Thanks for stopping by!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Please excuse the mess...
Thanks for stopping by!
K, so me n the kid started with this homeschool thing last week, and I have designated Wednesday as Workbook Wednesday...I know, I know...sounds like a lazy, "you're killin' trees" kinda plan, but I'm okay with it...cuz we make copies on our printer of the workbook pages...pahahah...I'm totally kidding. Plus, I saw a workbook from Kumon called Train your Brain and all it has is a buncha math timed tests and then some word memorization things...so, we did that. Plus, we picked a science project out of a science project workbook and had some fun real quick. Anyway, Wednesday is traditionally my day to take it a little slower...and to catch up on scrappy/crafty things...and to drool all over myself when I go to Jessicasprague.com and have fun on her spectacular site checking out all of the One Buck Wednesday deliciousness...like tonight, I spent $5 and got a paper pack, a template and some cutesy other things! Wooot! K, so here's what I made with some of my new addictions purchases...
K, I couldn't help myself...here's one more I made with stuff I got a while ago...
...the template I got from DigiLovely for FREE on a Tuesday. You can link up to there from Jessicasprague.com.
There's still time tonight if ya' hurry...otherwise...every week has a Wednesday...and a Tuesday if you're into free templates!
okay...so I've had a few things up my sleeve and in my head for a bit and since Easter is right around the corner, I decided to just do it! Do it ALL!! And then I got a call and booked a photo shoot...for free. Cuz I do that from time to time. Here's hoping I get some publicity from it. So...since I can never seem to get a jump on things, I hadn't really started on anything...and lost half a day and still needed to make a dash to the Dollar Tree and Hobby Lobby..."It's your time" the hubs called out when I left. Yep. It sure is...my time...and now it's all gone. It's practically tomorrow. I would say sorry, but sorry means I won't do it again. Chances are I will. So, instead of sorry, I'll just say sit back and enjoy the madness that is me...
Soooo...I used to make these for the Fourth of July when I lived in LaVerne and we had the parade pass right in front of our house...I miss that place...it was like Mayberry. Anyway, I figured I could do the same thing but with different shapes. Here I have a butterfly shaped cookie cutter and about a yard of some plastic coated wire. Let me 'splain. Ace hardware used to sell this coated wire in a smaller gauge that was easier to manipulate. Ace hardware closed. The Home Depot pulled through in a pinch with a heavier gauge stranded wire that comes in some fun colors...hot pink, brown, ivory, yellow, green, blue, red, black...so happy. 'Till I started forming it. It's hard, but with a little patience it worked...EVEN BETTER than I thought. I started going for a butterfly...and got a bunny instead...here's how:
Soooo...I used to make these for the Fourth of July when I lived in LaVerne and we had the parade pass right in front of our house...I miss that place...it was like Mayberry. Anyway, I figured I could do the same thing but with different shapes. Here I have a butterfly shaped cookie cutter and about a yard of some plastic coated wire. Let me 'splain. Ace hardware used to sell this coated wire in a smaller gauge that was easier to manipulate. Ace hardware closed. The Home Depot pulled through in a pinch with a heavier gauge stranded wire that comes in some fun colors...hot pink, brown, ivory, yellow, green, blue, red, black...so happy. 'Till I started forming it. It's hard, but with a little patience it worked...EVEN BETTER than I thought. I started going for a butterfly...and got a bunny instead...here's how:
Make sure your ends are even, find halfway and start wrapping the wire around the cookie cutter (form)
Bend and shape it...show it who's boss! Hey look! It's Garfield...
Bring the bottom of the shape together and give it a twisssst to keep it in place then check to make sure your ends are even again. If not, trim the long piece. This is when I discovered that if I just tweaked it a little, it could look just like a bunny...
Get your drill out! Pahahaha...Get your HUSBAND'S drill out and make sure the speed is set to low.
Open up the 'thingy that holds the bits' like: drillbits and screwdriver head bits and such...put the ends of the wires into that 'thingy that holds the bits' and tighten it up. Ya see that black piece? It turns to open and to close. Make sure it's kinda snug but not so tight that it'll leave a mark on your wires. Once it's twisted, it's kinda hard to trim.
And let her rip...but let her rip s l o w l y...I promise. You could hold onto the twist you made with some pliers. I used my fingers and it hurt. Not bad, but still. But watch out...it's gonna want to un-spin a little bit when you're done. I guess this is where I should lay a disclaimer...wear safety glasses. If you're not handy with a drill, ask someone for assistance. Or, just be careful and do it yourself...it's fun! And look at all of the fun I had! I used an egg shape, got a bunny out of a butterfly shape and a flower shape. Yay!
K, are you ready for more? Cuz I got more...we could just stop here...but why?
And why is bunny so happy? Just look at all the fun he's havin'!!
It's a party...at my pretend table...the boys are asleep and the lighting is better in my play room anyway, so it's a tablescape on my play room floor. I hope you're good at pretend. Anyway, a long, long time ago I started to save some cans...and they sat in a heap in the garage. Then I got some spray paint and painted some frames and stuff and saw the cans just sitting there...in a heap...so I painted them, too. And then they sat in a heap in the garage some more...'till today! I had a fun idea...tin can Easter baskets. I have some wire left and I've got the drill...I just changed the bit to a drill bit and drilled two holes...stuck the wire in and gave it a twist at the ends. You will not even be able to do that by hand, so to twist the wire, use some needle nose pliers.
...and do do do dooo! Add some Easter basket grass, some peeps and other treats, set it on the table...OR...on a lovely little plate to make it feel special. mmmm hmmm...it's a party for sure!
awww...why so sad little Peep? Like I could even eat you now that I've seen how sensitive you are. Here, go hang out in a tin can with a pal.
Here's some more shots from the fake table party!!
Glass jars are so fun to decorate with, huh? I used a widemouth jar for the bunny scene. He got a new bow tie and everything! I just had to trim his chunky behind to fit him in there. Then I just filled a jar up with Strawberry Malted Balls...and I did eat some. Stuck it on a plate and added some Easter basket grass. Got a whole bag with 3 colors at The Dollar Tree.
Malted balls in a treat cup...how-to is next...
and some peeps in a nest made of that edible paper stuff...it comes just like that and with some green bunnies...The Dollar Tree...gotta love it!!
k, here's how to make those daffodil treat cups...sooo easy!!!
Start with some mini cup cake liners in yellow. I tried pastel yellow but preferred the brighter shade of yellow. And then I got a bundle of white flowers from The Dollar Tree and ripped 'em apart and saved just the petals.
On a non-stick surface like Bazzill's Splat Mat, lay one petal piece down and add a glob of glue around the middle. Then add the second petal piece so it fills in the gaps.
Add a glob of glue to the bottom of a mini liner and stick it right in the middle of the flower. Fill it with some goodies like Russell Stover Pectin Jelly Beans. Oh my Heavens. I'm not a fan of jelly beans, but these I like...
Whew!!! Are you tired yet? Well, you can rest now. I'm done...'till next time!!
Linking with:
Well, okaayyy. This is NOT quite the blog I meant to post...that I really wanted to post, but the past few days have been kinda nutty, which is kinda normal, but they were also extraordinarily busy. It's been fun but time just got away from me. But I DO have something to share and I promise that Friday, after I go see the new Disney Nature movie:
African Cats
that I will get with it and will be ready for my Saturday post.
K, so the kid is 13 and I'm thinkin' maybe he's outgrown stuffed bunnies and candy-filled eggs and straw baskets...so I took a minute today and put together a 'man-boy' basket that I really think he's gonna enjoy and will use for months/years to come.
So I started with a $3 turquoise flower pot from Wal-Mart!! The kid LOVES his cactus and is always begging for another one, so I got him some seeds so he can grow his own and at the same time work on earning a merit badge or two...plus he likes cucumbers so I got some of those seeds and we're gonna build another square foot garden and grow us some cukes!
African Cats
that I will get with it and will be ready for my Saturday post.
K, so the kid is 13 and I'm thinkin' maybe he's outgrown stuffed bunnies and candy-filled eggs and straw baskets...so I took a minute today and put together a 'man-boy' basket that I really think he's gonna enjoy and will use for months/years to come.
So I started with a $3 turquoise flower pot from Wal-Mart!! The kid LOVES his cactus and is always begging for another one, so I got him some seeds so he can grow his own and at the same time work on earning a merit badge or two...plus he likes cucumbers so I got some of those seeds and we're gonna build another square foot garden and grow us some cukes!
and oh my Heavens...I LOVE love love me some Dove chocolate so when I saw their bunnies, I didn't even hesitate. I got one for my basket, too!! Plus I got him some Jif smooth peanut butter...mmmm...I love dipping my chocolate into peanut butter...I just do. Hope the kid enjoys it, too...I'm sure he will since this is the only sweet treat he's getting...
and Batteries...this kid goes through batteries like no other...wii, X-Box, etc...and lookit, this one comes with a mini screwdriver...cuz you always need a bitty screwdriver. It looks like a battery!!
and, anyone who has a man-boy in their house just knows that personal hygiene is of utmost concern!! So we have here some shampoo/conditioner and Body AND mouth wash! Yay!!
Popcorn is something we CANNOT live without in our house...so it's only natural that it's goin' in the basket...and since we've both done so well on the South Beach Diet, we aren't gonna blow it so we picked out the 94% fat free kind! It's not soo bad with a light spray of butter-flavored Pam and some kosher salt and a bit of parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. And gum...gotta have gum.
And one last thing: A flashlight...why a flashlight, you ask? Well, I figured that the whole traditional Easter egg hunt is a little too...urm...adolescent maybe, so I decided that this year I'm gonna kick it up a notch and make him find the eggs at night!! I think it'll be a tonna fun!!
We took 5 sheets of some green Bazzill cardstock and ran 'em through the shredder...
...and crinkled 'em up, and we've got some fairly eco-friendly basket grass. We'll be using this for the Pulp and Paper merit badge and will make a new piece of paper out of it. The hubs is the merit badge counselor for that badge...must be a Bazzill thing.
So I stuffed it all into the 'basket' that will serve as a nice place for the kids' cactuses (cacti?) to live until he designs and builds a corner garden for them to live in outside...you guessed it...another merit badge. He's very motivated and wants to earn his Eagle before age 15. I dig that!
I'll probably add some things while he's not looking'...just for fun!!
'till next time...
K, sooo, somewhere on the net I saw a cute wreath covered in book pages with a little blue birdie and it stayed in my head for a long long time...with a gazillion other things like shopping lists, appointments, other crafty things and such. Then one day, I found myself at the Dollar Tree in the aisle with all the wreaths and fake birdies...
...and so I thought I might just get it outta my head once and for all, so I grabbed a wreath and some fake birdies and, well...a box of gumballs and off I went to go tear up a book and get my crafty on!
Found an old book (sorry Harry Potter fans...) and some Rust-oleum ultra cover paint in Aqua...and a big ole drop cloth. So I started by tearing the pages outta the book then ripped em in half long ways so each piece wound up with a straight-ish edge and a jaggedy edge. I like the jaggedy edge showing so when I started attaching the pages, I overlapped and covered the straight-ish edge. Whatevs, really...do it your own way. So on I went, wrapping pages around, gluing them on 'till I got the whole thing done and showed the hubs how cute it was and he hated it...whaaa? But it looked just like it did in my head where it lived with all those cute crafts I still need to make. He said it looked kinda plain and asked me didn't I have some cute scrapbook paper. Ha! DO I!?! I surely do...so I finished that one and started on a new one after another trip to the Dollar Tree...I needed more gumballs, anyway.
So I tore up the cute scrapbook paper and when I was getting the papers out, I saw my container of Glimmer Mist and I grabbed a Caribbean Blue, Tattered Leather and Crushed Shell and blended that with Tiger Lily and WOW! Lookit how awesome those pages look now. Ya can't see it but they're all sparkly, too! Tattered Angels...much love to you. I stuck with the scrapbook paper cuz I just tore like 4 sheets worth of s.e.i Hippie Chick flashy flowers, so I'ma use 'em...
...so there's the book page version and the paper version, but whoopsie...mah paper ripped...dang it!
No biggie...I just crumpled it all up before I wrapped and then I whipped out my trusty Surebonder...love that thing. If it can't be fixed with a glue gun I do not need it in my house. Period. I wrapped and overlapped and glued and squished and set the wreath aside for a sec. to go paint the birdie blue.
Then I yanked the little birdies eyes out and replaced them with some clear Bazzill self-adhesive jewels...cuz the ones they came with just looked a little urm...not sparkly enough. But sooo cute he is now. To spray I just used some leftover foam from a thrift store chair re-do I did the other day for an upcoming photo shoot and stuck the birdie in it so I could spray the paint all over the birdie instead of on me...and speaking of photo shoot...
...my lil' smootchie-pootchie Bear was my helper today, makin' sure there was enough cute in my pictures...good job, boy...anyway, here's a blue birdie falling in love with his new house...let 'em hang out for a minute while you bussout your Cricut Expression, or whatever else ya got...plain ole scissors work just fine, too. Just draw a flower shape then cut it out. That's what I did on the book page one. It's pretty old school, I know but that's how I roll sometimes. Other times, I roll this-a-way:
I used the Accent Essentials cassette from ProvoCraft (accent 31s) and my largest flower was 4 1/2" then 3 1/2" then 2 1/2" then 1 1/2" and I cut 'em right outta that same cute paper (so now we're up to 4 sheets...just fyi...so I cut out one 4 1/2" flower then three of all the other sizes) and crumpled 'em up good.
...and here we are. The solid colored back side is awesome. Mix and match which side you have showing when you assemble the flowers. Glue globs from a glue gun are perfect to stick 'em together. I made three total. One big boy and two smaller...boys...so the smaller ones were only as big as the 3 1/2" flower. Glue the big flower on first then have the other two snuggle up with it. Oh! Wait-Wait! For the centers, I poked a hole in the middle of the big one and stuck in a green Bazzill Brad but then that was kinda more work than I wanted so I happened to have a pile of dangle balls from some large white Bazzill Pom-Poms that I'm using for a cute fabric banner for the same aforementioned photo shoot, but that I had to cut off to be able to put the fabric on...so yah...I just popped 'em on with another glue glob. Piece-uh-cake!
On the top one, I added some Bazzill Jewel Buttons for the centers and a small fabric flower folded in half for the birdies wing. The birdies have some wires stuck into the bottom of their little birdie feet so I just jammed 'em in between the flowers and glue-gunned his little body to the wreath...yaaaay! Lookie lookie! The hubs was right! I like the book pages one just fine, 'specially hanging by some red ribbon, but the bottom one sure is festive! Bring on the Springtime! Now I just gotta find something else to do with all the left-over pages of Harry Potter...Mod Podge, here I come!!
linking today with
Today's Creative Blog
Blue Cricket Designs
...and so I thought I might just get it outta my head once and for all, so I grabbed a wreath and some fake birdies and, well...a box of gumballs and off I went to go tear up a book and get my crafty on!
Found an old book (sorry Harry Potter fans...) and some Rust-oleum ultra cover paint in Aqua...and a big ole drop cloth. So I started by tearing the pages outta the book then ripped em in half long ways so each piece wound up with a straight-ish edge and a jaggedy edge. I like the jaggedy edge showing so when I started attaching the pages, I overlapped and covered the straight-ish edge. Whatevs, really...do it your own way. So on I went, wrapping pages around, gluing them on 'till I got the whole thing done and showed the hubs how cute it was and he hated it...whaaa? But it looked just like it did in my head where it lived with all those cute crafts I still need to make. He said it looked kinda plain and asked me didn't I have some cute scrapbook paper. Ha! DO I!?! I surely do...so I finished that one and started on a new one after another trip to the Dollar Tree...I needed more gumballs, anyway.
So I tore up the cute scrapbook paper and when I was getting the papers out, I saw my container of Glimmer Mist and I grabbed a Caribbean Blue, Tattered Leather and Crushed Shell and blended that with Tiger Lily and WOW! Lookit how awesome those pages look now. Ya can't see it but they're all sparkly, too! Tattered Angels...much love to you. I stuck with the scrapbook paper cuz I just tore like 4 sheets worth of s.e.i Hippie Chick flashy flowers, so I'ma use 'em...
...so there's the book page version and the paper version, but whoopsie...mah paper ripped...dang it!
No biggie...I just crumpled it all up before I wrapped and then I whipped out my trusty Surebonder...love that thing. If it can't be fixed with a glue gun I do not need it in my house. Period. I wrapped and overlapped and glued and squished and set the wreath aside for a sec. to go paint the birdie blue.
Then I yanked the little birdies eyes out and replaced them with some clear Bazzill self-adhesive jewels...cuz the ones they came with just looked a little urm...not sparkly enough. But sooo cute he is now. To spray I just used some leftover foam from a thrift store chair re-do I did the other day for an upcoming photo shoot and stuck the birdie in it so I could spray the paint all over the birdie instead of on me...and speaking of photo shoot...
...my lil' smootchie-pootchie Bear was my helper today, makin' sure there was enough cute in my pictures...good job, boy...anyway, here's a blue birdie falling in love with his new house...let 'em hang out for a minute while you bussout your Cricut Expression, or whatever else ya got...plain ole scissors work just fine, too. Just draw a flower shape then cut it out. That's what I did on the book page one. It's pretty old school, I know but that's how I roll sometimes. Other times, I roll this-a-way:
I used the Accent Essentials cassette from ProvoCraft (accent 31s) and my largest flower was 4 1/2" then 3 1/2" then 2 1/2" then 1 1/2" and I cut 'em right outta that same cute paper (so now we're up to 4 sheets...just fyi...so I cut out one 4 1/2" flower then three of all the other sizes) and crumpled 'em up good.
...and here we are. The solid colored back side is awesome. Mix and match which side you have showing when you assemble the flowers. Glue globs from a glue gun are perfect to stick 'em together. I made three total. One big boy and two smaller...boys...so the smaller ones were only as big as the 3 1/2" flower. Glue the big flower on first then have the other two snuggle up with it. Oh! Wait-Wait! For the centers, I poked a hole in the middle of the big one and stuck in a green Bazzill Brad but then that was kinda more work than I wanted so I happened to have a pile of dangle balls from some large white Bazzill Pom-Poms that I'm using for a cute fabric banner for the same aforementioned photo shoot, but that I had to cut off to be able to put the fabric on...so yah...I just popped 'em on with another glue glob. Piece-uh-cake!
On the top one, I added some Bazzill Jewel Buttons for the centers and a small fabric flower folded in half for the birdies wing. The birdies have some wires stuck into the bottom of their little birdie feet so I just jammed 'em in between the flowers and glue-gunned his little body to the wreath...yaaaay! Lookie lookie! The hubs was right! I like the book pages one just fine, 'specially hanging by some red ribbon, but the bottom one sure is festive! Bring on the Springtime! Now I just gotta find something else to do with all the left-over pages of Harry Potter...Mod Podge, here I come!!
UPDATE!!! I was just playing around on Pinterest and found where I saw this!!!
Ya gotta go check her out! She's got the most amazing tutorial for an awesome duvet cover, too!!!
linking today with
Today's Creative Blog
Blue Cricket Designs
Okay, so it's Easter and if you have NOTHING to do today, I have a coupla yummy treat ideas. They're easy to make but really involved, so grab the kids and the hubs and have some family fun making a mess in your kitchen together! Idea adapted from Bakerella.
Start with a box of lemon cake mix, some farm fresh eggs, some water, a lemon and as much applesauce that the mix wants you to use oil...zest and juice the lemon and add to applesauce. (those ingredients are what my box called for...the only thing I subbed out was the oil...cuz mine smelled weird and I know that you can sub apple sauce for oil and it makes for a moist cake) My applesauce was the cinnamon kind...even better...but I couldn't really notice the cinnamon flavor at all in my taste-tests...
I chose to add the lemon zest and juice cuz I wanted the lemon to really come through!
Also something else I added cuz I love it...2 teaspoons of Mexican Vanilla:
I usually sift my mixes cuzza the balls that don't fit through the sifter. I smash the balls through the screen into an 8" cake pan that has been sprayed with Pam. Makes for a nice exit strategy for the cake...
Fill just one 8" cake pan and I added white chocolate chips. You don't have to...my friend gave me a ginormous bag so I figured I'd use 'em as often as I can. I only did one cake because the baskets are seriously NOT something you're gonna want to make more than 15 of today. I promise...so I say use the rest of the batter for CUPCAKES!! Yessss...
So I grabbed some standard liners and some small liners...they're just delicious. I love cute cupcake liners! And just LOOK at that batch of white chocolate chips! Thanks, Jenn!
I put a few in each cupcake. They don't melt very well and they don't stay melted so each cupcake ends up with a little nugget of yum at the bottom, cuz they sink during baking. I did NOT know these things. I don't think I'll do it again.
Allright...the cake is done and needs to cool. The cupcakes are in the oven...time to make the frosting!
I used the one from Whitney's previous post...that lime frosting...mmmm
So, softened butter: 1 cup
1/4 cup lime juice
I squeezed three limes and still needed to add the bottled stuff to make 1/4 cup
Lime Zest: 1 teaspoon
add juice and zest to the butter and mix well...
5 cups powdered sugar
add 1 cup at a time and mix well...
1 tubba thawed Cool Whip
Dump and mix well...so, I grabbed Sugar-Free...didn't mean to.
Once the 8" cake has cooled, crumble it up into a bowl. Add a cup of frosting and mix well.
Pop it in the freezer while you work on frosting those cupcakes that have been waiting their whole, entire lives for this frosting...lemon cake + lime frosting = yumm...
To decorate the cupcakes and to make 'grass' for the baskets you'll need some colored sugar. I had only black and didn't think that felt very Easter-y...so I made some of my own. Just grab a baggie, add some sugar and a few drops of food coloring...shake it and mash it and shake it some more 'till it's all covered.
Now, I suppose you could use coconut...bleh...but I only eat my coconut like this:
oh, babay...!! I ate that on the beach in Mexico. Hi Mexico!! I miss you!
Anyway, I let the sugars sit for a bit to dry out while I got out my frosting bag and tips. I have never ever used these things and so I'm just gonna wing it. Wish me luck.
Grab the cake ball mix outta the freezer and form into dough balls. Pop 'em back into the freezer and get bizzy frosting/decorating those cupcakes.
Have fun...the kids will LOVE this part. It's a mess!
Grab those cake balls and form them into alien head shapes. They're gonna get shoved into ice cream cone tops...the hard kind. Sugar cones. Twelve is a good number for these. Gather up your basket handles (licorice or sour straws/strips) and Peeps...I grabbed some chocolate bunnies. Mini cupcake liners and Almond Bark are easy tools to use to close the hole in the bottom...
I'm gonna go on a tangent now...I made these mini cone cake ball treats for a class I taught at Creative Escape last year, but all I needed then was the bottom little part, so the hubs...he's so awesome...he bought a Dremel and sawed the cone tops off for me. I stuck 'em in a bag and saved them for these Easter Basket cake ball treats. Which brings me back to now...now is when you're gonna want to cut some cones.
Almond Bark is amazing. I stuck some in a bag and microwaved it for 30 seconds at a time then snipped off a corner so I could pipe it into the bottom of the cones to close the hole at the bottom.
I added some 'glue' to the bottom then placed it onto a mini liner then filled the bottom with more 'glue'. Pop 'em in the freezer so the 'glue' can set.
While they're setting up, get your basket handle candy straws, which I could not find ANYWHERE so had to use the flat strips instead. I cut them in half lengthwise then had to trim a coupla inches off so they would fit nice on each side of the cake balls. Stick the cake balls and handle into the cone then pipe the melted Almond Bark (which is just like white chocolate candy coating)...pipe it all over then give it a tap to help it cover the entire top and sprinkle with some green sugar for a grassy look. Pop them back into the freezer along with the Peep Bunnies for a few minutes. You can then pop the basket outta the paper liner and 'glue' a bunny to the side of the basket...so cute!!
I just noticed something that coulda been awesome!! I used some leftover yellow-dyed Almond bark that I saved from a past treat extravaganza...and when I peeled off the liner I noticed that it seeped out a bit on this one...if it was green it coulda totally looked like grass!! Next time...
And here we are...with Jelly Beans...there's plenty to share...
...but stay away from the angry bunny...he looks pretty tough!
HAVE A WONDERFUL AND BLESSED EASTER!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
