Natural gift and pamper ideas and upcycling with kids.

One half of Sputnik and Mayhem is Little Miss Mayhem, a pint sized bundle of life, creativity and passion for the environment and the inspiring force behind lots of things I do. In fact she inspired all four pieces I am exhibiting in The Refashion Show. Upcycling with this little lady is loads of fun.

There is a great deal of recycling or upcycling you can do with kids. We save all our small packaging bags like the ones stickers come in and the like to use as gift bags, small jars to use for creams and almost anything else that might be useful for when we make our pamper products. We use a lot of organic and natural products and essentially make a lot of our own bath and skin care products, even first aid creams.

Bath Bombs.

1 cup baking soda/bi carb soda
1/2 cup citric acid
1/2 cup corn starch
2 tablespoons Epsom salts or Sea Salt (this can be optional)
4 tablespoons coconut oil/Olive oil or Apricot Kernel oil
To scent you can use various mixes of essential oils. For relaxation lavender and vanilla essence or lavender and frankincense, uplifting lime and bergamot. The combinations are endless and for personal taste.

You can also add lavender or rose petals in for decorative purposes and food colour to tint.

In a large bowl, combine the baking soda, citric acid, corn starch and salts. Add all the liquid ingredients into a small bowl. Knead the mixture working the liquids into the dry ingredients, until the mixture resembles sandy with some larger chunks of oil. I

Working with 1 teaspoon at a time, slowly add the liquid to the dry ingredients, stirring it in immediately with a large spoon. The mixture will foam slightly with each addition, this is normal. Add the liquid until your mixture resembles slightly damp sand. It should still be primarily dry, but when you squeeze a handful together, it should stick in a lump.

Once the mixture is ready, Press it firmly and tightly into each mold. You do not need to prepare the molds in any way. Allow to dry for a minimum of 4 hours, or overnight. Remove from the molds and store in an airtight container until ready to use.

The molds can be anything from old chocolate molds to silicone ice or cake trays. Miss Mayhem loves making heart shaped ones or christmas tree ones for chistmas.

These bath bombs are a great gift and kids love the idea of giving handmade gifts. These can be presented in small plastic bags collected from packaging, organza bags or even handmade calico or fabric squares.

 

 

Creams

 

Most kids love a massage or to feel pampered. Miss Mayhem loves making her own cream and massaging her own legs and being accident prone she is often covered in cuts and bruises. Like many kids she is not a fan of antiseptics so we have a special cream that she can apply to her own cuts and another for the bruises.

The great thing about creams is that with a little research of essential oils you can make creams for just about anything and once you have a collection of your favourite oils it is quite an inexpensive process.

Base creams can be anything from organic coconut oil to vitamin E cream; it really depends on price and preference. I prefer coconut oil however it does get messy when it melts on hot days so sometimes vitamin E is a better option for kids.

Half fill a jar or container of choice with your chosen base cream.

Per each 100mls add 20 drops of essential oil. For example making a bruise cream in a 100ml jar you would put 50 mls of cream into the jar then add 10 mls of Arnica essential oil and 10 mls of Lavender essential oil. Put the lid on and shake the jar to mix the oils in, when the oils are combined add the other 50 mls of cream. Again shake vigorously until combined. Label the jar with either handmade or printed labels. This cream is also great for arthritis and inflammation; you can add frankincense oil to give it extra anti-inflammatory benefits.




Uplifting Pamper cream.

This is much the same as the bruise cream however rather than using arnica and lavender you would use a more citrus based blend like lime and neroli or bergamot.




First Aid Cream.

Again this is the same process as the above creams. The essential oils used in this cream are tea tree and lavender.

The only thing that changes with each cream is the essential oils you use and generally its often personal choice.

Using this process is not only great for making creams for kids you can also make your own face and body lotions for yourself or gifts for friends.




Some other ideas.

There are places online and shops around that sell shampoo and conditioner and shower or bath gel bases so you can make your own combinations. Which has been great with Miss Mayhem who didn’t like washing her hair. We made her own personal orange blossom shampoo with a base, neroli, patchouli and rosemary. Now she is happy to wash her hair and loves the smell.

You can also make household airfresheners and face mists for summer.
All you need is spray bottles, add water and essential oils.




 

The Refashion Show.

 The Refashion Show is currently on display at Ballarat's Backspace Gallery, The show runs until February 16th. A catwalk style parade is incorporated into Backyard Tasters at Alfred Deakin Place on February 22nd. The show will also be on display during the Bergonia Festival.
 The show celebrates innovative ideas around fashion and upcycling or repurposing of materials normally seen as trash, the catch phrase being from trash to flash.
Deborah Klein the shows founder and curator hopes this will be an annual project for Ballarat's progessive arts and sustainability community.
Featuring work from artists, Margie Balazic, Brooke Smith, Denise Nichols, Antionette Stokell, and Niki Lakerink. The various materials include paper, plastic bags, starburst wrappers, packaging and even inflatable pool and air mattress.

The Show was opened by Colleen Filippa from Fifteen Trees and Ballarat's favourite councillor Belinda Coates.

The above dress is made from an inflatable pool, air mattress, foil coffee bag roses and a lamp shade hat. By Niki Lakerink.                                                      

This Alice and Wonderland inspired creation By Margie Balazic is made from plastic bags and paper.

 Brooke Smith's starburst creation is a must see, made from starburst wrappers.

 Denise Nichols Revamped paper, plastic bag and other salvage materials.

 This computer component dress also called the tech dress from cables and computer components with a medusa inspired head piece is by Niki Lakerink.
Niki also makes a range of computer component jewellery, some of which is on display at The Refashion Show and can also be purchased at Pumpkin and Sparrow on Skipton Street.

A fun entry, the packaging fairy by Niki Lakerink, made from various packaging from bubble wrap to onion bags is designed to make people think about the effects of plastic on the ocean and its inhabitants.

 Antionette Stokell's Bustle with the Rustle is a gorgeous period style gown from paper and plastic bags.

Steeping away from the plastic and paper repurposing idea, this dress is made from hand made plant fibre and garden refuse and paperbark. By Niki Lakerink


A lovely blog entry about the show by Erin McCuskey at the fabulous Yum Studios
http://yumstudio.tumblr.com/post/75310813592/niki-lakerink-puts-waste-to-beautiful-use-her

Repurpose, Recycling, Upcycling, Art, Ballarat, Fashion.