Four Essential Crafts

Four Essential Crafts

The four of us who met this weekend each brought a craft to demonstrate to others.  We ended up with 4 great crafts to take home.  The first craft was a set of wine cork succulent magnets introduced by Terri.  First, you had to hollow out 5 wine corks.  That took a bit of digging but was accomplished in about 20 minutes.  I pretended to be a dentist.

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Terri the real dental hygienist was the first to finish. She has skills.

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Next, we glued a magnet on each cork and then filled them with tiny succulent plants.

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I never quite got the hang of finding the good succulents.  Gina’s plants were a bit more lush than mine.  I tried to steal hers by switching around the magnets but it was pretty obvious whose were whose.

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The magnets make this little mini-planter a delight to hang anywhere.

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We placed them on the refrigerator as intended but I have the feeling there are plenty of other places to tuck these cute little planters.

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Next, we had more wine crafting when Gina showed us how to make a tiki torch.

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First, drink wine or if you are me, find someone to drink wine.  Save the bottles and wash off the labels.  Fill with bottle 1/2 way with aquarium sand.  This helps make the bottle heavier so it won’t tip as easily.

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Next, add a brass coupler and a wick but don’t forget to take out the funnel (Diane).  I won’t mention that she did that twice.  Ooops, I guess I just did.

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Add a bit of burlap, jute, and decor to the front and you have a fabulous tiki torch.

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We tried them out later that evening on the dock with some citronella oil.  Very nice.

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Our third craft was Shea body butter by Chez Diane.

Shea Body Butter

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup almond oil

10-15 drops essential oil

1/2 cup Shea butter

Melt all oils in a double boiler.  Pour oils into a bowl that has been chilled in the freezer. Allow oils to cool until they start to solidify.  Whip with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.  Spoon into clean jars.

We used coconut and almond oils from a grocery store, essential oils from a health food store, and Shea butter ordered from online.

Melt all in a double boiler.

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Whip with a mixer.

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Whip some more.

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Spoon into decorative jars.  This concoction is really emollient and worked wonders on my dry heels.  Can’t wait to use it some more. I love that there are no chemicals, coloring, or weird ingredients.  This lotion is very soothing to your skin and super easy to make.

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We enjoyed dinner on the dock and then finished our last craft.  Gina made a spinach salad with goat cheese, walnuts, cranberries, chicken and poppy-seed dressing.

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Perfect dinner on the dock.

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It was 72 degrees and low humidity.  Rare in the south.

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We stayed out till the sun went down and enjoyed the lake.  This the view of the dock from the house.

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I led our final craft however I did some of it at home.  Partially because of the mess and partially because of the raw materials.  I made cotton gardenia wreaths.

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See what I mean by the mess?  I covered foam wreaths with moss and then glued on silk leaves and cotton flowers.

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Look closely at the flower for a construction hint.

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Perhaps you saw the string on the flower?  These flowers are made from practical, hygienic materials.  In fact you might call them sanitary.

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Do you need another hint?  A better name for the wreath could be the Menopause Dream Catcher.  Hang it in your bathroom or over your bed to capture all those bad dreams of Aunt Flo coming to visit.  Why is this wreath so effective?  It’s because the flowers are made from tampons.  🙂

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I’ll just let that sink in for a minute while you scroll back up for a closer look.

We finished the night with conversation on the deck. Here’s Terri trying to get the image of the wreath out of her head.

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And here’s Gina being more effective at getting the image of the wreath out of her head and creating more raw materials for the tiki torches.

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The next morning we awoke to a delicious breakfast from Terri. We added pimiento cheese to the grits as a suggestion from our friend Cindy.  Great addition.  Thank you for the tip.

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Near the boathouse we spotted a beautiful egret.

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The bird has visited here before and Terri previously took a majestic picture of him.

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Looking forward to our next crafty gathering!

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One Response to Four Essential Crafts

  1. Anonymous April 17, 2016 at 10:00 pm #

    Sounds like a wonderful weekend!

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