TatteredWitch

 We live in a high-mountain desert clime. So maybe that contributes to my penchant? need? obsession?? for collecting as many bottles, jars, and jugs that I possibly can.  A Water-For-Every-Occasion! While we're thoroughly land-locked, we do, thankfully, have access to a variety of mountain rivers and lakes, freshwater springs, and plenty of gorgeous tumbling streams. And once in a while, it will actually rain during a needed moon phase, and I do my best to collect what I can. There are, of course, a thousand ways to cleanse things-- visualizing and blowing your own breath over something, using a Sparklifying potion on or over it... smudging... but sometimes it feels like a sort of baptism is the only thing that will do. So if there's rain or snow, I put out my favorite collecting bowl... and let the moon do Her magick.  ♥

  Put your magick into these whenever it feels best for you, but regardless, don't forget to make them with love, intention, and mindfulness. We'd been planning to make our bath bombs for way too long now, and after Maddie's recuperative bath today, and an online three hour visit with an also-sick friend, we decided that today was the day. I've been making this same recipe for years, sometimes at Christmas/Yule I give these as part of a gift basket.  They're my very favorite, and to me much better than anything commercial that I've ever tried. Gather your ingredients. Some might not have these things on supply at home all the time, but chances are if you often make your own soaps, lotions, and balms, you have all of the ingredients on hand. You'll need: 10 tbs baking soda 5 tbs cornstarch 5 tbs citric acid 1/2 tbs water 1/2 tsp borax 1 1/2 tbs oil (grapeseed, almond, sunflower, etc) Mix the baking soda, cornstarch, and citric ...

  Oh, I've wanted to make paper for the longest time! I bought a book like fifteen plus years ago, and had never done it. What a lovely process. Yesterday Maddie and I went through her paper box, and tore up copy paper that had been drawn on (both sides), and a few coloring book pages that were in there, as well. We put our bits in a five gallon bucket, and set it in the bathtub, and filled it maybe a third of the way with hot water. We let the paper soak for three or four hours, then we dumped paper and water into our blender, blending it into tiny bits. When the blender got stuck, we just added more water. As the batches finished blending, we poured each one into a large , shallow box. When all of the paper that we had soaked had been pureed, we stirred it up with our hands. I dipped our smallest screen into the plastic box, and then swished the fibers over the screen. When it looked like it was full, we lifted the screen straight up, and set it on the edge of the box to drip...

I think this is one of my very favorite projects. How could it not be? We try to do it every year for Solstice, but the weather doesn't always comply! You'll need small and large containers, cold, something heavy, and bits from nature. The Gathering is a favorite part, to be sure. For the containers, you can use buckets, the bottoms of orange juice or milk cartons, bowls... whatever you have on hand-- just make sure there are no ripples or any lines to keep your ice from flowing freely out of the container. Place your small container inside your large one, and then between the two place your pretties- evergreens, rosehips, glitters if you like, pine, berries... Weigh down your inner container with something heavy (rocks, marbles, whatever) and then pour water into your outside container. Set them outside to freeze. When they're frozen throughout (possibly it will take 24 hours), bring them in and empty your inner container of its weights, then...