Staying Grounded with a Homemade Clay Mask -Guest Post from Hollie of In A Little Greenhouse

Today I am happy to share a guest post from the lovely Hollie with all of you! She's a seriously cool lady who runs a heartful blog filled with soulful magic and kind words.
***

Grounding, rooting, connecting to earth.  What does that mean to you?

 Most people are familiar with the benefits of daily sunlight absorption, but grounding oneself to the earth is something that is not very routine with most people.   Grounding or earthing is a simple as it sounds.  Basically it is the act of being barefoot or having contact with the earth with our bare skin.   The idea behind this is that our bodies our conductors of electricity, just as the earth is.  When we feel out of sync, the grounding or earthing of our bodies to the earth can bring balance back to our bodies.   These are some of the benefits of grounding:

~Improves sleep and can help regulate sleep patterns

~Improves circulation

~Improves stress, anxiety, and helps with depression

~Balances the bodies electrical impulses

~Improves blood sugar regulation

~Helps to lower high blood pressure

~Reduces inflammation

~Blood thinner

The benefits go on and on, pretty amazing right?   All it takes is 15 minutes a day of bare skin to earth contact to reap these amazing benefits.  Summer is the perfect time to start your grounding practice, as the weather is in our favor.  

A good place to start is just walking on the grass or standing on the bare earth each day.  You can extend this to sitting on the earth or laying down so as much of your skin touches mama earth as possible.   Do whatever feels comfortable to you, there is no wrong or right way.

Not only are you reaping the benefits of grounding, but you will also fill up on your daily dose of sunshine.  Soak it in, breath deep and let mama nature restore you.

I know that getting outside or having the time to do this each day can be hard.  We are all so busy, and life never stops moving.  In the winter this can become increasingly difficult as well, since it is so cold and sometimes earth to skin contact is not a choice.  Here are some alternative ways that you can ground yourself:

~ Use Himalayan salt lamps, or candle holders in your home

~Bring nature indoors.  A few branches, stones, pinecones, feathers

~Craft your meals around root vegetables

~Burn unscented beeswax candles

~Drink burdock or dandelion tea

  ~Use good quality bath salts in your bath (Himalayan pink, black lava or red salt are all good choices)

~French green clay (my favorite!) or kaolin clay in your bath or use as a mask

Here is one of my favorite mask recipes.  The green clay is an awesome detoxer and an awesome grounding source.  You will need the following:

1/3 cup of French Green Clay*

1/3 cup of rolled oats

2 droppers full of Rosehip seed oil

10 drops of Roman chamomile oil

water, honey or 1 banana

Step 1:  Add the clay and rolled oats to a food processor or blender.  Blend up.

You can leave it on the thick side or blend into a fine powder, the results will be the same.

Step 2: Transfer everything to a bowl and add rosehip seed oil and chamomile oil.

Stir well until oil is blended in.

Step 3: Transfer everything to a jar or well sealed container

Step 5: when you are ready to use your mask, mix a few tablespoons with water, a banana (great moisturizer) or honey (awesome detoxifier, antimicrobial)  to make a paste.  I tend to make mine on the thicker side.  But mix until you have a consistency you like.

Step 6: Apply to face, feet, even to arms.  The green clay will help to remove impurities and is grounding.  The oats and chamomile oil are soothing and calming, while the rosehip seed oil is a great moisurizer. 

Step 7:  Sit down and relax, take some deep breaths, let dry for 10-15 minutes then rinse with warm water.   Voila!  Grounded, with soft smooth skin.  I use this up to twice a week.

I hope some of these ideas help you to start your own grounding practice.  Mama nature is a powerful healer, let's all take advantage of her love!

*French green clay can be found at most health food stores or at Mountain Rose Herbs.

***

I am going to have to invest in some of that clay when I get the chance so I can try this. It looks divine! Thanks so much for sharing Hollie!

Manda Rave

Summer Heat & Denim Shredding (Happy Solstice!)

Today is hot, a little muggy. and the sun has been going in and out behind the clouds. But despite the lack of full on sunshine, it's not raining and the heat is like a comfort blanket over everything. It's almost perfect summer solstice weather.

Today, so far, has been a day of food shopping (lots of fruit!), chatting with my boyfriend before he left for work, and pulling strings out of a pair of cut offs I made yesterday.

If you've never ripped up your own denim before, you get those ripped patches by cutting two parallel horizontal slits and then pulling out the blue threads that run vertically with a pair of tweezers. It's not too difficult but it is time consuming. That pocket is only a tiny bit of what I've done. I don't mess around when I rip up my clothes, haha. I did a number on a t-shirt that has never fit me right as well. It's now sleeveless, has a wider neck, has a sliced up back, and fringe at the bottom.

For the rest of the day I plan to workout, clean up the house a bit, and then settle down with my tarot cards, some incense, and some relaxing music. And tomorrow is out beach trip!

I hope everyone has a fantastic day!

Manda Rave

P.S. Tomorrow is the last day to get 20% off in my shop. Use code SUMMERLOVE at checkout!

All-Natural Face Masks

So I have been experimenting with all-natural face masks a lot lately and I have found two that I  love and work really well. I am prone to a lot of redness and periodic breakouts that are, needless to say, quite annoying. 

For both of these cleansers only 3 ingredients (in total) are needed as well as a small container and a stirrer of some sort. And nothing you need is expensive.

the three magical ingredients!

First up, a simple mask to help reduce redness in your face. You will need:

1 tsp honey

1/2 tsp lemon juice

Combine the two in your container and mix together, then slather on your face. I use a spoon for that part because honey is (obviously) really sticky and I don't like getting it all over my hands. 

Let sit for about 15 minutes and then rinse with warm water. You should notice a significant reduction in the redness of your skin.

And for a more aggressive treatment to help not only reduce redness, but fight acne as well, you can use this mask. You will need:

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp lemon juice

This is going to fizz up when you combine the two, as a warning. Mix them together and let it settle until it becomes more like a paste. Apply to your face, being generous with any problem areas. This mask will tighten up your skin as it dries. Allow to site for 10-15 minutes and then rinse with warm water. If you are worried this mask will dry out your face (it doesn't to mine but I have oily skin) then you can add a tiny bit of olive oil to help restore natural moisture.

I'm serious, both of these concoctions have worked wonder for me. And if you just want a quick solution to slight redness you can use lemon juice on your face like you would any other astringent (only I recommend washing it off) and it should help. 

What are your DIY/natural beauty tricks? I love learning new ones. I hate having to buy products if I don't have to.

Lady Unlaced

DIY Weekend: Dry Shampoo & Red Wine Fudgsicles

Me and my other half had a lovely Saturday which involved shopping, a delicious lunch (courtesy of another fabulous friend of ours!) and making things. I love DIY projects and the simpler they are, the better. Our chosen projects of the day were Dry Shampoo and Red Wine Fudgsicles.

Dry shampoo is probably the easiest thing in the world to make. Don't ever buy it premade, there is absolutely no need and you'll end up spending too much money. I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of spending my cash on things I can make for a lot less. So instead of picking up a fancy dry shampoo, go to the grocery store and buy a box of cornstarch.

Cornstarch is really all you need, although adding crushed up herbs helps to make it smell nice. Just massage it into your hair, let sit a few minutes, and then comb out. Tada! It's like magick!

Yes, mine is in an old candle jar. A mason jar would work well, too.

We also made red wine fudgsicles, found here. And yes, they are just as delicious as they look, and they're not that hard to make! All you need is a red wine of your choice, dark chocolate chips, and milk. And of course something to put them it to freeze.

For the full tutorials, hop over to my other half's post about it.

Lady Unlaced

Salt Dough DIY

I've been seeing this DIY all over Pinterest and I just had to give it a try. I'm kind of broke so I love any project that let's me make things for my jewelry without spending any money. 

With this DIY there are endless possibilities. I started simple and I definitely need some practice working with the dough, but I think this could be something I do regularly. I have a bunch of ideas floating around in my head of all the things I could make. But for now, here is what I did do.

Supplies

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup cold water

Preheat your oven to 250. Then, mix all the ingredients together and knead it until it becomes about the consistency of play-dough. The longer you knead, the smoother your dough will be.

Once you've done that you can tear off pieces and mold them into whatever you'd like. I made simple flat discs that I poked holes in so that I would be able to string them onto something. You can also try using a rolling pin to flatten the dough and then use cookie cutters to make shapes.

After you've got all your shapes, discs, and whatever else, place them on a cookie sheet and stick in the oven to dry out. This can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours. I recommend frequently checking on them until you're satisfied. Once they're done, take them out to cool. this doesn't seem to take too long.

Once your creations have cooled off, feel free to paint! Acrylics work best, and once the paint dries make sure to use a sealant to prevent chipping. Pretty cool, right?

Oh! And don't throw out that extra dough. Just seal it in an air tight container and you can use it again.

Sea Salt Hair Spray DIY

This is a tutorial I have been seeing a lot of in the blogsphere and I had to give  it a shot. I absolutely love the texture the sea water gives your hair -sure it gets knotted up, but it looks awesome! Maybe that's just me...

Anyways, this is a simple DIY that I originally found on The Wonder Forest that will give your hair a beachy texture (without the knots.) 

You'll Need 

Spray Bottle

2 cups warm water

2 tbsp sea salt (don't use table salt)

2 tbsp rubbing alcohol (or vodka, your choice!)

a little bit of hair gel

essential oil/coconut oil (optional)

Pour it all into your spray bottle and shake up. Done! How simple is that? And cheap -the only thing I had to buy was the spray bottle which I got for $1 at Family Dollar. 

Now that your hair spray is done, feel free to spritz your hair and bask in beachy texture. Just remember to shake well before each use. Now check out my awesome results:

Sorry for the crap-quality of that second photo, taking pictures of your own hair is hard. The only thing I recommend with this DIY is that you do use some kind of scented oil, otherwise your spray will have a bit of an alcohol-scent. It doesn't make your head smell like rubbing alcohol all day or anything, but you can definitely smell it when you use the spray.

Lady Unlaced

Netted Crystal Necklace

I have started to see these necklaces all over etsy -you know the ones I mean, with the pretty crystals and rocks held tight as a pendant in a pretty net created by yarn or thread. Well I found a great tutorial here:

I loved how easy it looked and the end result is beautiful! I decided I needed to give it a go using a pretty tangerine quartz point my other half bought for me a few months back, red cord, and a few beads. I didn't glue my crystal down but I found it stayed in place pretty well. My net didn't come out quite as even either, but it was my first try. 

Here is mine:

It may not be perfect but I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I love the way the red cord and orange stone look together. I plan on getting a few more crystals and practicing -hopefully I can add a few to the shop sometime soon.

Lady Unlaced

My Mason Jar Project Revealed!

I had mentioned before that I was working on a secret project involving a mason jar and now it is time to reveal what I was doing! And why it was a secret in the first place.

I didn't mention what it was when I talked about all the neat things you can do with mason jars because it was a gift -a Valentines Day gift for my amazing boyfriend. I'm happy to say that he loves it and therefore I am confident and sharing my idea and creation with you all.

For the sake of staying awesome we're going to call this project the Jar of Dreams project. That name just kind of came to me and I like the way it sounds, win! Haha, anyways, this is something that is perfect as a gift for the important people in your life, whether they be your significant other, best friend, or close family member. The idea is simple, get a jar and fill it with dreams!

Before we go too much farther, here are the things you'll need: mason jar, paper (unlined will look better, I used sketchbook paper), construction paper/paint sample (in any colour you want), good pen, embroidery thread, a few pretty beads, acrylic paint (again, any colour), and glue (I just used a glue stick.)

I love mason jars, they're very aesthetically appealing in vintage-y kind of way. And glass is always more charming than something like plastic. Although I imagine a Chest of Dreams (wooden) would be just as wonderful as a jar. But a mason jar is probably easier to get a hold of and cheaper as well. I bought mine at a thrift store for 99 cents, and you just can't beat that kind of price.

Alright, so to get going on constructing this dream jar, you'll need to cut up your paper into pieces small enough that they'll fit into your jar but big enough that you can fold them in half. You don't have to fold them, but a lot of the fun in this is being able to pull out the pieces of paper and open them up to see what they say. You can make as many as you want, but it's best to make enough so that the jar is full. No one wants a half full jar of dreams.

As for the "dreams" you're putting on the paper, those are entirely up to you. I wrote down things like "lots of hugs," "live together," and "go on coffee dates." Whatever you hope to do and experience with that person can go on a slip of paper, whether it's a serious life dream or just something silly. 

Now take a part the lid of your mason jar and use the flat(ish) piece to trace a circle on your construction paper or paint sample. I used a red pain sample that I picked up from Home Depot which I prefer to construction paper because of how much sturdier it is. Cut out the circle and then use your paint to write something on it -this is your choice. If you have something cute that means something between you and the person you're giving this too then use that. For mine I wrote "Hope and Wishes" in white paint.

Excuse my bad phone camera picture.

When that dries, glue the edges to the raised part of the mason jar top and then set it inside the screw top part. I hope that all makes sense, I'm not sure what the terminology is for the parts the lid, but if you know your mason jars then you probably know what I'm talking about.

Now take your thread and wrap it around the top of the jar so that it sits below the lid and just above the swell of the glass. Tie it in place and let the excess hang down as that's where your beads come into play. Add your beads and tie them off. I used a few red and pearly seed beads as well as some silver star beads. You can also do this part with ribbon, with or without beads.

All that's left is to fill your jar up with your folded notes and voila! A very heartfelt and cute gift to give to someone you love.

My finished product.

Lady Unlaced

How wonderful are Mason Jars?

Let me tell you, they're pretty awesome. I've collected three of them in the past few days for some fun crafting purposes. I know what I'm doing with one of them but it's a secret that I'll let you all in on when I'm done. I know I haven't really posted any DIY stuff on my blog before but that's something I am changing now. I love DIY projects, nothing is cooler than filling up your personal space with things you've made with your own two hands. Plus, handmade stuff always makes a great gift that people usually enjoy getting.

So here is some cool stuff I've found that you can do with Mason Jars.

Non-Electric Lanterns found on Peace of Cake.

Glow sticks are involved in this project and that makes it a winner by me. And look how pretty the end result is! My boyfriend actually linked me to this tutorial and I definitely want to do it sometime.

Coloured Mason Jars found on Wedding Bee.

This tutorial is a little more involved than the one above but the end result is really neat. They'd make great vases, or just as pretty storage devices for things like buttons and the like.

Vintage Photos in Vintage Jars found on Oh Lovey Day.

This one is really interesting and is a great way to display photos that I probably never would have thought of on my own. I'd love to have some pictures of me and my friends in jars like this. I bet they look much prettier on a mantle than the standard picture frames.

Well that's what I've found so far for mason jars, but I am always looking. Hopefully I can share my own DIY adventures with you all. I've mentioned before that I make jewelry but I would like to expand on my crafting skills. If you have any tutorials you think I'd like, please share!

Lady Unlaced