Crafts and Homemade Body Products

Reader Contribution by Anna Twitto
Published on December 4, 2017
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Many people thinking of spinning, weaving, knitting, soap-making and other home-based crafts as fancy hobbies rather than attributes of simple, self-reliant living, but it all depends on the context. You may certainly spend a lot of money, if you wish, on soap and candle molds, essential oils and costly equipment, or you may do things very simply, actually saving money in the process.

I have made wonderful homemade soap with old oil I had absolutely nothing else to do with, and I have made candles from paraffin drippings which were otherwise absolutely useless. I have unraveled old sweaters and used the recycled yarn for making new things, and utilized tattered felted yarn as doll hair. Basically, as most of the time I can’t afford hobbies which cost money, I get creative with what I have on hand.

I view proficiency in traditional skills as a kind of security fund: today it may be very cheap and easy to go into a store and buy whatever you might fancy, but tomorrow it may just happen that people who can make their own will find themselves very glad of it. This goes for knitting, sewing, spinning, basket-weaving and any craft you might think of.

A good place to start would be to try your hand at making your own natural body care products such as body butters, balms, scrubs, lotions and deodorants, which are very satisfying and usually very quick to make, and great for personal use, as holiday or hostess gifts when packed in pretty jars, or even as a potentially profitable home-business venture – not to mention they are a lot healthier than anything commercially available!

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