Paper Lanterns: Tangled Style

I have to preface this by saying, I forgot I had this entry in the works and it is LOOOONG overdue!

I would like to think I am only a borderline Disney freak. Frankly, I dislike the Mouse. But I love the Princesses! I insisted on celebrating my 25th birthday at Epcot! So anyway. When it came time to throw my mom a birthday party (it was one of those important birthdays- 21 finally!), naturally I decided it should be Princess themed! She loved the movie Tangled, and I love an excuse to get in costume. So I started looking for crafty ideas to decorate the party. Don't get me started on the crazy (yet well executed) idea I had to make her a Tangled cake (also inspired by Disney Food)!

Thanks to Monique for the help- we may have a career in the cake business...

Now, the original Lantern plans can be found here, but I have my modified version to share with you. I tried it their way, but found my own "shortcuts" worked out better, if I do say so myself. ;)

Some of my helpful hints:
~Cutting the scrapbook paper (not the super thick kind, but thick enough to hold its shape) to various sizes made the lanterns more interesting.
~I found a ruler (mine was metal) really helped get nice crisp folded edges.
~Mini Glue Dots are your friend! Not mess, no drying time.
~Thin jewelry wire and button stickers to hold in place the "handle"
 

My finished product! I think I made about 20 or so!

 

I'm a little bummed at the moment that I can NOT remember where I saved the in progress pictures! As soon as I do, I will share! (And I do hope it is soon!)

 

If you happen to attempt this project without my full-on how-to, let me know how they turn out!! Or if you have any fun crafts, I'm always looking for more! (not that I need any more, I have a folder of to-do crafts on my desktop already......)

The Best Granola Bars EVER

Due to popular demand, here is my secret recipe for Home Made Granola Bars. There are other ingredient options but these are the ones that I use!

Ingredients:     1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats 1/3 cup wheat flour* 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 10oz bag of dark choc. chips** 1/3 cup organic peanut butter*** 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 tablespoon water 1/2 cup agave nectar ****   Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats, flour, salt, cinnamon, and dried fruit/nut/choc mix. Add the organic peanut butter, vanilla extract, water, and agave nectar. Stir with a spatula until the entire mixture is well combined. This takes some muscle. Spray Scr*w that, use muffin tin liners! Spoon into muffin tins.  Now, this is an important step: press the granola into the pan. Bake for 15-20min or until edges have browned. Let cool on counter until you can place in the fridge for 1-2hrs. Once cooled, pop them out from the muffin tin with a spoon. Store in airtight container and enjoy! =D   *original recipe called for oat flour which is just too much work when regular flour substitutes just fine! **feel free to experiement here, if you like dried fruit use 2-3 cups, if you like Andes Mints try the Andes Mint Chips. The possibilities are endless! Mix and match- have fun. For some add-ins, 3 cups may be too much. ***I havent done this myself, but the original recipe said you can substitue for any other nut butter ****Original recipe said honey or corn syrup worked as well Let me know in the comments what kind of success you have with this! The best part about them is they are healthy and OH SO filling!!

Got Blood? An Afternoon Craft

In my closet has been a T Shirt that my dad gave to me, oh let us say 2 years ago. Sure. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to make a pillow out of it. So there it sat. Until today. If you find yourself with some free time (about 30min) and the following items laying around your house, I challenge you to make one!


What you need:
-A pillow
-A T Shirt (that you WANT to cut up)
-Scissors
-Aileen's Tacky Glue OR Needle/Thread
-Some creativity

First off I needed a pillow- so I picked one up at Ikea (*swoon*) the other weekend for $5. The TShirt I had in mind was black with a Red/White design. I opted for the red pillow as the background (although there were also black, navy, green, and off white).

Don't mind my arm there. 

Anywho, next I needed to work out the details of cutting up the shirt.

 

I cut the small blood drop out of the back of the shirt. Then cut the front of the shirt off so it was easier to work with. After I got that off, I went in closer around the design, but not so close as to risk cutting into it. 

T Shirt material is a slippery/stretchy foe.

My mangled shirt.

What I learned from cutting this out was my mom's new scissors were no match for my safety scissors from elementary school. The large ones worked well enough for cutting the front of the T Shirt off but were terrible for cutting closer to the design.

See my sticker label on the green ones had my name on them!

Now that everything is cut out how I like it, it was time for some fun with tacky glue! TACKY is an understatement. Maybe its the fact that my mom has had this glue sitting in the cabinet for an eternity, or the name of it is spot on. Either way, it beat the alternative to trying to sew both pieces on by hand.

Could I do it you ask? Yes. Did I want to? No, not really.

For about 20-30min worth of work, I know own the coolest Halloween pillow ever! So thanks Dad for the shirt. :)

 This is actually my second attempt at turning an old shirt into a new pillow. I can't find pictures of the first right now. Sadface. It was much more labor intensive, as I simply cut the front and back of the t-shirt off and hand stitched them back together to form a square pillow cover for a pillow I again bought at Ikea. (It is possible I need to get a sewing machine.) Surprisingly it turned out quite nice, but alas you won't get to see it here. I, for one, am feeling accomplished for the day.

Tell me, what items have you picked up from around the house and made into something new? Or share your T-Shirt-to-pillow success stories here!

Coupon Maniac

Folks- its time we talk about something real for a minute. We have an epidemic sweeping the nation and taking control of lives- leaving us wanting more, drowning us in obsession. I'm talking about coupon-ing people!

Just last night my coworker was telling me she had to do some shopping today because her other half left her an itemized shopping list including where to go, what to get and how to get it [for free]. Then she was to come home and take a picture of all the free stuff. I can only assume the picture will surface later today on The Krazy Coupon Lady's blog. If you don't know its a blog to show you how to score some really great deals; there is also a place to brag about your sweet deals... its called the Brag Lounge. Personally, one of my biggest wins was a loaf of bread for $0.30. That's some old school prices right there. Last week I spent less than $5 at Target and got Glade, Halls, 20 photo prints and something else. That was pretty awesome as well.

Now, I know I don't have the time to plan an entire weeks worth of shopping to save 80% off my final bill, but I do what I can when I can. I clip coupons out of the paper and in the mail. I check ads for deals, I check online websites (Target, Publix...) for their coupons and ads. Plus, I'm pretty convinced that unless you are stockpiling for the end of the world or have kids, couponing may only be saying you 10-30%. Savings are savings though, especially when the gas station is the most depressing place to be right now.

Can anyone tell me how to get cheap gas?!?!?

via

For newbie couponers, the biggest pitfall can be printing out coupons just because. If it's not something you need, do not bother with it. Unless its a really great deal, then by all means go for it and try something new! 

And be careful or you might end up with a binder like this:

 

via

Who knows, maybe you too can save 50-80% off your shopping. Otherwise, keep an eye on the KCL blog to at least save a couple dollars for the gas station.

Excuse me, I'm going to go have a good cry now... *sobbing softly*

What have your biggest savings looked like?

Soap Making 101

As of 4pm today I have a new respect for those that make soap for a living. For Christmas my brother gave me a soap making kit. It has taken me til now to attempt it. I have more than a creative bone in my body so I thought it might be 'easy.'

HA

As it turns out, its a long process. It took me over an hour to make four soaps and wreck the kitchen. Which now smells like fragrant oils since it spilled all over the counter and the instruction sheet. Here is the result of a ruined manicure:

Pretty colors sure...

Not very pretty details...

I'm sure with a little practice I could get better results. But the next time I try this, it will be under the care and supervision of a professional. In the meantime I will go back to purchasing from some of my favorite stores like Sunbasil Garden. Clearly she has a talent for it.

 

Have you ever attempted something new only to learn its not as easy as you'd think?

Going Going Green! Part 2

In this episode of going green we're going to re-think our daily routine! No really, think about the things you do every day and what you use to do them. One of the most harmful albeit necessary things we do regularly is clean! All those chemicals!!! Not only are we harming ourselves but the environment as well. There are better ways to clean!

One of the biggest things I do now is clean with vinegar. This is particularly helpful with the bunnies litter box. Sanitize and deodorize! I use a 1 part white distilled vinegar, 1 part water and a splash of lemon juice mix. Always have a gallon of this handy. There are 1001 uses for white distilled vinegar, literally- check out www.vinegartips.com Although I must admit I am not racing to the pantry to test out all the health suggestions.

Something I've never been able to figure out is why people want to use bleach for everything. I mean have you smelled this stuff? YUCK! One of my new favorite brands to clean with is Seventh Generation. It actually works! I tried a bottle of Greenworks (I had a coupon) and it just isn't the same. Given these economic times I would normally say save your money, but Seventh Generation smells good and its much healthier all around.

When I was a college student I began an obsession with my Swiffer. A combination of lazy roommates and an easy way to clean the floor- I was hooked. Then one day it dawned on me that the Swiffer has one flaw- its wasteful! I mean how many Swiffer pads end up in the trash every year? Then I came across these beautiful handcrafted covers. You can buy them from Ollie's Boutique on Etsy. (Thus began my obsession with Etsy which is a whole other story....) Anyway- this product happens to be one of my favorite finds. It works a thousand times better than the dry disposable Swiffer pads or a broom for that matter. I still haven't quite solved the wet Swiffer pad dilemma, but maybe someone else has some ideas for that...

What kinds of green products are you finding to help you find your shade of green?

A Certain Shade of Green- Going Green

A few years ago I decided to "Go Green." Not in all aspects of life because, lets be honest, we've all got some creature comforts we don't want to live without. So I think at this point in life I've found the "perfect shade of green." Going Green to me means adapting our every day lives to help ease years of damage we have done to ourselves and this massive hunk of rock we live on.

My first step was grocery shopping. Every Sunday, or just about, we go grocery shopping with an armload of reusable bags. I slowly started with just two and now we probably have more than 10 in the house. The best part is, reusable bags are everywhere and a majority of mine I didn't pay for! Oftentimes you can find someone giving these away for free. I hope that more places start offering incentive to use green bags, like Ikea where you have to bring your own or buy and Target where you get 5 cents off per bag you use.

During the week if I have to run to the store for something I opt for a plastic bag at the store. BUT I do this because I reuse those too! Plastic bags make great trash bags for bathroom/office cans. We also use them for pet waste. Every couple of days our rabbit's litter pan needs changing... plastic bags are the perfect size!

My next step was investing in Lunapads! That monthly visit from Aunt Flow is uncomfortable enough without having to deal with itchy, yeast-infection-causing store bought pads! I only wish I had found these sooner, I would have been saved years of discomfort. The health benefits are enough to make me switch, the green benefits are an added bonus. Lunapads estimates "that a single Lunapad replaces approximately 120 disposable pads or tampons." Considering the waste our cycles cause annually is in the double digit billions, you should be buying some right now! You'll save money too, as a set of these should last up to 5 years.

 (Lunapads starter kit example)

I've also invested in the Diva Cup (which I have yet to master) as well as a cloth handkerchiefs- all from Lunapads. I love my cloth tissue, but I suffer from allergies and would need too many of these to ditch the Kleenex box all together. So pretty and soft blue breeze pattern>>



I have lots more Going Green/Natural tips. But for now- whats are you doing to find your Shade of Green?