Quick & Crafty Tuesday w/Sam

My very good friend, Kristyn is planning to move across the country at the end of the year. We have been friends for 15+ years, and I was crushed when she told me the news in March. I knew this day was coming, but secretly hoped the day would never come.

Anyway, as a last hurrah, she signed up to run the NYC marathon in November. A few weeks ago, she sent out a note asking for help watching her daughter while she trained after work.

I was excited for the opportunity for a little "crafty time" with her 5-year-old daughter Sam. So, I went to one of my favorite stores, Michaels for some fun ideas.

I settled on some blank picture frames that we could decorate. I purchased some puffy stickers, metallic flowers, tiny pom-poms, colorful ribbon, glue, and of course glitter! I also printed out a picture that I had taken of Sam when I met them for dinner a few weeks back.

I arrived at their apartment with my bag of crafty goodness. Kristyn had her sneakers on, and off she went, promising us she would be back in about an hour. Sam & I got to work because her frame was going to be a surprise for her mother once she returned home.



I laid out all of the goods, and Sam and I carefully selected our decorations...cutting ribbon, repositioning pom-poms, gluing flowers until we were satisfied with our picture frames. We were saving the glitter (oooh, glitter!!) for last.



We just about finished with the glitter, when Kristyn came back home. "Oh mom...don't look yet!" We still had to put the picture in the frame! So, we quickly put in the photo, and Sam presented the finished project to her mom.





After a lot of "oohs and ahhs" I said my goodbyes and came home. I probably looked a little crazy on the bus, covered in glitter, but satisfied that I was able to spend some quality time with Sam. She seemed to like the ribbon a lot (little pink owls,) so next time we may try to decorate some headbands or hair clips with ribbon (I just have to figure out how!)

Just a quick idea for a fun Tuesday evening of your own...Happy Crafting!

-Nordea
nordeasoaperie

Nordea Soaperie to the Operating Room, STAT!!

I participate in Craft Shows just about every weekend of the year. Of course, during the Winter months, most shows are indoors. But, once April comes around, it is pretty much outdoor shows until November.

One thing I cannot work without is my trusty 10x10 Canopy tent. It protects me and my products from the rain, sun, and most other outside forces. In 2009, I purchased a quality tent for around $300, and it has served me well all of these years. A couple of months ago, I was rushing to leave a show, and I couldn't get the tent to close easily. I forced it closed, and broke one of the bars. I discovered this error the next weekend when I opened it up and saw the broken bar. I had to hold the pieces together with bunjie cords, but it was very unstable. The next weekend, I broke another bar by not being careful when opening up the tent. I started to panic because buying another tent was out of the question (no money in the budget.)

Another vendor friend of mine suggested trying to get parts to fix the tent, instead of buying a brand new one. I am not sure why I didn't think of it, and promptly went online to check things out. Sure enough, the company did offer replacement parts! So, I placed my order for two new bars ($28 including shipping) and prepared to operate!

I am not really a fix it type of person, so I was a little nervous armed with only a screwdriver and high hopes. I happened to get around to fixing the tent on a really hot afternoon in June. The screws were a bit stubborn, but I was able to remove the broken bars and attach the new ones!

I am happy to report, that the surgery was a success! I opened up the tent two days later, and everything was fine. I am writing all of this to let other crafters know that when buying a tent, make sure you get one from a company that offers replacement parts! It will save you a lot of money in case you need to operate too.

Happy Crafting!

Nordea
nordeasoaperie

Make Your Own Lip Balm!


First, I would like to be honest…I am OBSESSED with lip balm. I have quite a number of them strewn about my apartment. There is one in all of my handbags, and I collect at least 5 of them from various pockets on laundry day.

Everyone asks me if it is difficult to make lip balm, and the answer is no. You can make a lip balm with just three ingredients! Making a lip balm that feels nice on the lips, goes on smoothly, etc. can take a bit of work. My formula took about 2 years and many, many trials before I was happy with it.

If you love lip balms like I do, then I am happy to help you get started!

The basic formula for a lip balm is 1/3 hard oils (oils/butters that remain solid at room temperature.) 1/3 soft oils (oils that remain liquid at room temperature) and 1/3 wax.

Some examples:
Hard Oils: Shea butter, Cocoa butter, Kokum butter, Mowrah butter, palm oil.

Soft Oils: Olive oil, Canola oil, Almond oil, Avocado oil, Grapeseed oil.

Waxes: Beeswax, Soy wax, Candelilla wax, Carnauba wax.

Creating a recipe by properly weighing your ingredients can avoid a lot of confusion down the road. A tablespoon of olive oil will not weigh the same as a tablespoon of beeswax, so weighing ingredients as you add them will help create an accurate recipe. This will help when making changes and taking notes. You can find basic kitchen scales at your local hardware store, supermarket, etc.

So, you will need your soft oil, hard oil, wax, a small saucepan (preferably one with a pouring lip,) a scale, pipettes, lip balm tubes, rubber bands, a clean plastic container w/a lid, popsicle sticks, toothpicks, and flavor oil (optional.)

Let’s start with 1oz olive oil, 1oz cocoa butter, 1 oz beeswax…

In the saucepan, melt all three ingredients on the stove over low heat. Mix well (I like to use popsicle sticks to stir,) remove the pan from heat and leave it to harden up. You can place the pan in the fridge to speed things up. Once it hardens up, scoop a bit off with a toothpick and try it out. If you want to add more olive oil, melt everything again on the stove, mix in (and take notes!) a bit more olive oil (maybe 1/2oz,) wait for the mixture to harden up, and try it again. It may take a few trials, but once you get the consistency that you are happy with, then you are ready to pour the balm into tubes.

Pour the mixture into the plastic container, leaving 1oz in the pan. Set the plastic container to the side. Lip balm mix can harden pretty quickly, so if you need to, place the saucepan back on the stove and melt again. Keep a close watch on the pan to prevent any scorching! Once melted, remove the pan again, wait a few minutes, then and add any flavor oils. If you are adding flavor, using your pipette, measure out 1/2ml and add to the 1oz mix in the pan.

1oz of lip balm mixture will fill 6 standard lip balm tubes. Take the 6 tubes, and gather them together with a rubber band. This will keep them steady and upright, making it easy to pour the ingredients in the tube. Slow and steady wins the race! Take your time and carefully pour the mix into the tubes. Don’t try to move the tubes, and leave them to harden up. Later on, you can clean up any spills with rubbing alcohol and paper towels. If the mix hardens up before you finish pouring all six tubes, just put the pan back on the stove, melt again, and continue.

The most important thing is to keep track of how much additional oils/wax you used. Let’s say you added an additional 1/2oz olive oil and 1/4oz cocoa butter. Now you know that your final formula would be 1.5oz olive oil, 1.25oz cocoa butter, and 1oz beeswax.

Of course, you still have more lip balm mix in the container, this will be the final lip balm base. Place the lid on the container, and store in your craft cabinet. When you are ready to make more balms, just scoop out 1oz, melt in the saucepan, add your flavor oil, and pour your balms…that’s it!

You can label the tubes with a permanent marker, or print a label on paper, cut to size, and attach it to the tubes using clear packing tape.

You can pick up some ingredients from the supermarket or health food store. Or, here is a site with just about everything you need to get started: From Nature With Love

You can make your balm with many different ingredient combinations, so have fun and experiment. Just make sure you keep proper notes, so if you come up with a winner, you will be able to make it again. You can use a combination of oils too, so let’s say you want your 1/3 liquid oils to include grapeseed oil, olive oil, avocado oil, and almond oil? Instead of using 1oz olive oil, you can start with 1/4oz of each. The possibilities are endless, so enjoy making your lip balms!

Nordea
nordeasoaperie

A Weekend Celebration of Culture and Crafts

Memorial Day weekend officially kicks of the start of summer…yay! There will be a mass exodus to the beaches, and plenty of grilling. It is also the start of the Dance Africa festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music: A cultural celebration of dance in Africa and its diaspora.

It is the nation’s first festival devoted to African Dance, and one of the largest in the United States. This year is a special anniversary, celebrating 35 years, with special performances and appearances by Dance Africa’s creator and founder, Chuck Davis.

In addition to all of the special performances, the streets outside of BAM will be transformed into a colorful outdoor bazaar. Over 300 vendors from all over the world will descend upon Brooklyn with their creative wares for sale. Ethnic jewelry, artwork, musical instruments, tubs of shea butter….you name it. There will also be plenty of food stands dishing up fabulous African, Caribbean, and African-American food.

The outdoor bazaar will be located along Ashland Place, between Hanson Place and Fulton Street.
Sat, May 26, 12noon—10pm Sun, May 27, 12noon—8pm Mon, May 28, 12noon—8pm.

-Nordea
nordeasoaperie