What Are You In To? - June 2012

I'm 100% stealing this idea off SortaCrunchy, because I love it and think it is a swell idea to almost a 'mini catch up' each month.


In My Ears:
After a while of trying to mix my favourite tracks for you on 8tracks, and not succeeding - I am listening only to Ane Brun, and She & Him.

On My Nightstand:
I am reading two books at the moment (cos I'm just that greedy) - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Thrifty Ways for Modern Days - lots of cleaning and other useful tips.

TV Worth Watching:
My favourite shows right now are New Girl (in case you haven't cottoned on yet, I have a major girl crush on Zooey Deschanel!), and Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell.

Movie I've Seen:
I haven't actually been to the movies this month, but we saw Tim Burton's Dark Shadows which we freaking LOVED!!! But then again, everything Tim Burton and Johnny Depp do we are slaves to. Also finally introduced Stuart to Anchorman.

In My Kitchen:
As I'm following the 12WBT program at the moment, there is a lot of mess in my kitchen.

Blogs of Note:

• Crunchy Betty - filled with lots and lots of home recipes for beauty treatments and cleaning and everything else you can think of
• Gala Darling - I have been following her blog for a while now, and although there is heaps of people constantly bagging her on the web, I do enjoy some of the lists and links she posts.

What I'm Looking Forward To:
Our two year wedding anniversary next Tuesday!! We have a couples spa package booked, and are also planning on visiting the mummy exhibit at the Brisbane Museum.

Caricature of Stuart and I, this was my present to Stu for our first anniversary

Lots ot Love,

Chantal

At Home - Candle Making

Each week I try to set myself a "creative challenge", sometimes this is something I do quite often with a twist (like practicising music, but creating my own ending)... and sometimes, I try something new. This week, I set myself the challenge of creating scented multi-coloured candles. I was quite impressed with myself, and thought I would share what I did!

Tools you will need:

• an old saucepan
• scented oils (my favourites are lavender, strawberry and geranium!!)
• wax - I use a mix of both soy wax and bees wax, I have found bee has a longer burn time whilst soy is MUCH easier to colour
• dye chips (I purchased mine of eBay) or colour crayons
• sticky dots
• wick - I use 3mm braided wick, available at most craft stores, however I surprisingly buy from my favourite organic store!
• wick holders - paddle pop sticks with holes placed in them, or household pegs.
• Heat safe molds - if you hold a naked flame to the side of your mold and it warps in any way DO NOT USE!! I found small old takeaway containers, picnic cups and old candle holders were the safest in my home.. this may not be the same for you! EBay and Etsy both appeared to have a wide variety of molds for sale, however I'd rather use what I can at home and spend more money for more wax

Step One

Slowly melt the wax in the saucepan over a low heat.

Step Two

Add approximately one inch of coloured crayon to melted wax, still sitting on low heat. You will need to mix this quite thoroughly - I tried to take a photo to show what can happen if you don't do this, but I struggled to be honest. I used crayons for nearly all my colours (two were a mix of crayons + dye), and I noticed that these tend to melt across the bottom of the pan and naturally want to sink to the bottom underneath the wax.

Step Three

Take saucepan off heat and add 7-10 drops of scented oils. I like to mix 5 drops of lavender, 3 of strawberry and 2 musk as a delicious mix.

Step Four

Place wick into the centre of your safe mold, and use a sticky dot to secure in place. Alternative you can use place a very small amount of wax at the base to secure in place. Place your wick holder so that the wick sits directly in the middle of the mold, however let it sit a little loosely - I have found that making it taut made the wick come loose from the bottom once the wax is poured.

Step Five

By now your wax should have cooled a little, although still warm to the touch. Pour wax into your mold. For different layering effects you can angle your mold, so you can have different layers as it cools.

Step Six

Leave to sit for 10 - 30minutes (I found this varied greatly depending on time of day and weather to how quickly the wax would set). If mixing colours, repeat steps 1, 2, 3 and 5 until you mold is full with the colours you wish. Do not leave too long between leaving layers to set as this may cause you layers to not stick to each other - this in turn to could result in nasty accidents when burning the candle.


Step Seven

Enjoy your handy work!!

Lots of Love,
Chantal

12WBT - Week Two

Last night was weigh in night for week two of the 12WBT challenge, and I'm not overly happy with the results... although, as per usual, it is my fault! I lost 400g this week, putting me at a current weight of 83.6kg.

Why should I be unhappy? Well, it isn't that much. And, before you go saying "something is better than nothing", or "you're moving in the right direction"... I know! However, this week I gave into the monthly visitor and ate a ridiculus amount of chocolate. Oh, and still didn't exercise due to illness + the new visitor.

So, whilst I'm a little 'woe is me' at the moment, what I DO know right now is that this means I have room for even MORE improvement next week! I'm aiming for over 2kgs (not expecting it, but would be nice!).


Lots of love,
Chantal

Tasty Tuesday: Lions

Stuart's number one favourite animal is the mighty lion, one of the many reasons we travelled to Africa earlier this year. As such, I thought it best to return to my Tasty Tuesday's with some photos for him.

Lots of Love,

Chantal

(PS - most photos are from National Geographic)

12WBT - Week One

I started the Michelle Bridges (known for the Australian version of Biggest Loser) twelve week program on Monday. I don't like sharing my weight too much with everyone, but she encourages us that the more people we tell and the more ways we share, the more pressured we will feel to stick to our goals.

My goal weight is 75kgs, and at the beginning of the challenge I weighed 85.4kgs. My chest was 102cm, waist 81cm, and my hips were 107cm. I also was a size 16, sometimes 14 if lucky.

On Wednesday, I weighed and was shocked to find I had already lost 1.4kgs, putting me at 84kgs. 14% of my goal weight loss, had been done in just a few days. I am now VERY excited to see next weeks weigh in... although I am still prepared for this have to been a lucky once of.

This week I have stuck to the nutrition plan, had a very naughty "free" night with disgusting KFC, and did not do any of the exercises. (I have been really ill, and am still not recovered). My plan for the coming week is to still stick 100% with the plan, my naughty night be fish or Indian, and to work out every night.

And lastly, and most horrifically, I share with you all an unedited, no makeup, bikini shot of myself that I had to post as part of the program as my BEFORE photo. Before you ask, no my nose is not normally that red... I had been blowing my nose all day.

I am really quite shocked with myself that I was just able to post these photos. This is less than what I wear to the beach or the pool. It is all my cellulite and stretch mark "goodness".. hopefully some of these will disappear with the weight loss.

Lots of love,

Chantal