DIY Wax Cupcakes

So I noticed my stockpile of old wax was getting up there again, so I thought it was time for a wax craft.
Many people have melted down their old wax to recycle it for use once more, allowing the sediment to settle out to the bottom of the melted wax. I wanted to have a little fun with it.
For this, I used a cupcake tin, some cupcake liners (I used 3 liners per slot), a microwave proof thick walled bowl, and some old chopsticks as stirrers. I also got some scented Almond food extract to add in, since the wax had lost a lot of smell, and I wanted to try some food coloring to dye the wax. Oh, and the old wax, of course:

After getting everything together, I divided the wax up into warm and cold water wax, based on marking and also on the feel of the wax.

Cold on left, warm/tropical on right

If you have big chunks of wax, try breaking them down as much as possible, or you can even use an old grater. It just makes the process go a bit faster, but you still need some patience with this. Also, this is a messy project, so you may want to cover up your work area a bit in the kitchen so they're not greasy wax flying about over everything.
Transfer the some of the wax (not all yet) into the microwave proof bowl and set the oven for 20 minutes on high.

Grated wax in bowl

You are going to check on your melted wax every 3-5 minutes during this time, and stir it with the chopstick to make sure the heat is even and the wax melts evenly. Once the wax is liquid, add a big chunk if you have one, and cover it with the liquid wax using your chopstick. This helps heat up the big chunk faster.
Once all of your wax has become liquid, add a few drops of the almond flavoring. If you think this might give you a rash, don't do it and skip this step and the next.
Also, during this time I added some yellow food coloring to this wax since this wax was "warm water" wax, and I would be able to identify it easier. I've heard of adding crayon shavings, which is smart, but I wanted to try food coloring. Unfortunately, this food coloring, either due to it's consistency, age, or compatibility, didn't dye evenly throughout the wax, but made little reddish specks in the wax, which I thought was pretty cool.

Speckled wax

Try to get some of the bubbles out with the chopstick stirrer one last time, then you're ready to pour the melted wax into each cupcake liner. This is tricky and VERY hot, so go slow and be careful while filling each liner in the tin.
Let the wax cool for a bit, around 15-20 minutes, then put it in the freezer to harden up all the way. When you remove each "cupcake", the extra liners you used will make it easier to pop them out of the tin, and just peel the paper off of each one. Mine have a faint scent of almond, put not overpowering, since I didn't go nuts with the extract. At least the original funky smell is a bit covered up.
Here's one finished:

Warm water wax. Looks more like a Reese cup! Mmmmm....

Here's a birthday plate of them, just don't eat them, please.

Happy Birthday!

I think it would be fun to stick a birthday candle in the center of one before the wax hardens up, then you have a nice little birthday gift for a fellow surfer. FUN!

Forget-Me-Not Sunscreen Dispenser DIY

I was thinking today how it would be nice to keep some sunscreen handy in the house, not just out in the the garage with my surf equipment, which is probably bad for the lotion anyway.
I like buying the El Grande sizes in things, because not only is it cheaper, it saves on those excess plastic bottles. So, I have huge bottles of sunscreen in the garage, but if I brought them in and sat them on the bathroom sink it would be a total eyesore, plus a big thing to take up room on the sink along with everything else. I also wanted to have some sunscreen handy for my face as I'm heading out the door, whether it's for surfing or just cruising about.
The other day, I was gifted a large bottle of sunscreen (WOO HOO!!!), and then I had to pick up some hand soap from the store. With the tub of hand soap came a small dispenser for the sink for free. We reuse ours over and over, but I decided to replace one with this new free one, so I had a spare to use.

Yes, I saved the remaining soap!!

I took the old dispenser and after putting the soap into another container, I rinsed out the dispenser and took the labels off.

Buck Naked.

Because we have a tendency to use too much of a good thing, I wanted the dispenser to dispense the right amount for my face so I wouldn't get my face greasy- not too much, not too little- so I used a hack I've seen times before. I took a small rubber band and wrapped it around the neck of the dispenser. This prevents the pump from pushing all the way down (as we have the tendency to do), and gives a more measured amount of sunscreen. Or soap, if you want to use it for that too (prevents wastefulness).

Red rubber band wrapped around the neck of the pump.

I filled the dispenser up with some of the sweatproof, waterproof sunscreen and put the big bottle in the cabinet under the sink out of sight. I also made a funky label for the dispenser so I know it's sunscreen and not lotion.

Happy little surfboard clip art!

Just the right amount.

Of course, you need to reapply, but this will give a first layer that's handy and doesn't look too bad in the bathroom.
Slip, slap and slop yourself silly!!

Spare Surf Fin Art

Fins can sometimes act like socks in the wash. One will disappear for no reason, and you don't know where it went. Mind you, my pricier fins I keep better tabs on, but those plastic ones that come with the board tend to get switched out, then lost in the shuffle.
Here's one I've had on my side bite fin rack for a while, just hanging out by it's lonesome. It's a plastic FCS left side large side bite that has been well surfed, from the look of the edges on it.

Since it has a flat back, I thought this could make a cool art project.
I just got finished flipping through my Surfer magazine (I wish this was in digital format!), so I've been wanting to do several projects with the magazine once I was finished with it.

Latest (relatively) Surfer mag

I have a Plexiglas square template, so I used it to cut some squares from pictures that I liked in the magazine, really looking for colors I liked that reminded me of the waves.

Next, I spread I good layer of white, clear drying glue over the curved, outer part of the fin, leaving the flat side plain. I didn't cover the tabs on the fin:

I used Tacky Glue- hopefully that's not how it'll turn out.

Next, I took the pieces and laid them out in the pattern I wanted. This is where you can get really creative. To make sure the pieces laid flat, I carefully put a thin layer of glue over all the pieces once they were in place to ensure I didn't have corners sticking up. I then used my exacto knife to cut around the shape on a cutting mat.

 

I even took some of the scraps and made an overlapped edging around the fin to neaten it up a bit, and added some strips of paper to make stripes.
After that, I took the fin out to the garage, and WITH MY MASK ON, a sprayed 3 coats of sealant over the whole fin to protect the piece. Make sure you do light coats, and wait 15-20 between each coat.
I got a "memory box" frame from the craft store, which is essentially a frame that has a thick empty space inside to mount objects that have some dimension to them. The one I got is an 8 by 8. It was cheap, even new, and a lot of times, these can be easily picked up at Goodwill or a garage sale, but I didn't get the chance to treasure hunt for frames recently.

Memory box next to dried, sealed fin.

I mounted the fin to the back of the frame with foam tape so it stuck out a bit from the backing, and could be removed and remounted on something else if I wanted.

Had an extra mounting strip around, so I used that.

I centered the fin up on the backing, mounted it, signed the bottom with my initials, and hung it. DONE!
It can stand on it's own on a shelf, or be hung up, either way:

Hanging up on the wall

This is a good use for your favorite old magazine photos, or photos of yourself that would be more interesting to mount on a used fin than just in a plain boring picture frame. D'art of surfing.....

DIY Surfer Girl Skirt, Cover Up, and Changing Assistant

Quite a few years back, Patagonia used to make a nifty skirt that was made from lycra, just like a bathing suit. Unfortunately, they don't now, so I've been making my own the past couple of years. They're easy to pack, they don't wrinkle, and if you have a wet rear from surfing or diving, it's ok with this material. I take three or four with me to the Keys on diving trips, they're the easiest thing to change out of my swimsuit right there at the dock or beach, and still use it to go out to Lorelei's later.
First, I picked up some lycra at the fabric store- it's usually in the swim/activewear section. For this simple skirt, I highly advise to choose a lycra that has a random print so the seam will not be as obvious. Lycra's a little pricey, but if you've got a 40% off coupon (all the fabric stores have those these days), it's still better than the $60 they were asking you to shell out at the store.

Same stuff as a bathing suit's made of

Before getting the material cut at the store or ordering it, make sure you measure the widest part of your hips, leaving a little looseness in there- you don't want the hips and rear to be form fitting, the waist will be fitted using elastic.
Basically, you're going to sew up a tube- this is the simplest garment to make as far as sewing's concerned. The material's a bit of a challenge, though, so it's a good step up project.
First, fold the material over until it's half the measurement you took loosely around your hips, plus 2 inches. The 2 inches is going to be the seam allowance. It's a bit wide, but I've found it keeps the stitching line laying flat when sewing so you don't get a funky puckered seam.
Pin the fabric together, but only at the outer edges- don't pin anywhere in the center or you may put a run in the fabric.

Pinning only in the seam allowance

I cut off the excess material, saving it for whatever. Next, I'm going to cut to top edge (waist) perfectly straight using my rotary cutter and a straight edge so I get a sharp line.

Squaring off the top edge

When I start to sew down the side, I will make sure this edge is at the top when I start. Then I pin the thing on the borders like crazy, since lycra will shift around like mad.
Before sewing, I will change my needle out to a ballpoint needle designed for knits. I used a 75 ballpoint stretch, since this lycra's pretty light material, compared to, say, denim.

Use a needle only for lycra fabric.

I used regular white poly thread and set my machine to do a long zig zag stitch (2.0 length, 1.5 width) down the one side seam. On knits, you need to do zig zag since there's stretch in the fabric and you don't want to bend over or to the side and have the stitches pop out.

I used a guide to make sure I stayed 2 inches from the edge and sewed SLOWLY, making sure the two layers didn't shift around under each other. DON'T pull the fabric through, and make sure you support the weight of the fabric or you'll get a gnarly puckered seam:

Making the side seam

After sewing down the side, cut the seam allowance off to about 1/4" from the sewing line- there's no need to use pinking shears:

Trimming the seam allowance off.

Once you've sewn down the side, you should have a large tube! Now what?
Next, I'm going to make the casing for the waist so I can put some elastic through to make a waist. I'm using 3/4" no-roll elastic and 1/2" Steam-A-Seam Strips to keep the casing folded over when I sew. It helps me greatly to use this, or any other type of stay adhesive on this part, since the casing's kind of tricky.
I'm going to iron the casing over, making sure I fold the top over 1 1/2" inches- 1/2" for the adhesive (which bonds to the fabric), plus the 3/4" for the elastic, plus 1/4" to make sure the elastic lays smoothly in the casing.

Measuring before I form the casing.

I will adhere the edge down at 1 1/2", using a medium iron setting. Then, I'm going to use the same zig zag stitch as before to sew it down, 1 inch away from the top edge. Make sure you leave a small opening  so you can thread your elastic through the waist!!!

Using the guide to sew 1 inch away from top edge

Now, you have a choice before you start threading the elastic into the waist casing. You can finish the bottom edge, or you can leave it raw, since lycra doesn't fray. Either way, square up the bottom, like you did for the top, and use the rotary cutter to make a clean straight edge.
If you want to make a hem, and don't have a serger (like me- that stinks!!!), you can use a twin needle for stretch fabrics:

This makes a cool hem edge:

Bottom hem edge with the twin needle

Next, I'm going to thread the elastic through the top casing using a tool called a bodkin. It looks like a pair of tweezers, but clamps onto the end of the elastic and makes threading a lot easier. In a pinch, you can attach a large safety pin to one end and feed the elastic through the casing that way:

Using the bodkin

These will be on top of each other- just staggered for the photo

The mark is where you'll sew, using a zig zag stitch, once again:

Sewing the elastic together.

Make sure you DO NOT PULL at the elastic while sewing.
Once you've finished, trim off the ends of the elastic, and adjust the elastic waist back into the casing. Stitch up the hole you left in the casing using the same zig zag stitch, and you're DONE!
Here's some ways to wear your creation:

Hanging out at the beach

Going to the store, or changing out of your suit

Going out to the bar after surfing

And fellow surfer girls- the skirt is bulletproof against those dudes spilling their nasty Natty Ice all over you to get your digits. The dude spilling his Dos Equis on you, however, may get a chance. He IS the most interesting man in the world, you know.

DIY Portable Post Surf/SUP/Diving Shower

A friend of mine suggested that I make a craft that is a DIY of a portable surf shower, which I thought was a fantastic idea. There are some great ones out there made just for surfing, but they can get pricey. But, if you have some tools and free time, try this.
First, I purchased a 2 gallon garden weed sprayer. PURCHASE this NEW or use one that hasn't seen chemicals inside or you may get more of a glow than from your fabulous suntan. I picked up this one for $15 at the local big box, but it's actually made in the USA:

2 gallon capacity garden sprayer

It's actually pretty nice, and could be used as a rinser straight out of the box, but the suggestion was to make something that could really get sand and especially mud and grass off you and your board if you went on the SUP in the river. The current set up didn't cut it. The spray was intended to gently mist plants, so it was pretty weak, and the hose and attachments just didn't have the inner diameter size needed to bring up more water quicker, and the hose wasn't long enough.
To remedy this, there was a piece of tubing in the garage that had a perfect inside diameter, but didn't fit over the outlet sticking out the top side of the tank where the hose attaches. An adapter was needed to fit a bigger dip tube (the straw inside the tank that sucks the water down) through this port, then attach to this bigger tubing. We also had an old one of those in the garage.
We drilled out the port with a 7/16" bit to increase the opening:

Drilling out the port

This part is tricky since it's plastic, so keeping a tight grip is important and make sure you get rid of the plastic shavins' left behind.
Next, I used a tap to make new threads inside the enlarged port so it would fit our new fitting:

Starting to use the tap to make threads

Be slow and deliberate when doing this part!

The tap used was the same that would be used on metal pipe, but worked on the plastic since the port had a crazy thick wall to work with.

YAY!

For the dip tube into the tank, we used an old toilet tube (NO, it did NOT see action) that had the inner diameter needed:

Tube for dip tube

I cut the tube to length, but it didn't quite fit into the threaded ID of the fitting going into the tank port. So, I filed. And filed. And filed some more.

Filing the end of the dip tube

It fit! Next, it was a matter of getting a good hose sprayer that fit our new hose tube, using a pair of hose clamps on each end of the tube to make sure we had a good seal, and voila!, here's the port-o-shower:

Completed

To insulate this, I would have sewed a big Koozie to go around the tank, but we're fresh out of old wetsuits. So, I used some super chunky acrylic yarn, an "I" size crochet hook, and crocheted a sweater for it to keep it insulated:

All warm and fuzzy

If you wanted to keep the water cool in the Summer, add a whole bunch of ice cubes, they'll melt in the tank while in the car, but still keep the water cold.
The water now comes out of the tank like from a hose, but of course, the trade off is the water draws down quicker. If you go through a lot of water, keep some back up 2 liters, but you'll have a shower with good pressure, so you won't look like this:

They surf better than me. Jerks.