Thursday Teas: Hoku by Lupicia

A friend got me on a tea kick, and so I figured why not review some of the teas I've been trying?  I know summer is kind of an odd time to start drinking teas, but when you work in an air conditioned office with a boss who cranks the thermostat down to 58 degrees, it's not so much of a stretch.  Not to mention, afternoon tea is a great excuse to take a break and lower the stress levels with my office mates.  Anyway, our inaugural selection is Hoku, an exclusive blend for Lupicia in Hawaii.

Hoku means star in Hawaiian.  This tea smells absolutely heavenly.  It's on the fruity side, which I normally would think is odd based on previous experiences with lower quality teas, but I could smell this one all day.  This is basically an oolong tea with pineapple and guava flavors.  When you look at it, there are flower petals, sugar crystals, dried pineapples and silver balls which I'm guessing are supposed to be the stars.  I had to google tea reviews to figure out there are also pink peppercorns in there.  BUT this tea is really great.  I don't know how to explain it other than a light oolong with fruity aroma.  No crazy chemicals or artificial flavoring, just a really nice blend of fruit and oolong that can also be cold brewed.

I really like this tea a lot!  I think it's my new favorite!

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

My New Toy- Accuquilt Go! Baby

If you use one of those huge die cutters in the craft store you are probably using an Accucut die cutter.  Several years back, I bought their home use/portable cutter which was pretty much discontinued as soon as they launched it.  Finding compatible dies is just ridiculous.  So anyway, I was on the company website trying to find some specs or anything to try and make my own adapters when I learned of their new product line, the Accuquilt die cutters for quilters.  Now, they have a higher end version and also the consumer/home use/portable ones... and since I more or less got burned with their paper die cutter, I was hesitant to buy this, lest I get stuck with another box in the closet.

But, I started making I Spy quilts for the kids and I got a little carried away.  (I have nearly 300 hexagons cut already!)  All of these hexagons were fussy cut by hand using a rotary cutter and an acrylic template.  It's taken me the better part of a year to get through enough different materials to have the "inventory" to assemble a decent sized I Spy quilt. 

After doing the math, I decided that it would be worth the $130 or so for the Go! Baby machine and the equilateral triangle die to avoid cutting some 600 or so triangles.  Otherwise, all these toddlers in the family will be in college before I get the first top pieced together.  I guess by then I could claim these are vintage I Spy quilts, but I digress.  I was looking for a reason to buy this gadget and I had one, so I bought it, and it's COOOOOOOL!!!!!
 

Naturally, I had to get some of the other dies to go with this and a cutting mat, and a carrying case to keep everything together.  All in all, I spent about $300.  (Shhhh!  Don't tell my husband!)  But I cranked out all the darned triangles I needed for my first quilt in just about 10 minutes.  That's right!  I cranked out almost TWO HUNDRED equilateral triangles in TEN MINUTES!!  And it was so quiet I could do it during NAP TIME!!!!  How cool is THAT????? 

Now, if I could just sew the darned things together as fast as I can cut them...  (Boy, I bet anyone who quilts would be surprised to hear THAT!!)

So anyway, I am trying not to be all ADHD about my crafting so I actually finish projects, but this makes me want to cut up the rest of my scraps and make all sorts of things.  Pillow cases, wall hangings, zabuton cushions... This thing is COOL! 

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

Chan Luu style Triple Wrap Bracelet

These wrap bracelets are popping up everywhere this summer!  But even if you can't afford a genuine Chan Luu, you can still get the same look.  Here's the first of several wrap bracelets that are rolling out in my Etsy shop.

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

Stationed in Hawaii with Kids: Dole Plantation

In case you've been wondering what we've been up to since hubby came home from his extended stay in the Sandbox, we've been off doing family things.  He's been here for a number of years and hasn't been to the Dole Plantation... which I was kind of surprised about until I realized the last time I'd been here, my son was just a few years older than my daughter is now.  (And in case you lost track, they're almost ten years apart.)  So off we went.

The Dole Plantation is an actual working plantation so it's out in the boonies.  I guess if you're stationed at Schofield it's not that far.  (But we aren't, so it is.)  It's actually pretty easy to find, it's just that in Hawaii, any trip that takes more than 30 minutes seems like it's a REALLY long trip.  We lucked out and found parking in the first row.  That was cool.  Then we ran into the World's Largest Maze (according to the 2008 Guinness Book of World Records).  When you buy a ticket, it prints your start time on the stub.  There are several stencils hidden in the maze.  There is generally a prize for the person who has the fastest completion time for the day, as long as you don't take a map at the start.  My son finished in 32 minutes, but because we took a map, his score didn't count for the day's contest.  The maze was a lot smaller and not as grown in the last time I was here.  So this was a nice upgrade for myself and the older kid.  Daddy got stuck pushing the toddler in the stroller.

Anyway, it was a little hot in the maze, so we got some drinks and waited to meet up with some friends for lunch.  Lunch was really good, but pricey.  By the way, there is no way to buy just a cheeseburger.  Just thought I'd warn you.  My almost 3 year old wanted a cheeseburger and I ended up ordering an entire combo.  Anyway, whatever.  She barely touched it so I got to eat it.  It was a decent burger, considering the price.

The other main attraction at the Dole Plantation is the Pineapple Express train ride.  It leaves every 30 minutes or so, so we bought tickets and fed the koi while waiting for our train to arrive.  Bring quarters.  The koi food is dispensed in these gumball machines and the koi are crazy.  They were swimming all over each other trying to get the food.  Koi are pretty ravenous eaters to begin with, but never in my life have I ever seen such aggressive koi!!!  Anyway, we ran out of quarters so it was back to the train platform.

The train ride is a nice long ride through what used to be a lot of pineapple fields.  Dole doesn't grow many of their pineapples out here anymore, but they are growing dozens of different species of pineapples, tropical flowers, and fruit trees as a sort of tropical botanical garden on steroids.  The kids were happy to see all the different equipment and plantation hands at work.  So anyway, it was a nice ride through the property.  Pretty standard, but worth the money to see all the different plants.  The coolest one (in my opinion) was the bright pink pineapple.  Super cool.  Wish I got a picture of it, but I was too busy pointing it out to the kids.

We ended our outing with some Dole Whip.  I love this stuff.  There is no way I was going to share mine with the almost 3 year old.  It was hot.  This stuff melts fast.  I took the airline oxygen mask approach and scarfed mine down while she made a huge mess.  Daddy got a good chunk of her Dole Whip, much to her chagrin.  Hey, what else was he supposed to do?

But anyway, by then it was definitely past nap time and time to head back home.  So we did.  :)


Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

Another Kind of Busy

The good news is that the hubster made it home in one piece and the household is starting to readjust back to the two-parent norm around here.  Our landscaping project is done (except for weeding and waiting for the grass to grow in).  I also received a LOT of supplies ordered with the intent to start building inventory for some craft fairs.  (LOL, I was trying to get them to arrive prior to his return, but oh well.)  Anyway, it should keep me busy for some time.

The bad news is that I haven't had time to blog for about a couple of weeks.  I promise all is well here.  Just busy.  We are running errands, getting our quality time in, and reconnecting.  The summer PCS season is also upon us and we are trying to catch up with old friends either before they depart or assist others who are arriving.

So I hope you don't mind terribly, but this space won't move very much for about another week or two as we come up with the "new normal" around here.  
  
Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!