Home decor D.I.Y

As you may or may not be aware, I got a sewing machine as part of my dowry for my traditional marriage. A few months ago, I decided to start using it. My first project was to make covers for some throw pillows I got. I got some throw pillows from Orca and Palace on the Spintex road.  I then got some fabric from Da Viva fabrics in the Marina Mall. They have some gorgeous prints there. I watched lots YouTube videos just to learn and I found some very simple tutorials on pillow cases. I then proceeded to make my cases.

They turned out so beautifully a friend asked me to make her some. I did and she loved them.

 

I really enjoyed the process of making something so beautiful and useful by myself.  I, therefore, decided to do more DIY projects for the home. I have collected quite a few magazines for a while now and they were in a mess in my closet. I had long desired to arrange them somehow so I went on the net to find some ideas for storing them. There were so many ideas but I settled on arranging them in baskets. I drove to Cantonments to one of the bamboo weavers and ordered a few baskets according to my specifications. I ordered from a guy known as 'teacher'. Took a day but I picked them up two days later. They turned out really well and fit my mags perfectly. I decided to make some liners for the baskets before actually using then for storage so I went on the 'tube' and found many videos with different levels of complication. I watched a few and got a basic idea of what I was to do. I then got some cotton fabric from Palace supermarket on the Spintex road and made the liners and arranged my magazines.  Turned out beautifully, if I do say so myself. 

 

I want to encourage everyone to take up D.I.Y. It is very relaxing and satisfying.

WHIPPED SHEA BUTTER RECIPE

HELLO  READER!

It has been a minute. Life happens you know? But I promise to do better.

Anyway, to start over again, I am coming to you with a post for my recipe for Whipped sheabutter. I use this mix for my body and my hair as well. It is especially great for dry skin and hair. 
The best thing about it is how easy and inexpensive it is to make. This doesn't take away from how awesome it is for you though. It is a purely natural product (no chemicals here) and absorbs very well into the skin. I usually add a bit of pure cocoa butter which I normally get from the Cocoa Processing Company in Tema in Ghana.  

The end results from this recipe is a bit hard at colder temperatures and feels more like a mousse at warm temperatures. It is lovely. I made a little video while making mine so I will post that as well as photos.

You will need a mixing bowl, a hand mixer, empty containers to store finished products, spoon and plastic bag.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup raw shea butter
2 tablespoons Virgin Coconut oil
1 tablespoon Organic Castor Oil
1 tablespoon Organic Aloe Vera Gel
About 20 drops total of your choice of essential oils (I used Peppermint, Rosemary and Ylang Ylang) Use whichever you want.















METHOD:
Place shea butter in a mixing bowl and mix with hand mixer until fluffy.
Add coconut oil, castor oil and aloe vera gel and continue mixing.
Add drops of essential oils and mix until soft spikes form in your mixture. 
Take plastic bag, spoon mixture into the bag, snip one edge of the bag and squeeze mixture into empty containers.

Tips:

My shea butter was at room temperature and since it is really warm in my kitchen the butter was quite soft so I didn't need to soften. If yours is hard, you can soften it a bit in a double boiler. Don't use the microwave or direct heat as this sometimes makes the shea butter gritty.

You can use a piping bag if you have one and don't mind using it for this but the ordinary plastic bag works just as well.