New Years Goals

I normally dont do any goals or anything, I never seam to be able to keep them. This year is going to be diffrent. We need big changes and I have to be able to do better for my family.

• This year we will buy our own place. We plan to find at least 1-2 acres where we can set up a work shop and a place for Willow's mom. 
• New equipment: such as sewing machines and at least one embroidery and serger machine. 
• Garden Space- I really miss playing in the dirt.

Although these may not be very many goals these are the biggest and most desperately needing to do this year. Everything else will fall into place.

I dont like talking about how bad things are for us, it seams thats all there is lately. A nasty stalemate.  Well this year we plan to change it. We need it to change. 

As for Creativity Goals we plan to add Poppets, voodoo dolls, and many other great handmade items. 

Website has been updated to be able to accept Credit and Debit cards without using paypal or google checkout. 

We wish everyone a Happy New Year and may you meet your goals as well!

Winter Solstice Viking Hood

I have been very busy working on a Viking Style Hood, it is based off the reconstruction designs of actual hoods that were work by Norse and Vikings.  I actually making two hoods but the one I did traditionally is only fitting children's heads, which will have stars and hearts of bright colors. I decided to make it for my daughter but will get pics of it soon! The other one I improvised on fits small-medium woman's heads. Which it fits my head and face snugly. Which is the way they were supposed to be a snug fit. Its a work in progress design.

I am making felt Holly leaves and berries appliques to go onto one of the hoods. The hoods are made of Red Fleece and will have green satin lining.

All the following pictures are of the Winter solstice hood I am working on.

I will also be adding 2 embroidery motifs on the front and back diamond inserts one of a celtic snowflake and the other of a winter solstice sceane. All around the hood will be little embroidery snow flakes and swirls. I am making it up as I go.
More updates as they happen ~Willow~

Update December 19th
Finished all the holly leaves and berries attached onto the hood, Now the hand embroidery begins!

Update 1-7-2013 

Celtic snowflake embroidered onto white felt that will be appliqued onto the hood. All hand stitched. Embroidery design is from Urban Threads.

Update January 18th: Finally Finished, I didnt add the green satin lining it wasnt matching up so instead of swearing and cursing I just didnt add it. Oaky I admit is i did swear some.

From start to finish on time sheet took close to 88hours roughly 2 weeks. I dont think I will be doing much hand embroidery as I am slow at it.

19th Century Gentleman's Frock Coat

I found in a box a project I had started Over a year ago. I was working on it before we had to move. Well it is nearly finished. All thats left is the hand stitching, buttons and button holes. I might add some embroidery or appliques to it. But for now here is what the coat looks like.  This coat is made with Purple Velvet, my inspiration has come from Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka Movie. Mine is a lot longer then what he wore.  I plan to update this post as we finish up the coat.

I would like to here your ideas on what we can add to this coat.

Front of Coat

Back of Coat

We plan to take better pictures.

Quiver Project

Our daughter has recently acquired a bow and arrows. So now we are creating her a hip quivor. She picked the designs and colors she wanted.  She also wants to be Merida from Brave.

Its a small quiver and we are in the very beginning phases of it.

Along the top is ivy vines
On the Belt loop is her Initial in decorative script which is C.
And she chose a Unicorn Herald design which I got from Urban Threads.

Keep an Eye on this post as we will update as we get it worked on.

Main Quiver

Belt Loop

Our next phase is dying the leather and Painting the designs. This is the first time we have ever done any decorative work on leather, so keep your fingers crossed for us!

Update: March 29, 2013

The leather has been dyed and I began painting the designs.

*Update May 6th 2013*

Finally Finished!

Yule

Many of our Fans has asked us for Yule information. Well we can provide Links to good Yule Resources.

• The Solstice or Yule Tree: http://www.earthwitchery.com/yule-tree.html
• The Faeries of Yule by Edain McCoy on Llewellyn Publishings: http://www.llewellyn.com/journal/article/1805
• Yule Goat Craft: http://bythebroomstick.blogspot.com/2011/12/21-days-of-yule-day-2.html
• Celebrate The Yuletide Season: http://www.mysticvoodoo.com/Yuletide.htm

If you have any links or recipes you would like to share feel free to e-mail us sacredoak2002@yahoo.com

Altar Kits

We have created 2 Altar kits. These are designed to help the practitioner get started on there path.  Our kits are easily over $100.00 each, we are selling them for $75.00. We need to move inventory out. Our loss is your gain and with the shipping issues you are even saving more! These fit in a flat rate box which ships for $12.00 your paying $4.50 in the USA!

Each Kit contains the following:

• Bag of polished stones: Carnelian, plain jasper, moonstone, fancy jasper, amethyst, citrine, black onyx and bloodstone. Sizes may very with every kit. 
• sage smudge wand small, 
• three pieces of charcoal, 
• a charcoal burner, 
• 5 packets of our spell mixes 1/2 ounce. 4 winds, Healing spell mix, releasing spell mix, banishing spell mix, and purification spell mix. 
• Wooden altar tile gold tone pentagram, 
• A good sized pice of Dragons Blood Resin 
• a small brass altar bell approx. 1 inches tall. 

Triple Moon  and Pentagram Kits.

Free Recipe: Herbal Shampoo and Conditioner

Items needed for Shampoo:

• 1 bar of home made soap preferably one with natural herb powders and oils. We used sage
• 1 tablespoon backing soda
• 5 cups water
• 1/2 cup of dry herbs we used rosemarry its for dark hair and a natural astringent.
• Empty clean bottles and dry. Re use those old shampoo and conditioner bottles. 

1. Boil the 5 cups of water.
2. Use two bowls in one grate up your bare of soap and put in the backing soda. in the other place a coffee filter and put your herbs in the middle of the filter. Tie close. 
3. Once the water is at a full boil put 1 cup over the herbs and let them steep for 5-10 minutes. the rest poor gently over your dry soap. It will foam up! Gently stir until all de-solved let sit. Once the herbs of steeped poor the water into the soap mix and gently stir. 
4. the mix will thicken as it cools gently poor into the bottles using a funnel.
5. Shake gently before every use. I just roll it on its side. The mix may become separated or thick on top. Shaking it remixes it. In most cases I never had to shake the mix.

Herbs for Hair types:
Herbs for dark hair: Rosemary, Raspberry leaf, Nettle, Sage, Mugwort

Herbs for light hair: Chamomile, Comfrey, Elder flower, Citrus fruit peel, Calendula, Mullein, White willow bark

Herbs for red hair: Clove, Cinnamon, Henna

Herbs for oily hair: Bergamont, Lemongrass, Lemon peel, Peppermint, Strawberry leaf, White willow bark, Witch hazel

Herbs for dry hair: Chamomile, Clover, Comfrey, Elder, Melilot, Orange blossom

Conditioner:

• Apple Cider Vinegar 2 tablespoon
• 2 cup hot water
• 1/4 cup dry herbs

1. Boil up the water and poor over the herbs let steep for 10 minutes.
2. put the vinegar in the empty bottle gently poor the cool herbal water into the bottle. Gently mix and its ready to go.

Info about natural conditioners:

• Use a herbal conditioning rinse after you shampoo.  Make a herbal decoction of 1/4 cup herbs in 2 cups of water, simmer 10 minutes.  Let cool for 10 minutes then strain.  Pour the liquid over your clean wet hair.  You may rinse it out, but that is not necessary.  Let your hair air dry.  The best herbs for conditioning are Wild Cherry Bark, Nettle, Chamomile, Rosemary and Burdock Root.
• Conditioning Vinegar Rinse:  Apple Cider Vinegar is excellent for your hair; it helps to soften it, gives a great healthy shine, helps return hair to it’s natural ph and can help with dandruff.  You can simply add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to 1 cup of warm water and pour over your hair after shampooing.  Then rinse lightly with cool water.
• Herbal Vinegar Rinse: To make a herbal vinegar, bring one cup of apple cider vinegar to a boil and pour over 1 ounce of herbs (see list below).  Cover and set aside for a week, shaking it daily.  Strain and bottle.  Use just as you would apple cider vinegar.
• Essential oil conditioning brush: Lavender oil and Rosemary oil is excellent for your hair.  It gives it a beautiful shine, helps detangle and stimulates hair growth.  Simply put one drop in your hand and rub on to a natural bristle brush, then brush your hair from root to tip.
• Weekly Oil Treatment: For extra conditioning warm 1/4 extra virgin olive oil add 1-2 drops of lavender oil and massage into damp hair.  Leave in you hair for 1/2 hour (while you soak in the tub) then rinse thoroughly and shampoo as usual.

Website Back in Business

We know this post is late in coming, but our website is back up and running. We are adding inventory  weekly.
There is a shipping glitch, it is undercharging which we will leave until Mid January. This is our gift to you.
This is the last week you can order for Yule, custom items do not fall under this. The All ready to ship items still can get to you by Yule. Many of our items are great as stocking stuffers, self pampering and much more.
We can take custom orders but please be aware that you may not get them in time for Yule.

Have a Great Monday!
www.thesacredoak.com

Main Website Upgrades

Hello everyone, we have been busy for over a week on our store website. What started out as a small fix has now become a 2 week major over haul. We are currently upgrading our service and site. It will be down for a while longer. We are not sure for how much longer.
We hope to have New Features, and a great system for everyone to use.
Just a few new features we will be trying to add:

• Quote request- This will allow you to send us an questioner about a price on Custom Made items.
• Social Sharing- Such as Facebook, Google Plus, Stumble upon, Pintreast and twitter. These features will allow you to share your favorite item with one click.
• Color and Sizing Drop Down boxes.
• Guest Check Out
• Shipping options- Better then before with a better quote tool.

Those are just some of what we plan on adding. We also will have an auto update feed that will go to our twitter and Facebook FanPage. As we add new items it will auto post them. We will try not to spam and we will make sure it does not flood these places. We were hoping to have been back up in business by Friday the 28th of September, but it is looking close to October 5th.

You can still buy from us by E-mailing us directly sacredoak2002@yahoo.com We will gladly answer all your questions and help you get what you need.

Thank you all for being so patient and we hope to have everything going full blast very soon!
~Willow~

Custom Order: Wheel Of Hecate Altar Cloth

The following is an Altar Cloth that I was asked to make for a customer. In the center is The Wheel of Hecate and in the corners is Skeleton Keys.

The Wheel and keys were made by using a method called screen painting. What we did was create the screens with the images. We then pushed paint through to get the image on the fabric. 

Then outlined the keys with silver paint.

Once it was all dry and heat set we then put a layer of muslin and another of the red fabric together. Making the cloth three layers.

 We then quilted silver thread around the wheel design. This helps to keep the layers together while it is washed and dry. It will prevent bunching and other issues that might happen if we didn't quilt it together. The silver can be seen on the back better then the front. 

Dragon Scale Gauntlets

As Promised I would talk more about our newest creations.
The Dragon Scale Gauntlets are actually a hand crochet fingerless gloves that come to a V point on the back of the hand. We use a stitch called Crocidile. They look like scales.  And this is why we are calling them Dragon Scales.
This stich is very time consuming and to make one pair it takes about 3-4 days. We have been taking many orders for a few weeks now. We now have many examples to show you and we now have in our online shop a custom order listing.

For More Listings Click Here!

Elder Scrolls Recipe: Moon Sugar

Yes another recipe inspired by The Elder Scroll Games.  This recipe has many applications but is really sweet and good.

If you have ever played any of the games your character always comes across an alchemy ingredient called Moon Sugar.  From the lands where the Khajiit resides, an addictive item.


Well onto what is needed
Equipment: Sauce Pot, Jelly Roll Pan or Cookie Sheet, Ziplock Bag, Foil
Ingredients:

• 1 cup Sugar
• 1/2 cup Light Corn Syrup
• Zest and Juice of 2 lemons
• Veg Oil or Flavorless Oil for pan/ jelly roll pan
• 1-2 Tablespoons Powder Sugar

1. In a sauce pot add in sugar and corn syrup, Lemon Zest and Juice
2. Heat to boil, turn heat down to simmer for 5-6 minutes until slightly golden brown on edges.
3. Pour into prepared jelly roll or cookie sheet.
4. Let harden and cool, this might take about an hour or two.
5. Once cold and hard start breaking into pices.
6. Place sugar pices in a ziplock bag add powder sugar and shake.
7. Put in a bowl and enjoy. 

Tips: After 30 minutes to help speed up cooling place pan in fridge.

Instead of Corn Syrup you can replace it with 3/4 cup water.

Other items you can add into your sugar syrup instead of Lemons and the juice: Liquid flavors such as vanilla, Butter Rum, Almond. I suggest just a teaspoon and poor it in after you get mixture off the heat.

What to add into the pot while simmering: Cardamon, Lavender, Culinary Sumac.

Experiment and find what you like.

Recipe: Skyrim Honey Nut Treats

We love playing games when we have the time to, most of our work is inspired by Games as well as Pagan Cultures. I spent a few hours the other day trying to find a good recipe based of the Skyrim game for Honey Nut Treats. To my sad results I didn't find anything remotely close. Many used marshmallows or strictly rice crispy.
I decided to start from scratch. I wanted  something that would be made from the colder climates. So I used one of my Granola recipes with added twists. We had fun making them as much as devouring them. These are highly adaptive to add or subtract ingredients.
Tip: Mixture is really loose let sit for an hour in room temp or 30 minutes in fridge before forming into balls. We used grape seed oil on our hands to avoid the sticky mixture staying on our hands. You can use an cookie scoop for more uniform sizes. We used our hands and the kids loved getting in there to make them.
What you Need:

• Big mixing bowl
• Sauce Pan
• Measuring Cups
• Measuring Spoons
• Apple skewers or bamboo skewers 

Ingredients:

1. 1/4 cup Butter
2. 1/4 cup Honey
3. 1/3 cup Packed Brown Sugar
4. 2 cups Quick Oats
5. 1 Cup Rice Crispy Cereal 
6. 1 cup chopped toasted nuts( I put my coffee grinder on Coarse setting and grind ours)
7. 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
8. 3 Tablespoons Cinnamon 

In a large bowl add Oats, Cereal, Nuts and cinnamon.

Melt butter, Honey Brown sugar in sauce pan on med high heat until it starts to bubble, turn heat down cook for 2 min.

Take off heat mix in vanilla.

Pour over mix in bowl, stir until coated. Chill for 30 minutes in fridge.

Line pans with parchment or wax paper.

Coat hands with oil, form mix into balls.

Place pans in fridge and let them set up for an hour.

Use apple skewers or bamboo skewers and place 3 balls onto each stick.

Depending on size of treats will determine how many sticks you get. We got 6 treat sticks ours were quite big.

Once on the sticks let sit in a cool place. Once room temp, they might stay hard  some of ours came apart if this happens re form and place in fridge. We wrapped ours in plastic wrap.

Enjoy!

Back Online

Greetings everyone,

We were busy moving and trying to get things arranged. Our web store is back up and running!
Over the next few weeks we will be showing off some of our new projects.
While we do have the website back up and running we ask that you allow up to 24 hours to process your order.
We do thank everyone being patient while we straiten out our personal lives. It has been a long 8 months but we are finally back to a close normal routine. The kids will be back in school at the last week of this month. The wonderful thing is Willow's mother has moved closer to us. Which will allow the kids to visit her a more.

New Items not yet on the website:
Hand Crochet Gypsy Bags:

Willow's first attempt at Granny Squares.

Hand Crochet Dragon Scale Gauntlets:

Crocodile stich many colors coming!

Child/Teen Size Bennie Hats Hand Crochet:

2 Color hats great for School Spirit or Fave color combo!

These items will be up on our website soon! You may pre Order yours by E-mail.

New Adventure: Screen Printing

Thats right, we have started to do screen printing!
It has been full of trial and error but we have finally found a method that works for us!
We have many Designs we will be adding and creating soon!
For now enjoy what we have:

Winged Scarab

Art NouveauSteam Girl

Dark Brotherhood Hand in Black

Dark Brotherhood Hand in Red

Our Shop logo On Tote Bags

Steampunk Octopus 

Steampunk Octopus on Shirt

Our Logo on a Shirt

You can get them from our Website: http://www.thesacredoak.com/store/category.php?id_category=93

You can also get our Logo Designs when you Donate $11.00 or more at our GoFundMe page!
Thank You For looking and rember we take Custom Orders as well as Money Orders, Just E-Mail Us!