Wellness Wednesday (a day late) - Magnesium Oil

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Magnesium is a beneficial mineral that have many health benefits. Magnesium oil is a form of the mineral that may aid your body in healing itself. 

Magnesium deficiency may lead to anxiety, restless leg syndrome, sleep disorders, nausea, low blood pressure and weakness, as well as other illnesses. It can be purchased online, at health food stores, or most pharmacies. You do not have to have a prescription for Magnesium Oil. If you're unable to find any, Epsom Salt works just as well.

Magnesium Chloride has been found to do the following:

* Stimulate protein/fat metabolism
* Reduce inflammation by lowering the levels of histamine and serotonin (mediators of inflammation)
* Speed up rehabilitation processes in the body
* Increase testosterone levels and sperm production
* Increase metabolic rate
* Strengthen immunity
* Slow down ageing
* Reduce cholesterol levels in the blood
* Improve the functioning of the Musculo-Skeletal system
* Reduce blood pressure
* Significantly reduce heart disease and mortality
* Lower the incidence of cancers
* Improve the functioning of the Nervous System
* Reduce the effects of stress
* Increase phagocytosis
* Speed up tissue regeneration
* Improve skin condition

It is proven to be a/an:

* Sedative
* Anti-inflammatory
* Bactericidal / fungicidal
* Improve micro-circulation
* Analgesic
* Immune regulator

List taken from: Many Uses of Magnesium Chloride (This site has a ton of information, I highly recommend reading it.)

Magnesium oil also provides various health benefits for the skin, according to NaturalHealingTools.com. One technique for effectively delivering skin care is by using the dry skin brushing technique, where magnesium oil is brushed on the skin with a natural bristle brush. This helps to stimulate and cleanse the skin, while removing old skin cells, stimulating blood flow and inducing the lymphatic system. 

In addition to using the skin brushing technique, you may also spray the magnesium oil onto your skin to relieve muscle aches and pains. According to NaturalHealingTools.com, spraying magnesium oil on certain parts of the body, such as thighs, abdomen, and arms may help to relieve achy joints, muscle spasms, and sore muscles. You can spray the oil onto the affected area(s) and rub into the skin as needed. The more you rub the oil into your skin, the more it will be absorbed effectively. Using Magnesium oil for massage stimulate blood flow to the skin, as well as underlying tissues. Further rubbing the oil into the skin enhances the absorption and distribution of the mineral to successfully relieve knots and spasms.

I use about 1/2 -1 ounce of magnesium oil a day, normally from the knees down and on my neck and shoulders with great results. I highly recommend looking into magnesium oil, I know I'm sold on it.

**Remember, always consult your health care provider before taking any new medications or supplements, some adverse reactions may occur.


Resources and Links:
Earth Clinic: Transdermal Magnesium Therapy (TMT)
NaturalHealingTools.com
eHow - Magnesium Oil Uses
eHow - Dangers of Magnesium Oil
Magnesium Oil: Transdermal Magnesium
Magnesium Side Effects
Magnesium For Life
Ancient Minerals (This is a product website with some information. However, they claim, unlike other brands (including pharmaceutical grade) their magnesium oil contains no heavy metals. I do not know how accurate this statements is. I do know that I, personally, use pharmaceutical grade magnesium oil.)

***Disclaimer***
Wellness Wednesdays are written for information purposes only. I am not responsible for any unfortunate events as a result of reading the information provided. If you are interested in learning more, I urge you to do your research, and consult with your physician before taking any medications or supplements. 

Wellness Wednesday postponed, again.

I'm not a very happy camper today. You see, I've had this post typed up and ready to go for about 12 hours now. Then it happened. 

Yep. 

Blogger went down, yet again!

So, guess who gets to retype it all, because only the title managed to save. 

I noticed it hadn't been saving, so i made sure to copy everything before it crashed. 

Being my bright self, I didn't open Word or even Notepad for that matter and paste it immediately, just in case. 

Oh no, I got distracted and without thinking pushed ctrl + c, and copied something else. 

Naturally, that was when Blogger completely crashed. I guess I must have screwed up big time cause this can only be Karma.

I'll be back after dinner to retype everything. Sorry about this.

Never Enough Time

Source: Myself

This is about how it's been for me lately. I apologize for not posting anything today. I will make up up to you tomorrow. I will be letting you all in on what's been going on around here. Wellness Wednesday will be postponed until tomorrow, as well. 

Happy Hump Day, everyone!

Fabric Frame and Tutorial

While perusing blog-land on Sunday, I came cross this 4th of July wreath, Hannah from Young & Crafty made.

For a while now I've wanted to make a wreath to put on my front door, and when I saw Hannah's, I wanted to jump up and make one similar. 

Thinking about what I would use for my wreath, I remembered that I had a huge old mat from a thrift store picture frame. Unfortunately, the mat was too big to fit on the door (or at least look good all by itself). 

I kept thinking a little more about it and by Monday, I knew exactly what I wanted to do! Hans and I went to a fabric store, which happened to be having a 50% off sale. Score! 

Oh, you want to see what I got.

The pile on the left was all from the second hand store, I couldn't resist.

It's hard to see, but I also got 2 meters of quilt batting.

As soon as I got home, I was eager to get to work. I began by laying the batting down on the table and topping it with my ugly old mat. 

Sorry about some of these pictures, I was having a really hard time with shadows, and I didn't want to keep moving everything back and forth to a different location.

After that, draw lines to find the center.

Now, cut along your lines, and fold over.

See that corner, here's a closer look

If you have a better way of doing it, then go for it, this is just what I did.

After you've done all your cutting, get your hot glue gun out (unless you've got more patience than I do, in which case, I recommend something that takes a whole lot longer to dry), and start gluing your batting down.

After gluing down the inside and the outside of all four sides, trim the excess batting.

The front will look like this.

Repeat this process (unless you were smarter than me and doubled up your fabric and batting) with the fabric you wish to cover the outside.

Here's where I got a bit busy and forgot to take pictures for all the steps.

After covering my 'frame', I set it off to the side and began cutting my fabric into strips. I have no idea how wide they were, anywhere from 1 to 3 inches, and as long as the fabric. Everything I cut was far from straight, but that doesn't matter much. I also recruited help from my darling husband, Hans.

I know he was bored out of his mind, but he was such a good sport.

After the strips are all cut, you're going to make rosettes. Being my first time, I consulted my dear friend, Google. This is the tutorial I used.

A few hours and a million burns later, I made these (and another 6).

I cleaned up my big mess and arranged the final product on the table. 

I decided to be clever. Instead of gluing my flowers to the frame, I glued velcro to the frame and my flowers. Now I can change them out when I get bored with them.

Want to see the final product?

Well, here it is.

I finally have something to go on than angled wall!

Well, what do you think?

Linking up here:

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Just Another Manic Monday!

Wow, where did Monday go?

We've been busy bees today, plus we went shopping! I've been working on a project for my lackluster bedroom. I'll be showing it all off tomorrow. So, sit tight and I'll be back tomorrow with the unveiling, and of course, a lot of pictures!

Until then, enjoy this adorable picture my sister in-law, Mathilde, took of our niece, Laura.

Orange Dreamsicle Liquid Hand Soap

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I love scented soaps! Unfortunately, many are too pricey for this poor girl. Since I moved to Denmark, I've had to figure out how to get (or make) products similar to those I had in the US. Scented soap is one of those things. Sure, they have scented soaps here, but nothing compared to the US. They certainly don't have anything like Bath and Body Works, or The Body Shop (at least not in Holstebro), either. 

I've been 'enhancing' liquid hand soaps for the past 10 months, but usually with just lavender oil. Today, I decided to go out on a limb (because I was out of lavender oil), and got very pleasant results.

I took some Palmolive Milk and Honey liquid hand soap and added 10 drops of Bergamot Oil to the bottle, replaced the lid and shook to mix.

Then, using a funnel, poured the soap into my soap container/jar (whatever that thing is called). I screwed the pump back on and viola! 

The most amazing smelling Orange Dreamsicle soap! This stuff puts the lavender soap to shame!

Do you call is Dreamsicle too? Or Creamsicle?

Linking up here:

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Blueberry Oatmeal Cobbler

I promised you guys a recipe tonight. So, I made one up!

6 cups frozen blueberries

1/4 cup sugar or sugar substitute (I chose the latter) 

2 tablespoons agave syrup (plus extra for the top)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 cup flour

1/3 cup oats (plus extra for the top)

2 pinches salt

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

1 whole vanilla bean, scraped
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375F (190C)

In a 9x13 baking dish, mix blueberries, agave syrup, and lemon juice. Set aside.

Take a small bowl, mix your flour, oats, baking powder, and salt.

Grab another bowl and cream together butter, sugar (or substitute), and cinnamon until fluffy.

Add the vanilla and eggs. Then slowly add the flour mixture, stirring until combined.

When that's all mixed up, drop the batter on top of the blueberries in the pan. Try to cover as much of the top, with the mixture, as you can.

Now, sprinkle generously with oats and drizzle with more agave syrup.

Bake for about 30-45 minutes, until the top is a golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Remove and let cool.

Then, enjoy!

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Life's a bowl of cherries

Happy Saturday, everyone! It's been a busy day in the Noe household, and I've got projects galore that I've been working on.

We went to the second hand store again today. Seems to be our Saturday routine. They're only open for 2 hours on Saturdays, so that helps curb the need to spend forever in there.

Today, I purchased 3 frames, a flour sifter (I didn't have one) a pot, and some candle holders (making more apothecary jars) and some gifts for friends (they read this blog, so I can't share them with you). Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of my loot before I began transforming it all.

I've also been working on expanding my herb garden. So far, I've got basil, lavender, rosemary, dill, and mint.

I've got to get back to everything, but I wanted to let y'all know what's going on here today. I'll be back later with a recipe!

Apothecary Jars

I've been yearning for some apothecary jars of my own, for way too long. In my little dream world, I would have a plethora of sizes, shapes, and colors. Of course, they would be filled to the brim with candy (or whatever) in colors that coordinate with my decor.

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I will (likely) never have anything quite like that, but who says I can't make my own?

 They're all over the place, everyone seems to have their own versions. Mine are nothing spectacular, but they're mine.

To begin, you will need a cheap (or recycled) jar, glue (not pictured, but you will need something like E6000) and a candle holder. Be creative with colors, sizes, and shapes.

Make sure they're clean. With the lid removed, flip the jar upside down. Apply glue to the top of the candle holder and place it onto the bottom of your jar.

Make sure it's centered and for extra measure, add more glue around the 'seam' between the two pieces.

Now, you're gonna have to be patient for a while, I let mine dry overnight. Depending on the materials you're using, you my need to add some weight to hold them together. My candlestick is pewter, and rather heavy, but I added some extra weight for a few hours.

After the glue is dry, it's time to decorate. This is entirely up to you. So embellish (or not) as much as you please. **If you want to change the colors of the lid or candle holder, I suggest painting prior to assembly.

I left mine silver and used a chalk pen to write on it.

What do you think?

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My Knees

For those of you who wanted an update, here it is.

Not my knee; Source

I went to see the orthopedic surgeon this morning. He said I have arthritis in both knees (which I had assumed).

My left knee is worse that my right, and there is currently about a 2 mm difference of bone loss on the medial side, compared to the lateral side (which also has a deficit). Tendons and ligaments seem to be alright. However, he is sending me for a MRI (I assume of only the left knee.) to rule out any damage to my medial meniscus. I'll know for sure next week, but it will be about a month or so until that appointment. Afterwards, I will follow up and find out where to go from there.

Until then, I have to stay away from contact sports or anything strenuous on my knees.

So, I guess I will have to cancel that wrestling match I had planned, and no more American football, soccer, or hockey.

However, I can swim all I want!

Or better yet, I could try convincing my husband that I need a fruity adult beverage, a good book, and a big hammock to hang out in all summer.

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