DIY Embroidered Leggings

Embroidering your own clothes gives a personalized look to your clothes. Additionally, embroidering is a useful tool to cover up holes that can be seen when the clothing item is worn. It is a good idea to update your old leggings before getting rid of the clothing item. You can embroider anything that you like onto the pair of leggings. Here is the tutorial for making your embroidered leggings with embroidered butterflies.

 

Materials:

1 pair of leggings

1 color of embroidery thread/floss

Embroidery needle

Scissors

Stencil of a butterfly (optional)

Embroidery hoop

Fabric marker

Wash one pair of leggings and wait for the leggings to be dry. Next, using a fabric marker and a stencil draw a butterfly onto the fabric. However, if you do not have a fabric marker or stencil, you can still make a butterfly by making two heart shapes to make the butterfly. After the outline is done with the embroidery thread, you continue adding different stitches to the butterfly. Also, do not worry if the butterflies look uneven or come out in different sizes.

In this example, one butterfly is smaller on the left side of the leggings because it was placed near a hole the leggings previously had. However, the embroidered butterfly covered the hole that the pair of leggings had. After you are done embroidering the three butterflies on one side of the leggings, repeat the same steps for the second side of the leggings. This embroidery project will take approximately three or four days to do. Below are more resources and more ways to embroider your leggings. 

How to Embroider any Design on Clothing by Hand:

https://www.papernstitchblog.com/how-to-embroider-any-design-on-clothing-by-hand/

Embroidered Leggings-Use Your Knowledge to Give Your Leggings an Upgrade:

https://www.pamashdesigns.com/blog/2019/6/23/embroidered-leggings-use-your-beginner-embroidery-knowledge-to-give-your-leggings-an-upgrade

How to Embroider Clothes:

https://sewguide.com/how-to-embroider-clothes/

* Free fonts and borders from Pizap

How to Create Beautiful Stationery You'll be Proud to Send (Guest Post)

If you’ve ever looked at custom or semi-custom stationary, or even just bespoke options that are available in any sort of stationary store, you know that the cost of these can quickly become prohibitive. But don’t lose hope (and don’t give up on the handwritten note, either). Instead, you can quickly master ways to make your own, one-of-a-kind stationary.

For starters, one thing you do need to invest in is a good quality paper. That may mean a cardstock, or it may mean a paper that has a wonderful texture or color to it. You also need to decide what size your stationary will be. Although you’ll find a lot in the size of cards, you can also choose to do full sheets.
From there, various craft supplies can give you the look that you’re interested in. What do you do next and what else do you need? This graphic explains it.

How to Create Beautiful Stationery You’ll be Proud to Send

National Hot Breakfast Month

The entire month of February is dedicated to National Hot Breakfast Month. Breakfast is one of the important meals to eat early in the morning especially if it has fiber and vitamins. It should not be a boring meal or a rushed meal to begin the day. Instead, breakfast should be consumed with the whole family and watch a good television show if you can with the kids. You can have plain oatmeal.

You can have your family add their favorite fruit sliced into small pieces on top of the oatmeal. Then, you can have granola, walnuts, or almonds mixed with the fruit to go with the oatmeal. Another alternative to oatmeal is cream of wheat or hot cereal. You can also alternate your oatmeal every few days and have a variety of breakfast meals for yourself and for your family. Below are resources for making hot breakfast meals for your family. 

Oatmeal Nutrition and Health Benefits:

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/a31028145/oatmeal-benefits/

Hot Breakfast Recipes:

https://www.eatingwell.com/gallery/12275/hot-breakfast-recipes/

Celebrate National Hot Breakfast Month with Hearty Recipes: 

https://www.easyhomemeals.com/celebrate-national-hot-breakfast-month-with-hearty-recipes/

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Free Coloring Food Journal Pages

Keeping a food journal can help you lose weight. It will help you to identify what foods trigger an upset stomach, bloating, and other digestive issues. A food journal makes you aware of your eating habits and your relationship with food. These days food journals can be found in online applications. Yet, there are websites where you can print out food journal pages. 

Therefore, I have created three coloring pages for a food journal. These three coloring journal pages are free and for your personal use. You can pin your food journal on a board or have it placed on the front of the refrigerator door. Another way to use these food journal pages is by having one specific clipboard on your desk. This will help you keep track of what you eat and drink at work or at home. 

* Free borders and fonts from Pizap

Spicy Shrimp Vegetable Soup

Cayenne pepper adds a spicy flavor to any meal. Consuming meals with cayenne pepper help with digestive, nasal, and blood pressure issues. It gives an extra boost to your metabolism especially if you are trying to lose weight. However, cayenne pepper is a strong blood thinner which should be used in moderation.  Here is a recipe for using cayenne pepper in a shrimp vegetable soup.

Ingredients:

2 heads of Broccoli

2 Mexican Squash

8 Carrots

1 bunch of Cilantro/Coriander

1 big Cabbage

4 oz of Shrimp

3 Tomato Bouillon

1 Can of Tomato Soup

Curry Powder

Cayenne Pepper

Lemon and Pepper

Lemon

½ of Onions

 

Wash all the vegetables. Slice the cabbage, carrots, and the squash. Add water and the tomato bouillon in one big pot and add the cabbage, carrots, and the squash. Remove the leaves of the coriander from the stems. After that wash, the broccoli and remove the free leaves. Next, cut the florets.  

In a small pot, add water and cook the broccoli with coriander. Continue adding water if needed to the big pot of vegetables. After that add one can of tomato soup and two teaspoons of curry powder into the big pot while the vegetables are still cooking. Next, wash, peel and devein the shrimp. Add a small amount of cayenne pepper to the shrimp.

Additionally, add lemon and pepper to the shrimp. Once the vegetables are soft, cook the shrimp separately. In one skillet, cook the shrimp until it turns opaque. Turn off the stove. Wash and slice lemons and onions. Serve all the vegetables with the broth and add the cooked shrimp in a bowl or into several bowls. Place slices of lemon, onions, and the coriander on the sides of each bowl. This spicy shrimp soup serves about four people. Below are more resources about cayenne pepper. 

8 Impressive Health Benefits of Cayenne Pepper:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/8-benefits-of-cayenne-pepper

Cayenne Pepper-Health Benefits:

https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-cayenne-pepper#1

Cayenne Pepper-Health Benefits, Nutrition, and Tips:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/267248#benefits

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DIY Pineapple and Blueberry Yogurt Parfait

If you like to make parfaits, then this recipe is for you. This parfait does not have granola. Instead, it has walnuts. Walnuts have Omega-3, vitamin E. and B6. It also has biotin and manganese. Consuming walnuts help you with your metabolism, blood pressure, and to control diabetes.

Additionally, walnuts help you with your weight. Eating walnuts and pineapples help with inflammation. The other fruit that is added in this parfait are blueberries because it contains iron, vitamin K, and magnesium. This parfait makes a light breakfast or a light snack in between meals. Here is the recipe for making this parfait.

Ingredients:

Nonfat vanilla yogurt

Walnuts

Sliced Pineapples

Blueberries

Whipped Cream

First, find a small cup or a mason jar for your parfait. Second, add walnuts on the bottom of the mason jar. Third, add a few spoons of vanilla yogurt. Fourth, add already sliced pineapples on top of the vanilla yogurt. Fifth, add more vanilla yogurt. Continue layering it with walnuts, pineapples, and with blueberries. Last, add one or two spoons of whipped cream on top with a few blueberries and walnuts. Enjoy! Below are resources about pineapples, blueberries, and walnuts. 

13 Proven Health Benefits of Walnuts:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/benefits-of-walnuts

9 Health Benefits of Walnuts:

https://www.nutritionadvance.com/walnuts-nutrition-benefits/#:~:text=Health%20Benefits%20of%20Walnuts%201%20A%20Rich%20Source,3%20High%20In%20Polyphenols.%20...%20More%20items...%20

Pineapple-Nutrition and Benefits:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/276903

Blueberries-Health Benefits, facts, and research:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/287710

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How to Stop Drinking Soda for Heart Health?

Since February is National Heart Month, quitting sodas is a great way to take care of your heart. Drinking two or more sodas increases the risk of getting heart disease, diabetes, and it changes your metabolism. Too much sugar also leads to losing your teeth and bone loss. Yet, there are alternative drinks to stop drinking sodas. Drinking one glass of water instead of soda will keep you hydrated. 

But, if you like the bubbles in sodas, you can drink carbonated mineral water instead. Carbonated mineral water has no sugar. You can add a slice of lemon or other fruits to give it flavor. Always read the labels of the drinks to make sure it has less sugar, no added sugars, and sodium. Last, you can drink plain black coffee which recent studies have shown is good for heart health. 

Black tea is another good choice especially if you want to lose weight or maintain your current weight. Drinking less sugary drinks will improve your health over time. Additionally, quitting sodas will improve your blood pressure. Also, drinking sports drinks with less sugar will help your body get electrolytes for your heart. Here are more resources about the health benefits of quitting sodas. 

How to Stop Drinking Soda to Lose Weight:

https://www.verywellfit.com/the-annual-cost-of-your-daily-soda-habit-3495784

Health Benefits of Quitting Soda and Diet Soda:

https://www.eatthis.com/health-benefits-of-quitting-soda-and-diet-soda/

How Your Body Changes When You Stop Drinking Soda:

https://www.geisinger.org/health-and-wellness/wellness-articles/2017/12/07/22/02/how-your-body-changes-when-you-stop-drinking-soda

Daily Coffee Tied to Lower Risk for Heart Failure:

https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/heart-failure/news/20210209/daily-coffee-tied-to-lower-risk-for-heart-failure

* Courtesy Photo by Olena Sergienko on Unsplash

DIY Hand Embroidered Heart Picture Frame

It is National Embroidery Month! Embroidery is a fun and relaxing way to pass the time, especially in the weekends. All you will need is an embroidery hoop, embroidery needles, embroidery thread, and fabric. Then, you will need to come up with a theme for your embroidery. In addition, you can add embellishments such as beads, sequins, or buttons to your embroidery.

Creating your own embroidery will add a sense of panache to your décor. It makes a vintage look to any room without spending too much money. Here is the tutorial for this heart and button flower embroidery design that I made for an eight by ten picture frame. Below are links to more resources about embroidery. Happy National Embroidery Month! 

Materials:

Fabric to fit into an 8 X 10 Picture Frame

Embroidery thread/floss-two colors

Embroidery hoop

Embroidery needles 

Buttons 

Fabric Marker/Permanent Marker 

Heart stencil

Scissors

Regular thread

Place a scrap of fabric onto an embroidery hoop. The fabric can be made from cotton, linen, or a mix of different fabrics. Then draw a heart with a marker or use a stencil to draw onto the fabric. Insert embroidery floss into an embroidery needle. Next, insert the needle with the embroidery thread onto the fabric.

Follow the lines of what was drawn onto the fabric as make different embroidery stitches onto the fabric. After that you can sew buttons using regular thread to make flowers like in this embroidery example. Last, insert the embroidered fabric onto an eight by ten picture frame. Then, you can hang this embroidered art frame in a bedroom, living room, or any other room in your home. This project will take about two or three days to do especially if you take several breaks to complete this embroidery project. 

How to Display Embroidery Without a Hoop:

https://www.wikihow.com/Display-Embroidery-Without-a-Hoop

How to Frame Hand Embroidery:

https://www.craftsy.com/post/how-to-frame-hand-embroidery/#

Simple Rustic Love Embroidery with Gingham:

https://www.creativejewishmom.com/2017/08/simple-rustic-love-embroidery-with-gingham.html

10 Tips for Hand Embroidery for Beginners:

https://stitchfloral.blogspot.com/2019/03/10-tips-for-hand-embroidery-beginners.html

* Free fonts and borders from Pizap

Free Coloring Bookmarks for Valentine's Day

I Love to Read Month is a time to read to to the entire family. The whole month of February is devoted to reading. Your child can read to you while you are cooking their meals or when you are drinking hot cocoa. In addition, you can read to your child so they can develop communication skills and advance their vocabulary. Another way is to have your children read a paragraph and take turns reading to each other.

Your child or your preteens can color these hand-drawn bookmarks that I have created. I made five mini bookmarks for Valentine’s Day, but these bookmarks can also be used for the love of reading. I have left blank spaces in each bookmark for your child to personalize them or for yourself. These coloring pages are free and for your personal use. Have a safe Valentine’s Day in advance. 

* Free fonts and borders from Pizap

Love & Meditation

Meditation can assist you by progressing with your communication and with your body language when it comes with your personal relationships. You can begin your meditation routine by doing Mindfulness, Movement, Loving-Kindness, and Visualization to help enhance your relationships. Additionally, you can do guided meditation and a Heart Chakra Meditation to open yourself to love. The vital part about meditation is to help you feel relaxed, to feel more patient, and to embrace the love that you receive from your personal relationships. Even if you are going through a break-up from your boyfriend or girlfriend, you can still benefit from doing meditation to help you forgive and to be fully open to love someone when you are ready to start a new relationship.

Moreover, meditation helps you to be in peace with yourself and to get along better with the people that are in your circle of personal relationships. There are many ways to start the process of loving yourself and to love others especially through Kundalini Yoga to help you receive and give love to others. Also, Headspace has a love meditation. Nevertheless, you can practice yoga with your partner to strengthen your relationship with them. Here are more resources about improving your relationships through meditation.  

 

4 Ways Meditation Improves Relationships: 

https://www.gaiam.com/blogs/discover/4-ways-meditation-improves-relationships

Mindfulness Meditation Improves Love & Relationships:

https://mindworks.org/blog/mindfulness-meditation-improves-love-relationships/

7 Ways Meditation can Improve Your Love Life:

https://www.lifehack.org/408070/7-ways-meditation-can-improve-your-love-life

How Meditation Makes for Better Relationships:

https://eocinstitute.org/meditation/improving-relationships-through-meditation/

Heart Chakra Meditation-Open Yourself to Love With This Guided Meditation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yU-HPX-X7Y&feature=emb_logo

7 Meditations For Love:

https://www.thedailymeditation.com/love-meditation-how-to-use-meditation-for-love-2

* Free fonts from Pizap

* Free Borders from LunaPic

*Flower Quotes:

https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/flower-quotes_2

Cleaning Copper & Gold Jewelry

Did you know that ketchup makes an adequate cleaner for cleaning gold, copper, and silver jewelry? Although, it has acidic properties like vinegar, ketchup makes a good alternative method for cleaning tarnished jewelry. It might be a little bit messier, but it only takes ten minutes to clean your tarnished gold, copper, and other metal jewelry. All you will need is ketchup, salt, and a toothbrush to clean the stained jewelry. You can use aluminum foil or a plastic container to  clean your jewelry.

First, place your jewelry in a plastic container or in aluminum foil. Second, pour ketchup on top of your jewelry. Third, use a toothbrush to clean your charm bracelets, chain necklaces, and other metallic jewelry. Fourth, do not leave your jewelry for too long in ketchup because of the tomato acid. Fifth, rinse your jewelry with cold water using dish soap or baby shampoo. Let your jewelry pieces air dry or use a soft towel to clean your jewelry. Here are more resources about other cleaning methods for cleaning your gold, copper, and other metallic jewelry.

How to Clean Your Jewelry with Ketchup and More: 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jewelry-cleaning-hacks-clean-with-ketchup-vodka_n_7458648?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAK0H-E6W5NHEclcXqd9UlRGvGue2Xrs-Tnq__NLRxpiyQBj3d5ffvI76MJnkYvvDygl5D7tNJYfxOmWjbntIuYdP7MFVZBnbsxHjoCStULi0R0F1_1jDK4e1u4NFF-HQ69fx0W3zDXzUA_BQme242Ov_qA4oaUnxMU6UAidTMkdN#:~:text=Simply%20submerge%20the%20item%20in,it%20off%20with%20warm%20water.

Cleaning Copper Jewelry with Ketchup:

https://mostlysweet.com/blogs/mostly-sweet-nothing-more-nothing-less/70936771-cleaning-copper-jewelry-with-ketchup

14 Ring Cleaning Hacks You Can Do Yourself with Household Items:

https://thekrazycouponlady.com/tips/diy/ring-cleaning-hacks

* Free fonts and borders from Pizap

Free Coloring Pages of Butterflies

Butterflies have four wings and six legs. However, there are seventeen thousand and five hundred species of butterflies. Today, I have created three butterfly coloring pages. Each coloring page has a basic design. These coloring pages are free and for your personal use. Enjoy! 

Here are links about butterfly facts:

Butterfly Facts from Enchanted Learning:

https://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/allabout/#:~:text=Butterflies%20are%20beautiful%2C%20flying%20insects,compound%20eyes%2C%20and%20an%20exoskeleton.&text=The%20butterfly's%20body%20is%20covered,are%20attached%20to%20the%20thorax.

Butterflies:

https://www.si.edu/spotlight/buginfo/butterfly#:~:text=There%20are%20about%2017%2C500%20species,some%20butterflies%20have%20reduced%20scales.

* Free fonts from Befunky 

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Time to Talk Day

Time to Talk Day

Time to Talk Day was created in 2014 by the campaign, Time to Change which helps bring awareness about mental health. The campaign, Time to Change was founded in 2007 which helps the public to understand and change their perception about mental health. It is important to comprehend mental health to help someone. Furthermore, it is essential to give someone support and to listen them. However, it might be a challenge to start the conversation.

Here is a short list of things you can do to give encouragement to someone:

1. Bring up the subject by having tea or coffee with them especially if you are living together in the same household.

2. Have a telephone conversation with them, video chat, or text message with them.

3. E-mail someone who is going through anxiety, anger, or any other mental health issue.

4. If they tell you that they need some space, give them the space that they need. However, continue checking in with them through e-mail, phone, or text.

5. Offering to help them with daily tasks when they are feeling overwhelmed.

6. Ask questions but not too many questions which might cause them to get angry with you. But listen attentively.

7. Seek help with the National Suicide Prevention Line at 1-800-273-8255 or at the Lifeline website.

8. Do not wait for them to come to you for assistance. Know the signals when they need your help.

Below are more resources about Time to Talk Day. At the Time to Change website, you will find resources to help you begin the conversation about mental health with someone. There is a free bingo card with questions to help you talk to them. Additionally, there are free posters, coasters, and other free printable items. Time to Talk Day is on February 4^th, but these resources can be used anytime throughout the year.

Lifeline:

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

Time to Talk Day:

https://www.changeyourmindni.org/our-campaigns/time-to-talk-day

This Time to Talk Day-Choose Talk, Change Lives:

https://www.inspirewellbeing.org/news/2020/february/this-time-to-talk-day-choose-talk-change-lives

Time to Change:

https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/get-involved/time-talk-day

Time to Talk Day:

https://www.rethink.org/get-involved/awareness-days-and-events/time-to-talk-day/

Types of Mental Health Problems: 

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/

Time to Talk Day