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Category: Crafts

Christmas Party Potluck Dish: Homemade Fruit Flower Arrangement

Christmas Party Potluck Dish: Homemade Fruit Flower Arrangement

Every year the ladies on my block get together for large Christmas/ Hanukkah dinner party.  I was signed up to bring fruit to the party, and I decided to make something different than just run of the mill fruit salad.  In the past, I have always brought a giant floral table center piece to the same party, but I didn’t bother to volunteer to make one this year, mainly because dinner was going to be buffet style this time around….

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Making A Fun Floral Arrangement for Thanksgiving

Making A Fun Floral Arrangement for Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from Hanbury House! One of my favorite things about having a garden and growing my own organic flowers is sharing them in floral arrangements with the folks I love and care about.  This year, my daughter, B wanted to help make our arrangement to take to Nana’s house, so I decided something more kid friendly was called for.  We still had a left over unused pumpkin from Halloween out on the front porch that I figured would make…

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Almond Oatmeal Soap

Almond Oatmeal Soap

I have been curious about making soap at home for a long time, but until this year, I had not gotten up the courage to try.  The main part that had been holding me back was working with lye.  As an organic gardener, I my initial instinct is to avoid strong dangerous chemicals.  And to make REAL soap, there is no getting around using Lye in the processing.  Lye is caustic and is a basic ingredient in most drain cleaners. …

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More Homemade Soy Candles

More Homemade Soy Candles

Last year was the first time I tried making my own soy candles as homemade Christmas gifts.  I enjoyed the process so much, I did it again this year.  So if you are a friend or relative…guess what you might be getting!  My daughter, B, also eagerly helped me this time.  This morning, she even took the time to make 3 extra purple soy candles.  This way, we had some of them for ourselves for Advent.  Soy is a good…

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Creating Wooden stamps

Creating Wooden stamps

One of the many badges my Junior troop worked on this year was Prints and Graphics.  It recommends the girls make their own stamp by using something like a potato.  I was never a fan of stamping with a carved potato and it only lasts for a few hours before it looks gross.  I came up with an alternative simple method for the girls to make their own stamps that are reusable.  I used scrap wood and cut it into…

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Marionnette Puppets – Big Fluffy Bird Craft

Marionnette Puppets – Big Fluffy Bird Craft

Marionette Puppets on Parade My girl scout troop was invited to participate in a Christmas Parade this year, along with all of the other girl scout troops in Long Beach, as one big group.  The theme we had to work with was Christmas Around the World. After some research, since we had berets from the cultural fair, we decided to represent France.  One tradition we kept reading about was the popularity of puppets and puppet shows for Christmas. When we…

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