Craft Friday

Black Friday brings out the materialism in our society, without a doubt. So this Black Friday I decided to suppress materialism, or at least modify it.* That's why I invited some friends over (although only 2 could actually attend) for a Craftluck! We shared a meal, lots of desserts, and then launched right into our recycling projects.

First up: denim rug or other creation. Kelly did some clothing deconstructing this summer & we had brainstormed some ideas for the scraps left over. We decided to recycle our old, hole-y jeans into a rug. The project is still in its newborn stage, but I'll be sure to post a picture if & when Kelly finishes it! My idea behind the rug is to cut thin strips of jeans & braid the strips together, tying them when you are almost to the end of your strip. Another option that I might try with my own clothing remnants would be to use a huge crochet hook & make a crocheted rug. This is a project for another day, though!

Our candle mold station!

 Second item on the list was our candles! We set up a laboratory to melt old wax (read: aged & ancient church candles saved for such an occasion by my resourceful grandfather.). Thanks to the tradition of using particular colors for the Advent candle wreath, we even had some pink. In the future when I do the project again, I'm going to melt down the beautiful dark blue candles! Tips for candle making: put newspaper EVERYWHERE in your workspace. Last time I embarked on such an adventure I added some new pock marks to my parents' kitchen floor. Whoops! Also, candle dyes seem to dilute quickly, or maybe I just didn't buy good dyes the first time I did this. Nevertheless, if you're a cheap-o like me, better get used to having a lot of pale & cream-colored candles in your life! On the other hand, candle scents do seem to go a long way, so I do recommend buying a small bottle of candle scent.

Our third & final project for Craft Friday was recycled glasses. We had high hopes for these potential beauties. In preparation I spread the word to everyone I knew (my sister & friends) to save their wine & beer bottles for donation to my cause. We had about 30 bottles ready to be transformed from average recycling to extraordinary upcycling! You heard me: we were going to make our very own drinking glasses from the old bottles. Sounds great, right? And we even had a simple process to follow (about which we'd heard of from our dear friend C.C.). Just grab a cotton string, soak it in nail polish remover, tie it tightly in the place on the bottle you'd like to be the top of the glass, set it on fire & plunge it in ice water to finish it off! Flawless.

Not. At right is a photo of my hand holding the bottle for one of our 370 attempts to successfully heat up the bottle & cut the glass. As you now know, it didn't work & I'm not convinced that that process is actually successful. But I'll welcome any proof to the contrary. After attempting one too many times, we found a creepy video online & went out to buy a glass cutter (only $6 at the local hardware store!). To make a long story short, we did learn how to cut glass successfully, but we are still stumped as to how we can make these creations smooth enough to be safe.

Even though our final project divulged some stumbling blocks mid-process, I'd declare our first ever Craft Friday a success. I'm interested in making Craft Friday a tradition & have lots of crafts to add to the list for next year (lint mache bowls, anybody?! And then we can decoupage them?!). It was an excellent follow-up to Thanksgiving! I hope you all had as great a holiday weekend as I did!

*I have to admit, I went shopping all day Saturday. I'm sorry. I know, I'm a hypocrite. But family tradition dictates that all of the females above age 10 in our family get together to tackle our Christmas shopping lists! It's fun, exhausting, overwhelming, but also gratifying!

Not So Kool-Aid

Is that the cheesiest blog title or what? That's the way I like it.

So I have been on a bit of a break. I apologize to those of you who regularly check Hectic Eclectic blog (which is most likely no one) who were disappointed by the fact that I hadn't written in some time.

What can I say, I was on a break. Which is not an accurate term, because I had very little of a break. Sure, I went home (for the first time since college! Woo-hoo!), but I took work to "get done" and, naturally, didn't get it done. It's somewhat depressing to think that tonight I'm writing two three page papers which were prompted two weeks ago and are due tomorrow. I'd like to work ahead for a change, but I just can't seem to discipline myself.

Over this elusive "break", I had the opportunity to see friends (what else would one do?). My friend Kelly, who shall remain named, actually came home to see me! Can you believe it?! I must admit that she had more incentive to come home other than my presence. I had strategically suggested that we spend some of our time trying a new experiment in fun and frugality. Namely: dying our hair with Kool-Aid.

Needless to say, Kelly did indeed come home once I tempted her with the Kool-Aid bait and fun and frugality we certainly witnessed. Originally, we were just going to buy Grape (it probably has some "g" adjective in front of it to make it catchier, like Great Grape or Goofy Grape, but I don't recall), but Kelly had the blossoming idea to buy Black Cherry (do I get points for alliterations?).

These were the instructions that we followed (loosely)

• mix packet of kool-aid with conditioner
• add a spoonful of vinegar
• apply and wrap highlighted/dyed strands with aluminum foil
• leave in for as long as possible (we left it in for several hours each)
• rinse and blow-dry

So, following the instructions, I applied the Goofy Grape to Kelly's hair while she put some Blossoming Black Cherry on my hair.

This sounds great, doesn't it? Not so grape-y great, though. In short, neither Kelly nor I witnessed the miraculous effects of cheap ($ .25/packet) Kool-Aid hair dye. Both of our heads remain un-tarnished (which, I supposed is better than being tarnished).

But I will say that both of us were a little disappointed in our failure. But we all know that failure make us stronger, so who knows how this experience will serve us in the future? I wish I could give Kool-Aid props for being such a great alternative, but alas, I cannot tell a lie.