We got a farm cat!... Kind of.

About two, maybe three weeks ago, I was outside, and their was this cat! She was a bit skittish but she was soooo sweet! Now that she has been around awhile she has gotten even sweeter! She's kind of a dope too. And by dope I mean she falls off of things, and she will sit with one leg hanging of the table, and she will be totally fine with a three year old boy yelling and jumping and waving sticks around (attempting to impress her) but when he make a very quiet indescribable almost growling mucus noise with the hose to the ball pump, she flees is fear. Although, she does seem mildly and sometimes very impressed with Thomas' (the previously mentioned three year old) antics. Which is odd in and of itself. 

So basically she is perfect. Except she lives in our crawl space. Did I mention their is a mummified cat under our house too? My husband found it while working down there. Maybe she likes the company? I'm not sure, but what I'm sure of is that she needs to not go into heat and bring all her friends over to party down there. (We're getting her fixed soon.)

Also I made a cake this week and it was pretty so I took pictures. 

I made it with xylitol and maple syrup because I have been in a baking mood and I didn't want to get sick off of all the deliciousness. It turned out so pretty though! It's basically the hershey's special chocolate cake but with like 1/2 cup of xylitol and 1/2 cup maple syrup instead of 2 cups sugar. Oh, and with cream cheese frosting because I wanted it to be pretty. Also, I used natural sprinkles and they worked really well. They didn't bleed at all! They sure as heck did when I messed up on those cupcake bath bombs, oh man!!!! (I added glycerin to them and they exploded. [not like nitro glycerin explosion, more like a very slow volcano experiment.])

Did I mention this is the first cake I've ever made like this that turned out remotely good looking? Thats Why I'm making such a big deal about a not particularly spectacular cake.


We harvested our first carrots out of our garden! The aphids and the birds kept eating them so I had to plant them twice and still only ended up with six! They were so good, but probably not worth the effort, haha! Also they all ended up with legs. Obviously my soil needs a lot of work. (Rocks and compacted soil make them have multiple roots.)

 The cat again! Well and me. Thomas loves taking pictures so you get one with me in it for once!

Lastly, I've been getting into weaving. I need to make a loom but I wanted to try it out so I used an embroidery hoop. It was way more fun than I thought it would be. I'm really looking forward to trying some new stitches. Is it called stitches or weaves, or what?

Anyhoodles, I might have something more interesting next week, like a healthy ice-cream recipe or something. OOOOO! Or candles!! 

I post a video and a blog every week, if you want new posts emailed to you then don't forget to subscribe over on the side ->

How to make kombucha without a scoby.

I like to make my Kombucha from a fresh start every year. I don't drink that much kombucha during the winter, so when it starts getting warm I just buy a bottle of plain kombucha to start a new batch. From their I just save a cup of kombucha and a scoby to make kombucha for the rest of the season. This way I'm not storing a scoby all winter, trying to keep it alive. 

If you'd rather watch the video on youtube click HERE.

* I give a few extra tips at the end so make sure your volume is up towards the end of the video if your turn it of from the music. I also explain how to make kombucha vinegar. 

This method works every time! I do like to check to see how big the culture is on the bottom of the bottle, and I will choose one with a bit more culture in it. Just heat up a gallon of water to a boil and add in a cup of sugar. Brew your tea (black, green, white, or red. Certain herbal teas may kill your starter.) in the water then let it cool. Add it to a jar with your bottle of kombucha and cover with a tea towel. Let sit for 5 to 10 days or until a new scoby is formed.


Previous Kombucha posts:
How to make Kombucha and why its good for you.
Kid friendly Kombucha (sweeter without extra sugar)

I post a video and a blog every week, if you want new posts emailed to you then don't forget to subscribe over on the side -> 

You can also subscribe to my youtube channel by clicking the red play button in the subscribe area or by clicking HERE. 

Bathroom Stool DIY

I had a bit of a problem. We were redoing our upstairs bathroom and moving up their. My downstairs bathroom has a huge vanity, that is way to big for the space in my opinion but the nice thing about it is that I can keep my makeup box right on it. Moving to the upstairs bathroom though I had a problem again of not having space for my makeup box. We put up shelves in this weird closet space across from the sink and I left a shelf for all my daily used things to be left out looking pretty. Thats where I keep my makeup box. However, when I want to put on my makeup I had no where to put my box! Enter Pintrest. 

I was thinking something like this would be pretty. Plus it has lots of storage. Skinny to so it could maybe work. 

Apartment therapy

Another option was maybe something shorter. Has some storage and can go under the sink more so that size wouldn't be as much of an issue. 

frenchcountrycottage.net

A fun third option would be a little step stool that I could store some things on, but it wouldn't really be tall enough for my makeup box.

kellyelko.com

In the end I actually didn't do any of these... Instead I did an option with no storage because I didn't really need the storage their. I have plenty of shelving across from my sink where I actually keep my makeup box so the main thing was just to have a surface to put the box on while I did my makeup. My upstairs bathroom has a bit of french country going on, and a lot of gray and white. The only color I had was from my hand towel, and that was white and a light pink. So I decided to go with a geometric paint design on a basic wooden stool. Plus the stool was free, so thats a bonus! (Thanks grandma for letting me have your plant stool.)  

First I wanted to sand it down to just wood then stain it with a tea stain and oil it. But it was way to difficult to get the whole thing sanded really well so I just sanded the top all the way down and sanded the rest enough for a good coat of paint. 

My husband modeling the sanding for me. 

After sanding.

 After staining with tea. You need to do a few coats of tea and it must be oiled to bring out additional color. 

After oiling with hemp oil. 

 I decided that I didn't like all the wood so I got out some chalk paint and free handed the design. It probably would have turned out cleaner if I used tape but I would also need to be able to use the tape well, and I just didn't have time for that. But I liked the look overall. 

 The single bit of pink on the top is the same paint I used on the legs. I used a paint that I didn't need to seal on the legs, but of course I sealed the top. 

It tucks in nicely when I'm not using it, and I have a bowl and tray for any hair pins and jewelry that I keep on it.

I post a video and a blog every week, if you want new posts emailed to you then don't forget to subscribe over on the side -> 

P.S. I'm working on a new schedule, I'm thinking blog on Tuesday and a video on Saturday. I really like the idea of doing a separate blog from my videos every week, but I will still be posting the video to my blog too. Also I'm working on finding a new subscription manager so that you will get posts emailed right when they come out instead of the day after.