Movie inspired craft: UP

Beware! Extreme cheesiness ahead!

The crafting bug has been gnawing at me lately and lots of my ideas have been revolving around my sweetie, who will be leaving for the peace corps this summer. He doesn't even know where he is ending up yet but he has asked if I will come and visit him. I had the idea to make a money jar that said "Plane ticket to...?" but then I thought of a better idea- UP.

We both love the movie Up so I decided that I would make a Paradise Falls money jar.

I already had a mason jar I wanted to use and I had found a map-patterned piece of scrapbook paper that I wanted to use for the lid and label. So it is not an exact match but this is one of those times where it is really the thought that counts : )

 

Supplies: 

-Mason jar with lid (do not need the solid center part)

-lightweight cardboard

-paper for lid cover and label (as fancy or simple as you wish)

-mod podge

-marker

-Scissors

Optional: 

-fancy scrapbook scissors for the label

-exacto knife to make the lid cover cutting easier

      

 1. Trace the top of your jar onto both the cardboard and paper

 2. Cut a money slot for the lid cover
 3. Glue cardboard and paper together

 4. Cut a label for your jar. Write your message and mod podge it on (I tried to copy the lettering of 'Paradise Falls' from the label in the movie)

 5. Fill with money! (I cheated and transferred the contents of my several 'coin dishes' that I have around)

I sent the last picture to my sweetie who liked it so much I am making another one for him.

This would also make a super cute gift bag- complete it with a copy of the movie Up, add an Ellie badge and tie a balloon to the bag.

Spring Thrifting

I should be spring cleaning (Christmas stuff is still up outside!) But I have been unmotivated while snow remains on the ground. At least I am getting back to some of my normal routines now that I am learning to balance life's distractions a bit better.

After a less-than-great day at work I had the huge urge to hit the thrift shop up. I have a couple of projects in my head that I want to get off the ground and the thrift shop seemed like a good start. Well I didn't really find the project supplies that I wanted but I did make a good haul!

 

A bright knit hat (much like my favorite purple!), a vintage slip, a French scarf, and 2 bowls for $3.70!

This is still the cheapest thrift shop in town. It takes a bit of digging and the turnover is not the best but it is worth it when you find something!

Love this scarf! I will have to spend a bit of time washing everything. I have plans for the slip- getting really into vintage lingerie at the moment. And it might be FINALLY getting too warm for the hat but I am sure there will be chilly days yet.

Happy Thrifting!

Dragon Eggs!

Did everyone have an epic Game of Thrones day?! (And a Happy Easter?) Season 3 premiered last night and I made a set of three mini egg cakes as a hostess gift.

Mini chiffon eggs with Bavarian cream in the center. Two have buttercream frosting and the third is chocolate ganache. They are decorated to look like the three dragon eggs from Game of Thrones. And yes, they were quite delicious.

I have been neglecting my little corner of the internet. Finally getting some time to dust off the cobwebs a bit. I hope it keeps up because I have lots of cool things and ideas I feel like sharing. Happy April!

Classic Gingerbread

Have I mentioned that I am obsessed with Gingerbread houses? I think they are just the most adorable. I have dreams of hosting an epic gingerbread house decorating party but everytime I start to think about the details it all becomes a little overwhelming. Some day. For now I will have to console myself with helping out at my work's gingerbread class they host every year. We had an extra house one day, and some extra time so I got to decorate a house. I did one last year with the candy and such but this year I decided to let the kids use the candy and I would content myself with just using some royal icing.

Classic and sort of vintage feeling. And delicious...did I mention delicious? I think I better go make some gingerbread cookies to enjoy right now!

Happy Holiday Baking and Making!

Christmas Candy: DIY Outdoor Decor

I have had the idea in my head of making my house look like a giant Gingerbread house for quite awhile. I am finally going to start making that happen! I made some cute Christmas candy lollipops for the front yard for super cheap.

I started with a broken drying rack that I had lying around (I never throw anything away!)

 First I took all the white dowels off of the rack.

 I bought some styrofoam plates for the candy part. I needed something that would hold up well in weather. To make it look a little more candy-like and less plate-like I trimmed off the outer edge of the plates.

 ....And I kept the scraps to make some other project!

 Using craft paint from my stash I whipped up some lollipops. After experimenting with a few different designs I was most happy with the 'traditional' swirl design so I made more of those. This would be fun to do with kids- they could make whatever candies they wanted!

 Even though you will mostly only see one side of these I made each one so that both sides were decorated. After the paint was dry I took each pair of plates and sandwiched them around the dowels and glued them together. I finished them By wrapping some clear plastic bags on top and tying with some ribbon.

Thankfully the ground hasn't gotten so solid that I could fairly easily just shove these in the ground. It will look a bit more Christmasy once there is some snow on the ground! It will probably take me a couple of years to get enough projects done to make it look properly 'gingerbread' house but I am up for the challenge.

More outdoor decor to come!

Happy Christmas Crafting!

Holiday Time: Cherpumple

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! The day of my sister and I kept it pretty quite...but the weekend before a dream of mine came true. I made a Cherpumple! Anyone who has known me for awhile has probably heard me talk about this monster cake. The idea is taken from the Turducken- the chicken inside of a duck inside of a turkey. Except this is cakes and pies! I saw this YouTube video a couple of years ago and have been dreaming about it ever since.






My friend said we should make it for our Friendsgiving party we were going to and I jumped at the chance. It was not a perfect project but it was a lot of fun. The bottom layer is a pumpkin pie in a spice cake. The next layer is an apple pie in a yellow cake and the top layer is a cherry pie in a white cake. Working in a bakery I should have seen some of our problems coming a mile away...but we just didn't have time to really do it right!

 It was still too warm when we put it together to frost it. The layers were trying to slide all over and the pressure of the weight was making the top crack. I was FLIPPING OUT and we ended up plastic wrapping the heck out of the entire thing so we could get it to the party!

 Taking the wrap off. I made someone else deal with the cake so when it fell apart I could blame it on someone else! Kidding! But seriously....

After the first piece was cut a lava flow of frosting and pie came out with it! It was pretty funny. But everything tasted pretty good so we are going to call it a win! You live and learn.




Onward to Christmas!!! I am already listening to music (like right now) and watching movies : ) Just pulled out all of my Christmas stuff out of my closet and I have some craft projects started!!! 

Thrifting: Holiday Outfit Edition

Nothing seems to make my heart sing quite like sequins. I think that when I was in school and a die-hard tomboy the years of shunning all things 'girly' has now swung to the other end of the spectrum. Now I am the girl with sparkle everything, way too many dresses, and an obsession with pink. Hmm. Cycles I tell ya.


Combine thrift store finds AND sparkles and you have a most winning combination in my book!

The perfect Christmas green sequin shirt! All the stores are all a glitter this time of year for the holidays coming up and I love snagging a thrifty-vintage find. At $3 this top also be easy on my tight holiday budget! It came complete with shoulder pads but I took those out!

This lovely dress also had elbow pads. Not quite a sparkly beauty but the cute print and small details on this dress make it a great find in my book!

Both of these outfits look slightly frumpy on my tiny dress form. They look even better on someone with the curves to fill them out a bit ; )

Are you already planning holiday outfits?