Posts archived in Hobbies

January 9, 2010

Diva Hobbies: Homemade Soap Making


If you’re like me, you probably want to see a video tutorial on soap making before you even start buying your ingredients. Here’s a good Soap Making Video Tutorial for you. Click the link!

We all use soap. In the old days, most people made their own. Today, we are much more likely to buy it from the store. There are lots of brands to choose from, and each brand has various formulations and scents.

But making your own soap has some definite advantages. One of the most significant is the price. We can make soap much cheaper than we can buy it. Making it ourselves also gives us complete control over the ingredients, so we can create a soap that’s perfect for our skin type in a scent of our choosing.

How to Make Homemade Soap?

Making soap is much easier than you might think. It is, however, important to take certain safety precautions. Here’s a basic recipe:

Ingredients

* 12 cups lye crystals
* 5 cups softened water
* 6 pounds lard

Instructions

1. Put water in a glass or plastic bowl. Carefully pour lye into water, stirring constantly with a plastic or wooden spoon. This should be done outdoors or in a well-ventilated area, because it produces caustic fumes.
2. Mixing lye and water produces heat. When the lye is completely dissolved, set the mixture aside to cool.
3. Place lard in a stainless steel or enamel pan. Melt over low heat.
4. Allow both the lye solution and the lard to cool to room temperature.
5. Slowly pour the lye solution into the lard, stirring slowly and constantly with the plastic or wooden spoon.
6. Continue stirring after all of the lye solution has been added. Drizzle a small amount of the mixture into the pot periodically. When the soap keeps its shape for a moment before sinking into the mixture, you can add scent, color and herbs.
7. Pour the soap into a mold greased with Crisco. Wrap in a towel, and let set for about 18 hours or until completely cooled. Uncover and let set for 12 more hours.
8. The soap may now be unmolded and cut into bars. Let the bars cure for 3 to 4 weeks before using.

Customizing Your Soap

There are lots of different ways you can customize your soap. To make the best soap for your skin type, you may want to use different oils. Some that are commonly used include olive oil, coconut oil, cocoa butter and shea butter. The correct amount varies depending on which oil you use, so look for recipes online or in books until you get the hang of it.

Essential oils have therapeutic properties and add fragrance. Oatmeal, cornmeal and other grains can be added as exfoliants. And skin-safe colorants may be used to produce the desired color. These ingredients should be mixed together and added to a cup of the soap mixture, then stirred into the rest of the soap mixture immediately before pouring into the mold.

Making your own soap is easy, and it can be lots of fun. Coming up with the perfect concoction for your skin is rewarding, and sweetly scented homemade soaps make wonderful gifts for any occasion.

Check out this video tutorial on soap making before you buy your ingredients! Here it is… Soap Making Video Tutorial!

March 28, 2009

Prom Dresses: Smart Shopping for the Prom

diva prom dress

diva prom dress

A diva is empowered in her own joy, and has fun in any event. When prom time comes, beautiful young divas are more than likely to get stressed about the little things that don’t really matter in the end. First, let’s put everything into perspective. A prom is a way to connect with your friends and classmates. It is a celebration of youth and the special bond between young couples.

It is something that you will remember for the rest of your life, so you shouldn’t get stressed worrying about your outfit and accessories. Browsing online with your best friend or a female relative can be relaxing too, and there are some really lovely prom dresses and prom shoes to look at while you’re planning your fabulous prom ensemble.

On promgirl.net you will see various shades of elegant colors like pink (soft, light and dark), red (candy red and dark red), black (metallic and matte), and pastel colors (my favorite!). The shoes on that site are beautifully designed and are extremely complementary to the gowns you will see there.

Relax, take a deep breath, take a carefree trip to the mall, or consult with your mom for some helpful prom tips (and to hear more prom advice and her own unforgettable prom stories). Get a prom dress that suits your build (make sure you get the size right!)

Not all divas are built the same. Some may have short torsos (relative to their legs) and some may have longer legs. Whatever your build, you must choose gowns that complement your figure. Get real with yourself and look at the mirror. Do you really have a build that’s close to a supermodel’s?

Some young divas diet like crazy before the prom, just so they will fit into the tiny clothes they bought. Getting desperate about your figure because you bought a dress that’s a few sizes smaller than the actual is the number one stress factor during prom season. “I’ll fit inside this dress no matter what”, yes we’ve heard it before.

The rule of thumb is to get something that fits you perfectly and work to maintain that build (so that you won’t gain much weight) until prom time.

Do not choose something that you want to wear just because someone else (like your favorite celebrity) is able to pull it off. You are unique, and your proportions are also unique. Choose something that fits so that you won’t be stressed the whole night thinking about bulges and creases (where you folded your ill-fitting gown to make it fit). There are hundreds of prom dresses to choose from, and for sure one is meant exactly for you, like kismet!

Have fun on your prom. Remember that you’re young and happy, and should look and feel like the diva that you are.

March 23, 2009

Venting Your Frustration on Food: Emotional Eating and Stress

Nourishment is a big part of living and we need to eat to stay healthy and energized. But what if we find ourselves using food to sate another sort of hunger? There’s this issue  called emotional eating, and millions of men and women face this problem every single day.

Emotional eating starts inside our minds, but it doesn’t stay there. Soon we observe how we’re gaining weight faster than we can lose it.  Frustrations and stress are the most common factors that contribute to emotional eating because these lower our defenses and bust our self control.

Have you ever heard of comfort food? These aren’t healthy at all, but they serve a certain purpose. They make us feel pampered and relaxed. The more we consume these types of food, the more we feel our stress ebbing. This notion has led many to the forefronts of the battle with obesity, and a lot of these individuals don’t survive. Whether it’s diabetes or hypertension, one disease or another contributes to bigger and deadlier problems.

How to Handle the Stress that Leads to Emotional Eating?

1. Never Think “I’m the only one with problems”

Every single person has good and bad hair days. In fact, not a single individual can claim that every single day is perfect. There will always be some days that don’t sparkle like the rest, and you’re definitely not the only one handling the same issues and facing the same problems.

The key to handling a bad day is being able to bounce back to where you were before your bad day started. We deal with bad times and unexpected problems differently, but we all share the same potential to bounce back no matter how bad the situation is.

Look at your co-workers, the people in the subway and even your own mom. They have problems, some even bigger than yours, but you don’t see them guzzling every single carbonated drink inside the fridge do you?

2. Talk

It doesn’t matter who, as long as you have a way of expressing your frustration. Sometimes, saying “I’m having a bad day” out loud to someone who cares will help you get over it. It’s also fun to banter with others when you’re feeling down. You might be surprised how a few minutes of good company will improve your mood.

Recognizing your potential to use food destructively is the first step to recovery. As soon as you understand that you have a problem, the rest of the healing process will be easy. Some people live in denial for a long time; but deep inside, guilt prevails.

As long as you’re willing to open yourself up to the healing process, counseling will work for you. A qualified  counselor will encourage you to talk about your experiences and it pays to be completely honest with this person. Be open to help and you will soon get over the stress, the emotional eating and the feeling of anxiety that you’re doing something wrong.

October 8, 2008

Personal Debt Management: A Dash of Self Love Will Go a Long Way

Everyone wants to be loved, but the big difference lies in how they want to be loved, and what loving means to them. Do you measure love in terms of the number of people you attract, the fame that comes with it, or in terms of how many want your attention? A lot of people profess that they are unlucky in love, but what they really mean is that they’re failing in one aspect in their lives that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with giving and receiving love.

It all starts with loving yourself.

Psychological health is seldom discussed outside the shrink’s office, and when finally brought up, becomes a thing that only psychologists and life coaches can deal with. People who admit that “they have a problem” take the first step to mending their lives, but the whole process becomes a convoluted array of counselling sessions and antidepressant pills. Is there a way to make the self loving process simple? One thing that people fail to understand is that they put so much stress on themselves when they don’t need to.

Do not do anything that will cause you stress in the future. Setting yourself up for financial ruin by borrowing too much now to assuage that nagging guilt that you’re not loving yourself more will not help you really give something back to yourself in the future.

One example of this is the credit card issue. Let’s say one person owes 500 dollars in credit and is allowed to borrow up to a thousand. Does he resolve the 500 dollar debt first before even touching the rest of the credit limit? Or, would he use it until it maxes out then worry about everything later?

Worry is the keyword there. I can tell you now that the best gift you can give to yourself is peace of mind. Allow yourself breathing room, to live free of obligation and anxiety. This starts with an overhaul of your spending habits. You must not treat each ‘frugal’ move as a self sacrifice. Think of frugality and thrift as a means of giving yourself that feeling of not owing anything to anyone.

Self love means imposing tough love on yourself.

Like our parents tell us “You have to do this so that you will be well off in the future”. Always think of what kind of emotional and psychological state you will be in. Aiming for a stress-free future becomes the new goal.

August 20, 2008

Recovering: Standing Up and Moving On

We are to ourselves just what we think we are

-Phineas Parkhurst Quimby

Inventorizing is not just a term that we use in business. We use it also to build (or re-build) our self image. Those who are recovering from a loss, or a really bad blow in life must start reorganizing by taking note of what’s left.

It’s easy enough to say “I’ve lost everything” when all the things around you, including your feelings are in disarray. Start by realizing that you are still alive. The fact that you can still feel something means you can still feel relief. No matter how painful the hurt, if you are still hurting, it means you can also feel it subside.

Stand up, take a look around you and within you. Be a friend to yourself and be compassionate to what your heart is telling you. It hurts from all the torture. Your better qualities have not left you, you just became blind to them. Look at them in a new light as you stand up from a bad tumble.

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