Favorite Things!

Last night I had a quiet evening at home, enjoying a few of my favorite things. A glass of white wine, chocolate mints, watching 500 Days of Summer, and crafting! One thing I love about that movie is that you don't even have to be fully absorbed in watching it to enjoy it. The soundtrack alone makes it worth throwing on. The Smiths, Regina Spektor, The Temper Trap... So good! I think most people will either relate to Tom or Summer when they watch it. I'm a Tom, through and through. I feel for the guy. Hopeless romantic (emphasis on hopeless), open-hearted, and a little misguided. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, if you're reading this, I'd be happy to recreate the IKEA shopping scene with you any time.

And what did I create in between drooling over JGL and munching on chocolate? Well, I got out my jewelry supplies and fixed a couple of broken necklaces, and made 2 new ones as well! Using chain and pendants from my local craft store, as well as some charms salvaged off a pair of earrings I don't wear, I created 2 funky, sort of bohemian necklaces. Here's the final result:

Coffee Body Scrub

Today I'm going to share another natural beauty product recipe with you! As you know, I like to experiment with making products myself using ingredients found in my kitchen. It's economical, environmentally friendly and really helps to cut out a lot of the dangerous chemical ingredients found in store-bought products. A product I've been making myself for a long time is body scrub. Scrubs are so easy and cheap to make, and the varieties are endless! My current pick is an all-natural coffee scrub. I especially like being able to re-purpose those used coffee grinds from my pot of morning java. If you don't compost (which, of course, I do), this is a great way to avoid putting them in the trash. Why coffee grinds? Well, the big trend in beauty products right now is using caffeine to combat cellulite. We all know that you can't get rid of the bumpy stuff completely, but you can temporarily reduce the appearance of cellulite. The theory is that caffeine, applied topically, increases micro-circulation to the area, which increases fat metabolism and reduces fluid retention (swelling). This makes the skin look firmer and smoother. So, I thought I'd make a scrub that does double duty - exfoliates and moisturizes the skin while (potentially) smoothing out those trouble spots. I don't know for sure if it reduces the look of cellulite, but at the very least coffee grinds make a good exfoliant. Here's the recipe I've been using. As usual, I'm not giving exact measurements. Measuring is for suckers! The idea is to adjust the ratio of the ingredients until you get the consistency you like. I like my scrub to be a little crumbly, with enough oil to spread well, but not be soupy.

Used Coffee Grinds

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or any oil you have on hand)

Coarse Sea Salt

Mix the ingredients into a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Adjust the ratio until you like the consistency. Test it on your hands over the kitchen sink. When you're done, put the jar in your shower and scrub away a few times a week to get soft, smooth and moisturized skin. I find it's best to pat dry in order to keep the oil on your skin. Enjoy!

Great Event in the Kawarthas!

If you like handicrafts, vintage items and vegan and gluten free baking, and you're in the Peterborough/Kawarthas area, you need to see this! My crafty friends over at Rabbit & Bumble are hosting an open air market on Saturday August 18th. Check out their fabulous poster and visit their blog and facebook page for more info! I wish I could go, but alas, I'm working that day.

Dresser Update

Well, I've made some more progress on my dresser makeover project. Yesterday I stained the drawer fronts a lovely dark walnut. I was a little concerned that it wouldn't absorb evenly. When I sanded the drawers, I found that the old finish had absorbed deeper in certain spots, so even with a very thorough sanding, some areas were darker and some areas were lighter. However, once the stain went on, it looks pretty even. I love the shade it turned out, much more modern and more neutral. This weekend I will be varnishing them to protect the finish, then the next step is to pick the perfect shade of white paint to compliment the walnut stain. Here's how the drawers look now:

Mid Century Modern Dresser Makeover

So, I'm a little obsessed with mid century modern design. Ok, a LOT obsessed. I just love the lines, the simplicity of form mixed with the fun details. Its clean, but not minimalist, not austere. I feel like it has a sense of humour. Its fun without being childish. And a good teak or walnut finish gets me really excited! I've been searching for a while for a great mid century dresser to complete my bedroom. You know me, I'm a bargain hunter, so I've been keeping my eyes on the local classifieds and in thrift stores for the perfect piece. I ended up finding a cool tallboy dresser listed on Kijiji for $40! It's big and solid and fairly well made. It has dovetail joinery in the drawers, and its original sliders all still work perfectly. The finish however needs some work. There are some scratches and marks, and overall I'm not a fan of the colour, but you have to look past these little details. Nothing a good sanding and a coat of stain or paint won't fix! So, for $40 and a little elbow grease, I'm going to have a great dresser that I can be proud to say that I refinished all by myself!

Here's how it looked originally:

As you can see, it has nice clean lines, cute little peg legs and interesting integrated drawer handles. What I plan to do is to stain the drawer fronts with a dark walnut stain, and paint the sides and top a creamy white. I'm doing this for 2 reasons. First of all, I like the two-tone look. I think it will draw attention to the neat drawer details. Secondly, painting the rest instead of staining will minimize the work involved. You don't need to sand as much if you're going to paint. Just a light scuff, and then prime and paint. It will be easier, faster and more forgiving (seeing as I'm not an expert finisher by any means). Here's a photo of my inspiration:

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Conveniently, the blog where I found this inspiration piece also has a detailed tutorial on creating this look. So, on my day off, I loaded the drawers into my car and took them out to my dad's shop so I could borrow his tools. I spent a few hours sanding, and I have now completed step 1 of the project. The drawer fronts are sanded down, and ready to stain on my next day off. Feels good to get started on a big project! Here's how they look now:

Stay tuned, I will post updates as I complete more steps in the transformation of my new old dresser!

Eco Swimwear

Here we are in the middle of another heatwave! All I can think about, as I sit here in my un-air-conditioned house is pool, pool, POOL! Us lady-folk know how hard it is to find the right swimsuit. When you throw in a desire to be planet-friendly, it gets even harder! But I have good news. I've been searching every corner of the internet for swimwear that's both eco-friendly and cute. I've found some great options, but I have to tell you, they don't come cheap. Today, I stumbled upon a swimwear line that meets all my criteria! Let me introduce you to La Isla.

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Their bikinis and swimsuits come in a variety of great cuts, bright colours and cool patterns. But what I love about this company is their commitment to the environment and ethical business practices. They use organic cottons and Oeko-Tex certified fabrics. They use FSC approved printing facilities, and solar-powered internet hosting. They also give back to a number of worthy causes, including Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society. I highly recommend checking out their website if you're in the market for a new bathing suit!

DIY: Body Butter

If you're anything like me, you probably worry about all the nasty chemicals hiding in beauty products. You want products that work, but you don't want to slather your skin in artificial fragrances, dyes, hormone disrupting preservatives, and known carcinogens. Why would anyone want to pay big corporations to poison them? Sure, there are natural products available. Lots of them actually. Some are healthier than others, and they have varying degrees of effectiveness. The problem is, you often pay a premium for these toxin-free products. I don't know about you, but I'm frugal. I want green, healthy products that perform well and don't cost an arm and a leg. So, I decided to experiment with making my own natural beauty products. After doing some online research, I found a recipe for body butter bars that I decided to try out. I modified the recipe a little, and my results were FABULOUS! You can find the original recipe here. Here's how I made mine:

Equal parts:

Beeswax

Coconut Oil

Cocoa Butter

A few capsules of Vitamin E oil, pricked with a pin and squeezed in with the oil/wax mixture.

At the time, I was running low on coconut oil, so I did half and half coconut oil and olive oil.

I'm not including measurements because it depends on how big of a batch you want to make. I used a silicone flower shaped ice cube tray that makes 16 "cubes." To get my total amount of oil/wax needed, I weighed the tray on my digital kitchen scale, filled one cavity with water and weighed it again. That gave me the measurement of one "cube." I multiplied it by 16 to get my total weight of ingredients. Then I divided that number by 3 to get the weight of each ingredient. I weighed out the wax, oil and butter individually and put them all in a large pyrex measuring cup. I microwaved them until everything was melted together. You could also use a double boiler, crock pot or just a pot of boiling water with another container inside. Then I poured the mixture into my ice cube tray. I did this over a large bowl of cold water. That way, any oil/wax that spilled just hardened in the water, minimizing the mess and cleanup. I put the ice cube tray in the freezer to set the body butter.

I couldn't wait to test them out! They are fantastic! They are fairly solid, so you rub the body butter bar between your hands to warm and melt it a little. Its super rich and moisturizing, great for feet, elbows, knees, and everything in between. A little goes a long way. And it smells heavenly! Like chocolate with a touch of honey. It honestly makes your skin GLOW! This experiment was well worth it. I will definitely make these again. That's one product I can now cross off my shopping list.

Shop Local!

I'm lucky enough to live in a city with a thriving downtown. Beautiful historic buildings, unique shops, great restaurants and coffee shops, and a friendly atmosphere. Sure, we have the big box stores too, but downtown is the place to be. Its where you find the coolest clothes and decor, unique items that not everyone has. I can literally wander for hours, window shopping, actually shopping, enjoying a cool beverage on a sunny patio, and running into familiar friendly faces. It just feels like home. But I wonder if people realize that these amazing areas in every town are in constant jeopardy. Big box stores come to town, offering low low prices on cheap merchandise shipped in from the other side of the world. The more we give in to the lure of convenience and rock-bottom prices, the more our local businesses suffer. The thing is, WE decide what kind of town (and what kind of world) we want to live in, and we cast our vote with ever dollar we spend. Who do you want to support? The giant, multinational, faceless corporation, or Mr. Smith, who lives down the street, and makes his honest living in your town, and in turn, spends his money in your town, and gives back to your community? When you support local businesses, you support your community. Here's a quick read on some of the many reasons to shop local: article.

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DIY: Message Board

I'm always searching for functional objects that are also beautiful. Most people have a message board somewhere in their house. A place to write grocery lists, honey-do lists, and jot quick notes to your family. Most of the dry erase boards I've seen in stores are, lets face it, ugly. Utilitarian, simple, no style to speak of. So I decided to make my own. It's super simple and inexpensive too! I went to my local dollar store and picked up a picture frame, some scrapbook paper and a pack of dry erase markers. I cut the paper to fit in the frame and assembled it. That's it. You can use dry erase markers on pretty much any non-porous surface, so it doesn't matter if the frame has glass or plastic in front. Here's how mine turned out:

I used scrapbook paper, but you could also use wallpaper remnants, a favorite photo, a cool image clipped from a magazine, sheet music, or even fabric. Although, if you choose fabric, I would recommend taping or gluing it to a thin piece of cardboard so it doesn't slip down inside the frame. One final tip, I would use a fairly light colour scheme so that the marker shows up over it. Happy crafting!

Natural Blemish Buster

If Tea Tree Oil isn't already a staple in your medicine cabinet, now is the time to add this natural powerhouse to your bag of tricks. Tea Tree Oil is an essential oil produced by steam distilling the Australian plant Melaleuca Alternifolia. Applied topically, it has antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and antiseptic properties. This means it can be used to treat a wide variety of common problems. Some of these conditions include:

- Acne

- Athlete's Foot

- Dandruff

- Lice

- Minor Abrasions

- Skin Irritations

- Bug Bites

- And many more...

Due to it's antibacterial properties, it can also be used in homemade cleaning products. You can add 2 tsp of the oil to 2 cups of water in a spray bottle to use as an all-purpose cleaner. I like to mix a few drops into some baking soda to use as a tub scrub. My favorite use for Tea Tree Oil is as a natural blemish buster. Apply a little oil to a cotton swab and dab onto blemishes a few times a day. It has been found to be as effective as Benzoyl Peroxide, but with fewer side effects.

For more information on Tea Tree Oil, see articles here, here and here.

Cautions: Do not ingest Tea Tree Oil.

Its strong, so be conservative, a little goes a long way.

Be Green - Recycle!

Now THIS is cool! I just found out about this amazing recycling program from TerraCycle. This organization accepts all kinds of waste that your local recycling program may reject, and turns it into cool and useful recycled products! They take everything from candy bar wrappers to cosmetic containers to pens. Its available in many countries around the world, including here in Canada. Here's how it works:

1. Visit www.terracycle.ca to sign up for free.

2. Pick the type of waste you'd like to collect.

3. Put out a collection box, get the word out, and wait for the box to fill.

4. Download and print a shipping label and ship to TerraCycle for FREE via UPS.

5. They turn your garbage into NEW products and materials.

6. On many items, they donate $0.02 per unit of waste to a charity of your choice!

You win, the planet wins and so does a worthy cause! I'll be signing up and collecting items through my work. You should too!

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Stay Cool

We are officially in a heat wave! Feels like 41 with the humidex today. Please excuse me while I melt. In fact, its so hot, I couldn't even have my usual cup of coffee this morning. That's a problem for me. I'm the first to admit that I'm an addict. Need that java to start my day. Lucky for me, I had coffee ice cubes on hand! A lovely friend gave me this Fred & Friends Cool Beans Coffee Ice Cube Tray as a gift, and I have gotten so much use out of it!

You just pour your leftover coffee in the tray and freeze. The tray is made of silicone, so its easy to squeeze out the bean shaped cubes. This morning I just added a few cubes to a glass of milk, but you could also toss them in the blender with milk (soy or almond milk if you prefer) to make a delicious frosty coffee beverage, or even put a couple in a glass of Bailey's or Kahlua if you're feeling saucy. Cheers!

Nuts for Coconut Oil

Lets take a moment to appreciate one of nature's best kept secrets... Coconut Oil! This stuff is amazing! Not only is it a fantastic addition to your diet, as it is the BEST oil to use for high temperature cooking (it doesn't oxidize and turn into free radicals like some other oils), but its also fantastic for your skin, hair and nails.  There are literally hundreds of uses for this hard-working natural product, which I can't even begin to list here. Check out this helpful infographic to get a general sense of its awesomeness, and for more detailed information, read this article.

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How do I use coconut oil? I use this organic extra virgin coconut oil for cooking, in smoothies, as a moisturizer for my face and body, as a deep conditioning hair treatment, and as a base in homemade body products (scrubs, lotions, lip balm, etc). It is truly a super hero! You may have trouble finding it in the grocery store, but it is readily available at many health food stores. This is a MUST TRY!

Mean 15

While we're on the subject of beauty products and toxic ingredients, I thought I'd share this handy tool. Visit the Ecoholic website to download and print the Mean 15 pocket guide. Keep it in your wallet, and whip it out next time you visit the drugstore for shampoo, deodorant, moisturizer and more. Do yourself and the planet a BIG favour and become a label-reader. It may take longer, but its well worth the effort.

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Summer Reading

I just picked up a copy of Adria Vasil's Ecoholic Body. Loving this book so far! Third in her hugely popular Ecoholic series, this volume deals with personal care. From shampoo to shoes, Ms. Vasil runs down the list of all the chemical nasties lurking behind the pretty packaging and glossy ads. She teaches us what to look for in ingredient lists, recommends products that have passed the test, and even shows us how to make it ourselves! Jam packed with important information on our health and the health of the planet, Ecoholic Body shows us how to simplify and green up our lifestyle, something we could ALL benefit from.

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The Infamous Sock Bun

So, if you know me at all, you probably know that I have very little skill when it comes to styling my hair. I have been cursed with fine, slippery, straight hair... and very little patience. So you can imagine my excitement when I mastered a fun, pretty hairstyle. Armed with a tutorial found on Pinterest, a lonely, mateless sock, and a good helping of determination, I set off on my quest to conquer the Sock Bun. Follow these instructions and you too can have a big, beautiful bun that will fool everyone into thinking you have long, thick and luscious hair.

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Music Maven

 

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The concert season is upon us once again. For me, summer means rock shows in parks and amphitheatres. Of course, the order of the day is rocking out, so comfort is key. Flat, closed toe shoes are a necessity, as is a cross body bag to stash your camera, cash and (ahem) contraband. Hands should be free to throw in the air, fist pump, and wave the occasional peace sign. Don't forget copious amounts of sunscreen!

My concert season was supposed to start over the weekend with the much anticipated Radiohead show at Downsview Park in Toronto. As a long time fan, I was so excited. That excitement, however, turned to shock and heartbreak, as a massive accident occurred just before the gates were set to open. The enormous stage setup collapsed as it was being erected, killing a member of Radiohead's road crew, and injuring 3 more. Obviously the concert was cancelled. Such a tragedy. Condolences go out to the victim's family and friends. See CBC News for all the details.

Casual Coral

The days are getting hotter, and the outfits are getting cuter! The steadily rising mercury calls for breezy tops, comfy shorts and sandals to show off that well deserved summer pedicure. My favorite colour combo? Coral and turquoise call to mind tropical destinations, even when my only destination is the patio down the street. Neutral brown grounds the palette, and chic sunglasses always finish off a cool summer look.

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