And the (Belated) Winner Is...

Oh my goodness! You guys, I'm so sorry! I'm late in announcing the winner of my little giveaway. So I'll get right to it... the winner is: Quilting Melodies! Horray! They will receive the very fun Reversible Apron with Lemon Embroidery.

Thank you so much to all who participated! It was a very fun giveaway even though I'm an incredible flake on posting the winner. But hey, life happens, right? I've got a few new things up my sleeve that I will try to post about as soon as I have 2 seconds to rub together. (new quilt for us and a fleece for the pup, its freaking cold outside, have you noticed?)

Anyway, hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season.

Snowed in And Feeling Crafty

It is VERY snowy here in Seattle. We Seattleites are not accustomed to such weather, but I am enjoying it immensely. I decided to take the day to catch up on some crafts I've been meaning to do. Here I will share one:

For this yoga mat bag, I used the tutorial from Bored and Crafty. I think it turned out pretty well.

I'll wait to show the other stuff because these are Christmas presents after all! Got to have some element of surprise.

How to Make Lip Balm

Making your own lip balm is surprisingly easy, provided that you have access to the proper ingredients. The recipe that was used in the batch shown in these pictures was from the book “The Soapmaker’s Companion” by Susan Miller Cavitch and it was a bit more complex (in terms of ingredients) than the following recipe (which I found on a flyer for Zenith), so I decided to include that one. Plus it sounds creamier than the one I made and creamy is always good.

Lip Balm Recipe : Makes about 10 jars
1 oz almond oil
0.5 oz cocoa butter
0.75 oz shea butter
0.5 tsp food grade essential oil (regular essential oils are not for eating)
0.75 oz beeswax

You will need to have a scale for this. But all you have to do is weigh out the ingredients, throw them in a pot on the stove over medium heat until the beeswax melts then pour them into little jars. (I got the ones shown for only $0.10 each.)

If you are in the greater Seattle area, all of these ingredients can be found at Zenith Supplies near the U District. It's definitely worth a visit. I freakin LOVE that store. If you are farther away, perhaps you could dial in to your local crafting community to find a source or else find a trustworthy store online. I’ve never bought these things online so I don’t have any to recommend.

H&H Holiday Giveaway Day!

Who doesn't want something for free? H&H is happy to give away some delicious smelling and seriously lathering bar soaps (made by H&H) as well as a handmade soap mold made by my very talented, carpentry-inclined stepfather especially for this giveaway. AND later this week (hopefully) there will be a soapmaking tutorial posted on this blog. So, the winner will be able to exercise their brand new mold!


All you gotta do is leave a comment. Points for cleverness. Well, not really, as the winner will be chosen at random, but it would be more interesting that way. Please include some form of contact information so that we can let you know if you've won. You only have until tonight at midnight (PST), the winner will be announced tomorrow. (Unfortunately we won't be shipping outside of the US. Sorry to those in far off lands!) So good luck, and I would say spread the word but that would narrow your chances. So maybe wait until tomorrow and then spread the word... though that could be viewed as pointless. Well...nevermind.

If you want to see if there are other giveaways you can win see Sew, Mama, Sew!

Crafty Gift Idea # 6 - Homemade Bath Salts

You will almost feel stupid when you learn about the simplicity of making bath salts. You will be like, "Why, oh why have I ever purchased bath salts? I could have made them myself all this time! I've been tricked... nay, swindled! I will never spend money on conventional bath salts ever again!"

Well, that might not be your reaction, but that's pretty much what I said.

So here's how you do it:

1) Get some sea salt (nothing fancy, but make sure its sea salt, I'm not sure how well table salt would work.)



2) Add a few drop of your favorite essential oils* to taste. (Lavender is a good if you want a calming bath, and citrus-y ones like sweet orange or lemon are good for an invigorating bath.)


3) Shake it up and...you guessed it... Bath salts.


You can add other things to it as well, such as toasted kombu if you happen to have it, but really what is listed here works just fine. It's so effortless, I almost feel ashamed giving it away as a gift. Well, almost.

*Essential oils are readily available at most health food stores. I find it very useful to have several kinds on hand for around the house projects, such as soapmaking and natural home cleaners.

Crafty Gift Idea # 5 - Denim Laptop Snuggly

I was catching up on the Sew Mama Sew blog today and came across a post about gifts for college students. They had a pattern for a laptop cozy. And when I saw it, I remembered that back in my college days I made something similar that was also really easy (though this idea requires sewing whereas the one from Design*Sponge did not.)

If you have an old pair of jeans that you wouldn't mind parting with or perhaps you were thinking about making them into cut offs. You could make this. Don't ask me how I happened to find out that my trusty ibook fit into the leg of my pants, but it did. Making it a five minute job. And I ripped off the pocket and added that too. An easy gift for the college student or the business traveler in your life.

Crafty Gift Idea # 4 - Homemade Vanilla Extract

Believe it or not, but vanilla extract is unbelievably easy to make! And it is a great gift for the bakers in your life. All you gotta do is get a few vanilla beans (I use about 8 beans for 4 oz of extract), put them in a small jar and fill it with vodka or bourbon. Wait about a month, maybe swirl it around every few days, and it should be ready. As you use the vanilla, you can fill it with more alcohol. Or if you need a vanilla bean for a dessert, you can pluck one out and use the seeds. If you keep adding more alcohol and beans as you use them, you will have extract for years.

And if you happen to have extra vanilla beans, you can actually make vanilla sugar in much the same way. Take a bean, some sugar, put together in an airtight jar. Wait a couple weeks, remove bean, presto! Vanilla sugar. So simple.

Crafty Gift Idea # 3 - Soapmaking Mold

A couple months ago I took a beginner soap making class and my teacher had a mold that she made from a single plank of wood that was 3" x 1/2" and I thought, "I can do that."

So I did. Went to Home Depot, bought a plank of wood, and cut it up into 5 pieces: 3 - two foot pieces and 2 - six inch pieces. Then I screwed them together, not particularly neatly as I was lacking a drill, but good enough. I filled in the gaps with wood glue, but you don't really need to since you have to put down parchment paper in the mold before you pour the soap in, making small gaps irrelevant. And as an added bonus I just so happened to have a wood burner so I could make pretty designs like this:

The total cost of this project was about 6 bucks (not including the wood burner and screws) and its a great tool for soap making. So if you have even minimal woodworking skills, this is a great gift for any soapmaker or wannabe soapmaker in your life. If you have more advanced woodworking skills and tools, you can make it so the pieces lock together without screws, but its not necessary.

Crafty Gift Idea # 2 - Oven Caramel Corn

Oven caramel corn is a quick, inexpensive, and simple gift to make people for stocking stuffers or hostess gifts during the holidays. Presenting it in cellophane bags gives it a Martha-y touch. Anyway, here's the recipe. Very tasty. Adapted from Betty Crocker.

Oven Caramel Corn
makes about 17 cups

15 c popped popcorn
2 c peanuts or walnuts or almonds or pecans (or a mix if you like)
1 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c butter
1/4 light corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Heat oven to 200 degrees.

Place popcorn and nuts in a very large bowl or roasting pan, or 2 ungreased lasagna pans.

Heat brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until bubbly around the edges. Continue cooking 5 minutes without stirring, remove from heat. Add baking soda and stir until foamy.

Pour sugar mixture over popcorn & nuts. Toss until coated evenly.

Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Take out, spread across foil on counter top to let cool. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate with a bit of vegetable oil and drizzle evenly over popcorn.

Store in airtight containers or give away fresh.

I skipped the chocolate for this one, but it still turned out pretty good.

Crafty Gift Idea # 1 - Spice Mixes

The holidays are looming and if you plan on making your own gifts this year you better get a move on. One good idea for the cooks in your life is to give homemade spice blends and rubs. Here are a couple great recipes I've found in 'Herb Mixtures & Spicy Blends' by Maggie Oster:

All Purpose Blend
makes 2 1/3 cups

5 Tb dried parsley
3 Tb dried oregano
2 1/2 Tb paprika
2 Tb celery seeds (ground)
2 tsp chile pepper flakes
2 Tb mustard seed (ground)
1 Tb marjoram
3 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp chili powder

Mexican Spices Mix
makes: about 2/3 cup

1/4 c dried onion flakes
4 tsp cornstarch
4 Tb chili powder
3 tsp cumin seeds
3 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp hot pepper flakes
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 Tb kosher salt

Spicy Jamaican Blend
makes: 1/2 cup

6 Tb ground allspice
3 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt (optional)
Lemon zest adds a nice flavor to a dish with these spices, but obviously wouldn't work as a gift in a jar.

You can layer the ingredients in a small glass jar for a nice presentation. Or throw this all in a food processor or a coffee grinder for a finer mix. For more of a punch with these mixes its best to buy ingredients whole such as dried chili peppers (like ancho or chipotle) and toast them in the oven or in a dry frying pan until fragrant. Pull off the stem and throw out the seeds. Next, throw them into your food processor (or a designated coffee grinder is actually better) This works great for cumin seeds too. They will stay fresh and potent for longer than buying powdered spices from the store.

Local Seattle resources for bulk spices:
World Spice Market on Western just West of Pike Market
Madison Market on 16th and Madison in Capitol Hill