Rachel Robin's Nest

Crafts, Projects and Recipes to Help Feather Your "Nest"

Link to Tutorial: Makeup brush travel roll January 30, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — raediantphoenix @ 11:53 am
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OK.  It’s official.  I’m a Pinterest whore.  Now that I’ve started, I just can’t wait to make every single thing I’ve ever pinned.  Which is a LOT of things.  600 and counting.  So I’ll share with you today another project that I first stumbled across on Pinterest.  To be honest, I had thought about making myself one a long time ago, and was too lazy to get around to figuring it out myself.  Thankfully, Pinterest knew that I was not motivated enough to do it myself, and gave me this tutorial from Sew4Home for a travel makeup brush roll.  Using laminated cotton or oilcloth for the interior is a truly inspired choice–wipeable and ohsopretty!

This is my version, made for my dear friend Nikki’s birthday:

I was too lazy to go get actual makeup brushes for the picture...Oops!

You can see quite obviously from the photos that mine is NOWHERE near as nice is the ones in the tutorial.  I’m a lazy and impatient sewer, and I couldn’t be bothered to download and print a corner template, round my corners, and use bias tape for my edges.  Since mine didn’t come out quite so nicely, I won’t bother to make my own tutorial-you should visit Sew4Home and follow her instructions.  They are very clear and concise, with great pictures.

How did yours come out?

 

DIY: Felted Soap January 26, 2012

Filed under: DIY — raediantphoenix @ 7:52 pm
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I’m gonna let you all in on a secret:  I don’t really like bar soaps.  Sure, I understand the necessity, and they are often quite pretty and smell delicious, but without fail, before the end, a bar of soap degenerates into a slimey, gooey ball of yuck that you couldn’t pay me to touch.  Yes, I know it’s soap, and is therefore inherently clean, but it just feels  and looks gross!  Or it shatters into several tiny, useless chunks that slip through your fingers and get all over the place.  I’d take liquid hand soap or body wash over bar soap any day.

But then I saw Felted Soap on Pinterest, and I became intrigued.  In making felted soap, you create a wool “sweater” for your soap, which helps to keep it together, and keep the goo off your hands, counters, and shower.  And it looks pretty.  And the felt acts as a loofah/washcloth, so you don’t have to use and wash another linen.  And it’s fairly simple (and fun!) to do.  So I decided to try it out.

I purchased this prepackaged assortment of wool roving at my local craft shop for $4.99, and it was enough to do 4 bars of soap with some left over.  I used a couple of bars of soap that have been languishing in my cabinet for months because this particular type of soap disintegrates faster and gooier than the average soap, and I therefore wouldn’t touch it otherwise.  After doing those two bars, I liked it so much that I decided to do two fancy bars of all-natural soap my sister gave me for Christmas.  Very good choice :)

Supplies

DIY Felted Soap Tutorial

Materials:

  • soap
  • wool roving
  • bowl
  • hot water
  • liquid dish soap
  • bubble wrap
  • towels
  • cheese grater

Step 1:  Fill your bowl with hot water-as hot as you can stand to put your hands in

Step 2:  On a flat work surface, lay out your towel and place your bubble wrap on top of it

Step 3:  Shave any sharp edges off your soap with the cheese grater so that they don’t poke through the wool “sweater”

Step 4:  Take a long strip of wool roving and wrap it around the width of your soap

Step 5:  Using another long strip of roving, wrap around the length of the soap, completely encasing the bar in wool-you don’t want any gaps!

Step 6:  Using small pieces of roving, add any embellishments you want-stripes etc

All wrapped up!

Step 7:  Dunk the wool covered soap into the hot water and allow it to soak all the way through

Step 8:  Remove the soap from the hot water, and squeeze a small amount of liquid dish soap onto all surfaces of the wool roving.

Step 9:  Start gently rubbing the wool to begin the felting process.  It’s going to feel really loosey goosey and you are going to start grumbling in your head that that Rachel girl lied to you and this is never going to work.  Don’t worry, it will, just keep going!  As you continue, you can rub harder, just make sure to hold the wool tightly to the soap so that it stays in place.  Re-wet the wool and squeeze it every now and then

Starting to felt

Step 10:  Once the wool starts to feel a bit more stuck together, begin rubbing it on the bubble wrap.  This will keep your fingers from getting chafed by the wool.  Make sure to get every surface-top, sides, bottom etc, and keep dipping it in the water and squeezing every now and then.

Step 10:  Keep going!  By now, it should feel much more fitted and secure.  But you’re not done yet.  Bring the soap over to the sink and give it a quick rinse in hot water.  SQUEEEEEZE the excess water out, and then go back to rubbing with your hands.  Repeat this process several times-the wetting and the squeezing is helping to further shrink the wool and fit it to your soap.

Step 11:  When you think the wool has shrunk and felted enough (this takes a while, trust me!), rinse it one more time in very hot water, then do a rinse in very cold water.  Squeeze all the water out that you possibly can, then place the felted soap on your towel and squeeze again.  Get out as much water as possible!  Now just set it out on a rack to dry

A few notes-don’t try too hard to keep the shape of the soap in the shape of the wool.  I actually found it was easier to let a lot of the edges be more rounded rather than square on my second try, and I think it ended up looking nicer in the end.  Also, don’t get too dependent on the bubble wrap.  It’s there to help, but really, only your fingers will be able to feel when the felting process is complete.  Lastly, many DIYers recommend placing the wool-wrapped soap in the toe of an old stocking to help hold the roving in place while rubbing.  I didn’t have any old stockings I was willing to cut up, but I can see how this would make things easier, especially at the beginning, so maybe give it a try!

After every use, make sure to place the soap somewhere where the felt can dry completely.  Apparently, as you use up the soap inside, the wool continues to felt and shrink, so that you can use every last ounce of that bar soap without getting soap slime on your hands!  When the soap is all gone, you can cut open the felted pouch and use it for any number of things-fill it with potpourri, sew it back up and use it as a scented sachet bag for your drawers.  Put a new bar of soap in.  Make it into a little drawstring bag for your kids’ treasures-the possibilities are endless!

Doesn’t this just make bar soap so much more interesting?

 

Tutorial: iPhone Cable Wrap January 24, 2012

Filed under: DIY — raediantphoenix @ 1:20 am
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Boy do I have something cute and awesome today!  This is an idea that has been percolating for weeks, and today when I got home from work, I just had to make it happen!  You know how when you get a new electronic device, like an iPhone, cellphone or iPod, the charger cable comes all nicely packaged with that little piece of plastic film?  It looks so nice, and keeps everything together and untangled.  But unfortunately, that little piece of plastic is not very sturdy, and invariably, it ends up lost or destroyed, and you don’t have anything to keep your cord tangle-free.

So nice and organized!

Now, you’re probably thinking, but Rachel, I could just use a rubber band, or a twist tie, or any other little gizmo of that nature.  But here’s the thing:  twist ties and rubber bands just aren’t cute.  And I like cute things.  And I like to make things.  And I especially like to make cute things.  So here is the little jobby I cooked up tonight when I got home from work:

Isn’t it cute?  Velcro and fabric.  Couldn’t be simpler.  It only took about 20 minutes to whip up, so I plan on making LOTS more for gifts and for the upcoming Summer Bazaar at work :)

iPhone Cable Wrap

Materials:

  • Fabric scrap at least 6″ x 8″
  • Light weight fusible interfacing
  • Sew-on Velcro
  • Iron
  • Sewing machine, thread etc (heavy duty needle recommended)

Step 1:  Cut a piece of fabric and a piece of interfacing to 6″ x 8″

Step 2:  Cut a section of hook Velcro and a section of loop Velcro to 1.5″

Step 3:  Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the the fabric

Step 4:  Fold the fabric in half lengthwise, right side out, and press to make a nice crease

Step 5:  Open the fabric up and fold the two long sides in to the center line.  Press to crease

Step 6:  With the raw edges folded in, fold the entire thing along the center crease, creating a nice strip of fabric with the raw edges hidden inside

Please forgive my failing manicure!

Step 7:  Top stitch along the long edges of the strip of fabric.  I have this fancy new edge foot that makes it really easy to follow a straight line :)

Step 8:  Fold one short, raw edge over 1/2″ and top stitch it down

Step 9:  Turn the other short edge over 1/2″ and top stitch as well, so that it looks like this:

See how they're facing away from each other? Like that!

Step 10:  Line up one of your Velcro pieces (it doesn’t matter which) in the center of the strap, lined up with the short edge, laying the Velcro over the unfinished hem.  Stitch it down all the way around the edge

Step 11:  Do the same thing with the other Velcro piece on the other short end

The velcro pieces should be on opposite sides so they can fold together and create a ring

Tadaaaa!  Done and done.  So very simple.  So very cute.  And it makes me look very organized and put together, which I really appreciate.  No more tangled, lost, or sad cables.  Hooray!

Well what are you waiting for?  Go make one for yourself!

 

Strawberry Cake Cookies January 19, 2012

Filed under: Recipes — raediantphoenix @ 7:05 pm
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These cookies are affectionately known by those who make them as “Pink Cookies,” and they are a staple in the St. Pierre extended family.  My best friend, Mandy, and her mother have been kind enough to share the recipe with me, and I’m prepared to commit a possible breach of etiquette by sharing what may be considered by some to be a secret recipe.  But they are just so good I can’t help it!

First of all, just the fact that they are pink in color tickles me, well, pink!  And the strawberry flavor combined with chocolate chips is to die for.  Think strawberry ice cream drizzled with hot fudge sauce.   Yup.  There you go.  Now you’re on track.  The best part is, these are super duper easy to make.  We start with a box of cake mix (shameful, I know!), and tweak it to make cookies instead.

I once made these cookies for an office party, and they were gone in very short order.  My coworkers all wanted the recipe, and still ask me to make them every once in a while.  I had intended to make a batch of these for the office before Christmas, but I just got a little overwhelmed with all of the other preparations.  Since I had already bought the cake mix, I decided to make them on Sunday night, so that I’d have tasty, homemade treats to eat all week.

Strawberry Cake Cookies (from the St. Pierre family kitchen)

Ingredients:

  • One box of strawberry cake mix
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

  1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour and cake mix, breaking up any large clumps
  2. Mix in oil, water and egg.  Dough will be very greasy.  Do not over mix
  3. Fold in chocolate chips
  4. Spoon out onto parchment lined or lightly greased baking sheets, and bake at 350 degrees for 13 minutes.  The bottoms will be just beginning to brown
  5. They will be soft, so leave them on the trays to cool for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack and cool completely

So pretty, so easy, and so tasty!  These would be perfect for a little girl’s birthday party, a bridal or baby shower, or for anyone who adores strawberry flavor.  I’ve been meaning to experiment with other cake mixes (hello, German chocolate.  Or lemon.  Or vanilla with sprinkles?) because if it works out the same way, the possibilities for fun new cookies are endless.  I’ve also been meaning to try using either butter or Crisco instead of oil, but I’m not big on experimenting when it comes to baking.  I’m more of a follow the recipe kind of girl.  But we’ll see.  Maybe next time!

How did your “Pink Cookies” come out?

 

DIY Eye Makeup Remover January 16, 2012

Filed under: DIY — raediantphoenix @ 2:57 pm
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If you are like me (and probably lots of other people, too), one of your New Year’s Resolutions was to save more money.  Unfortunately, experts say that an ambiguous goal like that is one of the hardest to keep.  A goal like “I will save $1000 this year” is firmer, and will therefore make it easier to keep up with, because you can measure your progress.  So I decided to tweak mine a little by saying that I will save more money by making stuff myself whenever possible.

One area where I can definitely commit to this is making my own personal care supplies.  Often there is an initial monetary outlay for the ingredients, but the savings can be tremendous.  You’ve all (hopefully) read my homemade deodorant post.  Well, I never did the math before, but suffice to say that if you are buying brand name deodorant for $5-6, you’re paying way too much.

So in the interest of making stuff for myself, I present to you DIY Eye Makeup Remover.  It’s quick, easy, and effective.  Best of all, it’s SUPER CHEAP!  The recipe uses mostly things you already have around the house.  The one thing most of you will probably have to purchase is Baby Shampoo, which, at $2 for an 8 oz bottle, is not exactly a splurge.

Here’s my feeble attempt at the math on how much we’re saving (I’m a theatre kid. We don’t do math):

Drug Store Brand Eye Makeup Remover:  $5 for 4 oz

Baby Shampoo:  $2 for 8 oz.  Olive Oil:  $15 for 68 oz.  Water: Free

One batch of this stuff uses 1 1/2 tbs Baby Shampoo, 1/8 tsp olive oil, and water.  You get 8 oz from one batch.  One batch costs mere pennies!  Which is a huge saving compared to $5 for 4 oz.  Hooray!  We’re saving money and being crafty together!

DIY Eye Makeup Remover

Materials:

  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Baby Shampoo (I used Johnson & Johnson)
  • 1/8 teaspoon olive oil*
  • Funnel
  • One 8oz container or several smaller ones

*The original recipe at AdelynStone I found for this called for Baby Oil.  I didn’t have Baby Oil and didn’t feel like buying it.  Also, after reading through some of the comments, people are highly divided on whether or not it’s safe to use Baby Oil on your face, and recommended olive oil or coconut oil as substitutes.

Directions:

  1. Combine all ingredients, mixing gently
  2. Using a funnel, pour into containers
  3. When ready to use, shake gently to re-combine ingredients, and apply using a cotton ball or pad

This took about 5 minutes to whip up, which I think we can all agree is not a huge time commitment, and I use such a small amount of it everyday I’m fairly confident it will last me a good long time.  The baby shampoo gives it a nice, clean scent, and it doesn’t leave my face feeling oily or greasy like many other eye makeup removers I’ve used.

It should be noted that I use waterproof mascara, and that it took some slightly more aggressive rubbing in order to remove the mascara, but it did work.  I haven’t had a chance yet to try it on non-waterproof mascara, but I can only assume if it works on waterproof, it will be even more effective with regular mascara.  I plan on playing around with the recipe to see if I can make it more effective on the waterproof stuff.  More oil perhaps?  If you try it out and make any adjustments to the recipe, let me know!

See how nicely the black came off?

 

 

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup January 13, 2012

Filed under: Recipes — raediantphoenix @ 10:11 pm
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This is something I have been meaning to do FOREVER!  Every time I roast a bird or pick up a quick rotisserie chicken for dinner, I think, boy, I should make soup too.  It’s a great way to extend leftovers and make something out of the chicken carcass that is typically thrown away.  And who doesn’t like chicken soup?  But I somehow never quite got around to doing it.  I actually started once, but, paralyzed by fear of not having a recipe to follow, I gave up.

This time, however, I was determined to follow through.  On Monday night, after a grueling round of grocery shopping, Ben and I decided we were too tired to cook and picked up a “Bourbon” rotisserie chicken at Stop & Shop.  Sadly, I think the chickie spent a little too much time under the heat lamps.  It was a little overcooked and dry in places, but definitely still edible.  Also, the “Bourbon” seasoning or whatever was not my favorite thing, but after eating enough to fill ourselves, I got down to business.  Please note that this “recipe” is merely approximations of what I actually did, because I myself did not use a recipe, and went by taste.

Homemade Chicken Soup

Ingredients (Chicken Stock)

  • One leftover chicken roast
  • 2 stalks celery,
  • 2 medium carrots,
  • 2 medium onions,
  • water
  • salt & pepper
  • 2 bay leaves
  • pinch basil
  • pinch thyme

Ingredients for the Soup

  • shredded chicken
  • 3 medium carrots
  • 3 stalks celery
  • Half a box of pasta (elbows, radiators etc-small pieces)-optional
  • Spices to taste

Directions:

  1. Grab your leftover chicken and strip all of the edible meat off the bones.  Shred the meat and save it for later.  Save the bones too.
  2. Wash and coarsely chop your onions, celery and carrots-don’t bother peeling them as long as you wash them well.
  3. Put bones and veggies in a large stock pot and cover with water.  Add seasonings (see Note About Seasoning below)
  4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for at least 4 hours, but up to a full day, skimming off any scum or fat that may rise to the top.  Strain the bones and veggies out of the stock-make sure you reserve the stock.  Discard bones and veggies-you’ve extracted all the flavor from them and don’t want to eat mushy, overcooked veggies!  You may keep the stock refrigerated for a day or so or freeze it and make the soup at a later date

    What the stock looked like post-marathon simmer

  5. When you’re ready to make the soup, wash, peel and chop all of your fresh, new veggies into bite-sized pieces.
  6. Add your stock, veggies, and chicken meat to the broth and bring to a low simmer-season to taste with salt, pepper, basil and thyme
  7. If you are using pasta, boil it separately so that the pasta doesn’t suck up all your broth, and add the cooked pasta just before serving.

    The finished product. It was hard to get a good picture because the steam kept fogging up my camera lens.

I have to say, for a first attempt, the soup came out pretty darn good!  We ate it for dinner last night and again for lunch today, and there’s still some left over!  I definitely have some tweaking to do though-I only simmered my carcass and veggies for about 3 hours, and according to my dear friend Jaska (read her blog here), the key to a good stock is simmering the bird for a good long time-at least 12 hours, so I intend to do this next time.

**A Note About Spicing-I think all told I ended up using about 3 tbsp of salt, but the amount you use will depend on the amount of water you use, so start small and incrementally add more.  Just be careful and patient!  I also ended up using quite a bit of black pepper, and about 1/2 tsp each of basil and thyme.

What else did you try putting in your soup?

 

DIY: Earrings from Paper Clips and Emroidery Floss January 9, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — raediantphoenix @ 5:34 pm
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Well what do you know?  Rachel is at it again!  Making things she found on Pinterest.  Yaaay!  Seriously, my pinboards are so full, I’ve got to start making some of this stuff or my head is going to explode.  I intended to have this post ready to go before the holidays, but unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.

These babies are quite pretty.  I first saw them on Pinterest months ago, pinned them, and promptly forgot about them because I got distracted pinning another 8 gajillion cute, fun ideas.  Then, a week or two before Christmas I found another website with 25 homemade gifts for under $5, and wouldn’t you know it, there they were again.  It was like a sign from the cosmos that I should make some for Christmas gifts.  So I did.  And I’ll share them with you today, although you should definitely check out the original tutorial as well, because I think hers are a lot prettier!

How to Make Paperclip Earrings

Materials:

  • Embroidery floss
  • 2 paper clips (size is up to you)
  • Earring hooks
  • Scissors
  • Glue gun
  • Elmer’s glue

Directions:

  1. Unbend the paper clip at all the corners and shape into an isosceles triangle (2 long , equal sides and one short side)
  2. Fasten the edges together with a tiny bit of hot glue.  The less you use the better.  I know it’s kinda tricky, and you can see on mine that you end up with a fat area.  As far as I can see, there’s not really a way around this.  If you find one, please let me know!
  3. Cut a long piece of embroidery floss (approx 2 arm lengths) and wrap embroidery floss tightly around the entire surface of the paper clip, securing with small dabs of Elmer’s glue.  I placed tiny dots, then dabbed them flat with my finger so that the glue would dry very thin and clear
  4. Once all of the metal is covered, start wrapping the embroidery floss around the paperclip however you want-make a messy web, a spider-y web, go dream catcher style, or wrap the whole thing.  It’s really up to you.  Just make sure that you secure the floss by going around the edge, and use some Elmer’s once in a while to keep it all together.  The tighter the better!
  5. Once you have a pleasing design, secure earring hooks and you’re good to go!

These green ones are for my best girlfriend Mandy, and I made some purple ones for my friend Lauren.

Aren’t they pretty?  And making one pair only took about an hour, so they’re not too time consuming.  Give it a try and I bet you’ll be surprised at how nicely they come out!

 

Curried Lentil Soup: Vegetarian, Vegan, or Not January 5, 2012

Filed under: Recipes — raediantphoenix @ 12:31 am
Tags: , , ,

Now, I’m not vegetarian.  And I’m definitely not vegan.  My love for cheese knows no bounds, and the thought of giving it up is actually kind of terrifying.  But sometimes, a meatless dish is just what the doctor ordered.  Especially when that dish is warm, spicy and hearty, even without the meat.

Enter Curried Lentil Soup from Epicurious.  This recipe is extremely simple to make, and also can be made ahead of time to serve the next day, which makes it a great dish for potlucks, or to freeze as an emergency meal when you just don’t feel like cooking.  I can vouch for the fact that leftovers taste great for days!  And, if you want to make it vegetarian/vegan friendly, just sub in vegetable broth for the chicken broth and PRESTO!  Everyone’s happy :)

Curried Lentil Soup adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 large potato
  • 1 large carrot
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 tbsp curry powder (I used curry paste and it worked out just fine!)
  • 2 cups lentils, rinsed and drained (I’m lazy. I didn’t do this. It still worked)
  • 2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth (the original recipe called for less, but I found the lentils sucked up a LOT of liquid, and I wanted to retain the “soupiness” of the soup, so I added more.  Feel free to add more if you think it’s necessary)
  • 1 (one) 28oz can diced tomatoes
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. In large pot, heat oil on medium.  Add veggies and sautee until tender
  2. Add curry and cayenne pepper and sautee a few additional minutes, until very fragrant
  3. Add broth, lentils and tomatoes (with juices).  Simmer for 45 minutes or until lentils are very tender, stirring occasionally
  4. Season to taste with salt and pepper

Not the best picture in the world, but you get the idea!

And there you have it.  A perfectly delicious and (GASP!) healthy soup.  Serve it with crackers, or toast, or just some bread and butter.  Or maybe, some cheese on the side if you’re at all like me :)

 

Happy New Year! January 4, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — raediantphoenix @ 8:48 pm

Well, that was a long and unintended break from blogging!  Between not having internet for over a week (curse you, Verizon!) and going away for 10 days around the holidays (yaaaay!), my poor little blog was sadly neglected.

But never fear!  Now that the holidays are over and my life is slowly returning to normal, I promise I’ll be back at it soon.  For now, please enjoy this thoroughly awesome video, guaranteed to make you smile.

 

 

 
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