Thursday 28 April 2016

What I'm reading now


Books I'm reading in 2016

Check my Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/Mizinha
My 2016 reading goal: https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/5402722

Gave it another try - The super vegan chocolate & banana cake



Hello! 

Do you remember the recipe I posted here "The super vegan chocolate & banana cake" that one was a first try!

But I tried it again and didn't let me down!

This time I tried it with 3 bananas :) and was again the hit of the party! With this cake you never go wrong and it is animal friendly!

Give it a try!

Wednesday 20 April 2016

20 Days Minimalism Challenge - 10th Day



10th Day

My lack of capacity to throw away presents that people gave to me is over the top. 

So I had this liquid wax for shaving that was offered to me from a friend. I never use wax for my legs since I started, many years ago, to use the machine for that purpose. But even so, I never got rid of it!

Yesterday I had to make the decision of finally saying goodbye to this... I couldn't do it, because it seemed like a waste. The solution was to use it. And I did it, after 3 years having this in my bathroom...

Plus to this I throw away: 4 plastic covers that I don't know where they belong to and 5 old dirty kitchen towels.



Posts about Minimalism:

Tip - Tomatoes & Friends


Is common that beginner’s gardeners start their gardening adventure by planting tomatoes!

But if you can grow tomatoes in your garden you can also grow peppers and eggplants they need similar growing conditions!


Try it out!

Tuesday 19 April 2016

20 Days Minimalism Challenge - 9th Day



9th Day the cook books

I was at work thinking about what to put away and I remembered how much it leaves me anxious to have this cooking books at home that I don't use and are not going to use in the future... So I sent my other half an e-mail.

My boyfriend has 4 different korean cooking books that people offered him in birthday parties and 3 other books quite big that is very hard to use because all the ingredients you need to do this recipies are never to be saw in Germany...

Plus two cooking magazines that he also got from his mom.

Everything to seel or give away in the fleamarket!




Posts about Minimalism:

Sunday 17 April 2016

20 Days Minimalism Challenge - 7th Day



7th Day

The stuff for the 6th, 7th and 8th come from the action of decluttering the bathroom.


  • 2 Birth Control pills. I stopped taking the birthcontrol because I was tired of putting this hormons in me but I kept for memorabilia the packages.
  • 4 dried lotions in not nice looking litle plastic bottles
  • 1 Raiser




Saturday 16 April 2016

20 Days Minimalism Challenge - 6th Day



6th Day was a sad day


Today is a sad day for a declutter fan.

The first scarf I ever knitted didn't fit the style that I have now and I couldn't take it to work because was very childish. My solution was to make again the wire from it and knit an infinit scarf with it. But because the scarf was very old, this was a huge failure, and it was ruined complitely!

It was very sad because I could have thought in giving it away to someone that could make use of it but now it is in the garbage for noone to use.

We also gave away a cellphone, 1 empty box of pills, Multivitamins from 2014 and 2 secret liquids in a plastic botle.


Posts about Minimalism:

Friday 15 April 2016

20 Days Minimalism Challenge - 5th Day



5th Day

5th day and I'm not yet panicking!

Today I decided to check my knitting box. And I found the courage to get rid of some of my wool. 
I will try to sell it in the flea market with a very low price and if I don't sell or give it away I will throw it away.

I got the two yellowiosh wools in a kit to learn how to knitt socks. They looked nice but when you knit something out of them it looks very ugly (for me). I thought I could still do the socks but then I will feeel like I don't want to wear them!

The blue wool is an acrylic wool that I bought more than 8 years ago! I did a scarf that I already don't have and a pair of mittens that look like new still now with this wool. That is the blessing when you knit with acrylic. 


I also said goodbye to a tissue that I kept to do some sewing project but it was stained.


Posts about Minimalism:

Thursday 14 April 2016

20 Days Minimalism Challenge - 4th Day



4th Day!


  • I notice today the shoes I was wearing had the fake skin breaking. The sad thing it is that I started to wear this shoes because I thought I need to start to wear them finally!


  • I'm removing the soap plates. I don't know the official name for this. But this porcelain plates that you use to put soap on? This has zero practicality. In the end of the day it is just another thing that I have to clean everytime I clean the bathroom.
  • Don't judge but I had two almost over toothpastes waiting to be putted in the garbage...



Posts about Minimalism:

Wednesday 13 April 2016

20 Days Minimalism Challenge - 3rd Day



For the 3rd Day I have:

  • The cat bed. If you adopt a blind cat always remember they don't like igloo beds!
  • The liquid soap porcelaine. I got to the conclusion that I don't need that.
  • Pen that I shared with you earlier.
Currente situation in the challenge is: Easy until now. 7 items selected!




Posts about Minimalism:

Way to Minimalism - Books

There are few people that love books and don't try to collect them.

The majority of the book lovers love to have full bookshelves. Piles of books! Some organised by colour or size.
But who is reading books more than once? Maybe twice?... There are some books that have won a special space in our heart, that we may read more than once, but how many are they?

The cruel truth is that we aren't going to read these books again and some we are never going to read at all




This situation is a classic case of book cruelty! And we don't want to be cruel, do we?!

At home I have a bookshelf with about 1 meter width and two of these bookshelves are allowed to have books. If we want to have "new" books, we need to get rid of some of the books to gain space. It's a clutter avoidance method.

What I do to keep a healthy cruelty free bookshelf:



   1. Book Swapping

Let's book swap!

It's a great idea for meeting new people and get books you wouldn't read otherwise.
If you want to go out of your book safe zone just create a Facebook event or use other ways to schedule a book swap!

It's also very interesting to swap books with your family or close friends! Why don't you plan a Dinner & Book Swap!?



   2. Random Book Present Exchange

On Christmas I did two Secret Santas. One with my close friends and the other with young Portuguese people that live in Stuttgart.

At both events the theme was exchanging old books that we already read and loved.


   3. Donate the Books for Charity

Many churches here in Germany have book sales. People donate their books and the church sells them per kilo.



   4. Release the book wherever you are when you are finished reading it




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Other ideas for adding a book to your Read Goal and not add a new book:
  • Audiobooks 
  • Ebooks
  • Libraries 
  • Borrowing books

Minimalist's Joys



I have many pens. Pens that I don't even know why I have them or where they come from.

But I can't throw away perfect pens!

So I'm using a pen at the time until it's over and I can finally get rid of it. And today it happened. Finally a pen is finished and I can throw it away!

Thank you pen you were perfect :) Perfect to be part in my "20 Days Minimalism Challenge"!

Tuesday 12 April 2016

20 Days Minimalism Challenge - 2nd Day




    The 2nd day was also an easy day. 

    First, I got home and the zipper in one of my boots was broken. They were old boots and they already looked old so was time for them to go! Now I will use my black boots and I'm not going to buy anymore a second pair.

    Second, I found a Venice map that we are not going to need in the next couple of years.




    Posts about Minimalism:

    Monday 11 April 2016

    20 Days Minimalism Challenge - 1st Day


    First day of everything seems very easy! This was super easy!

    I bought this BentoBox to take lunch to work and was something I always wanted to have! But I hated it!

    Was so complicated to use that I gave up!

    1st day official done!




    Posts about Minimalism:



    Sunday 10 April 2016

    20 Days Minimalism Challenge

    I'm trying to minimise my life!

    And after learning about the KonMari method and reading her book I convinced some friends to join me in what will be the DECLUTTER EVENT!!!!

    In the Marie Kondo book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organising, she says that when you decide to declutter you need to make it an event!

    You need to treat that day like a special day and even dress appropriately! To say the truth I didn't do that but...

    I got the idea to sell all our stuff we don't need anymore in a flea market on the April 30th!
    So we have a date, a goal to achieve and something to look forward to with our friends!!

    I even have everything packed and ready to go there and sell! Everything fits in a tidy red suitcase!

    This leaves 20 days for the event to come, and I'm already finished!

    It can't be! I look around and I see stuff, stuff that I don't know whether I need it or care about it but I didn't select them!

    Because this is going to be very important and a great opportunity for me to improve my life I don't want to miss it because I have tunnel vision and can't see what is in front of me!

    To stop this feeling that I'm missing something, I decided to do a 20 Day Minimalist Challenge!

    What is a 20 Day Minimalist Challenge? 



    As far as I understand every day you need to pick an amount of stuff equal to that days ordinal number.

    For example:

    •  1st Day -> 1 Thing
    •  2nd Day -> 2 Things
              ....
    •  20th Day -> 20 Things

    So in the end of this 20 Day Challenge you must have 210 things to give away!

    At first 210 things appear to be a lot! But if I find more things in a day that I don't need, it counts for the goal of the next day.

    Here I go in this Decluttering Journey!


    Wish me luck!

    Saturday 9 April 2016

    The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing



    I got introduced to the KonMari method by a dear Portuguese friend of mine.


    It was with great enthusiasm that I found out that I was not alone in this quest to tidy up my house and take over my life so I decided to discover who was this KonMari.
    _______________________________
    SOME FACTS:


    Marie Kondo (近藤 麻理恵) is a Japanese organising consultant and author. Kondo's method of organising is known as the KonMari Method, and one of the main principles is keeping only possessions which "spark joy."
    _______________________________


    I listened to the The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing written by Marie Kondo (I like audiobooks now). In this book she gives you a set of tools to put your life on track just like you always dreamed of and it seems to work worlwide.


    Minimalism was already a very important word in my dicionary. I tried out different methods before I listened to Marie Kondo’s book. And that is why, I didn’t follow her method 100%. I’m already half away (I would like to imagine) on my decluttering journey.


    I listened to this book while I discarded some belongings and I need to say that I learned a new perspective of life and order. It is not only a book on organisation or a guide to decluttering, this book is much more. The writer teaches us to respect and appreciate our objects and to talk to them… and it is written in such a passionate way that you can’t be unmoved.

    Yes, talk to them...She says you should show how gratefull you are to all objects you use daily while you get home to take them out and put them in the right place!


    “ - Thank you Jacket for warming me up today!”
    “ - Thanks you shoes. You were very comfortable today.”
    “- Thank you bag. You never let me down!”


    And never forget to show appreciation to your home that gives you shelter to you and to your family!


    It sounds crazy and maybe it is but it works. Even Oprah Winfrey has a Gratitude Journal!  


    Now I come home and I show how much I appreciate it and I do thank to my clothes when I take them off to change to my cosy clothes.
    It’s a gratitude action! And to someone who never puts things in place it is working wonders. How can I be grateful for some pants and at the same time don’t put them in their right place?


    When the objects are not helping you anymore, it is also an act of respect, to let them go. She says that an object wants to serve you, make you happy, help you to achieve your goals. If the object isn’t doing that you need to let it go.


    Another important thing you learn in this book is that before decluttering you need to understand why you are decluttering! Marie Kondo explains that you need to picture what is the life style you want to have and only then just cut everything that is not helping you get there! And when you decide to make this “material cut” don’t forget, make an event out of it! Because you are really making something great in your life, it needs to be celebrated!


    Give it a try and let me know!




    Posts about Minimalism:


    Thursday 7 April 2016

    EXPO ORQUÍDEAS LISBOA 2016 - 8, 9 e 10 de Abril


    O EVENTO

    Desde sempre que as Orquídeas provocam um inexplicável fascínio nos seres humanos. Será a sua extrema beleza e aparente fragilidade? As suas peculiares e secretas vidas nos lugares mais recônditos do mundo? Ou grande variedade de estranhas formas, cores e aromas que as caracterizam? É difícil dizer.
    Nos dias 8, 9 e 10 de Abril, o Clube dos Orquidófilos de Portugal, associação sem fins lucrativos, com o objectivo de divulgar maravilhas botânicas, apresenta a EXPO ORQUÍDEAS LISBOA 2016, um evento que se propõem mostrar ao público alguns dos mais belos exemplares destas fabulosas plantas.
    O tema desta exposição serão “Os Caçadores de Orquídeas”, lembrando um tempo em que, com meios escassos, botânicos, exploradores e caçadores de fortunas arriscavam as próprias vidas em terras estranhas para encontrar as plantas que nunca tinham sido encontradas.
    No auditório e no salão de festas do Jardim Zoológico de Lisboa, vão realizar-se exposições de orquídeas, de pintura, vendas de plantas, de livros e artesanato, vão decorrer palestras com oradores portugueses e estrangeiros especialistas nos mais variados temas relacionados com Orquídeas e demonstrações práticas de como cultivar orquídeas nas nossas casas.
    Será um fim-de-semana em que as Orquídeas serão as rainhas e que nenhum apaixonado por plantas deverá perder.

    ORGANIZAÇÃO: CLUBE DOS ORQUIDÓFILOS DE PORTUGAL

    Datas: 8, 9 e 10 de Abril de 2016
    Local: Jardim Zoológico de Lisboa (Salão de Festas e Auditório)
    Para mais informacoes -> Clique AQUI


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    Saturday 2 April 2016

    DIY - Shopping bag from a top





    In 2015 I bought a second hand sewing machine for 60€!

    It was always on my wish list to learn how to sew so I did a basic sewing course in the VHS Stuttgart (CONQUER YOUR DREAMS)!!! Der Nähmaschinen-Führerschein für Einsteigerinnen gave me all the skills that I needed to start this hobby and now here I'm doing my first sewing DIY. <3


    _______________________,,_______________________


    After using a piece of clothe for a long while I start to feel attached to it. So much that when I can't use it anymore I feel that I betrayed it... 





    That was exactly what was happening with this top. Is just a normal white top with very pretty 3D pattern.  I loved it but it was too worn out. I couldn't keep it in my wardrobe anymore because I'm too distracted and in the morning I can dress anything even if it's not good anymore and only will notice it when I get to work.


    Because I'm becoming more conscient about the use of plastic in my daily life I decided to do a shopping bag from it.

    Here we go!!!


    How to do a Shopping Bag using a top


         1. Take out the label etiquette

         2. Sew the bottom

    This is just a very simple instruction. Perfect for beginners!
    Sew the bottom!


    Don't forget that you are doing a bag for carrying shopping items. This means it may be used to carry heavy stuff and needs to be strong enough to be able to hold it.

         3. Give shape to your new bag

    This DIY tutorial couldn't be so easy to do... So we have a couple more steps!

    We need to give shape to bag. Fold the bottom of the top into a square shape. I marked 7 cm from the edge.


    I used this yellow pencil. It's like the ones that we used at school to highlight important sentences in our schoolbooks. I don't know if it's the best method, but it was what I had at hand at the moment. 

    Draw a straight line and sew this little triangle. Do it on both sides. Afterwards cut the edges to get rid of excess tissue. Do not forget to sew this part really well, do it so that the sewing is strong and the bag reliable enough to be used.
    This should be the end result.


     


         4. Uhuhuh you have a new Shopping Bag