My Summer Discovery and an Indoor Herb Garden

This summer, I discovered the cause of my constant headaches and 24/7 dizziness.  After being misdiagnosed for the last 22 years, I came across the real diagnosis while doing my own research. Sometimes you just have to search things out for yourself when you can't get any answers.  In July, my dizziness was through the roof and that was enough to make me no longer "just live with it" as I was told, but to take matters into my own hands.  While researching, I came across a condition and a support group with people who were facing the exact the same issues and symptoms as I was having.

The condition is called Vestibular Migraine.  I could hardly believe it!  Now, I never considered myself a migrainer, but the headaches I randomly have are mild compared to some people. Some people with Vestibular Migraine, never get a headache, just dizziness and they are called silent headaches.   I learned early on, that if I ate certain foods, I would get a headache, so I avoided them.  Also smells like perfume and chemicals would sometimes lead to a headache or a rash.  But I had no idea, that the constant dizziness was a part of the headache, an aura, so to speak.  I believe that the reason for the 24/7 dizzies was because I ate everyday, duh, and therefore many more foods that I never suspected were also a big part of my triggers.

It hasn't been easy, but through elimination of various foods and many chemical ridden foods, plus a lot of trial and error, I am starting to have good days,  among the rough ones and mostly headache free days.  Yay!  I have seen some other areas of healing in my body as well, as I journey through eating a whole foods, mostly plant based diet, so that is also a wonderful benefit.  I'm not feeling perfect, but at least I'm well enough to enjoy my life and I feel grateful for the health I have.

Now, for today's project.  Now that I'm eating as close to the earth as I can, I thought it would be fun to set up an indoor herb garden, so I have plenty of fresh green herbs when I cook.

I had this box sitting in the garage since last winter.  My husband wondered what I was going to do with it, as it still had last fall's dead foliage in it, LOL!  So, now I think he will be quite happy to see that I am making good use of it.

I picked up some of my favorite culinary herbs at the garden center and some organic soil.

 Then, I gathered some supplies and a cute round stone and was ready to go.

I lined the box... 

...then planted my herbs.  I kept the tags as temporary markers, until I make something a little prettier to mark them.

I wrote "herbs" on the little rock to sit inside the box, but you can put a fairy or whatever you like as an embellishment.  I also have a grow light that hides at the top of my window that will give my herbs enough light.

Now, my little herb garden is right in reach as I navigate a new way of flavoring my food.  Do you have an indoor herb garden, or any tips for growing herbs indoor?  I'd love to see some photos.  If you have some to share, I will do a post on them.  Send photos to starlitestudios.art@gmail.com.

I hope you are having a wonderful fall day!  Have a great weekend.

Giant Music Snowflake Tutorial

Today, I am going to show you how to make this beautiful sparkly giant snowflake (no saw needed).

 First you will need 2 snowflake placemats.  I purchased mine at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Hot Glue 16 popsicle sticks to one of the snowflakes.  This will make the snowflake sturdy. (Six of them need to be cut with a heavy duty scissors as shown to fit the smaller areas).  When your popsicle sticks are set, hot glue the other snowflake on top to hide the popsicle sticks.  Tip:  I matched the design and hot glued the center together first, then hot glued the outer parts of the snowflake.

When the hot glue is set, you will need to paint the snowflake with regular acrylic craft paint.  I used a neutral color.  Don't skip this step, as you need to harden the placemats so that they will be non-porous and ready to accept glue in the next step.  Do not spray paint, it will just soak in.  I only painted one side and all the edges.  Allow to dry completely overnight.  I know, this is very tedious, but it will be worth it!

For the next step,  I used Elmer's Clear Glue to glue 3 music sheets together.  I measured the sheets to fit the snowflake and trimmed a little of the center of the 2 whole sheets before gluing them together to eliminate some of the extra border  and cut the third music sheet in half and glued one to the top and one to the bottom.  Allow the sheets to dry completely.  I dried mine overnight while the painted snowflake was drying.

Place the dried snowflake on the back side of the music sheet (painted side down) and trace the outlines with a mechanical pencil.  You can use a little scotch tape at the top and bottom to hold it in place. 

 

Then, using an Exacto knife, cut out the design on a protected surface.

Use Elmer's Clear Glue to attach the music sheet to the flake.  Tip:  Use a paint brush to spread the glue.  Attach from the center out applying glue as you go to the outer edges.  Allow to dry overnight.  When partially dry, I turned mine upside-down to allow the weight of the snowflake to iron out any bubbles in the paper.  It may look wrinkled in some areas, but it will be flat when completely dry.  When dry, place and attach 3/4" mirrors with hot glue (available at your local craft store). I used 10 mirrors. Tip:  I used an Exacto knife to cut out a spot beneath the mirrors for a sturdier hold.  I also did this for the center of the snowflake for the next step.

Cut a 2" Smoothfoam styrofoam ball in half.  Spread with glue and silver glitter.  When dry attach to center of snowflake with hot glue.

Hot glue silver tinsel cord around center and silver chenille wire around mirrors.  To finish, apply Elmer's Clear Glue just on music areas with a paint brush and sprinkle with your favorite clear glitter.  Allow to dry.  Attach a hanging cord and you are done.  These may take several hours to make plus some overnight drying time, but they are well worth your time!

Supply List:

2 Felt Snowflakes, Hot Glue, Elmer's Clear Glue, Neutral Color Craft Paint, 3 Sheet Music, Exacto Knife, Heavy Duty Scissors, 16 popsicle sticks,  1-  2" Smooth Styrofoam Ball cut in half, Tinsel Cord, Chenille Wire, 3/4" Round Mirrors, Glitter, Hanging Cord.

You can also see this post at:

http://confessionsofaplateaddict.blogspot.com/2014/12/please-join-me-for-scoop-148.html