Just finished!
Do you like these crazy cool hoop and spike set of earrings?
These re-vamped earrings are made from refurbished materials and 100% hand-made clay beads.
You can find them at our Etsy store! : )
❤
-Mensa
Category Archives: Homemade
Tea Tree Oil: Magic Potion or Poison?
So the other day we noticed that we have in our home tea-tree oil infused goodies. Our shampoo, our conditioner and we use tea tree oil for unwanted, unhappy pimples. And it really does work! I had heard this little essential oil had many purposes, but who would have known it was crazy useful for everything! From pimples, to cleaning to Woohoo! Everything… Maybe I should ditch everything in my medicine cabinet and buy a lifetime supply of tea-tree oil!
So where does it come from? Australia. From the plant Melaleuca alternifolia.
What can it be used for? A MILLION THINGS!
- Analgesic
- Antibacterial
- Antifungal
- Anti-infectious
- Anti-inflammatory
- Antioxidant
- Antiparasitic
- Antiseptic
- Antiviral
- Decongestant
- Digestive
- Expectorant
- Immune stimulant
- Insecticidal
- Neurotonic
- Stimulant
- Tissue regenerative
Got Acne? dilute with water and use for an overall treatment, or dab a very small amount on acne breakouts.
Got Allergies? You can massage it into the chest, abdomen or “the reflex points of the feet”
Stinky Feet? A couple of drops and soak your feet in, or massage directly.
Canker soar? Apply a dab!
Clean Freak? Add a couple of drops to your home-made everyday cleaner.
Stuffed nose and congestion? Boil some water and inhale steam infused with some oil. Minty smell will clear you up!
Cuts, Scrapes or Burns? Disinfect it with a slight diluted solution and cleanse infected areas with a one drop to one cup of water mixture.
Getting Pierced or a Tattoo? Use it undiluted to avoid infections.
Anything else? Yes! Also vaginal infections, warts, wounds, nail infections, dandruff sunburns and rashes!
BUT…I ran into this article that says that tea-tree oil might be potentially toxic for your cats and its bad bad bad…so I decided to look into it a bit more.
Yes, if you swallow and ingest a slight amount of this oil, it could harm you. The National Capital Poison Center says they get twice as many calls regarding tea-tree oil poisoning than any other oil. Yet, they are not specific about their statistics so its hard to compare.
There are two statements that they make that I think are significant and should be taken as precaution when using this mighty oil.
1.
“Tea tree oil and pets: Veterinary toxicologists have reported that large amounts of tea tree oil applied to the skin of cats and dogs caused poisoning. Symptoms have included muscle tremors, weakness, difficulty in walking, low body temperature, and excessive salivation. With pets, as with people, following label instructions is essential.”
2.
“Non-medicinal uses: … “natural” does not necessarily mean “non-toxic” or “non-poisonous”; tea tree oil is irritating to some people and is poisonous to swallow….There is some scientific evidence that tea tree oil can be effective for certain skin conditions. It is poisonous if swallowed and so should not be used in or around the mouth at all.”
The second point should be taken with more consideration because when I did my research I ran into information regarding its use as a mouthwash, canker sore, cold sore and cavity prevention oil. Many people have used it around and within the mouth and promote such uses, so I don’t think that the likelihood that you will turn up dead will be high….BUT I would use it with precaution if you are allergic to any other oils, if you are pregnant and if you have other conditions which you already need to take extra care for.
So is it a super oil with multiple amazing uses? I’d say so!
Am I going to party hard with my cat and take shots like it’s peppermint schnapps? Probably not….
Does it smell very very good and is better than buying fifteen different products to cure many things? YES!
If you would like, you can check out some sources below to get more descriptive and detailed uses for this mighty essential oil as well as people’s concern with it.
Sustainable Baby Steps, Medicine Net, General Info, Toxic to Cats
What!? What!?
-Mensa
3 Ingredients: All Natural Every Day Cleaner
We made our own all purpose house cleaner with 3 ingredients we have at home. It will save us some $$$ and it is super environmentally conscious, AND its as easy and cheesy as 1, 2, 3!
One:
Dont throw away your old cleaner’s spray bottle!
Keep it, and fill it half way with white vinegar.
TWO:
Fill the rest of the bottle with all-natural tap water! ; )
THREE:
Add about 5-10 drops of essential oil. We used peppermint because it smells oh-so-fresh, but you can do anything from lavender to patchouli!
THAT’S IT!
You can use this anywhere and everywhere, and according to The New Homemaker there is dozens of combinations that you can use vinegar with to clean everything from your laundry to removing stains and odors!
So why bother buying “green” cleaners when we can make them at home!?
So do it now!
love,
-Mensa
Oh-Organic Marshmallow Fondant, Where art thou?
Feliz cumpleaños Micaca y Isabela!!!
This birthday cake is dedicated to my crazy cool sister who turned the double douces a week ago…An easy to make fondant added a little color to this delicious chocolate cake, and who doesn’t love fondant? You can really make anything you want with it because its almost like play-dough!
The fondant was ridiculously easy to make, and because of the hype with the marshmallow-fondant recipe, I got caught up in the moment and used ingredients that were not so wholesome for our health. So sorry hermana!
So the ingredients I used?
Marshmallows= High Fructose Corn Syrup and who knows what bits and pieces of chicken parts…
Powdered Sugar= I didn’t use any organic or unbleached product…my bad.
Food Coloring= Need I say more?
So here’s the deal. I did a little research and Organic Marshmallow Fondant IS possible.
I found a couple of recipes, yet each of them always had something “off”. So i combined all my research and I think it will be as easy to make an organic fondant recipe without the extra hassle.
So here’s the recipe…
8 oz of mini VEGAN marshmallows (about 4 full cups). They do exist!
1 tbsp of water
1 pound bag of Wholesome Organic Icing Sugar..plus a little bit more for when things get sticky!
1 tbsp of Organic Light corn syrup
1 tbsp of lemon juice
Natural Food Coloring
Organic Butter
* For the Food Coloring there are MANY options. You can buy organic and natural good coloring like Maggie’s Naturals which are made of all natural plant based sources. Your local natural food store should carry some. If you want to experiment and make your own colors you can virtually achieve any of them with any product at the store. Red? Use some beets! Orange? Carrots! Yellow? Tumeric or saffron flowers. Green? You can use spinach or even buy a natural food supplement called liquid chlorophyll. Blues and Purples? Cabbage anyone? Its doable! You might just have to experiment with the recipe.
The HOW TO:
Add the water to the marshmallows. It usually calls for a minute in the microwave. Skip this step and the extra radiation and heat it the old school way. I will update this recipe when I try it in the oven, but I would start by testing it at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes in a bowl.
Use a WOODEN SPOON covered with butter. This will make the marshmallows stick less to everything and will make it easier to mix. Make sure all the clumps are gone until you have a pretty smooth marshmallow mixture, and add the corn syrup and the lemon. The corn syrup helps make it a bit more flexible so it does not crack and dry so fast, while the lemon reduces the intense sweetness it has.
Start adding the icing sugar bit by bit, and continue mixing it well into the marshmallow mix. Slowly it will start to clump up and it will become hard to keep going further with the spoon. Once you have gone through 3/4 of the sugar, you can transfer the mix to a clean surface and use your hands.
Knead and keep adding the powdered sugar until you have a smooth and malleable dough. If it’s too sticky add a bit of sugar, if it’s too dry then splash water into your hands and knead again.
To prevent it from sticking to the table and the rolling pin, I greased the surfaces with a bit of butter which made things much easier.
I made some flowers and leaves. Pretty easy! For the leaves I just cut two different shapes and with a toothpick added the lines. For the flowers I used a long flat triangle and started to curl it up from the smallest end. The colors look extremely bright, because they are extremely fake.
So now that I have the recipe and sources, I will make a second attempt to live to what I preach, and make a HEALTHIER and more CONSCIOUS birthday cake, with beautiful organic and natural colors!
-Mensa
A Little Bit of Self Promotion Never Hurt Anyone
We write a bunch of blog entries about this and that, but I want to focus a bit on our baby Mushpa y Mensa today. I am going to send out fantastically positive energy to everyone to want what we have to offer.
Listen, I want to make it, not just for us realize, but for all the other artists, inventors and nerds who desire their freedom from a job they’ve never really loved. For all those who want to believe that it is possible to be happy in what you do. I want us to be that example where people say, “See anyone can make it if they do the work and believe.” Seriously, that is all anyone needs to do and we will prove it!
Here is my shameless self promotion below.
Mushpa y Mensa Etsy Store – http://www.etsy.com/shop/MushpaYMensa
Mushpa y Mensa Blog – http://mushpamensa.wordpress.com/
Mushpa y Mensa Twitter – https://twitter.com/mushpamensa
Mushpa y Mensa Pinterest – http://pinterest.com/musphamensa/mushpa-y-mensa-we-are-two-crafty-chics/
Go check out our sites and buy one thing, maybe an amazing tablet case, or plush sweet pigs who think they are elephants and aliens who have no name, and there is even a gorgeous handmade, clay necklace!!!
Please, do us a solid and send an email to all your friends, family, enemies we don’t care who, just do it. It will take two seconds and you will be helping two people who in turn will help millions. You help us and the Universe will help you. I promise!!!!
Until next time…
-Mushpa
Better late than never!
A little lace, a little paint, a little yarn, and a gross amount of ❤❤❤.
Hey Mushpa! Here is the frame I promised you : )
Ewww!
-Mensa
Easy Hummus Yummus Recipe! (Without Tahini)
Sunday morning I cleaned my kitchen and realized I had a can of garbanzo beans in the pantry…So what can I make? Well what else but HUMMUS!
I looked up a couple of recipes and realized that one of the main ingredients, tahini (sesame paste), was not in my pantry…
So I IMPROVISED! And it turned out better than delicious!
This is an easy recipe for a home-made hummus. I usually eat it with carrots, sugar snap peas and crunchy anything. The combination is the best!
Here it is:
-1 can of garbanzo beans
-1 lemon for its tangy juice (use less depending on your liking…I ❤ lemons!)
-salty salt (about a teaspoon or more also depending on your tastebuds)
– Olive Oil
– a little cumin
-1 tablespoon or so of pine nuts (These replaced the sesame seeds/tahini)
-1 clove of garlic
Add garbanzo beans (making sure you drain all the extra water from the can), about a teaspoon of salt, a good two tablespoons of olive oil, the garlic, a couple of “shakes” of cumin, and the pine nuts all in a food processor. You can also use a blender of course, as long as you blend it to a smooth consistency. I eye-balled the recipe, so amounts are about what I think I put in. A little more, a little less will only make it YOUR hummus recipe :]
I tasted it and thought it needed a bit more olive oil, so as it blended I poured a bit more in to give it texture. I transferred it to my own tub and now I have hummus for the week!
And it only took about 10 minutes!
First time hummus making…a delicious SUCCESS!
-Mensa