Check it out.
New on Etsy!
Home-made corn starch based polymer clay.
Hand-made beads with turquoise accents.
Orange color made with 100% natural and organic dyes (turmeric based).
Designed and Made with Love by Mushpa y Mensa.
❤❤❤
-Mensa
Category Archives: Lesbian
Homemade Clay: An Inconvenient Truth…
So you try to be conscious and it ends up you didn’t do much better than you originally thought you would.
I looked, and searched for home-made clay recipes all over the internet. I was looking for a clay that would be malleable yet durable enough to make beautiful things, cheap enough to produce and make over and over again, and a recipe that didn’t use nasty or toxic ingredients.
And I found one! It was perfect….or so I thought.
The ingredients?
-1 cup of Non-Toxic Elmer’s glue
-3/4 to 1 cup of Corn Starch
-2 tbsp of mineral oil Olive Oil
-1 tbsp of lemon juice
Not so toxic, right?…. Well, I looked into what mineral oil really is, and essentially it is the “by-product of the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline and other petroleum-based products from crude-oil”. That same oil in the clear bottle and the pink cap that you put on a baby’s bum bum, that stuff (plus some fragrance), comes from an incredible unsustainable source. On top of that fun fact, the World Health Organization “classifies untreated or mildly treated mineral oils as Group 1 carcinogens to humans.” (Source) Group 1 carcinogens = DEFINITELY CARCINOGENIC TO HUMANS. What?!?!
So since I am being all aware and into this, I decided to replace mineral oil with OLIVE OIL!
Cool… That’s great. So I am happy I’ve done my research and I feel better about myself.
I go about following this recipe, which at first I was hating, because it did not come out like it said. After reading the comments from other people though, I cooked the dough longer and realized that the most crucial thing is to KNEAD the clay when it’s REALLY HOT. Then all the parts will blend.
ps. I also added turmeric to the recipe to give it some natural color.
But then something else happened…another question that should’ve been obvious to ask, but I did not. Where the heck does Elmer’s glue come from???
Oh here we go again….. Elmer’s glue is made of polyvinyl acetate which, you guessed it, comes from petrochemical sources. Come on world!!! Really? Which really makes me think about all the “non-toxic” things we buy, that are actually quite toxic to our environment, our bodies, and our world! Of course elmer’s glue is toxic if it’s source and main ingredient when extracted from the ground pollutes and kills everything around it!
Agrrr… I’m not so happy about this at all. I want to be able to make my own clay/dough at home, with decent ingredients that won’t harm you and me.
I haven’t experimented again, but I will once I find the perfect ingredients.
In the mean time, I will try to use up all my “non-toxic” glue, and try some more natural glue recipes. And lesson learned. Check ALL ingredients and where they come from regardless of now “natural” and non-toxic they are.
-Mensa
Corks! What To Do With Them?…
This is an idea I came up with last night after making a couple of pieces, which by the way will soon bee buzzin’ at our Etsy store!!!)…
These little corks have been sitting in this little chinese take out food box for months, and nothing has really inspired me to use them. Yes there are a couple of cute ideas out there, but nothing really moved me, sabes?
Until I went into an o.d. organizing frenzy of the jewelry-making boxes…
Got some messy string?
Wrap them around some champagne corks! (We got some at a wine shop. They collect them sometimes, and we asked if we could take some and they said sure!)
Make sure to make a slit on the side and on the top so you can catch the string and it doesn’t become lose. I used an x-acto knife.
And now they are organized, they look nice, AND I found something to do with these corks! Fiu!
Nice!
Shall we celebrate and open a nice bottle of wine now?
-Mensa
Co-Co-Co-Controversial: “Turns out you gals are useful after all!”
You might say…. Outrageous! Sexist! Oh how far we’ve come along!…..
For war! Or just around the house…
Apparently smoke made us follow you anywhere.
But did you flip through this decade’s magazines? Or even last month’s magazine?…..
Progress? Not so much…
What thing did you need to remember? Or maybe just a picture to remind you…
Or just simple and blunt in your face?
The pictures speak for themselves.
This is only a reminder, because we should already notice.
Because it still exists.
This is a reminder, to remember that 1950 was just yesterday, and that we are still drinking the kool-aid today…
By the way, did you pick last-moths Cosmo? Some great tips!
That’s it.-la Mensa
Re-Vamp your Ikea Lamp!
So yes, I admit it. I have been sucked in by the Ikea vortex plenty of times.
I have bought several items at Ikea which I have been pretty happy with. Sheets, place mats, cups and a recycling bin, as well as other random things that we needed for the house.
It is affordable and they have a pretty decent mission and vision about how such a profitable and huge corporation should go about in doing decent business practices. I am sure that they are making their good $$$ with Ikea stores all over the world, and with such hype that comes with it. Unlike nasty Wal-Mart and other super stores though, they do try to promote a sustainable life at home, they are pretty conscious about their energy & resources, and they try to partner with organizations in order to help communities and people with their ongoing success. If all businesses had their same practices, we would be in a better place today. It doesn’t mean they are doing it perfectly, but it is a start.
BUUUUUUTTTT….. there’s an issue with buying from Ikea….many people shop there too. I even saw my sheets in a movie set once! Ah! Not MY sheets!!!
So what to do?
Last night I was waiting for Mushpa to get home, and I felt like I needed to work on something light and fun. And that’s when I remembered the Ikea lamp in our bedroom….
So generic, so cost effective, and so…….plain? So I decided to do a little Ikea DIY and update our lamp. Since the lamp shade is made of thick paper, I decided that I could use some water colors to give it a nicer look.
Some mustard-ish orange and a pretty pink. Ta-da! Not so generic anymore right?!
Now it looks like a tequila sunrise in our Mediterranean blue bedroom!
Fun times! : )
-Mensa
Guess What We Have Now???
We are the proud new owners of a Mushpa y Mensa StumbleUpon!!! You know what we don’t have? Any followers… :[
FOLLOW US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀
Please and thank you.
-Mushpa
Supa Fly and Freshly Made: Clay Earrings
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
Sleep to Dream
I found this great painting above “Sleep to Dream”, by Stella Im Hultberg while looking up a link to send to Ms. Mensa. The link was of this kinda supa fly Lolita Rococo Necklace in pink I surprised her with the other day…
This piece is from the Couture by Lolita collection by Danielle Maree. She’s well known for her Lolita Skeleton Cameo.
According to her site,
each item is hand made with high quality cameos created in the USA with premium, raw, and antique materials. Meticulous in all their glory, each piece reflects a haunting beauty that provides a statement piece to any wardrobe.
None of that is real point, just the journey is sometimes fun to document. :] It was going to be just about this artist Stella Im Hultberg’s amazing sketchbooks. I really thought the drawings in the first one, 2010 Blue◾HandBook are amazingly fabulous, check them out for yourselves.
Now for sleep…
-Mushpa
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
Mini Work Out!
Quick!
Got two minutes?
Grab on to the side of a bed, chair or lean back against a wall…
Do 30 squats!
I just did them and they give you a burst of energy when you hit the after lunch yawns!
Gracias Mushpa for the tip!
: )
-Mensa