Tips & Tricks for the Everyday

I have all these small tips that I know of that are easy "cheats" in the morning to save time or energy, but I felt they weren't big enough to write a post about on their own. So here are a few

Tips & Tricks for the Everyday!

1. Run a dryer sheet over your hair if you are experiencing static cling (I have this often occur after blow drying or straightening my hair)

2. If your lips gloss tube is low, place the tube in a cup of hot water for a few minutes so that any spare lip gloss on the sides will melt to the bottom so that it can be used

3. Sugar is a great exfoliator in any kind of facial scrub

4. Mix some lemon juice and baking soda into your toothpaste to get a brighter smile

5.  Rub wet coffee grounds on your skin to reduce cellulite (Best to do this before a shower, so you can rinse of more easily)

6. Reuse your green tea bag, once it has cooled - place over your eyes to reduce under eye circle or bags 

7. Accidentally got blood on your clothes? Let soak in hydrogen peroxide for a few hours (or more, depending on how much blood) the blood should be gone before you put the article of clothing into the washer

8. Blonde hair? If you weren't able to wash and your hair is starting to look greasy, add some baby powder to your hair. It'll make your hair look good as new for the day

9. Shoes smell bad? Sprinkle some baby powder in them and leave overnight. May have to repeat for several nights depending on the smelliness of the shoe

10. Wearing flats but no socks? Sprinkle baby powder in your shoes before wearing them. The baby powder will help prevent the sweat from your feet from getting all over your shoes

11. Dyeing your hair? Rub Vaseline over areas of your face (and neck) where you do not want the hair dye to get onto. The Vaseline will act as a barrier and will wash of when you rinse your hair

12. Dead lighter? Use a small of amount of rubbing alcohol (or nail polish remover) onto a small stick and use the dead lighter to create a spark to make a flame

13. Bee sting? Make a paste using baking powder and water. Apply to wound and cover with band aid

14. As a substitute for shaving cream, use baby oil or conditioner

15.  If you must dry shave, then apply lotion first so the area you are shaving does not dry out

16. If you want to naturally lighten/highlight your hair, apply lemon juice to your hair and sit out in the sunshine for a few hours

17. Apply a light amount of Elmer's glue with a Q-Tip around your nails when painting them for any clumsy mistakes. Once the nail polish on the nail is dry, peel of the Elmer's glue from the skin for perfect nails

18. If you receive flowers cut of a small portion off the bottom of the stem every other day so that the flowers live longer (flowers receive more water) 

19. To make temporary false lashes, in-between coats of mascara apply small amounts of baby powder with a Q-Tip. Continue this routine until lashes are a sufficient length

20. An easy way to set your makeup for an evening out (so running will not occur) is to spray your face with a very light dusting of hair spray

21. If you have a small hole in lace or a pair of pantyhose, use superglue to seal the threads so the rip will not continue

Hope these tips help you through your day! You can do it!

Crochet Shell Border

Often, there is an ending on a piece of work (scarf, hat, etc) that your doing that needs more flair to its edges. Therefore your piece of work would do with a border. One of my favorite borders to use, is the Shell border because of the rounded look it gives to a piece.

Crochet Shell Border

(The image above is a shell border on a crochet hat made out of white cotton yarn with a J size hook)

This border is very simple, in each crochet space single or double crochet (depending the size of the item you are crocheting) three to five times (once again, depending on the size of the item you are crocheting). Proceed to the next crochet space and continue until the row is complete.

Voila! A perfect way to finish the tops of socks, the ends of scarves, and the cuffs on mittens!

Simple Winter Crochet Scarf Pattern

As winter is in full blast on the Northern hemisphere it is time to bundle up! And what better way then to make a scarf for your self or loved one. I love this pattern because its easy to do and fairly quick depending on the yarn you use!

Simple Winter Crochet Scarf

For this pattern you could use one kind of yarn throughout the whole scarf or you could do something like I did, which is take six balls of yarn (2 Cream, 1 Wine Red, 1 Orange Masala, 1 Forest Green, and 1 Moss Green) and have the colors alternate every two rows.

Items needed:

One "J" Crochet hook

2 balls of one base color

One ball each of 3-4 various colors

(I used Knit Picks brand 100% Peruvian wool, 231 yards (50 grams) per ball)

Scarf Pattern:

1. Chain 26

2. On every other chain you will want to sc2, ch2, sc2, repeat until row is complete

3. On the next row in the 2ch space of the previous row, sc2, ch2, sc2, repeat until row is complete (The pattern should start to look like the one shown below)

4. Repeat step 3 until scarf is desired length

5. Once scarf is desired length tie off, and your scarf is complete!

Note: If you are alternating colors, I highly recommend you alternate every two rows versus every row, itll make it easier to alternate colors and generally looks more appealing to the eyes once the scarf is finished.

Holiday Jellied Sandwich Cookies

November has arrived and therefore the holidays are approaching! Time to get in some warm pajamas and curl up with some cookies and a good book. This simple recipe is delicious for the occasion!

Holiday Jellied Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients:

1 stick of unsalted butter

2 cup sugar

4 tbsp lemon zest (optional)

2 egg

1/2 tsp salt

3 cup flour

1/2 cup jam

Other items needed:

A mixer

A cookie sheet

A bowl

A spatula

A knife

Cling wrap

Tin foil

Measuring cups and spoons

Refrigerator

Circular cookie cutter (if you want perfectly round cookies)

Directions:

1. Beat butter, sugar, zest, eggs and salt into a bowl using your mixer

2. Slowly beat in flour

3. Roll dough into two round cylinders about the same size each

4. Cover the dough with cling wrap and leave in the refrigerator for at least an hour, overnight would be best

5. Preheat oven to 375 F, take dough out of the fridge and cut into 1/4 inch thick disks. (Note: I remolded some of my cookies edges so that they were fairly more round, a cookie cutter can fix any misshapen cookies if you want them to be perfectly round)

(Note: If you happen to have a small cookie cutter, you can cut the center out of some cookies so that the jam can show through on the finished assembled cookie)

6. Bake 7-10 minutes

7. Let cool

8. Add jam to the bottom of one cookie and stick together with the bottom of another cookie (so that both tops of cookies are on each outer side of the cookie)

Congratulations! You have now made delicious cookies to indulge yourself or impress your family with! Happy Holidays!

Sweet Pomegranate Guacamole

As the holdiays approach everyone needs a new recipe to impress their guests. This dish is also a great snack food for those looking to watch their weight. A mixture of two exotic fruits, the pomegranate and avocado, for an enticing food experience

Sweet Pomegranate Guacamole

Ingredients and Items Needed:

One avocado (soft)

One pomegranate

1/3 measuring cup

1 bowl

A knife

A cutting board

A fork

A mortar and pestle (or a cup and a large spoon)

A paper towel

(Optional additions: Crushed red pepper, lemon juice)

Instructions:

1. Cut up and extract pomegranate seeds

2. Take 1/3 cups (or slightly less, depending on the size of your avocado - my avocados are quite large) of non-crushed pomegranate seeds, using mortar and pestle (or in a cup with a large spoon) mash the pomegranate seeds (Note: The pomegranate seed juice will fly everywhere when you crush the seeds so make sure to cover the cup or pestle with a paper towel while crushing the seeds)

3. On your cutting board, cut the avocado and peel off the skin. 

4. Mash the avocado in a bowl with your fork.

5. Mix the avocado and the pomegranate mush together

Delicious! If you want to spice up this dish more think of adding crushed red pepper for a sweet n' spicy taste. Another addition could be adding some lemon juice for a sweet n' sour taste.

I suggest eating this guacamole with Triscuits or Wheat Thins, I particularly like the Roasted Tomato flavor.

Good luck!

Loving Crochet Headband

Recently Ive fallen in love with headbands. Ive always found the little stray hairs that fall into my face particularly annoying but this cute and stylish solution is simple and easy!

Loving Crochet Headband

Required Materials:

Yarn

A crochet Hook

A sewing needle

Thread

A button

(For this headband I used Loops and Threads Super Fine Sock Yarn in "Redwoods: Color #5" and a "G" (4.25mm) hook)

Directions:

1. Ch 4

2. Sc 4, continue until approx. 11 1/2 inches long depending on head size 

(Note: This is the measurement for my head size, which is rather slightly smaller than average, therefore if you have a larger head size you should increase the length by 1/2 to 1 inches)

3. Using your sewing needle and thread sew the button of your choice to one side of the headband

(Note: I found buttons with four holes in their center versus 2 holes in the center to be more stable)

4. On the other side of the headband tie on a piece of your yarn into a circle in an appropriate size that can fit over your button

5. Viola! Your new headband is complete!

The Back-Loop Stitch

THE BACK-LOOP STITCH

As the winter season approaches its time to crochet those sweaters and socks! Therefore you should know how to "back-loop stitch". The back-loop stitch is tightly woven together but, because the new stitch hinges off the previous stitch, it very stretchable. Therefore this stitch is great for cuffs on sweaters, the tops of socks, or headbands.

Above is an image of how to would normally do a single crochet. The image below is how you would do a back-loop stitch. The main difference between these two types of stitching is that instead of using both loops from the previous crochet, you are only using the back-loop (You can also do front-loop stitching by only using the front loops)

If you are still having difficulty with which loop is the back loop, below is another image with the back-loop being held.

Now that you know which loop is being used you can being your crochet masterpiece! The back-loop stitch is completed as a normal single crochet would be. Good luck!