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-Autumn

DIY: Billy Truffula Button

Hello there all,

I had some Townshend's Kombucha bottles that I was enamored with, but they sat on my buffet so lonely lacking company. During the Halloween season, they were adorned with black roses, but they were sitting there begging for some love. Being inspired by my love for Truffula Trees and Billy Buttons, I came across this tutorial on how to make "poof balls". It was a great jumping off point, but there are some things that I adjusted that helped me. It might be a better system for you, too.

Here's what you'll need:

• yarn 
• stick
• scissors
• hand

How to rock this:

1.) Place a portion of the yarn in between two of your fingers and tighten your grip around this piece before you start wrapping the yarn around your fingers.

2.) Wrap the yarn around your fingers. I used 4 fingers because I wanted bigger pom poms, but you can decrease the amount of fingers to match the desired size.

3.) Keep wrapping and wrapping around your finger. The more yarn that you wrap, the bigger and fluffier your pom pom will be.

4.) When you are done wrapping the yarn around your fingers, cut the wrapped yarn. You will need to cut a separate piece of yarn that is about 5 inches long. You will use this separate piece to tie around the middle of the yarn that has been wrapped around your fingers. You will probably need to loosen up your fingers to do this. When you tie all of the yarn together, the knot should be tight. I used a double knot for extra precaution, and it should make an hour glass shape.

5.) Next, you will cut the loops that are made. These are the loops that are found on the top and bottom of your hourglass figure. You will cut the loops in half, so they go from having a loop to being separate strands of yarn.

6.) When you have cut all the loops, you can attach it to a stick. I did this by putting the stick through the middle of the pom pom. You can find this by finding the yarn that you tied around the whole thing earlier, and you make sure that the stick goes through the center of that tied string.

7.) Place them in an epic vessel. I love these bottles because they fit into the mentality of reusing a grocery item like I talked about in this article.

Until next time, remember the words of the Lorax: "UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

-Autumn

Everybody Loves Mail

Hello there all,

Let me tell you a little secret of mine. As a kid, I used to sit and wait for the mailman to come. He was the sweetest elderly fella named Jack, and I loved waiting for him to come to deliver the mail. The mail was rarely if ever for me, but there was some sort of excitement about getting these pieces of paper from around the world. Now, this love didn't go away as I grew up. Being a teenager, my dad and I would race to the mailbox to see who could get to it first.

Nowadays, my love has somewhat died down. The thing is that mail now=junk mail and bills. Mail has lost its fun quality, and a week ago, I decided that I wanted to get that feeling back and to give it to others. I asked friends on Facebook who wanted some a letter, and I busted them out tonight.

There is a very important truth about mail, and it is that everybody loves it. There is something so beautiful and exciting about receiving a letter from someone. The person that wrote that took time and energy to sit down and create something for you. This personalization and thoughtfulness of letters is getting lost to this technological age. There isn't as much sentimentality or effort required for someone to send you a text or an email. Sending someone mail says: I care and I'm willing to take some time, so you know it.

One of my residents has love letters that her husband and her wrote to each other during World War 2. They are the sweetest, most romantic and genuine gestures, and we are losing that. My old soul mourns the death of mail, and it is screaming for it to make a resurgence. This is why tonight, I dedicated some time to write some letters to some beautiful people, and I hope that those letters mean to them what letters mean to me.

Try writing just one letter to a friend/family member today. I can guarantee you that it will change their day! 

-Autumn

Snapshots

Hello there all,

This hasn't been a majorly exciting week. I'll be honest, but it was still full of beautiful moments.

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Here is the scoop:

1.) I am seeing/feeling the Winter holiday season pop up everywhere, and I am usually anti-any holidays before Thanksgiving. However, I am ashamed to admit that I am already starting to get into the mood. Whenever I see these trees lit up in Portland, it awakens me to the change of season soon.

2.) A sweet tumbler that a pretty neat-o co-worker got me.

3.) An adorable set of magnets that one of the Mister's co-workers got me from Korea. She is a sweetheart.

4.) Went to go see the movie Boyhood, This movie was unlike anything that I have ever seen because they shot this film over 12 years using the same cast over the 12 years to show aging over time naturally. It was so neat, and it was ridiculously "real". Yes, I feel cliche and silly using that word, but it is true. The movie was beautiful. There was some portions that seemed a little long, but I would strongly recommend it. Do it.

5.) It was just a smidge cold around here.

6.) Exploring one of my favorite buildings in all of Portland.

7.) This week was for cupcake/muffin making-mostly eating in this house.

8.) The kiddo and I went to grab beer and pizza. They are a couple designed from the gods.

9.) We made this recipe for stuffed acorn squash. However, we used vegetable crumbles-italian sausage instead. This meal was meat friendly.

10.) My residents can really make me heart swell. Today, they made these adorable garlands to put in the houses. I love them.

-Autumn

Recipe:garlic spinach hummus

Hello there all,

I have an unnatural love for hummus. Now, I'm talking: "if I sit down with a tub, there will not be any left in 20 minutes" type of problem. I especially have a soft spot for King's Harvest. It is insane how delicious it is, but what is even more ridiculous is how much we spend on hummus which is much cheaper to make. In the past, I was always reluctant because we didn't have tahini (sesame paste) on hand, and I didn't know where to get it. However, we recently went to a Pacific Islander grocery store, and they had a big tub. I was a little too overjoyed to finally be able to make my own hummus.

In this house, we have a garlic love that would make vampires cringe. We put so much garlic on things that would probably make others shutter, but we love it. So, I knew that I wanted a garlic hummus. I found this recipe from Pinterest, and I used it for my structure to start my recipe off of. The reason that I decided to add spinach to the recipe is because we had a ridiculous amount of spinach at home, and it never hurts to sneak in some veggies.

The ingredients:

• 1 can (15.5 oz) of garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas)
• 1 large handful of spinach
• 2 TBSP of Olive Oil
• 3 TBSP of minced garlic
• 3 TBSP of Lemon juice
• 2 TBSP of tahini
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1/4 tsp of black pepper
• dash of crushed red pepper

The steps:

1.) Wash the garbanzo beans off and drain all liquid from the beans.

2.) Put all ingredients together (minus the crushed red pepper) into a blender cup or a food processor.

3.) Pulse the ingredients until desired texture/consistency.

4.) Pour into desired eating container and sprinkle some crushed red pepper on top.

5.) Eat your nommy hummus and think about how awesome you are. Pretend that you are in a middle eastern country if you prefer. Just get your eat on.

Fun Sort-of related story:

Our can opener and I fight regularly. I am not quite sure what it is, but I speculate that the can opener hates me. Whenever I try to use the dang thing, I usually end up hollering to the kid and asking for him to help. In my past, I had a different style can opener, and I cannot seem to comprehend the baffling mystique of the stupid can opener. However, tonight, I figured it out! The mystery somehow made sense, and I actually hollered "YAY!" when I got it, and yes, there was much kitchen dancing. What is a kitchen for but for dancing?

Happy can opening,

Autumn

Appreciation Station

Hello there all,

With the current inclement season of stuffing your face and Facebook statuses listing things one is thankful, I can't help but think about appreciation and thankfulness. Truth be told: I think appreciation is one of the most important things that we human beings understand and spread. Through our appreciation of each other, we are able to celebrate and understand each other better. Additionally, by acknowledging and appreciating what we have in life, we are able to realize the bountiful life that we live.

It can be incredibly difficult to practice appreciation during certain times. For example, if you are locked out of your house and have to wait outside in the rain, it is hard to appreciate that situation. However, Appreciation Station: you have a house to be locked out of. It is all about perspective and at times optimism, but I think that these things grow from appreciation.

At work recently, I was asked to go through and review my 5 core values. Now, I had a lengthy list to gander at, but I kept coming back to appreciation, and appreciation became my top value overall. I know that we aren't going to disagree that appreciation is important. I know this, but I think we often forget how important it is to say what we are thankful for. November shouldn't be the only month that we practice appreciation. It should be an element to our very being that we don't even think about it. Looking at the world with the spirit of appreciation is such a tranformative experience because it allows you to see how great things really are in your life. We can't just sit around and discuss how important it is. We need to actively act.

Today, when you are going for a walk or a drive, list as many things that you are thankful for that you can think of. Do not stop until you can no longer think of things that you are thankful for. If you feel inspired, ask others or tell others your appreciation for them. You know why? They will appreciate hearing that you appreciate them. You will be surprised at how this simple act of listing what you are thankful for is. You WILL look at the world with a different lens. If you feel like going crazy, try doing this more than today and carry it with you. It can be your new commute tradition.

Let's take care of ourselves and appreciate the little things and recognize the big ones,
Autumn

DIY: Massage Oil

Hello there guys,

After a long day (or heck after a short day), who doesn't love a good back rub? Last year, I got my first official massage, and it just about changed my life. Massage therapy is truly a wonderful and magical thing. However, I think that a rub can go wrong without the proper oil. If you don't use massage oil, I strongly recommend getting some because it drastically alters the experience. Recently, we ran out of our massage oil, and we had some leftover essential oils after I made some beard oil for the mister, so I went about making my own. It is wonderful to make your own because it is cheaper, AND you can modify it to more closely match your wants.

Originally, I was reluctant to share this recipe only because I feel like there is some weird taboo about massage oil. But the thing is that is ridiculous! There is nothing wrong with individuals using massage oil, and there should not be silly inferred sexual connotations associated with it. Yes, sometimes sex propels from a massage, but it is silly to think that massage=sexual encounter. Maybe it is just me that assumes their association because of my middle school boy humor. Who knows?

Everything that I used for this recipe can be found at health food stores, I got mine at New Seasons, but I've seen these items at many other places.

The goods:

• Grapeseed oil-because it has skin care properties
• Almond oil-moisturizing properties
• Tea Tree Oil-delicious smell with a cleansing ability
• Lavender oil-delicious smell with a calming ability
• 4 oz Container to carry it in

What io do:

Unfortunately, there isn't really any science to this as preference of smell is all personal, but I will attempt to explain this as much as possible.

1.) Open your storage container, fill it almost to the top with a mixture of almond oil and grapeseed oil in almost 50/50 portions. The proportions on these two do not matter as they are neutral oils with no aromatic properties. Leave some room on the top to add the aromatic oils.

2.) Add 18 drops of tea tree oil and 10 drops of lavender. This is the scent preference for this household, but it might be different for you, so I would suggest starting with a low portion of each and experiment to find what you like. If you don't want any aroma to your oil, the grapeseed oil and almond oil mixture will still work wonderfully.

3.) Use whenever you feel the need.

Happy massaging,
Autumn