Stick Leaves

   With fall in full swing, cooler weather, and leaves falling from the trees, I decided it is the perfect time to stay inside and do crafts! I recently was picking up sticks in the yard when I decided I wanted to do something to use those sticks in a crafty way! My sister and I decided to make the shape of leaves using twigs. It was super easy!

Materials:
---Twigs of all sizes (but for sure one long one for the one down the middle of the leaf from the stem to the top)
---Hot Glue
---Fabric Leaves

1. ---Starting with the long stick (measuring however tall you want your leaf to be
2. ---Break and lay out smaller twigs to get the pattern leaf you desire. (I did a typical leaf, but my sister did a beautiful maple leaf pattern I wish I had a picture of. The possibilities really are endless and each is unique!)
3. ---Once you have the pattern you like, start hot gluing all the twigs together.
4. ---Let the hot glue cool and check to see if any of the twigs need some reinforcing. This is important! I tried to hang my leaf on one that was loose and when I let go, it fell to the floor and I had to start almost completely over =( So be sure the twigs you plan to hang them on are glued together very well to hold the leaf on the wall.
5. Glue on the fabric leaves where ever you desire to add color, then hang them on your wall! I have gotten so many compliments on the simple but fun piece of fall decor I added to my living room wall!
***I'd love to see pictures of your leaves in the comments below if you make one! And let me know if you have any helpful tips you found! Enjoy!

Cupcakes in a Cone

    These sweet treats are a super simple, but totally adorable twist on the typical cupcake. I have a bake sale coming up and I needed to find a quick, but fun treat to make before tomorrow. These cupcakes in a cone are perfect for a bake sale, birthday party, kids classroom party, or just about any sort of gathering!

Here is what you need:
-- (1) Box of cake mix of your choice
--The ingredients listed on the back to make the cake
--(24) Ice cream cones
--Frosting of your choice
--Sprinkles (or any other things you wish to decorate with)

   Simply follow the instructions on the back of your cake mix box to mix up the cake. Put the ice cream cones into a baking pan where they will fit snug without falling over (I used bread pans and eight cones fit in each perfectly). Pour batter into each cone up about 2/3rds of the way to the top. Bake the according to the directions on the package for cupcakes.

   When the cupcakes are done, take them out of the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting them or the frosting will melt. As soon as the cupcakes are cool, frost and decorate them as you please! The possibilities really are endless! I kept mine simple due to a busy day and needing to get them done and ready to go, but yet they are still cute and taste amazing!

Halloween Treats

     Being a Family and Consumer Sciences Education major and hoping to have my own family some day, it is important to know how to provide kids with healthy foods that are fun to eat so kids get the fruits and vegetables they need in a day. Here are just a couple ideas for fun and easy treats which are perfect to feed kids instead of Halloween candy, and they still look intriguing to kids!

    Cutie Pumpkins:
12 cuties
4 stalks of celery

These are so easy to make! Just peel the cuties and stick a short piece of celery in the middle.... and tada! Pumpkins!


Monster Apples- (Yields 30 monsters)
3 granny smith apples
2 cups of Peanut Butter
Mini Marshmallows
60 Toothpicks
1 cup Almond Slices
Black food dye (or frosting)

   Slice each apple into 20 slices (a Pampered Chef apple slicer makes 10 slices so just cut each of those in half and it is super easy!) Put about 1 tbsp on an apple slice, then put another apple slice on top of it with green sides facing the same direction. Repeat until all of the slices are used.

   Next, for the teeth... place the almond slices skinny (pointy side) down onto the peanut butter to create the teeth of the monsters. Then, place two toothpicks into each with marshmallows on the end for the eyes. To put dots on each eyes, either black food dye or a small amount of black frosting can be used. When all of these steps have been repeated for each monster, you are done! How cute are those?!?!

Fall Baking and Crafts!

This weekend was a fun time spent with a wonderful friend doing some baking, crafts, and catching up to celebrate the fall season! We made some amazing food to snack on and each did a fun craft while we drank our apple cider and visited!

We made our own hot apple cider, mini apple pies, pumpkin fluff, candy corn rice krispies, and cut up some fresh orange watermelon from my garden! For crafts, we made a fall wreath and a couple country votive candle holders.

Hot apple cider recipe:

64 FL oz (one jug) Honey Crisp Apple Juice

5 sticks of cinnamon

1 tsp clove

1 tsp allspice

-Simmer for about 20 minutes to enhance flavor then enjoy!

Our candy corn were super simple.

Candy Corn Rice Krispies:

--We dyed normal rice krispies an orange color with red and yellow food coloring. Then we dipped one end in chocolate almond bark and the other in white chocolate.

Apple pie bites:

1 tube of original Cresent rolls

1 granny smith apple cut into 8 pieces

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp clove

1/4 tsp allspice

2 Tbsp butter

Chopped walnuts (optional)

--- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine brown sugar, clove, allspice, and cinnamon. Roll out each Cresent roll and spread with melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar combination and a few chopped walnuts. Place the apple on top of that and roll up the Cresent roll. Top with more melted butter and sugar mixture. After doing all eight bites, bake for 12 minutes. Take out of the oven and allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving. (Optional- drizzle with a little caramel sauce before eating)

Pumpkin Fluff:

1 tub whipped cream

1 1/2 cups pumpkin (I used some I had frozen in my freezer from our home grown pumpkins but canned will work too)

1 tsp pumpkin spice

1 pkg vanilla pudding mix

1 cup dark chocolate chips

---Combine all ingredients in a bowl and serve with graham crackers and/or sliced apples!

-For our wreath craft, we bought a stick wreath at walmart and glued a sunflower and some pinecone to a corner to add a little color.

-Then we also took small votive candle holders and hot glued short pieces of broken twigs to the sides to create some fall table decor.

Wine Bottle Tiki Torches

      Wine bottles have many decorative uses after they are empty; however, I wanted to give them a functional use. I wanted something fun to sit on the table when eating meals outside on the patio, plus I wanted to keep bugs away. So, I decided to turn the two wine bottles I had into table top tiki torches. It was super easy and didn't take any more than 5 minutes to put together once I found all of the supplies I needed.
    I ended up ordering the tiki wicks and the fuel from Amazon for a pretty reasonable price, the hex piece(s) came from Bomgaars, and the pebbles came from Walmart.


------Here's What you Need:------

Wine bottles
Tiki Wicks
3/4 inch hex brushing
pebbles (optional) or other "filler"
Tiki fuel




------Here's What to Do:------

1) Remove the labels from your wine bottles
       (or you can leave them on- I left one on and took the other one off)
2) Fill your wine bottles with the pebbles or filler you pick out.
3) Put the tiki wick through the hex piece
4) Fill the bottles with fuel not quite all the way to the top
5) Rest the brushing and wick onto the top lip of the wine bottle
6) It is ready to light and be used!
----Yes, it is that easy!----

Pallet Couch

My most recent DIY was making a pallet couch to create a flexible, functional, and fashionable furniture piece for my living room. I say flexible because it can be used as seating, as well as be used as an extra bed for guests if they need a place to stay since the cushion is essentially a twin mattress with a cover. I say functional because it can seat numerous people in addition to other furniture in the living room. I use the term fashionable because it is unique and personalized to fit the style of my living room.

Supplies:

(4) Pallets -see below for advice in picking out pallets

(1-2) gallons of primer depending on pallet size

(1) gallon of satin or semi-gloss depending on preference

(1) twin mattress

(1) twin fitted sheet

decorative pillows to fit your liking

Article in an Organic Gardening Magazine I have.
the June/July 2014 version on page 66.

          This project really was an easy and fun project; however, it was very time consuming when it came to painting the pallets. The first step in the process was to find the pallets I wanted to use. There are a couple things to keep in mind when searching for pallets. The first is that not all pallets are the same. It is important to find pallets that will fit well and work well together if they are not exactly identical. Some pallets are longer than others, some are deeper than others, and so on. I was lucky enough to find four (4) pallets that were exactly the same and in great shape! The second thing to keep in mind is where the pallets came from and how/if they were treated. (See picture titled Pallet Precautions.) The third is the condition and sturdiness of the pallets. You want to make sure you have pallets that are not breaking down, starting to mold, or are broken. You want strong wood that is put together well and will withstand the weight of people over time as they sit on the couch.

          After choosing my pallets, I had to choose the primer and paint. I chose to use a heavy duty primer to be sure it sealed the wood and got into all the cracks and crevices. I hand brushed on the coat of primer to be sure I got it thick and into all the spaces I need to fill. This process took a long time to get in between and under each piece of wood. It took a while to dry because of putting it on fairly heavy, but it sealed the wood very well. After the primer had dried completely, I used a paint sprayer to put on the top coat of paint. This coat of paint went a lot faster than the primer using the sprayer; however, I still recommend doing the primer coat by hand so you can be sure it gets put on well. I then let the pallets dry again so they were ready to assemble and bring in the house.

          I stacked the pallets 2 high and 2 wide on top of an area rug to prevent scratching my wood floor. Then, I put a regular sized twin mattress on top of the pallets which worked perfectly without overlapping the edges of the pallets. I used a foam mattress topper on top of the mattress, as well to make the couch more comfortable. At Walmart, I found a red fitted sheet to put over the mattress. While on a mini vacation, I went to an Ikea store and found the perfect pillows to match my living room. I picked 3 big fluffy pillows and 26x26 inch covers to fill up the back and serve as a back rest along the wall I put the couch on. The covers are a heavy duty polyester and cotton material which is durable and washable. I went with this type of material since I know they will be used often; therefore, needing washed often. I assembled the pallet couch in my living room and tada! I now have a fun piece of up-cycled furniture that cost me far less than buying a new couch would! This would be a great idea for a dorm room, too! Students could have a couch and bed all in one!

Up-cycle Project ~ Dresser

Up-cycling has become a huge trend in design in recent years. I have found myself caught in the excitement of taking something old and giving it a new look. I have had a dresser for quite some time now that has been sitting in my shop unused and missing a drawer. Finally, I decided I wanted to make some use of it and up-cycle it to give it a new look to go in my bedroom. I love using the eight Rs: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, repair, restore, re-purpose, and redesign. Not only did this project cost me next to nothing because I was reusing resources I already had, but I go a brand new designer looking dresser out of it. I ended up only spending about $10 on the entire project. (More on that to follow.) As a future teacher of Family and Consumer Sciences, I want to teach my students how to be resourceful in so many ways; therefore, I wanted to do this project to showcase one way to be resourceful.

 Here is my dresser before the transformation. I started out by cleaning off the dresser and wiping out each drawer as it was full of dust and cob webs from sitting in the shop for so long. I then took each knob off the drawers to prepare them to be painted. I sanded down the entire dresser, as well as each knob to get off excess paint and rough up the surface so the paint would stick better.

  Where the drawer was missing at the bottom, I decided to make a shelf. I measured and cut an old piece of paneling to put along the bottom of the dresser. Then I spray painted both the dresser and the knobs with black spray paint. I bought the spray paint at Walmart for about $3.

  For the drawers, I bought some fabric at Walmart for $2 per yard. It only took about a yard to do all four drawers. I used spray adhesive I bought at a yard sale for $0.25 to put each piece of cut fabric onto the drawers. Then, around the edges I used the hot glue I had to glue the along the edges down nicely to make sure the fabric wouldn't come off.

The finished project!

When the hot glue had cooled and the paint was dry. I assembled the dresser by putting the handles back onto the drawers. I lined each drawer with some shelf lining that I also bought at a yard sale for $0.50 just to better protect the bottom of the drawers.

I absolutely love the finished project. It was a total transformation! Now the dresser that was sitting in my shop totally useless is a trendy piece of furniture in my bedroom! Best of all, I only spent about $6 and some of my time to completely up-cycle it!