RobsCreations

What to do with leftover craft paper?    Unique gift tags! Gather your punches, glitters, embellishments, stamps, embossing powders and anything else from your craft stash, and free your  creativity ! To shape the tags I've used an  Xcut die set including a small die (2.1 × 3.3 cm) and a medium one (3.3 × 4.9 cm)...then I've just unleashed my fantasy and used everything I had at my fingertips! 

Ok, I seriously thought I couldn't stand a single chance... ...but determination is one of my characteristics and with only two tries* I think I managed to obtain a fairly good imitation of a commercial warming pad! *after the first try I realised that it was impossible to hand sew a double folded piece of cotton (4 layers) with a very thin needle and without a thimble, so I've undone the whole thing and started again from scratch (Repetita juvant!) I have used a cotton fabric stripe and the basmati rice as filling!  As first test I've warmed the pad in the microwave at 800/1000 W for one minute: IT WORKS !!! To make the pad look as a perfect present, fold it and wrap a satin ribbon around (do not put satin ribbons in the microwave, see my post on the Burning test ).

I love craft paper ! You can use it for many projects and a roll will last for quite a long time! A while ago I was looking for nice small bags for my home-made lip balms but I didn't want to spend a fortune by going to a craft shop (even if I would have loved to! ahahaah). I love the fancy, tiny, colourful and perfectly sized bags you can find for example in Confetti stores  (in UK) or  Loisirs et creation  (in France) but they are pretty expensive... I remember I found a video  (link to the video)  on Youtube showing how to gift wrap very small items by only using wrapping paper,  double sided adhesive tape and scissors . I gave it a try myself with crafting paper and h ere you can see the result! Nice and simple, isn't it? 

Gel with cinnamon sticks (lower part) + soy wax scented with green tea fragrance (upper part).  Handmade lavender sachet (no sewing involved!)

Let's start by saying that making soap with the M&P method will allow you to prepare a  home-made  product that, differently from the commercial soaps, will have a  controlled list of ingredients. M&P soap is actually a  blend  of true soap ingredients plus  glycerin  (great for repairing skin) and molecules like  sorbitol  and  propylene glycol (also used in coffee-based drinks, liquid sweeteners, ice cream, etc.) which  allow this kind of soap to melt.  M&P soap  is  made with lye+natural oils like true soap, but this step is done for you,  by the soap base producers,  beforehand. This method is suitable for kids   (taken for granted that an adult will be around to avoid the poor kids to get burned!)  It doesn't need lye ( Sodium Hydroxide)  handling and it  doesn't  require CURING time. The only disadvantage I see, is that you have a limited numb...

Lemon bath bombs made with Lemon Superb fragrance , food-grade yellow liquid colour, marigold (calendula) dried petals and edible gold flakes.

1. Mix Sodium bicarbonate and citric acid (3:1 or 2:1 work well) 2. Add Ultramarine violet powder , dried cornflower petals, strawberry fragrance, cristalline and silver glitters and mix well 3. Keep mixing and spritz some water (but not too much) 4. Spritz and mix until you can mold the mixture by squeezing it in a hand. 4. Put the mixture in the desired mold, press well the two halves of the mold, unmold 5. let the bath bombs dry on a layer of cooking paper 6. HAPPY BATHING!!!

I'm sure you all know LUSH bath bombs! Amazingly coloured and fizzy, they make your bath funnier! ...but they are incredibly expensive! If you actually think about the basic ingredients you need for preparing bath bombs you'll be surprised about how much overpriced these branded bath bombs are !!! You basically need citric acid , baking soda and water . In the presence of water, citric acid and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) react to form sodium citrate, water, and carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is the responsible for the bubbling effect. You can find ingredients for making bath bombs in supermarkets for few quid/bucks or buy them from specialized suppliers (http://www.youwish.nl/badbruis, http://www.brambleberry.com/Ingredients-C40.aspx, https://www.soapkitchenonline.co.uk) You can then add colours (I've tried liquid colours and micas), essential oils or skin safe fragrances , herbs and dried botanical , glitters , salts etc. You'll also need: a mixing...

I do have a strong passion for hand-crafted and home-made things . Crafting relaxes me and offers me the chance to create uni que and personalized pieces for people I love. Crafting is not my primary activity, but if you are interested in any of my creations please contact me . The main language of this page will be  english,  but I'm italian and I do also speak a bit of  french , so don't panic if I'll mix the three of them. If you want to comment and leave a feedback feel free to use the language among the three that suits you better! Enjoy the page!