Simple and Natural Migraine/Headache Remedy

Migraines and/or severe headaches... they are the WORST!  Am I right?

Lucky me, I get them once or twice a month.  Mine become almost debilitating.  I will start to feel an ache in the back of my neck that spreads to the front of my head and then I know... this is it.   Here it comes.  I have tried so many things to ease the pain-  Tylenol, Yoga Poses, massaging my neck, pressing on various pressure points, drinking gatorade, cutting out caffeine, bringing caffeine back... yet to no avail.

Then during one particularly bad episode, I decided to follow my instincts.  I really wanted to get into the bath tub.  So I ran some really warm water and soaked for a bit.  It was definitely easing up some of the pain.  Then someone suggested another idea... try an ice pack on the back of my neck.   So I combined those two things... and magic happened.

TRY THIS:  Make yourself an ice pack and wrap it in a thin towel, or even a pillow case.  Something thin enough so that the cold comes through but not so thin that it burns your skin.  Put the ice pack on the back of your neck while soaking in a hot bath.   If you are not a bath person, try just soaking your feet in hot water while holding the ice pack on your neck.

Something about that confusion of temperatures eases the pain for me.  I sit like this for about 20 minutes or until I start to feel ok again.   By the time I get out of the tub, the pain has lessened to a much more bearable level.

Then sometimes I get even fancier and put some lavender in the tub with me.  Lavender is great for easing pain and soothing headaches.  I also spray my pillow with my lavender pillow spray for when I lay down after getting out of the tub.  AND I still keep the ice pack on my neck after the bath!

Need some lavender spray?  I sell it in my Etsy shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/172635165/soothing-lavender-linen-spray-lavender?ref=shop_home_active

I also make a headache balm: https://www.etsy.com/listing/172715691/headache-balm-natural-headache-soother?ref=listing-shop-header-4


This contains the pure essential oil of Lavender which is a therapeutic grade oil.
I even make them with fun labels if you need to calm someone else down...  know any bridezillas?  :)

Next time you are feeling a headache or migraine coming on, try this!  I really hope it helps!

The Sunscreen Dilema

Store bought, homemade, no sunscreen.... what is the right choice!?!?

This summer I gave the homemade option a shot.  I did hours upon hours of research, and yet still couldn't come to a perfectly clear answer.  There is a 50/50 divide amongst the so called "experts".  Then you have to ask yourself if the experts on the "only use store bought" end are driven by the money they stand to make from it. 

After reading all of the possible dangers that man-made chemicals can cause, I decided that trying to make some homemade sunscreen that I could control all of the ingredients to couldn't hurt.  And, it turned out to be a success.

Keep in mind that your skin does need some sun exposure.  You need to absorb some vitamin D.  So don't be afraid to go without sunblock for just a little bit. 

Changing your diet can also help protect your skin.  Try to avoid processed food and sugars.  And add in foods that are anti-inflammatory aids like tomato paste, leafy greens,  fresh produce, you know- the healthy stuff!  :) 

I researched the three types of uv-ray blocking ingredients and these are your options:

• titanium dioxide (possible carcinogen)
• zinc oxide ( most natural of the three, comes from sand and this is what you used to see life guards wear on their noses)
• man-made chemicals (almost never a good thing)

So, I purchased some zinc oxide powder and created my own little recipe.  A lot of natural ingredients contain some natural spf properties like coconut oil, shea butter, and green tea butter. 

My recipe is a nice thick sunscreen.  You need to apply this type of sunscreen every two hours- no less!  And when you add in your zinc YOU MUST WEAR A MASK!!!  Do not inhale the powder.   The zinc powder you want should be non nano zinc.  Meaning it is slighty larger "granules' so to speak so that it cannot enter your bloodstream.  Your skin is your largest organ, and if you put nano zinc powder on your skin it can enter your bloodstream.  Not good.   

Use a milk frother or stick blender to mix your zinc into your sunscreen and don't stop.  You want it to be as smooth as possible and avoid clumping. 

I store this in a jar, because it is much easier to get out of a jar than a bottle. 

My sunscreen recipe contains: (my recipe is about spf 20)
zinc oxide powder 
coconut oil
shea butter
green tea butter (excellent product for your skin!!!)
almond oil
beeswax (helps create a slightly waterproof barrier)
vitamin E
lavender or vanilla essential oils (totally optional)

If you are interested in this sunscreen but don't have the time or money to purchase all of these ingredients, you can visit my etsy shop and contact me for an order of sunscreen.  Currently it is not in my shop, but it will be eventually.  

Visit: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MelaniesApothecary

At the end of the day, you need to make your own decision about what is safe for your family.  I am going the natural route.  I am trying to slowly get rid of the mass produced man-made products in our home.

Thifty Wardrobe

Guess what?  You are not limited to the one size that you wear, when shopping in the thrift store. 

You can shop in the sizes that are too big for you.  I do it quite often now.  If I see a shirt in a pattern that I like, but it is an XL, I will still pick it up because it is fairly simple to alter just about any shirt.  So I will show you below, how I sew up my shirts to make them fit exactly how I want them to.  (learned this easy trick from my mother-in-law)  Plus, I love buying extra large shirts and altering them, because then they are nice and long!  I love long shirts that sit right below the hip.

First, you need to buy a shirt that you want to alter.  Here is the one I bought -

This is a photo of it after I had already altered it.  Oops.  I didn't think about making this into a blog post until after I had done it.  My apologies.

 

Next, find a shirt that you already own, that you really love the fit of to use as a "pattern" so to speak.  Then turn the thrift store shirt inside out, and lay your well-fitted shirt on top of the new shirt.  Line up the necklines, or the top of the shirt. Then trace the line of your shirt onto the new shirt.  You can use a piece of white soap to trace with, or a fabric marker. This line will show you were to sew up the new shirt.

 

Now head over to the sewing machine and zip that shirt through on a loose straight stitch, doing your best to follow that line you drew on.  Then do the same thing again, only on the other side.

 

 Turn the shirt back to the right side, and try it on.  If you like the fit... AWESOME!  If not, you can pull those stitches out, and try again.  Or if it still feels too big there is no need to pull the stitches out, just zip it through your machine again only sew a little closer in.  You will just sew a parallel line to the one you followed before.

 

Sewing the sleeves may get a little tricky.  But the important thing to remember here is, it doesn't need to be absolutely perfect.  That is something I struggle with because I tend to be a perfectionist.  If for some reason your sleeves are just not working out, feel free to just make it into a sleeveless top. 

 

Once you get a great fit, you need to turn it inside out again, and cut off the extra fabric.

 

Then, you can use the extra pieces to make something else.  Maybe a headband, or a flower to decorate another piece of your wardrobe?  There are so many fun things you can make with thrift store clothing.  My fabric happens to be stretchy, so I may turn it into a headband or possibly long strips to make a pair of wrap sandals.

 

 

I learn as I go with sewing.  My sewing machine skills are very limited, but yet with the simple things I do know, I can make a whole new wardrobe.  So have fun with.  Experiment!  You paid a dollar for that thrift store shirt, so if you mess it up..... oh well!  :)   

 

Cheers to custom thrifty wardrobe!

Work it!

Rockin' A Craft Show - Even if it's your first time...

Craft shows are so exciting!  I have done two shows with my MABeInspired items and my SimpleSincerity items.  So yes, I am verrry new to this.  However, both of my shows were successful and super fun.  To work a craft show, you need a super positive attitude.  You have to go in thinking, "even if I don't sell much, I am going to have fun and network".    You may think two shows doesn't qualify me to give advice, but my two shows are still very fresh in my mind and I know what worked and what didn't. 

Best Tip:  BRING A BUDDY!  Luckily, I have a business partner for SimpleSincerity, so she works that side of the booth and I work my MABeInspired side.  We take money separately for the two "shops" within the one booth space.  I hope that makes sense. :)  But really, if you can find someone to share the day with it will make your craft show experience so much more enjoyable.  They can stay with the booth if you need to walk around or use the bathroom, they can help take money, or help sell your product.  And when I say sell, I mean talk up your product!  Get people involved with your booth.  Give them samples, have them try something on, or just spark up a conversation.   If you are excited about your products, they will be too. 


This was my very first show. The MABeInspired Side.

At my booth this past weekend, I started talking to some customers about my love for recycling and before I knew it, they were asking how to find my etsy shop and were very interested in my recycled sweater flowers because they also had a passion for upcycling and recycling.  You have more in common with your customers than you might realize.  They also love to here when you live in and around the same town as they do.  They love finding products made so close to home.  So if you are a bit shy... now is the time to practice being bold.  I am a pretty shy gal... so I really have to work it at craft shows.   I have found, the more I talk to people - the more I sell.  It's true.  I used to think that you should just leave people alone and let them shop... but that is not always the case.  You have to feel people out.  If it looks like maybe you should let them be... then follow your gut.  But 9 times out of 10, you should just break the ice and ask them how they are doing. 



The Simple Sincerity Side.

Now these photos above are from my very first show.  The displays are a little rough, but I was pretty proud of them.   Your display is so important.   You need signs that give prices and simple explanations.  I have found that people will not take the time read much. My main sign in that first photo was just too much. I don't think one person actually read through the sign.  Really, it is kind of sad.  So try to be short and sweet with your signs.   And SURPRISE -  they want a deal!  You may need to lower your prices just a tad from Etsy or your online shop if you can afford to.  Or offer some kind of special deal for buying more than one, or spending more than "x" amount.  You get the picture.  Just make them feel special and like they are getting one heck of a deal.

Another thing I find to be successful is having a "bargain bowl".   People will dig and dig through baskets and bowls to find an amazing deal.  You can have a perfectly beautiful display, and yet, they want to dig through the bowl of sale items.  :) 

MABeInspired Side - Admire the wooden case display!  My dad built that for me.  :)

Simple Sincerity Side!  (we had a much larger space this time around and a lot more product)

 

This second set of photos, is from my second show.  I did two spaces this time to give us more room.  Half for MABeInspired, and half for SimpleSincerity.  This show was a bit slower, but we actually ended up making more money this time.  So it was very successful.  We also had way more product this time.   Tabitha was offering samples of our lotion... and we ended up selling 4-5 bottles of our lotion.  So keep that in mind if you sell something people can sample. 

 

For my next show, I have decided I want to have more visuals.  I noticed that people responded well to the two photos I had displayed of my flowers being worn.  They liked having that visual of what it might look like.  I also wear my products during my show.  I wear a flower in my hair and on a scarf.   So for next time, I think I will display pictures of my flowers on clothing, or on a baby's headband...etc.  Visual aides are a good thing!  Help your customer visualize your products being used or worn. 

 

A helpful list of things to bring:

• Camera (document your displays so you can improve for next time)
• Calculator
• Paper (for last minute signs, recording sales, and write down ideas for your next show as they come to you)
• Clipboard
• Pens & Markers
• Tape
• Clothes Pins or Metal Clips
• Scissors
• Mirror (If your products can be worn... Women like to see what it will look like)
Business cards or little printouts with info and coupons for shopping on Etsy!
Bags for Purchases
Bank Box or Tupperware for Change


• Small Bills for making change (You don't want to be that person begging for change from other booths...)
• Apron for holding your cash
• Tylenol (sometimes headaches come at the worst times)
• Chair (ask if you need to supply your own chairs)
• Comfy shoes and a sweater! 

Have some Craft Show tips to share?  Leave ideas below!  I love hearing advice for craft shows.  If you haven't done a show, give it a shot.  They are so much fun and a chance to spread the word about your products.  Show your customers how much you love your craft and your process, and so will they.

 



Why Not?

So, first we talked about growing our own herb garden, but what about garlic?  Why not give it a try?

The benefits of growing your own food and herbs are just endless.  I am most excited about knowing exactly how my herbs & garlic are grown and that they didn't have scary chemicals sprayed on them... and that they weren't preserved in some horrible way.   I have read some pretty yucky stuff about how garlic is treated in order to whiten it.

  I will admit I got the idea on Pinterest.  I had no idea that you could take a clove of garlic out of the big bulb most of us buy from the store, and pop into a container with dirt and a few days later.....

Garlic Clove that I had laying around... now growing into new garlic! 

 

Now a funny little story about this little clove... I popped it into the dirt one day sort of randomly and left it in the kitchen for two days or so and one evening my husband finally notices the clay pot in the kitchen and he plucked the little clove out of the dirt and asks, "what's this?".   OH NO!  He had up-rooted my little clove and it actually had little roots sprouting out.  Poor thing.   Why he would do this?  Who knows.  I will admit, it did seem odd to have a little clove just popped into some dirt in our kitchen.  :)  But, despite his efforts to kill my little garlic plant, you can see that is growing amazingly well today. 

 

If you can get your hands on organic garlic, then that is probably the best type to grow because you know how it was grown and that it doesn't contain a bunch of scary awful stuff.  So take one of the biggest cloves that you have, and plant it with the pointy end pointing up in the dirt.  Then cover it with about an inch of dirt.  Which as you can see I didn't cover my clove completely, but I will be doing that today.   And don't mind the other little greenery in my pot, those are little seedlings that I pulled out my herb containers to thin them out. 

Ok, so apparently there are two ways to do this.  You can actually eat that green part sprouting out of the top.  Again, I had no idea.  I have yet to try it.  I suppose you trim the green sprout, probably making sure to leave at least 1/3 of the stem?  Remember, I am experimenting.  So join me and tell me what works for you.   Then, as you continue to trim the top, it will send more energy into creating a large new bulb of garlic underneath the dirt.  One clove of garlic will produce an entire new bulb of garlic.  I believe I read that it takes like 9 months to create a bulb.  When the leaves are looking dead, the bulb is ready.   If you want to plant more than one clove, then you should space them about 4 inches or more apart. 

I LOVE garlic, I am so excited to see what happens.  If you have any expert tips and tricks, please share them with us. 

Happy Growing!

If You Plant Them.... (Inspiration to Start an Herb Garden)

They will Grow!  Or at least.... they should grow. 

I decided one step towards being self-sustained is to start a little kitchen herb garden.  I love to cook, and being able to use fresh herbs more often would be fantastic.  Now - I can't go full blown outdoor garden style because we live in an apartment so I am doing container gardens for my herbs and letting them sit in our windows.  I chose 6 herbs - Basil, Cilantro (my favorite!), Oregano, Rosemary, Garlic Chives, & Sage.    I think, secretly, I really just wanted my own cilantro...   

I pay like $1.29 for a bunch of cilantro, I believe, and typically the cilantro starts to go bad before I can use all of it.  So growing my own and cutting it as needed sounds like a much better plan to me.   Another plus to growing herbs is you can cut your herbs and dry them for use at a later time.   


DAY ONE! Basil, Cilantro, Oregano 

These pictures were taken with my tablet, so they are not the best. Don't tell my tablet I said that... 



DAY ONE! Rosemary, Garlic Chives, Sage 

I have only been working on my own herbs for about 3 weeks, and already it is incredibly satisfying. Just planting the tiny seeds was satisfying.  You feel really good about yourself after starting something like an herb garden.  It is one small step towards healthier food, cheaper herbs (that are FRESH), and relying on me, myself, and I.  AND you can use herbs for homemade remedies, natural beauty products, and much more. 



After about a week and a half.

In case you have no idea where to find what you need to get started you can take the easy way out like I did and just purchase a kit. I found these two kits on Amazon. Yes... possibly I could have saved money by finding all the different items on my own, but for just trying this for the first time - I feel just fine about purchasing a kit.

  

 - These ones are a little shy...

 

The reasons to start your own herb garden are nearly endless.   Shall I list them again?

• The satisfaction alone
• Fresh herbs at the ready
• Hopefully it results in money saved!
• Pretty green plants in or around your home
• Bragging rights
• Homemade remedies
• Homemade Skin Care recipes (I will share some on here ... all in good time.)
• Requires very little time
• And SOOOO many more. 

 

Now, if this trial goes well... I will transplant/ or start new containers that are larger with my favorite herbs.  Because obviously these small containers will not produce a ton of herbs.    I will keep updating on my herb garden's progress. 

If you have started your own herb garden and have some ideas or tips, please share them! I am so excited to see where this goes!

The beginning...

Hey there!  My name is Melanie. 

What do I want to blog for anyway?

One: I want to start adapting a greener lifestyle, and basically head towards a more self-sustaining life with my husband.  So I am hoping as I try new things, I can share them here and get other people to try such projects as well.  There is no greater feeling than that of "HA, I did this myself!"

Two:  I run two Etsy shops that I will be talking about quite frequently because they revolve around recycling, handmade, and all natural type of products.  Three very fabulous things that I love to talk about.  My two shops are MABeInspired, and SimpleSincerity.

Three:  I love DIY.  I live for DIY. So again, as I try things myself - I hope to share my successes or failures occasionally :) and encourage others to try some DIY fun.

Four:  Well I am sure I will write about other things that don't have much to do with those three reasons, like traveling and what not so you have been warned.  

 A bit about me in 30 seconds - I live in Michigan - Currently in the U.P. but originally I am from downstate.   I have an Associates Degree in Art, and focused my studies in photography.   So look forward to pretty pictures!    I am married to a high school teacher.   I tend to be pretty organized, except for my creation room... we all have our flaws.  My husband and I love to travel - we backpacked through South & Central America for 5 months. I also love to cook and bake - I send cupcakes into my husband's school and they call me the Cupcake Queen. Well as for everything else, I am sure you will learn along the way as I continue to post.

Thanks for reading! I look forward to sharing ideas and pretty things with anyone who is willing to listen!