DIY summer bag

Summer arrived early in Finland this year. April was sunny, May was a bit sunny....but now the end of June is all cloudy and gloomy. But don't loose hope, summer will come back soon.

Until then, we all need some splash of  color and summer fun. 

What's more summery than watermelons?!

Here is a super easy and super cute tote bag for all the picnics and trips to the lake. 

Here you can see Dimitra's cute video:

Materials:

Cotton fabric tote bag

fabric paints
potato stamp
paint brush
toothpick


- Put a newspaper inside the bag. You don't want to paint to go through and color the other side. You also prevent getting your table dirty.
- Cut the potato in a half-moon shape. Apply red color and stamp the fabric with it.
- With a thin brush paint the green line for the peel of the watermelon.
- Use a toothpick to add the black seeds.
- Let it dry. After ~30mins check that the newspaper is not stuck to the painted side of the fabric.
- In 1-2 hours remove the newspaper. Let the bag dry overnight.
- Iron it in high temperature (the setting of 3 dots on your iron) or according to the fabric's instructions.

Follow Dimitra on instagram and have a look at her blog.

Card holder

Want to create an elegant card holder for your home's entance? Maybe a gadget that can help you organize the mess of your desk? Grab an old book and start folding. Here is a very cute up-cycling project.

  In case you don't want to ruin a book from your personal collection, I advise you to visit your local library. Simply ask them if they have removed books from the collection. Many libraries are more than happy to give those books away, or sell them for ~1€.

You need to choose a thick book in order to have a great result. But it's up to you how tall the book you use will be. Remove the cover and you're ready to start.

Take the first page and fold it in half. Take the second page and fold it in half, putting the edge of the page between the first and the second page. Continue folding each page separately until you finish with the book.

The font size and type of the book you choose will determine the final result. So will the black&white or colorful pictures and the yellowish pages of an old book.

Published by Dimitra of Looney Dimitra Crafts

DIY...with a lemon twist

Growing up with two lemon trees in the garden resulted to my love for lemons.

I always enjoy finding new lemon recipes. Baking lemon pies is almost a monthly event! 

When I was asked to share a tutorial with you, I immediately thought of sharing such a recipe with you. 

What do you think?

I’m sure you will enjoy this lemon liqueur. It is similar to the Italian Limonchello, which I’m sure many of you have tried once or twice somewhere. It is an easy recipe, but it needs patience.

Ingredients:

1½ kg lemons
1lt of vodka
A glass bottle or airtight jar
4 glasses of water
900gr sugar
A huge bottle for serving.

Steps

1. If you bought the lemons, wash them well. Most lemons you buy at the store are waxed. I used lemons from my parents' garden in Greece!!

2. Peal the lemons and only keep the yellow part (as the white part of the peal is a bit bitter).

3. Add it in a bottle with the vodka and let it sit at the balcony for a week. It doesn't need sun!! Which makes it perfect for the Finnish spring sky!

4. When the 1 week is over, make the syrup. Boil the water and sugar for around 10 min.

I tried to use the smaller pot, but it didn't fit all the water. I kept cool and changed my syrup to the bigger one, no biggie!

5. Let the syrup cool down and strain the vodka.

6. In a nice looking bottle add the 

syrup and vodka. The liqueur is ready.

7. Store it in a cool place or the fridge. It has such a nice and bright yellow colour. Trust me, everyone will be impressed with the flavour, aroma and look!

8. Invite some friends and have a nice evening! Serve it in small fancy liqueur glasses or shot glasses. But no need to hurry, chill and enjoy it.

(Since you only need the peal of the lemons, you can try and make homemade lemonade with the juice.)

You really need a huge bottle to store your finished liqueur. You need to fit 1lt of Vodka and all the cyrup. That's why I got myself the biggest vodka bottle in Alko. People on the street might have been staring, but now my liqueur looks fancy. Oh but even this bottle didn't fit it all...so I had to use a tiny one as well.

This recipe is extra awesome, because you don't have to limit it to lemons. Try oranges, mantarins, blood oranges. Imagine how refreshing it will be drinking some by the lake in the summer.

I think I'll go get myself a glass... (^_^)


Enjoy the weekend,
Dimitra

How to make a polymer clay cat bookmark by Nelli Kivinen

Nelli Kivinen shares with Finland Handcrafters Team this amazing tutorial posted on her Blog  about how to make amazing polymer clay bookmarks. Enjoy!

Original post: http://nellinshoppi.blogspot.fi/2012/08/how-to-make-polymer-clay-cat-bookmark.html

Follow Nelli on Facebook here!

Here is how I make my polymer clay cat bookmarks, step by step:

Materials and tools that you need to make this:

Polymer clay

Toothpick or similar stick

Baking paper (to cover surfaces)

Lacquer (I use waterproof lacquer that takes 30 minutes to dry)

Your choice paper (I used orange, pink and golden papers as in the picture above.)

1-1,5mm thick cardboard (2 pieces, one for molding the cat, other for the bookmark itself)

Super glue

Paper glue or Erikeeper 

Brush for the lacquer (and glue is you use Erikeeper)

Book (to help drying the cats)

For the cat you need polymer clay, wooden stick and
 some thick cardboard.

Make a ball out of polymer clay.  If the ball is 
too big, the cat will be fat
if it is too small then it will be harder 
to handle. 

Slowly make the ball longer and evenly thick.

Slowly bend the clay and make it longer, while 
keeping it evenly thick.

This is how it should look like now.

Pinch the ends of he clay with your fingers to 
make small legs for the cat. 

The legs should look like this.

Both side legs done. 

Now attach the cat to the cardboard 
and press the legs a bit so it
keeps the body still and stuck 
on the cardboard.

Measure a small ball of polymer clay that is 
the right size for the head.

Shape the head for the cat by hand. I like 
to keep them simple.

Use the stick to attach the head to 
make sure it sticks well.

Measure a tail for the cat. I like
 them quite long.

You can model the tail like this to 
see if it's a good size.

Shape the tail of the cat.

Use the stick again to attach the tail properly.

Remove the cat carefully from the 
cardboard and it is ready!
If you can't remove your cat from 
the cardboard, don't panic.
Put the cat in the fridge or freezer for a while 
(15min) and it will be easier to take off.

This time I made four cats. 

Bake the cats like it says in the polymer 
clay instructions.
 (I bake them for 30 minutes in 130 celsius)

I sand all my creations to remove the fingerprints
 and other marks I don't want  in the cats.

Sanding makes the polymer clay grey.

Difference between sanded and not sanded cat.
After sanding the cats its time to put the lacquer on.  

You need a book, thick card board, brush and lacquer.

Use the cardboard when you paint the lacquer 
on so you don't leave fingerprints on the cat.
Put 2 or 3 layers of the lacquer to
 make it nice and shiny. 

Use the book to leave them dry like this.

This is how my four cats looked like
 after all the layers of lacquer. 

You need cardboard for the bookmarks, 
paper glue or Erikeeper
(I watered the erikeeper down about 50/50) 
brush,  your choice colored or patterned paper.

Put glue on one side of the cardboard
 and glue it to the paper. make sure
there's no wrinkles. Then cut out with 
scissors and make the other side too.

Use superglue to attach the cat onto the cardboard.

Done!

You can see more of my bookmarks and buy them here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/NellinShoppi?section_id=11767307