Today’s words of wisdom, brought to you by Sylvester the Cat and my favorite Yogi tea. (not sponsored) “Love is the highest of all virtues.”
Right on, Sylvester.
I’m prepping for my first market since my oldest was an only child. 😬 If you’re local, come check it out. All the details are in the second photo. I’ll have all my handmade goodies from my shop out there.
Have a wonderful day!
#looneytunes #yogitea #sylvesterthecat #wordsofwisdom #smallbusiness #FortWorthTexas
I’ve gotten a lot of questions about my upcycled kaftan or poncho shirts. I thought many of them could be best answered by seeing them on a real person. I didn’t have a model readily available, so you get me with my camera and tripod.
I want to do a product Q&A soon, so if you have any questions, please write them in the comments or send me a message.
I finally got all of the upcycled boho tops listed in the shop. I’ve been calling them poncho tops, but they’re really more kaftan-like. So Kaftan tops? Anyway.
I also finished another upcycle that I’ve been working on for over a year now. If you follow me on the socials, you’ve seen a little teaser of it. Either way, here it is!
This spooky box began its life as a vintage silverware storage box that had seen better days. (Of course I forgot to take before pictures. Grrr.) I gutted it, painted it, re-lined it with some lovely purple velvet and made a cute wooden planchette to go with it. I absolutely love it. It’s great for spooky or goth decor, or for storing tarot decks, crystals and ritual tools if that’s your thing.
Here’s the inside. the purple is such a nice contrast to the black and silver on the outside.
Everything above can be found in my shop. It’s all one of a kind, though, so if you see something you like, don’t miss out.
Here’s a quick peek at some boho upcycled shirts I’ve made. They’re flowy and oversized to be one size fits most.
I’ll have them in the shop soon with all the dimensions and details listed. In the meantime, if you see one you like, feel free to contact me about it now. They’re $60+ $45+ shipping. If you’re local to Fort Worth, we can arrange pickup as well. Oh, and I’ve already claimed the first one for myself.
It seems like everyone has at least a couple of promotional mugs hanging out in the back of their cupboards. If you don’t, there’s hundreds at any thrift store. On the one hand, they’re actually pretty useful, as far as promo swag goes. even if you’re not a coffee or tea drinker, they’ll hold any beverage. Or, you could use them to hold pens or random desk stuff, makeup brushes, or toothbrushes. You could even use them as little planters. (Tip: plant in a nursery pot and put that inside the mug. No need to drill holes, and the mug catches the drainage. )
The problem is that the designs usually aren’t very cute, and who really wants advertisements with their morning cuppa?
Take this mug. I like the shape. It’s a nice size and a lovely bright orange. I could use it as-is, but the orange reminds me of the orange VW my husband drove way back when, and I don’t even know what idstc is. So, I decided to cover it with vinyl.
First, I measured the height and width of the logo. Then, I used Cricut Design Space to create my design, a VW bug, of course. (If you don’t have a cutting machine, don’t worry. I have ideas for you, too.) I made sure that my Bug was a little bigger than the logo. After that, It was just cut out the design in permanent vinyl and apply. Voila!
(Or, rather, cut it out, realizing after the first cut that you had the wrong color loaded, so you end up making a set in your original color scheme and one in the inverse. Then mess up applying one side so you do one side of the mug in the original, and the other side in the inverse colors only to decide you actually like the inverse better. But you leave it as is because you don’t want to risk messing it up trying to change it. )
Now, if you don’t have a cutting machine, you could use a big sticker. Clear contact paper does an excellent job making them water-resistant. I did that to cover a graduation logo on a water tumbler that worked well. You could also cut a heart or other simple shape out of adhesive vinyl or contact paper. I find lots of it at thrift stores. Dollar Tree also sells vinyl as well as sticker paper.
Another option that I haven’t tried is adhesive chalkboard paper. I think it would be so cute to be able to write little notes on a coffee cup. I’m not sure how well it would hold up to moisture, though.
So far, I’ve only hand washed any of the mugs and tumblers I’ve decorated with vinyl. I don’t think putting them in the dishwasher is the best idea. I really hate handwashing dishes, though, so at some point it will probably happen. When it does, I’ll let you know how it holds up.
Share your upcycled mugs in the comments or on our Facebook page.
On a different note, don’t forget my digital and printable planners are all only $0.99 through August 22, as well as all of my single machine embroidery files. I’ve also made some more of my older machine embroidery designs freebies, so be sure to check them out.
Embroidery design files and freebies from SubEarthan Cottage. All designs are scaled to fit 4×4 hoops common on home embroidery machines.
I realized a few days ago that my favorite pair of denim jeans were wearing through at the inner thigh, so I set them aside to reinforce before they were beyond the point of easy repair.
This morning, I planned to mend them and then tackle adding patches to an older denim skirt refashion. I got all those repairs done and was planning my next project when I ripped the knee out of the jeans I’m wearing.
These are honestly worn pretty thin and they’re not my preferred cut, so I’m not sure if I will mend these or add them to the repurpose pile.
If you’d like to learn my method for reinforcing worn spots in denim, check out this blog post. It’s actually really simple and works well, if you don’t procrastinate. If you procrastinate, then all your jeans wear out at once and you think, “Maybe I should just go get a pair of the ones I like from Old Navy,” but then you discover that they have discontinued that particular style and now you think you’ll never find comfortable jeans again, which is sad because you really like wearing jeans. Or something.
Have a great weekend!
Creating your own aromatherapy bath salts is a terrific way to enjoy aromatherapy at home. Surprisingly, bath salts are very affordable to make and require no harsh ingredients. In fact, the main ingredients in bath salts include baking soda, table salt and epsom salt. Each of these are commonly found in a local grocery or retail store and are safe to use. The advantage to creating your own bath salts is that you can tailor the recipe to your needs and preferences. This way, you also know that the ingredients are going into your product safe for you to use.
First, you’ll need a large mixing bowl and spoon reserved for this type of project. Essential oils are not easily washed out, especially if you use plastic, so keep this bowl separate from your food prep bowls. The next step is to add 3 cups of epsom salt, 2 cups of baking soda and 1 cup of table salt into the mixing bowl. You can also add pink Himalayan salt or sea salt instead of table salt. Once each of the ingredients are added, begin mixing them with your hand or the spoon.
If you’d like to color your bath salts, food coloring is a great option. If I’m coloring my bath salts, I try to match the color to the intended purpose of the bath salts. For example, if I’m making lavender bath salts for relaxation, I would choose a calming color like blue or purple.
Once mixing is complete, slowly add the food coloring to the mixture. Adding more drops will darken the color and adding fewer will make it softer. If you’re blending colors, such as blue and red to make purple, mix them before adding to the bath salts. Otherwise, you will end up with splotches of red and blue, not an even purple.
The final step is to add essential oils until the desired scent is achieved. While I have made lavender bath salts by adding the lavender essential oil directly to the salt mixture, it is best to dilute the essential oils in a carrier oil. This is especially important with things like peppermint essential oil that could be very uncomfortable in a bath if not diluted properly (essential oils do not dilute in water!)
I like to use 1-2 tablespoons of carrier oil and add the essential oils until I get the scent level I’m needing. Ten drops of essential oil per cup of bath salts is a good guideline to start. I then add the diluted essential oils to the salt mixture and blend well.
If you’d prefer not to use essential oils, you can use skin safe fragrance oils or a bit of your favorite perfume. Just be absolutely sure anything you add is made to use on skin. I would use the same method for adding the fragrance as for essential oils.
For the best results, store your bath salts in an airtight container. I like using glass canning jars because they are reusable, the essential oils don’t get embedded into the glass, and they are pretty. If you choose to use glass too, just be careful not to drop them in the tub.
I do offer aromatherapy bath salts in my shop, so check them out if you’d prefer not to make them yourself. 🙂
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