Here are the crafts I have found so far:

Dangle Clips	Homemade Envelopes	Easy Bath Salts	Bubble Bags
Candle-Wicks	Sand Candles	Floating Candle Walnut Centerpiece	Lavender Bottle
Rice Bag Foot-Warmers	Tackle Box Sewing Kit	Mason Jar Candles	Tin Candles
Stress Balls	Herbal Sachet	Herbal Bath Balls
Pressed Herb and Flower Candles	Lavender Sachets	Making Wooden Beads	Bee and Wasp Catcher	Carrot Facial Gift	"Treats for Tresses" Hair Gift

Dangle Clips

To make this you'll need: beads floss glue or rubber cement a snap clip like the one above Thread a bead design on the floss to the desired length of the dangle. Make sure you knot it well! Leave a little extra floss at the end you want it to hang from. Open the clip and glue the extra string to one of the in-sides. Let dry, and voila! You have a trendy clip and saved some $$.$$! Give yourself a pat on the back!

Homemade Envelopes

Nifty Envelopes Another recycling project - take any envelope apart carely and trace the shape of it on a piece of cardboard or stiff paper. Use this as a template to lay on top of old calendar pictures. (or you could use pictures from magazines -florals, landscapes, etc.) Fold where necessary and glue with glue stick. I use white labels that my husband brings home from work, leftover from printing jobs that would otherwise be thrown out. There are still several on the sheets that don't have anything printed on them, I place one in a good area on the front of the envelope for the address , half of a label on the top left (for your return address) and half of a label on the top right (for stamp, it will show up better). Just scotch tape down the flap when you want to mail off a letter or greeting. They look great! You won't have to buy envelopes again!

Easy Bath Salts

Fill several wide-mouth jars no more than half full with Epsom salts. Add to each a few drops of essential oil and a drop of an appropriate food coloring. Rose, lavender, lemon, hyacinth, and gardenia are good scents to use for bath salts. Stir until the color is well mixed, pressing the salts against the edge of the jar with the back of a spoon. Bath salts look nice packaged in the little apothecary jars designed for spices. Tie a matching ribbon around the neck of the jar with an instructional tag: "Use 1 teaspoonful sprinkled over the hot water in the bathtub. Then let the scents work their magic!" or some other such thing. Use fancy or old fashioned writing on the tag if desired.

Bubble Bags
These can be used in the shower or bath, in either case, they work great! Combine 2 parts oatmeal, 2 parts dried herbs, and 1 part grated soap, place in a cloth bag, and use as a washcloth. You'll love it!

Make Your Own Wick For Candles
Here's the kind of solution the string/twine should be soaked in: -Mix 2 tbsp salt, 4 tbsp borax, and 2 cups of warm water. Soak the wick, dry, wait 3 days to be cured and then roll it into a ball for later use. I have also read that one can add salts of barium, copper, and strontium for different coloured flames: green, blue green, orange-red.--Vesna

Sand Candles
Wet a bucket of sand, scoop out some from the center, shape it as desired (since this will become your candle mold), stand a wick in the center, and pour in the wax. Very easy, and they can be very striking. Many people like to incorporate shells, stones, et cetera by partially inserting them into the wet sand mold, so that they will adhere to the wax and become part of the candle.

Floating Candle Walnut Centerpiece

Items needed are: walnut half shells white wax white birthday candles If you want, you can paint the walnut shells for a colored effect, gold or silver works well with the holidays. You can also use your imagination to turn them into turkey, reindeer, The Easter Bunny, or whatever you like. Then you Pour some melted wax in the shell (make sure there are no holes or cracks). When the wax is partially filled up the shell, insert a birthday candle. (If you use the wick recipe, the candle can be replaced with a wick) Then float a bunch of these and it makes a nice centerpiece or gift.

Lavender Bottles

Any variety of lavender may be used but the kinds with long stems are best. Plan to make the lavender bottles soon after the flowers are picked while the stems are still pliable. For each bottle, you will need 13 to 15 stems (always start with an odd number; once you become proficient you may use as many as 19) and 3-5 yards of narrow (1/8-inch to 1/4-inch wide) satin ribbon. Choose stems of approximately equal lengths and remove any remaining leaves. Collect the stems of lavender into a neat bunch and tie a knot with one end of the ribbon just under the flower heads. Carefully bend each stem back over the flower heads, making a cage surrounding the flowers. If a stem breaks, start over, replacing the broken stem with a new one. Start weaving the ribbon in and out through the stems. Push the woven ribbon down as you work. It may seem tricky at first. The bottle will become narrower as you reach the base of the flower heads. To finish, wrap the ribbon around the clustered stems and tie it into a bow 1/2 inch from the base. Tie the bow as tightly as possible. If necessary, trim uneven stem ends neatly with scissors. Allow to dry com- pletely in a warm, dry place. The stems will shrink as they dry, and it may be necessary to retie the ribbon every few days. Then you may use it wherever you'd use a sachet (eg., a linen cupboard).

Rice Bag Foot-Warmers

Take a piece of material (twice the size you want the finished product to be, but not TOO big!) Turn the right or "good" sides together so that the inside-out part of the material is what you see, and sew up along three of the sides, either with a machine or by hand. Once this is done turn out the sides so the "good" side is what you see. Fill partially with uncooked long grain white rice (only this kind of rice will work!) and sew up the remaining end. Then take a piece of material a bit bigger and sew up in the same manner. This will be the case for the bag. Put the rice bag inside the larger bag. If it gets dirty, simply take off the case, but DON'T wash the rice bag! On a cold night you can warm the bag up in the microwave on HIGH and it will warm your tootsies while you sleep! You could also try adding herbs to the rice for a scented effect. This can also be used on headaches or earaches, or whatever you can think of.

Tackle Box Sewing Kit
Turn an old tackle box into a sewing kit! A tackle box's orderly compartments are perfect, and it will provide an easy-to-reach, space-saving little kit! A fabulous idea by the perfect (and sometimes annoying) Martha Stewart.

Mason Jar Candles (Hanging)

Candles flickering outdoors on a warm summer night certainly possess romantic charm, but keeping them burning can present a challenge. Why not fashion a mason jar, most often used for canning fruit and preserves, into an unusual candle holder? Martha likes to attach a simple wire frame around each jar so that it can be hung from a porch or a tree limb. Since annealed-iron wire is easily sculpted, twist it into whimsical curls and flourishes�or leave the wires straight for a more austere, geometric look. Then, fix in place a medium-sized candle and watch your porch light up with a romantic effect. You can also put dried herbs on the botton so when the wax melts it will create another, herb candle. YOu can always add a wick by using the recipe above.

Tin Candles
These candles look great in the summer, fall, winter, or spring! All you need is a clean tin can and some candles/scraps. First, use an old knife or whatever you can find to punch a lot of random holes in the can. It looks great when a lit candle is placed inside; decorate the tin can according to seasons, etc.

Stress Balls

Haven't you always loved these? But it seems like such a waste to buy them when you can make your own! Here's an easy recipe. It makes about four, so you can use these as gifts anytime! MATERIALS: DOUGH: (makes about 4 balls) 1/2 cup salt 1 cup flour 1 T oil 1 t cream of tartar 1 Cup water Balloons - 3 or 4 for each ball (or you can use bought playdough instead) Mix dough ingredients together it a pot and heat until doughy, stirring all the time. This should only take a few minutes. Remove from pot, knead till smooth then leave to cool for about 1/2 an hour. Now comes the fun part! Take 3 or 4 balloons and cut most of the neck off each one, so you just have the round bit. Now take a ball of dough about 2 or 3" across. The more you pack into one balloon, the less squishy it will be. Stretch one balloon over it. This can be a bit tricky. Now quickly (before it all oozes out again) put this inside another balloon, hole first (so that the second balloon covers up the hole in the first one). Put this inside another balloon in the same way. After you put the last one one, use your nails to pinch up a little of the LAST balloon only, i.e. go only through one layer. Then snip this using scissors to make a round hole. Do this several times all around the ball so that the previous colour shows through and makes polkadots. If you want you can use things like pompoms, pipe cleaners, or whatever to decorate it, but I like mine plain so it's easier to squish.

Herbal Sachet
Make this sachet by combining 1 oz. of rose petals, 1/2 oz. dried mint, and a pinch of crushed cloves together in a bath sachet bag. Let this steep under the hot water that's pouring into your tub, and then let soak in bathwater.

Herbal Bath Balls

Well, you are trying to use up all those "left over" herbs so you can replinish your stock this coming summer. So use them up in a soothing warm bath. Take 1 cup each of dried mint, rosemary, lavendar flowers, rose petals, comfrey leaves, and lovage and mix well. Cut 4-5" squares of cotton fabric, and place 1 1/2 teaspoons of mix into each square. Pull four corners together and tie with ribbon or yarn. Use one herbal bath ball per bath. (Two if you would prefer!) Add a couple of candles and a cup of your favorite te a for one relaxing evening!

Pressed Herb and Flower Candles

Materials needed : Pillar or some other kind of candle pressed herbs and flowers (use your imagination!) votive candle-white or off white old pan to heat wax in Heat votive candle in old pan until melted. Use votive the same color as the pillar candle that is used.Arrange herbs on table to a suitable design for your candle or randomly place herbs and flowers you'll use on your candle.Take your small paint brush, and dab a little melted wax onto candle where you plan on placing first herb or flower. Quickly place herb or flower on top of dap of wax. Do this with you whole design, making sure you get just a THIN layer of wax on the top of the herb. When finished with design, brush a THIN layer of melted wax over whole design.

Lavender Sachets

small calico or muslin bags lavender flowers rubber bands ribbon, as preferred Fill the bags (or make your own) with dried lavender flowers and secure with a rubber band. Do not overfill the bags, or they will be difficult to secure. Tie the neck of the bag with a ribbon and decorate with a selection of dried flowers, attached with a hot glue gun. One of the most effective ways to decorate the bags is to use a couple of dried roses and perhaps a sprig of lavender or other herb.

Making Wooden Beads by Elizabeth Fegley

Gather some green twigs after a day of rain. I usually gather from the apple trees. Peel off the bark right away as this is when it is easiest to do. If you find that the bark is sticking in places, take a knife or even something like a cermaic tool, as long as the one edge is fairly sharp, and scrape it along the wood. Using hand clippers, clip the twigs down into the size beads that you want. Drill out the pulp. I�m almost ashamed to admit this but I would use one of those little �drills� that come along with the ink jet refill kits. Keep them in an open container until they�ve dried out. This only takes a week, at most. Depending on how many you have in the container and how big the beads are. Once they are dry, take an emery board and sand down the edges and give the sides a quick sanding. Stain the beads. For this, I�ve used regular old wood stain to watered down acrylic paints. Let dry for at least a day and then they will be ready to use.

Bee and Wasp Catcher
Combine 4 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar. Heat and pour into a two liter plastic bottle. Cut two small "X's" in the top sides and push inward. Replace the cap on the bottle and hang from a tree using a broken shoelace. It will catch hundreds of bees!

Carrot Facial Gift
2 carrots honey Peel, cut, and boil carrots. Let cool and mash. Mix in honey until it's consistency is pasty. Pour into a clear jar, honey bear, or other festive container.

"Treats for Tresses" Hair Gift
1/4 cup apple cider vinegor 2 cups water 1 T. sage 1 black tea bag Bring vinegor and water to simmer before adding sage and tea. Simmer for 1/2 hour. Strain and allow mixture to cool. Pour into a nifty glass jar and give!

To the best of my knowledge, these crafts are free for the taking. Any craft I have not distinguished as "Mim's something-or-other" they are crafts I have found on the web. If they're yours and you wish me to take them o ff, please tell me and I'll take them off right away. For more great craft sites, check out the links page!