All Natural Lip Balm The week leading up to the new year wasn't exactly how I had pictured it. It was the last week of the boys winter break. I had envisioned walks around downtown looking at the lights, taking down the Christmas tree together, continuing our holiday baking marathon and maybe even a little post Christmas mall browsing. But alas, none of those things happened. Thankfully, I had made a big batch of lip balm the week before Christmas to give as little handmade gifts to my girlfriends. This recipe is super simple. The recipe came from this blog last year and I tweaked it a bit and she grabbed it from this book where she had tweaked it a bit. Sweet Orange Lip Balm 8 Tablespoons Coconut Oil 3 Tablespoons Beeswax 1.5 Tablespoons Raw Honey 30 drops Sweet Orange essential oil (if you want color) 1/2 stick of natural lipstick (I like Jane Iredale and Josie Moran) Place oil, beeswax and honey in a double boiler (or heatproof bowl resting on top of a small saucepan of simmering water).
How to Extract DNA from Anything Living First, you need to find something that contains DNA. Since DNA is the blueprint for life, everything living contains DNA. For this experiment, we like to use green split peas. But there are lots of other DNA sources too, such as: Spinach Chicken liver Strawberries Broccoli Certain sources of DNA should not be used, such as: Your family pet, Fido the dog Your little sister's big toe Bugs you caught in the yard Step 1: Blender Insanity! Put in a blender: 1/2 cup of split peas (100ml) 1/8 teaspoon table salt (less than 1ml) 1 cup cold water (200ml) Blend on high for 15 seconds. The blender separates the pea cells from each other, so you now have a really thin pea-cell soup. Step 2: Soapy Peas Pour your thin pea-cell soup through a strainer into another container (like a measuring cup). Add 2 tablespoons liquid detergent (about 30ml) and swirl to mix. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes. Pour the mixture into test tubes or other small glass containers, each about 1/3 full. Why am I adding detergent?
Welcome to Swimpond Landscape Design Inc ... where lifestyle is in harmony with nature On the surface, our swimponds look like a natural garden pond but they are specifically designed so people can swim in clean, pure water with absolutely no chemicals. A swimpond actually consists of two zones: a deep, central swimming area and a shallower surrounding area with plants which are specially chosen to purify the water. A traditional swimming pool uses chemicals such as chlorine to kill bacteria whereas a swimpond cleanses the water naturally. It uses the natural purifying properties of plants and our proprietary filter technology to provide natural, chemical-free clear water. Tommie Award Winner - Gold Georgie Award Winner - Gold
Safety Tattoo : Kids Tattoos : Medical alert jewellery : Personalised Safety Tattoos DIY Picture Tiles - You Will Never Buy a Photo Frame Again Lately I’ve been having this huge urge to decorate the house. This is big news. I do not decorate. Arguably, one of the reasons why is because I. absolutely. hate. to. buy. mass. produced. decor. (Also, I can’t ever remember if pink and purple go together or not.) Anyway, this extends to photo frames. Nope. Long story short, I discovered this method of transferring my photos cheaply, quickly, and beautifully to something uncommon and unique. Tiles. The only thing that’s not particularly crunchy about this is that it uses Modge Podge or similar (and I’m not sure what’s in Modge Podge). It’s just grainy and doesn’t dry clearly. Boo. BUT, if you can overlook that one minor issue, I think you’ll love this. And it will be glorious. Here’s how you do it. First, you need to go to Home Depot, Lowes, or something like it. (FYI, I found that Lowes prices on tiles were cheaper than Home Depot. I like the stone tiles, because they have texture. So you pick out your tiles in the sizes you want. Go go go!
9 Kids Craft Websites You've Got to Know I HAVE to share some of my favorite kids craft website with you all today. Each are full of amazing, entertaining, and educational crafts for kids. I’m in awe of the wonderful things they all post, very inspiring. You must check them out! Tinker Lab: Lots of tinkering going on. These are the good and messy kind, really diving in to projects. I Can Teach My Child: All kinds of educational activities. The Chocolate Muffin Tree: It’s all in the name, Chocolate Muffin Tree. Chalk in my Pocket: Play and discovery. Naturally Educational: This former teacher is crafting up all kinds of fun and creative ideas. Childhood 101: From crafting to parenting, lots of playing, learning, and growing. No Time for Flash Cards: There’s no time for flash cards with the fabulous crafts, storybooks, and activities going on here. Crafts by Amanda: She’s got those simple and easy craft ideas that look great using only a few supplies. Tagged as: crafts Written by Marie LeBaron
Recipes for Kids Fun & Sensory Processing Disorder Play. Friends of mine, and I, from Tots-n-Tums Young Parent Parenting Forum have put together a list of Kids Fun Recipes, so I’m sharing them with you! Most of these are brilliant for kids with SPD either as a seeker or desensitising a sensitive or avoider child. Enjoy! Slime Ingredients: A large container – rectangular is best for storage and playing in. 1 cup of Lux flakes 3 cups of boiling water (2 and a half cups will make a thicker slime) Method: Place the Lux flakes in the container Add boiling water Stir using a fork/whisk Allow the ‘slime’ to set – preferably overnight You can colour the slime by colouring the water before adding Bubbles 1/2 cup Dish washing Detergent 5 cups Distilled water 2 Tablespoon Glycerine mix all ingredients together gently Cornflour Paint 1 Tablespoon Cornflour 1 Tablespoon cold water 1 cup boiling water Various food colourings mix cornflour & cold water together until creamy add boiling water & stir until thick another Slime Recipe 2 cups water 1/2 cup cornflour food colouring
Kids in the Kitchen: Slime! September is in full swing and we thought we’d celebrate by doing Back-to-School week! My oldest kiddo just started pre-school and Kate is now the mother to an official kindergartner. This week we’re going to have *five* posts. Do you guys remember this?? I was so obsessed with that stuff and I totally remember the commercials. If you’ve ventured into science fun like this before then you already know that 97% of home projects require the same 2 ingredients. Start by dissolving a teaspoon of Borax in one cup of water and set it aside. Now pour the Elmer’s glue in a separate bowl. Add some water to that glue and then stir in some food coloring. Once that’s all stirred up, just pour your Borax mix into the bowl. See? It will be wet and soft at first but you just have to keep kneading it. I have to say I actually prefer the white glue. Older kids can help measure and stir and younger ones can stand and protest that they don’t get to. This is their favorite part. Homemade Slime aka GAK
6 Insane Coincidences You Won't Believe Actually Happened America's Freak Luck During the Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway may be remembered as one of the most spectacular naval battles in history and one of the huge turning points in the Pacific theater, but it started out as a pure clusterfuck for the Americans. Despite going into battle with most of Japan's game plan in their pocket thanks to American codebreakers/Bothan spies, the U.S. Navy had little to show for it in the early hours of June 4, 1942. Just about every aircraft that took on the Japanese that day was destroyed, and all without delivering any serious damage. Where it Gets Weird: There was one squadron of American dive bombers lead by Lieutenant Commander C. His squadron started dropping like flies until, in an act of sheer luck that would make even J.K. Where it Gets Even Weirder: This winning of the lottery twice in the same day dealt the Japanese Navy's first defeat in almost 300 years, and a lopsided victory for the Americans that the Imperials never recovered from.
Why isn’t my Ball Python feeding? This is the most common question asked surrounding Ball Pythons each year! “Why isn’t my ball python feeding?”.”My Ball Python is not eating, what can I do?”. 50% of the time the answer is simple…YOU ARE THE PROBLEM by either husbandry, stressing the snake out, etc! Scenario 1) You just bought your Ball python and it has not fed for you! You take an already stressful change for that animal and take it from a level 2-3 to a level 9-10. Scenario 2) Husbandry, husbandry, husbandry…did I mention HUSBANDRY? Also do not assume your temperatures…get a good tstat and temp gun! Many times simple adjustments to husbandry are all that is needed, a change of enclosure, bedding, correcting the temperature, providing a hide box if needed, etc. Scenario 3) Assuming all of the above is addressed and all is well which is a likelihood of 50% that either stress or husbandry is the problem. Scenario 4) Assuming all of the above has been checked off…THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR SNAKE!
Khapse: How to Make Tibetan Losar Pastries As part of a series walking you through some of the traditions of Losar, Tibetan New Year, we are offering here a recipe for a simple type of khapse. See our Losar guide for celebrating Tibetan New Year >> Khapse: Tibetan Losar Pastries. Photo © YoWangdu. Khapse (or khapsey) is a beloved, deep-fried pastry eaten and offered most commonly at Losar, but also sometimes on other special occasions, like Tibetan weddings. There are a whole bunch of different kinds of khapse – from huge ones in the shape of a donkey ear (bhungu amchoe) that are placed as offerings on Losar shrines, to the large braids of mukdung, to the crispy circles of bulug, to the various little shapes of kaptog that are made only for eating, and down even to no-name little bite-sized diamonds of fried dough. You can get recipes and videos for almost every classic Tibetan food in our Tibetan Home Cooking ebook and video series. Video: How to Make Khapse Khapse Recipe *Please be very careful when cooking khapse. Ingredients
Let’s Get Ratchet! Check Your Privilege At The Door By Guest Contributor Sesali Bowen; originally published at Feministing A few days ago I had the–ahem, pleasure?–of seeing the video of Miley Cyrus twerking. I was a little put off by it but couldn’t immediately identify why. Via @mileycyrus on Twitter Her skin and class privilege overfloweth in this poorly executed commodification of twerking and subsequently “ratchet culture.” “You can’t really explain [twerking]… It’s something that comes naturally. Really Miley? Although I could go on forever, this post isn’t really about twerking. But being ratchet is only cool when you do it for fun, not if those are valid practices from your lived experiences. On an (inter)personal level, ratchet works to simultaneously police and defy gender, class, sexuality, and respectability norms.
Who We Are Racialicious Staff Latoya Peterson Owner/Editor A certified media junkie, Latoya Peterson provides a hip-hop feminist and anti-racist view on culture with a special focus on video games, film, television, and music. Skilled in interviewing and creative non-fiction, Latoya Peterson spends her time editing the award winning blog Racialicious.com – the intersection of race and pop culture. She is a Contributing Editor for The Root.com and Content Producer for the Online News Association. Her work has been published in Spin, Vibe, The American Prospect, The Atlantic Blog, Bitch Magazine, Clutch Magazine, the Women’s Review of Books, Slate‘s Double X, The Poynter Institute, The Root.com and the Guardian. As a digital media consultant, Latoya Peterson has worked with brands like NPR, Wikipedia, and Weber-Shandwick to provide demographic analysis, ideas on improving user experience, and specialized outreach. Arturo R. Andrea J. Jessica Danforth Special Correspondent Hall of Fame