Handmade Archives - Page 2 of 6

It’s like making Jello

By Christina Lee| December 8th, 2019|DIY Home, Handmade, Homemade Soap|

Ok ok, I think I’ve got the hang of this soap-making thang. Grab the soap base of your preference — glycerin, Shea butter, goat’s milk, oatmeal, etc. Chop it up in cubes, throw it in a Pyrex and microwave. Then shake in your favorite essential oil, splash in a bit of color and pour into the silicone mold. This is the classic Melt and Pour soap-making technique in a nutshell and it makes for a great crafternoon because you’re just a few hours away from washing your hands with homemade soap you whipped up yourself.

Now that I have the basics, it’s time to get a little more creative. Since I’ve tried all four of the soap bases, I’m beginning to see the benefits of doing some mixing and matching. I really like the Shea butter for its smooth texture and glycerin for the opacity which exposes the vibrant colors of the pigment. In this case, I’m using three colors: Haze, Powder and Black Sea from Soapy Mica Powder Pigments. With the powder, you really need to blend it well when you mix it in the melted soap base otherwise you end up with clumps of powder that gather at the bottom of the soap mold (which can end up being the top at times).

It’s almost like making Jello. I made a batch of the glycerin soap and poured it into the mold. Each batch went straight in the freezer to set while I mixed in different colors to the glycerin base. Then, it was time to melt the Shea butter and pour it right on top of the glyercin soap when it hardened. This added layer gave it definition and got many ‘oohs and awes’ when I took it out.

If you’re beginning to make some of your gifts or throw them in stalking stuffers, these make a beautiful present for the entire family to enjoy!

Soap-Making Sunday

By Christina Lee| September 22nd, 2019|Handmade, Homemade Soap, Oh My Crafts!|

After having made a handful of dish and hand towels earlier in the year, it’s time to pair them with homemade soap. This is my second go around at making soap using the melt and pour method, and I’m loving it. It’s simple to make and it has minimal cleanup effort. This time, I picked out a block of Shea butter and glycerin soap. Then I went ahead and shopped around my pantry for oatmeal, flowers and other natural ingredients. I’m excited to see how the texture pairs with the soap base. Unfortunately, I was out of coffee beans. How is that possible?! Next time!

While I’m a big fan of splashing a bit of color and dye into the soap base, I decided to take a minimalist approach with the glycerin to give it more of an all-natural, homemade feel. I really like how the oatmeal sits with clear glycerin; it’s just got this amazing texture and hearty, healthy wholesome feel. Then I threw in some blue hydrangea into another glycerin cube, but wasn’t as pleased. It turned out a little darker than expected and a few days later, it become even darker. I’m eager to try mint leaves next time to see how the color holds up.

With the Shea butter, I added pink, purpler and yellow dye along with some pressed flowers and rose petals. Since the feedback I got last time was it wasn’t as fragrant as store bought soap, I was more generous with my essential oils and added a few more drops than I normally would. Hopefully, that did the trick.

Overall, I think they turned out good. Stay tuned for my next soap-making adventure!

Who’s up for a little ‘Stitch & Bitch’ Sesh?!

By Christina Lee| August 8th, 2019|Crocheting, Handmade, Yarn Addict|

It’s easy to go days without dusting or even weeks, but who’s really counting? The fact is, you’re going to get to it… once you have the time and that perfect cleaning companion. I decided now was that time, so I better crochet myself a handy dandy dish towel that’s going to leave my place spotless — and using this organic white cotton yarn was going to be my proof of cleaning.

I decided with the Moss Stitch crochet pattern to give it body and texture for when I really need to beat down on those tables and counter tops, and scrub. But hopefully, we don’t get to that point. I’ve been there and it doesn’t make cleaning any easier. Plus, at the end of the day, I do hope to hang this crocheted dish towel on the rack proudly and make sure it’s not too bent out of shape.

The final touch I added were there sea green stripes to mimic the look and feel of my bath towels. I love adding those subtle accents to give it that homier feel and go beyond a simple white dish towel.

What kind of accents do you add to your crochet projects? Do tell.

Homemade Slippery Soap Squares

By Christina Lee| March 24th, 2019|DIY Home, Handmade, Homemade Soap, Oh My Crafts!|

Okay, so I’ve watched one too many videos on BuzzFeed and this video on making your own DIY aromatherapy soap finally made me do it. I dropped everything I was doing, pulled up Amazon, and Amazon Primed myself all the stuff needed to make homemade soap. For someone who loves DIY projects and gets a little anxious about having all the right materials, the starter kit for making soap wasn’t too bad. I shopped around for the soap base first. There is a lot to choose from. You can get clear glycerin, goat’s milk, oatmeal and one of my favorites, Shea butter. I decided to go with an oatmeal base, since I wanted to it to be textured and all-natural looking. I knew for this first go around, I was going to use dried flowers and rely little on added coloring.

For the flowers, I decided to buy myself a mixed bouquet from the market. Yes, I buy myself flowers! I love the idea of having fresh flowers in the house. The color, the scent and just the idea of having something alive in the room really just brightens up your day. It’s sad when they die, but now I know how to make full use of them. I took the flower petals and set them aside so that they would dry. This batch had blue hydrangeas and others that I’d save for a later time. I also had a sash of dried lavender that my mom got from her vacation that I thought would be great for this project.

With the dried flowers ready, I went ahead and bought the rest of the ingredients: soap mold, a pack of essential oils and alcohol spray. Since I was doing Melt and Pour, you literally just had to cut the block of soap into cubes and melt it over a pot of hot water. It took about ten minutes to melt, but make sure to keep an eye on it and keep stirring so it won’t scald.

While the soap was melting, I stirred in lavender and lemongrass essential oils. Then I sprayed the soap molds with alcohol and drizzled in the dried hydrangea and lavender. Once the soap base was completely melted, I poured them into the soap molds and then popped them straight into the freezer for about four hours. I think I poked and prodded them at the two hour mark just to see how they were doing. They were rock hard, but you can tell they were still setting.

Four hours later, you’ve got soap that you can proudly use!

Coral Crocheted Hand Towel

By Christina Lee| February 18th, 2019|Craft Day, Crocheting, DIY Home, Handmade, Oh My Crafts!, Yarn Addict|

This crocheted hand towel is just so fun that I was inspired to make another one. It’s an easy project to bring with you when you’re on the go because the white portion of the towel is just single crochet all the way through to about 90 to 100 lines (depending how long you want to make it). I tried other patterns such as double or half double, but it just made this hand towel seem too ornate — especially with the decorative edging at the bottom.

Having made this before, I decided to buy the cotton yarn in bulk instead of two to three separate balls. It made for less clean up in the middle of the pattern — and sewing in loose ends is not one of my favorite things to do. However, the fun part of this project was choosing the accent color and just about any color goes with white. I previously made this with purple edging, so this time I went for coral, a color I thought would really pop in my bathroom.

The edging itself while it might look complicated is really simple. In fact I just made up this pattern using a combination of single and double crochet, and threw in some loops. You can really do as you please and customize the length. I thought two to three inches worked well for the overall length of this towel. If you’re unsure, you can just eye ball it to a store bought towel.

Well, how does it look? I think it makes a great addition to any bathroom. When I wash my hands, I secretly prefer to use this handmade towel over the others because it just feels luxurious.

Happy Crocheting!

The Gift-Making Holiday Rush

By Christina Lee| December 3rd, 2018|Craft Day, Crocheting, Handmade, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, Oh My Crafts!, Yarn Addict|

Well, I thought I’d get ahead of the gift-making ‘holiday rush’ when I packed several skeins of yarn and my crochet hook, and took it halfway around the world with me during the Fall season. However, when the skeins of yarn were still intact in my suitcase on my way home, I knew I was in trouble and I was in for a rude awakening during the holiday season.

Despite a busy work and travel schedule, I was able to come up with a few projects that would be creative and fun, doable in a short timeframe, and make warm and “cozy” Christmas gifts. One trip to Michaels left me grabbing skeins of yarn left and right. Since I had recently made a couple of hand towels, I stuck with yarn that was 100% cotton for its durability and absorbance. Plus, I kind of like the organic look and feel of the blue gradient and olive green blend.

Over on the left, I decided to go with the classic double crochet and on the right, I went with the Moss Stitch. While both make for great patterns, I’m going to have to say that I prefer the moss stitch because of its tension and density. The double crochet pattern is a bit too springy and I may just need to throw it into the wash, so that it shrinks down in size. Either way, they are both made with 100% love and they’re ready to be wrapped well before Christmas.

A Special Gift for a Special Friend

By Christina Lee| November 23rd, 2018|Crocheting, Handmade, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, Yarn Addict|

Obviously, celebrating friends and special occasions just gives me another reason to start a new crochet project and learn a new stitch. For my friend’s engagement shower, I thought I’d pick up one of these beautiful lavender soaps and natural bath sponges I got from a boutique store on my trip to Belgium and pair it with a handmade crocheted towel for the bathroom. I love hunting for treasures you can only find meandering the streets of a foreign city or town. Don’t ask how many of these I brought home, but I can assure you that my travel bag smelled luxurious as if I just got pampered at a day spa.

To make it extra special and semi-handmade (a tribute to Sandra Lee’s “Semi-Homemade”), I decided to crochet a purple hand towel. I was mesmerized by the Moss Stitch and its woven texture that blends a slip stitch and a single crochet. It’s a great stitch for those who are learning to crochet and it’s super quick and pretty “mindless.” One of the thing I like most is that it provides a thick texture that is durable and absorbent. I think it’s going to look great in her bathroom and give it that “handmade” feel.

Well, off to sew in the loose ends and wrap this baby up.

Craft Day: All About Finishing

By Christina Lee| September 22nd, 2018|Craft Day, Handmade, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, Knitting, Oh My Crafts!, Work Hard. Play Hard. Knit Harder., Yarn Addict|

Today’s Craft Day is all about finishing! Over the last couple of month, I’ve accumulated enough crafting supplies to last me another decade or so. I’ve got skeins of yarn pouring out of boxes, knitting needles of every size and stitch markers between the couch cushions. With all those supplies, it’s hard not to start a new project. In fact, I think I’ve started more projects than I can even count on my two hands and I don’t think I’ve finished even one. Yikes, it’s time to get cracking… starting with picking up this baby.

Sadly, I started this cable knitted scarf in January 2017 and made some good progress as I was learning a new technique. For some reason, this fell by the wayside, and sat and sat, season after season. That reason was probably because it required a fair amount of concentration to relearn how to cable knit, lots of counting and the ability to use a separate hook to do the cable knitting — all of which detracted from the usual knitting and wine drinking regimen on the couch. At least I’m being honest, right?

Nonetheless, I’m glad I picked this project back up. It’s amazing how a cable knitted pattern produces such a rich, woven texture. Paired with a thick wool-like yarn and bright colors, the braided ropes really pop. All it takes is a little bit of patience and some practice. Want to learn how to cable knit? Here is a step-by-step tutorial with visuals on how to knit a cable.

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