scrumptulicious cookies giveaway, at the one2try blog.
1/2 pound of caramels giveaway, also on the one2try blog. prize from blisscandies.
fall cookies giveaway here.
your choice of goodies from cupcakesinjars–giveaway here.
herbal eye mask giveaway at this blog.
lovely thank you card giveaway here.
cute dress giveaway here.
phat fiber knitter’s mug giveaway here.
organic makeup and skincare products here at the naturalmommie blog.
lotion giveaway here.
soap and body balm giveaway here.
i’ve been having a tricky time, this fall. my health has been…variable, and so i’ve had a hard time keeping up with everything for some time, and sometimes i just have to let everything fall away. i fall off the face of the earth from time to time, when it comes to forums and blogs and mailing lists…i’m still around. just not feeling so hot. chronic healthstuff goes that way at times.
but i’ll try to be around this blog a bit, anyway. there are a few cool giveaways that seem fun, and i’ll post about those soon.
my kitty with newly-grown cat grass:
when i first got my cat, she really liked to chomp my plants. i was not thrilled with this, so i looked into other possibilities. not other cats, but rather, plant-eating deterrents.
bitter spray? it works, kind of. when you spray it, particles get in the air, not just on the plant. it gets all over your skin–lips and hands. and you inhale it and taste just how bitter it really is. (VERY.) and then you end up literally washing your mouth out with soap. and washing your hands as if you have OCD for the rest of the day. it does not wash off easily. i hate that stuff.
now i use a qtip to apply it, but i still end up getting it on my hands somehow. the stuff is nasty. it helps, but not quite well enough.
so i read about cat grass, and promptly bought a pot at whole foods for $5.99. it’s just wheat grass. the cat LOVED it, and she stayed away from my other plants now that she had her very own. she seemed so happy nomming on her cat grass. …and then it died after two weeks. i was annoyed.
so i looked up how to grow it, and i’ve been growing it ever since. i have to sprout new seeds and rotate it regularly, but it’s worth it.
this is what you do:
- buy some wheat berries at a health food store. (they seem like seeds to me, but whatever, nomenclature.)
they’re CHEAP. i got a big bag for $1.99, and it’s lasted me a year and a half. it’ll probably last me another couple of years with regular plantings.
- take about three teaspoons and put them in an open container with lots of water to soak. store them somewhere dark, and change the water morning and night for two or three days. i keep them under my sink in the bathroom, where there’s a little cabinet.
if you swish them around and get rid of the bubbles, the seeds should sink to the bottom, which makes it easy to change the water. the water will get a smell to it when the water needs to be changed–not a good or bad smell, just a very organic smell.
if the water gets a bubbly film on it, or if a bunch of seeds are starting to float, you may have been soaking them too long, or you’ve forgotten to change the water. they’ll still sprout when you plant them, but less. occasionally, i’ll soak them for longer than i meant to. so it goes.
with time, they puff up a bit and get little nibs that are the sprouts. this is what they look like when they’re ready to be planted. you can see i’m using a plastic container leftover from long-ago takeout:
- prepare a little pot with soil. spread the seeds out–they can be close together but not crowding each other toooo much. like this:
- water them well twice a day. make sure the water is well absorbed and dripping out of the bottom of the pot, if you have a pot with a hole in it. sometimes i sprinkle a little bit of extra dirt on top, but all that water spreads the dirt around, so it’s not really necessary:
i put the pot under the bathroom sink with a dish underneath it to catch extra water. keep them drenched but mostly drained. the seeds need to sprout in the dark for a few days. make sure to drown it with water morning and night so that the seeds don’t dry up. if they dry up once you can save them, but if they’re too dry, they won’t sprout. if they’re not properly drained or don’t get good enough air circulation, there might be some mildew. that doesn’t effect anything, but i prefer not to see it, so i usually prop one door of the under-sink cabinet open a tiny bit so they’re getting some air, though the pot is still in the dark.
after a few days of darkness and regular watering, they will be sprouted. you can leave them a little longer to make sure they’re well sprouted. (just remember to keep watering!)
- let the sprouts soak up the sun for a few days, out of the reach of your cat. now, it doesn’t really matter whether you water or not. i don’t, really.
then put them in reach of your cat and see how the kitty loves her cat grass!
my boyfriend took some pics of leaves the other day. i thought they turned out pretty great.
i love the jewelry on etsy team–the JETs. it’s a lively and supportive group full of great people who make a wide variety of gorgeous jewelry! i’m amazed at the talent and design savvy that JETs have–there’s beautiful pieces for every taste.
here’s examples of what you can find at a few of the JET stores featured in this GIVEAWAY:
(click the above link to solange’s blog and scroll down to get to the giveaway. ends october 29th.)
people comment that my view from the 12th floor must be stunning in the fall, but the truth is that there’s only about a day every year where the leaves are really strikingly beautiful.
but on that day, it’s pretty impressive:
i’ve posted about this before–it’s worth checking out!
there are all sorts of things that you can do on the internet to get free stuff, but i’m leery of most of them. some of the stuff just seems too involved, and sometimes not quite trustworthy.
but i’d seen a bunch of posts about this swagbucks thing, and i was curious. all you do is use their search engine–periodically you get points just for doing searches. you can trade those points in for all sorts of stuff, including gift cards. so, it’s free money for using something other than google–that seems easy enough.
so i gave it a try, and it was just as easy as everyone said! i’ve been using it for quite a while now–i just spent $50 in gift certificates that i’d saved up for a birthday present for my sweetie!
i started by just installing swagbucks as my primary search engine. easy peasy. it takes 45 points to get a $5 amazon GC. it seems slow at first, but over time they add up! click that link, and try it out. it’s worth it, and you get three free points to get you started!
i love the idea of free money for treats from amazon. i’m not doing anything differently–just searching, as i do. and fridays are great, because you get a chance of bonus swagbucks on your searches!
i know adelina from glass by adelina through ravelry, and she’s a sweetheart. so i was excited to see that she’s having a giveaway of some gorgeous dichroic glass bobby pins! check it out, and make sure to check out her shop, too! hurry–this giveaway ends tonight!
here are some other giveaways going on too–i’ve been a little behind, so check the end dates–some end very soon!
gift certificate from novica!
rikrak studios is giving away a gift certificate that can be spent at any of her sponsors’ shops!
skin free skincare! (highly recommended–love that stuff!)
here’s another skin free giveaway!
win mineral makeup here!
win an earthlust water bottle!
handmade soap from rebecca’s soap deli!
handmade soap from the soap seduction!
and one more handmade soap from east coast tropics!
there’s a great bead giveaway here at the salad for breakfast blog…worth checking out if you’re a bead addict like me!
as always, there’s a lot of giveaways going on, for handmade goods and other fun things. check these links out. you could win:
three handmade soaps!
a chic messenger bag made from repurposed materials!
a cute customizable bag!
a handmade bag, and some other fall treats–gift cards, nail polish, some autumny surprises! (mention that juliaa referred you!)
stainless steel water bottle and bamboo tee!
a soft dream mate pillow!
