Tea Staining ...

...and the benefits of tea.

Hey guys, today's post will combine a bit of DIY and some beauty info :) So for anyone wanting to do something crafty, I have what you are looking for :)

Drinking tea has been a common occurrence since as far back as 2373 BC. Since then, we have evolved into a caffeine-driven, Starbucks addicted society, guzzling back things like Green Tea Latte's and all of these new aged concoctions. Aside from these delicious drinks, tea has a few other uses that go largely unnoticed.

Today, we are going to explore a few uses and benefits of tea!

First off, other uses for tea.

• Tea bags work wonderfully for swollen, puffy eyes. I used tea bags on my eyes when I had pink eye to reduce the swelling.
• Chamomile tea can be used as a sleep aid. You can either ingest it or throw a few bags into a hot bath.
• Peppermint tea can be used as a very fresh-scented foot soak.
• Use tea-bags to stop bleeding from a lost or pulled tooth.
• Mint tea is a great breath-freshener.
• Black tea can be used as a soak to strengthen dogs paws.
• Brew some chamomile tea and use it as a facial steam, your skin will appreciate it :)

For a quick list of the benefits of drinking tea, visit this site. I'm not going to list them as there are TOO many.

Tea-Staining

i think one of my favourite diy projects is tea staining (or tea dying)...

you can get some really cool vintage-looking things when you use tea to dye.

some ideas...

*lace .. very vintage and romantic looking

*muslin
*and a seperate project, paper !

Just boil some tea, I'd use 5-6 bags of tea for one pot of water. Boil and let the bags steep for 10-15 minutes. Remove the tea bags and pour tea into a container (rubbermaid containers work well, but you can usually buy big buckets at the dollarstore that would work just as well)...

Next insert the material you wish to dye in the tea. Let sit for an hour or so.

Remove the material and hang to dry (or lay out on a rack or countertop). Keep in a dry place. For paper, I would recommend being very gentle when removing from the tea.

Remember: Tea is organic so it is not a permanent dye. Tea staining fades with the sun, and washes out quickly. Clothing would not last long dyed, but some things that may work well are linens, curtains, runners, tablecloths, etc.

Canvas Art (for babies and children!)

Hello, fellow bloggers! I am sure you realized i have taken a short, unexplained leave of absence from the blogging world. Unfortunately, my laptop decided to end it's short 4 year life as my best technological friend. I thought perhaps it would continue to work when I got it fixed a few times but it has died again. Alas, today I'm Back :) and would like to bring you a cool craft/gift idea that kids and even babies can help make, or.. if they're "big kids" can do it on their own. This is even a great keep sake for new parents to do with their newborn...

what you'll need:

canvas - most dollar stores carry different sizes of canvas, however you can also purchase it in craft stores like Michaels'

black ink or paint

paintbrushes if you intend to put the childs name, birthdate, etc on the canvas

other paint colours if you intend to put the childs name, birthdate, etc on the canvas

wipes, paper towel, face clothes or whatever else you will use to clean up the mess!

Basically, if you are doing this yourself with a baby, you can come up with a pattern using the babies feet or hands and just stamp it onto the canvas.

First cover the babies hand/foot with ink or paint.

Stamp on in center of page, or use a pattern, or for something more abstract, stamp one foot or hand in a bottom corner.

Next, after cleaning up after your little one and waiting for the ink or paint to dry, take out a paint brush and write the childs name and/or birthdate somewhere on the canvas.

This is a great gift for god parents at a christening, or for grandparents! It also looks adorable when you have 2 or 3 of them hanging beside one another :)

Hope you guys find this as fun as I did ! Happy Birthday Kelly!