Illuminated Broom Machine Embroideries

 When I saw this pattern from Urban Threads I knew I had to stitch it, but had no idea for whom.  A week or so later a few friends and I decided in the spirit of the season, to hold our own mini Witchy Swap between us. After digging around online to make sure suitable hoops to display the work existed, I downloaded it and set to work.  I gave the recipients the choice of a finished hoop, or an unfinished piece of fabric, that they could work into a project of their own.  Two chose hoops, and one chose unfinished.

A lightly Hufflepuff inspired version, with a bright yellow swirl, and silver broom.

A subtle Gryffindor inspired rendition, with a deep red swirl and golden brown broom.

And one in the suggested colors of metallic gold swirl and white broom.  The recipient requested hers as a flat piece of embroidery, rather than a hoop, so she could incorporate it into another project in the future.

Witchy Candles

A few friends and I decided to do a witchy craft swap just among ourselves as a bit of fun during the pandemic.  As soon as the idea was put out there, I knew I wanted to make a batch of candles in various witchy themes.  Of course, I could only order wax in 1 lb, 10 lbs, or 50 lbs amounts.  Since I wanted to make more than 2-3 candles, I ordered 10 lbs.  The wax itself is GW 444 soy wax flakes from The Flaming Candle Company, and all of the fragrances came from there as well.  

The purple are Witches Brew fragrance oil (cinnamon, patchouli, vetiver, amber, balsam & cedarwood), embedded with amethyst stones, rose quartz stones, quartz crystals points, and rose petals.  Some were made in purple pint Ball jars, a recycled candle jar, and one in a yogurt jar.

The green are Good Witches Garden, scented with basil, sage & mint, and containing lavender buds, rose petals, and calendula petals. I used up more Oui yogurt jars and another jar from a previous candle.

The grey are Cauldron Fire, scented with campfire fragrance oil, and embedded with lavender, quartz crystal points, and rose quartz.

The creamy yellow ones are Nightshade, scented with tomato leaf, and embedded with quartz crystal points, carnelian stones, sprinkled with calendula, rose petals, and dried lemon peel. 

After all that, I had about 2 lbs of wax left, and the vendor had sent me a sample of White Tea & Ginger fragrance oil, so I decided to use the last of it up on one giant candle.  Many went to my swap friends, and the rest are in my stash for Christmas gifts.

Full Sized Witchy Potions Cupboard

About a year or so ago I found a little decorative spice cupboard in a junk shop near my house.  The moment I saw it I knew that I wanted needed to turn it into a witchy potions cupboard for the lovely Knickertwist  Since then it has sat around my house awaiting an excuse to be built and sent to her.  Thankfully that excuse came up in the guise of the Back to Hogwarts Swap organized by pinkleo.  Sadly I can't seem to find the before pictures I took of the cupboard. 

[b]Edit: For size reference, the cabinet is 15" tall, and 12" wide, with the doors closed. (Thanks Knicker!) The shelf in the background is actually my mantle, and it is sitting on a bookshelf.

And a great big THANK YOU! to cackle and rackycoo for all their help and advice while making this project![/b]

Here's the outside of the finished cupboard. 

I used a wood burning tool to burn in the runes onto the front.  They read "It does not do to dwell on dreams, and forget to live."

The top also has a celestial pattern burned into it, and random wonky dots burned up and down the front.  After burning the outside of the cupboard, I re-sanded it, so the insides of the burned areas would be a little dusty.

The bottom also contains a small drawer that I filled with magical bits and bobs.  More about those later...

Here the doors open to reveal the ingredients inside...

Let's get a closer look at the top shelf.

We have a bottle of rose petals from a first love, a silver bell, a "Miracle Elixir of Life" patent medicine bottle from the 1880's (the purple one), a tiny basket containing vials of Scarab Beetle Eyes & Powdered Unicorn Horn...

a tiny Grimoire, and a silver chalice for serving up bubbling potions...

The Grimoire has notes, lists of magical items, and quite a few potion recipes, including this one for a Passion Philtre:

(Incidentally, these are all real recipes, safe for human consumption!  Most of the recipes are for homemade liquers.)

And the lower shelf... In the larger bottles we have Dragon Heartstring (variegated gold metallic yarn and variegated red ribbon crocheted together), dried Aconite, Blessing Seeds, Dried Doxy Eggs (lumpy dull brown potato pearls), and a bottle of Bezoars.

In the tiny bottles we have Pearled Phoenix Tears, Mugwort, Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, Beetle Wings, and Sneezewort.

Inside the drawer we have a nearly empty spool of red thread, a tiny bundle of phoenix tail feathers, some rune dice, a golden key, a buckeye from my yard, a Nazar, and an amulet to protect a loved one.  They aren't pictured, but there are also two candles tucked in the drawer, one red and one white, for use in various spells.

So there you have it.  A full sized potions cupboard for my favorite witchy friend, Knickertwist.