Playing with caustic chemicals and molten wax!

Today I embarked on one of the most exciting crafty adventures I've experienced in a long time! This is an idea I've been toying with for the last few days, and thanks to a 50% off coupon to AC Moore, I was finally able to bring it to fruition.

A while back, I got some glass etching cream, and have been itching to try it ever since. The other day, I got the idea to combine it with another craft I've been wanting to try: candle making.

This is the glass etching cream. Basically, you make a pattern out of contact paper or something similar, stick it on your glass, and smear the cream all over it. Leave it on for 5-10 minutes (I had to do it twice because it wasn't as noticeable as I wanted it the first time), and wash it all off. I should probably mention, glass etching cream is EXTREMELY CAUSTIC, so you should be SUPER DUPER CAREFUL when handling it. Wear plastic gloves if you have them. I didn't use any because my glass had a handle to hold onto, but I made my brother wrap his hands in plastic bags. Because he's clumsy. Sorry no pictures of this part, I need a little bit of practice with this whole 'photoblogging' thing.

My brother made his own candle too. I introduce him to the coolest hobbies. ^_^

Makeshift double-boiler. A lot of sites recommend two pots, but I like doing it this way because then you have the added convenience of a spout! The only annoying part is holding onto the handle to make sure water doesn't get in. (Use pot holders!)

More supplies! Buttload o' wax and chunks o' color.

Around here is where I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of the holder pre-wax. It looked pretty awesome.

Closer shot where you can see the skyline (a little) better.

My brother's finished product...the logo for his baseball team (Pirates)


Conclusion for today: caustic and molten things make for fun times!
In retrospect: I read that pre-heating the glass container reduces the number of bubbles in your finished piece. Which is good, because my candle is very bubbly. :( Also, I think next time I'm going to make a votive in the handy little metal mold provided by the kit I bought, then put it in the votive holder. That way, you'll still be able to see the nifty design on the canister.

The most epic earrings I've ever made, and pickled hair follicles

Those right there are several hours of work. Per earring. In retrospect, now that I know how they work and don't have to keep checking back on the instructions, I could probably get them done a bit quicker. But, should you decide to attempt these earrings, be warned: they WILL be time consuming. These are also the only article of jewelry I have made directly from a pattern. I got it from this book, which the boyfriend gave me for my birthday this year:


I'd just like to say, I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in jewelry making. It's full of awesome ideas, and the instructions are super clear. They also tell you not only what to use, but where you can buy the materials you need.

I'm not sure exactly about the legality of posting the entire tutorial from the book on the internet, but the earrings are essentially a whole lot of dead soft wire wrapped around a coil of half-hard. The Swarovski beads (I love Swarovskis) sparkle in the light and just look great with the silver wire.

Over the weekend, someone found out that I make jewelry and asked me if I had beads lying around my room. I told her she had NO IDEA. I've found beads in places you wouldn't imagine...like my shoes, my trumpet case, and my underwear drawer.



Also, this is unrelated, but today I learned that rinsing your hair with vinegar is supposed to make it look healthier, shinier, and fuller. So, before I showered today I filled a bottle with half regular white vinegar, half water, and a little too much spearmint essential oil. After shampooing and conditioning, I poured some into my hair and let it sit for a few minutes before rinsing it out. My hair doesn't look so much different yet, but I do smell faintly of some strange combination of vinegar, mint, and cloves (the only essential oils I had on hand...) And my scalp tingles a little, but in a good way. It feels cleaner, actually. But that might just be the mint. I'll keep you all posted on my experiment!

I have a 50% off coupon to AC Moore that I think I'm going to use on a soap making kit (one craft I've wanted to get into lately). Ohh the possibilities!

Make this Coffee Cake!

A few weeks ago, I came across <a href="http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/02/big-crumb-coffee-cake/">this recipe</a> for big crumb coffee cake with rhubarb. Now, I'd never had rhubarb before, but it still looked like a pretty awesome recipe. Then, last week, I ran into some rhubarb in Giant, and knew what had to happen. And let me tell you, the ensuing cake-ness was magical. In the comments section of the original recipe, people were complaining about the crumb topping being too floury, so I decreased the flour in the topping to a little over 1.25 cups. I think I'd actually use a little more than this, though, because the topping ended up being slightly too oily for my taste (so much butter!). The boyfriend had no complaints, though. Also, I didn't have any cornstarch and didn't feel like going out and buying some just to use the 2tsp that the filling requires, so I substituted it for 4tsp of all-purpose flour and it worked excellently.

My camera is currently broken (it had an unfortunate meeting with a tile floor), so there aren't going to be any recipe pictures up here for a while. Sorry, folks.