It’s officially the season of engagements, and weddings, and babies, that I am never prepared for. I’m always looking for projects that I can have the supplies for on hand for in case I need a quick gift. Enter the monogrammed cork coaster. This project was almost dumb easy, took less than 15 minutes to make a set of 6, and looks awesome!
I’m not sure if it was a blessing or a curse, but a few months back I watched the documentary “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” on Netflix, and have been on a health kick since. In looking for healthy recipes online, I came across more than a few articles about preservatives and pests in packaged foods and they, well frankly, scared the sh*t out of me (google “bugs in boxed pasta” if you never want to sleep again). As my love for pasta is too strong to deny, I started seeking out recipes to make fresh pasta. I’ve seen it made a few times, and it didn’t look too difficult, but let me tell you- there’s a lot of horrible pasta recipes on the internet. I tried probably 10-15 at minimum that were complete fails before I found one that worked. The first recipe I found and played around with, used the addition of a small amount of water and olive oil, and was tricky. The consistency of the pasta was good but not great, and it though it worked, it wasn’t something I’d be proud serving to guests. So after playing around, I realized the simplest, quickest recipe for pasta, was the best, and I haven’t looked back since. I make this recipe in a KitchenAid stand mixer which makes it ridiculously easy, but you could make/knead the dough by hand as well.
This recipe feeds 3-4, depending on what style of pasta you make.
Every year after Valentine’s Day is over and all the pink, glitter decor is removed from my house, I start to get a little bit of seasonal depression. My thoughts are taken over by dreams of spring, and my garden, and margaritas on the patio. But, my favorite part of spring has to be being able to start projects around the house. Painting, sanding, and renovating this 100 year old house thrills me probably much more than it should.
In an attempt to keep my sanity until the tulips open, I’ve started to renovate my front entrance hallway. One of my favorite things to decorate in the front hallway is the door. But, I tend to have a hard time finding items to decorate the door in between holidays. After spending some time searching around, I found these moss covered letters on the Pottery Barn website and became obsessed. But, at a price of $79 a letter, there was no way that I could justify purchasing one. So, I took a good look at them, and headed off to the craft store to see what I could come up with. After poking around at some ideas, I decided to try and replicate the moss letter, and attach it to a wreath. This ended up being a ridiculously easy project, and coming in at under $10 total, it’s pretty budget friendly as well.
What You’ll Need
1. Plug in your hot glue gun. Place your wooden letter in the center of your wreath and position it where desired. You could also place it off to the side or at the bottom of the wreath. After you have it positioned where you’re happy with it, cut a few lengths of floral wire with your wire cutters (I only had silver floral wire, but I’d suggest using green or brown so it hides better). Weave the wire through the wreath and wrap around your letter. Repeat this as many times as necessary until the letter feels sturdy and secure. Cut off any long ends of wire. This doesn’t need to look too pretty, as you’ll be covering the wire up with moss anyway.
2. After your wooden letter is secure and your hot glue gun has heated up, begin covering the letter with moss. Working in small sections, apply your hot glue generously, and press pieces of moss into it, fitting them together like a puzzle. Make sure to use enough glue to give the moss a good bind, but not enough that it squeezes through the moss and becomes visible. Use the handle of your pliers or something of the like to avoid burning your fingers. Moss is easy to work with, as it can be pulled apart, and has just enough moisture that it can be molded and formed into the shapes needed. Repeat this process until your letter is covered. If desired, cover the edges of the letter with small pieces of moss as well. It isn’t necessary to cover the edges, but it will make your final product look a lot better if you do.
3. After your letter is completely covered, let your glue dry for a few minutes. After dry, make sure to pull off any strings of hot glue, and add more moss to any spots that look bare. You can also trim any hanging pieces of moss on the edges of your letter with scissors if necessary.
4. Weave your choice of ribbon through your wreath, tie to the desired length, and hang! It’s that simple! This project took about 45 minutes to make, cost under $10 and looks fantastic. If I saw this wreath in someone else’s home, I’d be sure they spent a fortune having it custom made.
This could also be adapted to write out words, names, or skip the wreath and just hang the moss letter by itself, which would be great for wedding or party decor!
Note: the moss that I used smells bad. Very, very bad. I didn’t figure out where the smell was coming from until I spent a week blaming it on all of my pets/husband. I would suggest airing the wreath out for a bit outside before hanging it inside if your moss is as smelly as mine was!
At any given time, there’s usually around 3-4 candles burning in my house. I’m obsessed with the warm glow, cozy feeling that they give off, and obviously the yummy scents. But, I just can’t deal with paying the prices that retailers charge for something that’s so easily made, so off I went to the craft store to see about starting some candlemaking.
To get started, I decided to pick up a kit that had a little bit of everything I needed to experiment with. Candle making supplies are somewhat limited in my area, but I was able to find a molded candles kit by Craft Candles at my local Hobby Lobby. This kit is made for making molded, pillar candles, but is easily adapted to make poured candles.
This particular kit comes with a mold, three pounds of paraffin wax, 2 feet of braided wick, mold sealer, two craft sticks, candle colors in red, blue, and yellow, and candle scents. The contents of the box only listed one scent, Jasmine, but this kit happened to have two scents inside, which may have been a packaging error, but worked out for the best, as Jasmine really isn’t my favorite smell. This kit also comes with stearic acid, an additive used in candlemaking to assist in increasing burn time and opacity, and also Vybar, also an additive used in molded candle making particularly.
The kit is definitely a good starting point for anyone interested in candlemaking, but unfortunately, the directions provided are vague at best. If you’ve never made a candle before, I would think that this kit would be pretty frustrating to use. Luckily, I’ve had experience, and was able to adapt the kit to make poured candles pretty easily.
To make poured candles, you’ll need a couple other supplies not included in the molded candle kit:
Metal Wick Sustainers
Container of your choice
Hot glue gun
Small pair of pliers
Candy thermometer
Step 1: Select your container. You can make a poured candle in just about any glass, ceramic, etc. container, but for a beginner, I would recommend using a mason jar to get started. The high temperatures of the melted paraffin wax can shatter some containers very easily. Mason jars are meant to withstand high temperatures, so they’re the safest bet to get started. For this tutorial, I picked up some widemouth, pint size mason jars on sale at my local Hobby Lobby.
Step 2: Prepare and place your wick. There are a variety of wicks available in store. For a true beginner, you may want to pick up wicks at your local craft store that are prewaxed and already set in metal wick sustainers. For this project, I used rope wick and set it myself in metal wick sustainers. To do this, simply slide your wick into the top of the wick sustainer, and crimp it with your craft pliers.
After you’ve secured the wick into the wick sustainer, you’ll then need to secure the wick sustainer to the bottom of your container. Every candle maker has their own way of doing this. My preferred method is to place a dollop of hot glue onto the bottom of the wick sustainer, and then carefully lower it into the middle of the bottom of the mason jar, pressing it down with a craft stick. After you’ve pressed it down and held for a few seconds to allow the glue to adhere, you’ll then want to wrap your wick around your craft stick, and place it across the top of the mason jar, as pictured below:
This will keep your wick centered and upright while you pour your candles.
Step 3: Melt your wax. There’s a variety of different kinds of wax available for candlemaking, but for this particular tutorial, I used paraffin wax. Paraffin wax tends to be the cheapest wax to purchase, and is available in most craft stores. I melted my wax in a small, old cooking pot that I had around the house. Most craft stores also carry special metal melting pots with pouring spouts. This may be a little bit easier to work with, but I’ve never personally used one.
Note: As I’ve made candles frequently before, I don’t use a thermometer. But, I don’t recommend this for beginners. Paraffin wax is flammable, and I would strongly recommend using a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature of your wax. Mostly all store-bought wax will list the appropriate melting and pouring temperatures for that particular wax, and you should abide by the directions provided on the wax.
These particular candles used just around two of the small Craft Candles paraffin wax blocks provided in the kit.
You’ll want to cut your wax into small chunks using a good sharp knife. This can be a little difficult to do, so be very careful when cutting the wax to make sure you don’t cut yourself as well!
After cutting the wax into small chunks, place into your pan and turn onto the lowest heat that you can. You’ll want to slowly melt the wax, making sure you don’t overheat it.
Be patient with the melting process. Depending on the amount of wax, it can take up to around 20 minutes to completely liquify. Occasionally stir the wax with your craft stick during melting.
Step 4: Add your scent/color/additives: After your wax is completely liquified, turn off the heat. After the heat is off, you can begin to add your scents, colors, and additives. My preferred method of doing this is to start with color. Getting the perfect candle color takes practice, and can be difficult to judge, as the colors will change dramatically during cooling. I wanted an orange-colored candle for this tutorial, so I used a few drops of red, and a few of yellow, stiring with my craft stick until I reached the desired color.
After you’ve added your color, you can then add any additives, such as Vybar, or Stearic Acid, if you desire. These additives are not necessary for poured candles like this, but some candle makers prefer to use them. I did not use either for this tutorial.
After you’ve added any additives, you can add your scent. The amount of scent to use is all based on personal preference. I like strong candles, so I used around 15-20 drops of scent per candle. For this candle, I chose the “Banana Nut” scent, and it was amazing. My kitchen smelled like heaven for hours and hours after the candles were complete.
Step 5: Pour your candle. Opinion on the perfect temperature to pour your candle at varies by candlemaker, and also by the materials used. For poured mason jar candles, I like to allow the wax a few minutes to cool slightly, just to the point that it will begin to stick to my craft stick. After your wax has reached this point, make sure your wick is still centered in your mason jar, and then carefully and slowly pour your candle.
I prefer to pour these candles initially to the first thread for the metal lid. It’s important to remember when pouring to save a small amount of wax in your pan for topping off your candle later. Most wax, especially paraffin, has a tendency to sink and pit around the wick during cooling. Because of this, you’ll likely end up wanting to top off your candle to make it flat on the top. Let the remaining wax cool in your pan; you can remelt it as necessary.
Step 6: Let you candle cool. Cooling time varies, but I generally like to let my candles cool for 5-6 hours initially. This will allow the wax to mostly solidify. I do not recommend trying to advance cooling in a refrigerator, as you’ll see in some tutorials. Cooling in a refrigerator is fine with molded candles, but poured candles in glass or ceramic can shatter if you try and accelerate cooling.
Step 7: Top off your candle, if necessary. After 5-6 hours, check your candle for any drooping around the wick. If your wax has settled and you’re left with a gap around the wick, you can remelt your wax that you reserved in your pan as you did initially, and carefully pour the remelted wax into the pitted space around the wick. For these particular candles, one top off was sufficient. Occasionally, you may have to top off more than once, but that will vary by the wax used and temperatures.
Step 8: Trim your wick. After all wax has completely cooled, you can trim your wick down to around 1/4″ and remove your craft stick.
Step 9: Enjoy your candle! Your candle is now complete! For these candles, I added a little bit of gold-flecked crochet thread to decorate the jars.
As you can see, the color changed to a very light peach during cooling, but I was happy with the way it came out. These candles make great gifts, and could be adapted for really any occasion.
Lucky for me, Santa went shopping at Michael’s this year and brought me a lot of crafty presents. The one I’ve been most excited to get my hands into? This:
The Martha Stewart Glass Spray Paint kit. This kit claims to be able to turn any of your favorite Martha Stewart glass paints into spray paint easily, and just looking at the metallic vases featured on the cover of the kit, I couldn’t wait to test it out.
The kit includes the Martha Stewart spray medium, spray/mixing bottle with cap, and the paint sprayer, along with the tube that connects from the sprayer to the spray bottle.
Santa also brought me some Martha Stewart glass paint to go along with the spray kit. For this project, I used the Fine Glitter Translucent/Metallic Opaque Glass Paint Set. This set comes with eight different paints: 4 fine glitter and 4 metallic opaque.
I decided to use the Sterling Metallic Opaque paint, and found a small glass vase to test it out on.
I followed the instructions on the kit pretty closely. The instructions on the kit are as follows:
1. For Martha Stewart Crafts Glass Paints, thin at 1:1 ratio with included medium. Mix equal parts paint and medium in the included container, but do not fill above shoulder line. Shake thoroughly. Note: Add spray medium first for easier mixing.
2. Attach plastic tube to sprayer, then attached spray to bottle. Do not shake bottle once it is attached.
3. Align red dot on spray button with V-shaped notch on base of the sprayer.
4. Practice on scrap paper before spraying your project. Hold bottle upright 6 to 10 inches from surface. Never tilt more than 45 degrees.
5. Begin at the top and gently spray back and forth, overlapping each stroke for even coverage. To avoid drips, start spraying while in motion and release button while still in motion. Let dry and apply 2 or more coats as desired.
6. Eliminate clogs and sputtering by holding your finger over the red dot and pressing button for one second.
Note: the instructions do not mention cleaning your glass before painting, but I would recommend cleaning any glass before painting with rubbing alcohol. Premoistened alcohol wipes are very easy for this and don’t leave any residue behind.
After you’ve painted your glass project, you can cure the paint by either letting it sit, undisturbed for 21 days, or you can oven cure it. To oven cure, let your painted project dry completely. Place it on a cookie sheet, on a piece of foil to be safe, into a cold oven. It’s very important that the oven be cold. With your project in the cold oven, turn it on to 350 degrees, and set the timer for 30 minutes. After your timer goes off, turn the oven off, and let the project and oven cool completely before removing it. I usually will leave my projects in the oven overnight, just to be safe. After cured, projects are hand wash, or top rack dishwasher safe.
Cleanup is super easy with this kit. You’ll want to wash the paint spray container in warm, soapy water as soon as you’re done using (don’t forget the cap as well!). To clean the sprayer, fill the clean spray container with warm water, attach the tube and sprayer, and spray until the spray comes out clean. Cleanup took less than 5 minutes for this project.
Overall, I was pretty happy with the way my vase turned out. I ended up with a couple runs in the paint, as I went too heavy on the first coat. Next time, I’ll make sure to do a thin coat, let it dry completely, and then build additional coats onto it as necessary.
I take gift wrap seriously. Too seriously. My favorite part of the holidays, besides decorating my house, is planning and executing a new and extensive gift wrap theme, coordinating everything from ribbons and paper, to the gift tags. Generally, I try to make the wrapping theme match my tree and home decor, and this year in a new house with 6 Christmas trees (also a problem), I thought it would be easy to come up with a theme. But, I was wrong. I spent hours in the stores and on Pinterest trying to come up with something that I hadn’t done before, but I couldn’t. With four days until Christmas and the pressure on, I finally decided on a vintage theme, with Kraft paper and twine accessories, after falling for some light blue Kraft wrapping paper. I picked up some assorted vintage feeling ribbons, and decided on using some Red Hart gold-flecked crochet thread to help with a vintage feel. I picked up some gold glittered package tie-ons and went onto the gift tags…and nothing. The tag selection in the stores were horrendous, basically consisting of only the stick-on kind with neon colored reindeer, or Justin Bieber, neither of which were working for my theme, so I decided to get crafty.
Poking around my craft room, I found some various papers that would fit the theme. I went with a cream card stock, and picked out a couple different scrapbooking papers that I had; one that has various passages from old love stories in a broken-down-typewriter font, and one that has the same passages in some faded cursive script.
Next I got out some scalloped edge scrapbooking scissors, a hole punch, some round items to trace in various sizes (for these, I ended up using the inset cover for a self-sealing mason jar, and the bottom of a standard pint glass), my standard Martha Stewart glittering glue, some glitter, and a set of Martha Stewart crafting stencils. In my head, I imagined that I could trace a stencil in the letter of each gift-recipients first name, trace the tracing with glittering glue, glitter, and have glorious custom tags.
Not so much.
I’m not sure if it was the glue or what not, but it was disasterous. I tried with the brush that comes with the glittering glue, and also with various size paint brushes, and sponge pouncers, and nothing worked. I kept ending up with a pile of glitter in unreadable designs. I tried to freehand letters and glitter them, and that was even worse, as my penmanship is that of an intoxicated 12 year old. Discouraged, but not quitting, I poked around the craft room to see what else I could come up with, and found one of my favorite items ever created: the Sharpie Paint Pen. These have saved my crafting attempts on numerous occasions and I was hoping they could as well this time. I had a couple laying around in a nice metallic gold from an old project, and gave them a go.
1. Pick out your crafting papers. As mentioned, I picked a cream card stock and some vintage looking scrapbooking papers. I decided to do two layers, but you could get as elaborate or as simple with the papers as you’d like.
2. Pick out some round (or other shaped, whatever you like) items to trace to make the tags. I used the inset of a self sealing mason jar, and the bottom of a pint glass, mostly just because they were in front of me and looked right.
3. Trace the items onto your paper. I used the mason jar inset for larger circles on the cream card stock, and the bottom of the pint glass for smaller circles on the scrapbook paper. I got about 9 tags out of each 8.5×11 sheet.
4. Cut out your circles with your decorative scissors. I used a basic scallop shape. If you’re really particular, you could cut them out with regular scissors first, and then use the decorative scissors. I didn’t mind if mine came out a little rough, as it worked with the vintage feel I was going for.
5. Glue your layers together. I used some all-purpose Martha Stewart gel adhesive for this, and would recommend it, but you could use any glue that you’d like, just go lightly on it so you don’t end up with bubbles in between the layers. You could also use double sided tape or glue dots if you’re trying to avoid a mess or crafting with your children.
6. Punch a hole in your tag to use thread ribbon or string through, if you desire. I skipped punching holes in some and just glued them to gift wrap. They looked great either way.
7. Pick out your stencil. I used the first initial of the recipients name. Align your stencil based on the hole you punched, and trace into the tag lightly with pencil. Remove your stencil, and trace over your pencil tracing with your paint pen, and fill in.
8. (Optional) After I traced over the letters with the gold paint pen, I realized that they just weren’t “popping” enough. So, to make them stand out more, I traced around the edge of the letter with a fine black Sharpie to make them stand out more. You can skip this step though.
9. Cut pieces of ribbon, twine, string, etc. and tie the gift tags onto your packages, and you’re done!
I was thrilled with the way these came out. If I had more time, I probably could’ve gotten a bit more elaborate with them, but they came out pretty good and were a hit with everyone that received a package with one tied on!
I’ve been lusting over the idea of creating glittered wine/champagne glasses ever since I saw a post on one of my favorite blogs, Something Turquoise over a year ago, and finally decided to give it a shot this weekend. You can use the basics of this tutorial to do any design on your glass that you desire. For this tutorial, I used a faded effect, fading from the bottom of the glass to the top. You could also reverse this to fade from top to bottom, use stencils, painters tape to block off areas, etc. The options are really endless. I know I’ll be coming back to this technique soon with some other designs. These would make great holiday, birthday, bridal shower, bachelorette, etc. gifts as well! I plan to make them for Christmas gifts this year.
What You Need:
1. Glass of choice. You can use any kind of drinking glass you’d like, or anything other glass item, like a candleholder, vase, etc. I used a large white wine goblet from the dollar store for this tutorial. $1
2. Martha Stewart Multi-Purpose Glitter paint in your desired color. I used “Sterling” for this tutorial. I used about 1/4 of the bottle for 4 large wine glasses, but I went a bit too heavy, so it could definitely stretch further than that. $3.29 at Michael’s
3. Foam stenciling brush, sometimes also referred to as a “pouncer” or “spouncer”. Look for these in the paint aisle at your local craft store. I found these in a cheap variety foam brush 12-pack. $4.99 at Michael’s (don’t forget those 40-50% off coupons!)
4. Something disposable to put your paint in. I used a half of a styrofoam cup for this tutorial. Any kind of paper bowl or even plate in a pinch will work. Very Cheap to Free
Steps:
1. The first thing you’ll want to do is prep your glassware. Start by removing any labels or stickers. I’ll never understand why stores put stickers on glassware, but I suppose that’s besides the issue. Anyway, take any stickers/labels off the best you can. Then, you’ll want to give the glassware a good wipe down with rubbing alcohol. I found the easiest way to do this without any residue was to use alcohol wipes, or “prep pads” that I had around the house. You could do this with a cotton ball or makeup sponge, or really anything, but just be careful to wipe with a soft cloth after to remove any residue. Tip: The rubbing alcohol will also very easily remove any sticky residue that might be left from a sticker or label. Afterwards, let the glass dry completely, and try to keep your fingers off the area that you’re planning on painting.
2. Give your paint a good shake and squirt it into whatever container you’re using. Dip your brush lightly into the paint to get started. Tip: the less paint that fills up your foam brush, the easier your life is going to be. Lightly dip the brush at all times into the paint, and squeeze out excess paint occasionally to avoid globbing the paint on. I learned this lesson the hard way.
3. Start applying your paint to the bottom, working your way up the glass to the desired height. It’s important to remember to keep the paint at least a half inch or so away from any areas your mouth/lips will make contact with. The faded effect that I used in this tutorial is an easy place to start because you don’t have the be exact with it. The rougher your edges, the better it will actually look when you’re done.
4. After you apply the first layer as high as you’d like it to go, you’re going to want to give it a good hour or so to dry before you apply the second coat. Being impatient, I skipped this key drying time and the glasses didn’t turn out as neat as I’d have liked them to. In the future, I’ll be making sure to let all the layers dry at least an hour in between.
5. After drying, you can begin to start building layers, working your way up each time, to give the glasses a faded effect. By starting every layer at the bottom of the glass, you’ll end up with significantly more glitter at the bottom, fading up towards the top. Tip: make sure not to sponge the paint onto your glass too aggressively. If you push hard and quick on the sponge, you’ll force air bubbles into the paint, which will affect your final product. You want to gently, evenly dab the paint onto the glass, making sure to even out any “globby” areas.
6. After you’re happy with your paint, you have two different options to cure the paint to make it dishwasher (top shelf) and handwash safe. You can either let it sit, untouched, for 21 days, as per the bottle instructions, or you can oven cure the paint, which I would recommend.
7. To Oven Cure: One step I overlooked in the original tutorial, was to let the paint dry overnight before oven curing. I cured them right after I finished my last layer of paint, and though they came out pretty good, they definitely came out a little rougher looking then I would’ve liked them to. If you let them dry overnight, you’ll lose most of the air bubbles as well, and won’t end up curing them into the paint, as I did. After you’ve let them dry overnight, line a cookie sheet with foil (just in case) and put it into a cold oven. It’s very important that the oven be completely cold. This will allow the oven and the glassware to heat up at the same time and prevent cracking and shattering. Position your glassware on the foil-lined cookie sheet, making sure no items are touching. After you’re happy with their position, close your oven door, turn the oven to 350 degrees, and set the timer for 30 minutes. It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on anything that you’re oven curing in case of fire or smoke. I had no problems with oven curing this project, though. After the 30 minutes are up, turn your oven off and leave the glassware in the oven until it’s completely cool. This can take a few hours. I left my glasses in the oven overnight to cool.
8. After you’ve let them cool completely, take them out and admire your work! My first batch didn’t come out as pretty as I’d have liked them to, but I’m confident that my next batch will be better!
Total Cost: approximately $5.20 for 4 complete glasses