It's the weekend at the lake! Your plans for swimming and fishing are all you and the kids have been talking about for the past week. Everyone is excited, raring to go, and then when the weekend arrives, so do the thick pewter rain clouds. Within an hour, you know that this weekend at the cabin will not be filled with outdoor fun and adventure. The kids are bored and so are you.

Is the weekend a waste? No way! Look at this as a good excuse to get creative indoors. The three craft projects in this ar ticle are especially designed for crafters of all ages and skill levels to enjoy. Projects like these turn a rainy day into one filled with fun.

All three of these craft projects are enjoyable for the entire family. Wouldn't mom appreciate some scented bath salts? Or, how about a message board that is not only cute, but also functional, and will help keep the family organized. And finally, a little, painted, terra cotta pot for your garden by the lake. It's ideal for holding packets of vegetable seeds and a pair of gardening gloves.

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Homemade Bath Salts

Being at the lake means relaxation. Create a spa atmosphere for yourself with a long soak in a bath enriched with these bath salts. People have known for centuries that saltwater has physical benefits. Noted beauties Cleopatra and the Queen of Sheba both realized the beauty and health benefits of natural salt and minerals. They often took to the Dead Sea to indulge in its natural spa. Now you can do the same with this simple recipe. It will relax aching muscles, and has a delicate scent.

Clumsy Crafter Rating: 1 out of 4 - Very Easy

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (250 ml) Epsom salts
• 1 cup (250 ml) sea salt
• 5-10 drops essential oil (your choice of fragrance - I love lavender; other choices include orange, mint or rosemary)
• Zipper-type plastic bag or a tightly lidded jar (for shaking)
• Liquid food coloring, optional (just a few drops)

Instructions: 

In a tight-sealing jar or a zipper-type plastic bag, combine dry ingredients - Epsom salts and sea salt. Shake the dry ingredients together until well combined.

Add about three drops of essential oil to the mix, and shake again. Different essential oils can have different concentrations, so test the scent of the bath salts after adding only three drops. If the salts don't smell strong enough, add more of the scented oil, one scant drop at a time.The oils are concentrated, so don't add too much all at once or you might end up with bath salts that are too strong.

If you choose to add color to your bath salts, use about 10 drops in total. Shake well, and even use your hands to thoroughly combine the color. Continue this until the color is evenly distributed.

To Use - add liberally to running bath water.

Seal tightly and label with beautiful, hand-written labels. Get creative when finding containers for your bath salts. Dollar stores offer a bounty of delightful glass, plastic and metal containers to use, while keeping your project within a reasonable budget.

Finding the Supplies:

Epsom salts and sea salt are easy to find. Epsom salts are carried in any pharmacy, and sea salt is available in the supermarket next to regular table salt.

Essential oils are available at craft stores or health food stores. Camden-Grey has a wonderful online store with essential oils, bottles and other toiletry-making supplies.View it at http://www.essentialoil.net/ or write to:

Camden-Grey Essential Oils

3591 NW 82nd Ave.

Miami, FL 33122

I love using old-fashioned bottles for storing my bath salts. Find beautiful, old bottles at garage sales or estate sales.

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Country Kitchen Message Board

An old picture frame is transformed into a message board for busy families! Replace the glass in the frame with sheet metal, and you can use fun magnets to hold your notes. The little clay pots are perfect to hold pens and pencils, stamps, or keys. Alternately, you could line the frame with cork instead of metal, and use tacks to post your notes.

Clumsy Crafter Rating: 3 out of 4 - Challenging

Supplies:

For the gingerbread men:

• 2 gingerbread men cut from thin wood
• 2 small wooden hearts
• 2 bow ties (made using 1-inch-square fabric and thread)
• Craft paint colors: medium brown, light brown, red, black
• Fine sanding paper

For the frame:

• 1 large wooden frame (mine was 16"x 20")
• Pale sage green paint
• Paintbrushes
• Piece of sheet metal, cut to fit in the frame (available in the plumbing department)
• Piece of sturdy cardboard, slightly larger than the sheet metal
• Two clay pots, miniature size
• Two stalks of dried wheat (available at dried/silk flower shops)
• One miniature silk sunflower
• Glue gun and glue sticks
• Picture frame-hanging hardware

1. Make the gingerbread men first: Cut the patterns for the gingerbread men and the hearts from thin pieces of wood using a scroll saw. If you can find pre-cut shapes, use those instead to save time.

2. Paint the gingerbread men solid medium brown. Let dry. Put two stripes of light brown on each of the hands and feet. Let dry. Paint the hearts red. Once dry, apply the hearts to the gingerbread men using hot glue, positioned as shown. To give the gingerbread men a more rustic look, use the sandpaper and just barely scrape along the edges of the wood on the cookies and hearts to make them look a bit worn.

3. Pinch together the small bits of fabric to create a bow tie. Tie together with thread. Attach the finished bow tie using hot glue.

4. Finally, make two black dots for eyes, as shown.

5. Making the frame: Remove the glass from the frame, but keep it as a guide to cut the sheet metal. Paint the entire frame sage green. Let dry.

6. Either have the sheet metal cut at the hardware store, or use metal cutters and have a go at it yourself. Use the glass removed from the frame as a guide.

7. Replace the glass with the piece of sheet metal, carefully positioning it. Use hot glue to secure it in place.Cover the entire back of the frame with thick cardboard, also glued into place on the back of the frame.

8. Attach picture-hanging hooks, if necessary. Or, you can just choose to lean it against a countertop.

9. Using hot glue, apply the two miniature clay pots, pressing well to secure.

10. Attach the two sprigs of dried wheat and the miniature sunflower to the middle of the pots, using hot glue.

11. Use the hot glue to attach the gingerbread men, one at either corner of the bottom of the frame.

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"In the Garden" Clay Pot

At this time of year we can always use a few, new clay pots around our homes or gardens to hold the bounty that this season brings - plants, cut flowers or herbs. Or, you can use these wonderful containers to hold candles or little gifts for friends. Plus, it's an ideal container for holding packets of vegetable or flower seeds when puttering around in the garden.

Clumsy Crafter Rating: 2 out of 4 - Relatively Simple

Supplies:

• 1 clean terra cotta (clay) pot - small or medium size
• 1 matching terra cotta saucer (make sure it fits properly over top, as a lid)
• An assortment of small paintbrushes
• Dark green craft paint Sage green craft paint
• Cream craft paint
• Red craft paint
• Small lettering stencils
• 3 miniature red roses
• Length of thin red ribbon
• Miniature wooden birdhouse
• Miniature bird
• Glue gun
• Glue sticks

1. Paint the pot sage green, and the saucer (which will be the lid) dark green. Allow time for these to dry and then paint a second coat on each.

2. While waiting for the pot and saucer to dry, paint the miniature birdhouse - red for the base and cream for the roof.This will be the handle on the lid.This only needs one coat. Set aside to dry.

3. Once the pot is fully dry, stencil the words: "In the Garden" on the pot. You may want to measure first and make marks with a pencil to make sure you get it centered.

4. Using a very thin paintbrush, stroke on some dark green around the bottom of the pot to look like grass.

5. Make a little "bouquet" with the three roses, and tie together with the ribbon. Glue this to the pot (using hot glue gun) by the lettering, as shown in the photos.

6. Using hot glue, complete the lid by attaching the painted birdhouse in the middle of the lid. Press down firmly to attach. Then, glue on the miniature bird near the house.

7. Let glue dry fully before using.

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