Oven-Baked Clay Planters

I’m beginning to plan out Christmas Gifts for 2018. My goal is to hand make each one for all of our friends and family. This would mean taking on new projects each weekend. I’m doing a quick test run by making mini planters for my sister’s birthday in early November.

I started with a home oven-bake clay called ‘Sculptey.’ This medium allows you to express your potting creativity without having to own a kiln or wheel. Starting simple was my goal. I looked up how to make a pinch pot on YouTube and took that as my template for little succulent planters. I tested out a few shapes until I landed on what I liked best - which was thumb-printed round pots (because, why not highlight how hand-crafted they are!).

Once my shapes were finalized, I was able to pop them in the oven for 25 minutes at 275 degrees. You can tell if they’re done as they’re no longer ‘rubbery’ when you poke them. After they cooled, I added a few layers of acrylic paint and then consecutive layers of acrylic varnish (both can be found at your local craft store). The layers of varnish really make them look like a finished piece! Can’t wait to send these to my sister and see what she thinks :)

Mushroom Farming

Fresh Mushrooms

We were browsing our new local (year-round) farmer's market in Ballard a few weekends ago, when we stumbled upon a mushroom vendor with a grow-your-own kit! The vendor was Sno Valley Mushrooms and they sell kits that you can order online if you're not local to the area!

We tried the Shiitake kit. It's really easy to use and the mushrooms grow quickly! The kit comes looking like a bread loaf, covered in mycelia. You keep the loaf in a warm, sunny, moist place (we used a plastic bag to cover it like a green-house - it worked pretty well).  Here are some photos of their growth process:

Day 1

Day 3

Day 6

Day 10

After the first harvest I was able to fill a full pasta-bowl full of the mushrooms - yum!

Quick-and-Easy DIY Cough Drops

I'm coming off of a really rough flu this week and have run into an even more persistent cough... I'm not sure which is worse! I'm out of cough drops and too tired to hike to to the drugstore, so I decided to make my own.

I found this great recipe from Thank Your Body. All you have to do is heat up the ingredients to candy temperature (whisking constantly), then cool on oiled parchment paper and breakup/coat with powdered sugar (I also added a hint of salt!).

DIY Coconut Oil Lip Balm

While I was dabbling in toothpaste making, I noticed that my lips were chapping and played with rubbing coconut oil on them to help moisten them up. It seemed to work, so later on that afternoon I started researching coconut oil lip balms. There are many versions out there, so I'm going to post the simplest I found.

Here's The How To: 

Ingredients: 2 parts Organic, Virgin Coconut Oil; 1 part beeswax; a few drops of the Essential Oils of your choosing

Simply melt down your coconut oil and wax on the stove or in the microwave [20 seconds or so] add a few drops of your essential oil [I used vanilla lavender - what I've had on-hand] and stir. Once you've mixed it thoroughly, pout it into your vessel [don't you love my cute mini Bonne Maman jam jar?] let it rest at room temperature to harden up. 

DIY All-Purpose Citrus Cleaner

I've been striving to be more sustainable in preparation to live on a farm some day in the future and getting in the mindset can really be tough while living in the city. We're surrounded by "the norm" constantly - which for the home generally means waste, toxins, and more waste. 

We've been doing, what I would say is, 'better than average,' at keeping our waste down. We recycle [but who doesn't these days] we re-use found items, and we compost. Composting is great for food scraps, and our worms are happy and healthy! There are a few items we hesitate to compost because they may hurt the worms - right now it's citrus, onions, garlic [anything we think may be too acidic or burn them, etc.]. So I've been looking ways to put these scraps to use. ENTER: All-purpose cleaner.

This project is a two-fer, because I've also wanted to stop using harsh chemical cleaners for a while. We are exposed to so much toxicity from these in our lifetimes! It's a little worrisome for me to think about. So, here's a wonderful little recipe for a home-made all-purpose cleaner.

The How-To:

Ingredients: White Vinegar & Any Citrus Fruit [whether it's starting to go bad, or you used it and have leftover peels]

1. Remove the peels from leftover citrus fruit
2. Place in a large mason jar
3. Cover with White Vinegar and seal, let sit for 3 weeks

Once your cleaner has "marinated" for three weeks, you can put it in a spray bottle or use it as-is in the jar by dabbing you cloth/paper towel in it.

DID YOU KNOW? That you can also use the interior of lemons to shine up shower fixtures?

DIY Homemade Toothpaste

The Daily Habit

Toothpaste - something that's rarely given much thought. According to Delta Dental, 7 in 10 Americans brush their teeth at least twice a day. Most of us brush our teeth on auto-pilot.

Currently, I work in advertising and my client is one of the top toothpaste brands. So I think about toothpaste a lot. A lot, a lot. In my case, this might be 'sacrilege' but I'm going to test out homemade toothpaste for a while. There are a few reasons I've been interested in this: a.) the ingredients in commercial pastes seem a little too synthetic for my taste, b.) making your own is way cheaper than buying store-bought, and c.) there's already a lot of fluoride in our water anyway, right?

Here's My How-To:

Just mix together the following ingredients into a paste:

• 4 tbsp Baking Soda
• 2(1/2) tbsp Organic Virgin Coconut Oil
• 2 tbsp Hydrogen Peroxide 
• 1/4 tsp Sea Salt 

Optional: add 1/2 tsp or peppermint extract or a few drops of an essential oil for flavoring. I actually love the taste of baking soda - so I didn't find the essential oil necessary. Plus, I've read a few articles noting that it might not be great to ingest. You could also cut out the salt if you find it too salty (I might do this next go around).

I put mine in a mini jar and use a mini spoon to apply it to my toothbrush. There's no foaming, which is different, but otherwise it's okay to me. I'll keep you posted how the next dental screening goes! 

Goat Cheese.

Cheesemaking. Delish. Nuff said.

Walking Dead - The Cheesemaking Episode

I'm a Walking Dead fan. And anyone (including me) who saw the most recent season now thinks that making goat cheese is REALLY HARD TO DO! A character, Eastman, continually attempts (and fails) to make goat cheese.

Well, time to debunk the myth. I made some cheese today and it was pretty simple and really rewarding! I'm wondering if it's just that there's a lack of lemons in the zombie apocalypse? Or maybe his goat, Tabitha (RIP), produced sour milk?

Here's The How To:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 Gallon Goat Milk
• Juice of 4 Lemons
• 2 OZ Vinegar (I used white)
• 1 TSP Salt
• Dried Herbs (I used purple basil that I dried from our garden)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Gather your ingredients
2. Pour your milk into a sauce pan and heat until 180'F (just about boiling)
3. Remove from heat and let rest for 2 minutes, then stir in the lemon juice
4. Lightly stir in the vinegar and let rest for another 2 minutes (until curdling begins)
5. Layer a colander with 2-3 layers of cheesecloth and pour your curdled milk into the cheesecloth 
6. Gather the ends of the cheesecloth and hang the cheese from your faucet for 1 hour
7. Sprinkle with died herbs 

We dug into ours right away, but if you wrap it in saran wrap you can roll it up and refrigerate too. The product I ended up with is softer than store-bought; so light and airy, like a magical cloud of delightful, cheese goodness!