Mini Maleficent Staff

I dressed Mia up as Maleficent this year for Halloween, (Mia So Maleficent). I wanted to do this last year, but time passed by too quickly and before I knew it, it was already too close to piece together. One thing about me, is I don’t do anything half-assed. It’s 100% or it’s put on the back burner to fully plan and execute just as I had envisioned. So I bought her a completed Frankenstein dog costume (Mia So Monster), called it a day (though I do think the photo turned out marvelous) and promised myself I would get a jump on my Maleficent idea waaay in advance. Which honestly my timing couldn’t be more perfect considering Maleficent, Mistress of Evil was just released into the theatres. Must have been meant to be after all. Anyway as a child, my mother would make our incredible Halloween costumes by incorporating her creative hand-sewn outfits with store-bought accessories. I try to do the same but mostly with found objects (basically crap I already own) along with a little bit of DIYing.

Below is how I made Mia’s Mini Maleficent Staff:

Supplies:

  • Wooden Dowel

  • Sandpaper, low grit just to smooth rough cut ends.

  • Handsaw

  • Floral or Tree Training Wire.

  • Black Electrical Tape

  • Super Glue

  • Mini Talon Crystal Ball Michael’s Halloween Miniatures Collection. No longer available on their website however may still be found at your local store. I also found on Etsy (here).

Instructions:

  1. Size and cut wooden dowel with a small handsaw. Use sandpaper to smooth out rough cut ends.

  2. Wrap floral or tree training wire around the wooden dowel. I used my husband’s Bonsai tree training wire because I wanted my “seams” to be more prominent. Wrap in a spiral motion from bottom to top then crisscross back down going opposite so the wire overlaps and makes x’s throughout. Don’t worry about imperfections. Wrap last bit of wire on the bottom.

  3. Take your electrical tape again starting from the bottom and wrap dowel with spiraled wire tightly at a slight angle. Finish off at top, leave wood exposed to adhere our crystal ball directly onto the dowel.

  4. With super glue, glue miniature crystal ball to the top of dowel on exposed wood. This is important so that is stays. Electrical tape can move and shift over time or when exposed to heat. Keep staff standing straight up and allow glue to completely dry.

  5. Once glue is dried and your crystal ball is secured, tape a small piece of electrical tape and wrap around just the top to finish up the final look.

  6. Abracadabra you now have one wicked Mistress of Evil staff in hand!

Happy Crafting!

Content by: Agent J

SteamPucks

Essential Shower Steamers

I'm not much of a bath person; I am more inclined to take a shower. Therefore, unfortunately, I have quite the stock of bath bombs I've yet to indulge in. A friend gifted me a pack of shower steamers last year. I had never heard of such a thing, but after my first use I was hooked and in love. I tried my best to make the gifted four-pack last as long as possible. Alas! They were too good not to use, so needless to say I was soon looking for more but found them to be a bit expensive.  With them being a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am disposable item, I began to research how to simply make them myself with less cost and minimal work.

I found this webpage with the following ingredients and concluded it to be the best I'd yet run across, so that is what I went with and was quite pleased with the results. 

Ingredients:
* 2 c. Baking Soda
* 1 c. Citric Acid
* 1 c. Arrowroot Powder
* 3-5 Tbsp. Filtered Water
* Essential Oils
* Silicone Molds (We used Heart shaped) 
* Tin Foil (optional)
* Mesh Drawstring Bag (optional) 

Directions: 
1.  In a bowl mix baking soda, citric acid and arrowroot powder until lump free.  Add filtered water one tablespoon at a time, until you can clump it together. The webpage mentioned a 'snowball' consistency. So if you can pack it into a snowball then you're good to go. Do not over wet your mixture or it'll fizz. We want to save those fizzies for when we're showering. 

2.  Fill silicone molds with mixture using a spoon, press down and compact the best you can. We filled ours about 3/4 to the top of the cups. Let molds air-dry over night. I placed them on a tiered cupcake stand. 

3.  Once dry, remove from silicone molds. They should easily pop right out. Choose your essential oils and cover both the top and bottom of your steampucks. I think we counted approximately 20 drops per side. I found a couple already mixed oils and we picked a few other scents we fancied. 

                      Photo shown is of two batches made.

4. (Optional)  We wrapped ours in tinfoil and tulle circles and fastened them with ribbon and handmade name cards. 

To Use:
Unwrap and place a puck inside your shower, either on a dish or inside a mesh drawstring bag hanging on any convenient hook. Avoid placing them under a direct stream of water as that will make them dissolve too quickly. Bask in the aroma while you shower. Think of it as a 5 minute aromatherapy session. These steampucks also make your bathroom smell great in between time too. They seem to be lasting a week or two depending on how many showers are being taken.

** She's Crafty:
Turn these into a thoughtful gift. Get creative with fun shaped silicone molds, wrap them in colorful foil, toss them into a jar and add a mini drawstring mesh bag. 

** Ladies Night:
Turn this project into a fun ladies night. Invite some girlfriends, have them each bring a bottle or two of essential oils to share as they can be expensive. Share the costs and the wealth for everyone's health. You could have the steampucks already dried and ready to go and together mix your oils and wrap 'em up over a bottle of vino or VODKA and giggles. 

Source: The Hippy Homemaker - DIY Aromatherapy Shower Steamers * She also offers some great essential oil combinations for specific needs. Check it out!

Happy Crafting! 

Content by: Agent J

Mini Mia TeePee

My little Frenchie, Mia, loves forts, burrowing and just having a place of her own. If we put an empty cardboard box on the floor, she is the first to run inside it and grumble at any fuzzy passer-bys, warning them that she called it first.  When I saw the tutorial on my facebook newsfeed on how to make your own mini teepee, it was instantly placed at the top of my to-do craft list.  An adorable mini teepee would be the perfect solution to prevent her from over-heating while outside in the sun, or help decrease her wandering about the yard eating sticks and leaves.  Seriously, that is all she does; we joke about her being our yard pig. Now she has this perfect little fort she can chill in while still enjoying the fresh air.

By following Ann Le's video tutorial I successfully made a Mini Mia TeePee.  And now you too can make one for your fur baby.  Total cost for supplies: $26.00; watching her hang out and enjoy her new spot: priceless.

4 x 48" Wooden Dowels / 1x Canvas Drop Cloth / 10' of White Rope

At night I put a battery operated candle lantern in there for her. 

Test run outside with her piggies.

Wooden Dowels all tied up

Using three different size dahlia stencils, created by my talented friend Erika, (4"x4", 5"x5 & 6"x6") AgenT and I painted flowers in an array of vibrant colors 

I think she will enjoy her outside time a lot more.

Mia was already interested by the almost complete teepee.

Mia was happy to get her fort back and all so colorful to boot.

She was getting annoyed with me taking so many photos of her.

So I let her get comfortable while I decided how I was going to paint the cover.

She wouldn't even get out while I hot glued the cover and made her an opening.

It looks great in our yard too. Another DIY success!

Content by: Agent J