HAPPY EASTER!

navy and tie dye eggs
navy and tie dye eggs

Cabbage Dye:

1 head of red cabbage, chopped
5 cups water
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 pinch baking soda

In a large stainless steel pot, bring all the ingredients to a boil, then reduce and simmer for 30 min. Strain out the cabbage, and separate from the liquid dye. You can pour the dye into glasses and soak your eggs overnight.

Cabbage Dye Eggs

We chose to save the strained cabbage and use it to tie dye some of our eggs. We created a nest of sorts and buried our eggs in the left over leaves. Let them sit over night, and you’re left with white and blue tie eggs!

navy and tie dye eggs

 

Painting Easter Eggs

Painting Easter Eggs, via www.thegoldjellybean.com

 

We finally painted our eggs! Instead of messing with natural dye again, or picking up the boxed kind, I opted to find something around the house to reuse instead. I can never seem to use my nail polish fast enough, and it always ends up goopy. So using some of my bright colors from last year worked perfect! I started by blowing out the eggs, and of course making some omelets.

Painting Easter Eggs, via www.thegoldjellybean.com

Use whatever technique works best, I went with the ol’ pin and aspirator method. A straw can also be very helpful if you don’t have the aspirator.

Painting Easter Eggs, via www.thegoldjellybean.com

Then, once the eggs were washed and dry, a little white spackling paste makes the holes vanish. I also created some little egg stands by cutting up all the sections in the egg carton, flipping them upside down, and adding pins to carefully cradle and hold the eggs in place.

Painting Easter Eggs, via www.thegoldjellybean.com

Then I put some q-tips into the polish jars, and let Syd go to town painting. She opted for a drippy paint look.

Painting Easter Eggs, via www.thegoldjellybean.com

I went for my go-to black, white and gold palette, using sharpies & metallic nail polish.

Painting Easter Eggs, via www.thegoldjellybean.com

We cut strips of paper bags to create little nests for our pretty eggs. Here are Syd’s colorful creations:

Painting Easter Eggs, via www.thegoldjellybean.com

DIY Valentines Featured On Shutterstock Today!

DIY Image Transfer Valentines, via www.thegoldjellybean.com

 

Check out how to make these fun Valentine’s I made for Shutterstock! My tutorial is featured on their blog today. With this DIY tutorial you can make personalized homemade cards, and there are no special talents required! It’s a super easy way to create custom Valentines with printed artwork or photographs.

Click Here for the full tutorial.

 

DIY Finger Print Valentines

DIY Fingerprint Valentines, via www.thegoldjellybean.com

 

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, and this year is Sydney’s first Vday at school. So, we have been hard at work on some DIY Valentines!

DIY Fingerprint Valentines, via www.thegoldjellybean.com

All we used was an ink pad, card stock, pen, and her cute little fingers.

DIY Fingerprint Valentines, via www.thegoldjellybean.com

Syd tackled the first step, using two thumbprints to make a heart.

DIY Fingerprint Valentines, via www.thegoldjellybean.com

Then, I added some black ink to create a heart balloon and sweet greeting.

DIY Fingerprint Valentines, via www.thegoldjellybean.com

I wrote Sydney’s name in pencil, then let her trace over it in pen.

DIY Fingerprint Valentines, via www.thegoldjellybean.com

Now these cute little cards just need some candy and they’re ready to give!

DIY Fingerprint Valentines, via www.thegoldjellybean.com

Creative Gift Wrapping: What to Pack in Your Suitcase

Creative Gift Wrapping, Essentials to Pack in Your Suitcase, via www.thegoldjellybean.com

 

If you’re anything like me, then you still have Christmas shopping to do. Actually you’ve barely done any shopping thus far, so you’ll have to do it once you get to your final Christmas destination…. and so you may be wondering how you can make your gifts pretty without spending a fortune on new supplies while you’re out of town for the Holidays. Well, I have planned ahead for just this situation, and Continue reading

Christmas Gift Wrapping : Re-using Boxes

 

I’ve had a busy month thus far, and am finally getting around to gift wrapping. Once I got started, the first thing I did was take a good look around the house for items I could reuse. I ended up with some leftover gift boxes and a few empty brie containers. With a little paint and a few embellishments, I completely transformed Continue reading

Creative Christmas Wrapping : Personalizing Gift Cards

 

Good morning! I am excited today is day one of the Coca-Cola Balanced Living Workshop! I’m looking forward to a day jam packed with healthy information! While I’m off learning with other Chicago moms, please enjoy some thank you gift cards I wrapped Continue reading

Things I Loved This Week: Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas

Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great week. Today I am making my Christmas gift list, and thinking of some creative diy ideas. While I do that, I wanted to share a few great ones I came across this week. Enjoy!

I love this embellished pencil block spotted on Design Sponge. What a great idea, and a fairly easy diy.

These diy stick horses from A Beautiful Mess Continue reading

How to Make Borax Crystal Snowballs

 

These borax crystal snowballs are a fun and festive science experiment, plus they make for beautiful decorations and gift toppers. To make the snowballs you need white craft pom poms in various sizes. Tie one or two pom poms to a string. Continue reading

Shaving Cream Art : Snowmen

 

Last week Sydney and I got messy and had fun with shaving, cream, glitter, and construction paper. Shaving cream can be used for all sorts of fun learning and art with toddlers & preschoolers. We decided to be festive and make some snowmen and snowy scenes. Enjoy! Continue reading

DIY: Making Handprint Christmas Ornaments

 

Today Sydney and I have an assembly line of handprint christmas ornaments going. I remember making one when I was a kid, and it still goes up on my mom’s tree every year. Now, we’ll have one to put on our tree every year!

We made a dough using 2 c. flour, 1 c. fine sea salt, and 1 c. water. Mix all ingredients together and knead for about 5 min. Then roll the dough out, about 1/2″ thick, and use a cup or bowl to cut out circles. Continue reading

DIY Bowtie Pasta Garland

 

I am in full force holiday decorating mode over here, and I’m excited to finally put up some garland I made awhile back when Syd and I were working on bowtie pasta hair bows, artwork, and father’s day cards. It’s a super easy project, and even fun for the kids!

You need bowtie pasta, white glue, paint brush, string, and glitter.

First, brush the pasta with glue, giving it a nice thick coat.

Cover the pasta with glitter. Allow to dry, and repeat on the backside.

After your glittered bows have dried completely, simply tie them onto string or yarn.

Repeat with as many bows as you’d like, making sure to secure each one with a double knot.

We also made a red version. These were done the same way, with just one added step. We first dyed the bows red using food coloring and rubbing alcohol. You can find the tutorial for coloring pasta here.

Have fun and get creative with your colors and string. We enjoyed using a red and white striped string, and even mixed the solid red and red glittered bows.

Recipe : Chocolate Whiskey Cream Pie

 

Just in time to add a last min dessert to your Thanksgiving menu, here is the recipe for the Chocolate Whiskey Cream Pie I made for my husbands birthday, which is today. Happy Birthday my love!

The recipe is adapted from one I saw in the latest Donna Hay magazine.

Ingredients:
12 oz crunchy chocolate cookies (I used these, you can also make your own)
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 2/3 c. milk
1 c. light cream (18%)
7oz 70% dark chocolate, chopped (I bought 2 3.5oz Lindt bars)
7oz dark chocolate chips
1/3 c. light brown sugar
1/3 c. pure cane sugar, fine ground
1/4 c. cornstarch
1/3c. Jameson Irish Whiskey
4 large egg yolks
2 additional c. light cream (18%)
1/2 c. sour cream
unsweetened cocoa for dusting

Finely crush all cookies. Transfer to a large bowl and slowly pour in melted butter while mixing to incorporate. (You can also use a food processor for this step.) Lightly grease a ceramic pie dish, and press cookie mixture over the bottom and up the sides to create the crust. Refrigerate for at least 30 min.

In a medium saucepan, combine milk, cream, and both chocolates. Cook over medium heat, stirring until mixture just comes to a boil.

In a large bowl, whisk both sugars, cornstarch, egg yolks and whiskey until well combined. Whisk in chocolate mixture. Transfer to a clean saucepan and cook over medium heat whiling continuing to whisk, until mixture comes to a boil. Whisk for an additional 2 min or until thickened. Set aside to cool slightly.

Pour chocolate custard into pie crust, and place back in the fridge for about 3 hours. Shortly before serving, place the additional cream and sour cream in a medium bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Spoon over pie, and dust with cocoa.  This is supposed to serve 8, but I found it to serve 12.

Enjoy!

DIY Snowflake Window Clings (plus tips and the best method)

 

We have been working on making snow flake window clings for about 4 days now, and finally put them up yesterday. Perfect timing since we had our first snow of the season last night! As soon as we noticed the wintry scene outside, my husband and I ran to Sydney’s room to wake her up. We found her already sitting in her window, watching with excitement. It was so sweet!

Continue reading

Waterless Snow Globes with Photos

 

At the store yesterday, Sydney couldn’t get enough of all the snow globes and little christmas town accessories. So, today we decided to combine the two elements and create our own waterless snow globes!

For my version of waterless snow globes I added a personal touch with our own photos!

This is also a special way you can give and display your family holiday photo.

Here’s what I used:
old jars, cleaned
spray paint
tape
hot glue
family photos
fake snow
mini trees
mini street lamps
jingle bells

1. Wash and dry all your lids.
2. Gather your festive accents, I chose items that would go along with our photos.
3. Spray your jar lids, I used gold. Be sure to do this in a well ventilated area.
4. Print photos, and feel free to embellish and decorate them!
5. Assemble all the pieces using double sided tape and glue*.
6. For a more finished look, spray the backside of your jar. This will hide any visible tape or glue on the backside of your photo.

*Tip: I glue cotton balls into my lids to give some height and dimension. The fake snow is loose in the jars, and will sit nicely on top of the cotton. Be sure to keep all glue, cotton, and accents away from the edges of the lid to avoid any issues with closing the jars.

Holiday Doily Garland

 

I originally made this garland last season, but I like it so much I’m making it again this year!  So I thought I would share it with all of you. I found packages of white, silver, and gold doilies at a thrift shop for a dollar. You can also find them at your local craft store. Just thread the doilies onto some string or twine, and hang! Easy as pie. One little tip to threading the doilies: wrap the end of yarn/string with tape. Now you have a rigid end to weave through the small holes in the paper doilies. This is a versatile garland that can go up now, and stay up ’til Easter!

Things I Loved This Week

Christmas ideas are already popping up everywhere. I swear it happens earlier every year,  I won’t be surprised if we start seeing Christmas decorations in June next year! Anyways, since I am a blogger now, I do need to start thinking about the holidays sooner than later. So, as I get started on some fun ideas for our house this year, I wanted to share some great advent calendars I came across this week. Enjoy!

I love this simple blackboard, paper bag, and clothes pin idea from Lovely Things. It’s simply beautiful!

Continue reading

Halloween Roundup

 

Good Morning and Happy Friday! So far October has been full of fun Halloween ideas and DIYs. As the 31st is quickly approaching, I decided to put together a little roundup of the festive costume and decor tutorials I did this month. Enjoy!


garden flower, lumberjack, hula girl


gold studded pumpkins, mummy candles, black drippy candles, paper jack-o-lanterns

And don’t forget there is still time to vote for my Fiber One Snackcessory! You can vote once daily, so please click and help send me to Fashion Week!

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