Pinteresting Things….

Is anyone else here Pintrest obsessed?  Pintrest has made me realize how much of a DIY-slacker I have become. I was the vintage-crafty-DIY-queen when I was planning our wedding. Since then, my office/craft room has become a cluttered catch-all for homeless items. From mail to dog food to winter blankets, you name it. I need to hire my friend Tatum, the Organizta to help me figure it all out.

In the meantime, here are some pintresting things I may some day find the time to do!

This is a far in the future DIY thing. I dream of a kitchen with a chalkboard wall for healthy menu planning, to do lists, affirmations and love notes. I would just like it to be a cheery color! Until Pintrest, I thought chalkboard paint only came in black! When the Hubs and I finally buy a house in our not too distant future, one of the kitchen walls WILL be painted with this!!

DIY Chalkboard Paint

Two years ago I fell in love with a ruffle shower curtain from Anthropologie. It was white and pink and peach and absolutely dreamy. It was also over $100. Yeah, not going to happen! This week I stumbled upon a DIY Ruffle shower curtain tutorial on Pinterest! As soon as my office/craft room is cleaned up, you better believe I am breaking out the sewing machine for this puppy. If I can sew labels into 300+ shirts for LBG, I can definitely swing this thing of beauty!

Ruffled beauty. Anthropologie knock-off

If any of you are already following my Pintrest boards, you have probably noticed I have a bit of a wreath obsession. Who needs a whole board dedicated to wreaths? Apparently I do. I have no explanation for it, so I’ll blame it on my mother. My current wreath infatuation is with this living succulent wreath from Tipjunkie.com

Living Succulents Wreath

And last on the DIY Pinteresting list is a chair makeover using old men’s ties. I have an amazing dining room table that seats 8 (in storage) that my Great Grandfather made. It was my parents wedding gift in 1967. I love it. When I was a kid I used to lay on the bench and color on the underside of it with pencils and red crayons. Bad little Terra(or). My scribblings are still there. It has 4 tall backed chairs with straw seats in addition to the long bench. The straw has definitely seen better days. All I need to do is hit the Goodwill for men’s ties and I can bring them back to life!

Tie weave seat

These are definitely lofty DIY goals for someone that has 2 small businesses to run in addition to a new 9-5 job! But somewhere I AM going to fit them in!

Are you Pintrest-obsessed? Does Pintrest make you day dream in DIY?
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Becoming a ‘Semi-DIY Bride’

I thought there were two types of brides in this world, the Do It Yourself Bride and the Buy It Yourself Bride.  I didn’t realize there were other options available until I started planning my own wedding and began to turn into Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee.

I love and hate Sandra Lee all at the same time. Her Semi-Homemade theory combines 70% ready made products with 30% fresh to make everyone believe you did it all from scratch.  How dare she fake fresh, home cooked food with packaged additives and preservatives?  The Health Coach and the traditionalist in me hates her for that. Then I see her cute little smile,  her carefully chosen menus, her perfectly coordinated colors, impeccable table scapes, and her pension for creating potent yet delicious cocktails and the wedding planner in me has to love her for it. Ultimately the wedding planner in me wins out over the health coach, just don’t tell the other Healthy Chicks.

I have these grandiose plans of DIY-ing everything. I am in awe of people like Mrs. Poodle and Mrs. Sewing wedding planning bloggers on The Wedding Bee. They blow my mind with their amazing hand made gowns, invitation designs, and hand crafted fabric bouquets (to mention only the tip of their ice berg of projects!).  I stay up late at night, scouring images of DIY projects and dreaming of how to incorporate them into our wedding.  Then I get anxty about the follow through.

I am  what I would like to call a hobby crafting collector. I like to start new, exciting and different crafting projects thinking it will become the hobby of choice only to move on to the next best thing. I move on for various reasons, most of which involves patience the other involves boredom. So far I’ve tried my had at paper crafting (even purchased a Criciut!), embossing, stamping, beading, jewelry making, paper making, card making, knitting, sewing, calligraphy, hoop making (started a business, turned a profit, then got bored with it and let it drift off into cyber neglect), chocolate making…. the list is truly endless.

This all adds up to me being the third type of bride out there, the Semi-DIY Bride. I almost have the skills, patience and follow through to be a true DIY bride, but not quite, I need to actually buy the hard stuff. Maybe as I move through my Semi-DIY projects I will gain more confidence and test the waters of the traditional DIY Bride. Only time will tell!

Are you a DIY Bride, a BIY Bride or a Semi-DIY Bride?

Sprouting Something!

I recently shared how to grow your own Sprouts in my Sprouting Wellness newsletter. The little article got such great reviews, I thought I would share it here! If my newsletter or this blog post prompted you to try growing your own sprouts, sent us an email so we can share it on the blog!

Growing Your Own Sprouts….

Bean Sprouts. I love them. While they’re mostly used in Asian cuisine, given their nutritional value I would like to advocate for their consumption in all cuisines including homemade soups and salads. Mung Bean Sprouts are power packed with pure forms of vitamins A, B, C, and E, in addition to an assortment of minerals including Calcium, Iron, and Potassium. One cup of mung bean sprouts contains only approximately 30 calories, 3 grams of protein, only 6 carbohydrates, and only .2 grams of fat. Sprouts also contain a high source of fiber, are easily digestible and contain a high concentration of enzymes facilitating the digestive process. Mung bean sprouts have a delightful crunch and mild flavor, which makes for an enjoyable snack experience, and are a welcome addition to many meals as an accompaniment or ingredient. While mung bean sprouts are available year round in the grocery store, it’s less expensive to grow them yourself!!

Growing sprouts in a jar

The easiest method is to grow sprouts in a glass canning jar. I have a collection of antique blue ball mason jars that I like to use. Any size jar will do. Sprouts need fresh air, cover the top of the jar with muslin, cheese cloth or nylon mesh screen and secure with a rubber band.

Step One: Soaking

For a quart-sized jar, put 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons of small seeds (up to 1 cup if using larger seeds like green peas or garbanzo) in the sprouting jar. Cover top of jar with cloth or sprouting lid and rinse the seeds in warm (not hot) water. Drain and refill so that water is about an inch above the seeds. Let the seeds soak 8-12 hours (overnight). Protect from light by covering with a dish towel or placing in a cupboard.

Step Two: Rinsing

Rinse 2 to 3 times per day for 2 to 3 days. After thoroughly draining the rinse water, lay the jar on its side to spread out the seeds. Do not expose to light. After 2 to 3 days the sprouts should be filling up the jar.

Step Three: Removing Hulls

After 2 to 3 days the sprouts will have thrown off their hulls. To remove the hulls, place the sprouts in a bowl and run cool water over them. Most of the hulls will either float to the top or sink to the bottom making them easy to remove. (Note: not all seeds have hulls.)

Step Four: Harvesting

Rinse sprouts in cool water and remove any remaining hulls. Drain in a colander but do not allow the sprouts to dry out. Place in an air-tight bag leaving room for air circulation. If your sprouts need to develop chlorophyll or carotene there is one final step. (The seed package directions should tell you whether greening is necessary.)

Step Five: Greening

Once the hulls are removed, place the sprouts back into the sprouting jar or into a clear plastic airtight bag. Put the sprouts in indirect sunlight. It takes about a day for the chlorophyll and carotenes to develop. Once the sprouts are ready rinse, drain, and eat, or refrigerate.

Storing:

Sprouts will keep for about a week in the refrigerator if you rinse them once every day or two. Be sure to keep the sprouts from freezing as they are frost sensitive.

Seeds are easy to store. Put them an a glass jar with an air-tight lid and keep them in a cool, dark storage area. They will keep for a year or more. Now get sprouting! 🙂