Category: Diy

Decadent Raspberry Cheesecake Mousse (Vegan!)

3/22/2018

Hello my lovely readers!
Today I will be sharing with you my very own raspberry cheesecake mousse recipe. Oh, did I mention that it's vegan?!! Yes indeed!
So for those of you who eat vegan, or simply can't eat dairy, look no further for a way to satisfy your cheesecake cravings (cheesecake is one of the things I've missed most since giving up dairy).
This recipe uses simple ingredients, is easy to make, plus it's super healthy for you! It makes for a great breakfast to start out your day, a wonderful mid-day snack, and it will wow your dinner party guests as a stunning dessert!

A word about ingredients;

-To ensure this recipe is as healthy as possible, be sure to use 100% pure maple syrup. Most "maple syrups" sold at the store use high fructose corn syrup and a bunch of other nasty stuff. Read the ingredients before you buy, it's more expensive but so worth it.

-Coconut cream can be found in the Asian aisle at the grocery store. Thai Kitchen is the best!

-Use fresh raspberries! They're no good thawed out and all mushy. Plus they're healthier fresh!

Recipe for Vegan Raspberry Cheesecake Mousse

-Soak 1 1/2 cups cashews in cold water in the fridge, overnight.

-The next day, drain and rinse your soaked cashews. Blend them until creamy in a food processor (I just use my Ninja!).

-Once your cashews are nice and creamy, set them aside.

-Open a can of coconut cream. Spoon the creamy white part into a bowl, leave the watery stuff at the bottom.

-Using a hand-held mixer, mix until it stiffens (it will be kind of like whip cream).

-Fold in 2 tbs maple syrup.

-Fold in the creamy cashew concoction.

-Taste, and if you'd like it sweeter, fold in another tablespoon of maple syrup (I did).

From here, you have two choices. You can spoon your mixture into adorable dessert glasses (like these here that my awesome neighbor Hank gave me!) and eat right away, or refrigerate overnight before eating. If you eat it right away, it will have a more cheesecake feel, but if you eat it after being refrigerated overnight, it will have a more mousse-y texture. Both ways are very good! I ate some right away, put the the rest in the fridge, then ate some in the morning! Don't forget to top with fresh raspberries!
This recipe filled both glasses, plus had enough the next day for two more glasses.

Me and my husband's favorite way to eat this is spooned on top of graham crackers for a fun breakfast! Try it!
I hope you enjoy your very own vegan raspberry cheesecake mousse!

Peace Love and Vegan Mousse
Jess <3

Christmas Eve Ice Cream Hot Cocoa

12/7/2016

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This year for Christmas, why not wow your guests with an updated (made from scratch, healthy, and completely vegan!) version of boring hot chocolate!
This drink is best sipped on Christmas Eve, in front of a roaring fireplace, surrounded by people you love. And that's why I named it "Christmas Eve Ice Cream Hot Cocoa". Ice Cream Hot Cocoa? You're probably saying to yourself. That doesn't make any sense!
I agree! When I came up with this idea, I thought it was totally weird also, but I just really wanted to put some of my new vegan ice cream into hot cocoa! And so I did! And it turned out to be pretty amazing. It's actually really cool, because the ice cream doesn't melt right away like you would think, nor does it turn the mug of hot cocoa cold. It just kinda sits there and adds flavor, it cools down the hot cocoa so it's a drinkable temperature, and if you use a chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, you will get to eat chunks of cookie dough! Yay! Still think it's weird? Why not make some and see for yourself! This recipe is way healthier than those packs of hot choclate, it's completely vegan, and you get to impress people by saying that you made the cocoa from scratch! So enjoy!

You can see the chunks of ice cream sticking out

This recipe will fill 3 mugs

What you will need;
-3 cups of your favorite dairy-free milk (I prefer almond milk)
-1/4 cup cocoa powder
-1/4 cup raw sugar (this stuff is way healthier than white sugar)
-2 scoops of your favorite dairy-free ice cream. I love So Delicious
Coconut Milk Ice Cream, and I highly recommend the chocolate chip cookie
dough flavor, because once the ice cream starts to melt into the hot cocoa,
you will have chunks of cookie dough floating in your hot cocoa, and it is
absolutely amazing!
-As many marshmallows as you prefer
-Cinnamon

What to do;
-Heat the milk in a pan over the stove
-In a bowl, mix together the cocoa powder and raw sugar
-Once the milk is almost boiling, stir in the powder and sugar mixture
-Stir for one minute, so as to make sure the milk and powder mixture is
completely combined
-Then boil until it's frothy

How to assemble your hot cocoas;
-Find a very festive, Christmas-y mug.
-Ladle hot cocoa into the Christmas mug. A little over half full.
-Put two big scoops of ice cream into the center of the mug.
Don't stir!
-Top with mallows
-Sprinkle with cinnamon
and then serve immediately.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, maybe so much so that it will become a new Christmas Eve tradition! Either way, have a wonderful week, and I will not be posting next Monday because I have a lot of festivities and such going on, so have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Peace Love and Christmas Eve Hot Cocoa
Jess <3

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The Munsters Halloween Costumes

10/31/2016

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Happy Halloween to all!
I hope you all had a fun, and a safe Halloween weekend, and a great actual Halloween today! If you're looking for more Halloween fun, you can check out all of my Halloween posts today, since you probably won't for another year!
So who's dressed up for work today? Well I'm not, because my Monday job is this blog, and I'm sitting at home in my pajamas :)
If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you'll probably have seen me and the husband's Halloween costumes this year, they were a huge hit! Here's some pictures of us...

We dressed up as Lily and Herman Munster, from the 1960's tv show, The Munsters.
If you've never watched it, we highly recommend it! It is now on Netflix, so there's no excuse to not watch it!

Here are some more pictures, just for fun's sake!

We went with the black and white version, since that's the version you see on the show, since it is in black and white!

Here's how I made my dress! I bought this dress (I think it was an old wedding dress) from Salvation Army, and this sheer blouse also from Salvation Army. I cut the sleeves from the blouse and attached them to the dress, then cut up the rest of the blouse, to make the "wings" that you see hanging from the sleeves. I had some black fabric laying around (any self respecting crafty lady does!), so I cut it up and sewed it to the dress, and voila! This gorgeous Lily Munster dress! I already had the bat necklace (because why wouldn't I).
Nick's costume was pretty easy. He already had the black pants, and we bought the sweater and jacket from Salvation Army (of course!). His head is a plastic piece that we bought from a local Halloween store, that he attached with latex.

Happy Halloween loves!!!

Peace Love and The Munsters
Jess <3

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How to Make Money on Fiverr

10/17/2016

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If you've been following this blog for a while, you know that I despise working normal, soul-sucking, 9-5 jobs. I instead, prefer to use my god-given talents and interests to make a living. I write all about this in my first blog post ever, posted May 11th 2012.
And while I am not making 100% of my income from my passions yet, I am getting much closer to being able to sit on a beach all day! So if you want to become free, keep reading!

There are a lot of ways that I am making money right now; this blog, and my Etsy being two of them. But today I wanted to talk about a different means of earning money, that I have had people ask me about, because I am doing pretty well at it.
Fiverr can be one of the easiest, fun-nest, and most lucrative ways to make money on the internet. It doesn't require you to have your own website, you don't need to be a computer whiz, and you can get started in a day!
The basic gist of Fiverr is simple; "People will do anything for $5". And I mean anything! Need a fake girlfriend for your social media? Done! Want Christopher Walken to call your friend? Yes please! Needing a fairy to hold your sign? Sure thing! Having trouble finding Marilyn Monroe to sing happy birthday to someone? Well you've come to the right place!
All fun and crazy-ness aside, there is also a ton of gigs for graphics and design, digital marketing, translating services, singers and songwriters, advertising, and programming.

Ready to get started on Fiverr? Here's how!

First things first, you need to get your profile set up!
Your profile is where all of your gigs will be, and where people can read about you.
To do this, just go to fiverr.com and find the sign up button. You pick your name (mine is Chinagirl since I do some Mandarin Chinese gigs), put in an email address, and answer questions about yourself, and about your gigs. Take a look at my Fiverr profile to get an idea of what it will look like.

The next thing you must do, is to make your gigs!
This is the fun part! Your gigs are what you are willing to do for $5. Your gigs will be making you your money, and no matter how cool your profile looks, if you don't have any gigs, you will not make any money. So start thinking. It can be silly, or it can be serious, or it can be anything in-between. It does not cost you anything to create or post a gig, so make as many as you'd like! I still have a couple gigs that I've posted that haven't made me any money, but it's ok, because all it took was a little bit of time to make the gig.

Think of things you're good at doing, that other people want or need.
Are you a computer genius? Perfect! Tons of people need help with computer programming, website building. Do you speak multiple languages? Offer translating services. Are you a writer or a musician? There are plenty of things to do with those gifts! Are you artistic? Try drawing pictures of people or their pets!
I speak Mandarin Chinese, so I sing happy birthday in Mandarin for one gig. I also like to make and sell crafts, so I have a couple of my products on there. I also offer ads on this blog through Fiverr, and my most popular gigs are my modeling gigs.

Be unique!
There are literally thousands of people on Fiverr selling the same exact gigs. So offer something unique instead! It's fine to have a couple gigs that aren't unique, but try to come up with at least one that is unique to you. For example, one of my gigs is "I will sing Happy Birthday in Mandarin Chinese." In all of Fiverr, there is only one other gig that is the same, and it was just posted not too long ago. I also sell my record bowls on there, and again, there is only one other gig that does that.

Post the rest of your gigs.
Once you have a couple of unique gigs posted, you can add the rest of your gigs. Don't worry if there are a lot of people selling the same thing, just be sure to put your own unique spin on it! For example, if you type in "male model" in the search bar, over thirty different gigs will pop up. So how have I had over thirty separate orders for my dad and my husband's male modeling gigs? Because I made each of them unique from the other gigs. The other male model gigs simply said, "I will be your male model." So I made my Dad's gig say, "I will be your bearded male model." And Nick's says, "I will be your tattooed male model." So use normal gigs, but get specific, and get unique.

Now start making sales!
Here are some tips that I use, to sell a lot of gigs.

-Respond quickly. This is one thing I am working on! I have lost a couple sales because time was of the essence, and unfortunately I did not read, or respond to the person's message inquiring about a gig in time. So be sure to check your messages every couple of days, and respond to people who are asking questions about your gigs.

-Maximize your earnings. So just in case you lost interest because you're thinking that $5 isn't enough, this part is for you! In every gig you can make up to $1,000! You just need to find ways to upgrade the things you're selling! For example; In all of my modeling gigs for me, my dad, and my husband, the gig starts out at $5 (like every gig needs to). The $5 gig includes four pictures with one background. For $10, the gig includes 10 pictures, in multiple backgrounds. In every gig I also include an extra fast delivery time for $5 extra. None of my gigs total anywhere close to $1,000, but I'm in the process of revamping my Fiverr account, and I'm trying to think of different ways to upgrade even more!

-Sell your physical items. Yes, you can sell physical items, because you have the option to charge for shipping. So figure out some small (or large!) items that you can make multiples of, and sell. Especially around Christmas time!

-Scope out the competition. Search for gigs that are the same as yours. Study them and figure out the following; 1. What are they lacking that you could make sure to add to your gig? 2. What are some of their gig extras. Can you do them for cheaper? Or can you add on more gig extras? 3. What about these gigs are better than your gig? Adjust accordingly.

-Whatever you do, do it great. Like most businesses nowadays, you will be getting reviewed by your customers! Aim to make your customer as satisfied as possible. Always go the extra mile. Because I always go the extra mile, if you look at my Fiverr gigs, you will see some very satisfied customer reviews.

-Take great photos. For my modeling gigs, I obviously need to take great pictures for the customer. But even if your gig doesn't involve taking pictures, get a nice picture for your gig picture so it will grab your potential customers' attention.

Fiverr can be super fun. It's a great way to earn money doing what you love to do, and most of the time without even leaving your house! We have had a blast doing our various different gigs. We have received a lot of free products (the watch that Nick wore on our wedding day was a free product from a Fiverr gig!), and have been featured on a lot of cool websites and social media accounts (see them all on my modeling page).
Good luck on your Fiverr journey!

Peace Love and Fiverr
Jess <3

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DIY Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett Couples Halloween Costume

10/3/2016

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DIY Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett Couples Halloween Costume

Happy Halloween you guys! I hope you've been enjoying the Halloween theme going on here, all over my Instagram, and over at my Etsy Shop also! Just in case you missed it, last week I posted a guest post from The Haunted Housewife about how to make your own Halloween inspired hair candies. Likewise, she featured my post, 7 ways to make your home Halloween ready on her blog!
I will be continuing the Halloween madness today, with this post about how to do Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett hair, makeup, and outfits, for your couples Halloween costume this year!

Makeup
We're going to start with the makeup! Here is a tutorial I did, about how to do both Sweeney Todd, and Mrs. Lovett makeup.

The finished makeup for Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett!
And now on to the hair, because let's face it, the hair basically makes Sweeney Todd!

Sweeney Todd Hair
We were lucky, because Nick's hair was just perfect for Sweeney Todd hair. And yes, that is his real hair! His hair is super thick and wavy naturally, so we didn't have to do a lot to it. Just teased it a bit, until it sat exactly so. We pinned the top part back, so it wouldn't fall over. If your man's hair isn't thick and wavy enough, curl it, and do some serious teasing. We also bleached a section of his hair, so he actually had the blonde strip in his hair. He loved it and actually kept it for almost a year!

Mrs. Lovett Hair
My hair also worked pretty good for Mrs. Lovett hair. It was a little bit longer than hers, but I didn't sweat it.
The night before, I put my hair in really tight curlers. You want tight curls. The next morning after taking the curlers out, I positioned my hair into two high ponytails. Position them a little lower than the height I have them. Once both ponytails are in place, get a large hair clip, and flip the ponytail over the top of your head, then clip it at the base and over a bit, so the ponytail will fall over the clip, and it will cover the ponytail holder, and looks like the above hair. Then you are going to tease your ponytails like crazy. Mrs. Lovett has crazy curly hair. Once it's teased to perfection, hairspray to hold. If you have red hair, lucky you! You're done. If not, you need a red spray in color. These are very easy to find during Halloween.

I used this stuff from Hot Topic for my hair, and i would never use it again, and never recommend anyone to use it! Ever! The color turned out fine, as spray in colors go, but this stuff was a complete disaster. It got onto everything. I washed my hair three times and it still wouldn't come out, so I had to wash it a couple times with dish soap! Then, my shower had a red tint to it for weeks, until I finally had to bleach it to get it off! It stained the seat in my car, my bathroom counter, and the shirt my husband wore! Disaster! *Ok, end rant!*

The clothing
I admit it, I thought the clothing would be very hard to find, but it turned out to be so simple! It really just takes some imagination. I took some time studying various outfits worn by both Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett, and formulated what I thought would be great costumes for us. We used a couple things we already owned, and found the rest at the Salvation Army during their 50% off Wednesday. You can't get cheaper Halloween costumes!

Sweeney Todd Outfit
Nick's Sweeney Todd outfit was beyond simple. He started with a white t-shirt he already owned, that looks like it has blood splatters all over the neck (I believe he got it at Hot Topic a long time ago), it was perfect. Over that, he wore this long sleeve, collared, white button-up that we got at Salvation Army for a couple dollars. You want it to be a little baggier, especially over the arms. Over that, he wore a really good-looking brownish/greyish vest that we also found at Salvation army for a couple dollars. He still has this vest because it's so nice! Finishing up his look, he wore a pair of black pin-striped dress pants that we got at (you guessed it) Salvation Army, for (you guessed it) a couple dollars!

Mrs. Lovett Outfit
Mrs. Lovett's costume is a bit trickier, but just as do-able as Sweeney Todd's. In the movie she has a couple different outfits, so I kept those in my mind when we went to the Salvation Army and found exactly what I needed to make my own version of all her outfits. The skirt and the corset are the focal points of her outfit, so I was so glad to find this perfect skirt at the Salvation Army. It was the perfect color, design, and length.

I found this great top, complete with ruffles, at the Salvation Army, and cut the top off, because I didn't want the bottom part to bunch under the corset.

I then layered a black corset I already owned (and an extreme push-up bra!) over top of the long sleeved shirt.

And to complete my look, I couldn't believe my luck when I found these shoes at The Salvation Army! How perfect are they?!

Oh, and we found this straight razor at Sally's Beauty Supply. It added a little something don't ya think!

What are you going to be for Halloween this year?!

Peace Love and Sweeney Todd
Jess <3

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Guest Post; DIY Haunted Hair Candy

9/26/2016

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"Behold, DIY haunted hair candy for those of us that adore that spooky-chic look all year round."
Hello everyone! Today I am very excited to be teaming up with my blogging friend Samberlina Rodriguez, over at The Haunted Housewife! She's super cool, and I absolutely love her blog, which is full of Halloween inspiration all year round! You can find out more about her at the bottom of the post, but for now, let's get to crafting!

"As much as I love Halloween, the hair goodies and jewelry that you find during peak season are plastic, and not meant to last more than one night. I’m also not a fan of the color orange, especially right next to purple and black. Am I the only one? Anyway, moving on."

What You'll Need
Affiliate links, please view the disclosure policy!

-hot glue gun (or soldering iron if you like to live on the edge. We’re playing with metals on metals today, so I think it could work. Solder at your own risk!)

For the bat headband:

-headband blanks, $4 for 12 of them.
-bat charm, $2.85 each.

For the spider pin:

-bobby pin blanks, $5.58 for 10 of them
-spider charm"

What You'll Do

"This tutorial is incredibly simple, and is as easy as gluing your charm onto your blanks. Take your headband blank (or blanks), the ones I’ve chosen came in a pack of 12 from amazon. For the bat ornament, you’ll need to curve it to match the headband’s curvature. If it’s not curved enough, it will likely pop off after you glue it in place. Soldering ensures it’s there to stay forever, but solder at your own risk! Today, I prefer to glue it and see how that works out for the long haul. Glue your headband to the bat, you’re done! It took me a couple tries to get it right. Be patient! When you’ve succeeded, you’ve got a beautiful bat headband (or several bat headbands) to wear all year round!"

"How epic is this headband? Comes out to $3.18 each!!!"

"Now for the spider pin, you need to pick up some bobby pin blanks that have an area for you to glue your spider on to. These I found on amazon as well and were an add-on to my order and super cheap."

"Then, I picked my favorite spider charm from a seller on Etsy, and that’s when the magic happened. Simply glue and go! The spider pins come out to an awesome $4.51 each. They cost more than the headband, but this spider is my favorite and worth the extra cost, in my opinion."

"THESE ARE SERIOUSLY SO EASY AND AWESOME. YOU COULD MAKE THESE TO GIVE OUT TO YOUR FRIENDS WITH THE SAME STYLE, OR EVEN SELL THEM. I’VE SEEN THESE HEADBANDS GO TO $25 ON ETSY, WHICH IS OUTRAGEOUS IF YOU’RE A CHEAPSKATE LIKE I AM. I COULD MAKE NEARLY 8 OF THEM FOR THAT PRICE! ENJOY!"

Yay! Wasn't that great?! Thank you so much Samberlina, for that great post! You can read her original post here.

And today over on The Haunted Housewife, she will be posting a guest post from me, called "7 Ways to Make Your Home Halloween Ready". Go check it out!

"Samberlina Rodriguez is the creep behind The Haunted Housewife (http://www.thehauntedhousewife.com); a blog dedicated to the strange and unusual with a feminine twist. When she isn't haunting her humble abode, she's busy obsessing over beauty products, out chasing kitties, or making a mess with glitter. You can find her on Instagram, @hauntedhousewife."

Peace Love and Haunted Hair Candy
Jess <3

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How to Make Your Own Organic Vegan Fair Trade Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

8/22/2016

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Organic, Vegan, Fair Trade Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

If you regularly read my blog, you know that I am an advocate for Eden Ministries, as well as the head of social media and volunteer for P.A.T.H.S. Both of these organizations help fight against human trafficking, which is a cause I am very passionate about. I had known a lot about the sex trafficking scope of the spectrum, but I was absolutely horrified to learn of another form of human trafficking, labor trafficking. Labor trafficking can look like a number of different things. Whether it be sweatshop labor, people kept against their will and forced to work long hours for little to no pay, and also, child labor. So when I found out that child labor is rampantly used in the chocolate industry (today's chocolate industry!), I decided to boycott it. Seriously, the everyday chocolate brands we eat in America, use chocolate that comes from child labor slaves in different countries. While these companies are totally aware of this, they continue to use this chocolate. Why? Because it is cheap. And it makes them more money.
So I decided to do my part. No more chocolate peanut butter cups (which are my favorite!). My husband was quite sad when we went to the store and looked at all the candy bars, only to find that they were all manufactured by companies that support child labor. So I made these, and here is how you can make your own!

What you need to make your very own organic, fair trade, non child labor version of chocolate peanut butter cups;
-Cupcake papers
-Organic, fair trade peanut or almond butter.
I use Once Again Almond Butter. Once Again is an American, employee owned, and completely fair trade company, whose products are all completely organic.
and
-Organic, fair trade melting chocolate.
Some good brands are Mama-Ganache, and Dolci Frutta, You can find more online, or at your local health shop. Just be sure to look for a fair-trade certified kind!

Step 1. Melt your organic, fair-trade melting chocolate, following package instructions.

Step 2. Spoon a little of the melted chocolate into the bottom of the cupcake papers. Don't make it too full, there's two more layers about to be added!

Step 3. Melt your organic, fair trade almond (or peanut) butter in the microwave, in a microwave safe bowl.
Step 4. Spoon some of the melted nut butter on top of the chocolate.

Step 5. Spoon more chocolate mixture on top of the peanut butter layer.

Step 6. Let sit and cool for a bit before diving in!

So start reading up on this topic, and find out which companies refuse to help end child labor. Write letters to them. Tell them you are going to boycott them until they make an effort to change! And until then, enjoy your own homemade delicious organic, vegan, fair-trade chocolate peanut butter cups!

Peace Love and Child Labor Free Chocolate
Jess <3

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Quinoa Summer Garden Bowl

7/11/2016

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I have become quite obsessed with quinoa lately, as has the rest of the nation, and for good reason! Quinoa is one of the most protein-rich foods we can eat, it has almost twice as much fiber as most other grains, it contains iron, is rich in magnesium, riboflavin, and manganese! Plus it's super delish; I just love the texture of it!
So I decided to make a nutrition packed recipe, that's perfect for summer!

Quinoa Summer Garden Bowl
What to do;

*Cook your quinoa according to package directions. I was surprised to find that cooking quinoa is a lot like cooking rice! I recommend cooking the entire bag of quinoa, since it refrigerates good, and makes a perfect snack or lite summer lunch.

*While your quinoa is cooking, cut up your vegetables. You can really use any vegetables you think would be good in your quinoa bowl. I used broccoli, onions, garlic, and green and yellow peppers in mine, and it turned out amazing.

*Once the quinoa has finished cooking, take the lid off and stir all your vegetables into it. By doing this, you're letting your veggies "cook" a bit, but they're still staying raw, which is where all the nutritional value comes from.

*Transfer the quinoa and veggie mixture from the pot it was cooked in, into a large bowl.

*I don't really ever measure stuff when cooking, I just use what I think looks about right for me and my likings, and this was no exception. So! Stir together a couple squirts of lime juice, and a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil. It's all about preferences. I like to go a little crazy on the lime juice, because it gives it a great flavor. The olive oil also gives it an amazing flavor, plus adds some moisture. Just be sure to not make it too oily. Toss into the quinoa mixture.

*Sprinkle in some garlic powder and sea salt, and you're done!

Place the bowl in the fridge, and once it's cooled, you can start devouring your "Quinoa Summer Garden Bowl" that is just perfect for summer!

Peace Love and Quinoa
Jess <3

More Vegan Recipes you Might Enjoy;

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How to Throw a Medieval Themed Party!

6/27/2016

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This year my wonderful mother turned 60 years old! Since 60 is a pretty special milestone, I wanted to do something extra awesome for her, so she would remember it for the rest of her life. We are both obsessed with the t.v show "Reign", which is a show about kings and queens, and castles, and the like, so I decided to make her "Queen for a day!"
Here are pictures from our Medieval themed party, with some D.I.Y that you can steal for your very own medieval themed party!

First things first, you gotta set the scene! I absolutely love themed things, and to pull off a themed thing successfully (whether it be a wedding, room decor, an outfit, or a party), people must know immediately, what the theme is! As soon as people enter the room, they should think that they are in a castle! We took it a step further, and made it so as soon as people pulled into the driveway, they knew they were about to enter a castle! We did that with this incredible drawbridge that my husband made out of some scrap wood from his work! Here's how we did it!

My wonderfully crafty husband just got some scrap wood from work, picked up a saw, and cut a person-sized door our of the wood! Keep the door so you can lay it on the ground, and connect some chains to it, to make it look like a draw bridge!

The drawbridge chains are just black construction paper cut into strips, then linked and taped together. You know how you used to make paper chains in school! For these, just make sure the strips are wide, so it looks like thick chains.

Nick picked up cans of black and grey spray paint for just a couple bucks each, and spray painted it to look like blocks.

We also added some "torches" to either side of the gate.
These torches are super simple to make, and look so good! We made a bunch and also used them inside the house.

These torches are super simple to make! All you need is; black construction paper, red and yellow tissue paper (we got these at Dollar Tree for only a dollar each), and scotch tape and scissors!

What to do; Cut one black piece of construction paper into a square, so you can roll it into an ice cream cone looking tube, then tape. The top should be a large hole, with the bottom coming to a point, just like an ice cream cone! Then take both colors of tissue paper, and shove them into the top hole, fanning them out to look like a flame. You can also place battery operated tea lights on top of the flames, to make it light up!
Now for the inside of the house!

Those walls!
The walls were one of the most important elements of the decoration, because that's what hid our modern day dining room walls, and turned it into an ancient castle! It even helped hide the living room and the kitchen.

We bought a roll of grey plastic table cloth from Party City, and me and my sister used permanent markers to draw blocks. We just rolled out the tablecloth and drew yards upon yards of this, so we could make sure every wall was covered. When it came time to decorate, we just measured out the lengths horizontally, cut the rolls, and taped them to the walls with heavy duty tape!

We cut a couple pieces of the table cloth and hung it vertically from the ceiling to hide the living room. We also taped purple and gold plastic tablecloths to the ceiling, and tied it with lace to act as "curtains".

Here are some more of the torches we made! Taped to the interior of the castle walls.

Lots of pearls (from our wedding. You can buy strands of them from Oriental Trade or JoAnn Fabrics), candles, lace (also from our wedding), fake coins and jewels (bought from Dollar Tree for only $1.00 each)! Also, mounds of moss (bought from Dollar Tree!), gold vases (these were from my cousin's wedding. She just spray painted old vases from thrift stores), and golden chalices!

Golden chalices!
These goblets added great medieval flair! Plus, we made enough for everyone at the party, so everyone got to drink in medieval style, and! Had a great party favor to take home with them!

We went to the Salvation Army and bought glass goblets for $.25 each. They were all matching except for my mom's, which was huge and very Queenly!

Nick took the glasses outside and spray painted them to perfection with gold spray paint.

After the goblets dried, I got to work with my hot glue gun, gluing "gems" (we got a bag for $1.00 in the craft section of dollar tree!) onto them!

The results of these under $.50 each handmade goblets? Royal, and super fun! Check out how much fun everyone was having with theirs (ok it probably helped that they were filled with booze!)!

Well I guess this brings us to the costumes!

Since I wanted my Mom to feel like the Queen she is, I rented her this stunning Queen dress, complete with this gorgeous tiara! I rented it from an amazing party store in the Canton/Akron area, Akron Design and Costume. This place is the coolest costume store I have ever seen! And it's open year round!
I also gave her beautiful earrings and a necklace, from Eden.

I also bought this Knight's armor vest from Akron Design and Costume for only seven bucks, and forced my dad to wear it for a little bit!

Those great vests and jester hats you see being worn by everyone? I made them so everybody could feel involved with the theme! I was so glad I made these, because it was a blast seeing everyone get dressed up, and get involved in the theme! Here's how to make your own jester hats and vests, for less than $5 for everything!

Let's start with the vests!

At the Salvation Army (love that store!) I purchased a large red tablecloth, and a large piece of yellow fabric, for only two dollars each.
It's important to get two different colors of fabric, so you can make the crosses on the vests.
All you need to do is; lay the fabrics out on the floor. Cut the fabric into strips. Make the strips wide enough to go from shoulder to shoulder. You can make them as long or short as you wish. The yellow ones are shorter because they were for the girls, and plus the fabric was shorter. Then measure from top to bottom, and side to side, to get to the exact center of the vest. That is where you cut the neck hole! Just fold it in half, and cut a half circle to make it even. After you have done this to all of the available fabric (except for a couple small strips), it's time to make the crosses!

Cut out crosses from each color of fabric, and hot glue (it's faster than sewing!) it to the opposite colored vest!

The crosses make such a difference, and really make it look like a knights vest!

And now for the Jester Hats!

All you need is green, yellow, and purple construction paper (we just bought a large multi-colored pack at JoAnn Fabrics and used that for all construction paper needs!), and scissors and scotch tape!

Cut the different colors into shapes shown above. The long yellow strips are for the band. You will need two strips per hat. The green and purple triangles are for the hanging pieces. They do not need to be pointy at the top, because the yellow circles will be taped onto the tops of them. You will need two green and two purple for each hat. You will need four yellow circles per hat.
Tape two yellow pieces together for the band. You can measure your head for reference. I made varying sizes of hats. Then alternately tape the purple and green pieces to the inside of the yellow band. Add the yellow circles to the top. Bend the green and purple pieces slightly, to make them bounce around. They look so cute!

Now that your home and your guests all look like they belong in Medieval times, what are you going to do to keep everyone occupied?
Since my mom's birthday was in February and it was pretty cold, we didn't want to do a lot of things outside. So here's what we did for entertainment!

We took pictures of everyone!
I cut the center out of a large poster board that I got for a dollar at Dollar Tree, decorated it, and wrote the occasion on it (Ellen's 60th!). When people came in, and after they put costumes on, we took a picture of them holding the "frame". It was a fun way to get pictures of everyone that came, and turned out super cute!

The giant mace pinata!
This was also my husband's idea, and he made it perfectly!

He first blew up a giant balloon we got at Party City, and then mod podged pieces of scrap paper over it. He did one layer, leaving a small space empty at the bottom of the balloon.

While we left the first layer of paper mache to dry, we made these little spikes you see here. We made them by cutting out, rolling, and taping together, cones of black construction paper. Leaving a small flap of paper to tape onto the balloon. Once all spikes were attached, Nick did a second layer of paper mache, going over the flaps. Once that layer of paper mache is dry, it's now time to pop the balloon, from the small empty space you left at the bottom. Then take it outside and spray paint it black.

We filled the pinata with cut up pieces of tissue paper (leftover from the torch flames), and plenty of candy and fake gold coins.

We also had jousting tournaments to keep everyone amused!
We got these great little swords at Party City, and everyone had such a blast fighting with them!

Other activities included; dancing to medieval music (just look it up on youtube!), and playing Taboo (cuz Taboo is just awesome!).

Here are more photos of the party.
"Jewels" for everyone. We got them at Dollar Tree.

To make this throne, we just wrapped my silk bed sheet around an armchair.

Hahaha my Dad is the greatest.

I hope you enjoyed looking at our Medieval Party Pictures! We sure had a blast doing it, and so will you!

Peace Love and Medieval Times
Jess <3

How to Host a 1950's Housewife Dinner Party

4/11/2016

2 Comments

How to Host a 1950's Housewife Dinner Party

If you are an old soul like me, you probably love a good dinner party. And even if you aren't, it is still a really fun thing to do!
I absolutely love anything themed, and I am obsessed with the 1950's (my wedding was retro themed for cryin' out loud!), so I had a blast creating this dinner party theme!
So here I give you the how-to for your next get-together!

For your 50's Dinner Party, you gotta have a certain retro feel to it, and here I have some ways to get that feel, and how to pull off the perfect retro dinner party!

-Music!
If you have Pandora, fire up the 50's Rock 'n' Roll Radio Station, slip in a 50's compilation cd from the library, or make yourself a rockin 50's playlist on your Ipod!
Some great artists to get started with are Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, The Coasters, Little Richard, The Drifters, Chubby Checker, Sam Cooke, The Shirelles, and Dion and the Belmonts. Just to name a few! Bonus points if you have a record player and actual records!

-Add some Retro touches!
As you can see, I have a stack of vintage magazines, a vintage lamp, two vintage suitcases, even my table is vintage! You can find most these items at thrift stores, estate auctions, flea markets, or even in a relative's attic!

-Vinyl vinyl vinyl!
The fastest way to add some retro feel, is with vinyl!
The three easiest ways to use vinyl; 1. Get an old record at a thrift store, and, using a glue stick, glue a picture in the middle of it (like I did at my wedding, below)! 2. Write out your food menu for the evening, and glue that onto the middle of the record (like I also did for my wedding, below). 3. Use record bowls to hold candy, or silverware, like I did above. You can purchase record bowls from myEtsy Shop.

-Don't use paper plates!
Use real silverware, real plates, and real napkins.

-Plenty of lace, pearls, and candles

Dress the Part.
Dress like an adorable 50's housewife!
-Lots of pearls
-Red Lipstick
-A retro apron
-Heels
-A cute dress
-An updo
(Or just watch an episode of I Love Lucy, and go from there!)