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Christiana • The Cultivated Life

@christianakey

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🌹 Life is too short for ugly
🪞 Beauty • Home • Garden • Ritual
🌱 Building a life worth inheriting

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Apparently “cotton maternity panties that don’t crawl up your ass” is too much to ask. And the prices on these synthetic abominations is totally outrageous!

So… I’m making my own.

First up in my homemade maternity wardrobe: ridiculously comfortable, thick, all-natural, actually flattering pregnancy panties that FIT.

And if they’re good enough, maybe I’ll make some for you too. 🤰

Pregnant people or the formerly-pregnant: what would your perfect pair feel like? by @christianakey

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19 days ago

Maybe you don’t hate the work. Maybe you hate the version of yourself you think you have to become to do it.

My grandmother accidentally taught me that I never had to choose between usefulness and glamour.

She taught me that beauty could be part of the work. That pleasure could be part of the work. And that lesson has followed me far beyond the garden.

I wrote about my grandmother, gardening in opera gloves, and why I no longer believe beauty is frivolous.

Beauty is devotion. Beauty is respect. Beauty is presence.

And life is too short for ugly.

The full essay is on Substack. 🌿 by @christianakey

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2 months ago

In which chapter of Christiana did we first meet? by @christianakey

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3 months ago

I’m preparing for postpartum as best as I can with my garden - and full knowledge of my family history. 🌿 Both sides of my family feel things very deeply and can find it hard to crawl out of that hole once we’ve fallen into it.

(But that doesn’t mean I can’t look fabulous while harvesting! If anything, feeling good while pruning these plants adds to their pick-me-up-potency. Good vibes only)

Motherwort and lemon balm have a long history in traditional herbalism, and I’m drying mine for the season ahead: for stress, for anxiety, for grief, for insomnia, and for the health of my entire family.

(But herbs aren’t a substitute for postpartum mental health care, and not every herb is safe during pregnancy or breastfeeding. ALWAYS check with your doctor first!)

Want to start your own herbal medicine cabinet?

**Comment HERBS** and I’ll send you my FREE materia medica featuring 10 of my favorite herbs. 🌿
#greenwitch #paganhomestead #postpartumhealth by @christianakey

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2 days ago

Why are we so obsessed with making the work behind a beautiful life invisible? Because I just realized I’ve been holding my mudroom to the same impossible beauty standards we hold women to, or at least what I subconsciously hold myself to!

I have a LOT more to say about this. 😆

**Comment SUBSTACK** and I’ll send you the full essay. 💌 by @christianakey

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3 days ago

Apparently making my own maternity panties was a business development strategy. Who knew? Certainly not me.

I set out to make myself some pretty yet functional cotton maternity panties that wouldn’t crawl up my buttcrack, and now people are asking me to make them a pair. Or sell them the pattern. 😂

Have I made any money selling underwear yet? NOPE.

Have I made some money doing other things? YES. And $3,000 of it is going straight into the baby fund.

Which leaves $32,000 to go before this baby makes their grand entrance. A *perfectly* reasonable amount of money to come up with in four months while pregnant and renovating a 100-year-old house. 🫠

But I’m following the breadcrumbs, trying new things with old skills, and sharing what actually works.

Next up: making my delivery dress out of a vintage cotton tablecloth I’ve been hoarding for ten years.

Because I may be on a financial deadline, but I refuse to make my life poorer just to make my bank account richer. by @christianakey

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4 days ago

Okay, but what KIND of witch are you actually? Comment QUIZ to find out!

I made this quiz because there are SO many different ways to practice witchcraft, and I don’t think everyone is drawn to magic in the same way.

Maybe you’re happiest with your hands in the dirt. Maybe you’re constantly looking at the moon. Maybe you’ve been reading tarot since you were twelve. Maybe you’re just witch-curious and have absolutely no idea where to start.

Take my 🌙Which Witch Are You?🌙 quiz and tell me what you get.

(And if you feel like I’m way off the mark, please come back and tell me! I love learning about you.)
🔗 is also in the b-👁️-o by @christianakey

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5 days ago

What did you know at 20 that you somehow forgot by 40?
It’s my birthday, and I have a request:

Whats something your younger self understood about life that you still believe today?

I want your best culturally unacceptable, weirdly specific, hard-earned wisdom in the comments.

Consider it my birthday present… or there’s a wishlist in my bio 🎂 by @christianakey

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12 days ago

I’m celebrating 40 trips around the sun today, and also accepting adoration in all available forms. 🎉 🎁 💝

Your sweet birthday messages have already made my day. And for my fellow gift-giving love-language people who’ve been asking, I put a little birthday wishlist at the link in my bio. It’s mostly gardening and construction tools that I know I’ll get a LOT of use out of 😆

Happy birthday to me. 🥂✨ by @christianakey

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11 days ago

You do not need to know what you’re doing to make a little magic.

No elaborate altar. No expensive tools. No experience required. And definitely no working with spirits or entities!

All you need is 30 minutes, a few simple things you probably already have at home, and a willingness to try.

Join me Saturday morning for Lunar Keys. 🌙

Comment MOON and I’ll send you the invite. by @christianakey

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12 days ago

Apparently my financial future is now a group project 😆 I wasn’t asking for advice but I do love hearing it!

You’ve suggested everything from taking on new clients to starting a maternity clothing line to, somehow, an okra retreat….?!

Let’s test it.

Every week until this baby arrives, I’m reporting back on what made money, what flopped, what I loved, what I hated, and what I’m trying next.

One rule: I will not make my life poorer just to make my bank account richer.

Keep the ideas coming. This could get weird. by @christianakey

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25 days ago

What are you putting down? by @christianakey

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22 days ago