If you’d like to learn more about why one would want to do such a thing, you can get the background story at this month’s Mission post. Now, you can go about getting started in one of two ways: buy them or make them. Since one of the major themes of this exercise is reduction, I opted for the DIY approach. A couple of my husbands old softened tee shirts was all it took!





An old sheet, flannel PJs, dish towels or bath towels – pretty much anything can stand in here. No sewing required! I just cut the fabric into strips the width of regular TP. Then, cut them into lengths so that when they’re folded in half they’ll make a perfect square.





From there you just need a place to store ‘em and to stash ‘em, close to the scene of the crime. I picked up this lovely secondhand basket at the thrift store, and found the perfect plain plastic waste bin for catching wipes. An empty drawer would also work great for storing the clean ones. I considered getting the biggest, tackiest vintage cookie jar i could find for used wipes. Ha!





There are really a million variations here. Highly customizable. Now as far as actually *using* them, that’s a whole other story.

We’ll revisit that at the end of the month.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• An old men’s collared shirt (long sleeved)
• Needle and thread or sewing machine
• Elastic
• Embellishments (optional)

For the sake of these photos I made this example entirely by hand, to show how it can be done. But I’m totally machine-spoiled, so my hand sewing skills suck! Sorry ’bout that.

To make the body of the java jacket, you’ll be using the wrist band of the shirt. So first things first, cut it off!





This is what you’ll end up with:





Clean it up by removing those ugly buttons. A seam ripper works best for this, but scissors will do in a pinch.





Next you’ll need to finish up that frayed edge. I used red thread so you could see my work, but you can use white if you want to hide it, or whatever color suits your fancy.





Continue until you’ve secured the entire jagged edge, like so:





Now you’ll want to cut a length of elastic. The wide-band type works best here. Cut a piece about 2 inches thick, slightly tapered.





Pin the elastic into the cuff. It helps here if you have a standard 16-oz ‘to go’ cup to measure on, to make sure you get the circumference correct.





Sew the elastic into place. Since I was using red thread and going for a decorative look, I kept it going around the entire perimeter. But this wasn’t necessary, function-wise.





And guess what? That’s it! All that’s left is to decorate as you see fit. I kept this one simple . . .





And the other one extra fancy!





The possibilities are pretty much endless. And I’m dying to see what you guys come up with! These are so fun to make and super customizable, I really think they’re the perfect gift. And bonus – they make adorable, wearable wrist cuffs!





Happy Holidays!

The first holiday season that Damian and I spent together, I was a starving college student. So I thrifted the softest cashmere sweater I could find (this was pre-vegan), disassembled it, and sewed it into a pillowcase. I needlepointed ‘Damian’s Head Here —->’ into the corner. Damian, who is sort of obsessed with really soft things, loved it. It’s still on our bed.

Last year we made all our gifts together – our attempt at canning. All our friends and family got our truly terrible plum syrup, sugar-free strawberry jam, and tomato starter sauce. Hey, it was our first time! And it’s the thought that counts, right?

Anyway, there I go reminiscing. Pregnancy and the holidays have got me all nostalgic! But all of this story-telling serves a purpose: to introduce this years gift projects. First up – candle making!


How To Make Candles In A Crock Pot

All you need is some wax, some wicks + wick bases, and some candle-holders. I used soy wax because it’s vegan and I think it makes superior quality candles (just my preference, I love soy candles!). It’s available at any craft store along with a selection of other options. I used precut wicks that came in their bases, because they were really cheap. But you can also buy wick string and cut it yourself. Both are available at the craft store. For candle holders, I just used a bunch of shot glasses I’d purchased years ago for a party, and never even opened. You could also upcycle your old candle holders, or hit the thrift stores for anything from shot glasses to tea cups, whatever you can imagine can become a funky candle holder.

Optional additions include color (candle dye is available at the craft store) and smell. I used eucalyptus essential oil, but you can also buy scents specifically designed for candles (though you certainly don’t need to and can use any essential oil you’ve got). You’ll also probably want a wooden skewer for stirring hot wax (a chopstick or a length of wire, like from a hanger, would probably work just as well)

Once you’ve gathered all your supplies, set aside some time when you’ll be around the house for a couple of hours. I made these candles on Sunday afternoon, whilst cleaning the kitchen and then suggling with the husband for movie time. Just make sure you’ll be nearby and available for frequent checks. You don’t want to deal with a waxy mess (or worse!).

1) Spoon the pieces of wax into your candle holders and arrange them in the bottom of the crock pot. Don’t overcrowd and definitely don’t stack! Turn the crock to high, cover, and go do something else.





2) 20-30 minutes later you can check back. Your wax will probably be melted and you’ll probably notice your candles aren’t as full as you’d like. So carefully add more wax to each container. You may have to do this for a few rounds.





3) When the candles are as full as you like and you’ve let them get good and hot and melty, it’s time to add the essential oils. You’ll need to call for an assistant. “Assistant!”





3.5) He was very helpful. So, using a dropper add 5-15 drops of your odor-of-choice to each candle. I wanted a more mild, mellow vibe so I only used 5 drops. If you were to use color, this is where you would add the dye as well.





4) Stir it up! (note bulging belly creeping into the pic)





5) Add your wicks. Carefully insert them and make sure they’re centered. They should stay straight up on their own, so don’t worry about that.








6) Turn the crock pot off. Leave it uncovered. Go do something else.





Over the next few hours the wax will cool and harden. They’ll be hard enough to handle if you’d like to remove them after a few hours, but give them at least 6+ hours before you really toss ‘em around. They need plenty of time to get good and set.

And that’s it, just a few hours of monitoring and six easy steps gets you these adorable, customized gifts that anyone would be delighted to receive. They’re so cute, no?





Happy Holidays!

Aren’t these just the cutest? I was lucky enough to have one of my bestest girlfriends stay with me last weekend, and she brought a very special treat: incredible looseleaf teas, direct from Alaska! We spent one lovely evening-and-well-into-the-night testing tea combinations, chopping cheesecloth, and twisting these adorable little baggies into existence. Full disclosure: there was probably beer involved, too.

Like so many DIY projects, this is actually really easy. It just takes a little planning, a little preparation, and a nice block of time. This was a great ‘group activity’ (unlike some others, which are less exciting in their assembly), and would make an excellent gift. Here’s what you do:

First, get your hands on some unbleached cheesecloth (widely available – check your local ‘healthy market’), some pretty embroidery thread (color to suit your fancy), and some of your favorite looseleaf tea. We used a smokey black lapsang souchong as the base, and lightened it up with spearmint, rose hips, and a vanilla rooibos. Next time I’m going to try my own blend of chai!

Then, get your hands on some cookies. Cookies are part of the process.

Now, you need to combine your teas to find the right ratio. You’ll need a big bowl for the final recipe, and some smaller bowls for test runs. This can become quite a process of mixing, steeping, tasting, modifying, remixing, steeping, tasting, etc. That’s where the cookies come in! Because it’s really rather impossible to get an accurate read on the taste of tea, without an accompanying cookie. Don’t you think?

When you’ve found the perfect ratio, mix a big batch in your big bowl. Then, snip your embroidery thread into 8-inch pieces. You’ll also need to cut the cheese . . . cloth (oh HA! right?) into 6-inch X 6-inch squares. Cheesecloth is sort of a pain to cut, because it’s so darn flimsy. You’ll need very sharp scissors.

To construct your tea bag:

• Lay one 6-inch square piece of cheesecloth on top of another (so it’s doubled up)
• Place a generous tablespoon of your tea mix on the cheesecloths, centered but closer to the edge nearest yourself
• Roll! Roll the tea up in the cheesecloth, just like you would a sushi roll. The more times it folds around over itself, the better. Try to keep the mass of tea centered, so that both ends of the roll are empty and free to move about
• Grab both ends of the roll and fold them up over the mass of tea, so they meet each other above it
• Holding the two ends with one hand, grab your length of embroidery thread and tie it tight around the two ends, binding them together
• Voila! Tea bag!
• Now you can knot your two thread ends together at the tip, or you can make a little tip topper like we did. We just used card stock cut into little squares
• Don’t forget to trim the frayed cheesecloth, so it’s all neat and purty-like!

And that’s really all there is to it! Special thanks to my awesome friend Amber, who actually did the majority of work here. I mostly just took pictures. And ate cookies.

Happy Steeping!