Decor

Ever wanted your bathroom to look chic like a spa? You can now with Steven’s three loofah DIYs!

[loofah]

The first thing you want to do is soak your loofah. This will help soften it up and let it expand. Let it soak for about 15 minutes, and then ring it out by stretching and rolling it out in the process.

1) Exfoliating Loofah Soap

Materials:

• loofah
• melt and pour soap (buy at craft stores, must not be substituted)
• your choice of essential oil for fragrance, optional
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• food colouring, optional
• long can (like the ones used for chips)
• spray bottle with rubbing alcohol

Method:

1. In a double boiler, melt the soap according to instructions on package.
2. Optional: once melted, add one to three drops of your fragrance, one drop of food colouring and the coconut oil.
3. Spray the inside of the chip container with rubbing alcohol and spray the loofah.
4. Insert loofah into container and then pour the liquid soap mix.
5. Let it set for a few hours. You can speed up the process by putting it in the freezer but make sure it doesn’t spill!
6. Once the soap is set, cut away the cardboard.
7. Cut the cylinder of soap into individual "bars" with a sharp (not serrated) knife.
8. You can spray the soap again with rubbing alcohol to give it a clear shine.

2) Loofah Art

Materials:

• seagrass wall paper (or any paper of your choice)
• deep shadowbox frame
• slightly damp loofah
• glue gun and glue
• spay glue

Method:

1. Once you've soaked and rung out your loofah, let it dry until it becomes slightly damp.
2. Using a kitchen knife, cut it up into varying widths.
3. Cut the paper to fit the width of the shadowbox frame.
4. Use spray glue to bond the paper to the frame’s back. This will be your background.
5. Use a hot glue gun to glue your pieces of loofah onto the paper. Use alternating widths of pieces but keep the patterns tight as the loofah pieces will shrink slightly when completely dry.
6. Once everything is dry, hang it up on the wall!

3) Mini Loofah Vase

Materials:

• loofah
• scissors
• small glass jar
• small flowers/plants

Method:

1. After soaking and ringing out the loofah, use scissors to cut it down to the desired size (the size of the glass jar).
2. Cut out the inside material. You should be left with a hollow tube.
3. Slip the glass jar into the hollow of the loofah.
4. Fill with a flower or add soil and a plant.