Fabric Envelopes Well-chosen compact discs are always appreciated gifts. Personalize the CDs by slipping them into delightful hand-stitched pouches. The soft envelopes can be used over and over, as sachets or as small cases for travel toiletries. These pouches can be made out of wide ribbon or felt. With wrong sides together, fold fabric 5 inches from the bottom; press. Chocolate Covered Football Strawberries ~ Be Different...Act Normal I love this idea for a fun Superbowl snack: From Glitter to Gumdrops turned chocolate covered strawberries into footballs with just a little bit of icing. I am always looking for a good excuse to eat chocolate covered strawberries and a football games is just about as good of a reason as any. And so is a baseball game or a basketball game: Although the others won't taste as good as the footballs.
DIY Vanilla Extract with Ashley Pahl a note from bonnie! happy monday, lovelies! since ashley pahl’s drink recipes have been such a huge hit, i’m very excited to share with you today that she’s coming on board as a weekly contributor- this time for a weekly diy project! to learn more about her (and just how adorably-sweet she is) make sure to head on over to her blog, indie pretty projects and check out her lovely etsy shop as well. now, won’t you join me in a big warm welcome for her? I’ve been cooking a lot more lately, and I’ve just started to realize how expensive real vanilla extract is – almost $4.00 for one ounce! ingredients 1 vanilla bean 3 ounces of vodka air-tight container directions Starting 1/2″ from top of vanilla bean, slice length-wise down the bean, and stop 1/2″ from bottom of bean. fold bean in half, and place in air-tight container. Glass containers with corks would work perfectly – I used a plastic, screw-top bottle I picked up at Hobby Lobby. Have you tried making your own vanilla extract before?
DeliciArt Notes from the Patch: Tutorial Tuesday #36 - Hair Bows One of the blogs I enjoy is a sweet blog written by a young mommy from the south. Kelly has two darling little girls and loves dressing them in matching smocked dresses and huge hair bows. Photo by Kelly's Korner Reading her recent post about hair bows reminded me I hadn't shared bow making techniques since post and since we have so many adorable ingredients for making hair bows I figured it was time. Since I am a California girl my bows certainly can't compete in size or complexity with those from the south, but my techniques are pretty basic and could easily be adapted to more elaborate styles. What I really love about making these is that this basic style costs less than a dollar to make and can easily be completed in less than a half an hour. Here's what you'll need: 1 yard 1 1/2" wide grosgrain ribbon hair clip hot glue water washout pen or other marker ruler needle and thread embellishments optional Let's get started. Next you'll measure and mark a line 6" from the first line.
Rainbow Cake in a Jar I’ve always had a penchant for sunshine in a jar. Doesn’t the very phrase itself, “sunshine in a jar,” roll off your tongue and fill your mouth with magic? While I’ve never yet found myself a sunshine in a jar, I think we may have just concocted it in our kitchen tonight. In this simple recipe, a basic white cake is turned into a slew of bright colors, baked to perfection, then topped with a creamy white frosting. Cakes baked in jars can be topped with traditional metal canning lids and stored in the fridge for up to five days. They make a great treat to ship to someone, so long as you can ensure delivery to it’s final destination within 3 days. Rainbow Cake in Jar 1 box white cake mix made according to package instructionsNeon food coloring in pink, yellow, green, turquoise, and purple3 one-pint canning jars1 can vanilla frostingRainbow sprinkles Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop about 1/2 cups of cake batter into five small bowls.
How to Make a Valentine You Can Eat Yesterday we decided to combine two of our favorite things about Valentines: paper + cake (singing along to sappy love songs is also on that list). We stopped by a local bakery and asked if they had any wafer paper. They did. We’d never tasted it plain before so we all snipped of a slice. It tasted like, um, paper. When we got home we poured out a little food coloring. and the kids ran for their paintbrushes. We made and frosted some cakes (we baked them in ramekins and used this trick for keeping the frosting smooth), snipped our designs a bit, and found ourselves with three edible Valentines. I think my 4-year-old’s turned out to be my favorite. Stop by tomorrow to see what we came up with to display them on. UPDATE: Since this was our first time every playing with rice paper, I thought I’d add a few extra words of advice from here: “In order to make the rice paper stick to the cake…, you need to use some clear gel.”
Cinco Quartos de Laranja CPS-Card Sketches Favorite Things card Designer: Linda Beeson Materials: Cardstock Patterned papers and chipboard pieces - October Afternoon Bingo card and sticker - Jenni Bowlin Button and String Happy Birthday Designer: Vicki Garrett Wavy Border Die -the Stamps of Life Stamps minis4circles, cake2build- The {Stamps} of Life Designer Paper-Hello Summer Echo Park Ink: Licorice and Chocolate-Stephanie Barnard by Colorbox Smooch Glitz-Goldrush-Colorbox Markers-Touch Markers by Shinhan Arts Birthday Wishes Designer Laura Williams Supplies: stamps (flowers) Hero Arts for Basic Grey (sentiment) Paper Smooches cardstock - Discount Cardstock ink - Clearsnap jewels - Want2Scrap Let's Talk Turkey! Designer Deb Felts Stamps, dies: The {Stamps} of Life Designer paper: Kaiser Craft Ink: Memento, Ranger Markers: Copic Trim: May Arts Miscellaneous: buttons, foam adhesive This month's prize is sponsored by: THE STAMPS OF LIFE. To enter this month's random drawing simply share your design with the CPS readers.
Watermelon Balsamic Appetizer - Simple Saturday Sometimes the best things happen when you're not trying so hard. These Watermelon Cubes with Balsamic Glaze came about from playing with my food and left-over watermelon slices. Watermelon Balsamic Cubes They are just the right beginning to a meal (amuse bouche), a palate cleanser between courses or a unique addition to a dessert/cheese tray. A while back, I was serving a 6 course meal to a "dinner client" for a fund raiser. These Watermelon Balsamic Cubes were just the right size, continued the somewhat elegance of the night and yet gave it a casual, down-home tasty treat. Since that night, I've served these to kids on picnics and lined up on trays for July 4th picnic shooters. Recipe: Watermelon Balsamic Cubes Seedless Watermelon cut into 1x1 inch cubes1/4 cup (more or less) Balsamic Creme or home-made Balsamic Reduction SyrupMint or Basil leaves for garnish. 1) After trimming and cutting watermelon into 1x1 inch cubes, use a small melon baller to carve out the center of each cube.