Girls' Nite Out- Makin Soap

We had a girls' night at our church on Friday night and we made soaps. My friend Kate came up to help us make castille soap (olive oil) in the crockpot and I bought some melt-and-pour glycerin soaps from Michaels.

The olive oil soap turned out lovely! We made a batch of plain soap and a batch of lemongrass. By the way, lemongrass is a wonderful fragrance and an inexpensive essential oil.

Unfortunately, the melt-and-pour was a disaster! I chose the fancier Natural olive oil and goat milk bases rather than the basic ones. They even had a suspension formula so that your additives wouldn't all sink to the bottom of your soaps. Well, they could not have sunk to the bottom because the soap set up before you even had them added.

Although it didn't go as planned, we still had a great time! But it also meant I didn't take any pictures. :o(

But here is a picture of the soap that you SHOULD NOT buy if you want to try making soaps.

Here are some soaps that I made in the past that turned out great!

melt and pour

Castille soaps

Makin' Cards In The Kitchen

Today I went to my friend Sally's to make cards. It was fun to get to visit with her again (we've both had a crazy summer), see all her cool stuff, enjoy a nice lunch, and make some cute cards. I introduced her to SplitcoastStampers (check them out if you like to stamp) and she let me use her crop-a-dile (see "Leingangs Recommend").

I made 15 cards today, but better yet, I had a fun day with a great friend! Thanks again Sally! Oh, and thank your hubby for being so patient with our mess. :o)

this is my favorite one, I love the turquoise and orange together

Hooded Towel Tutorial

Here is how to make a hooded towel in about 30 easy, yet general, steps. LOL

If you have any questions or need more details, just ask.

1. First cut out strips of fabric to cover the trim on either end of the towel to needed length and desired width. The sides with the fabric trim will be the "front" of the towel.

2. Iron down a hem on all sides of the fabric strip. 1/2" - 3/4"

3. Pin and sew to the front of the towel. Repeat on other side, if desired.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 for the washcloth "hood".

5. Cut out a piece of coordinating flannel for the hood lining.

6. Pin hood to the flannel on 3 sides, right sides together.

7. Sew the flannel to the 3 sides of the hood.

8. Trim off the excess flannel from around the hood.

9. Turn hood inside out.

10. Fold right sides of washcloth together (flannel facing out) and sew together on short end, leaving the open end at the bottom.

11. Turn hood inside out.

12. Find the center of the long side of the towel and mark with a pin on the back side.

13. Match the center of the hood to the center of the towel and pin together with the open end of the hood lined up with the edge of the towel. (as seen in picture below)

14. Sew hood to towel using a 1/4" seam allowance.

15. Trim any excess lining flannel from between the hood and towel and then sew the seam together to finish.

15. Now you're done and it only took half the steps I thought it would. I guess it seems like more when you're making them. :o)

Hooded Towels

I have gotten back into the crafting mood again after a rather lengthy hiatus. My craft money envelope is empty, so I decided I'd better get back into making things for our etsy store. Since it's still swimming season, I thought I would try my hand at selling some hooded bath towels that are perfect for either the bath or swimming.

Here is the one I made last night...

And here is the one I made today...

If you are curious how they are made, you can check out my "hooded towel tutorial" post, or you can just go to our etsy store and purchase one for your favorite little kid. (they are a great deal and made with lots of love!)

Block Party Quilt

One of the booths at our Block Party this year was to make a quilt square. Everyone who made a square, got their name in the drawing to win the quilt we made with the squares.

The technique is so easy and really fun! It would be great for a baby shower, a wedding gift or a family reunion. All you need is a square of 100% cotton fabric (we used muslin) and some crayons. Any crayons will do. Color the square with bright, bold colors and keep away from the edges for seam allowances. Then take a second piece of fabric and lay it over the top of the finished square. Iron for 10 seconds on low heat, keeping the iron moving. Then quilt as you like.

I washed one of the squares and it faded a bit but still looked ok. I figure they are more of a keepsake quilt anyway and probably wouldn't get washed much. Try it, it's fun!

I finished the quilt today and it turned out great!

Driving and Dishcloths

Thanks to ginger (see The Leingangs Recommend on our family blog), I was able to do some crocheting on the trip to MN. I made 17 dishcloths on the road!

I love crocheted dishcloths and now I have plenty of them to last for a while. I may even post some eventually to sell or give some away as gifts.

Here's how they turned out. They aren't all there because I already gave some away. I especially like the one made out of all the remnants.

Ada's Quilt

I bought this outfit for our niece Ada, who is due July 4th. It was the inspiration for her quilt that I finished just this evening. It turned out pretty cute.