Red, White and Blue Printable Gift Box

I have a bunch of book reviews coming up soon, and some more printables to match this simple gift box, plus a photo post because I have so many photos taken in the last few weeks.

I hope you like this patriotic printable gift box. Click the image below for a larger version, and print on card stock, cut out, score folds, fold, glue!

Want more patriotic FREE printables for the 4th of July? Click HERE. 

Joy Coloring Page

Today's Joy coloring page is an experiment. It's a fairly simple design, but I wanted to see how something like this would look in positive and negative images and to see what you would think of it. Do you like coloring pages with a lot of black in them for a darker look?

Click the images below to print and color larger versions of this coloring page!

Joy Light- Small JPG

Joy Light- Transparent PNG:

Joy Dark- small JPG:

Joy Dark- transparent PNG:

Heart Mandala for Summer 2015

Loving Day is coming up, so I have hearts on my mind again. Loving Day is the anniversary of the Loving vs. Virginia decision by the Supreme Court on June 12, 1967 which made interracial marriages legal across the US.

It's also my husband's birthday!

I hope that you all enjoy this hearts mandala to print and color!

Click the mandala for a larger version, print and color!
Small jpg

Transparent PNG

Book Review- Healing Herbs

I'm a big fan of foraging and using the things that grow wild around my neighborhood, so this is a book that I was very interested in reading.

Healing Herb's- A Beginner's Guide to Identifying, Foraging and Using Medicinal Plants is a lovely collection that's great for beginners because it covers easily identifiable plants and has recipes and tips for using them. Tina Sams has a blog and a magazine called The Essential Herbal and is very knowledgeable in her field. The photographs in this book are clear and gorgeous.

Starting with my favorite- dandelions, which are close to the end of the book.

The dandelion chapter is being used as my example of why this is a great book because I really love dandelions.

Each chapter starts with some history and scientific information about the plant, along with the medicinal uses. Then it gets into recipes! The recipes included are ways to incorporate easily found "weeds" into your skin care regime and diet.

Recipes include an infused skin care oil, dandelion fritters, dandelion root cocoa, a tea for PMS symptoms, green eggs and an infused vinegar.

I love the way this book is laid out, and the flowers and plants chosen for inclusion. There are recipes I've never tried before like gulkand, an uncooked rose petal preserve. The book includes things that can be found in your yard like plantain and dandelions, and a lot of things that can be easily grown or ordered if they don't grow wild in your area. For example, lavender doesn't grow easily here, but there is so much wild chamomile in my neighborhood that I've never even considered planting it in my yard. Raspberries grow wild up here, but I also have my own little thicket.

Chamomile

There were some things not included, so I'm hoping for a sequel that will have recipes for things like shepherd's purse and spruce tips, but I'm really happy with what is included.

If you're someone just getting into foraging and wild crafting, this is a lovely book full of great photos, information and recipes. If you're more experienced and have a good library already, this may not have any new information for you but it's still a very pretty book. 

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The Essential Herbal Magazine

Fair Winds Press

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I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.