Monthly Archives: January 2017

Jan30

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE SOAP

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HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE SOAP
http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/140000/velka/coconut-jasmine-goat-milk-soap.jpg

coconut-jasmine-goat-milk-soap.

How to Make Homemade Soap

We all use soap. In the old days, most people made their own. Today, we are much more likely to buy it from the store. There are lots of brands to choose from, and each brand has various formulations and scents.

But making your own soap has some definite advantages. One of the most significant is the price. We can make soap cheaper than we can buy it. Making it ourselves also gives us complete control over the ingredients, so we can create a soap in a favorite scent that’s perfect for our skin type.

Making soap is easier than you might think. It is, however, important to take certain safety precautions. Here’s a basic recipe:

Ingredients

* 12 cups lye crystals

* 5 cups softened water

* 6 pounds lard

Instructions

  1. Put water in a glass or plastic bowl. Carefully pour lye crystals into water, stirring constantly with a plastic or wooden spoon. Do this outdoors or in a well-ventilated area because it produces caustic fumes.
  2. Mixing lye and water produces heat. When the lye is completely dissolved, set the mixture aside to cool.
  3. Place lard in a stainless steel or enamel pan. Melt over low heat.
  4. Allow both the lye solution and the lard to cool to room temperature.
  5. Slowly pour the lye solution into the lard, stirring slowly and constantly with the plastic or wooden spoon.
  6. Continue stirring as you add all the lye solution. Drizzle a small amount of the mixture into the pot periodically. When the soap keeps its shape for a moment before sinking into the mixture, you can add scent, color and herbs.
  7. Pour the soap into a mold greased with Crisco. Wrap in a towel, and let set for about 18 hours or until completely cooled. Uncover and let set for 12 more hours.
  8. The soap may now be taken out of the mold and cut into bars. Let the bars cure for 3 to 4 weeks before using.

Customizing Your Soap

There are lots of different ways you can customize your soap. To make the best soap for your skin type, you may want to use different oils. Some that are commonly used include olive oil, coconut oil, cocoa butter and Shea butter. The correct amount varies depending on which oil you use, so look for recipes online or in books until you get the hang of it.

Essential oils have therapeutic properties and add fragrance. Add oatmeal, cornmeal and other grains and use them to exfoliate.To produce the desired color add skin-safe colorants. Mix the ingredients together and add to a cup of the soap mixture, then stir into the rest of the soap mixture immediately before pouring into the mold.

Making your own soap is easy, and is lots of fun. Coming up with the perfect concoction for your skin is rewarding, and sweetly scented homemade soaps make wonderful gifts for any occasion.

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Jan22

Homemade Paint for Kids

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Homemade Paint for Kids
Home-Made Paint for Kids

Painted with Home-Made Kids’ Paint

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Materials:

1 cup salt

1 cup flour

1 cup water

Food coloring

Mix the above ingredients and stir.

Add the food coloring and stir. Make paints in the primary colors first: red, yellow and blue.

Paper

Project:

Mix primary colors to make the secondary colors if you can’t find any of the secondary colors in food coloring bottles in the grocery store. Even if you can find the secondary colors, it’s fun to make your own.

The secondary colors are:

yellow + red = orange

blue + yellow = green

red + blue = purple

Using fingers or brushes, paint a beautiful painting!

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Jan15

MAKE YOUR OWN CARDS – IT’S FUN AND EASY!

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MAKE YOUR OWN CARDS – IT’S FUN AND EASY!

Make Your Own Cards – Fun and Easy!

Instead of giving out a store-bought card for the next special occasion, try your hand at making your own cards. Making your own cards does not need a lot of hard work, but rather a bit of creativity and the right materials.

To start creating your cards visit your local arts and crafts store to search for materials. Most arts and crafts stores have big scrapbook sections. This is where you will be able to find the materials to make your own cards. Let your inspiration guide you as the sky is the limit. You can create various themed cards such as Christmas, birthday, Valentine’s Day cards and much more.

Rubber stamps are widely available and you can buy almost any color ink to go with the stamps. There are several stamping methods that you can use when making cards including embossing. Embossing is the process of creating a raised image on the card and it can give the card an elegant appearance.

There are several die cuts and die cut machines available as well. Die cuts allow you to punch a shape out with ease. They come in all different shapes and sizes. They are very useful in achieving a layered look. You can punch die cuts out of different color papers to display a colorful card.

Scrapbook papers come in all different colors, textures and themes. You can buy patterned paper as well as glitter paper and pre-scored card kits. Card kits come with the note cards already made and ready to decorate. The kits come in different sizes and often different colors to meet a variety of needs. During seasonal periods, such as Christmas, card kits come out with note cards, envelopes and many die cut shapes.

Both regular and 3 dimensional stickers are available and come in many themes. Disney stickers are available as well as licensed characters and many 3 dimensional designs. Adding stickers to your cards can help to foster even more creativity when matching colors and themes. You can further enhance your handmade cards by adding ribbon or brads. Ribbon comes in a plethora of colors, shapes and textures. Brads hold items such as die-cuts on the card without the use of an adhesive.

Simply put, making cards is a creative process that only you can foster. Use a variety of items which found in your local arts and crafts store, second-hand store or dollar store. You can play around using different methods to decorate the cards and have fun at the same time!

All art tutorials are available on this website.

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Jan9

FUN TODDLER CRAFT IDEAS

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FUN TODDLER CRAFT IDEAS

Fun Toddler Craft Ideas

Getting a toddler to sit still is often a near-impossible feat. They’re constantly exploring the world around them. That’s a good thing, but sometimes they need some creative downtime. That’s where toddler crafts come in.

Crafting is great for toddlers for a number of reasons. It can help them develop longer attention spans. Most crafts help develop hand-eye coordination. And young children can benefit from learning how to follow simple instructions. Let them explore and create their own versions of projects.

Here are some craft ideas that your toddler can do (with supervision and the encouragement to use his or her imagination ).

Craft Stick and other Puppets

Puppets are fascinating to toddlers. Creating their own puppets is easy, and it’s lots of fun. All you really need are some craft or Popsicle sticks, construction paper, safety scissors, markers and glue.

Help your toddler cut animal shapes out of construction paper. He can draw faces and other details with washable markers. Glue the stick to the back of the shape, let dry, and he’s ready to put on a puppet show. If you want to make more elaborate puppets, try cutting shapes out of foam. Glue on a pom-pom for the nose, and add some google eyes.
Variation: Make puppet figures based on favorite storybook characters.

Variation: Colonial Corn Husk Dolls and Paper Bag People and Animals. Tutorials are available found on this website.

Paint with Pudding

Paint with Pudding

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paint with Pudding

Kids love to finger paint, but it’s so messy. And there’s also the concern about them eating the paint. Even if the paints are nontoxic, it can make cautious parents uneasy. The solution? Let them paint with pudding!

You don’t need different flavors to make different colors. Just use one serving of plain vanilla pudding, divide it up into small portions, and add food coloring to create various shades. Give your child a paper plate to use as a canvas for his masterpiece. When he’s done, he can eat it with no worries.

Kid's T-Shirt Design

Kid’s T-Shirt Design

 

 

 

 

 

 

Design a T-Shirt

If your toddler sees you sewing or painting clothes with fabric paint, she may want to try her hand at designing clothes. But needles are small and sharp, and fabric paint is messy. What to do? Break out the markers!

Kids can have a blast decorating a plain white t-shirt with colorful markers. If you use washable ones, they can create a design, wear it, and start over after you wash the shirt. For a more permanent design, however, you’ll have to let him use non-washable markers. You can avoid a mess by covering the work area with newspaper and putting a smock on your toddler.

Kid's place mat project

Kid’s place mat project

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Place mats

Making place mats out of contact paper is very easy. Have your toddler cut shapes out of construction paper and glue them on a whole piece with a glue stick. He can add detail with markers or embellish with stickers. When he’s done, place the artwork on a piece of contact paper, sticky side up. Place another sheet of contact paper on top, sticky side down.

Most toddlers will only enough patience to make one place mat at a time. But he or she can make another one tomorrow, continuing until there are enough for the table. He or she will be so proud to know that everyone sees his artwork at every meal!

Crafting can help your toddler learn important skills while keeping him quietly occupied. Whether it’s a rainy day or he’s just feeling creative, seize the opportunity to let him channel his imagination into something you can both admire.

The place mat sample in the photograph above was made with remnants of other paper projects.

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Jan2

SCRAP BOOKING FOR BEGINNERS

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SCRAP BOOKING FOR BEGINNERS

Scrap booking for Beginners

Scrap booking has been around for ages, but it has recently experienced a surge in popularity. People from all walks of life have discovered the joys of creating albums to showcase their treasured photos and keepsakes. Don’t be intimidated with all the elaborate scrap booking techniques and myriad embellishments available when getting started.

The truth is, anyone that can use scissors and glue can scrapbook. And you don’t have to spend ridiculous amounts of money to create attractive pages. With some basic supplies and a little imagination, you can create lovely scrapbooks that will last for years to come.

What You Need

You can get started scrapbook on a small budget. Here are the things you’ll need.

* An album – Scrapbook albums come in all shapes and sizes. The most popular are 8 1/2″ x 11″ and 12″ x 12″. Most craft supply stores sell scrapbook albums if you don’t have a scrapbook supply store nearby.

* Paper – Scrapbook paper come in a variety of solid colors and patterns. This will be the basis for each page. You may also use scrapbook paper to make a journal and to create your own photo mats and embellishments.

* Cutting tools – You can easily get by with just a good pair of scissors. But an Exacto knife might make photo cropping easier. And if you’re no good at cutting straight lines, you might want to invest in a paper-cutter.

* Adhesives – There are all sorts of adhesives one could use for scrapbooking. Glue sticks and double-sided tape are quite popular. Some scrap booking enthusiasts also use rubber cement or glue dots for certain applications. But when you’re getting started, just use what you’re most comfortable with.

* Photos – Beginning scrapbook craft lovers often start out with old photos that they’ve accumulated over the years. This makes for a nice, nostalgic album. Of course you can also take new pictures for your scrapbook. A digital camera and photo printer are two modern conveniences that make scrapbooking easier, but they are not necessities. Photos taken by a film camera work just as well.

When purchasing scrapbook supplies, it’s important to make sure they are acid-free. This will keep them from harming your priceless photos.

Basic Techniques

You don’t have to know a lot about scrapbook techniques to create an attractive album. Just a few simple techniques will suffice.

One of the first things many scrapbook enthusiasts learn is how to mat photos. Simply cut a square or rectangle that is about a half-inch longer and wider than the photo you want to mat. Then glue the photo to the center. To make a photo really stand out, double mat it by cutting out a shape a half-inch longer and wider than the first mat, and center the matted photo on it.

Making a journal gives scrapbook pages a nice personal touch. Simply write a note about the photos on a page, telling what was happening or sharing your thoughts on the subject. Use paper that compliments the background, and be sure to write with an acid-free pen.

Adding borders to your pages gives them a finished look. You can make them out of strips of coordinating scrapbook paper. You don’t have to border all four sides. A strip along the top, side or bottom will do. For easy embellishing, use some stickers.

There’s no need to give up if you don’t have the time, money or know-how to create elaborate scrapbooks. Just start simple, and learn new techniques as you go.

 

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