In a Pinch

So I'm at work today & it's Rainy & chilly so I was thinking a cup of tea would be nice right about now! Then I remembered I just picked up some Tea from a craft show and that I would love to try it but crap it's loose tea and I have no tea ball! what to do what to do??? I found some other tea in fancy tea bags so I cut it open and poured out the other tea (it's now air freshner for my cubie) then filled it up with my new tea use a binger clip to close it and a stir to hang it in the hot water ~ Presto sipp'n on Perky Pear Tea!

the binder clip really comes in handy!!

Middle School Eco Club

Today I was invited to a Rochester, Michigan Middle School Eco Club! I told them how I got started with my obsession of Upcycling then we fused some plastic! It was mostly boys which surprised me but they were so much fun, very creative and out going! Teachers & Parents came as well. I would love to do that everyday just go around to schools and talk with the kids then make stuff.
This is what they gave me when it was time to go!

Probiotics

So my extreme nature has taken over yet again! A few weeks ago my friend at work was tell me about his friend  & how he was weird now that he had a crazy girlfriend & they were growing their own probiotics~ well that was all he had to say and I was off on the internet researching how I could grow my own~ not even sure what they did but knew they were good for you & I had to grow my own!
First I came across Kombucha which it a tea I guess since you brew tea bags & easy enough to make but you needed a "mother" which was the thing that was hard to get your hands on since you can't buy these things live at the store. I came across KombuchaBrooklyn and bought the whole package. It was a bit pricey for what you got but I just did it! This tea takes two weeks to produce and there it a yucky thing that grows on top which is the mother with all the good stuff in it ( you have to have a mother but it will produce more mothers under it). Well I had to ask some questions because it just didn't seem right and sure enough I had to much tea in the jar. Once I took some out all was good and two weeks later I had my tea. Now I had no idea what this was suppose to taste like~ I can tell you that when you take the cup to your lips it smells like a big jar of vinegar but does not taste like it! it's taste like a mild tea but you have to get use to it and know it's for the greater good of your body. The good stuff it brings to your body it endless from all that I have read. I am not sure if I feel better yet but I don't think I was feeling bad to begin with & I have only had it for a few days now. I have already started my second brewing.

Here is a picture of my first brewing. Looks like there's mold on it but it is normal. I will soon have mothers to share so let me know if you want to try it. 

While on my research quest I also came across Water Kefir. Now this doesn't take as long to produce only a day or two. It doesn't look as weird but that is personal as my husband called it my science project in the kitchen! This has many good effects as Kombucha. These are Grains in which you put them in a jar of sugar water, just like kombucha the living organism feeds off of the sugar. I like mine after a day since it's still sweet. The longer you let it sit the more vinegary it becomes. You can flavor it after & it becomes carbonated during the second fermentation.  These Water Kefir grains reproduce like crazy ~ I have given away some already & had to halt production because i was drinking to much to keep up and found myself bloated! Once I get close to depleting my supply I will continue again. I find that I crave it now! no one else in my house will touch it. My son would if he was still living at home but I did send him with a jar of Kombucha for his belly troubles. 

If you are interested in trying water kefir I have some ready for shipping and they are yours I just ask that you pay the shipping which is $5 in the US since I ship it priority. Then you will have a ton to share with your friends!

Now that I mastered Water Kefir & seem to have a handle on Kombucha I am on to Milk Kefir. Now they are not similar to Water Kefir in looks ~ Milk Kefir looks like little white brains! I got my from Groovy Guts . These ones you put in with Milk~ just normal Pasteurized milk but not ultra pasteurized! It is a bit to get past if you are squeamish about Milk products as it looks like spoiled milk. I love this stuff however it taste tart but I don't drink it straight I put in a blender with Maple flavoring (groovy guts uses maple syrup ) and artificial sweetener~ maybe a banana if I have one or frozen strawberries. It's so good I carve that now too but I only make enough for some big ol cup! but the cool thing about this stuff is there is whey left over which is the thick stuff.  I didn't add anything the first time and didn't let it sit as long & it turned out more like cream cheese. Then next time I put sea salt and fresh cilantro in it and let it sit longer ~ it made a nice cheese, only 2 bites but divine nonetheless!

Milk Kefir Grain (Brain Grains) from Groovy Guts! 

Let me know if you have any questions as it's a learning process for me that right nowwhich has taken over my life & kitchen!

Publish Post

Recycled belts!

So like  most things when they break we throw them away! well if you are like me that is just not an option! either you find a new use for it or you recycle it~ and if it can't be recycled you better find a new use for it. So my hubby broke his belt, we could go on here on how or why it broke but I am sure that you can figure that out on your own. So the first thing that popped in my head and I would think anyone's head is to make a bracelet with it. This took some time to come to fruit because  I wanted it to snap and I knew the snap kits at Joann's just weren't going to cut it so I had to do some research & found the tool for the job~ seems there's a leather website that has anything you could dream up! Which is were I also found my other idea of burning something into the leather because let's face it I need to spice things up!

TaDa! here are the first 3 (well there is one before this that I burned the word Recycle into that I wear I figured not everyone would like my penmen ship so I stuck with shapes). I put  them up at the Yellow Door in Berkly, MI for Sale!




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Location:Joan,Pinckney,United States

Vocation

A little article on Work We are what we do, and the more we do it, the more we become it.  By giving a job your time, you are giving it your consciousness.  Eventually it will fill your life with the reality that it presents.  So look beyond the superficial attractions of a particular job or profession.  Consider what it will require you to do on a day-to-day, hour-to-hour, minute-to-minute basis.  See if that is how you want to spend your time.  If it is not, your job will become your prison rather than the vehicle for your dreams.  And a person without dreams is only half alive. You should think of work as vocation, which comes from the Latin word for calling, which comes from the word for voice.  In those meanings it touches on what work really should be - something that calls to you, that gives voice to who you are and what you want to say in the world.  If you find a vocation, embrace it.  You have found a way to contribute to the world with love. Find what it is that burns in your heart and do it.  Choose a vocation, not a job, and your life will have meaning and your days will have peace. By Teesha Moore You should check out her Eye Candy of a website~ even go to one of her Retreats! The first "art" retreat I ever when to was with her, her hubby Tracy & Michael DeMeng. I was let's say life changing! it has lead me on the road not only to be a better person but to find myself , chase my dreams and well find a job that is calling to me! I'm not there yet with the job thing but I am letting go of my "Prison" job in Aug to do my Vocation lets just hope I can make some moola at it lol!

Recycled Plastic Bag Flowers

I use to make these a lot and it's actually a mini project in my book but just like everything you grow tired of it so I sold out of what I had and then just a few weeks ago I lost interest in everything else except sitting on the couch with my hubby and making these! I made some Pins and some Barrette's. I still have one on my purse and it's been through hell but is holding up. Some of the girls in my girl scout troop bought some from me at a local craft fair and they wear the barrette's on their headbands~ clever girls!

So get your flower looms and plastic bags out and weave away to a new brooch from your spring coat!

you can find them for sale at www.RadicalRecycks.etsy.com

Craptastic

So I am an avid drinker of WoodChuck which is a cider draft ~ it's apple cider liquored up! anyway the green glass bottle it comes in are not returnable~ Michigan has .10cents  returnables but for some reason these ones aren't so I recycle them but we can't recycle glass in our curbside recycling bin and the big recycling dumpster at work only takes clear glass. So i have to drive a ways to the recycling center that will take them. So now you can image this gets to be a pain in the rear on some occasions so I thought I should just make something out of this glass! So I bought an industrial rock polishing thing and thought I could break the glass then tumble it to look like sea glass~ It did just that but then it sat there I just didn't have the drive to do anything else with it. So then I got the idea that I must have a kiln to melt it then I would use it in some jewelry pieces. Great idea but I really didn't want to plunk down $500 bucks on a kiln then for it to sit there because it didn't really do what I wanted. I talked about this kiln must have for a long time then a friend saw this Microwave kiln and it was cheap (well cheap enough I could justify it!) it worked right off the bat but now it's not doing what it was before but still melting the glass! I have to figure out the bugs.

Now that I had my melted glass piece I was finally inspired to make something with it! I made this necklace it's main piece is the woodchuck glass then the rest of the charms are recycled pieces like a used gift card, metal bottle cap, button, star charm that was in the junk drawer! I want to call these necklaces "CrapTastic Necklaces " but I am not thinking that will fly with the customer that might want to purchase it! Any suggestions would be welcome!

Find more at www.RadicalRecycks.etsy.com