Rooting Green Onions

I hope you weren't expecting an overly positive "I saw this on Pinterest and it's mind blowing" post. It's not. I just want to clear something up. Yes, you can root green onions, obviously...everyone's doing it! My issue is that I keep seeing people write "OMG, I'm never buying them again." Yes, you will, b/c onions are funky and funk up a water bath fast. Meaning, you will get one good batch of re-grown herbs, maybe two if you are lucky. Even if you change out the water twice a day, the jar will -without a doubt- end up reeking and the bulbs will -without a doubt- become a slimy mess.

Just thought I needed a PSA today.

How to Root Succulents

I am a simple girl and I don't really feel like instructions need to be over the top complicated. Propagating is something you have to jump into and learn as you go, failure and all. 

So, here is my easy breezy guide to rooting:

I got these lovely succulents at a wedding, they were  all connected to one stem (without roots) so I cut off each one (as far down as I could) to make separate plants.  Each one was put into a can of water until sufficient roots grew, about a month. Make sure to change out the water every week or so. 

After roots formed, I potted the plants into a homemade succulent soil, half sand/half soil. Easy enough? Make sure the soil is soaked b/c those roots are used to a constant water bath.  

Boom! Now onto making more plants!!! 

If you want to continue propagating  pick off the leaves as close to the stem as possible. Place them on top of soil in a pot and spray them everyday with water. Do NOT put the leaves in the soil, just on top. Place the pot in a window that gets partial sun, you don't want them to freak out with too much heat. This rooting takes a good 2 months, so be patient and spray daily! 

Some of the leaves will die off, it's just the nature of the game. 

Sexy huh???

Be delicate when planting these new little babes!  Make sure that you have slightly moist (but not wet) soil, scoop out just a bit of dirt, and place the cutting in it. Try to just cover the roots (not the entire clipping), and continue to spray daily until the new plant gets strong. Place in full or partial sun.  Happy rooting! 

Make Your Own Plug-In Refills

Everyone loves a great smelling home, but why pay an arm and a leg for it. Yes, I keep my house clean, but I like to have a plug-in here and there to make sure the house is on the up and up (esp. around the litter box). I bought the Frebreeze plug-ins, but the refills are $6...yup I am that cheap. So I took off the lids and filled them up myself with castor oil and orange oil. Total cost per refill: about 50-75cents.

It's simple...take off the lids, fill 80% with castor oil (or any other cheap carrier oil) and about 10 drops of any essential oil.

Boom! Your house smells good and you got your thrift on!

At Home Tattoo Removal

Some of us have them, the lucky ones don't.....the awful tattoo that you would kill to get rid of.

This not-so-lovely tulip tattoo was the result of one too many margaritas and I regretted it the next day!

I have already been through laser and could not afford to go down that route again, so I started searching online for an alternative. Did I mention I also tried Wrecking Balm with no results??

Forgive me for not taking pics of the entire process, but I had no idea this would work so well. The results were truly astonishing.

The Beginning:

Here is a pic of my wrist tattoo from a few months ago. Sorry for the lack of close ups, this was the best pic I could find.

This is how simple it is:

I took a half a cup of kosher salt with a half a cup of water and rubbed on my tattoo (with a soft cloth) for 30 minutes, continuously dipping my rag in the salt water.  Honestly the first 20 minutes just felt like a salt scrub, but the last ten was a bit stingy.  I also was drinking wine and would highly suggest watching some smut on t.v. to keep yourself distracted.

The following day I put my wrist under water and sprinkled on some salt for a second treatment. *Salt has been used for centuries to treat wounds/infections because it pulls all of the impurities out of your skin. I let that salt sit for about 20-30 minutes and then gave it a good rinse with Dial antibacterial soap.

The area will get slightly bloody, so it needs to be treated like any other wound. Keep it clean! It is NOT my fault if you are dirty and get an infection!!

I  got a lot of flack afterwards when my scab was gross, but now people are simply amazed that my tattoo has been totally removed. So here comes the gross pics..... 

 And here we are 5 weeks later. I still have an area that reminds me of my tragic bike accident of 2009, but I know in time my skin will be completely back to normal.

And here is my 7 month update...barely recognizable! You can still see some traces of black ink, but I can totally live with that!

Be kind to your skin, keep the area moisturized (esp during the scabbing process). I used lots of coconut oil and Eucerin multiple times a day.

Scroll down for the gross scab pics....

This was about two days afterwards:

About 2 weeks later, the scab came off with the whole fudging tattoo!! Crazy!

Renew, Reuse, or Throw it Out??

Do you ever find yourself looking at your recycle bin thinking, "Surely there is something else I can do with most of this stuff."

I have a major issue with pretending like I can upcycle anything.  I will literally save every jar and large yogurt container until my cabinets are crying out for an intervention. Sadly, wood can not speak, so it is usually my husband that has to put his foot down and STOP THE INSANITY.  There is a fine line between reusing and straight up hoarding.  


So when I saw this pic posted online I thought "How great! I can't wait to do that." Yup, you can take the hoarder out of the girl, but you can't take the girl out of the.....hoard?. 

Baked Zucchini Chips

Healthy chips??? Don't mind if I do!

Ingridients:
1 zucchini
1/8 cup panko bread crumbs
1 egg white
A few pinches of finely grated funky cheese*
5-6 basil leaves chopped
salt and pepper to taste

*I used an aged white cheddar, but parmessean is just as good

Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with canola oil. Set aside.

Slice zucchini into thin medallions, about the thickness of a quarter. I would highly suggest a mandoline for this type of business, but if you don't have one, try to make the slices as uniform as possible.

Toss zucchini in a bowl with remaining ingredients. Lay out slices on prepared baking sheet, and spray tops lightly with additional cooking spray. Season with salt and pepper.  Place in preheated oven and bake 45 minutes. Rotate baking sheet, and bake an additional 30-50 minutes, until chips are sexy. Enjoy a supper healthy crispy treat!

Organizing Embroidery Thread

I can be a very sloppy crafter at times, even though I am super anal about cleanliness and organization.  Recently I threw a ladies sewing party and was a bit embarrassed at my hectic and random sewing/craft boxes. I needed to get my craft life in order.

 I love embroidery thread, and have tons of it, but never knew how to keep all of the leftovers in check. A friend of mine suggested a super easy way to get them in order quick, easy, and cheap. This is only a bit of the mess I had in one of my boxes:

Take cardboard (just check your pantry for cereal boxes, etc.) and cut out two layers in an "H" shape. The multiple layers is for sturdiness. Glue or sew the two pieces together. I happened to have my machine out for the first round (in brown) and used glue for the second (white cardboad).

Wrap up your thread:

And that's it! You're thread is officially somewhat organized for your next sewing party. Show it off ladies!