Crochet Apple (cd) Coaster

I really like crocheting coasters,  but I've gotten a little tired of my usual pattern.  Here is the next project I am going to try.  I'll post pictures when I've finished it.

Christmas Coasters

I love to crochet!!!  I've been teaching myself to knit over the last several months, but when I want to something easy and fun I gravitate back to crochet.

These are some coasters I have made for Christmas.  Last year I made some in sunflower colors and gave them to my sister as a gift.  They can be done in any color and for any season; mine just happen to be Christmasy.  Sorry for the poor quality of the first picture.  I'm not quite sure what went wrong.

Baby Rag Quilt

Recently, my sister and I got together to make a baby rag quilt.   I've made a few before so this wasn't a brand new experience but I still made quite a few mistakes.  When making a rag quilt, the seams have to be  sewn so they show rather than sewn so they are hidden.  This goes against everything that's "normal" to me, so needless to say, the seam ripper got a bit of a workout. The finished product came out really pretty.  We used two complimentary flannel fabrics on the front and a different flannel on the back.  We cut all the pieces into 12 1/2 " squares and stitched them together with a 1/4" seam allowance.  Then we clipped all around the entire quilt (every! single! square!)

Turkey Craft

For the Thanksgiving table centerpiece, we made a fruit, veggie, and cheese turkey.  The kids had a blast and it looks great.  We used a cantalope for the body, a pear for the head, and grapes, cheese, and bell pepper for the feathers.  The feet are also made from red bell peppers.  Just put it all together with skewers and toothpicks.  It's not even a messy craft!

Homemade Fire Starters

We really enjoy having a fire in the fireplace whenever it gets cold enough.  Over the years, we have tried several different kinds of fire starters, without much satisfaction.  Finally, out of desperation, we decided to make our own.  Here's how we did it:

Supplies:
*pine cones
*muffin tin
*melted wax
*uncoated wick
*spray glue
*salt, salt substitute, alum, epsom salts, borax (for different colored flames)


Cut wick about twice as long as the bottom of the pine cones.  Place it in the center of each muffin cup.  Pour a little bit of melted wax over the wick in the muffin tin, maybe 1/4 of the way up.  Straighten out the wick.  Place a pine cone in each muffin cup.  After about a half an hour the wax should be hard enough to pop out of the tins.  If the wax separates from the pine cone, add a little more wax and let it harden a little longer.  Trim the wicks.

Place pine cones on several thicknesses of newspaper.  Spray with glue, one at a time and sprinkle with one of the salts or other chemicals.  Use only one chemical per pine cone.  Let dry. Use in your fire as a fire starter.  Light the ends of the wicks and it will slowly burn.

Here is a picture of a gift basket we put together using our homemade soap, candles, and our homemade fire starters.

New Skirt

Katie and I made this skirt last Friday.  I'm not the handiest with a sewing machine, but this was really quite simple.  No zippers or buttons, but we did manage to twist the elastic, so it wasn't mistake-free.  But it was a very quick project and when all was said and done,  it turned out all right.

Glow Lamps

Today, me and the girls made beeswax glow lamps. We were rather nervous. We melted three pounds of beeswax in the crockpot. Then we filled balloons with water and dipped them individually into the melted wax. We let them cool, flattened the bottoms, and then dipped them again. Fifteen times per balloon. Finally, when we thought they were thick enough, we broke the balloons and dried out the lamps.

With the extra beeswax, we made little tealight candles to put into the glow lamps. They look so pretty all lit up! I can't believe how much fun we're having with this stuff. It's so nice to have something useful to do that makes us feel good, isn't it. It seems like the world's gone crazy and I personally need something normal and rustic to bring me back to a place of sanity and simplicity.

Candles and Soap

As you might remember from an earlier post, I decided to tackle the art of soap making. I am very pleased at the way my bar soap is curing, but today I felt the need for instant gratification. So... glycerin soap to the rescue. Glycerin soap is very easy to work with and it requires no curing time. You just cut, melt, scent, color, pour, and wait. As soon as they harden in the molds, remove them and let them sit out until they are completely hard. Then they are ready to use. It's as simple as that.

I probably should have started with glycerin soap rather than lye soap, but it all worked out in the end. I now have so many ideas tumbling around in my head about different kinds of decorative soaps! I'm having such fun.

Here a some pictures of my glycerin soaps in the molds and drying on newspaper after I popped them out.




I also started making candles today. I used paraffin wax with stearic acid mixed in. I used Christmas and Autumn molds because that's what I had on hand. Tomorrow I am going to try making beeswax glow lamps. I'll let you know how that works out. Let's just say, it involves water balloons and very hot wax. Scary!

Here are the candles I made today. When I took the pictures, I hadn't trimmed the wicks yet, so bear with me.

Homemade Soap

I have wanted to learn how to make soap for quite some time now, but I was afraid. I was very intimidated by using lye. Justifiable so. My first batch was a goner before it even had a chance to be soap. When the instructions say to use a very large pot and to pour the lye very slowly into the liquid, it means it. I underestimated how big of a pot I would need and I poured the lye into the goats milk much too quickly. What a mess!!! The mixture looked like a chemistry experiment gone very, very bad. Fortunately, I was doing this outside on the porch and not in my kitchen. The goat milk/lye mixture bubbled over the top of the pan and went all over the porch. It even got into my vines and plants (they died instantly and didn't even suffer).

I was tempted to kiss away the idea of even making soap, but I had an audience. My children were watching and helping so I couldn't give up. So....we tried again. This time we used a BIG pot and poured the lye very SLOWLY into the liquid. The difference was amazing. I think I will even be willing to do this again. Not only have I learned how to make soap,, but I've learned that I need to follow instructions very carefully when I am a complete novice about a subject.

Knitting

I'm trying to teach myself to knit. I've been crocheting since I was a child, but knitting has always intimidated me. So, I decided to go for it. I went to Walmart and bought myself one of those "I can't believe I'm knitting" magazines and got started. The illustrations confused me but I kept trying. Soon I had made a very small square. Then another one. Then another one. I made several practice squares before I was confident enough to try something bigger. I moved on to a scarf. I messed up the first one pretty badly, so T has a slightly crooked doll blanket for her dolly. I moved on to another scarf and this time I was more careful with my stitches. As of right now, I have finished two scarves and I am almost done with a third. Now, if I could only learn more than one stitch!