I’m off beading (finally!) and in the look for other things that I can do with the girls. It occurred to me that we could decorate their jeans, bags and other items with appliques. I’d already tried some iron-on ones from the craft store and e-bay before with mixed results, and I thought that the sew in kind may be nicer and more successful. Of course, that was before I realized that Michaela does not like to sew (does she like doing anything?).
Anyway, I bought these appliques (supposedly 150 pieces, I haven’t counted them yet) in e-bay from a seller (ohmymini) in China. I received them today and they are lovely – much nicer than I expected. So much so that now I feel bad “wasting them” on whatever I end up using them for. Given that neither Camila and I can’t sew, chances are that we’ll ruin them on whatever we sew them to. Oh well!
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The girls and I made lip gloss to gift to some of their friends. It’s super-easy to do and works pretty well. We didn’t have any flavoring, so we didn’t add any, but feel free to do so if you’d like.
I wanted the girls to decorate the containers more, but I guess they weren’t feeling very creative. Perhaps they’ll do it later. You can decorate the lids by gluing beads, sequins, “jewels”, gemstones, etc. You can buy the little containers for the lipgloss at craftstores or look for toiletries travel kits.
Semi-natural lip gloss recipe
- 1 oz beeswax (by weight)
- 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
- lipstick
Put the beeswax and the oil in a small cooking pot and heat over low heat until the beeswax melts, stirring occasionally. Once melted take off the heat and stir constantly until the mixture cools down and thickens. Transfer to a bowl.
Using a knife cut a tiny bit of lipstick and add it to the lip gloss mixture. Stir until the color is fully blended. Add more lipstick if you want a darker color. Add flavoring if desired. Put in small containers.
I think everyone is done shopping for me – but probably Mike is not. So here is my edited (as of 12/13) Xmas list:
– Essential oils (NOT orange, peppermint, jasmine, lavender)
– Empty cosmetic bottles (2-8 oz), that I can use for homemade lotions
– Empty shoe boxes or alike
– Paints (oil, tempera or for metals)
– Fragrant dried flowers
– Snow boots (size 8)
– Snow shoes
– A large dutch oven
– Cookbooks: Ad Hoc at Home, Bouchon, The Complete Robuchon, The Cuisines of Mexico, How to cook everything, Rick Bayless Mexico
– Books: Cahokia, Bad Mother, Karnak Cafe, Khan el Khalili, A short history of nearly everything, The Short Stories of Yusuf Idris, Thebes at war, Who Gave Pinta to the Santa Maria?
-One of those knives that are basically a rectangle and that are often used to cut meat – but can also be used for veggies. I just can’t remember the name. A cheap one is OK.
-A knife sharpening rod.
-Hanukkah Decorations
-Soldering iron (s/t mike can do to fuse metal for me)
-Krampus decorations (search in http://www.etsy.com/ and e-bay.
– Microplane Grater/Zester
It’s time for the annual Mika & Camila Xmas list, though this year there isn’t too much to put in it.
Indeed, I’m not putting anything at all for Camila. The fact is she will like anything and everything. Last Christmas she opened every package full of enthusiasm and proclaimed everything she got as “Just what I wanted”. If you need more guidance, she probably doesn’t need any more dolls (but could do with some door equipment). She loves arts & crafts & workbooks. She also says she wants a stamping kit and Hello Kitty stamps & stickers (we saw that at a Hello Kitty store in the mall). But she will enjoy whatever you get her.
As for Mika, she wants:
-A Furreal puppy dog (e.g. this one)
-Calicco critters
-Jeans (call for sizes)
-Half-body sweaters (to wear with dresses)
That’s pretty much it but she also has too many dolls.
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