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    Food & DIY

    Chocolate and Coconut Chia Seed Pudding

    October 8, 2014
    Photos by Sarah Veyna
    I’ve been having extreme sugar cravings lately, and have been eating tons and tons of chocolate. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, that is mostly what I have been eating, and I realize that all the candy bars that I have been devouring are not necessarily rich in nutrients. That is why I’ve been looking for dessert ideas that are both healthy and delicious. This past weekend I made chia seed pudding for the first time, by adapting a recipe that I found on the back of the Trader Joe’s Chia Seeds packet. I was really surprised at how delicious it tasted, as well as how easy it was to make. Another great thing about this dessert is that it is a great way for you to get your daily dose of fiber and Omega 3s. And, did I mention that it’s also vegan? Keep on reading if you want to learn how to make this delicious recipe.
    Adapted from Trader Joe’s Chia Seed’s Recipe
    INGREDIENTS:
    1/2 a cup of chia seeds
    2 cups of vanilla coconut milk
    1/3 of a cup of agave syrup
    1/4 of a cup of cocoa powder
    Shredded coconut (Optional)
    Combine 1/2 cup of chia seeds, 1/3 of a cup of agave syrup, and 1/4 of a cup of cocoa powder in a large bowl. Pour 2 cups of vanilla coconut milk and stir. Make sure to mix all the ingredients well enough, so that there aren’t any chunks of cocoa powder left in the mixture.  Put the mixture in the fridge for 2-3 hours, and stir occasionally. Before you go ahead and serve the pudding, wait until the chia seeds expand and the mixture thickens. Once the pudding is good to go, you can add shredded coconut or chocolate flakes, and then enjoy! It’s that easy!
    —-
    If you’re wondering why I’ve been craving so much dessert, it’s probably because these past few weeks have been very busy for me. This week, in particular, has been pretty intense for me in terms of work, since we have a big event coming up on Saturday. I can’t wait until it’s over and I finally have time to breathe. The good thing is that I’m taking some time off from work next week, so I’ll have time to rest. I was kind of bummed at first, because the main reason that I’m taking time off is because I need to get my car fixed. But since I always talk about  how much I hate driving, I’m hoping that being without a car for a couple of days will enable me to rediscover my love for public transportation. I’m really committed to getting out of the house during that time, and discovering new and cool places. If any of you have any suggestions of cool places in L.A. that you can get to taking either the metro or bus, please let me know! I’d love to hear all of your suggestions.
    xoxo,
    Helen Grace

     

    Food & DIY

    DIY Floral Coasters

    October 1, 2014

     

    Today I’m excited to bring you this floral coasters DIY tutorial. I have to admit that the reason that I decided to make these, is because I figured that if I’m going to spend money on DIY projects, I might as well make things that I already need. I’ve been meaning to make coasters for a while, but I just didn’t know what materials I wanted to use. Luckily for me, I found these metal and cork squares that were exactly the same size, on my last trip to Michaels. I decided to paint a floral design on them using acrylic paints and permanent marker, and I’m super happy with the way that they turned out. The best part is that they only took about 20 minutes to make. Keep on reading if you want to learn how to make your own!
     
    MATERIALS:
    Metal Coasters
    Cork Coasters
    Tacky Glue
    Acrylic Paints
    Paint Brushes
    Sharpie Permanent Marker
    Optional: Clear Varnish
     
    STEP 1: Use tacky glue to adhere the metal plate and the cork square together. After you do this, place the glued pieces under a heavy book for about an hour or two, in order to put some weight and pressure on the coasters. This will ensure that the two pieces don’t become unglued later on.

    STEP 2: Draw flowers on opposite corners of the metallic side of your coaster. Don’t worry about having to  be very artistic to draw this floral design–As you can see, I basically just drew a couple of squiggly shapes on each side.

     

    STEP 3: Fill in your design using acrylic paint. I would suggest adding white or black to whatever color your using, in order to make the paint more opaque. If you use certain colors, such as yellow or red, they tend to be very translucent; adding white gives these types of colors a more “matte” effect. Make sure not to layer too much paint over your design, so that you can still see the outline of the permanent marker.

     

    STEP 4: Lastly, once the acrylic paint has dried, once again trace over your original design with permanent marker. Acrylic paint and marker don’t come off very easily if you just use a wipe to clean your coasters. However, you may want to consider also adding a layer of clear varnish to make sure that your design doesn’t wash off over time.

     

     

    That’s it for this tutorial! I really hope that you enjoyed reading it, and will be inspired to create your own project.  Please let me know if you do decide to make this project by leaving me a comment, or tagging me on Instagram @sweethelengrace.  I would love to see what you come up with!
    xoxo,
    Helen Grace

     

    Beauty, Food & DIY

    French Braided Side-Chignon

    September 24, 2014
    Photos By Sarah Veyna
    I’m super excited to present you with my first ever hair tutorial! I must admit that I’m no expert when it comes to hair and beauty, but I really do enjoy learning and trying out different hairstyles. I’ve actually only recently started experimenting with putting up my hair, because I’ve found that it’s the easiest remedy for a bad hair day when you’re in a rush. This french braided side-chignon is one of my go-to hairstyles, because it only takes about 5 minutes to do and it looks really elegant. Keep on reading, if you want to learn how to achieve this look.
    Start off by creating a side part on your hair.
    Next, you’re going to section off a piece of hair on the side of your head opposite of your part. You want to make sure that you section off a piece on the side opposite of your part, so that your hairstyle doesn’t look too pulled back on your face.

     

    Using this section of hair, start braiding your hair in a diagonal french braid across your head. This is just like a regular french braid, except that you’ll be weaving in strands from the top and bottom of your head, instead of from the sides. Once you’ve braided in all of your hair, use a hair tie to secure it into a low ponytail.

     

    Take the hair hanging from your low ponytail, and wrap it around your hair tie to create a chignon, and secure it with a couple of bobby pins. Finally, pull out a couple of strands in the front, in order to frame your face.
    You can also add fresh flowers or a fascinator to your hair if you want, in order to liven or dress up your hairstyle.
    Putting together this blog post was so much fun, and I hope that you all found it very helpful. I had actually never thought of putting together any beauty posts until a friend asked me if I had any hair tutorials on my blog. If you see any hairstyles or makeup on my blog that you want me to do a tutorial for, please let me know! I’d love to put together more of these types of posts.
    xoxo,
    Helen Grace