Friday, May 11, 2012

Mother's Day gift

 
I though I would pop in to show you what I made my mother for Mother's Day.
  I got the idea for making her some solid perfume from this tutorial.... but I wanted to make it my own.
 
  First, I found a locket at Michael's to put the perfume in, and grabbed a sheet of rose scrap-booking paper. At home, I pulled out the Mod Podge and the Envirotech Lite. I cut a rose from the paper to fit one side of the locket, glued it in, and gave it several coats of the Mod Podge, letting it dry between them. Once I'd sealed the paper I mixed up a batch of the Envirotech Lite and poured it in. I intended to only do one layer of it, but I didn't realize that the frame of the locket had a slight opening in it, so the resin 'sank' as it dried and I had to add another layer. Since I had extra resin, I dipped a dried rose I had laying around in it and set it on waxed paper to dry. When it was about halfway cured, but still slightly pliable, I cut off some of the excess resin with scissors. This is what it looks like... yes, the rose is a little crazy. =)


Next, I made the perfume
  I bought my essential oils from the Ananda Apothecary. I only needed a drop or two of each oil, and by ordering samples instead of full bottles, I could use some of my mom's favorite scents without totally blowing my budget. That rose essential oil is incredibly expensive!
 I used the same ratio of beeswax to carrier oils that Kitty Cats and Airplanes did, 2:1:1. I did a smaller amount though, because my locket was pretty small. I ended up with 1/2 teaspoon beeswax and 1/4 teaspoon each of coconut oil and sweet almond oil. I melted it in a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water, then dropped in a couple drops each of rose and sandalwood. Instead of using a syringe I just carefully poured from the bowl straight into my locket. I did drip a tiny bit on one edge, but it wiped off easily while it was still warm with a paper towel.
  This is what the locket looks like with the perfume and the resin:
   I cut more of the paper in a simple rectangle and added it to a piece of card-stock, then attached it the resined rose with double-sided permanent tape for a simple card.
   And that is what I made my mother for Mother's Day. =)
Thanks for stopping by,

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