Girl Who Would be KING on Life, Style and INSPIRATION.

Simply DIY – recipes for making green household cleaning products

Let’s take a break from cooking (but just this time) to get our house in order.

A lot of cleaning products as you already know, are very toxic and natural ones usually cost quite a bit more. Have you ever tried making your own that work just as well but are better for the environment and your lungs?

You won’t believe how easy these are to make and how effective they are at replacing your regular ones. You may never buy another household cleaning product ever again. And most of these items you already have in your fridge/pantry. Go to a dollar store and buy a few spray bottles. Try them and let me know what you think.

Glass and Tile Cleaner:

¼ cup white vinegar

1 quart water

Mix together, pour into a spray bottle. Works just like Windex.

Liquid Laundry Soap:

1 cup of grated Ivory soap

½ cup *washing soda

½ cup Borax

2 Tbsp. Glycerin (buy at your local pharmacy)

2 Gallons of water (NOTE: this recipe originally called for 2 cups water). Also, feel free to add a few drops of essential oil like lavender for a fresh scent.

Mix first three ingredients together. Add glycerin and water. Use ½ – ¾ cup per load. Best when used with cold or warm (not too hot) water.

Scouring Powder for Stainless Steel:

1 part salt

1 part baking soda

Mix together and pour into a jar with a sprinkle top.

Carpet Stain Cleaner:

Put 1 part white vinegar mixed with 1 part water in a spray bottle. Spray directly on stain, let sit for 5 minutes or so, then clean with a brush or sponge using warm soapy water.

Drain Cleaner:

1 cup baking soda

1 cup salt

1 quart boiling water

Blend soda and salt together and pour down the drain followed by boiling water. Let set several hours or overnight.

Oven Cleaner:

3 parts baking soda

1 part water

Nylon scrubber

Combine baking soda and water and use like a paste with the scrubber and your elbow grease. For the hard parts mix half baking soda, half salt to increase abrasiveness. Keep baking soda off the heating element.

Homemade Furniture Polish:

Cooking oil (no need to waste the good stuff on this, cheap unhealthy stuff will do fine)

Lemon juice

2 rags

1 container to hold the mixture

In your container, mix a few tablespoons of oil with a dash of lemon juice. Stir or shake well. Dip your rag into a tiny bit of the oil-lemon mixture. Rub thoroughly over the wooden surface, adding more liquid as needed. When completed, the wood should be dirt free and glistening. Use the second cloth to rub down the furniture so no oil remains on top, so the furniture is not slippery or prone to giving oil stains. Note: This works on faux wood as well as real wood.

*WASHING SODA (see liquid laundry soap above), also known as soda ash or sodium carbonate has many uses, from acting as a pH stabilizer in pools to acting as a water softener to removing calcification in water heaters to making lye pretzels. Washing soda is a beneficial item to have around the house, especially if you want to make homemade laundry detergent, as it is one of the main ingredients. However it is not so easy to come across. Fortunately it is very easy to make. One ingredient needed: baking soda. Here’s what you do: 1. Fill a wide baking dish with baking soda. 2. Heat in the oven at 400 degrees until all the baking soda becomes washing soda. Occasionally mix it so that this process happens faster and more uniformly. 3. Use as needed!

How to know when it’s done: Washing soda is grainy, baking soda is powdery. Washing soda is dull and opaque, baking soda is crystalized like salt and reflects light, i.e. it is semi shiny. Washing soda is separate grains, baking soda clumps together.

A bit about Borax (in case you’re as confused as I was):

WHAT IS BORAX? Borax is very effective, versatile, affordable, and eco-friendly compared to petroleum-based ingredients in conventional cleaning products.

Borax, also known as sodium borate, is a boron mineral and alkaline salt that’s mined directly from the ground. Borax is not boric acid. Borax and boric acid are found together in many places, especially volcanic areas where the borax has naturally reacted with sulfur. You can also find both compounds in seawater. It’s a naturally occurring element but even things from nature can be harmful (like asbestos or mercury).

Bottom line: While it may be listed as “poison” on the box, it’s only toxic at very, very high levels. (Like salt, baking soda, and even water is.) Here’s one more bit of info for you: Boron is an essential mineral that the body needs for bone building, immune function, and brain function. Plants need it to grow. But, like anything, it’s needed in small moderation. Much like salt. Boron is found aplenty in borax. People even take borax as a supplement and swear by it (I am NOT recommending you do this). That’s a little extreme, but use it as a gauge as to how harmful borax really is.

It is not harmful to the environment. In fact, the largest borax (borate) mine in the world – found in Boron, California – is considered by many to be the most ecologically sound and environmentally sustainable mine in the United States. This is also the mine where 20 Mule Team comes from.

Not unlike conventional cleaning products, homemade or store bought green cleaning solutions should be stored safely away from children and pets. When handled with respect, borax is a great addition to your cleaning arsenal. Mix solutions in your kitchen, away from food and clearly label your finished product.

Source: The David Suzuki Foundation

Art & Culture

CLAYZONE – Ceramics finds its place in the art-world mainstream

CLAY: a common material with an ancient history…

WAYNE NGAN sculpts the most striking creations

Versatile, sensuous, malleable, as basic as mud and as old as art itself, clay is increasingly emerging as a material of choice for a wide range of contemporary artists.

Ann Agee’s installation Super Imposition (2010), at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, presents the artist’s factory-like castings of rococo-style vessels in a re-created period room.

Ceramic art, referring specifically to American ceramic art, has finally come out of the closet, kicking and disentangling itself from domestic servitude and minor-arts status—perhaps for good. Over the past year, New York has seen, in major venues, a spate of clay-based art. There was the much-lauded Ken Price retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as his exhibitions at Franklin Parrasch Gallery and the Drawing Center. Once known as a ceramist, Price is now considered a sculptor, one who has contributed significantly to the perception of ceramics as fine art.

Populist as well as elitist, its inclusive nature might be one reason for its current appeal. It has infinite versatility, from the purely formal to the functional. It is a substance every child has played with,

Clayzone Ceramics, Vancouver

and it is responsive to the primal instinct to make things by hand. Clay allows the artist to create form in spontaneous and direct ways that other mediums do not.

What do the Artists have to say?

Arlene Shechet, Sculptor: “I’m not a ceramic artist,” Shechet insists. “I’m an artist who works in clay. I like working in clay because it is very direct experience. I like the resistance of clay. It’s a physical enterprise, and you can make anything out of it. It doesn’t have a character until you give it one.”

Julia Kunin, Sculptor: “Clay,” she says, “gives me the freedom to create something intense, raw, over the top.”

Sculptor Julia Kunin creates baroquely grotesque animal forms, such as Double Portrait, 2010. D. James Dee — Sculptor **Julia Kunin** creates baroquely grotesque animal forms, such as Double Portrait, 2010. D. James Dee

It has allowed me to pile things up, break things down, play, and make mistakes.” Kunin loves the immediacy of a material that is “as basic as mud,” she points out. “I am addicted to the unpredictability and iridescence of the glazes I’m using as well as the range of their colors and their psychedelic qualities.”

As these artists and many others, frequently women, wrestle with a material deeply embedded in rules, craft, and tradition, they are widening its trajectories, spinning it into the art-world mainstream, into blue-chip desirability. They are waiting for the day, as Cherubini says, when clay—no longer synonymous with the counterculture, with hippies and vegans—is just a material like any other, and those who use it are not ghettoized as ceramic artists.

Lilly Wei is a New York–based art critic, independent curator, and a contributing editor of ARTnews.

RIP Beth!

FUN

Words and Tweets: of Maya Angelou

“All Great Achievements Require Time”

photo from NY Daily News

Maya Angelou’s last tweet left the world in quiet reflection: “Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.”

Maya Angelou’s inspirational words were full of strength and have resonated with her audiences for years. The poet, author, and civil rights activist — who died Wednesday at the age of 86 — had a way of saying the simplest of things in the most eloquent of ways. Her first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, published in 1969, resulted in international recognition and led to six more autobiographies and a number of poetry anthologies.

A few of my favourite quotes from her works:

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

“Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.”

“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

“You may not control all of the events that happen to you but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”

“While Maya’s day may be done, we take comfort in knowing that her song will continue, ‘flung up to heaven’ — and we celebrate the dawn that Maya Angelou helped bring.” RIP

FUN

Health MATTERS: Stinging Nettle is nothing to sneeze at!

I’m always on the lookout for a good natural solution to my problem.

Stinging Nettle

Of all the health problems that summer and spring can bring, hay fever can be amongst the most debilitating and annoying. The constant interruptions to your life brought on by uncontrollable sneezing and irritated eyes is enough to drive most people crazy. It’s driving me crazy right now!

It may surprise you then to realize that the same garden which is largely responsible for your current predicament is also home to the solution to your problems.

One study on humans of nettle leaf for the treatment of hay fever found that this herb works 58 percent of the time on reducing itching and sneezing. Researchers believe that nettle is able to reduce the amount of histamine in people with allergies. By naturally reducing the level of histamine in the body as a result of allergens, you increase your resilience to those same allergens.

Doctors recommend taking nettle long before allergy season begins. They also suggest using freeze-dried leaves, however taking supplements will also work. It has been found that hay fever sufferers can start out taking two nettle supplements, three times a day until symptoms are under control and then reduce their intake after that.

Stinging nettle tea is also available from most health food stores.

Did you know? Stinging nettle has been used for hundreds of years to treat painful muscles and joints, eczema, arthritis, gout, and anemia.

Have you tried it?

Also, **Don’t miss listening to “Transforming Health” with host Brad King for the most evocative and informative up-to-the-minute interviews with leading health professionals – Live every Wednesday @ 12PM-PST/3PM-EST on VoiceAmerica.com – #1 internet radio station in North America. Here’s the link: http://www.voiceamerica.com/show/1686/transforming-health

FUN

Personally…I don’t want to become a TANorexic!

Summer is just around the corner (it started earlier than usual in Vancouver) and some of us are feeling that we look a tad too pale. What’s a white girl to do?

Fake it, of course – what else?

Start to shake up the St. Tropez self-tanning mousse and start slathering. Then somebody you know happens to comment that you’re looking really tan. You say “thank you” and they say “no, I mean like reeaally tanned” and then you’re feeling not so sure that it’s a nice compliment – like you overdid it with the bottle.

You try to cut back but it is really difficult especially once you start to see results (George Hamilton comes to mind). You must repeat this on a daily basis until you obtain the color you want (which is the “perfect” fake tan) but the lines become blurred because you never can tell if you’re tan enough. It’s a tough circle.

A Tanorexic is similar to an Anorexic in the sense that the person isn’t aware of how “tan” they really are, even if another person tells them they are. Is there a 12-step program to deal with this?

I thought I was the first person to come up with this term but it turns out that Wikipedia already has a description (which I added to):

Tanning addiction (see photos below for poor examples) is a rare syndrome where an individual appears to have a physical or psychological addiction to sunbathing or the use of tanning beds and/or spray tans – usually resulting in an overly orange or dark complexion and body color. This may or may not include a strange scented body odor although now you can find some sprays/lotions that don’t smell too bad (stop that!).

you don't want to do this — you don’t want to do this

Come on….who else is guilty?

It doesn’t really have to be this way!

FUN

Beauty biz – does Boots #7 live up to all the hype?

Remember when the original Protect and Perfect was hailed as the next anti aging breakthrough in Great Britain? When it hit the shelves in the United States it sold out in days.

In a recent Boots No7 review, BBC reported a clinical study that showed Boots No. 7′s Protect & Perfect to be as almost as effective as prescription products. Wow, big claim! Is it true?

Gwyneth Paltrow says she is a user of Boots No7 skin cream which adds further credibility to the line. (After all, she should know).

In 2011, Multiple Boots No7 Products Receive Good Housekeeping’s First Annual Anti-Aging Awards.

Boots No7 has been featured and reviewed by a bunch of influential magazines. NBC claimed the serum was scientifically proven to repair collagen. The primary ingredient that is known to repair collagen is oligopeptide. But is this ingredient in a high enough dosage to repair collagen? Our first reaction is that Boots No7 represents good value for money. When you compare Boots No7 to premium products, the formula is actually quite effective. The concentration of oligopeptide is reasonable for the cost of the product and we feel it represents good value for money. The Dermatology Review.

No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum has been tested like no other cosmetic anti aging product in an independent 12 month trial. The findings clearly show that it has genuine, long term anti aging benefits. Contains Pro Retinol (I will blog about the importance of Retinol in my next post), concentrated levels of Boots unique antioxidant complex to protect from environmental damage and a skin-firming peptide complex to boost and maintain skin’s elasticity.

The serum does include Palmitoyl Oligopeptide and Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide, two very effective anti-aging ingredients. Unfortunately, the peptides are the two LAST ingredients in a lengthy list of 31 ingredients. This means there are only enough peptides to allow Boots to list them which makes you wonder about the overall effectiveness. All in all, it feels silky on the skin and seems to work as well as many pricier serums. Only time will tell. Worth a try in my opinion.

Boots No7 is available at Target, QVC, Ulta, Walgreens, and Beauty.com. In Canada you can find them at Shoppers Drug Mart & London Drugs – priced between $20 and $40. It can also be purchased online through Boots USA.

I haven’t tried any of their other products – have you? Any comments?

STYLE

style & substance – the great WHITE T

A great all around basic.

Glam it up a little with a tulle skirt! Chriselle Lim, via The Chriselle Factor

It doesn’t get cooler than wearing a simple white T-shirt and most people own at least a few of these closet classics.

Not only is the T endlessly versatile and effortlessly wearable, but it also happens to be super comfy and available at every possible price point.

Let your tee stand in for your go-to button-up the next time you wear a pantsuit. Natalie Suarez, via Natalie Off Duty — Let your tee **stand in** for your go-to button-up the next time you wear a pantsuit.
Natalie Suarez, via Natalie Off Duty

Tuck it into a pair of white jeans—wide-leg, boyfriend, skinny or otherwise—for a super-sleek look that fakes the effect of a jumpsuit. Emily Schuman, via Cupcakes & Cashmere — **Tuck it into a pair of white jeans**—wide-leg, boyfriend, skinny or otherwise—for a super-sleek look that fakes the effect of a jumpsuit. Emily Schuman, via Cupcakes & Cashmere

Knot the hem of your tee for an abbreviated top with major throwback appeal. Karla Deras, via Karla's Closet — **Knot the hem** of your tee for an abbreviated top with major throwback appeal.
Karla Deras, via Karla’s Closet

There’s nothing wrong with wearing Hanes but if you’re looking for something more luxe, then The Row’s got a tissue-thin version you’re guaranteed to love but it will set you back a few hundred. They’re useful all year long. In winter wear one as a layering piece under something like a flannel shirt which you can remove if it gets too warm.

Dial down the formality of a precious jacket—beaded, fringe-trimmed or otherwise embellished—with your casual tee. Julie Sariñara, via Sincerely Jules — **Dial down the formality of a precious jacket**—beaded, fringe-trimmed or otherwise embellished—with your casual tee.
Julie Sariñara, via Sincerely Jules

When paired with a tucked-in white tee, sequins suddenly feel far more wearable. Leandra Medine, via Instagram/@manrepeller — When **paired with a tucked-in white tee**, **sequins** suddenly feel far more wearable.
Leandra Medine, via Instagram/@manrepeller

Whiteout! Make your tee part of a completely monochromatic look—and prepare to be mistaken for a fashion editor. Camille Charrière, via Camille Over the Rainbow — **Whiteout**! Make your tee part of a completely **monochromatic** look—and prepare to be mistaken for a fashion editor. Camille Charrière, via Camille Over the Rainbow

Now that it’s officially spring—and with summer on the horizon—the white tee is more important than ever. It’s the perfect complement to your favorite cutoffs, sure, but it can also anchor a playful print or be repurposed as an of-the-moment crop top. Looking for some fun, fresh ways to wear your favorite white T-shirt this season? Here are some T-based looks that are sure to inspire you!

FUN

simply satisfying – grilled cherry tomato lollipops

So they’re not really lollipops, but the term “tomato skewers” sounded too mundane.

Summer screams of BBQ and we’re constantly heating up our grill to cook up whatever flavors epitomize the season.

Because these tomatoes are so cute and plump, it sounds more appropriate (and fun) to call them lollipops especially when you jab them onto sticks. Plus, they taste sweet like candy during this time of the year.

Have you ever grilled your cherry tomatoes? They’re super amazing and the texture is like roasted tomatoes, but you don’t have to turn on your hot oven in the Summer. And best of all, they have the wonderful bbq flavor to them. Before grilling place them in a bowl & gently mix with sea salt and a little olive oil & balsamic.

A simple way to enjoy these grilled tomato skewer “lollipops” is on grilled bread swiped with a nice layer of ricotta cheese. Make sure to make a big platter of these little skewer lollipops for your gathering because they’re sure to be a hit. They’re so good, your guests will probably eat them right off the skewers just like candy.

Or, hollow them out fresh ones & place a baby mozzarella inside dipped in olive oil & cilantro/parsley. — Or; freshly hollow them out & place rounded baby mozzarella inside dipped in olive oil & cilantro or parsley. Skewer on individual sticks for a lovely and tasty presentation.

taken from “white on rice” couple.

Link to my “FOOD” board below on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/intrigueimports/foodsavour-taste-flavor-relish-palate-enjoyment/

Art & Culture

ART/Out There: a guide to choosing ART for your home

Design, Art, Travel, Shopping – these are some of my favourite things!

Maria Gabriela Brito is an art collector and interior designer living in New York City and the author of Out There: Design, Art, Travel, Shopping ($60USD – Pointed Leaf Press). The book is an insider’s guide to designing interiors and developing an art collection. OUT THERE is a fresh and exclusive look behind the scenes of a passionate and exciting new design authority on mixing contemporary art with home decoration. It features highlights of Brito’s favorite contemporary artists, photographs of eight New York City apartments that she designed, and an extensive look at favorite galleries, shops, and hotels worldwide.

The following is taken from her interview by Danielle Pergament for Allure Magazine.

Rather than trying to match art to your furniture or throw pillows, look for work that you love but that is on the edge of your comfort zone in terms of brightness. Color is the fastest way to bring life to a room.

Go BIG. The bigger the piece, the more it will transform a room. Don’t shy away from a large piece. People tend to choose art that is too small for the space. Take your cue from the furniture your art will hang near. If your sofa is 70 inches long, go for a piece that’s 50 inches: if the couch is 96 inches long, try something that measures 80 inches. If you can’t find one really big image you like, you can cheat by placing two side by side. The bottom of the frame should sit six to ten inches above the top of the furniture, and the closer the top edge is to the ceiling, the higher your ceilings will look.

Present it Properly. If you’re buying art from a gallery, follow their framing or mounting suggestions, which usually reflects the artist’s wishes. As a general rule, stretched canvases don’t need a frame, and large photographs look best mounted in acrylic or Plexiglas. If the colors of the artwork are muted, consider a colorful frame to liven it up.

Advance your Placement. Before you automatically hang a new piece in the living room, think about your entire home. Instead of the predictable console and mirror in a foyer, imagine a huge, vibrant print/painting there. I especially love to incorporate smaller pieces of art in unexpected places, like a bathroom or kitchen. In the bedroom, go a bit more subdued – black-and-white photography, for example – to keep the room peaceful.

How to hang a gallery wall. Hallways make great mini galleries, but it can be tricky to hang lots of pieces of varying sizes. Here’s how to do it: take a piece of butcher paper the size of the wall (or tape paper panels together) and put it on the floor. Arrange all the artwork you want to hang on the paper. You can play around until it really looks right, then use a pencil to mark exactly where each should go. Tape the paper to the wall and hang each piece on its designated mark. Finally, rip the paper carefully. Voilà – your own gallery.

http://www.pointedleafpress.com/out-there

FUN

WORDS: Wisdom from a Wise Woman

Mata Amritanandamayi – humanitarian and spiritual leader

On Spirituality & Science: Spirituality is not against science. In fact it is the ultimate science. Science without spirituality is blind. Spirituality without science is lame. We need both.

On Love and Faith: Light the lamp of love within you and move forward. When we take each step with good thoughts and a smiling face, all the goodness will come to us and fill our being. Then God cannot possibly stay away from us. He will embrace us.

On The Secrets of the Universe: “When thoughts are reduced; power of the mind and it’s subtlety increases, tunes with the universe. Then you can see the realms beyond the common understanding. When the mind is pure and quiet it becomes one with the universal mind. That mind is like a mirror. The secrets of the Universe will be revealed there.”

Amma’s Desire: “Everyone in the world should be able to sleep without fear, at least for one night. Everyone should be able to eat to his fill, at least for one day. There should be at least one day when hospitals see no one admitted due to violence. By doing selfless service for at least one day, everyone should help the poor and needy. It is Amma’s prayer that at least this small dream be realized.” – –Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

Free Public Programs – Mata Amritanandamayi is in Seattle this Memorial Day weekend: A celebration devoted to world peace. Link: http://www.amritapuri.org/