Friday, March 20, 2015

A Blessed Ostara to You!

Image from RosalindScarlett.blogspot.com

I love this time of year! So many wonderful new things are sprouting and there are calves in the fields and buds on the trees. This year we'll be enjoying our Ostara dinner outside on the deck since the weather has been so beautiful! What a perfect way to celebrate the beginning of Spring!


Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Happy St. Patrick's Day


My mother's family is originally from Ireland, I'm not, but my great grandparents came over from Ireland and I have quite a few relatives still living in that lush land today (and they own a pub!!). We have always been a rowdy bunch and enjoy celebrating this day, mostly by participating in the secular festivities :0) I want to wish those of you who celebrate either through the secular traditions or in a more religious fashion a Happy St. Patrick's day!

I found the following recipe for Guinness Cupcakes on Food.com and they are the perfect way to celebrate this fine day (or any day for that matter). These are the best Guinness cupcakes I have ever had, I think the frosting just makes them awesome!!


Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey's Frosting - YUM!

PREP:  40 mins
COOK:  25 mins
YIELDS 24-30 cupcakes

Cupcakes
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup Guinness stout
  • 2cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon table salt
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1teaspoons baking soda
  • eggs
  • 1cup sour cream
Frosting
  • 1cup unsalted butter
  • 4 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1 pinch table salt
  • 3 tablespoons irish cream(Bailey's or Carolan's)
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • green sprinkles

DIRECTIONS
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F Grease 24-30 cupcake cups, or fill with paper liners.
  2. In a saucepan, heat the butter, Guinness, cocoa and brown sugar, whisking often, until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
  3. Into the work bowl of a stand mixer (or into a large mixing bowl), sift together salt, flour, white sugar and baking soda. Add the cooled Guinness mixture and beat on medium for 1 minute. Add eggs and sour cream and beat on medium for 2 minutes or until smooth.
  4. Divide the batter evenly amongst the cupcake cups. Bake in preheated oven 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean. Cool in pan 20 minutes, then remove and transfer to a cooling rack until completely cooled.
  5. Meanwhile, in (cleaned) work bowl of stand mixer, cream butter until very light and fluffy. Add salt, and slowly add confectioner’s sugar. Do not run the mixer above low, or the sugar will spray all over your kitchen. Add a couple of spoonfuls at a time until it has all been absorbed into the butter. Add Bailey's and milk until spreadable consistency is achieved.
  6. Frost cupcakes with Bailey's frosting. Sprinkle with green jimmies.
I hope you have a wonderful and SAFE day!!

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Blog Hop Prizes - Part 2

Here are the prizes I won during my hop through the Every Witch Way Lane's 72 hour Halloween Artists blog hop. I am always thrilled by the quality of Halloween art that the artists who participate showcase and create. 


This amazing guy was made by Debb over at Halloween Jinglesbells BOO I LOVE her work and have followed her blog for a while. I was so excited to find out I won this amazing guy! 

By Shabby Hag Decor


This adorable wooden box is from Shabby Hag Decor. It is so pretty. I love the detail in the painting. So much fun!

I found out that I had won these beautiful items a couple of days after I got home from the hospital where I had been for an unexpected emergency surgery. Such a nice gift after a really long and painful week! 

In a couple of weeks I'll be hosting a give-away just for fun, because I want to give back something. Hopefully I can make someone's day the way the fun things I won during a very stressful time made mine. 

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Blog Hop Prizes

I have had a great week blog wise! I received 2 prizes for participating in a blog hop and they are both amazing! I feel terrible that I haven't thanked both of the artists publicly but my work schedule changed and I am discombobulated in a serious way!! Check back in the next day or two to see the cool prizes I received and hear about the talented artists who made them :0)


Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Witchy Green Cleaning - Foor Wash



This is a re-post of my final Witchy Green Cleaning series post. I have a couple of more in the works so stay tuned for more green cleaning tips, tricks and ideas with a witchy twist!

Welcome back to the final installment in the Witch Green Cleaning series. This week I’m going to tell you a little bit about the floor washes that I’ve made. There aren’t too many photo’s but the recipes are great!

Before you wash your floors be sure to either sweep or vacuum any dirt. dust (or in my case) dog hair. It is much easier to mop when you've got the bits and pieces swept up!

The first cleaner is a very simple recipe that I use on my tile and linoleum. It is easy to make and leaves the floor clean. One of the best things about it is that you don’t need to rinse afterwards!! I’ve seen this basic recipe on several sites. My favorite is www.amybayliss.com, she has lots of great DIY ideas for the home.

Basic Floor Wash – Tile & Linoleum
1 Gallon hot water (very hot)
1 cup vinegar
½ cup Borax
8-10 drops Essential Oil (For the kitchen I like to use lemon essential oil because it smells so fresh!)

Mix all ingredients in your bucket and mop as usual. As I mentioned above you do not need to rinse the floor when you use this mixture!
  

If I just need to get the dust or dirt off the wood floors then I use this simple recipe which comes from the book The Naturally Clean Home by Karyn Siegel-Maier. This book has over 100 recipes for cleaners for every area of you home!

Wood Floor Wash
1 ½ cups water
1 ½ cups vinegar (natural disinfectant)
20 drops peppermint essential oil ( Or lemon, Eucalyptus, Pine)

Mix all ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake well. Working on a small area at a time mist the floor and then wipe using a dry mop.Repeat as necessary to remove all the dust and dirt.

Finally here is the cleaner I use to make my wood floors shine. 

To Make the Wood Shine
1 cup olive oil
1 cup white vinegar

Mix both ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake well.

Working on a small section at a time, spray floor with oil/vinegar mix and wipe dry with clean soft cloth. I use old towels that I got at my local thrift store. 

Look for towels that are old and soft and preferably white or a light color. I bleach mine when I get them home and then tear them into 2 foot by 2 foot squares. These are just right for me to use to buff the floor with my foot. I also use them to dry all of my floors when I mop them. Once I finish mopping the entire floor(tile and linoleum - wood I dry as I go) I throw one of these towels on the floor and buff it with my foot until the floor is dry, getting a new dry towel as necessary. once done I toss all the wet towels in the wash so they are ready for the next time.

When working with wood floors always work in small sections and dry the floor as you go. You do not want to leave liquid on a wood floor for any prolonged amount of time as it could damage the floor. Always test your homemade cleaners in an inconspicuous spot before using!

Now for the witchy add-ins:

General
Rosemary – Purification, Protection and Alertness (This is also great for entrance ways)
Eucalyptus – Removes negativity, promotes healing
Lemon – Increases energy (both physical and mental) and it really smells fresh and clean!
Pine- Removes negativity and has a fresh clean, earthy scent
Sweet Orange – Peace, serenity, good luck

Bathroom/Bedroom
Lavender – Peace and Tranquility
Peppermint – Sleep, Healing
Grapefruit – To increase energy – this scent is great to get you going in the morning!

That concludes the planned Witchy Green Cleaning series for this year though if I find another cleaner that I love I’ll definitely add more! 

As always use caution when mixing items at home. If you are allergic to a particular item don’t use it! If I can answer any questions send me an email.

Monday, March 2, 2015

Such a Fun Prize!!

A couple of weeks ago I participated in a blog hop of Halloween artists. If was so much fun to visit the blogs and see what the amazing artists who participated create. Then I ended up in the hospital - dang it - however, the Goddess was definitely smiling on me because I won a couple of prizes for visiting the blogs - it was so cool and a really nice thing to find out when I arrived home from the hospital!

This weekend I received this totally cool piece of art:


This beautiful piece was created by Dana over at BluBeagle Designs. She has some pretty fun things on her blog. If you have a chance you should check it out!! 

I am still deciding where to hang it. It will definitely be going in a place of honor!

So thank you Dana for sending me such a fantastic piece, I love it!!

Thanks for stopping by :0)