Muse Mondays #1 - Crafting for Good

So, when I’m feeling a bit uninspired to do my own thing or just have that crafting bug but don’t have anyone to make anything for I usually turn to secretly crafting for someone else.
Right now my favorite “Crafting for Good” site is dedicated to spreading happiness to the communities in which we live in by making and anonymously dropping off soft toys in random places (what fun!). The Toy Society is chock full of hundreds of little handmade creatures that people from around the world (currently 47 countries and counting!) have made and anonymously dropped off in parks, restaurants, museums, doctor offices, and many other random places so that they can put a smile on a stranger’s face. The best and most fun part about The Toy Society blog is being able to read the reactions from the people who find the little toys and it seems that anyone of any age including full grown men appreciate and enjoy finding the stuffed with love critters. It brings a smile to my face even thinking about it! I mean, could you imagine what it would be like to stumble upon a neatly packaged little toy with a note tied to it saying “I’m yours, take me home” and a neat little note explaining that someone in your community had taken the time to create the toy by hand in order to help your day feel better?
I know I jumped on the opportunity to do put a smile on someone’s face a couple of times ^_^ I did three drops (2 scotty dog puppies and 1 lil' bunny rabbit) and my son helped me drop them off!

The first puppy I made

My lil' man Zack learning about giving and making the drop himself

The Toy Society actually had its start back in 2008 in Australia when it’s creator, Bianca, tried a social street project to see how observant people were of their surroundings. She placed handmade toys in inconspicuous places to see if people would notice them and as a reward for being observant, those who found the toys got to keep them! Since then, the movement has picked up momentum and is categorized under RAK or Random Act of Kindness, another movement in society that’s been gaining momentum and can now be seen throughout the web and world in several different other ways:

Operation NICE was created by Melissa who loved the idea of being kind and nice to the people she meets and to the people she doesn’t meet. She started leaving “nice notes” in places where people would find them. These notes could be a simple statement of “You’re Awesome!” to a nice (albeit somewhat cliché sentiment, but still nice to hear) “The world is a better place because you are in it”. I think the best part of this project is how simple and easy it is and it doesn’t cost hardly a nickel! Just get a piece of paper and write a nice affirmation on it and tape it up somewhere! Genius!



The next bit of inspiration that I have isn’t really considered a RAK but rather a RAC or Random Act of Craft. I’ve been wanting to participate in this for a couple months (well, since I discovered it, anyway) but haven’t had a real chance to yet, though I do still plan on doing something with it. Whether you call it Yarn Bombing or Guerrilla Knitting (I’m more of a crocheter, so Guerrilla Crocheting?), it’s still a really fun way to add color and beauty to your community! Simply put, you go out and find an object you want to decorate in your community (such as trees, light posts, bike racks, etc.), measure it, go home and create a piece of craft that can wrap around it (you want the craft to be slightly smaller so that it can be wrapped tight around the object, then when no one is looking you tie your craft around the object and voila! You’ve just beautified your community! Some people do this RAC alone while others find groups of people to yarn bomb with (some of these groups have been able to completely cover whole parks in one night with their crafts!) Check out some of these yarn bombing creations! (hint: click on the picture to go to the page where I found them! And no, the pictures are not hot-linked ^_~)

99 Yarn Bombed Trees by KnittaPlease - The Blanton's Faulkner Plaza in Austin, Texas
This was created by 170 volunteers!



Yarn Bike by erindoy1


Yarn Bombing on Facebook Here you can see lots of different pictures from all over and from different artists all in one fell swoop!


There's one last Crafting for Good I want to share with you that combines both RAK and RAC, but it seems that the site it's on is currently down, so I shall be updating this post as soon as the site comes back up ^_^ Please forgive me!


EDIT: I found the original post that I was thinking of which ended up leading me to where she had gotten inspired from!

Hats For the Homeless, though it's not the official name of the project, and even the project isn't really a project and rather just random smattering of people doing a good deed for others, is a wonderful way to spread some warmth (literally and figuratively) during the cold winter months. Please, click on the picture to be able to read the full article! It's a great and inspiring story! And I shall leave you with a quote from the article as I think it sums up what this entire post is about:
"What a tangible way to say, 'I care'"

Sudsy Sunday #1

Soap. It keeps us clean. It comes in some rather pretty scents, too! But have you noticed that many of the commercially produced soaps cause your skin to chap (especially in the winter)? I never really had any problems with my skin chapping until a couple years ago. It might be because I had a kid and was, and currently, constantly having to wash my hands or it could be because I'm simply getting older and my body can't bounce back as readily as it used to. Whatever the cause, all I know is that my hands would end up chapping so bad they'd get to the point of nearly bleeding- let's all say it together now, "eeeewwwwwwwww!" Lotions helped out a lot let me tell you! But I have recently learned that not all soaps can be treated equally as I set out to find a new and gentler soap to use.
What did I discover, you ask? Well, I found out that I can make my own soaps with wonderful moisturizing properties in my own home! I must say I shall never go back to store bought if I can help it!

What is soap really?
This is what I came to understand through my own research, so please correct me if I'm completely off-base on some of this (it's broken down into as lay-man of terms as I can get)!
Soap can be broken down into three main components: fats and oils (animal or plant), water, and lye (aka sodium hydroxide). Lye is a very caustic ingredient that must be handled properly and used in the proper amounts in conjunction with the water and fats and oils. The lye instigates a chemical reaction within the fats and oils called saponification which causes the fats and oils to break down into fatty acids and glycerol. Don't worry, the fatty acids are not harmful in any way! In fact, it is the fatty acids that hold all the cleansing power of soap! The fatty acids that comprise soap can pick up and surround grease and dirt particles on your skin and make it easier for water to rinse the particles away. In many commercial soaps the glycerols are often processed out of the soap to form a more "pure" soap. This is particularly saddening because the glycerols are often skin-loving moisturizers and wonderful for those people with sensitive skin! Glycerol is also known as glycerin and is easily noted for its clear, transparent/translucent appearance in soaps. (Glycerol has many many other uses as you can read here)
Once the saponification process is started the fragrance and colorant is added to the soap before it is poured into its mold. I will have discussions on the different kinds of fragrances and colorants used in soap in the coming weeks. However, next week I will discuss the different kinds of base oils and fats that are used in creating soap and what benefits they have for the skin!

Handmade soaps have been making a comeback, especially with the advent of melt and pour glycerin soaps (I'm one of the melt and pour users at the moment), and therefore has become more than just a craft but an art form to keep up with today's marketplace. Many soapers are pushing the boundaries of what they can produce with their soaps and many of them succeed in creating eye-catching beauties! Check some of these beautiful handmade soaps!


Cold Process Solar Angels Shea Butter Soap by Eleja
(I am in love with the look of swirled soaps right now and Eleja shows her talent very well with this piece!)


Cold Process Limited Edition Sea Glass by ShiehDesignStudio
(Getting the uneven layers like this is so mind-boggling that they just had to be shared!)


Melt and Pour Painted Soap Starry Night by PJ Soaps
(many of PJ's handpainted soaps can take several days to create!)


Melt and Pour Crystal Gem Soaps by ADKaromatherapy
(yes, that is soap! Don't they look like beautiful gems?!)


Melt and Pour Black Raspberry Vanilla Cupcake Soap by Burnt Mill Candles & Soap
(don't be fooled by these yummy looking treats because these, too, are soapy wonders!)


Melt and Pour Fruity Melon Soap by Rose City Soap Supply

And though these aren't the best of pictures, I will share with you the first two bars of soap I have ever made :D

I call this one BreakTime. It's an exfoliating bar in two parts. The bottom has a base of oatmeal soap scented with Oatmeal, Milk, and Honey and some drizzles of light gold mica to imitate honey and the top part is a simple white soap base with Chocolate Espresso fragrance and coffee grounds for an exfoliate.


This soap is based off of a kit I bought from BrambleBerry. It's a swirl technique and came with a most stunning fragrance call Yuzu which is apparently a Japanese citrus fruit and I am completely and totally in love with how it smells!