I’ve been working on some summer sewing and refashions lately. Here’s a quick video showing a few of them. The first is a backless halter top made with quilting cotton and ribbon. The second refashion is a halter tube top with a matching loose kimono/beach coverup. They were made from an old maxi dress that wasn’t getting much love. The beach coverup is my favorite. I love how it turned out, especially the print.
I hope you find these inspiring for your own projects. If you like these kinds of videos, follow me on TikTok. I also post on Instagram and YouTube. I tend to prefer the length options on TikTok, so that’s where most of my complete videos are located.
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It’s my birthday on Saturday (yes, April Fool’s, I know, lol). If you use coupon code April2023 you’ll get 20% off your entire order at SubEarthan Cottage. Valid on regular and sale-priced items through April 3, 2023.
And, since birthday’s are weird without cake, here’s my favorite allergen-friendly chocolate cake recipe.
This is a simple chocolate cake recipe that is super easy. It is dairy-free, egg-free, and if you swap the wheat flour for a gluten-free flour blend, it's gluten-free, too! To make it gluten free, I like Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free blend because it already contains xanthan gum. If you use a different gluten-free flour without xanthan gum, I would add about 1-1.5 teaspoons of xanthan gum.To top, make a simple buttercream (with shortening and non-dairy milk to keep it non-dairy) or use your favorite store bought frosting. You could also sprinkle the warm cake with dairy-free chocolate chips, let them melt a little, then spread across the top for a rich, chocolaty treat.
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time35 minutesmins
Course: Dessert
Keyword: 9 x 13, cake, chocolate, dairy free, easy, egg free, gluten free, one bowl, simple
Servings: 292×2 inch servings
Equipment
9 x 13 rectangle pan
Ingredients
3CupsFlour see recipe summary for gluten-free adjustment
1teaspoonsalt
2teaspoonsbaking soda
2cups sugar
6tablespoonscocoa powder
2tablespoonsvinegarwhite or apple cider vinegar
1cup vegetable oilany light flavored liquid vegetable oil is fine
2cups cold water
2teaspoonsvanilla
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
Grease the 9 x 13 inch pan, either with shortening, butter, or cooking spray
Combine the first five (dry) ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix until evenly blended. Alternatively, sift them together into the bowl.
Add the remaining (wet) ingredients and mix until thoroughly blended. You can use a spoon or an electric mixer.
Pour the batter into the greased 9 x 13 inch pan.
Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean.
Notes
I frosted this cake with buttercream tinted blue, then used gel food coloring to paint the faces. I then piped buttercream for the eyes, facial features, outlines, writing and trim. I clearly am not a trained cake decorator, so I can’t really say which tips I used or any other details.
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Aromatherapy is a useful tool for health and wellness. Learning to use essential oils safely and effectively is a bit daunting at first, though. Here are nine simple tips to get you started.
9 Tips For Aromatherapy Beginners
1. Buy One or Two Aromatherapy Books
First of all, it’s good to have a book or two to for easy reference. Choose just one or two books to start your aromatherapy library. It’s best to choose books that are general resources to begin. This gives you some basic information and helps you discover the areas in which you have the most interest. A knowledgeable author will not recommend ingesting essential oils or using them undiluted (neat) topically. Steer clear of any books recommending ingestion or neat usage.
The only possible exceptions are undiluted topical use of lavender and tea tree oil, however the safest route is always to dilute in a carrier oil.
2. Join Aromatherapy Discussion Forums
Facebook groups, Instagram pages and other forums are great resources for aromatherapy newbies. Read past discussions, ask questions, and learn from others. This is my favorite Facebook group for learning about essential oil safety: Using Essential Oils Safely.
Essential Oils
3. Choose Five or Ten Essential Oils to Start
Though you may be tempted to buy more, try to begin with just five or ten different essential oils. Because essential oils can be pricey, you may want to experiment with a few at first. Then you can invest in more if you decide to pursue aromatherapy further. Some of my favorites are lavender, tea tree, peppermint, lemon and rosemary.
4. Make Sure to Buy 100%, Pure, Unadulterated Essential Oils
When you buy essential oils, choose well-known and reputable manufacturers. Avoid anything described as synthetic, fragrance, and/or perfume oils. These are not essential oils; they contain man-made chemicals and have no aromatherapeutic value.
Further more, good quality essential oils do not have to cost a fortune. Some of my favorite brands are Now, Plant Therapy, Aura Cacia, Eden’s Garden and Garden of Life. I personally avoid the MLM brands due to some of their business practices.
5. Buy at Least One Carrier Oil
For nearly all topical aromatherapy applications, you will need to dilute essential oils with a carrier oil. Good all-purpose carrier oils include sweet almond oil, coconut oil, olive oil, and grapeseed oil.
Choose a good quality carrier oil based on the application and your skin type, and use only a few drops of essential oil(s) per ounce of carrier oil.As you learn more about essential oils, you can play around with the dilution ratios depending on your needs.
My favorites are coconut for normal to oily skin and olive for dry skin. I like these because they are easy to find just about anywhere.
6. Store Your Oils Properly
Essential oils should be stored only in dark glass containers. Since essential oils are volatile, keep the lids tightly closed. Essential oils and carrier oils should be stored away from heat and light. Carrier oils will go rancid eventually, so it’s best to buy smaller quantities.
Blending Essential Oils in Carrier Oil
7. Learn How to Do a Patch Test
Essential oils can cause adverse reactions due to allergy or sensitization over time. A patch test helps to determine whether you might react to a particular essential oil. It is important to perform a skin patch test on yourself with each new oil you want to use topically.
8. Don’t Use Aromatherapy with Children or Pets
Until you are thoroughly familiar with essential oils and associated safety issues, don’t use them on children or pets, or while pregnant or breastfeeding. Cats, in particular, may be adversely affected by essential oils. Make sure essential oils are kept out of reach of children.
9. Don’t Ingest Essential Oils
Lastly, do not ingest essential oils. When taken internally, essential oils can damage your esophagus and liver. Some essential oils that are safe to use topically may be quite toxic if taken internally. In addition, some essential oils may interact with prescription or over the counter drugs. The only safe way to ever ingest essential oils is under the care of a licensed, knowledgeable aromatherapist, encapsulated with a carrier oil and for a brief period of time to treat a specific condition. Even then, it would be best to choose another option, such as an herbal infusion or tincture or medication prescribed by your doctor. This is true even for essential oils labeled “therapeutic grade” or similar.
As you experiment with and learn more about aromatherapy, you will become more confident using essential oils. There is so much to explore, so be safe and have fun!
Essential oils and herbal supplements are not FDA approved. This information is intended for educational purposes only and should not be considered as a recommendation or an endorsement of any particular medical or health treatment. Please consult a health care provider before pursuing any herbal or aromatherapy treatments.
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With Christmas in a week, I wanted to share some shipping information.
I will get most orders out by the next day if not the same day. Anything that is made to order, like essential oil roll-ons, may take longer.
Wednesday I will NOT be prepping, packing or shipping orders because that is a chemo treatment day.
At this point, we are all at the mercy of the post office. Because of the high volume of packages they have at this time of year, I can’t promise that orders will arrive by Christmas. Ordering today or tomorrow may still get it there, but it’s not a guarantee.
If you do machine embroidery, check out my machine embroidery designs. They’re an instant download, so perfect for making last minute gifts.
Here’s a coupon for 15% off your entire order for being awesome. Enter “HappyHolidays22” at checkout. (Expires 12/25/2022)
This was originally posted in 2017. I’ve been using my electric pressure cooker a lot lately to have easy, healthy meals. It’s been a while since I’ve shared, so I thought it was a good time to revisit it.
Last Christmas my lovely parents bought us an 8 qt. GoWise Pressure cooker that I have used almost daily ever since. This is the exact one I have:
With all the sales happening, and the Instant Pot craze still going strong, I know lots of people will be getting an electric pressure cooker and then wondering what to do with it. At least that’s what I did. Now that I’ve used mine for a while, I have some favorite uses for it to share with newbies. I have never used an official Instant Pot, so I can’t say how they compare. They should work about the same, though, so if you have an Instant Pot or other similar electric pressure cooker you should be able to enjoy all this awesomeness, too.
10 Reasons I Love My Electric Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot)
Easy Instant Pot Boiled eggs:
Boiled eggs on the stovetop are easy, unless you’re getting ready for work or school or have young children or are otherwise easily distracted. Then you either burn them or undercook them. Peeling them also is hit or miss. Sometimes the shell comes off easily, other times it takes half the egg white with it.
In the electric pressure cooker, I can put a dozen eggs in the steamer basket with a little water, push the button for eggs (mine has 1,3, and 5 minute settings for soft, medium and hard), and forget about it. The end result is perfectly cooked eggs that peel so easily my two year old can do it.
Potatoes:
Even in the microwave, I have a hard time getting potatoes and sweet potatoes to cook properly. It seems like I always have to restart it a few times to finally get them done. With the pressure cooker, I set it for 15-17 minutes depending on how soft I want them, and they are always done. I’m trying to quit using my microwave all together, too, so the pressure cooker is definitely the faster option compares to the oven.
Slow cooker recipes:
Anything you’d make in a crockpot can be cooked in the pressure cooker. You can either use the slow cooker setting, or, if you forgot about cooking dinner until after lunch, you can cook it under pressure and have it done in an hour or less.
Not only that, but, unlike with a slow cooker, you can use the sauté setting to brown meats or anything that needs browning first. That means more flavor with fewer dirty dishes.
Beans:
If I forget to presoak dry beans, I’ll put them in my pressure cooker for five minutes to do a quick presoak, drain, and add back to the pot along with the seasonings and broth or cooking water, then cook using the bean setting. It’s possible to skip the presoak entirely and go straight to cooking, if I’m short on time, but I prefer to presoak when I can.
If I get them cooking early enough in the day, I’ll switch to the slow cooker setting after they’ve cooked with pressure. That gives them the super yummy, second day flavor on day one.
Stews, soups and curries:
Browning meats and onions in the pot add flavor, and you can use the pressure then slow cook trick to further develop the flavor.
Smaller meats like chicken breasts, vegetables and rice can be put into separate heat-proof containers and steam cooked at the same time. I usually cook too much at once to do that, but when it works out, it is handy and doesn’t heat up the kitchen like using the oven. Easy All in One Electric Pressure Cooker Meal
Rice:
It cooks rice even better than my little rice cooker, and I don’t risk burning it like I do on the stovetop. (There’s lots of distractions here, people.) I don’t use it much for rice, though, since I usually cook curries and things I serve with rice in the pressure cooker. Whenever my rice cooker dies, though, I’m seriously considering a second, smaller pressure cooker as a replacement.
Yogurt:
I haven’t quite perfected yogurt with any method yet, but so far, the best I’ve made is in jars on the trivet in the pressure cooker. It is still a little runny, but it works well for smoothies.
Baking in an Instant Pot:
I’ve only done this once, but thought I’d mention it. You can bake cakes and breads in it by setting the bread or cake pan on the trivet and adding water to the pot for steam. This helps keep the bread or cake moist, which is especially handy for baking with gluten or grain-free flours.
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I generally try to avoid anything that seems gimmicky. The whole Black Friday, Shop Small Saturday, Cyber Monday all seem crafted to make people feel like they must buy all the things NOW. Being a small business owner, though, I wanted to address the “Shop Small” thing.
All those cute memes you see about small business owners doing a happy dance with every purchase, the care that goes into creating and packaging a product just for you, and the direct impact your purchase has on an individual or family? They’re all true, for me at least, and for the other small business owners I know. I celebrate each and every sale. I make sure to package every order with care and a handwritten thank-you. Every sale goes towards helping my family directly.
That’s not to say that big business are bad or don’t help their employees or don’t appreciate our business. Not at all. I’d be lying if I said the big blue Amazon truck never stopped at my house or I never shop at Walmart. They absolutely have their place, too. But, if today or any other day throughout the year you are able to make a purchase from a small business, know that we thank you for your support and are celebrating. Probably with a happy dance, although I refuse to post video evidence.
If you’re not in a position to make a purchase from a small business or what they offer just doesn’t fit your needs, there are other ways to offer support. Sharing their information with others that might like what they have to offer is one way. Letting them know what you like about their products is another.
Spread the Love
If you are a small business owner or know of an awesome one, please leave a comment with the shop’s info so that I and my readers can check them out, whether it’s Shop Small Saturday or some random Tuesday. Artists and authors are welcome, too. I would love to have a list of small business to refer to and to share with my friends and family.
I, Charity Sloan, am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Any purchases through those links will result in my receiving a small percentage in commission.
Prices are the same whether you click an affiliate link or a non-affiliate link, so you will not be charged more. Thank you for your support!
