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DIY – Scented tea cup candles
Do you have a hard time throwing away stuff that’s practically useless? Do you stuff it in a drawer, telling yourself you’ll come up with something it’ll still be good for? Here’s a suggestion for what to do with leftover wax from candles that are technically burnt down:
Tea cups: my latest thrift-store hunt. Wick: some linen cord. 
For the wick it’s important that you use a cord from a natural fiber, since, you know, you’re going to light it. I used linen since it happened to be around. Cotton works, too. 
To make the wick not drown in the wax, I wrapped a rubber band around the cup … 
… and hung the linen cord over it. One mustn’t be stupid, as the Swedes say. Now this step I forgot to document in pix: melting the wax. I just put the chunks into a tin can, which in turn I placed in a pot filled with water. Heat until the wax is melted. I put the linen cord in there, too, so that it would soak up some wax (which I imagined would keep it from burning too fast). Also, I added some tea tree oil. I am sure any essence works, but I probably wouldn’t use anything that’s not organic.
And this is the result. You like? 
I do! These are going into the bathroom. I don’t like having the fluorescent light blinding me when I brush my teeth at night, so I’ve been decking out the place with tea lights. To state the obvious: this is prettier.
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Recipe – Make your own nutella
The hazelnut chocolate cake deliciousness from earlier reminded me of one of my favorite homemade things. Homemade nutella. I came across this recipe when I got into the low-carb thing. I am not that strict about it anymore as I was then but I still use birch tree sugar.*
Obviously you can use any sweetener you like – and it’s still home-made nutella. In all fairness: it doesn’t taste exactly like nutella. In my opinion, it tastes better. Plus, it’s easy, fast to make, with no exotic ingredients (except the coconut fat), and some might even say: healthy. I don’t know if I would go so far considering that I probably eat way too much of it at once. I would however go so far as to say that – as anything home-made, and thus made with love and care – it is a healthier alternative to the stuff from the store.
You need:
- 2 cups of ground peeled hazelnuts
- ca. 4,5 to 5,5 tbs of sweetener (just use how much you like)
- 3 tbs cocoa (the raw stuff for baking, not the sweetened ready-made stuff for chocolate milk)
- coconut fat – I start out with 2 tbs, see how the texture turns out, and add till it’s right
- a dash of vanilla
Just put everything into a blender and, well, blend. Add whatever you feel needs adding according to your preference. Done. It lasts … well, I don’t know, in our household never long enough for me to actually figure out a best before date.
Hazelnutty for you! * Birch tree sugar is a form of xylitol, which doesn’t up the blood-sugar level so much. I like it best out of all the alternatives because although the sweetness is different from the taste of sugar, I don’t feel “cheated”. Stevia just tastes like licorice to me, so that’s no real alternative if you ask me. I make sure I buy it at a health food store because xylitol can also be made from – guess what – GMO corn.
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Junk Food – for real
I am not only a hoarder when it comes to thrift-stores, no, I also hoard books. Library books. I cannot praise Gothenburg’s library enough – free membership, branches in every part of town, a huge selection, and, the best of all (yet also my downfall, as will soon become apparent): you can borrow a lot of items at once. I mean it: A LOT. You’re not supposed to borrow more than five at a time but there is no mechanism in the scanner that prevents you from checking out more.
I try to be reasonable but what does happen to me a lot is, that I go to one of the libraries (they are nice places to hang out in town when it’s cold outside and you’re waiting for someone), and I find something that interests me. Lately mostly cook books, and diy related stuff. Mainly because those are really nice to look at, and inspiring, and also: expensive, so I wouldn’t buy them. What happens next then is me thinking “Oh, I want to borrow this one. But wait, I already have so many books at home. But if I don’t check this one out now, I’ll probably forget the title, and what if it’s not there anymore next time I come here?!” So… you get the picture.
This past week I borrowed a cook book, which makes me want to cook/bake through every single one of its recipes. It’s called Junk Food – på riktigt. I’d translate that with: Junk Food – for real. It combines two interests of mine – junk food and health. Health is obviously relative, in this case I mean that the food is made from the best ingredients possible (because you’re the one making it, duh), no funny business like preservatives, flavorings, etc. So the book has recipes for how you make all the classic junk food meals from scratch. Get this: there is even a recipe for how you make marshmallows!? I’m in love. Also, the food photography is really appealing – lots of vibrant colors.
I am planning on making hamburgers (including making my own bbq sauce and hamburger dressing) tomorrow but since the dough for the buns is a yeast dough, I prepared that tonight (fresh yeast dough tastes great but it is basically a guarantee for a stomach ache).
The yeast dough is rising under one of my beloved Kate Bingaman Burt kitchen towels. Ok, I admit – I just included this pic to have an excuse to show off one of my beloved Kate Bingaman Burt kitchen towels. 
Turmeric is what makes them look so nice and yellow. So, thank you Gothenburg library. I actually think I will purchase this book.
To be continued … -
Thrift-store raid
I can never go into a thrift-store without buying a bunch of stuff. So I am equally thrilled as terrified by the fact that here in Sweden thrift-stores (called “loppis”, short for “loppmarknad” = flee-market) are all over the place. I kid you not: even when you’re driving on the loneliest road through the woods you’ll find signs (some hand-made, some “real”, like the official signs for a town or something) saying “loppis”.
I have, however, found a solution for my problem. Not going in. Yes, unfortunately that is the best thing I have come up with so far. The positive thing with my addiction is: it is relatively cheap. I regularly find myself with a basket full of stuff in the line for the cash-register, preparing myself for the supposedly inevitable heart attack I am going to have when I hear the total. Kind of like at IKEA, you know, where you end up picking up a bunch of small items on the way, which you never planned on buying but now that you’re here, and they’re so cheap, and then at the cash register you find out that you misread the price (or rather: the tagging on the shelves was misleading), and everything is much more expensive than you thought but you don’t feel like bothering with returning the stuff now that they’ve already scanned everything – you know what I mean?
Only, that at a Swedish loppis that’s not how it turns out. I am surprised every time by how a ton of stuff can cost so little. Everything is really expensive here (well, I guess that’s relative, I suppose the Norwegians would disagree but compared to Germany it is – and I do still compare, even after two years, sigh) – except for thrift-stores. Those are really cheap, and the only chance of me dying of a heart attack there is from the anxiety I build up myself while waiting in line.
So, yes, there are a lot of things that are great with thrift-stores: it’s obviously better from a environmental/consumption point of view if we re-use stuff that already exists, instead of throwing away old stuff and producing new stuff all the time. It’s cheap, so I can afford buying a ton of stuff even when I don’t have much money (which is most of the time). And it’s fun. The less central/known the location of a thrift-store, the higher your chances of finding real treasures. Even better when the people working there have no idea what stuff is worth (well, better for me, that is, I guess).
But regardless of all the pros – stuff is still stuff, and accumulating it, no matter where you get it from, still clutters your home. Consumption is consumption is consumption … If I didn’t restrict my visits to these places, and my “feng shui bible”, I might as well be one of those hoarders that you see on tv.
This week, I broke my self-imposed prohibition. I have been to three thrift-stores, it cost me 316 SEK (ca. 50$ | 38€), and here is some of my booty:
Lately I have been buying a bunch of plates … Because I am obsessed with (making) these three tier servers:
Obvs also made from plates found at various “loppises”. 
Yes, I am aware that we have no possible use for more than two of these, so anything I am making from now on, I will somehow have to get rid of … 
I especially dig plates with this kind of delicate flower pattern. 
This lovely can was only 5 SEK ( = 80¢ | 0,60 €), and I thought it would be perfect as a gift – filled with some chocolate chip cookies, maybe? 
Both Peter and I have been wanting to have these kind of spoons for when we eat sushi. Well, actually we don’t want the spoons for the sushi but for the miso-soup that comes with it. 15 SEK ( 2.60 $ | 1,80 €) for 4 spoons. Not bad, eh? 
I bought two of those brass forms … … because I thought I could use them when I try this recipe for making your own bath bombs.
Oh yeah, and the tea cups I got because I want to make …
… these kind of candles. This retro beauty is for my sister, if I can find a way to mail it to her safely (she lives in Jena and used to live in Mainz – how freaky is this?):
Hm, you can’t see it in this picture but it also has a stamp that says “Schott Mainz”, so … I also broke my biggest no-no: I am not allowed to buy any new fabric until I have made something from the tons that I already have hoarded. But I just couldn’t walk past this:
50 SEK ( 7.80 $ | 6 €) … 
… for about 1,5m x 3,2m (1,6 x 3,5 yards) 
Now all I need is an old arm chair that I can make over! Or professional help … Or professional help re-doing an old arm chair!
Like so. Also, I bought …
… this enamel-coated plate … 
… at 40 SEK ( 6.30 $ | 4,80 €) one of the more expensive purchases. But I just HAD TO. Why? Apart from that I think it’s adorable, I want to exchange all the plastic dishes with enamel (both for health and aesthetic reasons) in this lovely picnic basket:
Do I need to mention that this is also from a loppis? 50 SEK (7.80 $ | 6 €). My best buy this year so far. Now you know the severity of my condition. If you know of any cures or remedies – please don’t tell me! I can’t imagine my life without loppis treasure hunts.
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No poo – tested for you
Well, ok, it wasn’t a completely selfless act, I do dig these kind of diys. I have been meaning to write this post since last Wednesday (that’s when I tried some recipes) but I wanted to wait till I had some pictures. As most of the times, I am not completely happy with them but I am afraid if I wait until I am, I will never share this with you. And that would be sad because trying out these recipes really was a revelation for me. So: do try this at home!
I tried some of the recipes from this ByzantineFlowers post, namely the soap nut shampoo, the green tea conditioner, and the coffee scrub.
Soap nuts The soap nut shampoo I simply did because I had those nuts (that are berries) at hand. It’s actually what we’ve been using to do the laundry with, I had no idea you could use them as shampoo. Boiling the soap nuts in water for 30 minutes, preparing the shampoo every time you want to use it rather than storing it – the procedure is simple yet somewhat time-consuming, so I am not sure I will stick with this one in the long run. The liquid does have a distinct smell, which I find neither particularly unpleasant nor particularly pleasant. It’s ok. As to whether this shampoo worked or not – I find it hard to say. I mean, my hair did get clean and looked nice but I can’t say for sure that it was the soap nuts, or simply washing my hair (after all, some do use water only), or …
… The green tea conditioner. Now this one I loved. My hair usually is very hard to comb (I don’t even use a brush). I have gotten used to it and don’t even think about the discomfort anymore but those days are over! I was skeptical, and wondered how this was supposed to work, after all, the green tea is water, and won’t that just run down before I even got a chance to rub it in? I have no clue how it worked – but it did. My hair was super-easy to comb, and it did look nice (again, I can’t know for sure what to contribute that part to).
Green tea The real revelation however was the coffee scrub. It is easy to make, relatively cheap yet it feels really expensive (which is the best, right?), feels nice, and makes you smell so good! I only deviated from the original recipe in so far as I used coconut fat instead of olive oil. Again: because it was at hand – and also because it is supposed to be good for Pitta (yup, I just had to sneak in something Ayurveda). Also I used vanilla sugar instead of regular since I had prepared a jar full a while ago (you just put a vanilla bean in a jar with sugar and let it sit), which we don’t use anymore (the sugar being white). Same goes for the coffee: we haven’t been drinking any lately, so this is the perfect way for me to enjoy its smell anyway.
In the original recipe it says it’s against cellulite but I just went ahead and used it as a full body scrub. Peter was concerned that maybe that way I’ll just end up spreading cellulite. Very good point, so I will keep you posted as to whether I suddenly develop cellulite on my nose or something.
I have been combining using this scrub with the Ayurveda massage technique from the morning routine, so I fancy myself getting the benefits from both. I am no expert though, so I don’t know, I am just going with my gut here. Another thing that’s great about this scrub (yes, there is more!) is that the coconut fat (or whatever fat/oil you’re using) keeps your skin from drying out in the shower. At the same time, you don’t get so sticky that your towel or clothes feel greasy after using them. Your skin just feels really nice and smells like coffee – how cool is that?!
Coffee scrub FYI: all this coming from someone who normally doesn’t use more than shampoo and soap in the shower – read: I don’t get excited about beauty products very easily. Yesterday I even managed to get Peter excited about this coffee scrub. His only concern was that he was going to a lecture, and that the coffee addicts among the guests might be tempted to start licking his skin. No reports of the sort have been filed, so I guess this delicious scrub is safe for use in public. Well, maybe not the actual use but you know what I mean.
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Pearls + neon yellow nylon thread = true
The sun has been out again today, giving me perfect light for pix of the necklace I made Sunday night. Even used a soldering iron in the process – for the first time!? Just like with the first two pieces, I am very happy with the result, although this time I am not sure I would wear it myself. Neon yellow isn’t really my color but for some reason this is what the necklace just had to look like.
I used scrapbooking pages as background for these. 
And my boyfriend’s camera for better pix. 
The materials for the jewelery I have been making is – besides some hooks and the nylon thread – mostly dissected pieces of jewelery I have found on my thrift store raids. -
A little more wow
This is what it looks like where I take walks.
Nice winter coat, Mr. Rock! 
Moss looks good on pretty much anything, don’t you think? 
Great to look at, a pain to walk on … today I did both. 
OK, now I didn’t walk on THAT. Luckily, the ground had thawed in some parts. We actually met someone on their mountain bike – hope he came down the hill the way he wanted to … 
We saw a couple of those around the lake – guerrilla bird feeding? Yes, that’s an old milk carton. Wow.
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Going with the flow
It may not look like it but there is actually a lot going on that I would like to write about. Mostly Ayurveda stuff, since I’ve really been hooked, not just on reading but trying out stuff. I’ve noticed some amazing changes that I want to write about. Now that I am off work for the next eight days, hopefully I will get at least some stuff out there.
In a way, this post is connected to the Ayurvedic train of thought – and not just because according to Ayurveda, everything is connected. Being a person who loves planning stuff ahead, making lists and such, and often being frustrated when everything doesn’t go according to plan, (= a person with a dominant Pitta dosha, if I should express it in “Ayurvedic”), I decided I wanted to take a break from locking myself into a fictitious schedule, and just go with the flow instead. Do what I felt like, when I felt like it, instead of doing what I had planned out the night before simply because I HAD A PLAN. Yes, I was going to follow my intuition. I know that I am going to state the obvious here when I say: it worked amazingly.
First I wrote a bunch of letters and e-mails to friends and family that I had been “planning” to do for so long but never could find the right mood to sit down to. Then the sun came out and I realized the light in our apartment was perfect to take some pictures of the jewelery I have been making. I uploaded them right away, and wanted to share them but – and this is really very unlike me! – I quit before I was done, because the weather still was nice and my boyfriend suggested we go for a walk.
We decided for Gunnebo castle, which we don’t do very much, although it is very pretty there. I forgot to bring my camera but I let it go, even though there was a ton of stuff I would have wanted to share on my blog. We ended up not walking around much either, since the ground was still covered with ice. It was still worth the trip: It turned out that the restaurant wasn’t on winter schedule anymore, and it just happened to be lunch time. I recommend lunch at Gunnebo castle to annyone who comes to Gothenburg, anyone who is into seasonal, locally grown food. Also, the atmosphere is very nice, old school Swedish “herrgård”.
All in all, this experiment of just going with the flow, following my intuition was a success, I want to practice it more often.
Ok, now for the part of the day where I did take pictures – the jewelery. I am not even going to pretend to be humble – I am really pleased with the results. Things that manifest as beautifully in the real world as we envision them are a great but rare pleasure. These are definitely in that category of things:
- You’ve got the lock, pretty baby But I’ve got the key … (Johnny Lang)
- Eyelets are not just for scrapbooking!
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And the earrings:
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- Yes, one of the strings doesn’t quite look like it’s supposed to – but I luv ya anyway!
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Whaddaya think? I am thinking of selling them (and the pieces I have visions of but not created yet, hehe), like on etsy or something. Any of you have any experience? Cuz I don’t, so, tips and feedback are really appreciated!
