Great Kids Crafts For Fathers Day

Homemade cards are more personal than that of the shop brought kind! That’s why my little ones have been busy making Father’s Day cards ready for daddy’s special day.

For the younger ones a template is a great idea and Baker Ross have provided us with these fantastic template cards that just require kids to draw in the missing parts and then fill them with colour.

Kids love drawing faces (well my toddler does) its one of the first things most learn to draw. On these cards your child can draw in any type of facial expression they desire! They can even match the features (hair, eye colour etc) to that of their own daddy. Whether it be grumpy or smiley, the end results are just brilliant. You can even turn the card over to design the back of dads head… How cool is that!

Harley age 3 had so much fun working on these that we went through the entire pack in just one day. Ok, Alice also had a go and if truth be told… So did I!

Here’s the results….

Whats more you can even add other art materials to give your cards a certain edge. Kids can use goggly eyes or how about adding glitter to dads tie, or string for his hair? The possibilities are endless!

Card templates are available from Baker Ross Ltd (8 pack £1.99)

Tutorial – Chocolate Fudge Lotion Bars With A Hint Of Shimmer

For sometime now I’ve been wanting to make some hard lotion bars and yesterday I finally found the opportunity to do so.

Are you all familiar with the term lotion bars?

For those of you who are not, lotion bars are basically the same as body butters and lotions, only these come in a solid form. Lotion bars are basically solid at room temperature but melt at near skin temperature. When you finish in the bath/shower you simply rub the bar over your body allowing your skin to absorb its moisture.

By making my own lotion bars I know exactly what it is I’m applying to my skin, therefore avoiding anything that may irritate me! My skin is very sensitive, making me prone to outbreaks of eczema and other flare ups. However, this isn’t the only benefit to making your own lotion bars. Its also a much cheaper alternative to expensive shop brought brands. Though the ingredients used are rather expensive, the quantity of what you have purchased will last some time, allowing you to make a good number of homemade skin products, therefore making the ingredients great value for money.

So, not only did I want a lotion bar that combats dry skin, I also wanted something a little sweet smelling and girly. With this I decided to make a batch of ‘Chocolate Fudge Shimmer Lotion Bars’

For this simple lotion bar recipe you will need to first buy these ingredients

Yellow Bees Wax Pellets
Almond Oil (Carrier Oil)
Unrefined Coca Butter
Raw Shea Butter
Witch Hazel
Pure Vitamin E Oil
Chocolate Fudge (Fragrance)
Cosmetic Glitter (Silvery White)

Tools…

Double boiler
Silicone Moulds (hearts)
Metal Spoon
Grater
Bowls
Scales or measuring cups
Spoons for mixing

Warning: This recipe does contain nut extract so those allergic to nuts should avoid!

So, before I get started on the tutorial, let me explain a little, my reasons for choosing the above ingredients.

For the lotion bar to work a carrier oil must be used. I chose almond oil as its known to be a great natural oil for people who suffer with dry skin. Almond oil moisturises and keeps the skin at a normal PH level during the colder months avoiding cracked dry patches like I sometimes get on my hands as a result of my eczema.

Secondly almond oil provides its user with a natural way to fight them frightening signs of ageing with its use of antioxidants and anti-aging properties.

Unrefined Cocoa butter is the best option for this recipe as it still retains all of its natural goodness and is completely pure and untouched. Its brought in large hard blocks that can be melted down into a liquid. It has a long shelf life of anything from 2-5 years dependent on its stored environment. It has a great buttery texture as it begins to melt and a pleasant natural fragrance. Cocoa butter is a great stable fat that is naturally packed full of antioxidants. Its great used as a lotion as like that of almond oil it helps to prevent dry and itchy skin. What’s more its perfect for a lotion bar as its solid form melts easily when it comes into contact with the skin which is then easily absorbed leaving your skin smelling delicious and feeling silky smooth.

Shea butter is extracted from the nut of African Shea trees. Its packed full of natural fatty acids that are again great to use on the skin. Shea butter is again a great option as like cocoa butter it has a reasonably low melting point. saying that, Shea butter isn’t the easiest butter to work with as it can often become grainy if not heated and cooled in the right way.

The benefits of Shea butter for your skin is that it is both moisturising and rejuvenating. It acts as a great skin toner too, helping beat cellulite and uneven skin texture. Like the above ingredients it fab as an anti ageing treatment and helps to combat dry skin such as eczema. This butter is packed with vitamins and therapeutic properties to protect skin from elements such as the sun and the wind making it a great addition to lip balms.

Yellow BeesWax has a higher melting point range of 62 to 64 °C compared to that of cocoa and Shea butters that normally have a melting range of below 40 °C. The beeswax therefore keeps the product solid for longer. For those living in hotter climates than the UK, a higher ratio of beeswax can be used if desired. Lastly, pure yellow beeswax has a nicer texture and naturally sweeter aroma then that of refined white wax pellets.

Added extras are both the witch hazel and the vitamin E oil. Only a small amount of both is needed but both have great benefits to the skin making these lotion bars even more beneficial.

So Lets Get Started….

Measures

to get the measurements needed for my batch of 6 large heart shaped lotion bars I used the following…

Equal measures of your main ingredients, which for this bar are cocoa butter, almond oil and wax pellets…

Unrefined Cocoa Butter 4 oz
Almond Oil (Carrier Oil) 4 oz
Natural Yellow Beeswax Pellets 4 oz

Other ingredients…

Shear Butter (1.5 oz)

Witch Hazel 1 1/2 Table Spoons

Vitamin E Oil 2 drops

Chocolate Fudge Fragrance Oil 30 drops

Cosmetic Glitter (Shimmer) 2 Tiny Pinches

First, take the cocoa butter and weigh out 4 oz. Then grate it into a large bowl. Note… This is time consuming and hard work so if you have an electric grater then go for it! As to avoid waste cut the last small pieces that are too small to grate into tiny pieces with a knife. Once done leave it to one side.

Next weigh out your wax pellets (4 oz) and then your Shea butter 1.5 oz.

Boil a pan of water and once its bubbling turn down the heat and place a smaller pan or glass jug (if you don’t have a double boiler like me) into the boiling pan of water.

Keep the heat low and add your wax pellets. Remember these have a higher melting point so should go on first.

Once the wax is almost liquidated, add the grated cocoa butter, stir a little and within a few seconds it should have began melting. At this point you should now add the Shea butter to your mixture. Give this a stir and then leave on the low heat while you prepare your carrier oil.

For this measure out 4 oz of almond oil adding 1 1/2 table spoons of witch hazel to the oil followed by two drops of vitamin E. Give this a good mix before pouring into the mixture.

At this point something very strange will happen. The addition of the cold oils to the hot wax makes the oil suddenly turn white with almost a solid appearance. Don’t panic just stir to blend all the ingredients together till the whole mixture has become a liquid.

Now remove from the heat and allow to let for 30-60 seconds before adding 30 drops of Chocolate Fudge Fragrance mix well and don’t take to long to avoid solidification.

Lastly sprinkle in a few pinches of cosmetic glitter, mix and pour into your silicone moulds.

Let sit in till the liquid has solidified enough for you to more them into the fridge where you will leave them be for a good few hours (2 should be enough but 3 is even better).

Once these have set, they should pop out the silicone moulds with ease. Let them stand for 20 minutes and then decided how you want to store them. If keeping for yourself, store in an old tin or some air tight containers, placing them in a cool dark place away from sunlight and other heat sources in-till your ready to use them.

above image I’ve tried to capture the sparkle

If you want to dress these up for a gift you can simply wrap them in some greaseproof paper, pop them into gift bags, tie with twine and write the name of the gift on a cute matching gift tag. Another idea, which I like best, is to line a glass jar with a pretty cellophane bag, piling your lotion bars inside before securing the lid and again adding a gift tag or naming label.

These lotion bars really do smell gorgeously chocolatey. The shimmer is so pretty and subtle too.

My skin feels smooth and soft and the smell last for hours as would a perfume.

Am I proud of my homemade lotion bars? Hell yes!

Reference Section

I’m a UK girl living in London. All the ingredients were attainable, but health food stores are charging the earth for this stuff. With this I opted for eBay when buying the majority of my ingredients. Below is a list of stockiest accompanied by links to the places I brought my ingredients…

250g Raw Shea Butter, 500g Unrefined Cocoa Butter, 10ml Vitamin E Oil

All the above brought from … ‘Aina’s Bargains (eBay Shop)’

Witch Hazel & Almond Oil purchased from Sainsburys

Heart Mould Tray purchased from Lidl

Chocolate Fudge Fragrance purchased from J’s Natural Soaps (eBay Store)

Review – Bblonde Jerome Russell Highlighting Kit

Recently I was sent the Bblonde Jerome Russell Highlighting Kit to review.

The kit promises professional salon results for permanent lightening & controlled highlights. Its formulated with avocado oil & seaweed extract that together claim to protect and condition both hair and scalp.

The kit I was sent is recommended for light to dark brown hair. You see, I am actually a natural blonde yet you’ll never know it. Past hair dying experiments, age and that of pregnancy (3 of them) has actually turned my hair much darker over the years. I know this because now my roots almost look dark brown so I guess that this maybe the best colour choice for me.

Now I’ve used Jerome Russell products before, but not this kit! With my hair in desperate need of colour root touch ups, I’m going to give it ago.

Instead of worrying about highlights I’m going to use it first in an attempt to cover these awful roots.

Hair before application, check out them nasty roots

Inside I found…

1 Sachet of powder bleach
1 Bottle of 40% Vol cream peroxide
1 Sachet of conditioning shampoo
1 Instruction leaflet
1 Application brush
1 Metal hook
1 Pair of plastic gloves
1 Mixing tray
1 Highlighting hat
1 Development hat

So, as you can see, the pack contains all I need apart from the little things I can find around the home, such as… A watch/timer, cotton wool buds, old towel, petroleum jelly, warm running water and a plastic spoon (or something else to stir the mixture).

The leaflet was very detailed, explaining all stages of the application and development process. Of course like all kits, you are advised to do a strand test 48hrs before full application. This always makes me laugh as it states that you need to wait 48hrs before full application of the bleach, yet at the same time we are advised to apply bleach immediately once it has both been opened and mixed!

On application I actually didn’t need to use the cap that was provided, which is kinda lucky as I’ve always found the whole hook and cap think long and sort of difficult to complete alone, preferring to work with foils instead.

As I was only touching up my roots ( I say touching up, though it was a little more than that) I just needed to use the brush to apply to the “Many” dark areas. I think over time my problem has been laziness, as I’d always just apply to the whole head just massaging everywhere for complete coverage. The problem with this is, that although roots are covered and become lighter, the rest of the hair that technically doesn’t need lightening, gets lighter too making the roots always appear that bit darker then the rest of the hair. This time I was adamant to do this properly!

The mixture, is a very powerful bleach that when ingredients have been mixed together, turns an almost frightening shade of purple. Its thick texture makes it easy to apply, avoiding any running or drips of bleach onto areas of hair you wish to avoid it. Despite its super strength, although the smell is a little strong it isn’t too overpowering and didn’t leave me with a headache like other brands have in the past.

Once all areas of the hair are covered in bleach there is a second cap (development cap) for you to wear. As mentioned my roots were rather bad and I was therefore a little unsure if the suggested development time of 15 minutes was really long enough.

In actually fact, it was! Having washed this off I was happily surprised with how well the product had worked in the short space of time. When washing the bleach out of my hair, I used the included conditioning shampoo sachet that smelt very pleasing.

I do hate how awfully dry and brittle such a strong bleach can leave your hair feeling after application. I’ve used hair bleach many times and its felt as if my hair was in this dry state for weeks, even months after Initial application. I think it may have something to do with the conditioning shampoo found in this lightening kit, as it really did seem to restore some of the moisture back into the bleached hair. I did also apply some intensive conditioner following application of the shampoo but I do this for every brand I’ve used in the past and this one defiantly didn’t leave my hair as dry as others.

Saying this I would always recommend a good conditioning treatment application preferably preformed in a salon, within the first week of bleaching. I feel that by doing this I’ve actually saved myself money in the long run when I’m left trying to repair my dried out hair.

The final colour was very light and Immediately following application you like me, may think its a little bright. You could then use any toner which is something I nearly always do with any hair bleach.You can buy small sachets of toner from almost any beauty store, chemist or supermarket. Mine didn’t look brassy or yellow as it has done in the past, mine was just a tad bright. Given it was only a little I didn’t bother with a toner and looking at my hair now some 24hrs later, following a second wash, it doesn’t look to bright at all so I haven’t even needed to apply anything more to adjust the intensity of colour.

Results

I’ve also had my hair cut short, this and the colour has left me feeling much more like me again

The same morning I bleached my hair I had it cut at a professional salon. Discussing with the hairdresser how I’d only just bleached my hair some hours before, he commented that the John Russell bleach had done an awesome job on my roots (I guess he was pleased he didn’t have too)! It was here I’d opted for a deep conditioning treatment and I’m extremely pleased I did. For this reason I couldn’t possibly comment on the condition the dye left my hair in, in let’s say a week following application. However, I can comment that I was very pleased with the end results and will almost defiantly use the highlighting kit again.

A few weeks following application

For more info on the Jerome Russell range visit their website or check them out on Facebook.

Plus I’ve just discovered that Jerome Russell are currently running a great competition to win a different range of hair products. Visit their site on the link above for more information on the competition.

Disclaimer: I haven’t been paid to write this review but did receive a free full size highlighting kit as to provide an opinion that is honest and that of my own.

Vintage Bedroom Furniture Refurbishment Using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

As some of you may have guessed I’m really into everything vintage and shabby chic so decided to refurbish some old furniture pieces to create a shabby chic inspired bedroom set.

I brought the pieces of furniture I wanted to use from a British Heart foundation store that only specialise in furniture and electrical goods.

I brought a dresser that looks 50’s to me. It was dark wood with lots of drawers and a huge mirror! The dresser was priced at just £25

I also brought a chest of drawers that somebody had painted white. These again are rather spacious with 3 really large drawers. The chest of drawers was also a steal at £25

I also brought for the bedroom some white bedside drawers. These had some pretty mouldings on the front but one or two were missing. It also had some pretty porcelain handles. The bedside drawers were an amazing bargain at just £5.

The last item I brought was a vintage French Mahogany Side/Lamp table that used to form part of a nest of tables. This again cost me just £5.

Feeling inspired by the mouldings on the bedside drawers I went on a hunt for some French inspired mouldings on the net. I found some lovely ones being sold by Chic mouldings via eBay. With this I purchased 4 floral corners for £3.49, 3 Rose and Ornate Scrolls for £6.99 and finally 2 large Rose and Ornate Scrolls for £12.99.

My next decision was what paint to use. Having done a lot of research on the net I finally decided on Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in the colour Paris Grey. Luckily for me there is a store close by who sells the paint as these are only sold in selected stores. I also purchased Annie Sloan Clear Wax.

I’ve heard many people state how expensive Annie Sloan paint is, and at £17 per litre at first I would have agreed. However I’ve used just over half a litre tin on all four of my items. All but the lamp table received 2 coats of paint. The wax was priced at around £7.99 and again I’ve used about half a tin. I really can’t believe how far this paint goes!

The best thing about Annie Sloan paint, that I’m sure anyone would tell you, is there is no prep work, the paint sticks to any surface even those that are highly varnished.

The one thing I needed to do was brush and wash down all my furniture to remove dust and marks.

As this was my first time working with this paint I first tried it out on the smallest item… The side/lamp table. I used a big brush from the Harris range at homebase and a smaller brush that I use when using acrylic for the hard to reach areas, then I got going. Chalk paint is really thick and you can add a little water. I didn’t really need to this for the side table but the longer I had the paint the thicker it became so on some of the other items I just added a little water to my brush.

The paint went on really easily and gave good coverage. If your using this paint for the first time you will discover just how amazingly fast this stuff dries. This is why its important to ensure you haven’t got any drip marks, keep checking as you paint each section. I loved how the table looked with just the one coat of chalk paint and wanted a lot of dark wood to show through once distressed.

A lot of people wax there wood, distress then wax again. I only needed to use this technique for the small bedside drawers as I found these harder to work with. The paint came of more easily so I decided to wax before distressing then wax again. Nonetheless I didn’t need to do this for the table, dresser or chest of drawers. So once my table was dry I used some 100 grit sandpaper to distress. I paid particular attention to the corners of the table, the feet and sides.

Once distressed to my satisfaction I used an antique soft dresser brush (that I found in a charity shop) to remove any dust. I then used a cloth to apply my wax working section by section. I applied the wax with the cloth and then used an old washed body power puff to buff where I had waxed.

Its easy to tell when your wax is fully dried as it looks patchy as certain areas dry ahead of others. The darker areas are those that are still wet.

Before painting my bedside drawers I used the side of a wallpaper scrapper to remove the mouldings. I then took four of the removed mouldings and with some mod podge I stuck 2 to the top corners of the first drawer and 2 to the bottom corners of the second drawer. These were dry and strong within about 30 minutes.

As mentioned my bedside drawers were much harder to paint simply because the wood wasn’t of such good quality. Despite the fact I liked the handles I removed them and replaced with some lovely floral handles I brought from eBay. The bedside drawers were painted with two coats of paint and I added a little water to my brush as the paint had become quite thick. The bedside drawers got waxed both before and after distressing.

As for the dresser I removed the mirror and then using mod podge to stuck the 4 floral corners onto the dresser and then I took my large rose and ornate scrolls sticking one each in the centre of both my large drawers. I applied two coats of paint to my dresser letting them dry for around 40 minutes in between coats. I didn’t remove the hardware as despite ordering some 8 beautiful crystal handles from eBay I was still unfortunately waiting on them arriving. Instead I just painted over the handles it already had attached.

I had a lot of fun distressing this piece and was really pleased with the final result. I found this one took quite a bit of waxing but it was worth it.

As for my drawers I added my 3 small rose and ornate scrolls to the centre of each draw but decided to paint them first. I worked in the same way as I did my dresser only I was more gentle when sanding as I discovered the previous owners had painted these lilic before they painted them white and wanted to ensure it was only the white that was visible when distressed.

I painted over the metal Crome handles, distressing lightly as to allow some of the Crome to show through.

I had so much fun working on this project. I absolutely love the results and now want to paint all that I own and more. I’ve brought a stunning mahogany magazine rack that I want to refurbish. I’m also planning on using some dark wax for this one… I’m getting brave!