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DIY Polymer Clay Rose Earrings

Stroll though just about any craft fair these days and you’re sure to see a table (or three) of earrings made from sculpted polymer clay. I found a pair at the local farmers market a few months back and fell in love with them. What I didn’t love was the pricetag!

After a little time on Pinterest I was able to piece together how these are made. Specifically I was browsing Fab DIY’s tutorial and learned the technique there. Here is that page: http://www.fabdiy.com/easy-clay-rose-beads/

I didn’t want to make clay beads, though, as I had my heart set on studs.

Here are the materials you need for this tutorial:

  • Polymer clay (I use Sculpey brand) in any color
  • Acrylic paint (if you want to paint your clay)
  • Sculpey gloss
  • Paintbrush
  • Earring post and back
  • E-6000 craft glue
  • Glass baking dish
  • Oven set to 275 degrees
  • Sculpting tools are optional
  • Knife
  • Clean, flat surface for rolling clay

I picked up a beautiful marble tray at Winners for $20 knowing that it would be perfect for working with clay. I purchased white Sculpey as well as a variety pack of colors, and some of their glittery colors at Michaels. I also bought the gloss and sculpting tools there.

To start you will cut off a block of Sculpey and soften it gently with your hands. Roll it out into a log.

Take a sculpting tool or a knife and start cutting small sections from the log.

Next you want to take each section and roll it into a small ball.

Next you will flatten each ball into a disc, keeping the edges of the disc thin and kind of flimsy, but not too flimsy as the clay will tear. You can either flatten it on your working surface or just between your fingers. You might find the clay sticks to the working surface so you will want to gently pry each one up off the board with your knife. If you are flattening between your fingers and it sticks to your skin, wash your hands with soap and water and it should help.

Next you can take a pointy sculpting tool (or you could use a toothpick) to begin wrapping your first disc, which will form the centre of your rose.

From here you will begin adding petals to the rose. You can either leave the rose on the tool or you can remove it, whichever is easier for you.

You will keep working in a circular pattern, adding petals to the rose. Typically I use about 9-10 petals per rose, but if I’m doing a mini rose (child-size) I may stick to 4-5 petals.

Once you’ve added all of the petals and are happy with the overall size, you will want to gently shape the rose so it has a round shape. Hold the rose between your fingers and gently shape it. The key is to NOT press on the petals directly as you will collapse them and ruin the design. You are gently kind of rolling the section of clay behind the petals to smooth it out.

If you notice one rose looks a little larger than the other it’s not a big deal, but to even it out you can simply squeeze the petals a little. Alternately you can add a petal or two to the smaller rose.

The clay becomes very soft as you work with it as it’s warmed by your hands. So once the rose is formed I like to set it aside for 15 minutes or so to let it cool down and get its firmness back. It makes the next step much cleaner.

You will want to cut off the back of the rose now as you don’t want your earring to be really thick.

Cut as straight as you can. Try not to crush the rose as you do this. If you notice the rose seems to collapse a little, you can gently squeeze around the perimeter and hopefully restore the shape.

Once you trim your roses you will place them in a glass baking dish in preparation for baking. Take the remnants of clay and place back in the package for use later.

Pay special attention to the baking instructions for your specific clay. I noticed my natural Sculpey needs to bake for 15 mins at 275 per 6mm (thickness), but the colored Sculpey needs to bake twice as long.

Once your earrings are baked you can leave them in the dish and let them cool down. If you’ve used natural Sculpey you may want to paint your earrings with acrylic paint. If you’re using a light colored paint you may just need 1 coat, but for darker hues you will need 2-3 coats.

Once your earring is finished baking/drying, you will seal it with Sculpey glaze. You don’t need to glaze the flat side (the side you cut) as you will be attaching the earring post. So just glaze the petals and centre of the rose.

The glaze needs to dry for 24 hours, but in the meantime you can attach the post about 30 minutes after applying the glaze and let it all dry at once.

To attach the post you will make sure the flat surface is clear of any dust or debris, then use a small dab of E6000 glue. Lay the earring back in place and let dry on a flat surface.

24 hours later you have a beautiful pair of earrings ready to wear!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial. These make adorable gifts and a small pack of Sculpey makes a  LOT of earrings.

Happy Monday!

Heather

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DIY High Chair Banner

There’s something SO adorable about a little baby sitting in a high chair munching on cake. Of course the trend these days is to dress up that high chair with a banner or a garland.

For Connor’s monster themed party I decided to do a really fun high chair banner. I headed to Fabricville and hit up the sale rack, scoring a great deal on some really adorable printed cottons. I also picked up some inexpensive broadcloth in complementary colors.

Here are the materials needed for this tutorial:

  • 2.5 metres (total) of cotton and/or broadcloth
  • 1/4 metre of fabric for hanging banner
  • 1/4 metre of fabric for back of hanging banner (optional)
  • Scraps of fabric (cotton, broadcloth, felt, denim) for applique on banner
  • 6ft piece of twine
  • Pinking shears
  • Scissors
  • Heat N’Bond Lite (for applique on banner)

If you just want to make a garland (without the hanging banner in the centre) you don’t need the Heat N’Bond Lite, scraps of fabric, or either of the 1/4 metres of fabric.

To start I strung a piece of twine (roughly 7-8ft long, which is way longer than it needed to be) and tied each end to handles on my cabinets. This will make it easier to loop the cotton pieces.

First you should iron all of your fabric. I forgot to do this somehow and ended up ironing each piece of fabric individually. Hello, time waster!

Once your fabric is ironed you will cut strips of fabric 3 inches wide by 42 inches long. If you have a rotary cutter, ruler and cutting mat this is a breeze. But it can easily be done with scissors as well. It doesn’t have to be exact. I did more of the fun prints and fewer of the solids.

Cut 28 strips in total.

Once all of your strips are cut, fold each piece lengthwise and cut the ends with pinking shears. Here are a few options for the ends:

  • Cut straight across
  • Cut on a diagonal
  • Fold fabric in half and cut a diagonal, making a V shape once the fabric is opened up again (pictured)

If you’re making a hanging banner you will want to cut out two pieces of fabric (from your 1/4 metre pieces) that will be 17 inches long by 9 inches wide. Iron these pieces of fabric and set aside.

Take your scraps of fabric and attach to the Heat N’Bond Lite per the instructions on the package. Take a look at the fabric and decide how large you want the applique design. In the appropriate size, cut out the numbers, shapes, letters, etc that you want on your banner. I did the number “1” and the monster freehand but you can certainly trace something if you’re more comfortable.

Place both pieces of 9X17 fabric together, right sides facing out, and turn down one of the short ends (one of the the 9 inch ends) about 1/2 an inch. Press. Turn down again and press. Using a straight stitch, stitch along the first folded edge to form a pocket for the twine to go through.

Next you will want to attach the applique designs to your hanging banner per the instructions on the Heat N’Bond Lite. Always make sure you are turning off the steam setting when using applique paper.

Once the design is placed and pressed on, you are ready to applique. I have a Janome Horizon Memory Craft 8200 sewing machine and I use stitch number 39 for applique.

Separate the two layers of the hanging banner. You want to applique only the front piece, as the back piece will later get attached to hide all of the threads and make the project look neater.

Stitch along the outer edge of all applique pieces using either a contrasting thread or a matching thread.

Place both 9X17 pieces of fabric together. The bottom edge can be left straight or you can repeat the “V” pattern that I did on the bottom edge of the cotton pieces.

Next I did a zigzag stitch along the perimeter of the banner, stitching the front and back pieces together. I did not stitch over the ends of the pocket where the twine will thread through.

Once the perimeter is stitched, I used my pinking shears to clip the edges, just for texture.

String the twine through the pocket of the banner. If you are having difficulty with this, I recommend wrapping the twine around one side of a safety pin a few times, then threading the safety pin through the pocket.

Centre the banner along the twine.

You are now ready to string on all of those beautiful pieces of cotton and/or broadcloth! This is my favorite part.

You will use the same technique for this project as you would from my DIY Tutu tutorial. If you go to this video you will get an excellent demonstration of the looping technique at about 3mins 30secs.

Continue looping evenly on either side of the hanging banner. I made each side a mirror image of the other, but you can do it more randomly.

Once you’ve added in all of your pieces, you are done! Your high chair is ready to party!

This is such an easy project, especially if you are simply making a garland and skipping the hanging banner in the centre. You can use any color combination you like.

Thanks for checking out my post! Happy Monday!

Heather

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Cake Smash Photo Set-Up

Last weekend we had the great pleasure of working with my darling SIL on our sons 1st birthday photos. We had a LOT of ideas and it was difficult to narrow down exactly what we were going to do. I searched and searched for the perfect colors and accessories for his shoot, and the result was perfect.

My son is fair skinned like his mama so I knew I wanted a really colorful setting to really bring his photos to life. I started with the backdrop color, which was a dark, indigo blue. Next I needed gold and blue accents. I ordered blue and gold tissue flowers from a seller on eBay, but I was sad to learn that only about half of them would show up, so I sent Hubby out to pick up some tissue paper and I got snipping. Here’s an excellent tutorial by Hey Let’s Make Stuff on how to DIY tissue flowers.

Next I needed a tassel banner for the backdrop, which I knew would be primarily gold tissue but I wanted to throw in some dark fabric accents. (Side note: If you haven’t already, please check out my post on the Diaper Cover.)

I ordered the gold tissue tassels from eBay as well, though they are terribly easy to DIY if you need these in a hurry. Here’s an excellent tutorial for tissue tassels by Pizzazzerie. I decided to add pieces of the multicolored, patterned cotton, as well as the midnight blue broadcloth that I used for the lining. I also had some blue confetti print cotton (from the first iteration of the diaper cover) and decided to put that in there as well.

A few helium balloons and gold stars later, we were ready to go!

The cake was lovingly baked and decorated by my MIL, and the photo was taken (and is being used with permission) by my SIL at J.MacPherson Photography.

I had a ton of fun finding everything I needed to bring this to life. The banner was a super quick DIY and coordinated perfectly with his diaper cover.

Thanks for checking out my post!

Heather

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DIY Tote Bag

I love bags. Whether it’s a sequined clutch, a slouchy hobo, a leather crossbody, a backpack, or simply a reusable shopping bag, there’s never been a point when I’ve told myself, “You don’t need another bag.”

As you may know, I have a bit of a ridiculous fabric stash right now that I’m attempting to reduce. Today’s project is made entirely from my stash. I have chosen a buttery soft faux leather as well as a polka dot canvas fabric.

As fabrics come in different widths, I am assuming the narrowest width for the measurements listed here.

Materials:

  • 0.9m fabric for exterior (slightly more if using more than one fabric, to account for seam allowance)
  • 0.9m fabric for lining
  • thread
  • pins
  • clips (if using a delicate fabric like faux leather)
  • scissors

As with any project, I always begin by pressing my fabric to smooth out all of the wrinkles. If you’re using a faux leather (or similar) fabric, I recommend testing with a low heat setting to ensure you don’t scorch your fabric. You can gradually make the iron hotter if your fabric will tolerate it. I also ironed it on the wrong side of the fabric.

For this tutorial I am using 4 different fabrics so I am calling the polkadots “Fabric A”, the faux leather “Fabric B”, the turquoise lining “Fabric C”, and the elephant canvas “Fabric “D”

Here is a list of the pieces you will need to cut:

  • Fabric A: two pieces 16″(w) X 10″(h)
  • Fabric B: two pieces 16″ (w) X 7″ (h)
  • Fabric C: two pieces 16″ X 16″
  • Pocket: Fabric D (A or B work as well): one piece 8×5″ (h) X 5″ (w)
  • Any fabric (for the straps): two pieces 33″ X 4″

If you want a larger or smaller pocket you can adjust as needed.

This tool from Clover is a must-have for me. I use it for seam allowances, so you just fold fabric over the ruler and press with a hot iron. It saves a ton of time when I’m turning up a straight hem of, say, an apron.

I folded in a 1/2″ seam allowance all the way around the pocket. For one long side I folded it down a second time (a full inch this time). I stitched along this long edge.

To place the pocket close to the top of the bag, I came down 4 inches from the top, and centered the pocket. You can place this anywhere you would find useful. You can make the pocket bigger or smaller, or do multiple pockets. I wanted a pocket that would hold my phone or my car keys for easy reach. Make sure you’re placing the pocket on the right side of the fabric.

To attach the pocket I stitched close to the folded edge, but I also used a zigzag stitch to prevent fraying.

Now you’re ready to attach the exterior of the tote. You will place Fabric A and Fabric B with right sides together. If you’re using a print that needs to be oriented a certain way (so the print isn’t upside down), pay special attention to that as you pin. Since I’m using faux leather I decided to use clips instead of pins. Clips are gentle enough that they don’t mark your fabric (though always test first on an inconspicuous part of the fabric to be sure) and they are easy to remove as you sew.

The clips I use are mostly bought on Amazon.ca and are various sizes. If you search for “wonder clips” you should see lots of options there.

Stitch along the seam with a 1/2″ seam allowance. Repeat for the other side. Because I was using canvas on the outside of this bag, and canvas tends to fray quite easily, I decided to serge the sewn edges here.

After serging, I pressed the seam upwards and stitched close to the seam. The faux leather is a bit bulky and won’t stay in place simply by pressing with an iron, so to keep it flat I added this step. Also, the topstitching looks really nice and gives the bag a finished look.

Now you will stitch the lining together, with right sides together. No serging required for this fabric.

Here is the trickiest part of the bag (and it’s really not all that tricky): you will want to pinch each of the corners of the bag (liner and outer shell) so the seams are together and the corners form a point. Move in from the outer point about 1.5 inches and sew straight across. You will do this for all 4 corners (the two shell corners, the two lining corners). You can trim the tip off the edge as well once you’re done sewing.

This is what the corners look like once they are completed.

Here are the two pieces completed with corners snipped.

Now you can finish constructing your bag. Start by putting the lining inside of the shell, with wrong sides together. So you will turn your lining wrong side out and place inside the shell.

You may notice the lining is a little longer than the shell, so I just use my rotary cutter and take off the excess. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

Next you will form the straps of the bag. There are two methods but my favorite is to simply fold the fabric (right side out) in half longways, press with an iron, then fold in each end a second time. Stitch along the folded edge. Another option is to fold the fabric in half lengthwise with wrong sides together, stitch, and then turn the tube right side out and press flat.  I knew this would not work for the faux leather, though, because ironing doesn’t seem to want to flatten the fabric.

This is the outer edge of the strap that I’ve stitched.

This is a view of the strap once it’s completed.

To finish the bag you want to fold down your lining fabric and the shell fabric just 1/2″ or more, to form a clean edge along the top of the bag. One you’ve folded down both, pinning along the way, you can add in your straps before stitching. I placed the straps in about 2.5″ from each side seam.

If folding down the fabric doesn’t happen nicely for you, you can turn the bag inside out and stitch along the edge (folding the straps down into the bag this time instead, to account for it being inside out), leaving a 4 inch gap in your stitching. Then turn the bag right side out and press the seam flat. Topstitch along the edge, which will close the gap you’ve left. I prefer the other method as long as the fabric folds nicely. If I was using faux leather for this seam I would have to use the second method as, again, ironing doesn’t seem to work on this fabric.

Stitch along the folded edge and you’re all done!

You can dress this bag up by adding a tassel or some decorative buttons. I will be doing a blog post (hopefully before too long) on a more decorative tote bag. I may even add in a zipper!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial. Happy sewing!

Heather

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80s Throwback – Scrunchies!

For as long as I can remember, crafting has been one of my greatest passions in life. I love creating, customizing, and dreaming up new projects and bringing them to life.

When I was just 4 years old my amazing mama taught me how to sew. She would do the cutting, of course, and she would sit with me while I used her Singer sewing machine, but with her passion (and patience!!!)  she taught me to make small things like pillows and blankets for my Barbies. The first project I ever did, though, was a hair scrunchie. I made a million of them and I wore them proudly.

Lately I’ve been seeing scrunchies popping up all over the place, including Lululemon. I guess they really are making a comeback! I am still hooked on the Invisibobbles but scrunchies really are a cute accessory.

Last night I found some cute fabric in my stash and decided to put it to good use. This tutorial includes measurements for a small scrunchie and a regular scrunchie. Small might be best for people with thin hair (or for children). This project shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes once you master turning this thing right-side out.

Materials needed:

  • Scraps of fabric (cotton, lightweight denim, etc)
  • 1/4 inch wide elastic
  • Safety pin

To start you can cut a piece of fabric 3 inches wide by 9 inches long (for a small scrunchie), or 3 inches wide by 16 inches long (for a regular scrunchie).

Fold your fabric lengthwise with right sides (printed sides) together. Stitch the long edge with a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Turn the tube of fabric right-side out. I’d tried a few techniques for turning fabric and I’d never found a really easy way until I saw this YouTube tutorial:

Next take your elastic and put a safety pin through one end, and close it up. In the other end you can put a stick pin or another safety pin. This needed should be big enough that it kind of acts as a holder at the end of the tube – it sits lengthwise across the bottom of the tube so the elastic doesn’t pull through.

Once both ends of elastic are visible you want to stitch them together, with about a 1 inch overlap. If you’re machine stitching I would use a zigzag stitch.

Next you want to close up the ends of the tube. So you will feed one end into the other, and then on the raw edge of fabric you want to tuck it under so no raw edge is visible. It should only be about a 1/4 inch tuck.

You can sew the end of the tube by hand or with your machine. I use my machine for this part. Sew directly across the opening. You’re done!

If you want a fuller scrunchie you can add 1 inch to the width of the fabric (instead of 3 inches, go with 4) and it will do the trick.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial! While writing this I have the sudden urge to throw on some neon clothes and watch Full House. Weren’t the 80s just the best?!

Heather

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Diaper Cover

With my baby turning 1 year old this month (sniff!!) I am preparing for all things birthday! More to come on his birthday party (in an upcoming post!) but today I am making a diaper cover (or 2) for his cake smash photos.

Thankfully my sister-in-law is a very talented photographer (J.MacPherson Photography….check her out!) and always allows lots of time for Connor’s photos, so we have the opportunity to do outfit changes, which is good because I am usually very indecisive over what he will wear.

I picked up fabric and a pattern our local Fabricville. The pattern is Kwik Sew (K0102) by Ellie Mae Designs. There are tons and tons of free diaper cover patterns online but I was out shopping anyhow so decided to pick this one up.

Connor is tall but slender, so I looked at the size chart and went with the XL which is said to be a 12-18m. I made the first diaper cover and felt it was a little snug on him, particularly the elastic around the legs and the waist. So the second time I made it I added an inch to the elastic measurements (legs and waist) and it was a much better fit.

This diaper cover is intended to be made from cotton or broadcloth. In both iterations I used a printed cotton on the outside and a coordinating broadcloth for the liner. In hindsight I didn’t really need a lined diaper cover since it’s only going to be for a photoshoot, but I digress.

At first glance I was extremely pleased to see that you only need to cut out two pattern pieces for this project. You do two piece of your main fabric, two pieces of your liner. You will also cut 3 pieces of elastic.

This diaper cover took me about an hour to make, which was more time than expected. A couple of times throughout the pattern you have to turn the entire diaper cover inside-out or right side-out, plus you’re making casing for the elastic, stitching ends of elastic together, etc. Nothing difficult, but these things take a little time.

The result of that time and effort, though, is adorable. Here is the first cover I made:

And here’s the second iteration, with a little extra elastic for comfort:

I have another fabric to test out as well before I really decide which one I like best for the cake smash. These are so fun to make I have a feeling he will have an assortment of these for warm summer days this summer!

Overall I feel as though this pattern is well written. It’s a Kwik Sew but I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a beginner pattern. I did feel like I had to re-read the instructions a few times to get the hang of it. After the first diaper cover, though, it was a breeze.

The pattern allows you to add ruffles or applique on the back, however I went for a plain version.

I will be testing out a free, unlined diaper cover pattern in the coming days, which I will also share with you.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s post!

Heather

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Baby Sun Hat

I have always wanted to make adorable baby hats. Babies wear hats all year long – fuzzy hats, wool hats, fleece hats, baseball hats, bucket hats, you name it! Hats keep their little heads warm but also protect them from the harmful effects of the sun.

This week I found a pattern that I will share my review of today. It’s Kwik Sew 3989 and it’s a really darling little hat. This hat can be made plain or with one of 4 flowers (pattern included). I decided to do plain because I was using a rather lively patterned fabric.

This hat took me about 40 minutes to make. In sewing terms, that’s “kwik” indeed! I love the hat pattern.

I made this in size L (the largest size, unfortunately) because it’s a gift for Connor’s friend who is turning 1 this week! Happy Birthday, Brooke!

I did lengthen the chin strap as well. It’s adjustable because it has a velcro closure, so you could also make it a little more snug. If the strap is too snug it may be uncomfortable for the baby or the Velcro may irritate their delicate skin.

My model today is a coffee tin.

This pattern was  easy and quick. The instructions were extremely easy to follow and I was able to make a second hat a little quicker than the first.

For this pattern you need 0.8 metres of fabric (0.5 metres for hat, 0.3 metres for lining), with 0.4 metres of interfacing, plus a very small piece of Velcro. If you’re an avid sewist there’s an excellent chance you can make this hat from scraps in your stash.

I will remake this hat soon in a more neutral print, and *possibly* do a couple for my son.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this pattern review. Happy Sunday!

Heather

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DIY Bath Bombs

Just over a year ago I was preparing for my baby shower. Where does the time go?! My little boy will be 1 at the end of April. He’s aged one year, I’ve aged 5 years. My husband never ages.

Anyhow, I wanted to make something special as take-aways for my guests. I decided to make bath bombs and had 60 guests attending, so I ordered some of my supplies in bulk online, and picked up the rest at the local Bulk Barn.

I tried out a few different recipes before tweaking them and finding what worked best for me. This recipe, therefore, is a compilation of a bunch of other recipes. I’ve read (what feels like) a hundred bath bomb recipes so you don’t have to. You’re welcome!

Last night I hosted a bath bomb making party for a group of amazing Mom friends, so we snapped a few photos along the way (thanks, Tash!) in preparation for this post. Somehow we stopped goofing around long enough to get 7 batches of these made.

Materials:

  • Citric acid (I use Milliard brand found on Amazon)
  • Coconut oil
  • Baking soda
  • Cornstarch
  • Epsom salt (regular or scented work fine)
  • Essential oil (just one or mix a few together!)
  • Soap colouring (optional)
  • Metal mixing bowl
  • Bath bomb mold (more options described below)
  • Spatula
  • Measuring cup
  • Baking sheet for drying

When I started making these bath bombs I used our food processor to mix the ingredients, but I don’t do that anymore. Sure, it left a beautiful vanilla lavender scent in the bowl, but that’s only beautiful until you  make salsa….yuck!

Since then I’ve decided a metal mixing bowl is the way to go!

Here’s the recipe:

  • 1C citric acid
  • 1C baking soda
  • 1/2C coconut oil
  • 1/4C Epsom salts
  • 1/4C cornstarch
  • 8 drops of essential oil (if you’re using more than 1 oil, still use 8 drops total)
  • 10 drops of soap colouring (optional)

Start by melting the coconut oil in the microwave or in a saucepan. Once it’s melted, add your essential oil and soap colouring. Stir.

In a separate bowl, combine all of your dry ingredients.

Slowly add your wet mixture to the dry mixture, stirring as you go. If you see a lot of fizzing , you’re pouring too fast. Citric acid is the ingredient that creates the fizz, and it only fizzes once, so don’t let that be wasted in your mixing bowl.

Once the ingredients are combined you are ready to form your bombs! Bath bomb molds come in many sizes and shapes. You can actually make bath bombs without a mold at all. Some people use ice cube trays, some use fillable Christmas bulbs, and I once actually just pressed mixture together in my hands as if I were making a snowball and it worked totally fine.

To fill your bath bomb mold, scoop mixture into each half of the mold, and press the halves together firmly. Ideally you want the mold a little overfilled so the mixture packs in the mold firmly.

At this stage you  may notice your mixture is too wet or too dry, both of which is completely fixable. If your mixture is too wet it will kind of “plop” out of the mold and turn into a wet puddle. If it’s too dry the halves won’t adhere to one another and you will get crumbling.

If your mixture is too wet, add small amounts of cornstarch (about a teaspoon at a time) until you get the right consistency. If your mixture is too dry, add a few drops of coconut oil. Typically there’s a bit left in the measuring cup after you’ve poured from it, so I just go back to that and it usually solves the problem.

Once the two halves of the bath bomb mold are stuck together, I gently twist each half in the opposite direction, back and forth a few times, until the mold kind of starts to lift away easily.

Your bath bomb should be pretty firm, but you want to handle with care. Lay the bomb gently on your cookie sheet and leave it to dry.

You will repeat this process until all of your mixture is gone. I typically get 6 medium sized bath bombs out of a batch, and have enough left over for 1 small bath bomb. You can also opt for the large size but this recipe will likely only give you 3 large, along with a medium or a small. I use these bath bombs regularly and feel the medium size is perfect.

Bath bombs should dry overnight (at minimum) before you take them off the cookie sheet. I try to leave mine for 48 hours before moving them. As these dry the scent of the essential oil will permeate the space, so you may want to put them out of the kitchen or eating area for the time being.

If you are giving these as a gift, or putting them in a decorative basket in your guest bathroom, there are a few ways to get a little creative with them! Here are a couple of options:

  • Make two-toned bath bombs! Before adding soap colouring to the coconut oil and essential oil mixture, separate into two cups. Add colouring to one cup and leave the other cup clear. Separate your dry mixture so you essentially have a white mixture and a coloured mixture. When you go to fill your mold, take half from the white and half from the coloured mixture. This method is super pretty!
  • Wrap your bath bombs in either printed cotton or tissue paper, with a little ribbon as a tie. For a medium size bath bomb you want to cut about a 9X9 square of either, with a ribbon maybe about 6 inches long. You can use curly ribbon or regular ribbon, and for the cotton it’s best to use pinking shears.


I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and are now inspired to whip up these little gems. If you do try this out I would love to hear your thoughts on the recipe and tutorial.

Happy bathing!

Heather

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Up, up and away!

Have you ever wished that a day had 28 hours instead of 24? When I’m in my craft room that’s a common wish of mine.

I’m Heather – wife, mother, crafter, HR professional and (now) blogger. I have a love for all things handmade (well, nearly all things), and I spend my waking hours dreaming of all the beautiful things I could make…if I only had more time.

My mom got me hooked on crafting when I was just 4 years old! She does it all – sewing, knitting, crocheting, rug hooking, you name it. Oh, and she’s really, really good. She has endless patience and will ravel something back or pick out stitches all day to make something right. That’s not characteristic of me, but she’s retired and has more time than I do. Maybe she will let me show you some of her work sometime.

So, why am I here? For years I have followed many craft blogs and I’ve had the pleasure of making projects from tutorials and patterns that other crafters have provided to the online community. I want to contribute to that community too. I want to share what I know, however little that may be.

I sincerely appreciate you stopping by to check out my blog. Hopefully a little something here catches your eye and you try it out.

Heather