I am an over-the-top ridiculous, messy crafter. If you left me in a Michaels craft store for a month with enough microwaveable meals and water, I could happily live there, exploring all the different arts, crafts and crazy skills they have to offer (seriously though, I’ve always wanted to learn how to solder; doesn’t that seem fun yet also, useful?!) Arts and crafts promote creativity and problem solving skills in every age – but, especially in our kiddos. Creating art projects with your kids is also a great bonding activity. There are so many fun projects that you and your little can create together, including melt and pour, bath fizzies and nail polish. The project you choose will depend on your child’s age and skill level. In general, I recommend keeping the projects simple. That way the activity stays fun, easy and stress-free. My favorite activity craft subscription boxes are Kiwi Crate, Koala Crate, Messy Play Kit (pictured below, top two photos) and Handmade Beauty Box (of course!).
Carnation Cube Cuties Melt and Pour Tutorial
We’re getting back to the basics today with this cute cube melt & pour. This project is great for beginners and it’s also an excellent way to build some basic melt and pour skills. It requires that you keep a close eye on your temperatures because you don’t want to melt the delicate jojoba beads or break the smooth layers. The project also uses the Carnation Fragrance Oil, which is our sample of the month for April.
Domino Soap Video Tutorial
In this episode of Soap Queen TV, I show a fun melt and pour technique for creating soaps that look like over-sized dominoes. I used a luxurious blend of Honey and Goat Milk melt & pour soap to make the perfect ivory color.
To make this soap you will need:
- 18 oz Honey melt & pour soap*
- 11 oz Goat Milk melt & pour soap
- 0.3 oz Tobacco and Bay Leaf Fragrance
- Guest Square Tray Mold
- 1/8 teaspoon Black Oxide Pigment
- 1 Tablespoon Isopropyl Alcohol
Get everything you need to make this soap.
Note the video lists 16 oz of Honey M&P but we actually used 18 oz. using a little less in the final layer won’t ruin your soap, so if you only have 16 oz of honey soap – it will still work!
Baby Massage Oil Video
Really, this could be called ‘Human Massage Oil’ since it’s not just good for babies but boy oh boy, little babies do love it. =) In this Soap Queen Short, I show how to make a baby massage oil and then try it out on Lily. She loved it. If you don’t have a baby, this recipe is also a wonderful massage oil for anyone, especially those with sensitive skin. By the way, Lily nailed her part in this video on the first take – she’s a natural.
Note: The Bulgarian Lavender Essential Oil has been discontinued. The kit now includes Lavender 40/42 Essential Oil.
To make this recipe you will need:
- 4 oz Calendula-Infused Sweet Almond Oil
- 3 oz Argan Oil
- 1 oz Fractionated Coconut Oil
- 1 mL Lavender 40/42 Essential Oil
- 1 mL Roman Chamomile Essential Oil
- 1 Eight Ounce Bottle
To make the infused Calendula oil follow the instructions in this video or in this e-book and use:
- 1/4 cup Dried Calendula Petals
- 5 oz Sweet Almond Oil
Get everything you need to make this project added to your Bramble Berry shopping cart by clicking here.
Welcome to Summer: A Camp Bramble Berry Project
No summer is complete without a trip to summer camp. Sleeping under the stars, adventurous outdoor activities, pancake breakfasts and of course, the annual camp-wide talent show are all part of the fun, right? Well, we surely didn’t want to miss out!
So pack up your sleeping bags and don’t forget the bug spray, because we’re super excited to announce Camp Bramble Berry — our own soapy version of summer camp. For the next couple of weeks, we’ll deliver awesome, kid friendly projects that are not only fun to make, but fun to play with afterward too!
Today’s Soap Crayon project is just one example of the awesome tutorials you can expect when you sign-up for the Bramble Berry Newsletter.
To get in on all the action, all you have to do is sign up for our email newsletter. Simply visit the Bramble Berry website and enter your email address on the right hand side. Don’t forget to click through the confirmation email you’ll receive to activate your subscription, and be sure to check your spam filter for emails from info(at)brambleberry(dot)com.
When Camp has ended, you’ll continue to receive our regular monthly newsletter which features coupons, an exclusive project and other special deals. It’s just one more way to stay update to date with the latest Bramble Berry news. Now, onto the crayons!
What You’ll Need:
13.5 oz. White Melt and Pour Base
Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart!
ONE: Cut the White Melt and Pour soap base into similarly-sized chunks, each no bigger than about an inch. In a heat-safe container, melt the soap on short, 30 second bursts in the microwave and stir between each burst.
TWO: Divide the soap into five heat safe containers, with 3 oz. of soap in four containers and 1.5 oz. of soap in the fifth container.
THREE: Next, add one fragrance oil per cup. Be sure to keep track of which fragrance oil goes in which cup or else your fragrances and colors will be mismatched.
These are fragrance and color mates we used:
3 mL Peach with 1 mL Creamsicle Fragrance Oil
3 mL Green Apple with 1 mL Cucumber Melon Fragrance Oil
2 mL Easter Purple with 1 mL Strawberry Fragrance Oil
2 mL Teal with 1 mL Pearberry Fragrance Oil
2 mL Periwinkle with 1 mL Blueberry Fragrance Oil
FOUR: Add in your colorants. Undiluted Lab Colors can be difficult to mix into soap, so heat the colors (particularly the blues and greens) in the microwave on 5 second bursts. After heating, make sure the cap is on tight and shake vigorously. Add one colorant per cup to its corresponding fragrance.
Tip: Be especially careful with the Teal because it tends to clump. You may even want to stir the colorant with a mini mixer so you don’t end up with spots of concentrated color in your finished soaps.
FIVE: Now pour your soap into the mold. Each cavity will hold 1.5 oz. of soap, so you’ll get two soap crayons per color. One of your cups should only contain 1.5 oz of soap, so that will fill the remaining cavity. Spray with isopropyl alcohol to release surface tension and prevent bubbles. Allow the soaps to sit for at least 5 hours before unmolding.
SIX: Test the soap crayons in a discrete area on your tub before unleashing your child’s creativity. Rinse away with a washcloth and warm water.
And there you go! Looks like you’ve earned your first Camp BB project badge =) Jamisen definitely had a ton of fun with these soapy crayons creations.
Baby Sprinkle Series: Strawberry Tart Melt and Pour Soaps
First in our series of Bramble Girl Sprinkle tutorials – Strawberry Tart Melt and Pour Soaps. These adorable little guest-sized soaps make for a wonderful token of appreciation for guests. Paired with flower-shaped mini bath fizzies and packaged in a sweet ombre gift bag your guests should be excited about their next opportunity for a soak in the tub. Have you downloaded your free sprinkle PDFs yet? Attach one of the custom-designed tags to the favor bag to complete the look!
Bramble Girl’s Welcome Sprinkle
Sprinkle: not quite a baby shower, which is traditionally reserved for the arrival of the first child. Not one to turn down a fun couple of hours with girlfriends chatting about all things business, book club and yes, baby! The Sprinkle also doubled as a housewarming party after our recent move. And it wouldn’t have been a very Bramble Sprinkle without a few crafty details, and I’ve got big plans to share fun tutorials right here on the blog.
Facebook Photo of the Week (March 22 ~ March 29)
Happy Easter Weekend! We have had so much fun spending so some quality time in the sunshine and blue skies (spring has arrived here in the Pacific Northwest!) and we can’t wait for the summer. This morning, we had a wonderful Easter brunch with Uncle Erik and Aunt Cheriss where we made delicious Easter Pancakes. We also introduced Jamisen to a new book – Peepsqueak by Leslie Ann Clark. He loves it!
Fave Pins of the Week
Check out some of my favorite pins from the last week. I can’t wait to enjoy the sunny weather we’re supposed to have this weekend; I see a playground or five in my future!
Domino Lip Balm
These fun and fruity lip balms are great for those who love the classic game of Dominoes. We are personally big fans of Trains (sometimes referred to as ‘Mexican Trains’) in this household. By manipulating hardened lip balm base, I was able to create a fun polka-dotty look with a tropical twist. Read on to learn how to create these adorable and yummy-tasting lip balms.
Recipe:
Drinking Straw
Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart! [Read more…]
Pink and Blue(berry) Shortbread Cookies Recipe
I love any excuse for my family to get together! After finding out the gender of our Bramble Bump, I was delighted to host another gender reveal party for the extended family to share the news. I also ran with the theme in the baked goods and decor department – you can check out the super fun layered ombre cake recipe I made here. These yummy little shortbread cookies where a hit with the fam, and Jamisen was delighted to be surrounded by so. much. sugar. =)
Recipe 1: Blue(berry) Shortbread
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
- 2 cups plus 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup fresh blueberries [Read more…]
Favorite Pins of the Week
This week I’ve found inspiration for an outfit, a healthy bacon alternative, and a vibrant color palette. I’m on the road for an industry conference (fun regulatory stuff) in California and looking forward to the sunshine. If you’re on (ahem, obsessed with) Pinterest as well, follow me here and check out my previous favorite pins of the week here. Happy weekend!
Loving this chic and simple outfit. Open-front cardigans are definitely a wardrobe staple when dressing for two, and the satchel looks big enough to double as a laptop bag!
Dying to try this veggie-friendly parsnip bacon recipe.
The color palette from these paint chip table runners is making me wish for summer!
Psst: Have you heard about our Facebook Contest? Look, like and WIN! You can check it out here.
An Apple a Day…
“A lot of parents ask me how to get kids to eat more vegetables. The first thing I say is that it starts from the top.”
-Emeril Lagasse
Eating healthy is always a challenge and making sure that the entire family gets multiple servings of fruits and veggies has been my ‘white whale’ since Jamisen was born. The way we’ve increased our veggie intake in our house is twofold: (1) We get a weekly delivery of veggies to our house (no excuses to not buy and prepare the food if it’s right there) and (2) We juice up greens almost every day. We use ‘watery’ veggies like cucumbers and celery to add to the bulk and then toss in carrots, spinach, parsnips, and beets with an apple and/or lemon to add to the sweetness. This makes the mixture palatable for the little guy. We’re losing out on the fiber when we juice but we’re gaining a lot in vitamins, minerals and enzymes from the juice. Do you have extra tips ‘n’ tricks for fitting veggies into your everyday life? Tell me! I’d love to hear what works for you.
Favorite Pins of the Week
There was such a positive response to the last Fave Pins of the Week post that I’m going to turn it into a regular Fun Friday thing for the blog. I usually leave Fridays for light-hearted posts (baby pics with quotes, Facebook Photo of the Week etc…) so this fits right in. This week, I’ve found some of the cutest little girl’s shoes for our newest Bramble Girl, as well as some great juicing recipes and more! Check them out below. P.S. Want to follow our boards on Pinterest? Find me here, and you can also follow the Fave Pins of the Week board, here.
This stamp made from a green pepper is the perfect for toddler arts and crafts!
How cute are these tiny tiny shoes?
Totally in love with this teensy and delicate elephant necklace.
I’m always on the lookout for great veggie juice recipes! We juice almost daily in our home.