Blog hiatus = pregnancy bliss

Hi Friends,
I just wanted to update everyone that I've been taking a hiatus from the blog for the past several months, because of pregnancy. Plus, we are getting ready to move. So, with so much good on the horizon I've decided to let the blog "just be" and wait until my life gets back to normal or a baby comes to resume. Which ever one comes first!;)

I still have my shop up and it is active! So check it out. Thanks everyone 

Homemade Summer Slushy

 Lately, as the weather permits, L and I have been, on occasion, making little treks to the near by SevenEleven for a icy treat. Instant summer memories are brought back every time I treat my son and I to one. And I can't help but like the instant smiles that comes with it, even though I could do with out the coloring and high fructose corn syrup.

Actually, those two ingredients weigh heavy on my mind as we sip and slurp away at the frozen goodness. Not to mention the constant asking to go out and get one. Like.every.single.day. So I made my own version, with just two ingredients.

 Two Servings

Super ripe(almost over-ripe) frozen strawberries- 1 1/2- 2 cups
Strawberry Lemonade (or any lemonade you choose) 2 cups
Blender

Blend until smooth.

I rescued some strawberries that were almost to the point of no return by freezing them. They were so full of juice and colored deep red that I knew I had to do something quick or else in the trash they would go. Turns out that they were perfect for this recipe. I didn't have to add any sugar, and the end product had such a great froth to it. Slurp!

L loved it and it hit the spot. Making it with any fruit you like would be easy and if you need a little sugar I think honey would do the trick.

Happy Summer Slushies everyone!
Danielle

Thinking in Color- Hope

I will admit I'm a pretty deep thinker at times. I am also highly visual. As a result, I will get these little one liner thoughts through out the day, which a lot of time are companioned with a word picture. But I admit, I am no drawing artist (wahhh!). I thought I would release some thoughts to fly into the virtual air by sharing them via (amateur) graphic design. Because thoughts are better in color.

Some of them might sound silly but will have a twist of truth. Some will be as deep as the ocean (get your floaties!). Some will be from my husband because he is the MASTER OF WIT. 

Now on to what I was thinking.

 I was thinking about hope is a new way today. After listening to a gal explain the lack of hope she had in one huge area of her life, it dawned on me. Hope is a powerful tool to have when navigating life. If you have no hope it's like you lack a roof over your head. The elements can come in and destroy what belongs to you. 

I think we've all had times when it seemed like we had no hope, no roof over our heads. We need to give hope to one another to help them rebuild their house(lives, really) and also to receive hope when some one gives it to us.

Okay, so as you can read this was a Ocean's Deep kinda thought.Did ya stay afloat with me?!=) I have to admit I had a good feeling after I made this simple graphic. It was like I finally found a way to connect my visual thought world to virtual land.

 I would like to know if you have any thoughts about it yourself, if you do, please share!

Danielle

Simple Earrings-Two Ways

 All the way back in October of last year I had privilege of making a Indian Princess Headband (with feathers and everything) for a gal in New York. As part of the design, she requested a small turquoise bead in the center of some feathers, and I was happy to oblige. In fact I had so much fun being extra creative that when it was all said and done I had a swell of pride in what I created(does anyone else feel that?). But, I was left with a bunch of feathers(because you can never just buy a few) and an almost complete string of turquoise beads. What's a girl to do? Make some awesome earrings(feel free to bust out a karate kick here). 

You absolutely need zero jewelry making skills to complete this project. You do however need the following supplies:

2 round flat backed beads(with holes) found at Michael's

2 earring posts(mine are surgical steel size 10) found at jewelry store

2 feathers around the same size(small to medium is best) found at Michael's

Jewelry Glue 

Take your posts and smear a good amount of glue on it, make sure you get the edges. Let it tack up a little before putting it on the back of the bead.

Ok, if your bead is slightly round at the edges then a smaller post back will work just as well.

Now place the post back on the center of the bead. Let it sit for a bit to harden.

How cute and simple is that! Seriously, if you just want some cute little post earrings then stop here.

If you want to add a little bohemian bling and your not sick of the feather trend then the next steps are for you. Proceed.

can you see the glue? look closely.

Take your cute little feathers and de-fluff the top of the quill. Leave enough quill to fit nicely into the bead's hole. Add a generous amount of glue all around the quill.

Now pop that baby in the beads hole! Allow to dry and I would highly recommend adding a tiny bit of glue in the hole on the other side of the bead. 

20 minutes from start to finish.

Allow to fully cure before wearing. I put mine on after 2 hours.

Now make a pair for every outfit! Ha.

Enjoy,

Danielle

Nature's lip stain

Warning! Many pictures of my lips are in this post. Smooch! 

Can you tell that one side of my lips is pinker than the other? I was juicing some beets for smoothies and wanted to see what beet lip stain would look like on. I love lip stain. Unfortunately, blogger doesn't capture the true color of the the stain. It's a lot pinker then it looks. Not hot pink, just a pretty rose pink.

Here's another picture of the stain being only one side. 

Here it is on both sides with some gloss on top. It really got me thinking about making a lip stain made out of beets. How fun would that be! 

Top picture is several layers of fresh beet juice. Bottom picture is one layer of condensed syrup beet juice. Again, blogger doesn't show the true color. Ugh. Does anyone know how to override this?

I froze the beet juice into ice cubes and when I took them out the next day I noticed that there was a condensed syrupy layer of beet juice sitting on top of the frozen part. This really got me thinking about condensing the juice more and seeing if it could be blended into stain/lip balm. I recently whipped up a heavy lip balm for the winter season, so I'm thinking of adapting the recipe to include some beet color.

 I read you can make it with dried beet juice, but it has a grainy texture. Need to stay away from grainy.

I'm kinda excited about trying it out, I love this kinda of experimentation. I'll let you know what my results.