How To Be A Flower Goddess

While growing up, my parents would take my sister and me camping quite a bit.  We would find creative ways to keep ourselves busy and entertained, so sometimes we would go on a hunt to find the most beautiful wildflowers.  We would try to wrap them around each other and tie the stems together with tall grass to pretend like we were flower goddesses.  The crowns would never stay together very well and would fall apart in no time.
  
This way of making a crown is probably not as ideal to make in nature since you need craft store supplies, but the crowns don't fall apart, and they are super fast and easy to make and look really cute. 

What you will need:

• Bouquet of flowers, or hunted down wildflowers
• floral wire
• floral tape

Cut the stems of your flowers so they are about about 2-3 inches long.   
Measure your head with the wire to see how big your Flower Crown will be.  
Wrap the wire or tape together to the desired crown size.   

Tape about three flowers together to save time (see photo above) and wrap the flowers to your wire. 

You can make the crown as full as you want.

Keep adding flowers and taping, until the crown is as full as you want.  

That's it!  

Now you too can be a Flower Goddess, just like Josie in the photos above. 
 

Penumbral Lunar Elcipse - November 28th, 2012

Did you know we were able to view a Lunar Eclipse yesterday, November 28th, 2012?

It is called penumbral lunar eclipse.

Penumbral means partial.  In this eclipse, the earth is between the moon and the sun, so we are able to see the earth's shadow on the moon. 

According to http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_lunecl.pl, (in Salt Lake City, Utah) we could view the start of the eclipse at 5:12 am. 

I was not able to see the eclipse yesterday morning, but did see the moon.  Such a beautiful moon set and rise!
My dad is always up early for work(4:30-5:00 am).  I called him around 06:30 am to make sure he could see the moon setting in the clouds.  He said he sat out on their front porch before going to work to enjoy the light of the full moon.  It was a magical view.  

If you were able to see the moon last night you could see a rainbow around the moon called a halo. A halo or ring around the moon is caused by ice crystals (cirrus or cirrostratus clouds) in the atmosphere.  The ice crystals are a hexagon shape that reflect the moon light (sunlight on the moon), so therefore causes a ring and sometimes a rainbow around the moon. Jupiter was also out tonight and was directly above the moon when I looked up at the sky tonight around 19:00.  

I made sure to take a photo of the moon this morning, (11/29/2012) because I could not get a good one after I got home from work last night.  I think it was hiding behind the clouds.  But this morning you could still see a small halo with Jupiter to the lower right.

Sometimes I get so caught up in my day that I forget to look up to enjoy the beauty around me. 
I am so glad I looked up this time. 

If you want to read more about this or see photo's check out some of these links:
  
http://www.farmersalmanac.com/astronomy/

http://earthsky.org/tonight/smallest-full-moon-of-year-and-penumbral-eclipse-november-28

 http://www.space.com/18636-penumbral-lunar-eclipse-2012-photos.html

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/LunarEclipse.php

 http://earthsky.org/space/what-makes-a-halo-around-the-moon

 

Kids Love Tiny Tin Critters

My mom gave me a tin of mints for my birthday.  When she gave the box to me, she said my dad really wanted to try them because they were supposed to be really spicy (he loves spicy food).

 I opened up the tin and to my surprise, the tin did not contain cinnamon mints, but a bedroom with a kitty and her teddy bear. 

 I took the mint box to work, as I usually do, to show off my mom's creativity.  My friend at work wanted one for her grand-daughter and I told her I would love to try making one.  It was so much fun to create and cost less than five dollars for the whole thing.  I used a Newman's Own mint box, embroidery floss, scrap material from previous projects, and felt.  

 When I asked Pam what Ayla's favorite toys or animals were, she said bunnies and unicorns.  I didn't know how I could make a unicorn, so I created this bunny and its teddy.

 Fluffy bunny tail

 Reversible and removable blanket, mattress, and pillow.

 I glued down a piece of flannel to make the bottom of the tin seem comfy for her critters to sleep in.

When I got to work the day after Ayla received her gift, Pam said Ayla had a meltdown because she could not find her bunny.  She said a couple of minutes later Ayla found her bunny in her dress and was happy and playing again. 

I love that kids can enjoy such a simple, homemade toy.  

After I made the tin I wanted to create little critters.  I made my cat, Bella, a tiny kitty.  The felt creature slides perfectly across the wood floor to simulate a running mouse.  She loves chasing after it.  I couldn't find the tiny kitty to take a photo.  I think she slid it under a piece of furniture. 

  

I also made a green lizard.

  

It's fun to start with just a scrap of material and create tinny critters that seem to have such personality.  

Homemade Healthy Wheat Bread

This is a super-easy and healthy, whole wheat bread recipe.  It has honey, so some would not consider this vegan, but is vegetarian.  

What you will need:

2 T. fast acting yeast

2 cups warm water

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 t. salt

3 cups whole wheat flour

3 more cups whole wheat flour

First you will need to find a large, clean bowl for mixing your dough.  I like to have a clean space to work on.  

Add two tablespoons of fast-acting yeast,

and two cups warm water.

Mix the water and yeast until the yeast is dissolved (takes about 4-5 minutes).

Add to your water and yeast; 

1/4 cup honey,

1/4 cup oil,

1/4 cup brown sugar,

and two teaspoons salt.

Mix those ingredients.

Add three cups of whole wheat flour

 Add the remaining three cups of flour.

and mix until the dough until it is somewhat smooth.

 Knead the dough until it's smooth and elastic.

Form the kneaded dough into a ball and set in a clean, greased bowl. 

Make sure the bowl is big enough to let the dough double in size.

Cover and place in a warm area (I set it on the top of the stove while the oven is heating) and let the dough rise until it has doubled in size (takes about two hours).

After the dough has doubled in size, knead down and separate the dough into two balls. 

 Place them in a greased bread pan.

 Let the dough rise, and double in size.

 Place the loaves in the oven and bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes.

Take your bread out of the oven and remove the loaves from the pan.  Let the loafs cool enough to slice.  I like to butter the tops with veggie butter before slicing.

 You can slice and freeze what you want to save in a freezer safe, Ziploc bag.  

  

This bread is really good toasted and topped with jam.  

Enjoy!!   

Winter Wreath

This is a super-easy and pretty cheap wreath made from burlap.  

 Supplies you will need:

burlap 4" wide (you can use a 4" burlap roll, or purchase it by the yard and cut 4" strips...they have really fun colors at the craft stores)

wire (you can use a hanger, flower wire or any wire you can find that is strong enough to hold its shape)

tape (to connect the wire ends)

colored burlap (optional)

ribbon (optional)

glue gun or craft crazy glue (if you want to make the flowers)

 You might also want a kitty to assist you, and...

a boyfriend to dance in front of you. :)

 To make the wreath, take two wires and tape two of the ends together, leaving the other two ends to thread the burlap.

Thread the burlap.  Be creative with this.  You can fold, twist or make up your own creation (I like to twist the burlap).

Once you have the fullness you want, tape the two free ends of the wire together.

I like to add color to my wreath by adding burlap roses.

First you cut about six inches of colored burlap and then fold in half.

 Fold one end of the halved strip to make a point.

 Start rolling the strip while folding to make the shape of a rose.

Fold and then glue the loose end of the burlap strip down to keep the shape of the rose.

Then add a tie, and I like to add a bow.  Be creative and add your own finishing touch.

Have fun making your own winter wreath!!

Introduction

I love to cook, sew, tie flies, hike, cross country ski, and spend time with the ones I love.  I am a vegan baker and love sharing my goodies with my friends and family.  I want more people to fall in love with vegan baking, and hope to save some of our fellow critters in the process.