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easter craft: coffee filter basket

coffee filter easter basket

My daughter brought an Easter craft book home from the library in February. I figured it was too early to write about the basket we made, so I waited until closer to Easter. Whoops! Better late than never, right?

coffee filter easter basket

I have to say that I was impressed with how this project turned out. It’s a pretty sturdy little basket. I no longer have the book, so here is what I remember about the details.

  • She colored the coffee filters with washable marker.
  • Turned them upside down on a yogurt tub and painted on a mixture of white glue and water, which made the marker colors bleed into each other.
  • We tied a ribbon around the basket to give it shape and let it dry. I was worried it would stick to the yogurt tub, but it came off easily.
  • I hot glued the handle, which is two twisted pipe cleaners.
  • She cut some grass from construction paper.

The book was All New Crafts For Easter, and I have to say that we are officially fans of Kathy Ross. It’s hard to remember all of the projects we’ve made from her books, but here are a two: heart-shaped Christmas card box and reindeer puppet.

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handmade soap: the results and some notes

It seems I have some crafty catching up to do. Remember when I told you I was making glycerin soap? It turned out awesome.

glycerin soap

I made two different kinds. Here are my notes:

  • Used almost two 2-lb clear glycerin soap bricks to make five batches. (Purchased at the craft store with 40% off coupons.)
  • Used the soap mold with a circle, hexagon, square and rectangle (item M154).
  • Eleven melted cubes of soap filled the molds perfectly.
  • Grated peel from one lemon made three batches.
  • Each batch of peppermint used 1/8 t peppermint extract, 1/8 t red food coloring and one crushed candy cane.

glycerin soap

I used Martha Stewart’s directions, but stopped coating the molds with cooking spray after the first batch. It gave the soap surface a weird texture. I put them in the freezer for about 20 minutes after they set and the soaps popped out easily.

Final thoughts:

Next time I might skip the soap molds. I thought they’d make nicer looking gifts, but I made a bar using a juice box container and like how that one turned out the best. I don’t have a picture of that one because my daughter started using it immediately.

I didn’t realize that glycerin soap attracts the moisture in the air, causing it to “sweat.” It really needs to be stored in plastic wrap to keep it dry and fresh. Having lived without plastic wrap in our pantry for a few years, it pained my to buy a roll just for soaps. Also, I’m not sure how practical those cute clear boxes in the Martha Stewart video would be, especially in humid climates. They are pretty, though.

Other soaps I want to try: Crockpot Coffee Kitchen Soap and DIY Hand Soap.

Have you made soap? Share your experiences in the comments! I’d love some more links for my pinterest board.

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handmade glycerin soap

handmade glycerin soap

Over the weekend I made glycerin soap a la Martha Stewart. I had only planned to make lemon, but on a whim I made some peppermint, too. I can’t believe how nice they turned out — and how easy it was. I’ll be posting pics of the final soaps with materials and tips soon.

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Congratulations to Lawana on winning the sewing book!

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birthday superhero cape

My daughter’s friend Mason loves Batman. We got him some superhero books for his birthday, but they didn’t seem fun enough. I thought maybe a special cape would make his gift more exciting.

reversible superhero cape

I found some black and red canvas-like fabric in my stash that I thought would be great for this project — wrinkle resistant and durable. Apparently, it’s Ultra Heat’n Bond proof, too. I wound up stitching on the appliques and gunked up my needle in the process. Bah!

The cape is reversible and I toyed with the idea of adding a Husker N or Mason M on the other side. His mom suggested Spiderman. Of course, it wasn’t until after I finished that we both realized Spidey doesn’t wear a cape. Oops! I spent a lot of Saturday mornings watching Super Friends. I should have known that!

reversible superhero cape

Anyway, I’ve always wanted to make a cape and now I have. And of course, after all of that, he was more interested in the books. Kids. Gotta love them!

cape tutorial: I used Georgia Leigh’s free cape tutorial and freehand sketched the pattern onto my fabric. She also has applique stencils available. I traced my own because I wanted the Batman logo to match the new Dark Knight logo that was on one of the books.

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my mom’s creative space

My daughter loved her St. Patrick’s Day outfit. She wore it yesterday and today. When I dropped her off at school this morning, I started thinking about the Irish dancing costume my mother made for me when I was younger.

Seems I wasn’t the only one thinking about it. I received this comment on my blog this morning…

“Does this take you back to your Irish dancing days? Wonder if you still have that dress?”

…and within in minutes, I received this photo from my mom via text:

Irish dancing costume

Isn’t it amazing? She sewed the dress and cape and then embroidered all of those motifs. (Larger photo here.) I wore this to dance at festivals and in competitions. I even wore it in the Baltimore St. Patrick’s Day parade!

I know there’s no comparison between this gorgeous costume and the little outfit I whipped up for my daughter. I just happened to think about it this morning and wanted to share her beautiful work with you. She totally deserves her own Creative Space, don’t you think?

Visit other creative spaces over at Kirsty’s blog.

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home ec class: reusable grocery tote

I know today is usually all about my creative space at the moment, but I’m working on the beach blanket and there isn’t much else to show you except a nice pretty fabric pic like this one. Instead, I’m sharing my third home ec project: a reusable grocery tote.

home ec class handmade reusable grocery tote

This project got me thinking about handles. I usually seam up the sides first, fold over and stitch the top hem, then add handles. This project changed the order: top hem, handles, side seams. I can definitely see the wisdom in doing the handles on a flat piece of fabric. It makes a lot of sense. But, I also really like how the top hem hides the side seams when folded over. It’s something to think about. (Yes, I do think about these things.)

home ec class handmade reusable grocery tote

I’m planning to make some heavy duty grocery totes for our weekly shopping because I’d like something with a square bottom. I love this for the Farmers’ Market, though. The fabric is totally appropriate!

stash: I’ve been holding on to this fabric for awhile and I can’t remember where I found it. I was saving it for a farmers’ market tote, so now I can cross that off my to-do list!

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home ec class: handmade reusable gift bag

I’m only on my second project and I’m already not following the directions. That didn’t take long! In my defense, it was because I wanted to learn something new.

home ec class handmade fabric drawstring gift pouch

The project calls for a hand-sewn buttonhole, but I already know how to do that. I’m embarrassed to say, however, that I didn’t know how to use the buttonhole setting on my machine. How I managed to tackle zippers, but avoid buttonholes is beyond me. It’s so easy.

home ec class handmade fabric drawstring gift pouch

I also put a few stitches at the back of the casing to keep the ribbon from sliding out. That’s because this will probably go to my daughter for storing her magformers.

stash: Fabric from fat quarter bundle. Matching ribbon from somewhere else completely. They coordinate really well, though!

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shop: handmade cotton coasters

crochet coasters

Remember my stash-busting garden scarf? I still have some little bits of those pretty colors left and have been working on some projects to use them all up. Combining them with natural colored yarn again, I designed these cute coasters. You can find more pictures and details in my shop. I’m working on some other stash buster ideas, too. Stay tuned!

p.s. I plan to have the pattern available in my shop soon!

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finished: beach blanket to go

amanda soule handmade home beach blanket to go

I wrote about this blanket last year and I’m so glad it is finally in the hands of the married couple! I had hoped to take it to their wedding, but it was heavy. With the weight limits put on luggage — and extra fees — I figured it would make more sense to send it flat rate priority mail.

Then it got cold. We got a blizzard. My beach blanket mojo was kind of low. I figured they wouldn’t use it until next summer anyway.

Then all of the sudden it was warm. I had to finish it up and send it off before beach season!

amanda soule handmade home beach blanket to go

I think everyone who gets married on a beach should have a personalized beach blanket, don’t you? You can find fabric and pattern details about this project in my original post.

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noteworthy graduation gift for a music student

handmade graduation gift

Our neighbor’s daughter is graduating from high school this week. She’s a very talented violinist and I love when the windows are open in the summer and I can hear her play. She’s planning to study music at the university in the Fall and I wanted to make her something special. Honestly, I had a hard time coming up with something music specific, so I went with a school-book theme.

This tote is made out of upholstery fabric and hopefully will last for many years after she graduates from college. The pockets have tiny music notes on them. Inside I added this cool manuscript notebook that I found at music store downtown. I think it will be perfect for music theory or composition class.

stash: Everything except the notebook was from my thrifted stash. The upholstery fabric didn’t behave all that nice and kept unraveling on me while I sewed. Note to self: overlock all of the edges next time even on seams that won’t be exposed. It will make life much easier.