Archive for the ‘Romantic Gift Ideas’ Category
May
21
Posted by dodo
* 175 g/6 oz olive oil soap
* 30 ml/2 tbsp ground almonds
* Grater
* 25 m1/11/2 tbsp almond oil
* 10 drops lavender essential oil
* double boiler
* 25 m1/11/2 tbsp coconut oil
* Spoon
* heart-shaped moulds, oiled
1 Grate the soap. Place the grated soap in a double boiler and leave to soften over heat. Add all the other ingredients.
2 Stir until all the ingredients are evenly mix and begin to hold together.
3 Press the mixture into the oiled moulds at leave to set overnight. Unmould the soaps ready for use.
May
15
Posted by dodo
This little aquarium is full of life! There are fish swimming from side to side and activity all around. The key to the Aquarium candle is that various nonflammable embedments are situated at different heights throughout the container. There are many ways to accomplish this, but this project demonstrates the simplest technique — fast- setting clear epoxy glue. Read the rest of this entry »
May
13
Posted by dodo
Sand is a popular additive to gel candles. It is often used to create the bottom of a seascape or to hide a wick tab from view. However, you’ll use sand in this project for a different reason. You may find a container that you’d really like to use for a candle project, but the shape doesn’t lend itself to sustaining a flame. Read the rest of this entry »
May
07
Posted by dodo
Tea tree is one of the great healing oils, with antiseptic and fungicidal properties which will protect the feet from foot complaints often acquired at the swimming pool or gym. Its fresh resinous smell makes it an ideal oil for both men and women. For ease of use, the foot cream can be kept in a pump-action plastic bottle rather than in the more usual glass or ceramic container. Read the rest of this entry »
Apr
08
Posted by dodo
Candle gel naturally makes a lot of cheerful bubbles, so creating candles that look like champagne is as easy as popping open a bottle of bubbly. Arrange the finished candles on top of a mirrored or silver charger to reflect their brilliance when they burn. Since your guests are bound to admire their beauty, make some extras to give away as memorable party gifts. Read the rest of this entry »
Apr
08
Posted by dodo
Single-pour gel candles are very quick and easy to make. It takes only an hour or less to create a batch to coordinate with your tablecloth, dinnerware, or party decor. For this project, use cut-glass votive holders or an assortment of other cut- or pressed- glass containers scavenged from your kitchen cupboards, such as ashtrays, salt cellars, jam jars, and the like. While gel candles are perfectly lovely in clear glass, cut- or pressed-glass containers add extra complexity to candlelight. Read the rest of this entry »
Apr
02
Posted by dodo
The heat technique is the process of rewarming the candle gel with a heat gun, in an oven, or with a heat lamp to reduce or eliminate bubbles, lines formed from a multiple pour, or surface imperfections caused by finger pokes and the like. It is often the final step in the candlemaking process. However, do not use the heat technique under the following conditions: Read the rest of this entry »
Nov
08
Posted by dodo
`There was a point this Christmas,’ said a girlfriend, ‘as I was struggling to get the turkey out of the oven, and my husband was sweating away over the roast potatoes, when I asked myself for the hundredth time whether it was all worth it. The eager little faces all round the table — knife and fork at the ready in each tight little fist — were not those of the children but of the collection of geriatric grandparents, great aunts and uncles we seem to feed each year.’ Read the rest of this entry »
Nov
02
Posted by dodo
Bestsellers are also hazardous presents. Many years ago my brother and I each gave the other a copy of Doctor Zhivago. Be careful, too, if you’re going to read the book before giving it, not to turn down the pages or drop it in the bath, and remember that if you do cut off the price, because it’s considered bad form not to do so, the recipient can’t then change it. Read the rest of this entry »
Nov
02
Posted by dodo
Men, who probably long to be given Samantha Fox in a grass skirt and a lawn mower, tend to get black silk pyjamas as the ultimate in sophistication. Invariably they also get something to do with drink: bottle-openers, glasses, wine-coolers. Noel would prefer a wife-cooler over Christmas. A friend says that one of her uncles got fourteen bottles of various kinds of booze one year, and nothing else. He was terribly upset because, he said, anyone would think he was an alcoholic — which in fact he was. Read the rest of this entry »
