I’m strictly a chocolate person and really dislike any candy that is not chocolate – my least favorite in that family being Twizzlers. Those are an atrocity. Anyone with me on this? Unfortunately for me, the selection
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essiedoessummer
Each year around this time I make a body butter and each year I blog about it. I’m an unfortunate victim of dry skin in the winter so it’s no surprise that months before the season actually comes about, I’m thinking up concoctions to deal with this. Whipped butter always comes to my rescue. This year I’m making both body and hair butters (coming soon in a later post!) but I’m switching up the recipes according to what my skin/hair needs. Also the technique I used to make this whipped butter was different last year, but I think I’ve found a quicker and easier method to make the magic stuff.
what you need:
- shea butter
- coconut oil
- vitamin E oil
- lavender essential oil
the how-to:
step one: Add the shea butter, coconut oil and Vitamin E oil together in a large mixing bowl
step two: Make a double-boiler by placing the mixing bowl in a pot of water on the stove. Allow the oil to melt slightly for about 3 minutes (the shea butter most likely won’t melt much)
step three: Using an electric mixer, whip the slightly melted butters and oil together until smooth and fluffy.
step four: Add 8-10 drops of lavender essential oil and whip some more. Scoop into a container and store!
I told you – it doesn’t take much to make a batch of body butter for yourself! I really like the fact that I know exactly what’s going on my skin. I picked the things that went into my body butter very intentionally. If you’re interested in knowing their benefits:
Raw shea butter: I get mine straight from Ghana so I can trust that it has nothing but shea butter in it. Shea butter is extremely Vitamin A rich, which has amazing moisturizing and healing properties for your skin. It boosts collagen and helps if you have blemishes. Necessary for that glo’ up.
Vitamin E oil: One of the best antioxidants out there, which means it prevents aging and keeps your skin looking youthful. Nothing wrong with that amirite? #foreveryoung
Coconut oil: This is my favorite thing to put on my skin because it leaves it feeling sooooo soft! It’s restorative and strengthening and it has anti fungal properties as well.
Lavender essential oil: Aside from it’s heavenly floral scent, lavender essential oil is so so calming. You can just imagine that relaxing aroma following you around all day – people compliment me on it all day.
Now that you’ve got the body stuff down, look out for my upcoming DIY hair butter!
Hellooooo September! The past month has been full of interesting developments including a move to Brooklyn and a trip to Cuba – more info on those coming up in posts later. For this months wallpaper I decided to keep away from anything fall-related and make this mudcloth inspired wallpaper. I did this for two reasons: I’m from Ghana and this design is so close to home and second, I just launched a new business selling African Mudcloth home decor! If you want to learn more about mudcloth, its history and origin is you should definitely take a look at my website and shop WVN African Mudcloth.
Now back to regular programming! Find the download link for your FREE wallpaper below and as usual don’t forget to share with friends and family – and be sure to tag me in your photos of it. Enjoy, my dears!
If you’ve ever shopped for dinnerware on a budget, chances are you own the same plain white Ikea set that I have. Literally EVERYONE I know has this set and I don’t blame them – it’s cheap! But eventually you start to get very tired of the same old boring white plates and long for a new look. This is why I was tempted to spruce up these bowls after having them for two years. I researched what method was best to make painted bowls + how to make sure my design would stay on the bowls, and found that enamel paints would do the trick.
Now that I’ve made these painted bowls and successfully so, I’m afraid I’m going to have to paint all of my dishware now if someone doesn’t stop me. But hey, those could make for some more DIY posts in the future. Looking for a DIY way to update boring kitchenware? Read on for more!
what you need:
- Enamel paints( I like these ones the best)
- paint brushes
- plain bowls
- newspaper to protect your surfaces
- optional: acrylic spray sealer
the how-to:
step one: make sure your bowls are clean and dry.
step two: starting with your lighter colors, paint random brushstrokes all over the bowl.
step three: paint brush strokes and smaller patterns using your darker color(s)
step four: allow to dry for about 10 to 15 minutes. place in an oven (to “set” the paint) at 150° for 5 mins.
step five: remove from oven and allow to cool and you’re done!
Optional step: the paint is already pretty secure but if you want to make it more durable spray some clear acrylic sealer on to the bowl, making sure to avoid the inside.
The best thing about this paint and the technique is that you can literally paint any of your dishware. It works on mugs, plates and glasses too – so the possibilities are really endless. I see myself painting some champagne glasses in the future.
Another thing; right now I can’t say whether or not these painted bowls are dishwasher safe but I’ve washed mine twice so far without an issue. I’ll update you on how they do, but for the meantime please hand wash only!
