TUESDAY'S JEWELRY SPOTLIGHT FEATURING MICHELLE OF "ORNATE TREASURES"

TUESDAY'S JEWELRY SPOTLIGHT FEATURING MICHELLE OF ORNATE TREASURES

https://www.etsy.com/listing/158415072/ocean-wave-earringsbeach-wave-lampwork?ref=shop_home_active_1

Hello and welcome to my little shop!

Please join me on Facebook for special sales and discounts only offered to my facebook followers at:

http://www.facebook.com/ornatetreasures

To go directly to my shop page, click here.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ornatetreasures

I am blessed to be a stay-a-home mom of 2 wonderful girls and definitely a craft addict. In addition to designing jewelry, I also enjoy tole painting, scapbooking, cooking, gardening, landscaping, crocheting, photography, woodworking and love to work most of all with my husband on home improvement projects.

It is mesmerizing to see all of the beautiful colors and gemstones that God has created! LOVE to work also with Swarovski crystals, seashells and pearls. It is truely a joy to create a piece of jewelry for someone special! My jewelry style ranges from very feminine, to sea or nautical themes, rustic or natural, and sometimes very funky.

I am a proud member of CAST (Christian Artists Street Team), CAPS Team, Create in Christ, Handmade Jewelry Team, Handmadeology, Etsy Promotion Forum Team, Etsybead Team and Etsy Success Team.

Happy shopping!

~Michelle

MONDAY SOLUTIONS: DIY DRAIN CLEANER

MONDAY SOLUTIONS:  DIY DRAIN CLEANER

http://tidymom.net/2011/unclog-drain-with-baking-soda/

Keep the plumber away- Natural Homemade Drain Cleaner

 To keep my life running smoothly, both literally and metaphorically, I look in my kitchen pantry for all the ingredients I need to unclog my pipes and I can do it without causing damage to the environment or my pocket book!

494K+

Unclog a drain with Baking Soda and Vinegar

1. Pour 3/4-1 cup of baking soda in the drain.
2. Pour 1/2 cup vinegar in the drain and immediately cover the drain (I use a plug or set a plate over it – you want to keep everything inside the drain)
3. Leave everything to sit and work for about 30 mins (don’t use the sink during this time)
4. After 30 mins, remove the cover and let hot water run thru the pipes for about 2-3 mins.
5. for really tough clogs you may need to repeat – but I find if I do this on a regular basis (about once a month) it keeps my drains clear and fresh with out any problems.

Likewise, I do something very similar to keep drains fresh.  Especially good for seldom used drains.

Freshen Drains with Baking Soda and Vinegar

1. Mix 1/2 cup baking soda with 1/4 cup table salt and pour down drain
2. Follow by pouring 1 cup of heated vinegar down the drain (it will foam and bubble)
3. Let it sit for 15 minutes
4. After 15 minutes run hot tap water for 30-60 seconds.

Baking soda and vinegar are the foundation of DIY cleaning!  It’s really that simple.  For just pennies you can keep your drains and home fume free by using baking soda and vinegar instead of harsh chemicals or calling the plumber.

This is just one of many ways to save money by using baking soda around your house.  To save even more,  head over to Arm & Hammer’s Savings Center to print out a $0.50 off coupon on your next purchase of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda!

Ready for the Weekend Recipe: Swiss Chicken Avocado Melt Sandwich - Eat Healthy Recipe

Ready for the Weekend Recipe:  Swiss Chicken Avocado Melt - Eat Healthy Recipe
http://www.cleaneatingrecipesblog.com/easyhealthyrecipe-swisschickenmeltwithavocado/

Easy Healthy Recipe for Clean Eating Lunch: Swiss Chicken Melt with Avocado (makes 1)

Ingredients:

– 4 ounces of pre-made (baked or broiled) all-natural chicken breast, sliced

– 1 slice of all-natural aged swiss cheese (I recommend Wisconsin Cheeseman Chalet Swiss Cheese. It’s aged to perfection, with a sweet and buttery flavor.)

– 1/2 ripe Haas avocado, de-cored, peeled and sliced

– 1 piece of whole wheat toast

– 1/2 table spoon of extra virgin olive oil

– Paprika

– Dry thyme

– Dill

Directions:

1. Heat a frying pan on high. Add olive oil.

2. When oil gets hot, turn heat down to med and place chicken slices in pan. Then, lay swiss cheese slices on top of each chicken slice. (Reduce heat if necessary.)

3. Wait until cheese melts over chicken, and turn off stove.

4. Toast bread. Lay it on a plate.

5. Layer chicken and swiss melt on top of bread. Then layer avocado slices on top of everything.

6. Splash paprika, thyme and dill over avocado.

Enjoy!

FOR THE KIDDOS: LEGO BIRTHDAY PARTY

FOR THE KIDDOS:  LEGO BIRTHDAY PARTY 

http://www.simplysara.ca/2010/10/lego-party.html

Lego Party

Last weekend we celebrated the big SeVeN with a Lego party. The boys had a great time and I have to admit it was really easy to plan and very laid back.
Here's what we did, in case a Lego party may be in your future too :)

The Birthday Boy:
Cutest 7 year old I know!

The Decorations:
We went super low key with our decorations...

• Lego- what's a Lego party without a TON of Lego? We dumped a bunch in the middle of our dinning room table for decoration, but also for the games we had planned...

• Lego soap- we decided to add a few pieces of Lego to the liquid soap in our bathroom. A fun little surprise for our guests!

• simple paper plates and cups ;)

The Cake:

The birthday boy requested cupcakes, which made me very happy because they are so easy! We made them together, pipped on some homemade blue icing (which was a hit at the party because it dyed all the kids teeth blue) and added some StarWars cupcake toppers. Found free here!

The games:

• Lego Guess- we filled a small container with Lego and had the boys try to guess how many piece of Lego there were. The little guy who won was only 8 pieces off. Crazy!

• Lego Towers- we put the boys in teams of two and gave them 5 minutes to build the tallest tower they could. The were so excited to line them all up beside each other and see who won.
• Surprise Lego Build- before the party I made up a card for each of the boys. On each card was an idea like Car, Airplane, Castle, Tower, Spaceship, Rocket, House. We sat down at the table and each of the boys were given a card. Without telling anyone what it was, they had to make what was on their card. At the end, the other boys had to guess what they had made. This was a huge hit!

• Lego relay- We divided the boys into two teams. We set a huge box of Lego between them and gave them a minute to take turns throwing one piece of Lego at a time into their team's bucket placed a few feet ahead of them. It was so cute seeing them all celebrate if they made a goal :]

The Loot Bags:

We scored some fun Starwars action figures on clearance at Walmart and then added hockey cards, a glow stickand some candy. But the best part were these cute little personalized Lego Starwars Tags found free here!

I simply printed them off and then had them laminated. Perfect!

A fun afternoon that was pretty much stress free.

Now that's my kind of party :)
Happy Lego Party Planning!

CRAFTY WEDNESDAY: How to Make a Wire Wrapped Dragonfly Pendant

Crafty Wednesday:  How to Make a Wire Wrapped Dragonfly Pendant
http://www.instructables.com/id/Simple-Dragonfly-Pendant/

DIY Dragonfly Pendant

 by Muhaiminah Faiz

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6 Steps

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This isn't one of the good looking wire dragonfly pendants! :p but it was my first attempt and really wanted to share the tutorial ^_^ They look more like butterflies, I realized that later. Try keeping the upper wings relatively larger (longer) than the bottom wings.

Check out the ible to find out how I made these dragonfly pendants :)

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Step 1: Materials Needed

To make this dragonfly pendant you'll need:

1. Craft wire,
2. jewelry pliers,
3. Bead,
4. Dragonfly template.

Step 2: Getting Started

Measure and cut 24 inches of craft wire. You can take more if you want to, for making a bigger dragonfly pendant. I made 3 cm tall dragonfly using 24 inches craft wire.

Bend the wire into half,

Tighten the bend using a flat nose plier.

Place the bent wire on the template and carefully bend the wire along the body part of the dragonfly.

Step 3: The Wings

Now to make the wings.

First, I made the bottom right wing, by bending the wire along the bottom right wing of the template.

Then I made the bottom left, top right and top left wings accordingly.

Just simply bend the wire along the outlines of the dragonfly template.

Step 4: Coiling the Body

After completing the wings, coil the part where all the wings join.

I coiled that part 2 times.

After coiling, keep 2.5 cm of craft wire for the head and cut off the rest.

Step 5: The Head

I'm confused about whether dragonflies have antenna or not!

Anyways, I had to complete the head somehow, so I inserted a bead into both wires and made swirly patterns on both of them.

You might need to use beads with bigger holes than usual because it has to be inserted into 2 wires.

Step 6: Attaching Jump Ring

Make jump rings and attach it with any one of the swirly patterns to complete the pendant.

Let me know if you like the pendant and make sure to share a picture if you make one ^_^

Enjoy!