DIY – Aishat's blog

“The moss is a reindeer moss and it can stay soft up to 15 years without any maintenance.”: said Mr Alex

By Aishat Olabimpe Ibrahim

picture by me showing the entrance to the RDS fair

The contemporary craft and design fair took place today [ 6^TH December, 2019]at the RDS main Hall, Ballsbridge, where lots of designers, craftsmen and retailers had their product displayed on the stall ready to sell.

The event started at 10 am, where lots of people came into the trade fair to see different craft. Present at the stalls are fashion wears, arts, food, snacks, carvings, fabrics, jewelleries, etc. There were lots of interesting and wonderful products and art work at the fair.

At the trade fair there were green and organic products. Nicola Brown is a lady who makes all her clothing deigns from leaves and honey. Another is Mr Alex who uses moss as a product to make beautiful home decorations.

Image of Mr Alex who makes moss designs and his arts. photo by: Aishat Ibrahim

Mr Alex from Transylvania in Romania is a Moss Design artist. He has been in Ireland for the past 10years. He makes all his art work from moss. The idea from the moss came from the fact that he had a room infected with mould and wanted to get rid of it, so he put some moss in his room to extract the moisture from the room. During the interviews he spoke of the importance of the moss.

“The moss is a reindeer moss and it can stay soft up to 15 years without any maintenance.” Said Mr Alex

Mr Alex explains that the moss can absorb up to 40 percent of the moisture in room and since they remove mold from rooms they are good for asthma patient. He also said the moss can only grow in northern countries like Finland, Norway and Poland.

To treat them he uses glycerine and water. He also adds food dye and colour to make them beautiful and attractive and paints them into different colours. All he uses is organic nothing toxic and it doesn’t need to be trimmed as it doesn’t grow anymore. “The moss is a reindeer moss and it can stay soft up to 15 years without any maintenance.” Said Mr Alex

“To maintain the moss freshness, it shouldn’t be put near the heater as that can make it dry. It can be fixed once it has been taken away from the heat and put in a moist room.”

Figure 3 Image of Ms Anouk O’Connell and Ms Frederique van Buurenwho makes product from merino wool. photo by: Aishat Ibrahim

Ms Anouk O’Connell and Ms Frederique van Buuren are the owners of Olannmor and they have only been in business for only two years. Olannmor is a company who makes chunky knit, home decoration and fashion accessories using unspun merino pure wool from merino sheep. Ms O’Connell said the sheep are not present in Ireland. “The merino sheep are warmer climate sheep and are available in countries such as New Zealand, south America and the wool is incredibly soft” said Ms O’Connell.

Ms Buuren said the company have work shops regularly where they teach people how to knit regularly. The workshop consist of more than 20 people where they get together and she and her partner teaches people how to make blanket from start to finish and everyone goes home with a finished product.

The atmosphere around the event was a calm, bright and beautiful as lots of people came with their work/ craft to have them sold. All the products at the job fair are handmade and lots of stores came to sell their product at the same time showcase their craft. Some product go as high as €450.

The Bitter Kola (Orogbo); the miracle nut

*flickr image by* Global Food Book showing peeled and unpeeled bitter kola

The nut comes from a kola tree which is found in the rainforests in Africa which has a deep brown peel covering it and has a bitter taste. This nut is used for many things in Africa.

It is used for celebrations in Nigeria, it is given to guest at a christening ceremony, funeral and weddings. This miracle nut is also used for medicinal purposes.

The nut contains caffeine, which gives a similar effect to coffee thereby giving a persons’ metabolism a boost. It also enhances alertness and gives physical energy.

According to Medical News Today, kola nut contains about 2 to 3 percent caffeine and 1 to 2 percent theobromine, both of which act as stimulants when consumed

They also revealed that “kola nut may be helpful for people who have migraine headaches. Migraines often affect the blood vessels in the head and caffeine has been used for headache pain. The theobromine and caffeine contained in the kola nut may dilate or widen blood vessels in the brain, which might decrease migraine pain”

AY who takes the nut whenever she feels she has taken too much junk food says “I take the kola nut even though it’s better because I know what benefit I derive from it. It helps me flush out the rubbish I have taken over a period of time and I feel fresh and healthier after taking the nut and using the toilet.”

The nut has also been known to suppress appetite and hunger which can help with weight loss.

Other function of the nut include it being used as aphrodisiac, as remedy against poison, as a treatment for catarrh and abdominal colicky pain, as an anti- diabetic and as an anti-inflammatory.

Experts advise against taking kola nut if you are allergic to nut, or have problem sleeping because of caffeine present in the nut, or have high blood pressure.

Coconut oil DIYS

*flickr by* Utkarsha Singhroul image of coconut oil

Coconut oil are given little to no credit for what they do. They are made from coconut. The oil in coconut is extracted to make the oil. There are lots of benefits of using coconut oil, they are… coconut oil has various use they can be eaten, used as moisturizer, used as makeup removal, used to make facial scrub and lip scrub and hair mask.

This article shows you tricks to using coconut oil as a DIY(Do It Yourself)

Homemade Mayonnaise

If you want to make homemade mayonnaise, and don’t want to buy from the stores here are the ingredient. Make sure before you start that all the ingredients listed below are at room temperature.

Raw eggs (yolk) 4-5
Powdered mustard 1/2tbsp
Salt. A pinch
Apple cider vinegar (mother) 2tbsp
Coconut oil 3tbsp
Herbs(optional) 1tbsp

Preparation

Separate the egg yolk and white in a bowl
Pour the egg yolk into the blender or food processor with the powdered mustard and salt.
Add any choice of herb or spice that you will like to try.
Add the apple cider vinegar
Blend the ingredients together and add the coconut oil in very little quantity at a time so that the oil can mix properly with the egg.
Scoop out from the blender and store in closely tight container and store in the fridge and consume within 2 weeks.

Coconut oil as moisturizer

If you have dry skin and your body lotion is not moisturizing your dry skin properly we got you covered.

You can easily use coconut oil as your body cream. You can rub coconut oil on your sink immediately after having your bath in order to restore and give instant shine to the skin. Or get a container and put in coconut oil then add your favorite lotion and mix thoroughly to make a smooth paste. Rub this on your body and see your skin come to live and moisturized all day long.

Coconut oil as a makeup remover

Gather here makeup lovers, do u have a hard time removing eye makeup and matte lipsticks? What if I told you coconut oil can easily take that down for you. All you have to do is put coconut oil on a cotton wool, an use it to clean off eye makeup and stubborn lipsticks. This can also be used to remove foundation and any form of makeup. It dissolves makeup fast and effectively leaving skin clean and moisturized.

*flickr by* sathish mrb image shoeing coconut oil.

Coconut oil as hair mask or protein treatment

Coconut oil is one of the best oil to use for the hair because it protects the hair from damage. It can be used as hair cream, hair mask and for protein treatment.

For hair mask, mix honey and coconut together in a container and apply on the root and strands of hair and cover with a shower cap or plastic bag for 30 minutes and rinse off with warm water.

To use coconut oil as protein treatment for hair, you need one egg,(you can use two or more based on hair volume and length) two table spoon of honey, coconut oil, and any other type of oil you like. Mix all this together in a bowl and apply from root to strands of hair and cover with a plastic bag and leave on for 60 minutes and rinse off with look warm water to avoid cooking the egg in your hair.

Coconut oil can also be used for chapped lips. You can always keep coconut oil handy to use whenever your lips are dry.

Coconut oil can be used as face and lip exfoliator. If you have white heads and black heads on your face and chapped lips coconut oil should be your friend.

To use coconut oil as a face exfoliator, all you need is baking soda. Add baking soda to a bowl containing 1tbsp of coconut oil and mix in properly to make a paste then apply to the paste to the face and scrub in to exfoliate the skin. Rinse the face properly with warm water after 5mins.

To use coconut oil for chapped lip all you need is sugar. Add sugar to 1tbsp of coconut and mix properly to form a thick paste. Apply and rub this into the lips for 3-5mins to remove dead cells from the lips.