Mother’s Day Perfume

Maybe I’m an anomaly, but I find it so hard to find gifts children can fully engage in making that can actually be considered “gift worthy”. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate artwork, crafts, and framed hand prints as much as the next person (possibly more), but I feel like some holidays deserve a gift from the heart that’s also functional. For the amount of years I’ve been creating holiday gifts you would think I would have stumbled across perfume! Measuring, mixing, and decorating the perfume is something the littles can fully engage with and enjoy. Wearing the perfume is something the caregiver can enjoy (if we’ve mixed out scents right).

To make your own perfume you’ll need some distilled water, glycerin, witch hazel , and a spray bottle for each perfume you are making. You will also need some essential oils. I will be listing the recipe I used for geranium, lemon, lavender, and bergamot oil. If you want to add labels to your perfume just click the link below and download the one I created.

perfume-label Download

Cut out your printed label. Then, apply it to your bottle(s) using mod podge or glue and a brush. You can also use this method to apply other decorations to your bottle. Dried/pressed flowers applied to the bottle with mod podge will be visible once the adhesive dries and will give your perfume a custom look.

The recipe I used only made two 3 oz spray bottles. If you are making your perfume with a large group I would recommend making a few batches of the perfume and using small spray bottles or roll-on bottles. As essential oils are pretty pricey using small bottles will help you get the most bang for your buck, and if you decide to go the roll-on route you could always try to make a couple different perfume scents. Then, attendees can get a “sampler” pack of perfumes made. The base recipe for my perfume was 5/8 C. witch hazel, 1/2 Tsp. lemon oil, 1/2 Tsp. bergamot oil, 1 Tsp. germanium oil and 1 Tsp. lavender oil. Mix that all together in a mixing bowl.

Once you’ve added in your witch hazel and oils it’s time to add some distilled water and glycerin. You will need 2 Tbsp distilled water and 2 Tbsp glycerin. The glycerin helps the smell of the perfume last longer once it has been applied while the distilled water will help dilute the potency if the perfume’s scent.

Once you have all your ingredients mixed together you can funnel it into your bottles. I let all of the kids scoop there own mixture while I stabilized their bottle to insure we had no spills. Once you’ve added the appropriate amount of perfume put your lid on and let the bottle sit for about 2 weeks. This will allow the scents time to settle and mature.

The Perfect, Hand-Made, Gift for Mother’s Day!

perfume-label Download

DIY Lol Doll Key Chain

These key chains are incredibly adorable and right on trend with the whole LOL Doll craze! Kids love getting to pick their favorite doll to make a custom key chain out of. Don’t forget, there are boy LOL Dolls as well! You can use these to accessorize backpacks, jacket zippers, pencil cases and more! Purchasing the actual dolls can be quite pricey. So, I’ve spent some time researching crafts or cost effective additions for the dolls. My searches didn’t come up with many options. So, I came up with this myself!

To begin, you will need a few supplies. Grab “Rough n’ Ready Frosted Shrinky Dink Paper” . You can purchase this online or at your local craft store. If that’s not an option you can always use #6 plastic containers. Just check for the recycling number on the bottom of old plastic containers. You will also need a hole punch, scissors, pencil crayons, key chain/metal binder rings, glitter (optional), a black sharpie, Modge Podge, clear/gloss spray paint (optional), and a paintbrush. If you don’t have Modge Podge available just mix equal parts of liquid glue and water together for a similar effect.

Create an Outline on your Shrinky Dink Paper

First, you can print off some pictures of LOL dolls to trace or just free hand the image onto the rough side of your shrinky dink paper. If you’re using recycled plastic you can sand one side of the plastic to keep the marker from smudging! When you bake the paper the image is going to shrink to about 1/3 of the original size. So, you are going want to make the doll fairly large. I was able to make 4 dolls of 1 sheet of shrinky dink paper (each image was about 5.5″ tall).

Once you’ve created the outline of your image you can colour it in with pencil crayons. Colour on the rough side of your shrink dink paper. Again, if you’re using recycled plastic you can sand the plastic to be able to colour with pencil crayon, or just colour the smooth plastic with Sharpie. When choosing your colours it’s important to remember that they will become much brighter when the plastic shrinks. Once you’re done colouring, you can cut out your image and punch a hole in it.

Now it’s time to shrink your picture! Preheat your oven to 375 ° F and place your drawing on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Grab a book or a heavy, flat item to flatten your image once you take it out of the oven. Once the oven is preheated, place your pan in the oven.

The Image Should be Flat Before you Pull it out of the Oven

Cook it for 1-3 minutes or until you see your image shrink and flatten back down again. When you take your pan out of the oven place a heavy item on top of the key chain to keep it flat while it cools. You can either keep your doll like this or, if you like, move on to the next step and add some glitter.

When adding glitter to your doll work with one colour of glitter at a time to avoid mixing glitter. Carefully Modge Podge apply Modge Podge to the smooth side of your image. Cover all the areas you would like to have glitter on. Then, sprinkle one colour of glitter over top. Shake your key chain or gently tap it on a hard surface to remove excess glitter. Once the Modge Podge has dried you can repeat the process to add new colours of glitter to different areas. To keep the glitter in place, add a coat of clear spray paint to your image. If you don’t have spray paint available to can cover the image with a coat of Modge Podge.

Add a ring to your image and there you have it! A completed key chain that any LOL enthusiast would be happy to have on their back pack!

* If you feel like this process would be too difficult for your audience I would recommend tracing out the images before hand and letting attendees colour and add the glitter.

Sensory Hearts

Scroll to the Bottom for Brief Instructions!

These awe inspiring sensory hearts are quick and easy to make. They also require surprisingly few supplies! The contents of the heart move and float around while you play with it. I love the versatility of this project because there are so many different things you can use this method to create! The children’s favorite part of this activity is to fill the hearts themselves. So, I would encourage you to let your kids get involved. Unless, of course, you are creating these hearts for a sensory experience for infants. In that case, I would recommend that you only bring the heart(s) out when you are supervising.

To get started on this activity you will need a couple supplies! The hearts are made using lamination sheets. You can pick them up at your local business supply store. You will also need a hair straighter/clothing iron, funnel, and whatever you want to fill the hearts with! You can grab small decorations, glitter, and food coloring at the dollar store or just look around for what you have on hand. If you’re feeling extra creative you can try filling your heart with hair gel or a mix of baby oil and water. Otherwise, the hearts can just be filled with plain old water!

Next, you can trace out a heart on laminating paper with a washable marker. Then, cut out the hearts you made. Laminating sheets have a front and a back sheet attached at the top. When you begin cutting they might separate, but keep your sheets together as one will be the front of the heart and the other the back. If you’re feeling really confident you can just free hand it without tracing. I recommend making the heart fairly large. The iron melts a good portion of the paper shut to seal it and you want to make sure there’s still enough room to squish around the contents!

If you don’t have a special hair straighter for crafting you might not be on my level

Once your heart is all cut out it’s time to start ironing. You will be ironing the two laminating sheets together. Iron around the outside of the heart leaving a small space up top to fit the funnel and heart’s contents through. I went over the seams twice to ensure that they were properly sealed. I also made fairly large seams. If you’re like me, you might be feeling pretty confident in your ironing skills and decide to make very thin seams. Our similarities might end here, but if they don’t you might find water seeping out one of the heart’s sides as you’re trying to fill the top of the heart through the funnel. This is catastrophic especially when you’re filling with baby oil! Ever tried ironing something wet? Doesn’t work very well. Don’t recommend.

First of all, I have absolutely no idea why I didn’t use gold glitter here. Missed opportunity. Anyhow, you can start filling up your heart now. All of my items fit through the funnel. If you’re using larger items you are going to want to either leave a larger hole or put them in prior to ironing the paper. On a side note, glitter also gets stuck in the seams should they break, and it makes them even harder to iron the sides back together. So, make sure you’ve really ironed those seams!

What will you use to Fill up your Heart?

Time to fill your heart up with water! I left a fair amount space in the heart to allow for a higher squish capacity. Also, the water will climb higher (or whatever you are using the fill the heart) when you go to seal the opening. So, keep that in mind. Once you are content with the appearance of your heart you can seal it shut. Since you used a funnel to pour in the liquid the opening should be dry and ready to seal. If not, you can always use a towel to clean off any water before sealing.

So there you have it! Four full hearts! So fun to squish and watch the objects float around! 🙂

Heart liquid contents L to R: hair gel, water, water and baby oil, water

DIY Jelly Soap!

These jelly soaps were a delight to make from start to finish, and they were a huge hit with the kids! It was so much fun working with the mixture and watching it solidify. Once the soaps were done, squishing them with your hands was pretty satisfying! If I’m being completely honest, between trialing the product and then making it with the kids I spent a fair amount of time playing around with the jiggly soap. It’s hard to resist!

To begin, you will need to gather your supplies. You will need: liquid hand soap, silicone baking trays or small cookie cutters, Mr. Gulaman Jelly Powder, and rubbing alcohol (optional). I purchased unflavored, Mr. Gulaman Jelly Powder at a local grocery store. It was located in the baking section by the jello and gelatin. This product comes from the Philippines. So, you may also be able to find it at a Filipino grocery store. It can be purchased online as well. I found that buying the jelly powder was a lot more cost effective than buying Agar powder (which had been my original goal). I posting a jelly soap recipe with gelatin in the near future so stay posted! The notable difference will be that jelly powder creates a firmer product than gelatin.

To begin, pour one package of powder into 4 cups of water. Unlike gelatin, the water doesn’t have to be warm or hot before you pour the powder in. Just use plain tap water! When you pour the mixture in you can see the powder floating on the top. The powder I purchased was already coloured green. Mix your powder in until it is completely dissolved. I recommend using a regular spoon. A whisk adds a lot of bubbles to the final product.

When the powder is completely dissolved you can pour your water mixture into a pot. Then, add 2 cups of liquid soap (the more “gel” like the soap is the better). I bought this soap because it was on sale and I knew I would be using a lot of it for crafting. However, you can feel free to use any other soap or shower gel.

Notice how I Switched Over to a Spoon? 😉

Once your soap has been added to the water mixture heat up your concoction on the stove. The goal is to heat until boiling while stirring constantly. However, the bubbles in my mixture never actually “popped” when reaching the surface. I made it to more of a rapid simmer rather than a boil and my end product turned out just fine! I think the weight of the soap might have affected the over all “boiling” process.

Time to get your silicone mold ready! I sprayed mine down with rubbing alcohol. This is totally optional! It will just stop air bubbles from being trapped in your soap. Next, put your mold on a hard surface that can easily be moved (e.g. cutting board). If you don’t have a mold, you can always use a baking sheet and cookie cutters to make your soap.

Time to pour your soap! I put the mixture into a liquid measuring cup to make for easy pouring. The jelly soap sets pretty quickly. I was dawdling between this project and another. So, a film set over my mixture before I poured it! It was super easy to remove the film, but if you want to make sure all your mixture gets used I recommend pouring it fairly quickly. If you want to speed up the setting process you can put your mold in the fridge. Although it will turn to jelly if left at room temperature I find that the final product is a bit more watery and less firm. So, I recommend cooling and storing your soap in the fridge.

So there you have it! Jelly soap! I had some Lego molds laying around so I made a batch of Lego soap as well. I really recommend using jelly powder if you chose to make jelly soap. The soaps were pretty durable and set super quick! One packet of jelly powder also makes a HUGE batch of soap. After having done some experiments with gelatin based soaps I think I would chose jelly powder. Gelatin based soap is “wigglier” but it costs more, makes less, and breaks easily. Either way, this product is sure to encourage more hand washing and during flu season that’s definitely a plus!

Seal Charm Craft

While planning for my toddler time theme,winter animals, I have been struggling to find seal crafts appropriate for a toddler age group! So often we do projects with toddlers that really become a “mom or dad craft”. I’m forever trying to dodge this! I’ve been working with ShrinkyDinks this week and decided to use that as a base for this craft! An art experience, fashion accessory, and experiment in one? Sounds good to me!

To get you started you are going to need some ShrinkyDinks paper. This can be purchased on amazon or at your local craft supplier. The paper I used was frosted and sanded to make the colours more vibrant once the plastic shrinks. If you prefer clear plastic you can sand the paper yourself if you’re hoping to get more vibrant colours.

#6 Plastic Containers are a Good Alternative for ShrinkyDinks

If you don’t Have ShrinkyDink paper at home you Can use #6 Plastic Containers. The number can usually be located on the bottom of the Container.

Traced Seal Images on Smooth Side of Plastic

I was able to fit 4 seals on each sheet of plastic. Keep in mind that once your charm shrinks it will be about 1/3 the size of the original drawing! I was able to make 4 seal charms/sheet with each seal being about 4 cm in length once shrunk. The plastic paper is clear; so, feel free to trace seal photos if you don’t feel like free handing the picture! Use permanent marker to create the silhouette on the smooth side of the page. When you give the charms to the kids for colouring they will colour on the rough (or opposite) side of the paper. This creates a really nice overlap effect. It also keeps the kiddos from colouring over your outline!

Once you’ve sketched up all of your seals start cutting them out. The plastic tears very easily so cut slowly! Each seal will need a hole in it if you will be using it to make a bracelet or necklace later on. I used a regular hole punch and found that I could still fit string through the hole once it was shrunk!

Once the seals are all cut-out let the kiddos create! Encourage them to colour on the rough side of the plastic with permanent marker. If you’re feeling uncomfortable with permanent marker you can use coloured pencils. The result will just be a little duller in colour.

Once you’re ready to shrink your charm you will need to preheat your oven to 325 ° C or 617 ° F. Then, cover a baking sheet with paper lunch bags. This will keep the plastic from sticking to your cooking sheets.

If you are using ShrinkyDinks plastic you will have to cook your seal for 1-3 minutes or until the image has shrunk and flattened out. Don’t worry if the image folds in on itself! This happened to me a lot and they unraveled in the oven each time. Once your image is completely flat keep it in the oven for an addition 30 seconds before removing. Watching the seal shrink was the kid’s favorite part of this activity!

Keep a Heavy Book or Notepad Nearby to Flatten the Wrinkles out of the Charm when it Comes out of the Oven

Once the charm is removed from the oven quickly place a book or heavy notepad on top of the image. This will keep your charm flat while it cools. I found that I didn’t need to keep the book on for longer than 1 minute. Since the pan was very hot ,despite only being in the oven for a short time, I had the kids stand back for this portion of the activity. Feel free to use the waiting period to chat about what the kids just witnessed. Breaking it down will help focus on the educational element of this activity!

Grab some elastic cord (or string) and cut it to the length of a bracelet or necklace (depending on the work your audience can put in). I popped my elastic through the center hole and tied (with equal portions of string on each side to keep the image from flipping). If you’re looking for an easier method you can bead half the cord, add the seal, and continue beading. I encouraged the children to pattern their beads as they put them on the string. This helped them focus on the mathematical portion of the activity. If your child/ren are too young to understand how to create patterns you can add a mathematical element to this activity by encouraging them to count the beads as the put them on. Once you are done beading tie the strings together to create your jewelry!

So, there you have it! A gorgeous, new accessory for your child. You can save on buying expensive charms that will just be a fad and maybe your child will start a new fad. Custom made seal charm jewelry? That sounds like a thing! Either way, you’ve done your part as a facilitator (librarian, programmer, educator, parent, guardian, etc) by creating this educational experience for your little!

~Go Craft!