Making your house a home - veggie and fruit boxes

Get your favorite colour chalkboard paint and cover your fruit and veggie boxes and then play around with different fonts to fill your house with uplifting words

Clothes you love without the costs you hate - crochet jean skirt

Ok, I won't lie the time cost of crocheting this is big, but ultimately worth it

Pattern was off etsy:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/116168684/pattern-crochet-skirt-poncho-neck-warmer?ref=transaction_complement_original

But used thinner thread and 2.5 mm needle

Because i used a thinner thread and needle the length of the crochet skirt wasnt long enough to reach from my waist to my knees. So I sewed the crochet skirt to the jeans just where the undertops I always wear (with lace at the bottom) reach to, to cover the plain jeans

Note: Don't sew with a machine! See by hand first in case u aren't happy with the lay of things

In terms of cutting the jeans:

1. Cut off the legs to match the length of the crochet skirt once attached

2. Cut up the legs 

3. Overlap the front parts of the two legs and back parts of the two legs and sew...there will be more overlap near the crotch. Note: try the pinned skirt on before sewing to make sure it still fits you!!

Making your house a home - new containers for old things

Fished these out the dumpster outside School of Geoscience #usefuljunk 

Remember using these…used to be so expensive to take pics! Now we don't even bat an eyelid

Making your house a home - make your own bunting

Buy your own: https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/TheArtofSALiving/onboarding/listings/244672533

Equipment:

Material Ribbon

Stapler

3 different coloured cardboards (3 different pieces of cardboard give you about 1.5 m of banting)

Scissors/craft knife and ruler

Time to make: 45 minutes

Steps:

1. Cut cardboard triangles (3 per page)

Easiest way I found to do this:

a. Bend your paper in half, but don't fold it completely...just make a small indentation at the top and bottom of the page to mark half way

b. Again bend these halves in half...just make a small indentation at the top and bottom of the page to mark a quarter of the way

c. Use your ruler to connect up these indentations and the craft knife to cut

2. Lay out the ribbon

3. Place the triangles the distance apart that suits you (about 5 cm for me)

4. Staple  them down

Making your house a home - Balloon lights

1. Take a hanger attach pegs (pegs must be hooked far enough over the hanger bar to close at the bottom). 

2. Blow up small water balloons. Try keep each hanger for a separate colour (to avoid worrying about them touching each other). If your water balloons are hard to blow up...then stretch them and blow while stretching (be careful not to close off the opening)

3. Mix wood glue with water (3 to 1 ratio) in a plastic container. Add as much food coloring to make it as dark as you want

Once you are finished with the mix, save the container for next time!

4. Put down newspaper to catch the drops

5. Cut 1m long lengths of strong. Hang them over the arm of the chair to make sure they don't get tangled

6. Dip the string in the mix. Start wrapping it around each balloon. I do around 4 strings per balloon. Try cover as much of the balloon surface area as evenly as possible. 

Repeat with different colours on different hangers

7. Leave the balloons to dry for two days

8. Pop the balloon and the balloon surface should pull away from the string leaving a ball

9. Slide fairy lights into the smaller holes, alternating colours

If you make your glue a bit thicker then the balloons don't pop and you get a semi stainglass window effect :)

Making your house a home - picture frames

Found these cardboard boxes in the dustbin at work! Turned into awesome photo frames. I assume they were from some software? Still need to find an image for the top one. The bottom one is a beautiful sketch we bought from a student selling on the streets of Melaka, Malaysia...showing the buildings in the old town

And then there are always clipboards! These are some awesome postcards I got at a Tim Burton exhibition in Prague

                                         

The left hand one reflects what several years of marriage will do to you...you melt into one big pile of goo :) the right hand one was to cheer Scott up cause he was over in South Korea with a broken foot while I was galavanting in Eastern Europe 

Looking after your body - The amazingness of apple cider vinegar

Taken from: http://www.putihome.org/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=34683

Check out this extensive list! http://www.healthy-holistic-living.com/apple-cider-vinegar-4.html?t=DM

So far I have used it to:

1. Wash my hair…It is the conditioner in the mix

2. Make my tummy more alkaline…though I can only drink half a cap full in the morning with very cold water. Can't say whether it is helping or more…but I am starting to enjoy drinking it!

3. Clean the toilet and shower walls

4. De-flea the cats…not sure how well it worked since Andrea and Carrie bought anti-flea shampoo the same day

5. Remove a tick from Shingo's back…again, not sure of the success because they became impatient and pulled it out…leaving the head in by accident!

6. Reduce the size of the pores on my face…i think it has helped!

7. Awkward, but it has worked wonders correct the flora in my nether regions

8. A late addition…it helps with pet constipation! Gave a teaspoon fill to Mika in a plate of milk. I didn't know if it made any different, but a while later Andrea (her own) suggested that was the reason for her more friendly behavior…and no longer cringing every time you touch her!

9. To deter termites (very important when living in a wooden house)! I put it across their path and the next day they had moved...though sadly were not gone all together!

Looking after your body - Deodorants

The new word on the street is that we need to be careful of deodorants...that aluminium in them has been linked to breast cancer. Though tests seem to be inconclusive, I would rather not take the risk

http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/myths/antiperspirants-fact-sheet

I tried going without deodorant and it worked fine with my low-meat diet in Malaysia, but now that I am back in SA 'the home of beef' I am struggling!

I therefore have tried this recipe and finding it hugely successful!

1 tablespoon corn flour
2 teaspoons baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
A few drops of essential oils like lavender or rosemary

http://www.motherearthliving.com/health-and-wellness/natural-beauty/beauty-recipe/homemade-deodorant-cream-zmoz13jazmel.aspx

I will admit there are some days when I smell, but in order to cut back on those I make sure to wash my clothes regularly and avoid synthetic clothes as they get older.

It is nice to cut back on one more plastic container I would have added to the rubbish heap!

Clothes you love without the costs you hate - What to do with old jeans

And for those old jeans that have holes between the legs, just cut the inside of the jeans and turn it into a skirt! 

Just be careful in the crotch area...don't keep the material in line with the jeans seam...rather bring it on top of the jean material, up to the zip base

Your garden - Recycled tins and paper

Or recycle your old tins and newspapers using modge podge glue

Cacti

1. Start off with some sand at the bottom of the tin, or small stones

2. Then mix in soil from your garden and a bit of compost

3. Make a hole for your cactus

4. Break a small bit of cactus off the one at your parents house that you love

5. Plant it and compact the soil around it

6. Get some light coloured stones to cover the top

7. Give about a teaspoon to tablespoon of water a week and put in a high-light area

Tin decoration

1. Take off the old paper on the tin

2. Cut a strip of newspaper that will fit around the tin...use a ruler or craft knife to make the cuts so the edges are neat

3. Apply a layer of modge podge glue to the tin

- instead of buying the expensive stuff, give put a tub of wood glue in a bowl

- then refill the wood glue container with water till it is 1/3 full

- Mix the water with the glue and you are ready!

4. Apply the newspaper and allow it to dry

5. Apply another layer of glue and allow to dry

6. You can keep going with a few more layers of the glue if you would like to make the covering sturdier and less likely to get damaged if you spill water on it while watering

Your Garden - A Fairy Arch

Every girl dreams of a arch overgrown with climbing roses in their garden (well at least I think). Don't let the expensive prices deter you...find some old branches and some rope and make your own! But be careful to make the base thicker than the top for sturdiness...branches sticking out in different directions at the base also help to create a firm foundation. Preferably secure it to another secure tree.

Making your house a home - Nail art (not your fingers :-))

Buy your own: https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/TheArtofSALiving/onboarding/listings/244670785

What to do when you have a spare plank of wood, chalkboard paint, nails, thread and an awesome continent you live on!

Steps:

1. Paint the plank with chalkboard paint

2. Print out the picture you want to create out of nails

3. Hammer in a few nails along the outline to help hold the picture in place on the board

4. Fill in the outline with more nails

5. Tear away the paper

6. Start your thread on one nail (tie a knot) and start looping it around other nails in a random fashion - you can loop it one or two times around each nail to make it extra secure

7. From your last nail start going around the border with your string, looping it around each nail as you go

Good luck!

Try mixing different coloured threads!

Your Garden - Old wire hangers

Use your old metal hangers to make hearts or words. Use your hands or pliers to make the letters sharper. You can always hang then from some old blinds draped over the wall :)

Making your house a home - Coffee and bees wax candles

To make wick: 

1. Melt wax in pot on stove on low heat

2. Cut length of string (length of jar plus but more) and attach something heavy like paper clip (metal, not with plastic covering) on both ends

3. Dip string in wax and allow to cool

4. Put one paper clip (plus string) in bottom of jar, and then hook the other over a pencil u balance along the opening of the jar (to keep wick straight up)

Candle: 

1. Poured wax as first layer to hold paper clip in place

2. Allowed it too cool and then poured coffee grounds

then more wax etc.

3. At some point I had to reheat the wax cause it solidified while the wax in the jar was cooling

Suggestions: 

1. Stick to thin layers rather than thick (unlike my picture)…else the coffee starts to cook when the flame gets to it and not in a good way! 

2. Next time I think I will actually just mix the coffee in with the wax at the start and mush it all together instead of doing layers…won't look as nice but will burn better and smell good all the time

I tried this last suggestion and it also didn't work! The coffee got burnt in the pan cause I wasn't ready with my mold. And when I poured the mix into the mold the coffee just sunk to the bottom! Next time I will try put in the wax, let it cool a bit and harden, then pour some coffee over...hopefully the coffee will slowly sink down through out...and, it won't go on the stove at all so it won't get burnt!

I will keep you posted!

Smaller candles from silicon cookie tray:

1. Cut string deep enough for the cookie tray

2. Attach split pins to the end

3. Melt some wax on a low heat

4. Dip the wicks/string in the wax and allow to dry on wax paper

5. Melt more wax and pour it into the silicon tray

6. Allow it to cool a bit

7. Before solid add some coffee grounds and allow it to sink or mix in with a spoon

8. Allow to solidify a bit more and then put in the wick so it is supported by the hardening wax

9. Pour some melted wax on top to make the top of the candle level

Don't put the wicks in the cookie tray before pouring in the wax! Even if they are secured to the bottom the very hot molten wax just makes it flop over