Thanks again to the wonderful Mini Smallholder for sharing one of her brilliant blogs with us! This time she shows us how to make a scourer pad for the kitchen is one of the easier crafts you can try at home and it is zero waste because the twine you use will compost when it is a bit tired and sad. I have invented the instructions as I couldn’t find much to inspire me already. You can play it lose ...Read more

SPRING 2020 DATES – Make a window in a day!  Saturday 22nd February 2020 – 9.30am – 5pm Saturday 23rd May 2020 – 9.30 – 5pm An exciting and colourful course that will give you a real taste of the craft and artistry behind making stained glass windows and mirrors. This is a BEGINNERS course in the traditional skills of making a window using lead came, glass and solder. However I also welcome improvers who might appreciate the opportunity to ...Read more

SPRING 2020 DATES:  Saturday 25th January 2020. 9.30am to 4pm Saturday 25th April 2020. 9.30am to 4pm  Ultimate soap making for the home! Come and learn how to make beautiful, safe, clear liquid plant derived soap base that can then be turned into a long list of chemical free body and household products that really work infused with your choice of natural aromatics. If you care about your environment and are discerning about ingredients this is the course for you. ...Read more

SPRING 2019 DATES Saturday 18th May 2019 – 9.30am – 4pm A fabulous introduction to this wonderful craft, using the Tiffany style of copper foiling you will make a beautiful stained glass light catcher/mirror to hang in a bright window. A practical, exciting, hand-on beginners course. This is an exciting, practical, hands-on course for BEGINNERS but I also welcome improvers who might appreciate the opportunity to expand their knowledge and develop their technique and creative ideas within a small group. ...Read more

As well as offering an array of courses, Quinta do Cobral sells product ingredients and a refill service. They offer: STARTER PACKS: These include everything you need to make your own soap at home. No waste, no waiting for orders, no buying in bulk. So if you are itching to get started after one of my courses these are perfect for you. SOAP BAR KIT: This kit contains exactly what you need to create 10 chunky bars of your own creamy, natural ...Read more

BEGINNERS NATURAL SOUP MAKING COURSES Saturday 11th January 2020 – 9.30am – 4pm Saturday 11th April 2020. 9.30am – 4pm Come and learn how to make top quality, beautiful, natural soaps using the traditional cold process method. My goal is to teach you the skills you need to successfully make beautiful handmade soap using natural ingredients such as olive oil, shea and cocoa butter and lovely essential oils. All this takes place in the beautiful, relaxing and supportive atmosphere of ...Read more

By François Cramer Key words: DIY, shower, solar, renewable energy, pallet, sustainability   We live in a off-grid Tiny House in Portugal, near Guarda (in the central region, close to the Spanish boarder). We have a limited amount (but clean!) of solar electricity. Given that gas and others are non-renewable resources, we decided to create a solar shower, where water is directly heated by the sun’s radiations. I inspired myself from a mix of designs I saw while travelling and ...Read more

Mara shares her passion about working with wool. In the past years I have been working with local wool. Moving countries to me, meant not only learning a new language, adapting to a new climate and swimming in different rivers. It meant discovering a new world of wool! In the east of the Netherlands I had plenty addresses of shepherds and small scale farmers providing me a steady good wool flow.   Moving to Portugal 4 years ago, I first ...Read more

I’m having a new vine support made by Steve Jones, and he’s just sent me some progress photos 🙂 I’m really happy with Steve and his work – he was super fast to respond to my initial email enquiries, incredibly helpful with his advice on helping me choose a final design from the vague idea I gave him of what I wanted. He was happy to drive over 2 hours to come see the site and give a quote, and ...Read more

Many thanks to Jackie McAvoy for sharing this great way to use some olive prunings to make a christmas (or other) decoration. To make a little olive tree: You need lots of twigs, more and less the thickness of a pencil (the branches), one straight thin twig about 25cm long (the trunk) and then, for the base, a chunkier section about 4cm wide. You also need a pair of secateurs (for the branches), a saw (for the base) and a drill ...Read more