while looking for some inspiration to do something a little different than the traditional jack-o-lantern this year, i came across these pics – too priceless to not pass on!
happy carving
~Mel
23 Apr
looks can surely be deceiving
here you are thinking, why is Mel showing us some random succulent plants on silver trays?
mwa-haha
they’re really CUPCAKES!
i take no credit at all for these – check out more pictures, details and the recipe HERE
17 Apr
if the tune of ‘Suga Suga’ by Baby Bash doesn’t stream through your head at the sight of this blog post title, hit up this link and you too will be in the know :0)
…moving on…
what else can you use sugar for, besides the obvious choices?
natural home and garden put together this list of ’6 Uses for Sugar’ – and none of them include ‘add to coffee’ or ‘use in a recipe for baked goods’!
make a body scrub
sugar is a great alternative to the bits of plastic found in many exfoliants
go HERE for some recipes for body and facial scrubs
clean dirty hands
it’s a natural abrasive – add equal parts olive oil and sugar to your hands, give them a good rub and rinse the dirt, grease and oil away
make cut flowers last longer
sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar into a vase of water, add your cut flowers and they’ll be nourished for much longer than just using water alone
keep baked goods fresher, longer
place a lump of sugar into the bottom of the container you are storing biscuits, cake or other baked goods in. the sugar will absorb moisture, keeping your treats fresher for a longer amount of time
heal wounds
this one sounds kinda gross, but a study has shown that sprinkling sugar on bed sores, leg ulcers and amputations can help heal injuries by drawing water from the wound, prohibiting the growth of bacteria and preventing infection
trap pests (especially FLIES!)
wasps, fruit flies and other insects are attracted to the sweetness of the sugar, luring them in and trapping them in the sticky mess. a homemade fly trap can be made by boiling equal parts of sugar, honey and water, stir until it’s thickened, dip pieces of kraft or brown packaging paper in the mixture and hanging them to dry. go HERE for instructions on how to easily make a fruit fly trap
11 Apr
have you ever thought to use your panini press to bake? i def have not – until NOW!
this remarkably crafty woman over at the blog Panini Happy does just this, and much, much more on her panini press
i came across her recipe for Mini Carrot Cake and am starting to look at my panini press in a whole new light!
perfect for two:
get the recipe and directions HERE!
gone are the days of pulling out the old uni-tasker out for just ooey-gooey-toasted-sandwiches – game on panini press, GAME ON!
10 Apr
this will make you look twice at these logos again:
are there any other secret logos you know about?!
9 Apr
one man’s junk is another man’s treasure
check out what i made this weekend with a little inspiration from THIS SITE and an old tackle box
this took less than an hour to put together, including shopping for the perfect plants to fill it up
i started with this
after assessing the project, i started out with laying out how and where i wanted the plants to go. succulents on the two trays since it was pretty shallow and any other plant would probably dry up pretty quickly – succulents on the other hand thrive on that sort of environment. the lower level is strawberries that produce fruit from June until the first frost. by bringing this inside during the winter, it will ensure the berries will be back again next year!
next i drilled holes for drainage and use tin snips to cut down the tray dividers as much as i could – giving me a little bit more playing space for plant placement
then i added about 1/2″ to an 1″ of small gravel for more drainage under the soil
and the last step was filling the trays with soil and placing the plants. i used a cactus/succulent mix on the two top trays (for obvious reasons) and a regular potting mix on the bottom one. some decorative rocks for a little but of fun and there you have it
what was old, now is new
~*HAPPY SPRING TIME*~
26 Mar
i made this origami BUNNY – just in time for the festivities – by slightly improvising the easy directions below:
22 Mar
dress up a boring looking fence or wall in your yard (or neighborhood) with some easy greens
MOSS GRAFFITI
and the best part, it’s super simple to do too!
AND WATCH YOUR ART
20 Mar
stumbled upon these the other day
they’re Earthships – radically sustainable buildings made with recycled materials – pretty sweet huh?!
looking for something new, different and a way to WOW the neighbors?! these can be built in any part of the world, in any climate and still provide you with what you need to survive, with ‘modern’ amenities
Thermal/Solar Heating & Cooling
Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate. The planet Earth is a thermally stabilizing mass that delivers temperature without wire or pipes. The sun is a nuclear power plant that also delivers without wires or pipes.
Solar & Wind Electricity
Earthships produce their own electricity with a prepackaged photovoltaic / wind power system. This energy is stored in batteries and supplied to your electrical outlets. Earthships can have multiple sources of power, all automated, including grid-intertie.
Contained Sewage Treatment
Earthships contain use and reuse all household sewage in indoor and outdoor treatment cells resulting in food production and landscaping with no pollution of aquifers. Toilets flush with greywater that does not smell.
Building with Natural & Recycled Materials
House as Assemblage of by-products: A sustainable home must make use of indigenous materials, those occurring naturally in the local area.
Water Harvesting
Earthships catch water from the sky (rain & snow melt) and use it four times. Water is heated from the sun, biodiesel and/or natural gas. Earthships can have city water as backup. Earthships do not pollute underground water aquifers.
Food Production
Earthship wetlands, the planters that hold hundreds of gallons of water from sinks and the shower are a great place for raising some of the fresh produce you’d like to have in the winter, but find expensive or bland tasting from the supermarket.
not sure if you’re ready to dive into the sustainable, off-grid living? try out one of their many rental options to choose from in Taos, New Mexico – make a vacation out of it!
15 Mar
skip the store bought egg dying kit this year and create some beautifully hued eggs with some of the most unsuspecting items you have inside and outside of your home
how simple is that?!
you just need one of the items to make these colors, but more can be added for further fun-ness
LAVENDER
a small amount of purple grape juice
violet flowers + 2 tsp. lemon juice
red zinger tea bags
VIOLET BLUE
violet flowers – no lemon juice
red onion skins – boiled
red wine
hibiscus tea
red cabbage plus 1/4 tsp alum – boiled
BLUE
canned blueberries
a large amount of purple grape juice
red cabbage leaves – boiled
GREEN
spinach leaves – boiled
fresh basil – boiled
GREENISH YELLOW
yellow delicious apple peels – boiled
fresh parsley – boiled
YELLOW
chamomile tea
orange or lemon peels – boiled
celery seeds – boiled
ground cumin – boiled
ground turmeric – boiled
green tea
carrot tops – boiled
daffodil heads – boiled
dandelion heads – boiled
GOLDEN BROWN
dill seeds
BROWN
strong or instant coffee
black walnut shells – boiled
black tea
ORANGE
yellow onion skins – boiled
carrots – boiled
paprika
chili powder
PINK
red grape juice
fresh cranberries
cranberry juice
raspberries
beets
red cabbage – boiled
beet juice
RED
lots of red onion skins – boiled
canned cherries with the juice
pomegranate juice
raspberries
~*HAPPY DUNKING!*~
