Craftastic Mommypotamus

So I have been a'crafting this week. First I tried to make edible flubber...that was a bust technically speaking. The flubber never got to the correct consistency. However, Cutes Patoots had a great time. At the end of it the child was a sticky, icky mess and completely thrilled with herself. So even though my experiment didn't quite work the way I planned I am still calling it a success.

See? Happy baby.

    It took me an hour to get her clean and let's just say there is still some dried purple goo on the high chair. But the gooey baby was the bigger priority. It was fun to watch her play with it and after all babies are washable. 

Edible Goo

1 can (14oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk

6 tbls Corn Starch

Food Coloring

Directions:

1) Heat sweetened condensed milk in a pan over low heat.

2) Add corn starch 1 tablespoon at a time until well blended.

3) Once the mixture starts to thicken remove from heat and add food coloring until you reach the desired color.

4) Let cool to about room temperature.

     After you have played with your goo, simply soak baby in a bath to remove the goo. Soaking in water works in other surfaces too. Warning: There are some jobs even a baby wipe can't handle. This is one of them.

     My next project was for me, a homemade sugar scrub! Seriously never buying a scrub again! Bonus if you bought cute jars it can be given as a gift!!!!

Vanilla and Coffe Sugar Scrub

1 1/2 cup Ground Coffee

2 1/3 cups Sugar in the Raw

3/4 cup White Sugar

1 tbls Kosher Salt

4 tbls Vanilla Extract

1 tbls Olive Oil

6-8 tbls Coconut Oil

Directions

1) In a large bowl mix the dry coffee grounds, raw sugar, white sugar, and salt until well blended.

2) Add extract and oils. Mix with your hand until every thing is evenly coated. It won't seem very moist but it is just enough to moisturize while not leaving that oily feel on your skin.

     Choose your coffee wisely though because your whole shower will smell like it. I'd put a pot on to brew before getting in the shower. Besides you could probably use the caffeine to chase the little one anyway.

   My final project is my favorite and is it ever a doozy! I like to window shop on Zulily.com. Every now and then these AMAZING bow holders come up for sale that look like tutu dresses. I showed them to Papasaurusrex, who was fairly unimpressed with them. He told me I could make one. I doubted him and his wisdom, but agreed to try. I am so glad I did. I think mine came out prettier than the ones I saw for sale, and it is certainly more our colors and style.

      I started with a piece of cardboard from a box and drew out the shape of the bodice. I made about 3inches of cardboard "hip" to glue the tulle on to. I then used spray adhesive to glue 2 layers of quilting batting to the cardboard that I trimmed with scissors to fit. I had the zebra fabric for another project I never got around to doing, which I cut about 2 inches wider than my board on each side. I wrapped the fabric around my padded board and made cuts in the material so it fit closely to the form, and glued it in place with Loctite Crafters Adhesive. I had about 25 yards of tulle in my crafting goodies cut into about 17" strips left over from a tutu project that I hot glued to the bottom of the bodice. I found layering 3 pieces of tulle together and then pinching the top before gluing to give me the best effect. (Side note: Be prepared to burn your fingers. I am pretty sure that is just what happens when you work with hot glue.) Then I cut my ribbon. I used 4 different ribbons: a 3in teal and green polka dot for the waistband, a 3in wired zebra ribbon, a 1in black and pink striped, and a 1in hot pink on hot pink glitter polka dot for the skirt ribbons. I also used the pink polka dot to wrap the bodice. I glued the 3 pieces of zebra print on top of the tulle and the black and pink stripe ribbon on top of that. I then added the hot pink ribbon streamers in-between, and wrapped the bodice, gluing it down in the center of the bodice and wherever it overlapped with a drop of hot glue and the edges on the back. After that I glued the wide teal ribbon over the "messy" edges of the ribbon and tulle and hot glued my embellishments. To cover up the back I am going to use a piece of poster board and Crafter's Adhesive.
     I wish I could give you exact measurements on the length of the ribbons for your craft shopping list, but I don't know. I bought spools from Wal-mart and just cut them to the length of the tulle. The pink polka dot ribbon used the entire spool. The others I had plenty left over. If buying by the yard I would get 1 yard of the waist band ribbon, and 3 yards of the 3" skirt ribbon, 3 yards of the 1" skirt ribbon,  and a spool of the bodice ribbon. I made my hanger out of a left over strip of tulle but you could also use ribbon. I used probably a little over 25 yards of tulle for the skirt. You can use less but I wanted the skirt to be really full as well as long.
     The great part about this project is it is only limited by your creativity. You can cut the bodice to any shape you like. It could be a boat neck, sweetheart neckline, "strapless", or heart shaped. ANY neckline you want. You could even do asymmetrical or get really fancy with extra fabric and some Modge Podge and build a drape or cowl neck. As for embellishments you can use fake jewels, buttons, or even real pieces of jewelry. You can make bows if you want. Though if you are anything like me, you have enough hair bows to put on it you won't feel the need to decorate it with bows. I even thought about having a lace edge under the teal ribbon, but decided it was fussy enough on its own it didn't need more help. 

So there you go, my week of crafting. If you try any of these let me know. I'd love to hear your thoughts and see your creations!