Felt slippers Felted wool slippers for women Samoyed dog wool shoes

Here is one of my latest creation that I’ve made from wool 😊 A wet felted pair of slippers for my mom. The outer layer is made of local Swedish wool (Finull) and the inner layer is wool from my Samoyed dog for extra warmth and fluffiness 🥰 She is shedding enormous amounts of fur about twice a year and I’m glad I have found a use for it 😁

   

 To see more of my felted creation click here

Felt slippers Felted wool slippers for men Swedish wool shoes

Here is another first try for me 😊 A wet felted pair of men’s slippers made of local Swedish wool (Finull) for my hubby. They are eco friendly and ethical as no sheep was harmed for the raw material. The wool that I use for felting is sheared (cut) fleece and not sheepskin.

 To see more of my felted creation click here

 

Handmade felted wool socks Red cashmere merino wool slipper socks

Here is another first try for me. A pair of felted socks to keep my feet toasty and warm on cold nights at our cabin. They look like slippers but only because they were shaped around my feet. Made of pure Cashmere wool on the inside and soft Merino wool (16 mic) on the outside they are extremely soft and fluffy 🥰 and they look so cute on my feet! Every time I wear them I feel like Dorothy in her Ruby slippers 😁

To see more of my felted creation click here

Handmade felted wool slippers Natural plant dyed wool

First try at making adult felt slippers 😊 They are made of the wool of a local Swedish sheep breed called - Jämtlandsfår and hand dyed with Henna plant. For the soles I've recycled/upcycled my old leather jacket.

  To see more of my felted creation click here

 

Fingerless gloves Felted wool mittens Wrist warmers Natural plant dyed Merino wool and Silk

My little sis wanted a pair of fingerless mittens to match her new boots and I thought it would be a fun project to try and made them for her 😊 The mittens are wet felted and made of soft merino wool with Tussah silk and natural viscose fibers decor. The wool was white in color from the start and I dyed the mittens with Henna plant to match the boots in color 🤓

 

 

To see more of my felted creation click here

 

Natural leaf textured fine silver pendant. Jewelry design by Arctida.

The holidays are over and it is time to get back to blogging :) 

Last year I've started teaching beginner metal clay class and I thought I'll show you what my students can make in my classes. Here is the first one and it is one of the most popular projects for beginners - making a jewelry piece from real leaves. This pendant is made by me as a demo for my students using precious metal clay paste and I've chosen a Mint leaf as a *model* because of it beautiful texture and pretty shape.  

  For more of my pmc fine silver jewelry click here

DIY Honey Lavender salve tutorial. How to make a healing ointment recipe

I love using natural products for all of my personal care so I thought I’ll share with you my favorite recipe of Honey salve with Lavender that I’ve been making for my family for years.

Ingredients:
Olive Oil ~ 2 oz (57 ml)
Cocoa Butter ~ 0.5 oz (15 g/ 15 ml)
Beeswax ~ 0.7 oz (19 g/20 ml)
Honey, preferably raw honey ~ 1 tsp (5 ml)
Vitamin E ~ 1/2 tsp (3 ml)
Lavender essential oil (or your own choice) ~ 10-20 drops

1.    Combine Olive oil, Cocoa butter and Beeswax into a mixing bowl and melt in a double boiler or in a microwave oven.

2.    Allow salve to cool on the counter. When the mixture has cooled down to approximately 100 degrees Fahrenheit (40°C degree Celsius) you can start adding Honey and Vitamin E. The essential oils should be last. Blend the whole mixture well with rubber spatula, spoon or with the electric hand mixer.

 

3.    Transfer the finished salve into the smaller containers of your choice. Recipe yields approximately 100 ml (~ 3,5 oz) of product.

Notes:

•    Honey is a known source of the bacteria spores that cause botulism. The spores are not nearly enough to hurt an adult and have never been known to cause harm by applying to wounds. Still, to be safe, don’t use honey or honey salve on children under two years old unless the honey has been sterilized.

•    Heating raw honey past the maximum hive temperature of 95 degrees Fahrenheit changes honey’s essential composition and degrades its quality. It partially destroys honey’s beneficial enzymes and ‘boils off’ volatile compounds that account for the unique, delicate floral aroma of the honey. If you wish to preserve as much of the honey properties as possible, wait until the mixture has cooled off to 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35°C degree Celsius). Most commercial honey is already heated to 160-180 degrees Fahrenheit (70-80 °C degree Celsius) so if you are using commercial honey, you can add honey right after melting your oils/butters/beeswax together.

More of my DIY Homemade Beauty Recipes

DIY Cold Process Swirl Soap Tutorial

Spoon swirling is a very simple technique with a big impact. In this tutorial, I will show you exactly how easy it is to create this soap using spoon and two colors.

Ingridients:
Olive Oil ~ 7.9 oz (225 g)
Coconut Oil ~ 4.4 oz (125 g)
Avocado Oil ~ 1.8 oz (50 g)
Cocoa Butter ~ 1.8 oz (50 g)
Shea Butter ~ 1.8 oz (50 g)
Alkanet root powder 1 ¼ tbs
Lye (3% superfatted) ~ 2.51 oz (71.4 g)
Water ~ 5.3 oz (150 ml)

Additives:
Jojoba Oil ~ 0.53 oz (15 g)
Lavender and Orange essential oils ~ 0.4 oz (12 g)

Colour preparations: Infuse the oil of your choice (I use Olive oil) with Alkanet root powder.

To create this soap you will need to follow my basic cold process soapmaking tutorial. Melt your oils, add the lye and stick blend it like you would with any basic batch of soap. At the end of your trace, add extra oils (superfat your soap) and essential oils of your choice. You want a strong trace so that the soap is close to a pudding consistency. It should be thick, but still slide off the spoon easily.

Directions:
1. Pour a small amount of the soap into the separate container and mix it with your infused (colored) oil.

2. Pour one layer of your base (uncoloured) soap into the bottom of a mold.

3. Here's where your artistry comes in. Use the spoon to scoop out the purple colored soap and holding the spoon close to the yellow layer, allow the soap to gently slide off the spoon onto the first layer. The soap should not completely cover the previous layer.

4. Distribute the remains of your base soap as a third and final layer.

5. I dotted the surface with colored soap and then dragged a toothpick through the dots to make swirly designs.

 

 

6. Pop out after 3 to 5 days, cut it in bars and allow to sit for a full 4 to 6 weeks to cure and finish the saponification process. Recipe yields approximately 4 bars of soap, 4.5 oz (~ 125 g) each.

 More of my DIY projects

All my DIY projects, craft tutorials and recipes

Beauty and Health

Avocado Hair Mask
DIY Cold Process Soap
DIY Facial Masks
DIY Moisturizing Hand Creme Tutorial
DIY Sunscreen oil recipe
DIY Cold Process Swirl Soap Tutorial 
DIY Honey Lavender salve tutorial

Home Decor

DIY Christmas Ornament Tree tutorial
DIY Falling Leaves hanging tutorial
DIY Marimo ball mini aquarium
DIY Succulent gardens
DIY Crystal Succulent garden

Jewelry Tutorials

DIY Ruffled Gemstone Hoops earrings tutorial
DIY Tree of Life Tutorial

DIY sunblock recipe, make your own Sunscreen oil - natural skin care product

I love making natural skin care products and most of beauty products in my home are made by me. So off course now when the spring is finally here and vacation season is approaching it is time to make my own homemade natural sunscreen oil. The basic rule for sunscreen oil is carrier oil that has its own natural SPF properties + sunblocking agent (zinc oxide or titanium oxide) and then some extras of your choice. I usually use whatever oils I have at home for the moment but I prefer combination of Sesame oil, Jojoba oil and Avocado oil (70%, 20% and 10%).

Here are some good carrier oils for the recipe: Sesame oil, Coconut Oil, Jojoba oil, Hemp oil, Avocado oil, Soybean, and Peanut Oil. All contain SPF levels between 4-10.

Ingredients:
135 ml (~ 4,5 oz) Oil blend (use any combination of the oils listed above)
15 ml (~ 0,5 oz) Zinc oxide (non-nanoparticle)
3 ml (~1/2 tsp) Vitamin E
10-20 drops of Lavender essential oil (or your own choice)

I prefer to mix a small part of my oil mix and oxides before mixing the sunscreen. If you wish to do as me, wearing your gloves and mask, carefully measure zinc oxide or titanium oxide into your blending container. Add approximately ¼ of the oil blend and mixture to the powder, blend well. Continue blending until the powder is thoroughly mixed with oil. Transfer the oil/oxide mix into the new container. Add the rest of the oil mix, Vitamin E, essential oil for scent and shake your container/bottle until everything is thoroughly mixed together. You can also combine everything in your blender from the start, and blend until well mixed.

Transfer the finished sunscreen into the smaller containers of your choice. Recipe yields approximately 150 ml (~ 5 oz) of product.

Notes:

* This recipe contains zinc oxide at 10% which gives it a SPF of around 6-11. See the chart below to reduce or increase the amount of zinc oxide/titanium oxide based on your family’s needs. Make sure not to inhale the zinc oxide/titanium oxide, use a mask if necessary!

* Beneficial, sun protecting essential oils include lavender, myrrh, carrot seed oil, and peppermint.

* Avoid using citrus essential oils, such as bergamot, orange, lemon or lime. They may cause unpleasant skin reactions when exposed to the sun. They also reduce a sunscreen's effectiveness.

* When using this oil you will get a soft white tint on your skin from zinc/titanium oxide. If you wish to make it less visible, add some iron oxides or cacao powder.

* Be aware of the shelf life of products made without preservatives. The beauty (and simplicity) of making your own product is that you don't have to adhere to the stringent industry guidelines of manufacturing to lengthen the shelf life. Simply make enough to be used within a short period of time.

* This is the recipe that I have used for my family for years with great results. However, I cannot guarantee that yours will be the same experience because it has not been tested in an FDA/ EMA approved lab. In other words, by sharing this recipe with you, I hope you understand that I will not be held responsible for any adverse reactions, sunburns, or skin cancers.

More of my DIY projects

Totally Tutorials and my How to Make Moisturizing Hand Cream Tutorial

Very exciting news! My "How to Make Moisturizing Hand Cream" Tutorial made it onto this really awesome blog called Totally Tutorials, that posts tutorials on how to make anything and everything you can possibly imagine. Yay! I hope you guys enjoy it :)

and even more good news :) I'm making my first wire-jewelry tutorial, that will explain how to make my version of the "Tree of Life" pendant. It is only a couple of days work left, so stay tuned :)

Tutorial - How to Make Homemade Moisturizing Hand Creme

I’ve been promising to post recipes of homemade skincare products, so here is my own recipe of moisturizing hand creme, which is especially good for dry skin.

 What you will need (ALL STERILIZED):

· 2 mixing bowls, preferably stainless steel or tempered glass
· A cake mixer or a blender.
· A thermometer
· A spatula and funnels
· Several measuring cups and spoons
· A microwave or a stove top (clean is good, sterile not necessary)
· Containers for the finished product
· Lots of paper towels 

Ingridients:
Oil phase:
15 ml (3 tsp) Olive oil

15 ml (3 tsp) Jojoba oil
5 g ~ 5 ml (1 tsp) Cocoa butter
5 g Emulsifier (I use Cetearyl glycoside)

Water soluble phase:
55 ml (~ 3,5 tbs) – distilled or boiled water
5 ml (1 tsp) Glycerine (Glycerol)
your own choice of preservatives (I use 15 drops of Parabens mix without butylparaben)

3 phase:
1 ml Vitamin E
5 g Carbamide or regular Salt
10 drops Lavender essential oil (or your own choice) 

Directions:

Have 2 separate mixing containers. In container #1 weigh your oil phase and heat it until all solid parts are melted, using one minute increments in your microwave. In container #2 weigh out and heat your water phase ingredients for approximately one to two minutes in the microwave. The water phase and the oil phase should have the same temperature around 70-75°C (degree Celsius).

 

Begin pouring the melted mixture in container #1 into container #2 and stir with your blender at the same time. You will need to continue blending the mixture with your blender for about 5-10 minutes (give your blender a few seconds to cool down within the 10 minute time allotted, otherwise you may burn up your motor).

When the mixture has cooled down to approximately 50°C (degree Celsius) you can start adding 3 phase ingredients. The essential oils should be last. Blend the whole mixture well.

Transfer the finished creme into the jars of your choice. Recipe yields approximately 100 ml of product.

More of my DIY Homemade Beauty Recipes

DIY Homemade Hair Care Recipe - Avocado Hair Mask

The spring is approaching and I felt that it is time for a complete make over and intense TLC. So why not to start with the hair. I used a basic avocado hair mask recipe which I further developed with some extras.

This avocado hair mask is moisturizing, affordable and quick to prepare. It is perfect for dry and damaged hair. Avocado provides a rich source of vitamin A,C,D,E and has more potassium than a banana. So here is the magic formula:

1 Avocado
2 tbs Honey
2 tbs Olive oil
2 tbs Jojoba oil or Hemp oil
1 tbs Glycerine (Glycerol)
1 tbs Lemon juice

Mash (or use a mixer) avocado until almost all chunks are gone. Add in oils, honey and glycerine (lemon as well if you choose) and mix together into a creamy texture. Place in hair, concentrating on ends and your scalp. Leave in hair for 15 minutes up to 1 hour, depending on how much time you have. Rinse out in shower then wash with shampoo and conditioner (or just conditioner if you are on the “No-Poo“ method). All oils can be exchanged with each over and if you don’t have Glycerine, just use an extra tbs of honey.

More of my DIY Homemade Beauty Recipes