My floor loom and spinning wheel.
Welcome to the handmade crafts photo day! This is a new part of the blog that will appear on the homepage, experimentalhomesteader.com, under featured posts. It allows you, the reader, to post photos you have taken of handmade crafts and re-occur the 10th of every month.
Please post photos that you have taken – not ones you have come across on the internet.
So – let’s see all those photos! Go ahead and show off your creative talent. I’m looking forward to it. Let me get the ball rolling with a photo of one of my handmade crafts.
This is a handwoven rug with applique.
Filed under Handmade Crafts Photo Day Archive by on Nov 10th, 2011. Comment. 
If you’re like most gardeners you can’t wait for the first flowers to bloom in the spring. Throughout the summer months you eagerly slip into your garden every chance you get to see what is blooming or maybe just to savor the scent of the garden. You know fall will arrive way too soon, then winter, so you want to get as much out of your garden as possible now.
There are many ways to preserve the harvest this summer so you can continue to enjoy the scents and colors of your garden all winter long. Drying flowers is a technique that has been happening for many years and is a great way to preserve flowers. In addition to hanging the flowers to dry, try making your own flower press with instructions you can find in my new book “101 English Garden Tips.”
Other great ideas include making potpourri with flowers and botanicals right from your own garden. Choose fragrant rose petals, pine cones, acorns, straw flowers, citrus peels and herbs. Dry these and combine with a bit of essential oils or make a moist potpourri by layering the individual scented material with layers of salt and sealing in a jar. After several months the scents will blend and you will simply have to remove the jar lid to release the aroma.
If potpourri is not your cup of tea, try using pressed flowers to make bookmarks or lamp shades. Then again, if you are drying edible flowers and herbs, why not try combining them to make a unique cup of tea or herbal vinegar? The ideas are endless!
Looking for other cool craft ideas? Check out “101 English Garden Tips” for great ideas on creating poinsettia trees and succulent wreaths.
Filed under Dried Flowers by on Jul 24th, 2010. 1 Comment.
The oldest-known method for extraction and preservation of flower essences is known as enfleurage. This method, which involves pressing the flowers into some type of lard or oil, is used for delicate flowers whose scent cannot be preserved well using typical methods such as distillation or tincturing.
Delicate flowers such as lilac work well using this method. This is easy to do at home and the resulting product can be used in a variety of ways.
Lard is the typical fat used for this process, but a variety of oils can be used including the one I chose, organic cocoa butter. Cocoa butter can be added to a variety of homemade body products. Lilac infused cocoa butter will be the perfect addition to my goat milk soap I will be making soon.
The first step is to pick the lilac flowers early in the morning right after the dew has dried. Remove most of the stem.
Set up the double boiler, which is two pans, one set inside of the other, that is used to melt chocolate, oil, candle wax and a variety of other products that could burn or catch on fire easily if they were set directly on a stove burner. The pan on the bottom should be filled about half-full of water. The smaller pan which will set inside the larger one should contain the oil. I chose organic cocoa butter.
Bring the pan with the water to a rolling boil. Set the second pan containing the oil of choice inside the first pan. Keep an eye on it so it does not get too hot. As soon as the oil begins to melt, lower the heat and keep the oil stirred.
When the oil is melted, pour it into the pan you will be putting the flowers into. Begin filling the pan with the flowers.
You want the flowers completely submerged in the oil. To make sure they do not float on the oil when you are done, set a smaller glass pan inside the larger pan that contains the oil and flowers.
Be sure to remove the pan before the oil begins to dry or you may have a problem seperating the two. You can cover the pan with a lid or plastic wrap to keep debris out while the oil finishes hardening.
Allow this to sit for a few days to absorb the scent of the flowers. This process can take up to two weeks or longer. Keep removing the spent flowers and adding new ones as necessary until the oil takes on a strong enough scent to suit you.
Gently heat the oil back up if it has hardened, using the double boiler method. Stain the flowers using cheesecloth. Be sure to squeeze all the oil from the cheesecloth so you do not lose any scent.
You may use the product like this, or go one step further and make an absolute of essence.
To make an absolute of essence, soak the drained and scented hard oil in ethyl alcohol, which is pure wood or grain spirits. Allow the fat to soak for several days, then remove it.
The fat will be slightly scented and able to be used in bath and body products such as soap.
Do not cover the absolute. The alcohol will evaporate over time and the only thing left will be the absolute which can be used in aromatherapy, natural medicine or natural perfume making.
Filed under Enfleurage Extraction Methods by on Apr 17th, 2010. 3 Comments.
The yarn I am spinning in this video is 50% mohair from Leonardo, the angora buck and 50% wool from Johnny, the Leicester Longwool ram.
Leonardo is an angora goat and Johnny is a Leicester Longwool sheep. Both animals reside here at Exotic Gardening Farms & Wildlife Habitat.
The yarn making process requires shearing the animal, washing the fiber and removing all the vegetable matter. Vegetable matter may include hay, animal feces around their rear ends, mud and other natural materials that have embedded themselves in the animals fur.
Once the fiber is clean, it must be carded. Carding fiber involves using either a drum carder or a set of hand carders. The fiber is brushed several times until all the hairs are going in the same direction.
I use hand carders right now, so once the fiber is brushed or carded as it is called, I roll the fiber into a rolag which looks somewhat like an empty toilet paper roll minus the hollow center.
The rolag is then drafted, or gently pulled into thin pieces of fiber. The length of the fiber and the elasticity of the fiber will determine how thin the un-spun yarn can be pulled.
This un-spun yarn that has now been drafted can be spun into yarn. The thinner the draft, the thinner the yarn. The thicker the draft, the thicker the spun yarn will be. Do not worry about spinning the yarn so it is perfectly even. There are no imperfections in hand-spun yarn.
Every thick and thin spot, every area that is not as perfect as store bought yarn will prove to you and others that what you are spinning is a perfect artisan yarn that machines are un-able to duplicate!
Filed under Spinning by on Feb 4th, 2010. Comment.
Here is a basic recipe for creating a natural perfume.
Natural Perfume Recipes
2 cups distilled water
3 tablespoons vodka – or a tincture that you made with vodka
5 drops of an essential oil or fragrant tincture of your choice
10 drops of an essential oil or fragrant tincture of your choice
10 drops of an essential oil or fragrant tincture of your choice
Before you begin mixing the scents together, try them out on a scent stick to see if you like them. If the fragrance is enjoyable to you, add the distilled water to a dark glass bottle with a lid, then add the fragrances, one at a time, making sure to shake the bottle well after each addition. Be sure to write down the amounts of each fragrance so you can begin compiling your own natural perfume recipes collection.
When all of the fragrances have been added, shake again to mix the ingredients well. Sit the capped bottle in a cool, dark place. Shake it daily. You can check the smell after two weeks. If it suits you, go ahead and use it as you would any perfume. If you are not happy with the way the perfume smells, set it aside for up to a month.
Feel free to add other scents after that if you are still not happy, but do try the new combinations on scent sticks first.
Filed under Herbal Preparations, Natural Perfumes by on Feb 2nd, 2010. 1 Comment.
There are many ways to get natural materials to make dried potpourri. You can collect plant material from your own garden or go for walks in the wild to forage for interesting pods, cones or other materials.
If you wild collect, make sure you have permission to do so. Look for materials that have been grown as naturally as possible. If the plant material has been sprayed you will be bringing all of those chemicals into your home with the plant material. Dried potpourri is easy to make.
The first step is to choose what plant material you wish to work with. Interesting natural bark, seed pods, pine cones, acorns, dried leaves and dried flower petals all make good choices.
The next step is to decide what you would like the potpourri to smell like. Choosing natural fragrances that compliment the essential oils you will be using is a good idea. You will also need a fixative to help retain the scent of your potpourri such as orris root or benzoin gum.
Once your potpourri is mixed up, put it in a large glass container with a lid. Set this in a cool, dark place and allow the potpourri scents to mix. Shake the container from time to time. When you are happy with the smell of the contents, go ahead and put some out.
Here are a few homemade potpourri recipes to get you started. Feel free to add or subtract botanical materials until you have a potpourri you are happy with.
Victorian Lavender Potpourri
1 ounce orris root
1 ounce lavender
1 drop vanilla essential oil
1 drop bergamont essential oil
Asian Potpourri
¼ cup camellia blossoms
1/8 cup rose petals
1 vanilla bean, cut up
1 tablespoon pine needles
Dream Mix Potpourri
1/8 cup lavender flowers
1 ounce cedar shavings
1/8 cup sage leaves
1 ounce orris root
¼ cup violets
¼ cup maidenhair fern fronds
Moist homemade potpourri recipes are a little different than making a dry potpourri. The scent can last for years.
Before beginning choose a pretty glass or ceramic jar with a lid. You will need one that is fairly large for the recipe below. Gather your ingredients together before you begin.
10 cups rose petals
2 cups lavender buds
½ cup orrisroot, powdered
8 bay leaves
2 cups sea salt or kosher coarse salt
½ cup allspice, crushed
½ cup crushed cinnamon sticks
½ cup cloves, crushed
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup brandy
Begin by combining the rose petals, lavender buds and orris root in a large bowl.
In a second bowl, combine the bay leaves, the salt, crushed allspice, cinnamon stick pieces, cloves and the brown sugar. Mix well.
Once the contents of both bowls have been well mixed, get your glass or ceramic container.
You will begin by putting a layer of the rose petal mixture in the bottom of the container.
The next layer will be the brown sugar mixture. Continue alternating layers of materials until both bowls are empty.
The next step involves pouring the brandy over the top of the mixture.
Then lay a sex stone, which is just a large rock, on top of the potpourri material. Put the lid on the container.
Over the next six weeks, you will need to stir the contents of the container every two to three days. You can add additional essential oils during this time such as rose, cinnamon or whatever scents you prefer.
When the potpourri is ready to use, simply remove the lid and allow the scent fill the room.
To keep the moist homemade potpourri recipes going, simply add ½ cup of brandy yearly, making sure you stir it into the mix.
Another way to make a moist potpourri is to layer semi-dry plant material, add a layer of salt, then a layer of plant material.
Keep alternating layers until your container is ¾ of the way filled.
Put a sex rock on top and let it sit undisturbed. When the mixture begins to form a moist cake, remove it, add the fixatives, mix well and put back in the covered container.
Release the smell by removing the lid.
Filed under Herbal Preparations by on Jan 25th, 2010. Comment.
Making necklaces out of rose petals is a very old fashion idea. Not only are these rose bead necklaces beautiful but the scent is delightful as long as you choose roses that have a strong fragrance to make your beads with.
Begin by picking lots of rose petals early in the morning as soon as the dew dries. Choose roses that have just opened if possible. In order to get enough petals you may need to do this daily for several weeks. Just keep adding the new petals to the older ones and eventually you will have enough rose beads to make a necklace.
Once you have picked the petals and are sure they are dry, chop them as finely as you can. A nut chopper works well for this task. If you do not have a nut chopper, use a food processor or knife.
Once the petals have been chopped, put them in a cast iron skillet or an old black skillet. You want to rose petals to take on the black color of the skillet. Cast iron is best if you have it.
Cover the pan and set it in a cool, dark place. You will repeat this process every day for seven days.
Check the pulp every day to make sure it is not getting too dry. If it is, sprinkle a little water on it. You want to keep it slightly damp.
On the seventh day, cut the top off a thimble. Fill the inside of the thimble with some of the pulp. When the thimble is completely filled with pulp and the ends leveled off, push the pulp out.
Roll the pulp into a ball and set it aside. Repeat the process until all of the pulp has been made into beads.
You will roll the balls every day for three days.
At the end of the three days, stick a straight pin with a large head into the center of the bead. In the old days, hat pins were used.
At this time you may draw pictures or lines on the beads to make them more ornate. You can also embellish the beads with decorations.
Set the beads aside to dry. Be sure to rotate the beads so they dry evenly on all sides. It is also a good idea to remove the pin from time to time to make sure the bead does not stick to the pin.
Once the beads are completely dry you can sting them. Add glass or metal beads between the rose beads if you like. Add a clasp and your rose bead necklace will be ready to wear.
Filed under Natural Jewerly by on Jan 10th, 2010. 1 Comment.
Today I have spent the better part of the day working on a new sweater on my kniffty knitter looms. The sweater will be made up of wool and mohair. Some of the yarn was spun by hand and some by machine. It is a mix of browns, purples and other fall colors. I can’t wait to get it finished and try it on!
Yesterday Sarah and I went to 1812. I bought some flax – unspun, that I intend to try to spin. I haven’t decided what I will do with it once it is spun. I also picked up two spools of 100% silk thread. I intend to make some lace with it. I have a bobbin lace kit that I have not tried yet and I thought the silk would make a lovely lace collar that I could add to a sweater or other item.
Finally I had to take one of the goats to the vet last night. When we came home Spice was sick. The vet just happened to be in the office so I took her over for some cultures. Hopefully she will be ok. We currently have her seperated from the other goats just in case. I put the Peahen Belle in with her so she had some company.
Sheri
Filed under Fiber Arts, Loom Knitting, Spinning by on Dec 20th, 2009. Comment.
With the economy in the slump it is in, selling handmade craft items has not been easy. Items like goat milk soap still sell of course, but the rag rugs did not, which really suprised me. I gave them as Christmas gifts with the exception of the one pictured above, which I still have for sale.
The people whom I gave the rugs too really enjoyed them and made quit a fuss over them. In the spring, once the sheep are sheared, I will spin their fiber into yarn. With that yarn, I think I will make a rug. One to keep – maybe one to sell.
Of course, the loom is not empty. There is yet another rug on it being made. The economy will improve. These items will sell again. I have thought of joining Etsy. Anyone have any experiences with them to share?
Sheri
Filed under Spinning by on Nov 2nd, 2009. Comment.
We now have listings on both Etsy and Local Harvest. Items are a bit limited right now but we do have plans to add to the list as the season and time permits.
On Etsy we have gift baskets, rag rugs, goat milk soap, bubble bath and candles. Our items are made using 100% essential oils. They are made right here on the farm and the proceeds go to help purchase animal feed, pay vet bills and get habitat houses for the wild critters. Here is the link to our Etsy store http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6841193
Please stop by and check our two new web presences out and then drop us a line to let us know what you think.
Have a wonderful day!
We have been on Local Harvest for a while now, but just got our shop set up. We have three items right now, farm fresh chicken eggs and two different choices for dried mugwort. Here is the link to our Local Harvest Storefront http://www.localharvest.org/store/M23685&ul
Filed under Fiber Arts, Soap Making, Weaving by on Nov 2nd, 2009. Comment.
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