Monday, June 15, 2009

China in the China Closet?

Who would have thought that China could go into the china closet! Well that is what Joe thought, but after it was in he was pleasantly surprised!!! ("I wondered what those grooves were for")
When did I get china for the china closet? When my mom needed more room in her cupboard and I needed a set for my (almost) married home. The two tea sets were Joe's mother's and his aunt's and the Wedgewood-momo's. I have to say I love it and I love it each day more that I look at it in the china closet!!! Thanks MOMO!!! Love You!


Sunday, April 19, 2009

Two Pairs of Socks

Really quickly I wanted to show two pairs of socks that are done and being enjoyed and since I am at the computer, I will put them up. The blue pair is made from bamboo wool my mom gave me for my birthday last year, and the yellow and maroon socks went to Erin-Bearin for christmas. ( Both pictures have been stuck in my camera for ages.)
I put a lace panel in both of them, the pattern is on the back on the blue and on the top of EB's.
I do have one more good post but I can't sit at the computer all day! More to come I promise!

Making Soap

It's wedding time and I am trying to save money, show people that I am thankful they came to my wedding and still stay crafty. So I came up with this. For a coffee themed wedding how about Handmade Coffee soap? This works so well for removing odors and the grounds really do smooth your skin. I had to make a pot of coffee for each batch of bars, so needless to say I got them all done really fast because you definitely do things faster and with more energy when you are all hyped up on coffee!!! Here's a quick tutorial...


Step 1: Lay out your supplies and let everyone in your house know that the kitchen island will be off limits until they are all made.
Step1A: Make a pot of coffee!
What you need:

Melt and Pour soap-(From Michael's)This is shea butter soap, and I lucked out because the brown coffee and white soap made it a really attractive light brown color. Exactly the color I like it when I make my coffee with cream and sugar!!!
Soap Mold
Scented Oil (I picked vanilla to complement the coffee)
Brewed Coffee Grounds
Glass Measuring Cup
Microwave


Step 2: Using 4oz of Melt and Pour soap (they are divided into 1oz pieces) Cut into smaller pieces so it melts evenly, and place into glass measuring cup (or anything microwavable) with scented oil. I used 6 drops per batch and it gave it a nice smell but not too overpowering.



Step 3: Go to your coffee pot and carefully open the top (so you don't get a hot steam facial) and scoop out about 1tbsp of brewed coffee grounds and place in measuring cup. The more grounds you put in the better exfoliating power, but if you put in too many they all sink to the lowest part of your mold.


Step 4: Microwave for 40 seconds. Then stir gently and pour into mold.

Step 5: Cool for 20-40 minutes, on countertop or in the refrigerator. I found no difference between either and remove from mold by just working it out slowly. If they aren't hard enough, they won't come out easily.

Step 6: Package so they look pretty. The packaging was the most expensive part for these favors $0.99 for 50 cellophane bags, $0.50 for 10 yards of ribbon and a little bit of my time (which is priceless). So the total for the whole treat including the bar of soap ($0.68)=$0.74!
Craftiness and Favors complete!!