DIY: Make Your Jeans Fit Again

Recently I gained some weight - and this is a good thing because all my life I have been under 100 lbs (due to health problems & cajun genetics). As happy as I am to be putting on some baggage I can not fit into any of my favorite organic jeans anymore, and don't have the money to invest in a new pair of denim. So this is my eco friendly solution on how to keep my favorite jeans that I got a little too big for!

First you will want to measure your hips and then the hip of the jeans to compare inches - that way you can figure out how much fabric to add into the sides.

Cut open the waist down a few inches on each side, in order to make an opening for the fabric.

Measure your fabric scraps and cut them out - mine were 2 inches wide and 4 inches long. You'll want to sew the scrap pieces into the open slits, which will most likely make a "V" shape.

I used a very tight zig zag stitch and organic cotton scrap fabric that had a little stretch to it- that way I still have room to grow!As you can tell I love the hell out of my Loomstate organic jeans - they have holes, they are dirty, and maybe they look worse then worn out but these are my most favorite pair and I am sooooooo happy I saved them! Now onto my organic black skinny jeans... YAY!

Watch the DIY video for this blog post HERE, with more pictures and description! (Music by Lykke Li)

or

See it HERE on You Tube!

xoxo

Recipe: Dairy Free, Macrobiotic, Gluten Free Cream Of Broccoli Soup

The winter season is the perfect time to snuggle up to your space heater and a warm bowl of thick creamy soup. Alas with all my food allergies a traditional "creamy" meal can be hard to come by - but here is a fabulous basic recipe for Vegan Cream Of Broccoli Soup (slightly modified from "The Self Healing Cookbook" by Kristina Turner.) - BTW, this is so easy to make you'll freak out! You'll need 3 main (organic) ingredients and some seasoning: Cooked Brown Rice, Broccoli, Red Onion, and then Sea Salt or Ume Plum (plus Rosemary if you happen to like it's taste!)

You will want to skin three broccoli stalks then chop them up into smaller pieces (to make it easier for your blender to handle). Depending on how much red onion you can tolerate you can use anywhere from the whole chopped onion to 1/4 of it, and add all your diced goodies to some boiling water. Simmer for about 10 mins, or until tender. (At this time you can add whatever salt source you like to use also).

Once the simmered broccoli and onion have cooled some you will add approx. 2-3 cups of cooked brown rice to your blender, then pour in the simmered liquid and veggies. (If you want it less thick, use less rice.)

Then blend the ba-jeezus out of it, till it is as creamy as it can possibly get and makes your mouth water!

Chop up the broccoli heads and add them into the pot with the blended cream. Then simmer until the new pieces have gotten soft. If you would like to add an herb for flavor this is the time to throw in the rosemary branch.

MMMMmmmMmMmMm. Ok, this is not only really yummy but also filling, delicious and the smell brings back memories. It's totally 100% dairy free, macrobiotic, gluten free, organic and vegan!!!

Some tempting variations to add to this soup would be after making the cream, adding not only broccoli but also cauliflower, flavorful mushrooms, or using leeks instead of red onions. The rice can be used to make a creamy base in many other recipes too... get wild and experiment a little. :)

xoxo

New Organic Cord Necklaces at The Oko Box

There are 6 new styles of organic cotton cord necklaces at The Oko Box! All prices on these all natural and non toxic necklaces have been marked down to fit the real budget of most people during after holiday shock and economic woes. Each one is lovingly handmade with locally sourced and upcycled organic cotton fabric scraps and fitted with a pendant made of either stone, shell, or glass. Easy to wear with a tie in the back that can be made into a cute bow - giving you full range of where you want the necklace to hang, as a choker or longer. It's the perfect necklace for those who are sensitive to metals or chems in leather cords!

Check them out at The Oko Box now!

Nature Art: Andy Goldsworthy

When I was trained to be a professional artist in New Orleans and New York all the mediums used to express ourselves seemed to be focused on toxic paints, glues, chemical printing inks, dark room printing with formaldehyde, and various mixed media using other stains or things as volatile as tool dip. A person who would have made art using natural objects would certainly have been looked at as either a hippy or absolutely lazy... in the art world nature made pieces lacked a certain toughness and finish to really gain any kind of prestige. When I realized my own health was being effected by the amounts of chemical materials I had been using, I faced the notion of completely re-structuring my entire outlook on what is "art". The definition that never can fully be defined. Making art with natural materials became an option I would begin to explore, but only after viewing the unreal & imaginative artwork of Andy Goldsworthy in his documentary Rivers and Tides.

"Andy Goldsworthy (born 26 July 1956) is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist living in Scotland who produces site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings. His art involves the use of natural and found objects, to create both temporary and permanent sculptures which draw out the character of their environment.
The materials used in Andy Goldsworthy's art often include brightly-coloured flowers, icicles, leaves, mud, pinecones, snow, stone, twigs, and thorns. He has been quoted as saying, "I think it's incredibly brave to be working with flowers and leaves and petals. But I have to: I can't edit the materials I work with. My remit is to work with nature as a whole." "

After being given the movie River and Tides to watch, something in my mind finally shifted - I had not lost my ability to make amazing artwork because I couldn't use paints, but a whole new world of materials had opened up to me. A world which was as endless as the things that grow and die here on earth. I began collecting sticks, dried weeds, bark and various rocks to create art pieces that were temporary yet liberating and peaceful. Artwork that caused no harm to the environment. Eventually my front yard began to look like a crazy gnome lived there building it's own empire.
I encourage all creative types to view the work of Andy Goldsworthy and banish the notion that brilliant art must come on a canvas full of paint. Nature holds more colors, variations, and beauty then any tube of paint will ever be able to compete with. :)

Happy 2009!

To start off the new year with a self loving bang, I am going to leave a quote here from Pema Chodron ( an American Buddhist Nun).

"Just as a jewel that has been buried in the earth for a million years is not discolored or harmed, in the same way this noble heart is not effected by all of our kicking and screaming. The Jewel can be brought out into the light at any time, and it will glow as brilliantly as if nothing had ever happened. No matter how committed we are to unkindness, selfishness, or greed, the genuine heart cannot be lost. It is here in all that lives, never marred and completely whole."

I think when we love ourselves, then we extend that kindness to others... not just humans but to the entire eco system we are a part of. Don't forget the jewel inside yourself and all around you!

xoxo

How Clean is Coal? Coal Ash Spill in Tennessee

The following is my personal observation of the recent pollution disaster that happened just around the bend from where I live.

This morning when I woke up I smelled something horrible, kind of like exhaust, raw gasoline, beer and burned poison... so strong I had to shut my windows to keep from gagging. When I tried to enjoy the sunny day outside I got nauseous, lethargic, and seizure prone. I decided to ask some local friends over email whether they could smell something terrible outside too, and I got mail back saying that everyone had "headaches" and it was probably connected to the TN Coal Ash disaster (with link). WTF? I looked it up and there it was... one of the grossest pollution stories I have ever heard since the Exxon Valdez spill.

"The spill at the utility’s Harriman Fossil Plant deluged more than 300 acres of rural Roane County, destroying three homes and damaging 42 other properties. In nearby Kingston, that raised fears of fouled water and air, while 13 families wait to see if their homes can be salvaged, said Carolyn Brewer, finance director for the city of 5,300. The sludge-like spill, a mixture of water and residue from burned coal, escaped from a 40-acre holding pond after a retaining wall burst last week."

What infuriates me besides the fact that the air outside is tainted like we are living inside a can of roach spray, is that "authorities" have already tried to dumb down the implications of such a disaster.

Here is the conflict between a big corporation cover up and reality:
"...in just one year, the plant’s byproducts included 45,000 pounds of arsenic, 49,000 pounds of lead, 1.4 million pounds of barium, 91,000 pounds of chromium and 140,000 pounds of manganese. Those metals can cause cancer, liver damage and neurological complications, among other health problems. And the holding pond, at the Kingston Fossil Plant, a T.V.A. plant 40 miles west of Knoxville, contained many decades’ worth of these deposits...
*
For days, authority officials have maintained that the sludge released in the spill is not toxic..."
(VIA NY Times)

And then there's this...
"The authority has been using backhoes and heavy equipment to clean up the ash and is building weirs, or underwater dams, to try to keep it from traveling downstream. Officials do not have an estimate of the cost of the cleanup or how long it will take, said a spokeswoman, Catherine Mackey...
*
Mr. Smith also criticized the agency for increasing the flow of the Tennessee River to keep the ash from approaching the drinking water intake for Kingston, a town a half-mile up from the confluence of the Clinch and the Tennessee. “They’re actually moving the stuff further downstream, in order to protect the drinking supply at Kingston,” he said. "
(VIA NY Times)

They are moving kind of slow on water testing too...
"Samples taken at the site of the spill in Harriman, 35 miles southwest of Knoxville, “slightly exceed” the standards for some metals, according to a statement from the Tennessee Valley Authority, owner of the coal power plant where the Dec. 22 accident occurred. Results from well-water and air tests won’t be known until later this week, the utility said....
*
A test for heavy metals in water, soil or sediment should take two to eight hours, said Peter Schulert, the chief executive of the Environmental Science Corporation, an environmental laboratory near Nashville. “There’s no reason why you couldn’t have the results within a day,” Mr. Schulert said.... "
(And that fact is making people mad, rightfully so!)
“They think that the public is stupid, that they can’t put two and two together,” said Sandy Gupton, a registered nurse who hired an independent firm to test the spring water on her family’s 300-acre farm, now sullied by sludge from the spill. “It took five days for the T.V.A. to respond to us.”

They (whoever this "authority" is) tries to make it sound like it's not such a big deal, if you happen to come in contact with this sludge bi-product then just give your hands a little wash. NO advice on what to do when you are breathing it, since there's no brilliant soapy water solution.
"Authorities are testing air quality in the area and “currently evaluating the potential for health effects,” the agencies said in the TVA’s statement. Anyone who touches soil, sediments or water affected by the spill should wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water and wash clothes separately from other items, according to the statement. "
(VIA Bloomberg)

So do we all get government distributed respirators too, so that we might be able to breathe safely without getting sick? Big corporations are big babies (ego centric to a fault) - they can never admit when they have done something wrong, they give heartless apologies and keep counting their dollars while all of us sit here breathing polluted air and people's homes, land and water are destroyed. They worry over being sued when they should be sued for any damage they may try to weasel their way out of covering. But really, how can you compensate fully for someone's sludged home and health?

Humor : Graph Jam

Another lovely giggle from Graph Jam! Enjoy!
xoxo

Smoking & Lead Exposure Have Similar Effects

We all know about first hand and second hand cigarette smoke causing adverse health problems such as nutritional deficiencies & lung cancer - but have you ever heard of third hand smoke? (Neither had I till I read the latest cig news over on The Canary Report!)
Adult smokers already know what they are doing is not the healthy choice for their body, but what science had not yet realized was even the particles/residue transferring from a smoker's hair, clothes and skin to their children were causing kids learning disabilities, a similar reaction as to being exposed to low levels of lead.

"When you smoke – anyplace – toxic particulate matter from tobacco smoke gets into your hair and clothing,” says lead study author, Jonathan Winickoff, MD, MPH, assistant director of the MGHfC Center for Child and Adolescent Health Policy. “When you come into contact with your baby, even if you’re not smoking at the time, she comes in contact with those toxins. And if you breastfeed, the toxins will transfer to your baby in your breastmilk.” Winickoff notes that nursing a baby if you’re a smoker is still preferable to bottle-feeding, however.

Particulate matter from tobacco smoke has been proven toxic. According to the National Toxicology Program, these 250 poisonous gases, chemicals, and metals include hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, butane, ammonia, toluene (found in paint thinners), arsenic, lead, chromium (used to make steel), cadmium (used to make batteries), and polonium-210 (highly radioactive carcinogen). Eleven of the compounds are classified as Group 1 carcinogens, the most dangerous.

Third-hand smoke can remain indoors even long after the smoking has stopped. Similar to low-level lead exposure, low levels of tobacco particulates have been associated with cognitive deficits among children, and the higher the exposure level, the lower the reading score. These findings underscore the possibility that even extremely low levels of these compounds may be neurotoxic and, according to the researchers, justify restricting all smoking in indoor areas inhabited by children."

Personally speaking my parents didn't smoke, but my grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends and everyone under the sun smoked around me. I learned early on how bad the first, second and third hand smoke was when I watched my best friend in elementary school lose both her grandparents to cancer caused by smoking. Then by the time I was a teenager my own over exposure led to cig reactions like coughing up blood, developing sinus infections, fevers, and long drawn out illnesses after spending time with a smoker. When I turned 20 my own grandfather (Pepere) who had smoked blackberry vines as a teen on the bayou and unfiltered camels most his life developed lung cancer and died nine months after being diagnosed.
As someone who now has strong reactions to even the smell of it on someone's clothes I am not surprised to hear reports of how dangerous the third hand smoke residue is. Possibly what makes the matter entirely worse for smokers is the fact that big companies manufacture this stuff with chemicals, bleached papers, additives and other substances that make it way more carcinogenic then the actual tobacco plant is to begin with. Add to the equation that they are spraying these crops with toxic pesticides and it makes for one hell of a smoke to inhale.

FIY: Second hand smoke kills 3 times more children then any other cancer combined.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivities: The Crazy Sh!t We Gotta Do

When dealing with chemical sensitivities even the most mundane tasks, plans and events become an olympic style obstacle course to get through...and due to economic breakdown I am getting a housemate. Anyone reading this who has MCS will understand this is the kind of event that can put the shake in the rattle and roll of fear, because other people bring things into your safe home that you normally can not tolerate. If you don't have chemical sensitivities you may find the following project completely insane, but tell the Gulf War Veterans who are now officially declared to have MSC/GWS from chemical exposure, the still sick rescue teams from 9-11 who didn't have protection going into the disaster, and my good friend Lou Cheese who was chemically injured on the job that their medical & government documented affliction is insane.
The following project is how me and Nick sealed off the door between the two halves of the house & it is now a duplex with separate outside entrances.

Check this crazy out:::::
Meet Nick, my new housemate who is kind enough to help me do this important yet coo-a-doo project. The first layer against the door is foil strips taped together with packing tape- then taped flush to the wall.
This is my sci-fi fashion pose, a possibly failed attempt to make the MCS foil barrier somehow a sexy thing. (I did help tape too! I swear.) With the foil completely flush and tape around all the edges, a layer of plastic was added on top... While this was happening I was on the other side of the door squeezing organic fleece fabric strips into the door cracks with pointy scissors. If I look a little haggard at this point it's cause I was extremely haggard...the thrill was gone. The very last layer of protection is bubble wrap! Why? Cause that is what I had on hand and doesn't it look like a portal to another dimension now !?!? Hopefully I get beamed to a place with unicorns, aliens, or just no chemicals...
I will update later on whether this MCS protection project worked to it's full potential as Nick (the impending housemate) moves his belongings into the other side of the house. Leave me any suggestions in the comments section...

And in the words of Britney Spears: "You Say I'm Crazy, I GOT your crazy!"

DIY: Sewing An Organic Corset Dress

Yay! Here is another organic cotton sewing video on how to put together a corset dress.
This 'corset dress' is made with 100% organic cotton fabric with low impact dyes sourced locally from Spiritex for under $5! It's made from end of the mill scraps - and I can say this project is not as easy as my other tutorials but is well worth the time spent crafting it. The biggest challenges for me were that the base fabric was not stretchy which doesn't leave room for sizing mistakes, creating the corset look takes a little more time and patience to piece together and lace up, and attempting to make blah fabric look sassy takes some planning. I made this project to see if i could possibly take very boring tan checkered pattern fabric and turn it into something sexy and fun - the style is inspired by the many drawings of woman's clothing I did in the 80's as a child.

PS- You will want to add a zipper, side ties or some other open/close device on the sides if you don't use stretch fabric.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!
Let me know what you think...

xoxo