Favorite Friday

It's Favorite Friday again so I can acknowledge my favorite items I've made and 9 of my favorite items from my fellow Etsy team members (Afternoon Tea, Chat and Treasuries Team).

1. My Patterned Olive Pillow

*****

2. Mystic 3 Tiny Gold Star Necklace 

by Mysticdukkan

They're mystical and tiny and gold. What more do you need?

*****

3. Sparkle Long Fingerless Gloves Mittens

by HandMadeLana

Shh...I know it's summer.

*****

4. iPad and iPhone Black & White Padded Cases

by RetroBottegaShop

FABULOUS.

*****

5. Wood Watch Dial - Recycled

by SecondShot

What? WHAT? How cool is this? It's art ON YOUR WRIST.

*****

6. Looney Tunes Pepsi 1973 Collector Series Glasses

by ShopOfCraftsByMyrna

LOONEY TUNES!!!...Ahem. I lost control of my inner child there for a moment.

*****

7. Peacock Print Corset Hip Belt

by LiziRose

Fabulous fluffy feathers.

*****

8. Chocolate Jasmine Soap

by Fisikashop

THIS SOAP LOOKS LIKE CHOCOLATE. Just don't leave it out lest someone mistakes it for real food.

*****

9. Shabby Chic Floral Rose Pillow

by ScarlettsCozyCottage

If you don't want to lay your head down on this pillow then...then you must sleep on rocks...

*****

10. Mosaic Double Sided Mirror Compact

by PiecesofhomeMosaics

Roses are red, violets are blue, look at this mirror, it's just for you!

Limited time only! The Love Scrub!

Hurry and buy The Love Scrub! It's only here till February the 15th!

     Now introducing The Love Scrub for Valentine's Day! Hurry and snatch this sweet and spicy delight!

Along with sugar and spice n' everything nice is some sweet almond oil, pink Himalayan salt, turbinado sugar, sea salt, and a blend of essential oils!

Easy DIY: Ring Boxes 1

Why would we want to know how to make ring boxes? Because why not. Here's Ring Box #1. I'll show you how to make Ring Box #2 next week.

Here's what you'll need:

Note: Up top are all the materials. I'm only going to list the materials for Ring Box #1.

-Hot glue gun

-Exacto-knife

-A piece of sponge

-Black felt (or velvet)

-A little box

Let's make a ring box:

1. First measure out your box and then cut a matching piece of sponge. Make sure it fits in the box.

2. Now cut a matching piece of felt! You may want scissors for this. Exacto-blades don't like felt. Sponge, but not felt.

3. Glue your felt n' sponge together so it looks like one of those cheap desserts you get at a buffet. 

4. Now cut that sponge. I put three slits in mine since it wasn't a big piece of sponge.

5. After all that gluing and cutting, you can stuff your sponge cake right into the box. You can go ahead and glue it in there but friction does well in holding it in place; just in case you need the box again.

6. Ta-dah. You have a little ring box.

More notes/tips:

Keep in mind here, you can make yours as fabulous as you want. You can put washi tape on your box. You can use a different kind of felt (I originally wanted orange felt but I couldn't find it). The possibilities are endless with a DIY as simple as this.

When did "DIY" become a noun?

Just asking. I noticed I do that a lot.

It Was Supposed to Be a DIY...

But it was just a mess and I'll show it to you anyway.

So I have this cruddy little clip board I never use.

It's not like it's that bad. I mean, I loved the fact that it has measurements on its sides but I have enough rulers to measure out a mile.

So I decided to paint it. I was feeling a kind of striped patterned thing.

So I started with a baby-blue base and spray painted the front.

Then the back.

 And I was all ready to make some nice purple stripes.

And I start spray painting...

 And it's going all nice n' stuff. AND THEN I FREAKN' RUN OUT OF PURPLE SPRAY PAINT. I'm like "what? Really? FREAKING, REALLY?" So I crack out the acrylic paint and I don't have a single purple that even remotely looks like the one I was spray painting with. So I think to myself "okay, just relax, chill out, I can mix paints, I can do this."

The end product was a purple that didn't completely match the original but is totally undetectable by anyone's eyes but my own. It may bug me but at least no one else will know.

So the back (the spray painted side) came out fabulous. It's not the smoothest, but it's still nice.

 The front, however—the side in which I may write on—was a lumpy-surface-area disaster. The acrylic paint was pulling on the tape and made a couple of scraggly sides and of course I didn't think about what the millions of coats of acrylic paint I applied to get the purple hue right would do to the all over look and feel.

So I said "Nuggets. Just forget it." and I then applied a nice coat of this stuff. Which is for paper but I used it on something totally different anyway. Happy Monday guys.

Apple Cider: The Wonder Liquid

Bragg.com

I hadn't even a clue what apple cider vinegar was 'till my mom brought it home from the grocery store. "What's this?" and I took a swig. Horrible idea considering it's strength and bitter flavor. I felt that burn travel down my esophagus and into my stomach. My brother took a swig and had it go down his trachea a bit; 'couldn't breath for about 20 seconds. Wheezing for the next 5 minutes. Scary stuff.

Yet as horrible as this poison flavored liquid sounds it's relatively beneficial for your health. I take two tablespoons a day. Diluted in water. And not all at one time.

1. It's a nice source of potassium and iron. We all know iron is good for you and chances are you're not getting enough of it. It's good for your hair and skin. A lack of iron will cause you to become fatigued as well. In essence, the iron in ACV (that's what I'm calling the vinegar for the rest of the post.) will help you feel a little energized. And for potassium, well, you'd be dead if you didn't have any so I think it's safe to say you should have a good source of potassium. Potassium helps maintain important organ functions and can help protect your heart and brain in it's ability to aid in lowering blood pressure (mass.gov | webMD.com - iron | webMD.com - potassium).

2. Weight loss. Yeah, maybe. It has many characteristics that aid in weight loss such as its acetic acid which helps boost your metabolism; however, it is not a quick fix. Instead it would be a great addition to a current diet or an already healthy lifestyle (rd.com | webMD.com).

3. It's good for your dog. What? Yes, I happened upon this article by the Bragg brand. It's got some good minerals for you pooch and can be beneficial to their skin: it can help with bugs (fleas and ticks) and can help give them smooth skin. It can also help you get smooth skin too if you choose to use it as a vinegar facial (yes, those exist) (Bragg.com).

4. It gets you in the mood. Not that mood. I know what you were thinking. In a chain reaction, ACV helps break down proteins into amino acids which help create tryptophan which then stimulates the release of serotonin: the happy hormone. Okay, it's not a hormone. It's a neurotransmitter but I was that desperate for the alliteration. Anyway, serotonin helps you feel relaxed which can aid in depression and anxiety (health.usnews.com).

5. Good for diabetics. This is an important one for me since diabetes has a bad habit of showing up in my family. ACV has an apparent anti-glycemic characteristic which helps lower blood sugar. Though it doesn't block 100%, ACV can block much of the digesting starch which could increase your blood sugar. Do remember, though, that vinegar is highly acidic and adding this to your diet can increase the level of acids in your body (webMD.com).

It wasn't until after I finished reading several articles on webMD that I found the warning "Don't drink it straight. It’s so acidic that it could harm your tooth enamel and your esophagus."

World Elephant Day!

And here's a baby elephant from the cheezburger site to make your Elephant Day a little special!

#SAVEELEPHANTS