Thursday Night Unwind

This is Florence and the Machine. This is the one artist I obsessed over for the entire 2011 year. And guess what, I can obsess over her music for 2012 as well since she just came out with a new album called Ceremonials. The song above is from her first album called Lungs. This particular song is called You've Got The Love. I love it because anytime I'm frustrated or angry at life I listen to that and realize no matter what, I can make it through this because I'm surrounded by love. So I thought since we are about to head into a new year I'd share this song first to hopefully help inspire you to look for the love in your life.

Now, if you are interested in more of her music, read on after the jump and you'll be taken to 2 more music videos!

DIY: Fire Starters

This is a simple and cheap gift idea for anyone with a fire place or outdoor fire pit. I made a bunch of these for the people I know with fireplaces. I was nervous since I don't have a fireplace to test them out, I didn't know if they would work until Christmas Eve! And yes, they do work! They are very easy to make and also very quick to make a bunch of them.

All you need is:
News paper
Lint from your dryer
Hemp
Pine cones

Optional:
Dried herbs (I used dried orange peel & whole cloves)

Christmas Wind Up!

Since Christmas is literally around the corner, I thought it'd be nice to do the Thursday Night Unwind featuring Christmas music! My favorite tunes of course. And no, they aren't your traditional Christmas songs because that's not how I roll! I'm really excited for Christmas to be over so I can share with you all the homemade gifts I made this year. However, since most of my friends and family view my blog it would ruin the surprise for them if I posted it now. So you'll need to be patient! On to the Christmas music!

Let's start out with some Charlie Brown music.

Knitting Pattern: Basketweave Cowl

This is the first knitting pattern I have created! And it's an easy one. Even if you are just learning to knit you can knit this. Why? Because it's fast so you don't get bored. It uses big needles which makes it easy to learn to knit. Kind of how when you were learning to write you used a big pencil. It uses 2 balls of thick yarn. And it teaches you the 2 basic stitches and how to knit in the round. The other bonus? I'm including videos of how to do each stitch in case you need it. These aren't my videos, but they are good videos!

What You'll Need:
Size 13 circular needles in a length of 29"
2 balls (or 218 yds) of a bulky 12 ply yarn. I used Loops & Thread Charisma in a charcoal. You can even use an extra bulky yarn if you want it to be really thick.
A stitch marker

What you need to know: (click on the links if you need a video to show you how)
Long tail cast on
Join in circle
Knit
Purl (continental) Purl (throwing)
How to add another ball of yarn
Bind off
How to weave in the ends

Merry Christmas!

Merry soon to be Christmas everyone! It's a busy holiday season for me trying to get all the presents wrapped/made/bought. So until after Christmas, when things die down, I will return to posting on this blog. I have a lot of new projects lined up for all of you and some new recipes to try. I've got some knitting patterns in the works and plenty of new music for you to hear.

To sum up my pre-Christmas posting, here are the links to the tutorials for everything on my tree!
Glitter Ornaments
Shimmering Paper Ball Ornaments
Wood Bead Ornaments
Wine Cork Garland
Shimmering Paper Star Tree Topper

DIY: Shimmering Paper Ball Ornaments

After all my ornament making, my tree was still a bit barren. So I had one more ornament to make to help make it complete! I used the same non breakable ornaments since I have cats who just can't resist a ball on a tree.

What you'll need:

Ornaments

Hemp

Glitter

Mod Podge

Book Paper

DIY: Glitter Ornaments

Since I'm going all Martha Stewart on my Christmas tree I decided that I needed some ornaments to help tie in my tree topper. Now, I have cats, so that means I have to have non breakable ornaments, because you just never know when the tree will be turned into a jungle gym. I don't know if you've ever seen a non breakable ornament, but they are pretty simple and cheap looking. Definitely not the look I'm going for. So needless to say my cheap ornaments needed a face lift.

Here's what you'll need to get started:

Ornaments

Hemp

Glitter

Mod Podge

DIY: Shimmering Paper Star Tree Topper

Since I made everything for my tree, I decided that I needed to make the tree topper as well. This was fairly simple to make once I got the technique down and learned how to hold my hot glue gun without gluing me.

This is a very time consuming project so patience is mandatory! Find your zen! Also, you will have glitter EVERYWHERE. There is just no getting around that. 

What you'll need:
Mod Podge
Glitter
Hot Glue Gun
3D Cardboard/Paper Star
A Knife
Book Pages

Thursday Night Unwind

We have made it to another Thursday! And not to mention we are getting closer and closer to Christmas! I actually took tomorrow off so I have more of a weekend to finish up some Christmas presents. So I'm spending my evening watching some Doctor Who, and drinking a dirty martini. By the way, making a dirty martini is super simple. here, check out this video if you feel like indulging:

Yum! But onto the music now that you've got your drinks (or are dreaming of one). Tonight I'm going to share a new indulgence with you. A band I recently stumble across called iron & Wine. They are pretty chill, so they go great with a martini. First up is their song called  Boy with a Coin:

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies

So this is the time of year for baking, and you know what my favorite thing to bake is? Chocolate Chip Cookies. However, lately I noticed that my chocolate chip cookies were missing something. You know what they were missing? BACON. You just have to trust me on this one and dive in and try them.These cookies are really soft, and to tell you the truth, if you are scared of the bacon you can leave it out, although I wouldn't recommend it!

Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies

Ingredients: 

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups butter, softened

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar (for the cookies)
2 cups brown sugar (for the bacon)

1/2 cup white sugar

2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla

pudding mix

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

2 packages worth of caramelized bacon (see directions below) (also, when I made these with the bacon I only used one package of bacon, still good, but it totally needed more bacon. Two packages worth should be perfect!)

Recipe: Green Smoothies

Recently I have acquired a single serving blender for making smoothies. This morning I was inspired to use it seeing as I'm up way earlier than I should be. If you want to know more about green smoothies and their health benefits you should check out http://greensmoothiesblog.com/. This lady has a lot of valuable information as well as tons of recipes! Making a green smoothie is really simple. It's basically greens + fruit!
Here's what I made this morning:

Recipe: Zuppa Toscana Soup

Do you like the Olive gardens never ending soup, salad, and bread stick days? I do! And you know what soup I always order? The Zuppa Toscana Soup. and you know what else? I know how to make a version of it that is just as good as what you get at Olive Garden. So I'm going to share it with you!

Ingredients:

• 2 bunches Kale, Picked Over, Cleaned, And Torn Into Bite Sized Pieces
• 12 whole Red Potatoes, Sliced Thin
• 1 whole Onion, Chopped
• 1-1/2 pound Italian Sausage
• 1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes (more To Taste)
• 2 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 2 cups Whole Milk
• 4 cups Half-and-half
• Splash Of Heavy Cream
• Fresh Or Dried Oregano 
• Black Pepper To Taste

Thursday Night Unwind

Oh yes! We've made it to Thursday again! And as usual I have an action packed weekend planned. First on the list is after work. I'm going to a bar with some coworkers called The Lazy Oaf Cafe. I've never been there before, so it should be a good time. After that I'm going to the Crossroads Coffee House to see a friend's dad's band play. Then of course there will be some crafting and good food as well throughout the weekend. good times indeed. First step is to get through tomorrow at work... actually, that's the 2nd thing. First thing is to get to sleep tonight. So I think it's time to unwind! Up for tonight is a band that isn't as good recorded as they are live. Cause lets face it, you don't like The Flaming Lips because they have an amazing singer... you like them because they put on an AMAZING live show!

The first time I heard of the Flaming Lips, I was at a live concert thrown by Southern Comfort. I was there for the band that came on before them, so I was already up front & center. Then the band I went to see got off the stage and the Flaming Lips started. I was gonna walk away... but I'm soooooooooooo glad I didn't!

First up we have their song called the Yeah Yeah Yeah song... live (of course) :) Enjoy!!!!

DIY: Wood Beaded Ornaments

Ok, so here is a super simple and easy way to make some natural and rustic looking ornaments. If you made my wine cork garland, this is meant to match that as well. Are you ready for this? If you blink you might miss this tutorial because it's just that simple!

What you'll need:
Wooden beads
Twine
Scissors

Recipe: Roast Cornish Hens with Sage and Garlic

So instead of doing a turkey for Thanksgiving this year, we opted for cornish hens. They are smaller and easier to deal with when you don't have enough people to eat an entire turkey. Plus, I eat turkey all year round. after much searching I found this wonderful recipe on Saveur.com. Unfortunately it was for a whole chicken. So I modified it for the cornish hens. Basically I just used 5 cornish hens in place of 1 bird and followed he recipe from there. Pretty easy!

Ingredients:

5 Cornish hens or a 4lb chicken
1 lemon
22 fresh sage leaves
3 cloves garlic
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
Kosher salt
2 tbsp. olive oil
Ground black pepper, to taste
8 sprigs parsley
2 small onions, quartered
4 carrots, cut into 2" pieces

DIY: Wine Cork Christmas Tree Garland

I don't know how many of you are wine drinkers, but in this house we drink plenty of it. I always save the corks so I can do something nifty with them. Well, today I filled up my jar of corks and decided it was time to empty it to make room for more. I just couldn't figure out what to do with them until I looked at my naked Christmas tree. So here is my simple tutorial on how to make my wine cork garland.

Here's what you'll need:
Hemp or twine (and a kitty to chew on it while you try to take a picture of your supplies, thanks Luna)
Some beads, or trinkets, or charms
Eye screws (enough to screw one on each end of the cork)
Scissors
Hot glue gun or the ability to tie knots
Wine corks (as many as you want. I used 16 wine corks, but if I had more I would of strung them closer together)

Recipe: Spanakopita Bites

Tis the season for good food, family, and friends. And to start that out this Thanksgiving I'm going to be sharing some of the recipes of what's going on at my house. Now, while you have your turkeys or ham (or cornish hens in my case) cooking in the oven, your guests are going to need something to munch on in the mean time. So this is what I made to day to keep the rumbling bellies at bay. Spanakopita bites!

I originally found the recipe at What's Cooking Chicago. It said to use mini cupcake pans, but I used a regular cupcake pan and they were still awesome!

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach. thawed and squeezed dry (I used a bag of fresh spinach chopped and it still turned out good)
4 to 6 ounces domestic feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup cottage cheese
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound phyllo, thawed
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), melted
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Tuesday Night Unwind

So tonight I have to get to bed early so I can work a day shift tomorrow, which in turn is giving me a full 5 days off of work! Lots of crafting shall happen, along with some good food! But first step is winding down from work so I can survive tomorrow! Tonight I decided to showcase music by The Knife. Super interesting music group from Sweden (no worries, their music is in English!).

First off will be the song that got me hooked on them. I give you, Bird:

Update!!!

If you are a follower of my blog, then you can see there have been a few changes around here. I decided it was time give my blog a more personal flair.  I also decided that since my posts are growing that I should make it easier for you to enjoy the blog! So let's go over some of the changes shall we?

First off, as you can see right away, we have a different "look" to the blog now. New color scheme and backgrounds (yay)! Not one of the bigger changes, but I'm proud of it.

Next we have a new feature, the buttons that you see going across the top of the page. I'll be sorting my blog posts into these categories, and for easy searching you can click on the button to go to that type of post. On that page will be just a picture of whatever the post is about with a link taking you to the post. So you only have to enjoy what you want to enjoy!

Also up in the buttons I have made a place to put links for all sorts of websites and blogs that I've found useful or inspirational. so please go and check them out sometime! Also up there is now is a small feature about me in case anyone wants to know who is behind all this.

Over on the right hand side I now have a button that you can snag and put on your own blog or sites in case you like what you read and want to share it with others.

Other than that, I just tried to simplify everthing so you can enjoy your time on here. Thanks for reading!!!!

Thursday Night Unwind

And we are here at another Thursday! It's been a long week and I am excited to be done with tomorrow and get on with the weekend! Some exciting things are in the works.

First of all at midnight tonight I find out if my zipper face costume placed in the instructables.com contest. I also entered my t-shirt scarf into another contest on that site so we'll see how that goes. I am working on some great tutorials for some Christmas decorations, and also I'm creating my first knitting pattern. Once it's perfected it'll be posted! 

But enough about what's going on with me. You are here tonight for some exposure to some good tunes. Now I know I didn't do a Thursday Night unwind last week so guess what... you're gonna get a double whammy! (yay). Tonight I'm showcasing videos from Phantogram & The Hundred in the Hands. We are going to alternate back and forth. First off we have The Hundred & The Hands with Pigeons:

good stuff huh? I love this music video! Next will be one by Phantogram. This one is called Mouthful of Diamonds.

DIY: Recycled T-Shirt Scarf

This is a super simple way to use up some old t-shirts that you have lying around. It really only takes about 10 minutes to turn an old t-shirt into a super cute scarf! So here is the step by step!

 

What you need is an old t-shirt (with no seams down the side), a good pair of scissors, and a big tapestry needle.

Recipe: Cheeseburger Soup

I found this super yummy recipe while looking around at stuff on Pinterest (love that site!). I made a few modifications to the recipe since the one complaint that most people had about this recipe was the lack of flavor. You can view the original recipe here on Taste of Home. Now my version, let's be honest here... WAS AMAZING! It definitely wasn't lacking flavor! So here is my version of the recipe!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. ground sirloin (you can use ground beef too, but the better the meat, the better the flavor)

1 small or medium chopped white onion 

3/4 cup shredded carrots

3 stalks celery chopped

1 1/2 tsp dried basil

1 1/2 tsp dried parsley

1 large clove of garlic diced

4 tbls butter (divided)

4 cups chicken broth or stock

1 3/4 lbs diced or sliced baby red potatoes (you can peel them if you like, but I left the skins on)

1/4 cup flour or arrowroot powder or cornstarch (this is the thickening agent so use whatever you or have on hand, I used arrowroot powder)

3 cups shredded cheese (you can again use whatever you want. I went with a sharp cheddar, but really any type of strong flavored melty cheese would be good in this)

1 1/2 cups milk

1/4 cup sour cream

Salt & Pepper (however much you want)

Knitting Pattern: Twisted Rib Watch Cap

This is a super simple knitting pattern that you can use to get used to knitting in the round. It does get a bit mindless to knit since you're doing the same stitches over and over and over... and over. However, the results are fantastic! After I made this hat, I can't even begin to tell you how many people asked where i bought it. And then had to explain to them that I actually made it. 

Now this pattern was written by Terri Lee Royea and you can check out her blog here!

Ok ok... now onto the pattern!

DIY: Book Page Candle Holder

This is a simple way to out your own unique touch to candle holders or jars. They make great decorations and gifts! You can use any image that you can print on regular printer paper.

Thursday Night Unwind on a Friday Morning!

Before I get to the music of Portishead and why I'm doing this on a Friday morning, I need to share a bit of news... 

I am entered into a contest on Instructables and need your help! I need you to vote for my zipper face costume!  

You can vote by clicking here!

So I didn't have to work last night, and as a result I ended up going out to the bar with a few coworkers. This bar was pretty EPIC! It's called Le Tigre and the entire thing is filled with tigers!

DIY: Simple Fall Collage

This is super simple and cute way to trap fall in a frame. It also makes a great gift for nature lovers too! 

All you need is:

A page from an old book (I pick a page out of a dictionary)

A frame (I got mine from a thrift store for $0.90!!!)

Some pretty leaves

ModPodge

Piece of cardboard or card stock or some thickish type of paper

DIY: Zipper Face Costume

In spirit of Halloween, I thought I'd share with all of you my Halloween costume for last night. It's a great last minute cheap costume, plus it's really easy to do!

When I say this is cheap and easy... really I mean it! All you need is:

A Zipper

Spirit Gum

Spirit Gum Remover (you'll want that later)

Toilet Paper (The thinner the better)

Red Face Paint

Dark Eyeliner

Gel Blood

Thursday Night Unwind

And here we are at another Thursday night. Another great thing... I only have a half day tomorrow (yay!). So I can get the rest of my pirate costume finished (yes, there will be photos!). However, that costume isn't going to worn until next weekend for the pirate party I'm going to. So that leaves me in a conundrum for this weekend's costume.

But enough about me... time for some cheeeeeeeese... So today I was in a really good & goofy kind of mood and in honor of that... tonight is Richard Cheese night. If you don't know who Richard Cheese is, you need to know who he is... because he is Fa-bu-lous!!!

Here is here cover of Radiohead's creep:

DIY: Make Your Own Shampoo & Conditioner... sort of :)

So as some of you know, if you read my blog, I have been trying to go "noo poo". And the first week i tried it, it was terrible! I've since learned that I made some mistakes. First of all, I was washing my hair every day. And with the no poo method, you're really only supposed to wash it once every few days. Also, I may have hard water which apparently wasn't really helping the situation and my hair turned to a very waxy texture. Very not pretty. Even my boyfriend was complaining and he never says anything about my hair!

So I gave my hair a few days with normal shampoo and conditioner, while doing some more research and came up with a new method for me. So now, I'm going to share that with you! 

Recipe: Winter Root Vegetable Soup

The other day my friend gave me a whole bunch of root vegetables. I love vegetables! And I knew right away that I wanted to make a soup out of them. Now, most recipes that involve root vegetables in a soup involve making a puree out of them (yuk!). I decided that wouldn't happen to them wonderful veggie. So I made up my own soup recipe. It turned out pretty good too!

Ingredients: 

4 cloves of garlic minced

2 shallots chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 carrots chopped

4 small turnips chopped

3 beets cubed

1 onion chopped

1 sweet potato cubed

1 regular potato cubed

5 cups broth (I used a veggie broth made out of Better than Bouillon)

1 cup water

Salt & pepper to taste

1 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp oregano

Recipe: Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Wreath

I decided this morning, since it's Sunday, that I need to make something yummy for breakfast. So i turned to my favorite cookbook, the internet! And I found this lovely post by Bacon Time With The Hungry Hungry Hypo. After reading through that post, I decided I could make this as well, just with more bacon, more cheese, and more eggs. Simple & tasty? Yes please!

Ingredients:

1 can of croissants (8 count)

6 Large Eggs

A crap ton of shredded cheese. You can use whatever kinda of cheese you want. I used a 2 year old cheddar per the request of my boyfriend.

Bacon, bacon, and more bacon. You can't put a limit on bacon. I used a package of precooked bacon so I wouldn't need to cook that too.

DIY: Bohemian Chic Hair Pin

I found this super cute hair pin online at McLaughlin Designs the other day, and lucky me... there was a tutorial attached to it! It's really simple to do. 

You'll need:

a button (or a few)

a piece of felt in the same shape & size of the button

a bobby pin

some feathers

and a hot glue gun

DIY: Make Your Own Deodorant

My latest all natural experiment is making my own deodorant. I found this recipe while dinking around on Pintrest a few weeks ago and decided to give it a shot. I've been wearing my homemade deodorant all day so far, and guess what... I'm still dry under the arms and I still smell fresh! Well, actually I smell kinda like coconuts and oranges which is still yummy! I found the cute ceramic jar at St. Vincent DePaul (my favorite thrift store). I wanted something that had a screw on lid but looked nice sitting on a counter. 

Anyways... on to the recipe so you all can make your own! Now, I didn't come up with this recipe. But you can check out the original creator of it at How About Orange. 

Thursday Night Unwind, sorta...

So I don't work tomorrow! And thus there really isn't a point to an unwind since it really doesn't matter when I go to bed. Also, as I started writing this I have had 666 visitors to my page. Spooky.... Some updates... I am still washing my face with the oil cleanser and LOVE it. I'm even getting complemented on my skin lately. I never, ever, have been complemented on that. I decided after more research and finding a helpful forum, to retry the "no poo" thing. That's no shampoo, and yes, I still poo. I found out that I was washing my hair to much, which was giving my hair a really waxy feel. So I retried it yesterday. I switched up my recipe too, which I'll share in a week if it works. I'm on day 2 now. I washed my hair yesterday and just rinsed it with water today. I have to say, I'm a bit happier with the results so far. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it works.

But enough about all that. Time for some tunes! Tonight I'm going to showcase 3 videos by an artist named Gotye. I'm completely in love with his music. Here, this is the song that got me HOOKED. I give you, Somebody That I Used To Know:

Knitting Pattern: Cabled Fingerless Mitts

I made these a while ago. I love them! I do wish I would of done the wrist cuff a tad longer, but they suit their purpose. I knitted them with a rather cheap wool, so i would recommend using a higher quality yarn so they don't pill as bad as mine do. Now, I don't make my own patterns. I'm not that skilled yet. So I bring you this pattern from Carissa Knits!

Recipe: Cheesey Bacon Ranch Pulls

So I have the house to myself tonight and I'm doing it up right. I've candles going, archer on tv, some vino and then something wonderful baking in the oven. I wish I could take the credit for this recipe, but I can't because Plain Chicken figured it out first!

Ummm YUMMY! This is a super simple recipe and cheap recipe at that. It's good for slumber parties, game day, parties, or when you are home alone drinking wine & playing video games.

Recipe: Super Simple & Delicious Acorn Squash

What a beautiful fall day for some oven roasted squash. This is my favorite way to eat squash. This is a super yummy and super simple recipe to make. People who don't like squash tend to actually like this recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 Acorn Squash (halved & seeded)

2 teaspoons butter

2 tablespoons apricot or apple preserves

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Wednesday Night Unwind???

Yup, that's right, Wednesday Night Unwind! I have to work a day shift tomorrow so I have enough time to get off of work & get ready to go see...

 PRIMUS!!!!!

I'm soooooooo pumped! But before I go off on a rant about how great Primus is, let's give you all some updates on some of my other projects.

First up I've been trying some natural ways to wash my hair & face. I've been doing the no poo thing almost a week, and guess what... I HATE IT... My hair has never felt more disgusting. I think my next thing to try with my hair will be some homemade herbal shampoo... but I'm done with the baking soda and the apple cider vinegar. Major props to those of you that have figured out the trick to not make your hair feel like wax, but I just can't live with it. 

On the other hand though I've been washing my face everyday with the oil washing method and I must say that I do LOVE IT!!! :) Well at least something good came out of the first trials! I will be trying more natural remedies, but first... I need to wash my hair!

Click here to go to the post about Natural Remedies

Now onto tonight's music. And you probably guessed what band I'm showcasing tonight... PRIMUS!

First lets start out with a song I really hope the play tomorrow night. Over The Electric Grapevine

Video Game Review: Zumba Fitness

I am a HUGE gamer. I love video games. Normally I just play RPG's like Final Fantasy, Oblivion (soon to be Skyrim), Fallout, ect. Or I get sucked into simple & fun puzzle like games like Little Big Planet or any Lego game ever created. But last night my friend calls me up (she has the Playstation Move) and asks if I want to come over and Zumba. I've only ever heard of Zumba from some of my friend's Facebook posts which normally go "I felt ridiculous the whole time but, OMG I LOVE IT". So I said sure, what the hell. I'm always up for trying new things.

Knitting Pattern: Chunky Slouchy Cap

Now that I gave this hat to it's intended owner, I can post it up on here and share the pattern to a super quick knit for a nice fall/winter hat. This pattern was designed by Melissa "Missa" Hills of kpixie.com. It is a free pattern so again, I can share it with you!

Thursday Night Unwind

Here we are at another Thursday. Friday is just a dream away! As always, I've got another exciting weekend planned. I've got one of my friend's 30th birthday party to go! And at some point I really hope to finish sewing my pirate costume. All I have left to do is my shirt and I'm totally procrastinating on it.

Also, today I tried 3 different home beauty product recipes. I made my own baking soda shampoo & apple cider vinegar conditioner. Then I decided to also try washing my face with oil. The shampoo and conditioner left my hair a tad greasy after day 1 (I'm told this is normal for the first 2 weeks). The oil thing BLEW MY MIND AWAY!!!! My skin is soooooooo soft. and my pores on my nose that I can NEVER get clean... practically spotless! I'll keep you updated on how my little experiment is going after a week goes by.

Now on to tonight's music selection! I thought I'd introduce one of my latest musical obsessions as of late. The Devil Makes Three!The are a 3 person acoustic bluegrass band. I absolutly LOVE their lyrics and the sound of them. Just push play and you'll understand!

DIY: Chemical Free Living

I've been thinking about going chemical free for a while now, and as of late I have actually been researching it! I've found ways to make your own deodorant, going shampoo & conditioner free, natural cleaning products, homemade face cleansers, even how to make you own hair spray. So I'm going to share all of that with you today!

First up, how to make your own cleaners. I've found so many recipes and great ideas. I thought I'd share a few of my favorites, but give you some good links to where I got the recipes as well!

DIY: Wine Cork & Bottle Projects

I don't know how many of you are wine drinkers, but I am. In fact, let's be honest, I love wine! Since I drink so much of it, I'm trying to find ways to reuse the bottles and the corks. Let's start with the cork!

Did you know there is something out there called a cork tree? I had no idea! It's actually called the Cork Oak Tree. And people strip the bark off the trees to make corks. I know what you're thinking (OMG! The poor tree! I'm never drinking wine again!) but let me tell you this interesting fact: When the bark is harvested from the Cork Oak properly, the bark grows back with no harm done to the tree. Thus making it a renewable sustainable resource. In fact it's all harvested by hand!

Time for some projects with c
orks don't you think?

DIY: Learn to Knit!

So I do plan on going crazy with posting up knitting projects of mine, but before I get too far into it, I thought it'd be good to have a post all about how to knit.

Knitting may be a bit scary for some people to try,but trust me, it's way easier than you think. There are a lot of great teaching tools out there and I'm going to share some with you.