Category: General Crafts

Make a small gift bag in a flash!

Sometimes I need a small gift bag in a hurry…I’m visiting a friend and want to take a few magnets, a single lip salve or a bar of soap. I have stopped trying to keep a stash of small gift bags from the store on hand. Even with a huge pile on hand, I could never find just the right color/pattern/picture appropriate for that person. Now I reach for my folder of pretty calendar pages and make one that’s just right!

For several years I have received over a dozen new calendars every December. I saved them because I just couldn’t throw all those pretty pictures away. Last year I finally took the pile and (carefully) ripped out all the pictures I really liked and disposed of the rest of the calendar. That reduced the pile to a folder of pictures about 1″ deep.

I needed a small bag yesterday, and since I’m looking forward to Spring, I chose a page of beautiful flowers.

The larger bag above is made with an 8 1/2″ by 10 1/2″ calendar page. The smaller bag above is made with a 7″ by 7″ calendar page.

You will need: scissors, a ruler, clear tape, a hole punch and a piece of ribbon (about 20″ long).

Below is a diagram of how the bag is made. The first three steps show the first fold on the left side, but I fold mine to the center. Your choice!

Diagram to make the calendar bag.

Here is the calendar page I chose today:

First, I turned the page over and trimmed the torn edge.

Next, I folded the top edge (where there is usually a hole to hang the calendar) and added a small piece of tape in the center to keep it folded.

Now, fold both sides to the center, with a little overlap, and place a small piece of tape at the top. Fold it to the inside of the bag.

Then add tape the rest of the way down the seam and fold extra to the inside.

Now fold the bottom corners to the center and crease.

Open up the corners and tuck the folds inside each corner. Open the bottom vertically.

Fold each point to the center (with a little overlap) and tape.

Next punch two holes for the ribbon tie.

Add a piece of ribbon to close the bag.

This size bag was just perfect for one bar of my Aloe Vera soap!

If I’m in the mood to make more than one bag, I store them flat in the filing cabinet without ribbon.

So, save all those extra calendars and make small gift bags yourself! Enjoy!

If you’d like to chat about this post, leave a comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

A Healing Aloe Vera Soap

Many of my projects start with a problem that could use a creative solution. This could be a greyhound coat that needs a better design; a bag of neckties that needs to be preserved for a loved one in some way; or a front door space that smashes every wreathe I hang up!

A soap that works for me!

My adventure with soap started with a rash on my hands! Several years ago after an intense gardening season I found my hands were red and raw from continuous washing. I discovered a bar of handmade lavender soap at the Farmer’s Market that was wonderful! As long as I used that to wash my hands the rash was under control. The woman making it was also plagued with sensitivity to soaps and started making it for herself. She decided to sell it at the Farmer’s Market!

Each time I would switch to a different kind of soap the rash would appear again. She eventually closed her booth and I was back to trying to figure out how to help soothe my hands.

Most homemade soaps made from scratch start with lye as an ingredient. This made making my own soap a daunting task. I then discovered melt and pour soap bases, easily found at local craft stores and on Amazon.

A few of the many choices of soap bases.

Many recipes from Pinterest start with a clear Glycerin soap base or just one kind of basic white soap. I had fun making cute novelty soaps for a while. My hands, however, were not happy.

These made cute soaps for dog lovers!

So I tried Goats Milk soap base and my rash got worse. (I did wonder if my dairy allergy would mean I was also sensitive to the Goats Milk soap base.)

I finally found a recipe using Aloe Vera soap base. That was much better but it was really hard to get enough lather to wash my hands. I ordered a book written by Jan Berry, Easy Homemade Melt & Pour Soaps. This had lots of great ideas about how to use melt and pour soap bases.

One recipe in the book used Aloe Vera and Shea Butter soap bases.

I ordered these on Amazon.

I found the dried Calendula flowers (ordered online the first year; grown in my garden last year) made a pale yellow color and the extra Aloe Vera (powder and gel) did the trick to make a soap I could use frequently without problems. Here is my final recipe:

Equipment you will need:

2 4-cup glass measuring cups (heat safe); Saucepan to hold water and the measuring cup; Measuring spoons; Rippled soap cutter; Small strainer; Wood sticks to stir soap as it melts; Silicon molds of choice.

Step 1: Cut the soap base into small pieces. Place soap into glass measuring cup Heat water in the saucepan to boiling and then reduce to simmer. Continue simmering until all soap is melted.

Step 2: When fully melted add:

1 tsp. water to 1/4 tsp of Aloe Vera powder (about 1 capsule) and 1 Tbsp. dried Calendula flowers

Let the simmering soap on the burner and let the Aloe Vera powder and flowers infuse for 20 minutes.

Step 3: Strain out the flowers into the second glass measuring cup. (Sorry, no picture…I couldn’t hold the strainer and the measuring cup and take a picture at the same time.) Put the second glass measuring cup back into the warm water.

Steps 4: Mix until smooth…2 tsp aloe vera gel and 1/2 tsp Arrowroot powder in a small bowl.

Step 5: Add mixture from Step 4 plus 1 Tbsp. Vitamin E oil to the melted and strained soap. Mix well.

Step 6: Add 1 tsp. Essential Oil of your choice. Mix well.

Step 7: Pour soap into molds. This will make at least 6 small bars, maybe more depending on how big the molds are. Have an extra mold ready in case you need it!

Let cool for about 2 hours. Soap will be set and can be popped out of the molds.

Wrap soaps individually with plastic wrap when completely cool and firm.

Novelty soaps are fun to make and share. Soap that doesn’t give me rash…priceless! Try it yourself!

If you’d like to chat about this post, leave a comment or email me at marykisner@comcast.net.