Painting Blue Willow Vase & Roses

I thought this would be really hard, but it wasn't. To make the vase, you paint a vase that has a cast shadow the color of what would be reflected near it. For example, whiter near the light source, orange near the apricots, darker in shadow. The "Blue Willow" is basically just a squiggly design you come up with and slightly go across with a dry brush to blend. The Roses?, well, YouTube is a magical place!

The Family Table

A few months back, I got it into my head to make a "Family Table".  My kid's are getting older, and some of our best and fondest memories have occurred around the Family Dinner table.  I didn't realize how "sentimental" it would become, until my husband, Eric, took a job requiring him to travel.  Now, when we sit down for our evening meal, he's still with us!  Sort of...!

What I forgot to do was to take a picture of the table and chair. Anyway, I bought a black one at a yard sale for $30!

My husband, who is the "World Finest Spray Painter" (no exaggeration) was who I enlisted to paint the table.  He has painted numerous items and the man NEVER has his paint to run.  I bow to the master.

I knew I wanted to use different "Crowns" that were available from The Graphics Fairy.

We each chose different "Crowns" from her website.  I then typed each name of our family and placed them under our chosen "Crowns".  After, I printed them off on the laser printer and transferred them to the table using the Citrasolv Method.

I liked how the crowns looked, but I felt the names needed to be "crisper".  So, I went over the names with Sharpies, hoping the sealer wouldn't smear!

I then decided the table would look better if I painted the lip of the table in dark black acrylic paint.

IMPORTANT POINT!!!

I forgot to add that I sealed the table using 5 (yes 5) coats of Minwax Polycrylic.  After 5 coats I was still concerned if the water based finish would be strong enough.  So, on went two coats of Polyurethane!  It has already turned yellow.  (I had a caddy in the center and you can see the outline).  I removed the caddy, and it seems to be fading, but I'm afraid we will eventually have a yellow top table!

How to make Super Moisturizing Lotion

A few years ago, I was taught by a very wise woman how to make homemade soaps, lotions and body products.  Since learning these techniques, I rarely buy store bought lotion or soap.  You can "personalize" the scent of any bar of soap or lotion by buying from a distributor the "fragrance oil" that you love.  In Nashville, we have a place called Hunnee B's that sells some of the highest quality oils I've found.  If you don't live near Nashville, you can order online.

CAUTION:  This lotion is very, very oily.  It makes your skin feel marvelous, but if you want it to have a less greasy feel, increase your Emulsifying Wax by 3-4% or add a teaspoon of cornstarch to your water mixture.  Also, leave out the glycerin.

Let's get started!!!

You make Lotion in 3 phases:  1. Water phase; 2. Oil phase; 3. fragrance/preservative phase.  Below is the recipe I used to make the lotion pictured above.

Whipped Lotion Recipe:

WATER PHASE

620 grams Distilled Water

 40 grams liquid Glycerin  (drug store)

OIL PHASE

100 grams Shea Butter (Hobby Lobby, ebay, online)

100 grams Cocoa Butter (Hobby Lobby, ebay, online)

160 grams Coconut Oil (Walmart, baking section)

 20 grams Stearic Acid (Hobby Lobby, ebay, online)

 60 grams Emulsifying Wax (Hobby Lobby, ebay, online)

FRAGRANCE PHASE

7 grams Phenonip

16 grams favorite fragrance oil (or more...depends on how strong you like it)

You will also need:

Kitchen Scale that can measure in ounces and grams

Metal pan for heating oil

Plastic container for heating water

Jars for lotion

Alcohol 

1.  The first thing you do is get a spray bottle of alcohol and wipe down all the containers and work surfaces you will use in this process.  It seems that lotion that is heated in the making can contaminate very easily, and you want to keep a sterile workplace.  Sterilize your jars and tops, too.  I was told to use gloves, but I just spray my hands with alcohol and go.

2.  Measure your ingredients!  Make sure your scale is set to grams!!!  ALSO, make sure you set your plate/bowl on top of the scale before you turn on your scale.  If you don't you will be subtracting the weight of the bowl/plate and that's not good!

After you've measured ALL ingredients for all THREE phases, set them aside. 

(1) Begin by heating the water/glycerin in microwave until barely warm.  Set aside. (Sorry, forgot picture of water phase!)

(2) Melt the oils in a sturdy pot at very low heat.  You want the oils to be completely melted, but that is all.  Many people measure the temperature, but I have found that if you remove the oil from the heat source once the last piece of oil/butter is melted, you're good.

(3) After the last piece of "Oil Phase" material is melted, remove the pot from the burner.  Let set a few moments and add the WATER PHASE to the OIL PHASE.

Water added to the melted oil/butter

 

 

(4) Take out your hand mixer with the beater bars sprayed with alcohol and go to town!

(5)  Whip the mixture for 3-5 minute intervals.  Stop and give your mixer and the lotion, 5 minute "rest periods". 

(6)  If you want to speed up the thickening process, you can put your pot of almost lotion in an "ice bath".

(7) Add "Phase 3"-- fragrance and preservative.  Ummm...smells like heaven!

(8) Pour or scoop into jars of your choice.

NOTE:  As stated earlier, this recipe came out VERY greasy.  This tutorial is basically to show you how to make lotion.  This lotion is great as a foot lotion, OR for those you don't mind that "greasy" feel to their moisturizer.  It is also a GREAT night time face moisturizer...if you leave out the fragrance oil.

How to Sew a Pillow AND do a Citrasolv Transfer

A friend of mine recently asked if I would make a pillow as a wedding gift for a friend of hers.  I went to an excellent site for beautiful personalized downloads, weddingchicks.com.  I found a gorgeous monogram that can be used in a variety of ways.  Here's the link: http://www.weddingchicks.com/freebies/custom-monograms/formal-crest/  After opening the file in my graphics program, I mirror imaged the design, then printed it out on my laser printer.

After I cut out my fabric, I chose 18"X18", I ironed the fabric to get out as many wrinkles as possible for a smooth transfer.

It's kind of hard to tell, but under the white paper, you can kind of see the image of something underneath the fabric.  I placed a magazine under the fabric and the transfer image to help prevent the Citrasolv from seeping out.  I also taped my image, FACE DOWN in the center of my fabric.  Now for the fun!

You apply the Citrasolv, in sections with a cotton ball.  If you use too much Citrasolv it will smear,  too little and you will be applying more.  It's all trial and error.  After I let the Citrasolv set for a few minutes, I took the end of a butter knife and really rubbed the paper to press the ink into the fabric.  I checked to see my progress below.

After rubbing and rubbing, I ended up with a fairly good transfer.  (See below)

Now for the part that I'm not too good at...the sewing.

First, you take the front and the back pieces of fabric that will be your pillow. THEN, you take pins and pin the two pieces together by pinning around the edges of your image. 

You will most likely have some surplus fabric around the edges (see below).  I'm sure a really good seamstress will not, but I always do.

Then you take a ruler and try to center your image as best as possible.  You then cut off the excess and hope for the best!

Next, you turn your fabric inside out and begin sewing!!! 

I didn't take any actual sewing pictures, but I left approximately a 1/4 (plus) inch margin all around the edges.  I left a three inch gap on the end, (supposed to be in the middle) to "inside out" the pillow.

After you "inside out" the pillow...

Take the pillow back to the ironing board and run the iron down the newly sewn seam.

Now, STUFF the stuffin' out of it!

And there you have it!

Rustic Bench with Citrasolv transfer

I've been sitting around with my bench painted for about 2 months.  I decided TODAY was the day for it's makeover!

First, I decided what I wanted written on my bench.  I opened up my new design program, Serif Drawplus, typed out and sized my info, then "mirror imaged" my design.  I knew I wanted my typeface to look vintage/rustic.  Here's what I came up with for my house number.

Here's what I came up with for our city and state.

I used my handy dandy "lightbox" to light up and tape together where I had to print the address in two sections.
Next, I cut everything out, tried to center it without a ruler (not wise), and taped it down.

Now the fun begins!
I got my Citrasolv, Q-tip and a spoon.

When doing furniture, you want to use a small amount of Citrasolv.  Applying with a Q-tip is the easiest way to control the amount of Citrasolv.

Next, you burnish your image down with a spoon.  I'm guessing other things can work, too, but a spoon allows you to apply a lot of pressure and gives you control.

POTENTIAL PROBLEM:  When transferring images onto wood, the toner has a tendency to smear if the painted area is too smooth.  I used spray paint on this smooth bench.  SO, the toner did not adhere...but smeared.

POTENTIAL SOLUTION:  Take Sharpie and go over smeared, transferred image.

But first, get fancy Dollar Tree reading glasses if you're almost blind...like me.

 

ah...better

And finally, we ended up with this: