Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Wrapped Earrings

These earrings are so cute and you can do so much with them! Can't wait to make them, only 6 easy steps! These adorable wrapped hoop earrings are from The Etsy Blog - Love Etsy!

Here we go:

Materials Needed:
1 pair of large hoop earrings
1 yd (91cm) each thin hemp rope in three colors
10 wooden beads in two sizes
Super glue

Directions:

1. Holding all three colors of hemp together, tie a knot on the end of one hoop earring.

2. Wrap one color of hemp rope around the earring and the other two hemp strands. Alternate with the other colors.

3. Thread a bead onto the earring over the hemp strands.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3, alternating colors and beads in the pattern you desire.

5. Tie the rope in a knot when you reach the end of the hoop earring.

6. Trim the ends and secure the knot with super glue. Let dry for 5 minutes. Repeat steps 1 through 6 for the other hoop.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Make Your Own Deodorizing Bath and Body Powder

You know the saying…”you learn something new every day?” Well TODAY I learned that making your own bath and body powder could NOT be easier or faster!
3 ingredients…less than 5 minutes…and you have your own customized powder for personal use or gift-giving!
I decided to make mine “unscented”…but you can CERTAINLY use your favorite essential oil in this recipe. Lavender, of course, would be divine! As would rosemary, jasmine, geranium, etc.
You could also add a few drops of your favorite PERFUME to turn it into a fragrant dusting powder!
So many possibilities!

Here is all you need: (and I bet you have it all “on-hand” right now!)

2 cups cornstarch
2 cups baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
10 to 15 drops essential oil of choice (Optional)

The baking soda and cinnamon are natural deodorizers while the cornstarch is very absorbent.

Just mix the 3 ingredients together in a bowl and transfer to the container of your choice. I fashioned a paper funnel out of a piece of printer paper to make the transfer a little easier. My container was a mason jar (big surprise there!) with a couple of holes punched in the lid. You could also repurpose an old baby powder container or even a parmesan cheese shaker. Store the extra in another container to refill as needed.

If you live in a humid climate, add about ¼ cup of uncooked rice to the powder to keep it from clumping. The rice won’t shake out but will keep the powder flowing smoothly.
As you can see, this made a nice, big batch of powder! You could cut the recipe in half if you didn’t want to make that much…or you could DOUBLE it for making gifts!
And who wouldn’t want to get something like this as a gift!?!? I love the way it feels on my skin…smooth and soothing…not to mention the way it makes me feel overall….fresh and confident! :-)

Friday, October 19, 2012

Bacon Wrapped Green Beans

Green Bean Bacon Bundles from the blog How Sweet It Is
makes about 10-12 bundles *I made 14

1 pound fresh green beans

10-12 slices of thick-cut bacon *I used regular bacon

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 cloves of garlic, minced *I only used one

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick spray.

Wash and thoroughly dry green beans, then season with salt and pepper. Bundle together about 5-8 green beans – this will depend on your size of beans and the amount of beans you get for one pound. Bundle together as many as you’d like! Using a slice of bacon, wrap it around the center of the beans to hold it together. Lay the bundle bacon seam side down in the baking dish to hold it together. Repeat with remaining beans.

Heat a small saucepan over low heat. Add butter, brown sugar and garlic and whisk until melted and combined. Using a pastry brush, brush the mixture over top of each green bean bundle. Cover the bundles with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 10-15 (it took more like 25 minutes for me to get the bacon somewhat crisp, and I still ended up putting it under the broiler for a minute) minutes more, just until bacon gets crispy.

Verdict? Bacon makes everything delicious. Even vegetables.

The only thing for me is that I baked them in a casserole dish, and the beans cooked in all that grease. Which may be the point, but the green beans absorb a lot of that grease, which obviously is not good for you. I think when (when, not if) I make them again, I'll cook them in a roasting pan, with the wire rack, so the beans still get the juices of the bacon while it's cooking, but a majority will drip down into the pan. That should also get the bacon crispier without having to broil it. (b/c I almost always burn everything I put under the broiler - see 1st pic)

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Pretzel Pumpkins

A fun Halloween snack for kiddos. You can make it in advance for them or let the little ones get a little dirty and help out! I always like for my kids to just dig in! From A Thrifty Mom- here are the Pretzel Pumpkins:

PRETZEL PUMPKINS

Pretzel Pumpkins

1 bag mini pretzels {you won’t use the whole bag, only about 1/4}
1 bag M&M’s candy, needing only the green ones {fun separating activity for kids!}
orange food coloring, I used about 1/8th tsp of Wilton’s gel colors
1 bag White Chocolate chips, melted slowly {directions below}
1 TBSP shortening, to thin out chocolate

First step is to melt the chocolate. I used 10 oz of baking chocolate squares, but you can use a bag of white chocolate chips- the process is still the same. Before you even put it in the microwave, add about 1 TBSP shortening. You need to thin out the chocolate prior to dunking the pretzels or else the chocolate will be so thick you won’t even be able to tell it’s a pretzel under there! Shortening is the ONLY thing that will do this- don’t add water, butter, etc. Shortening!

Go slowly! White chocolate seizes easily, and you don’t want to coat your pretzels with grainy chocolate, right? Go slowly and stir minimally. I put mine on for 1 minute, stirred gently, then put it in for an additional minute. When I took it out, the chocolate still looked solid. It wasn’t! Add your orange coloring and stir gently, until it’s nice and smooth.

I’ve tested out a few ways to coat pretzels in chocolate and none of them really work as well as simply using your fingers. So I took a picture above of my elaborate technique.

Once you’ve dunked your pretzel, adding a nice coating, lay it out on a piece of wax paper. While it’s still wet, take a green M&M and set it in the crook of the pretzel, on it’s side. See? Now it’s a cute little green stem.

If you see a few bare spots on your pretzels, while they’re still wet, dab some more chocolate on them using your finger.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Gift Bag Tutorial

The holiday season is fast approaching and this is an awesome tutorial to help you get your wrapping ready. A tutorial to make gift bags from newspaper from How About Orange! How cool and pretty simple - an easy way to save some money this season:

How to make gift bags from newspaper

Stack two sheets of newspaper on top of each other. This will be a two-ply bag for extra sturdiness.

Cut out a rectangle that's 15.5" wide and 8.25" tall. If your paper already has a fold in it, align the existing fold with one of the fold lines in the diagram below, unless you don't mind an extra fold appearing somewhere on your bag. I cut out this rectangle, then flipped the paper over so the blue area would be on the outside of the bag.

Fold a flap 1.25" down from the top. Fold a flap 2" up from the bottom. Then measure off and make vertical folds in the places shown in the diagram above. The front and back panels are 4.5" wide, the side gussets are 3" wide, and you'll need a 0.5" flap for gluing the bag together.

Cut two pieces of cardstock or chipboard to 4.25" x 1", then glue them on the widest two panels just under the top fold. These will reinforce the rim of the bag. Glue the top flap down along the length of the bag, covering the cardstock. Since the bag is two-ply, you'll need to glue both flap pieces down one at a time.

Put glue on the outside of the 0.5" tab and bring the left-most panel over to form the body of the bag, aligning the cut edge of the panel with the folded edge of the flap. Add a little more glue to make sure the outermost sheet of newsprint gets tacked down, too.

Upend the bag so the 2" flap is now up. Fold the short sides inward as if you were wrapping a present. If it seems easier, you could also lay the bag on its side and crease those folds against the table.

Put glue on both flaps and fold them inward to form the bottom of the bag. Standing the bag upright and pressing down from the inside will help to secure them.

Cut a piece of chipboard to 4" x 2.5" and glue it to the bottom of the bag to reinforce it and hide the flaps if you want to be an overachiever.

Punch holes in the rim of the bag, adding eyelets if you like, and string some cord through the holes to form handles. Knot each end of the cord so it won't pull out through the holes.

If you want to store your bag flat, pinch the top together, fold in the sides, and bring the bottom up so that it lies flat.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Braided Bead Bracelet

I really like the look of this braided bracelet. This is a wrap bracelet that I guess you tie yourself, I changed mine up a bit and added a clasp, but it was really fun to make. Thanks to Henry Happened for an awesome tutorial!!

You’ll need:

3 yards of silk ribbon cord. I got mine (purple, of course) at JoAnn’s in the trim section.
2 dozen 8mm gold beads. My beads came from Dee’s but you can find beads with a similar size opening at JoAnn’s, Hobby Lobby or Michaels. If you can’t find them there, these are very similar.

Cut the ribbon into 3 equal lengths. Standard bracelet size is 7 inches so you’ll want it about 29 inches long in order to wrap 4 times.

Start by braiding about 6 inches of ribbon and then secure the end with a rubber band. Anchor the end with something heavy to hold in it place.

Start braiding in the beads by feeding the ball onto the middle strand and then tightly braiding the other two strands around it. Don’t pull too hard though or the beads will have a tendency to pop out as you go.

Continue feeding beads onto the middle strand until you run out (I had about 25) or until there’s about 6 inches of ribbon left.

Finish with another 6 inches or so of braiding. Then clamp the ends with ribbon fasteners or just tie it in a knot.

It looks great as a bracelet or a necklace!

Monday, October 15, 2012

Easiest Pillow Cover Ever

The Easiest Pillow Cover Ever

by leanneja

in Fabric Crafts

This is the easiest pillow cover ever. No measuring! No sewing! Just fold and tie. You need a piece of fabric 3 times as wide and twice as tall as the pillow. Place the pillow in the center, on the wrong side of the fabric.