Want to get in on the pour-over action? Here’s how to brew the perfect pot of Chemex coffee.

Pour-over coffee is super hip right now, and it’s not just coffee snobbery at work here. My husband got us into brewing Chemex coffee a couple of years ago on his quest to find a brewing method that was kinder to our stomachs. The pour-over methods, like Chemex, have less acid than auto-drip coffee, which means you get that wonderful coffee flavor without tearing up your belly.

Not only is Chemex coffee freaking delicious, but it’s very simple to make, once you get the hang of it.

Of course, the real key to delicious coffee is starting out with a good-quality bean. Put down that Chock Full O’ Nuts, people! Here in Atlanta, we have an awesome roaster – Batdorf and Bronson – that makes great fair trade, organic coffees, and for the best cup of coffee, I’d suggest finding a local roaster that you like. That way, you know the beans were roasted fresh.

Chemex refers to the carafe that you use to brew your coffee. It’s a beautiful glass piece, and I leave ours out on the kitchen counter, because I love the retro look of it. The only downside to Chemex is that the glass carafe doesn’t insulate your coffee at all, so I’d pour that freshly-brewed Chemex coffee into a thermos right away to keep it warm.

How to Brew Chemex

Makes: 4 cups of coffee

Ingredients & Supplies

• Chemex coffee pot and filter
• 4 cups of boiling water
• 10 scoops of medium-grind coffee (“drip” is the grind you’d ask for, if you’re getting it ground at the coffee shop)
• thermal carafe (optional)

Directions

1. Moisten your coffee filter, and place it in the top of the pot. Most Chemex filters are basically a piece of paper folded into fourths. Just gently peel back one layer of filter to create a cone, and make sure that the thick part of the filter is covering the lip on the Chemex. You want the filter to stay nice and conical.

2. Put the grounds into your filter.

3. Make the “bloom.” This is my favorite part of brewing Chemex. Before you start saturating the grounds, pour just a small bit of water into the center of the grounds, and watch as the coffee blooms up to the surface.

4. Once the bloom settles down, it’s time to get down to business! Pour the hot water over the grounds, making sure you totally saturate them. You won’t use all of the water on this first pour. Just keep an eye on it, and add more water as the level in the filter goes down – saturating any grounds that are stuck to the sides of the filter – until you run out of water.

5. Toss that filter with the grounds into your compost bin, transfer the coffee to your thermal carafe, if you’re using one, and get ready to enjoy the best cup of coffee EVER.

Note: If you want to get super snazzy, you can also find electric kettles that allow you to control the temperature of the water. Boiling water is totally fine, but my husband, who’s hobby lately is trying different coffee-brewing methods, swears that water heated to 202 degrees F instead of the boiling temperature of 212 F is ideal.

Image Credits: Chemex Still Life. Creative Commons photo by porsche linn; Brewing Chemex. Creative Commons photo via INeedCoffee.com

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Upcycled home decor using stained Mason can be a rewarding DIY project.

Stained Mason jars are super hip in DIY home decor right now, but finding the vintage ones can be really tricky, and when you do find them, they’re often super expensive. Instead of shelling out big bucks for a genuine stained Mason jar, you can pretty easily make your own! Here’s how.

My favorite part about staining jars is that you’re not limited to Mason jars. Got an old pasta or baby food jar? A translucent coat of color makes them look so much fancier. I love the look of a cluster of stained jars on a mantle or as a centerpiece for the table.

One note about this staining method: To keep this as eco-friendly as possible, I chose white glue as my medium. White glue is water soluble, so you want to avoid getting these wet when they’re done. You can still use them as planters or vases, just be careful of any splashing, and gently dab water off of the outside immediately to avoid messing up the finish.

Ready to get staining? Let’s go!

You’ll need:

• clean, label-free glass jar
• white glue
• food coloring
• small plate or for mixing color that you don’t plan to eat off of again. (You can use this to mix paint for other projects, but the glue might not come off, and I’d hate for you to ruin your nice dishware!) An empty produce tray will work, as well.
• sponge brush that you don’t mind possibly ruining
• rag that you don’t mind staining

Method:

1. Pour a generous dollop of white glue onto your plate or tray, then add a few drops of food coloring. Use your sponge brush to mix the color well.

2. Using the same brush, paint your jar all over the outside with a coat of the dyed glue. When it’s nice and coated, turn the jar upside-down on the rag, and leave it to dry.

3. It will take a few hours at least to dry completely, and you’ll want to check on your jar periodically. The thinned glue is going to run a little, so inspect the jar a few times as it’s drying and use your brush to fill in any bald spots with a little more glue/food coloring mixture.

4. When the jar is totally dry – I’d wait overnight, especially if you had to repaint any spots – you’re ready to use it however you like.

 photos by Becky Striepe

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When I told my husband I was writing up a bath salts recipe he said, “Aren’t those illegal?” Not those bath salts!

Whether you’re sore from an intense workout, pregnancy, or a strain or sprain, these homemade bath salts are a great natural remedy to help melt away the pain and encourage healing. Bonus? You can choose whatever essential oils you like for this recipe to give it a therapeutic aromatherapy boost.

This recipe makes enough salts for four baths – you’ll want to add about 1/2 cup to the tub each time. If you are using these to soothe pregnancy aches and pains, just remember that super hot baths are a no-no when you’ve got a baby in your belly. A warm bath is A-OK, though, and an Epsom salt bath can help with the sore back and legs that often come with pregnancy.

If you have an injury, just make sure your doctor is cool with you using heat on it before you take an Epsom salt bath. When you first sprain an ankle, for example, the doctor will often recommend treating it with ice rather than heat, since the warmth can encourage swelling.

For minor soreness or aches and pains, you can soak to your heart’s content in water as hot as you like.

5 Minute Bath Salts Recipe

All that you need to make your own bath salts are:

• 2 cups Epsom salts
• 10-20 drops of your favorite essential oil or essential oil blend

Combine your ingredients in a small bowl, and stir well to get your salts nice and coated with the oils of your choice. Transfer to a clean container – like a pint-sized Mason jar – for storage.

Epsom salts are very easy to find. Check out the pain relief section of your pharmacy, near other muscle pain relief products. Epsom salts are a totally natural product – they’re just a different sort of salt called magnesium sulfate. You can use them in a bath or hot compress to soothe aching muscles, and you can take them orally to help ease some gastrointestinal issues. Just don’t take these orally once you’ve mixed in the essential oils! Not all essential oils are food grade, and you could end up making yourself sick.

Are you new to essential oils?

Here are a few essential oils suggestions for your bath salts:

• Calming: 15 drops lavender, 5 drops chamomile
• Energizing: 20 drops tea tree
• Grounding: 5 drops rosemary, 5 drops patchouli, 5 drops Texas cedarwood or sandalwood
• Balancing: 10 drops tea tree, 10 drops lavender
• Anti-Inflammatory: 10 drops grapefruit seed, 10 drops chamomile
• Mood-Boosting: 10 drops lavender, 5 drops chamomile, 5 drops peppermint

The trick with essential oils is that they don’t just have unique smells and properties, but they differ in strength. A little rosemary or patchouli goes a long way, for example, but you can put a lot of lavender into a recipe without getting things too overpowering. Experiment with different blends until you find one that works well for you.

Have you made your own bath salts before? What essential oils did you put into your recipe?

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by nomadic lass

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Who needs paper when you can use gorgeous vintage fabrics?

Need some art to spruce up a boring wall? Back away from the paper and check out your fabric stash instead. Here’s how to print on vintage fabrics to make your own custom wall art.

Sure, prints on paper can be really cute and fun, but vintage fabric has a couple of advantages over plain ol’ paper. First off, vintage fabric is reclaimed. That means that unlike the paper you pick up at the office supply store, there’s no impact associated with your medium. Vintage fabric also comes in such unique, beautiful prints. The pattern becomes part of your finished piece.

Choosing Your Inks and Fabrics

When you’re choosing vintage fabric to print on, cotton or cotton blends are your best bet. Skip anything with a loose weave, because your print will come out looking a little wonky. You also want to skip coated fabrics like oilcloth. The plastic coating makes it really hard to get ink to adhere without priming, and you don’t want to cover that beautiful print up with primer.

You also want to make sure your ink will show up on your fabric. If you’re planning to print in a beautiful, lemon yellow, you probably don’t want that bright yellow and orange floral as a background. Make sure your ink contrasts nicely with your fabric, so your design will pop!

As inks go, you have a few good options. Since wall art doesn’t have to stand up to things like washing, you can branch out a bit here. These are a few options you have:

• fabric paint
• screen printing ink – the type for fabric or paper will work fine for wall art
• acrylic paints
• house paint

Printing Techniques

What I love about printing is that you don’t need brush skills to make a nice-looking design. You can go as high- or low-tech as you want with your printing.

Screen Printing – Screen printing is best if you’re going to be doing multiples of your design, since burning a screen is either a lot of work (if you do it yourself) or kind of pricey (if you use a service). You can burn your own screens, if you’re feeling extra-DIY, or you can use a service. I’ve gotten custom screens from Anthem Screen Printing, and they do a great job. You just design your art on your computer, send them your artwork, and they burn and ship your screen.

When you’re screen-printing on fabric, make sure you tape your fabric to your table, because otherwise when you lift your screen, the fabric will come, too, and that’s how you get unsightly smudges.

Block Printing – Block printing is a classic fabric-printing technique that’s a lot like stamping. With block printing, though, the idea is to create a pattern. You use the block to repeat your print over the whole fabric. I’d check out sites like Etsy and eBay, where you can find cool, vintage printing blocks to make all kinds of designs.

Stamping – This is probably the lowest-cost option, and it’s a lot of fun! If you have a stash of stamps, you’re pretty much good to go. Just use a paint brush to apply your ink or paint of choice to your fabric, then carefully stamp away on your fabric. You can also check thrift stores and yard sales for old stamps. If you want to be super DIY about it, you can even make your own felt stamp to create a one-of-a-kind design.

No matter what technique you use, you’ll want to let the ink dry completely, and then flip your art over and use your iron on high to heat-set the ink. Remember: you’re ironing the back of your design, not the front.

Have you guys done any printing on fabric? I’d love to hear your experiences in the comments.

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