Grass Flower and Butterfly Centerpiece Tutorial

I grew fifteen bowls of grass on my outdoor patio the past 15 days. 

I was getting a little nervous until I began to see some sprouts popping up.

These were made for the Teacher Appreciation Lunch at my boys' school.  I have seen the boxes of grass and thought they were so cute.  On Pinterest (shocking) I found an old wooden box with wheat grass and delicate butterflies hovering.

The old noggin starting cranking and after a couple so so ideas, I thought origami butterflies would be perfect.

The flowers must be credited to my Poppa.  I told him what I was doing and he said, "Butterflies don't like grass, they like flowers."  Touche Poppa, touche.

So this morning, I went around my house clipping tiny flowers and some weeds, to come up with this cute little bowl.

Here are the specifics:
I found plastic cereal bowls in the Fourth of July section at Dollar Tree, 3 for $1.00.  I bought 15, knowing I was only making 12, but just in case.  Thankfully, I did that because Millie ate one.

I purchased dirt from Lowe's specifically for grass starting.  I was under the wire in time, so I wanted to do everything I could to make the grass happy.  Regular dirt would work, too.

The grass seed was a quick growing regular grass seed mix.  I did not use wheat grass - I couldn't find it.  And, being Celiac, I have a distaste for anything called WHEAT.

In each bowl, I bet I used two hefty handfuls of seed.  The first handful I mixed into the top layer of dirt, the second was scattered on top.

The bowls were wet most of the time as we were experiencing tons of rain.  Make sure you keep these wet.

Origami:  I tested a bunch of origami butterfly patterns, but this one was the simplest and I really loved how it curved and the wings 'open' up at the last step.  I used small paper squares, 2 inch square.  Your first valley fold is the color of your wings. 

This is the origami pattern I used: CraftJr Origami Butterfly

The hot glue gun and some florist wire was all I needed to attach the wire to the butterfly at the top, using the final fold to help secure the wire in the butterfly.

Assembly:  I made a ton of butterflies.  They were easy, relaxing and I'm picky, so I wanted a bunch to choose from.  I used two for each bowl, I think that's sufficient.

I clipped flowers in my yard, including: Gallardia, Lady's Mantle, Lavender, Daisy (of the weed variety), Pansies and three other flowers that I have in my yard, but have no idea what they are called!  Regardless of the names, just make sure the stem is somewhat sturdy to make it through the wet soil.

Then, stick in the butterflies!  I like to have one appearing to be getting some nectar from the flower and the other on a longer wire fluttering above.

It was fun, and easy, as long as you have the forethought to get the grass started a couple weeks prior.

 Bowls without the butterflies

These flowers were from my russet potato plant.

269/366: Pintember Christmas is Coming

I love Christmas.

I love decorating for Christmas.  Shiny and sparkly.

We have moved some things around in our home this year, so I'll get to so some different things.

In the meantime, my pal Liz found this pin and I knew I had to try it:

Source: sweetsuite10.com via Carrie on Pinterest

Simple.  Fast.  That's what I love about this craft.

I was worried that the hanger might fall out of between the mirrors, so I tied two knots in the embroidery floss I used.  I added a bit of hot glue to the mirror back and sandwiched the glue and floss with another mirror.

They turned out pretty cute.  Since it's too early to demonstrate on a Christmas tree, here they are on my Christmas cactus:

And because I'm always trying to change the rules, I tried making garland with some.  Actually, I was tired of making the loops.

I cut a length of floss and sandwiched the floss between two mirrors without any knots (first photo).  I didn't space them out exactly, I didn't measure anything.  Just played around with it.

My only concern is that these are pretty heavy with 8 - 10 mirrors, so I made three shorter strands.  I may use these in the tree, or perhaps near a window where the light can bounce off it.

Get making!  These are easy!

A happy 13th Anniversary to my dear husband Tom.  Even he bounced light off a gift card in my eyes today.  Oh the magic!  I love you, Tom!

45/366: Super Friend Valentine Tutorial

Happy Valentine's Day!

Little Man and I made these fun valentines for his class this weekend.

So easy!  I must confess, the idea is not mine, I found it here.  She has templates you print and skip the whole tutorial that follows.

In a nutshell...glue dots are your friend.  So is craft foam.  And self adhesive craft foam glitter stars!

What you need:
Foam sheets (we wanted a bunch of colors, so purchased 6 sheets of different colors)
One pack of self adhesive star stickers in foam (foam on foam stick well)
Glue Dots (don't leave the store without them!)
Suckers, lollipops...what ever you call them.
Printer

We included a note with a glue dot on the underside of the cape that was handwritten by Little Man and reduced in size and copied multiple times.

I cut out the capes and Little Man decorated with the stickers (the best part of these stickers is that they didn't have the paper backing...less mess to clean up).

The masks are easy, measure a small strip the circumference of your lolli.  Fold in half and take two angled cuts from the side to the end - this makes the part for the nose and above the nose to look like a mask.

Little Man took a sharpie and made little eye dots on the light colored foam.  For the black foam, we cut up one of the stars and used them as eyes.

Then, the magic of glue dots...stick a dot on your lolli and adhere one end of the mask on half the dot, wrap the mask around the lolli and adhere the other end to the other half of the glue dot.

To attach the cape, I was afraid a whole punch would be too big, allowing the cape to fall, I just pushed the stick through the foam.  Slid the cape up to the underneath of the lolli and pulled the wrapper plastic out a bit, to ensure the cape wouldn't fall.

I love these...they were so easy and fun!

Pin it for next year!

33/366: School Treat Tutorial

In celebration of Groundhog Day (which is dear to my husband's heart), Little Man and I decided to make the little groundhogs on the graham cracker again.  This is the link to last year's attempt.  This year was much easier and a lot less work.

Supplies:
Box of graham crackers
Brownie Bites (one for each hog)
One tub chocolate frosting
Slivered almonds (last year I used coconut...either work)
Small batch of white icing (powdered sugar, milk, a touch of Karo syrup)
Chocolate rocks (we have no snow in these parts, so we added rocks)

First step is to open up all of your brownie bits and lay them out on waxed paper or parchment.

These would have been fine as is, but I shaped them a bit to make them taller and not as wide.  By the last one, I realized the easiest way was to form a divot in the bottom and push the sides around you fingers.

Next, heat up your frosting so it is soupy.  I put a fork in the bottom of the bites and dipped them just to the sides, leaving the bottom without frosting.

Here is the trick...to get the bite on the paper without messing up the frosting, place the tines of a second fork through the fork holding the bite, pulling out the first fork.  You are left with the bite balancing on the convex side of the fork, then slide off on to the paper.

Before the frosting hardens, stick on two slivered almonds for the teeth.  I could do 3 brownies before the frosting started hardening.

Let those sit and prepare your white icing.  You could easily use more cake frosting instead, just warm a batch of it for the snow, set some aside for the eyes.

Lay out your graham crackers (break in half) and start assembly.   Be somewhat quick getting your hogs on the snow, that stuff hardens pretty quickly and it won't give you the stick you need.  Add your stones (if using) at this point.  Preferably by a cute little boy.

Next, I took the remaining chocolate frosting and added some blue and red food coloring to it to make it darker, almost black for the nose.  I put it in a baggie and stuck it in the fridge for a bit, since it was still pretty soupy from the dipping.  Snip off the corner of the baggie and add a nose at the top of the teeth (almonds).  Let that dry a touch and add your eyes.  Again, with a baggie and cold frosting, I added little eyes.  I was having trouble with them leaving a tail of frosting, so I worked them from the nose upward and touched the hog with the bag to stop the flow of icing.  When that icing settles, they look pretty good.

Finally, and this is where I get a little crazy...I added poppy seeds for pupils.  I know, crazy, but it really did finish it off nicely.  Wet fingers on a paper towel and pick up a seed with a finger and press into eyes.

Wa-la!

You could do these for Easter and make into rabbits, snowmen, so many ideas.  Super easy and adorable.  Great project for the kids.

Happy Groundhog Day!

23/366: Hand Warmer Tutorial

This is such an adorable little craft for Valentines Day.

It has simple stitches and minimal supplies.

You can find the entire tutorial right here...if you make one, show me!

10/366: Hearty Giveaway

Remember this? 

You can find the tutorial right here.  But, if you like this and don't want to get all Martha...I have one to give away.  Just leave a comment here (or on the Facebook post) and tell me your favorite Valentines Day gift to give, or that you have received or wish to receive.

I'll pick a name at random via my Random Number Generator Picker Name Out of Bag Boy.  I'll close comments on Saturday evening.  And ship this out to the lucky winner.

8/366: Toffee Tutorial

Candy making.  It can go either way.

My family never ate peanut brittle after the time my mom was making it and the brittle starting spewing all over the kitchen.  Cupboards, curtains, floor, my mother.  I don't recall it happening, but remember the stories about it.  To this day, I've never had a piece of peanut brittle.  Perhaps that will be the next candy attempt.

So this is my Toffee.  The recipe, all worn and coffee stained, is simple.
2 cups butter (yup, four sticks)
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Combine those ingredients in a heavy pan and heat on medium heat.  Once the butter melts, stop stirring.  I know, doesn't make sense...that sugar will burn! You will stir occasionally, but the less you stir, the faster the toffee turns dark. 

The following pictures show how the color changes in the butter/sugar mixture.  Each photo was taken 3 to 5 minutes after the previous:

The recipe calls for the mixture to reach 285 degrees.  That is the third photo.  Either my candy thermometer was wrong, or I like dark toffee.  Probably both.  This time, I didn't even use the thermometer.  The trick is...as soon as you think it's ready, leave it on for another five minutes.  And when you think that is ready, give it another couple minutes.  I have taken it off many times too early and the toffee doesn't have the snap, it's more of a crumble.  

While the toffee is cooking and you are not stirring (stay away from that spoon!), line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil.  I really like using parchment paper, gives the toffee a very smooth bottom, and who doesn't like a smooth bottom???

You can also chop your nuts.

Any nuts will do.  These are the Cocoa Roasted Almonds...good stuff.  Be careful, the almond skins will stick to your teeth, so there is no sneaking a little piece before you give it to your cousin for Christmas because her husband will point out 'there is something in your teeth, right in the middle" (true story, grateful for the point out, Chris).
Okay, if you think it's done, and you smell a touch of burning smell, it is probably ready.  The sugar will look like lava erupting in little puddles with dark rings around them.

Now pour onto your cookie sheet (make sure it has sides!) and let it set for a bit.  Here is the humdinger...add two cups of chocolate chips.  BUT wait...I put the chips on too fast and they sunk!  See this photo, center piece has the two divots from the chips.

You want the chips to melt from the heat of the toffee, but not be swallowed by the softness of the toffee.  Sing your alphabet, it should be ready for the chips.  Sprinkle the chips best you can over all the toffee and wait.  Yes, wait.  I know, it's hard.  I hate waiting.  The chips will begin to glisten. Ahhh lovely sight.  Then take your spreader knife and smooth out those chips.  Lick your fingers, then sprinkle the chopped almonds (any nut would do) on top of the chocolate and take your spreader or a plastic baggie over your hand to lightly press the nuts into the chocolate.

Stick in the refrigerator till all parts are hard.  The chocolate will take the longest to harden.

Once this is nice and hard, smack it on the counter.  Or gently break it up and put it in a cute dish.  Go ahead, after all that waiting you surely deserve a piece. 

But don't forget to check your teeth. 

6/366: Initial Mug Tutorial

I made a couple mugs for our neighbors and Grandma's this Christmas.  They are so cute.  I was inspired by this post.

The porcelain Pebeo paint in the tube is really easy to use and I barely made a dent in the tube.  I chose the outliner paint for it's long tip.  I didn't have the option of choosing a pen as the shop I was at was in the rearranging process and they were no where to be found.

This is simple, you print out your picture or letters from the computer, cover the back of the paper in pencil (yes, just like you did as a kid) and tape it on to the mug.

Taking a pencil, trace the letters onto the mug.  After removing your paper, you will see the faint graphite from the pencil.  Begin tracing your letters with the outliner paint.  For the inside, I squeezed a little paint, then pushed it around with the tip to give it a scratched look.

I made one for myself, too.  They are so quick and easy.  The original poster found their mugs at the thrift store, but I went to a big box store and found these for $2 a piece.  I love the big size.  This would also be cute with a colored mug.

We will definitely do this again, this time, the kids will draw a picture and I'll assist them in tracing the lines on the mug.  The best part, if they mess up or don't like it, you just wipe off the paint and start over.

Once you have your final product, you allow the mug to sit for 24 hours, then put it in a cold over, set for 325 degrees.  Once the oven is warmed to 325, continue to bake for 35 minutes.  Then done!

Dishwasher and food safe (not sure about the microwave).

This was one of my favorite holiday crafts, so simple and quick!

Tutorial: Headless Man Cyborg

This is a very easy costume!  I know, it looks complicated at first, but give it a try.

Supplies:
Rolling backpack with handle and a two way zipper (so it can be partially closed on each side)
cardboard (I got a couple free posters that I used along with some cereal boxes)
3/4 length adult coat (I tried with a lab coat, but it was too short)
Gloves (rubber or winter gloves)
Quilt batting or poly fill
Duct Tape
Scrap of muslin or flesh colored fabric
Silver spray paint
Spray adhesive
Random bits of things that may look mechanical...I have a plastic straw, Christmas picks, some pipe cleaners, and a balloon.

As you can tell, much of this may already be in your home.  I didn't have a rolling backpack, so purchased a Hannah Montana one at the thrift shop (please don't tell my son, I spray painted it black so he couldn't tell).

Step One:  Create a tube with the cardboard or cereal boxes to fit within the neckline of the jacket.  I added extra length with duct tape and staples.  At the bottom, I used two 8 x 2 inch pieces of corrugated (from a shipping box I had) to the end of the tube.  This gave me about 7 inches of space where candy can fall from the neck hole into the bag.  That's right, no need for a candy bag.  The candy just goes right into the backpack.

So set the tube in the pack and with the handle extended on the backpack, ensure you have at least 4 inches above the handle for the neck.

Step Two:  Create shoulders.  Here, I took another piece of cardboard and cut out a rectangle with curved corners to act as my shoulders.  I taped that to the handle (set it on top of the handle) with duct tape.  Set the neck into the backpack and cut a half circle into the shoulder cardboard piece so that the neck sits nicely in place.

Step Three:  Fill coat arms with batting, make a couple stay stitches so that the batting doesn't fall out.  Stuff gloves with poly fill and sew them to the sleeve hem.

Step Four:  Test...I tried this out several times with my son just to see how it fit.  Tweak it here and there as needed.  My son is tall, so I needed a long neck.  Place the backpack on your subject, put the coat on over that and button the top button.  This will keep the neck in place as well.  Figure out where your subject's head will come out of the coat, we had two buttons under his neck.

Step Five:  Decorate the neck.  Some folks have just filled the neck with paper mache, or simple stuffing to make it closed off (in this example, you wouldn't need a long tube), but if you leave it open, it becomes super cool.  I added a bunch of items with simple duct tape to the inside of the neck.  You will spray paint these silver, so anything will do.  One was a Christmas straw with a plastic tube over it that I separated and made it two different pieces.  I purchased two Christmas picks at Micheal's.  One was a twisty thing with wire and the other was a stick like item with fronds.  I also added a little batting to the outside of the neck, then removed it.  Not sure why, but there was some left and when painted, it kind of looked textural.

Step Six:  With spray adhesive, attach a strip of muslin to appear as skin on the outside of the neck piece that shows above the collar.  I left the edges raw.  Insert tube into backpack and jacket on top of backpack.

Step Seven:  Test.  Find where the head comes out of the jacket and sew one hand a bit above that place.  I sewed one hand directly onto the coat so that the fingers passed the side of the coat.  This way, the fingers of that glove will be on the opposite cheek of the person wearing the costume.  I sewed the second hand on in similar fashion.

Step Eight:  Decorate.  Since my son wanted it to be half man half machine, we added some "blood" to the neck on the muslin with face paint.  I tried the fake blood, but that never dried.  Paint would work here as well.  We painted my son's face with some white cream makeup and spiked up his hair.

If you will be trick or treating, add a couple safety pins to the zippers so that they don't open and spill all the candy.

Eight steps...really simple once you get the idea.  I'd love to see if you made something similar in the future!

Happy Haunting!

Thing A Day: 6 Valentine Felt Heart Tutorial

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love this "Thing".

The pictures don't do it justice with the color, but it is a cherry red.  Love red.

I got the idea here.  She used a plate from the dollar store, which I couldn't find.  I used a cardboard box and it worked just perfectly.

 

I adapted it a tad, don't I always?  Her plate had a curved edge, making the heart more rotund.  I used slightly smaller circles around the edge to make it look curved.  A dab of hot glue and a circle, repeat.  Over and over.

And over again.

It really was quite fun.  I added a hanger on the back and cut a piece of felt the shape of my cardboard to cover the Pampered Chef box (oh, do I love my new stone).

This way, it can be hung, or just placed.

I think this is my favorite "Thing" so far.  I smell a Shamrock!

Back on the Horse...ONE Down!

This is what got my double pointed needles clicking this weekend.  I ended up ripping most of it out to fix a little mixed up stitch.  I hate being a perfectionist sometimes.

I can't show you the real finished product as it's a gift, for someone extremely special to me...

Working hard on the Silk Bamboo project, also ripped that out a gazillion times, but I think I'm in the homestretch and almost done with stage 1 of a three stage project.

Am I being too candid?  That really bugs me when blogs tease me with their projects. Sorry.

Loving this adorable heart, thinking a trip to the Dollar Store and Joann's is in my future.  Check it out here!

Stay warm, my friends. 

We are conserving energy by keeping the house at 65 and our groceries in the garage!  AKA:  My husband likes a cold house and our fridge is still on the fritz!

Paper Snowflake Tutorial

 This is not your grade school snowflake.  I wanted to make a special Shout Out to the gals at Park Creek...thanks for teaching my mom this technique.  And Mom, you were a great teacher, thanks!

Ready?  Here we go...

Step One and Two:  Get a square piece of paper.  Regular copy paper works just fine and is what I'm using in this tutorial.  Fold your square into a triangle.  Fold again into a smaller triangle.

 

Step Three:  While holding the triangle with the folded side down, cut along the longest side, evenly spaced and not all the way to the top (don't cut your paper in pieces).  You are going to make three cuts, which will give you four strips all attached at top.

Open it up and you get this.

Step Four:  Put a dab of glue stick on one corner of the inside square and glue to the other side of the inside square.

Step Five:  Turn your paper over, so that the first folded square is on the bottom.  Repeat glue for next inner square.  Turn your paper over again, and glue the second outermost square together.

 

  

Step Six:  Repeat for final outside square.   

Step Seven:  Repeat Steps One through Six 5 more times, for a total of six of these "arms".

Step Eight:  Glue three arms together at the points.  If you take the center and add glue to each side of the point, you can easily add the two others-one to each side.  Repeat with remaining 3 arms.
Step Nine:  Glue the center points of each of your three armed segment to each other.  I used glue and paper clipped the two points together until the glue dried.  Tape would work here, too.


Step Ten:  The final frontier...this may not seem necessary at first, but it helps immensely with stability.

See my stubby finger?  Those two cross sections need to be glued together.  Repeat all the way around the snowflake/star.

You are done!  Stick it on your tree, hang it from the ceiling, give as a hostess gift.  I just remembered as I'm writing this that I bought spray glitter!!!!  Oh, I hate when I forget that I have things.  I'll make another and spray it to show you.

I tried different papers, too.  This one is scrapbook paper.

And this is copy paper...just like the one you made!

Now, stop looking and go get flaking!

Coffee Filter Snow Ball Tutorial

 Love these puffs of stuff. 

Here I will show you how I did it.

Step One:  You can use Styrofoam balls, but since I didn't have any, I crumpled a stretch of yarn (two ends to create loop of yarn) into aluminum foil.  I found that adding two scrunched filters inside the foil made a bigger ball, and an easier base for attaching the folded filters.

Step Two:  Separate a whole mess of filters and fold them in half, then half again.  You can roll them or fold funky, it really doesn't matter.  Since I was making a bunch of these, I found it easiest to make my folds, then twist the bottom (where my fingers are in the above picture) so the folds stayed together, and keep folding. Once I had 20 or so folded, I would cut off the point and twist.  I was cutting basically where the ripples start on the filter.

Step Three:  Don't even try regular glue...you should use the glue gun.  Really.  While holding your yarn, add glue to the area right around where the yarn comes out of the foil ball.  Place your first cut filter on end into that glue.  Continue adding glue and filters.  Place close together, but don't go crazy...the foil showing through is kind of nice, a little glitz.

Step Five:  When you are done, you will have a ball that you think looks wonky.  Pull out your scissors, stand over the garbage can and trim.  It's amazing how great it will look after it's haircut.

Go ahead, try it!  It's fun.  I made five in 2-3 hours.

Stay tuned...I'm going to share another snowy craft...a new take on an old favorite.

Oh, Step Four...that's pour yourself some coffee or crack open a cold one...it'll be more fun that way.