Cupcake Pincushions

 Just before Christmas I saw this idea on a website. It was titled "Dollar Store Crafts". (I was already drooling!) Now if you aren't fortunate enough to live in an area that has a Dollar Store in it, I'm very sorry for you. Honestly, I am! I find more items in that store than I care to elaborate on! It's awesome.
Anyway, I had just been there and seen these cute little plastic ramekins in red or white. Three in a package for $1! I didn't buy them considering we have many, many ramekins in our house. Little did I know I could turn them into such a fantastic and useable item for my home!
I have the website address listed at the bottom of this page to 'give credit where credit is due'. I followed most of the directions there, except for the variety of  'frosting' colors and 'topping' options, as seen in my photos.
STEP 1: Purchase: ~Ramekins from the Dollar Store
                               ~Fabric for 'cupcakes'. I used felt & fleece
                               ~Polyester fiber-fill
                               ~ Hot glue
                               ~'Sprinkles' and 'cherries' etc...


Have fun when adding 'sprinkles' and special 'frostings'!

STEP 2: Cut out an 8" circle from your fabric. Here is where you will add embellish- ments: Any beads should be sewn on. Adding rick-rack?.. it should be hot glued on at this time. Stick on or flat hot-glued items can be added during STEP 5. Using a needle and thread, do a running stitch around the diameter of the circle. Leave the thread long at one end and gently pull the thread, gathering the fabric together, leaving a 1 to 2 inch opening.
STEP 3: Using the fiberfill, stuff the cupcake top. Make sure it's quite firm, or you won't have a very pretty cupcake top! Draw thread tight and knot.
STEP 4: Run a line of hot glue around the inside of the ramekin, close to the rim. (Doesn't need to be precise) Quickly place bottom of cupcake top down into ramekin, holding it in place for a few seconds as it cools.

Fancy 'swirled' chocolate frosting!

STEP 5: Hot glue 'cherry' to the top of the cupcake. Add any stick on or hot-glued embellishments at this time.


Web address for original pattern: http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2011/01/cupcake-pin-cushions/

Homemade Eye Makeup Remover: Olive Oil

Costco is where I purchase our oil. 

Luxury defined: noun 1. a material object , service, etc., conducive to sumptuous living, usually a delicacy, elegance, or refinement of living rather than a necessity. In other words we don't need it, but we sure like having it!
This is how I feel about eye makeup remover. I love using it...it's made especially for the delicate eye area...it either feels good going on, or smells good. It's also something I had never even heard of until I was married and had 3 of my 4 children! (Ok...I didn't get out much) But it was definitely something I knew I didn't need, (I had removed my eye makeup for years with just soap and water) but I liked using it. You know. A luxury.
Well, recently we've been cutting back on our spending, which has moved eye makeup remover somewhere close to the bottom of the shopping list. Right down there with ziploc bags and cling-free sheets. I simply looked up 'homemade eye makeup remover' on the internet and found all kinds of ideas. After some trial and error and a little bit of research, we found a brand new favorite beauty product...and we found it in the kitchen!
We started out applying the oil using a cotton ball, but quickly discovered a lot of oil was being absorbed into the cotton ball, which is not only wasteful, but also more expensive. I bought a few reusable plastic squeeze bottles with flip-tops, which can be found at the following website: http://www.qosmedix.com/pages/category/8/Packaging.aspx.
We simply apply a few drops to our fingertips and gently smooth the oil over the eye area. We then wash with our regular face wash. Any residual oil I simply consider a bonus eye moisturizer! It's so mild on your skin and I've read numerous sources that name olive oil as an excellent moisturizer, even for eczema sufferers! Try it...you'll be pleasantly surprised...and a little richer!

Lemon Meringue Pie Cookies

This is one of those fantastic recipes that are so easy, yet turn out surprisingly delicious! I was told the recipe while on jury duty, so I quickly scribbled it down on something I found in my purse. (Can't remember what it was...receipt, deposit slip, napkin...but WHO CARES!? I got the recipe!!)

1 box lemon cake mix
1-8 oz. tub Cool Whip, thawed
1 egg
1 tsp lemon extract (I used vanilla the first time, since I had no lemon extract on hand. They tasted awesome, so I've continued to use vanilla)
Powdered sugar, for rolling dough

STEP 1: Peheat oven to 350*.

STEP 2: Combine all ingredients in bowl. Mix well. Dough will be extremely sticky.

STEP 3: Here's where the powdered sugar comes in handy...pour some into a bowl or dish. Use a spoon or melon ball scooper (sprayed with non-stick cooking spray) to scoop up dough and plop into powdered sugar. Place dough ball on a cookie sheet lined with parchment, after rolling it in the powdered sugar. DO NOT FLATTEN.

*TIP: I use a scooper the size of a walnut. I place 12 on my baking sheet, which is pretty large.  The cookies will spread out to be about 2 1/2 to 3" in diameter. It really doesn't matter what size your cookie sheet is as long as the cookies have that extra room on all sides.


STEP 4: Bake exactly 15 minutes. Cookies may seem too gooey...(I'm getting hungry just typing this!)

ENJOY!



The powdered sugar adds a beautiful design.



Donut Pincushion!



A yummy box of pincushion pastries!!!

 Looks good enough to eat!....but I'm sorry to say, looks can be deceiving. But, hey, they don't have any calories....

Here's a super simple project for those of us who love our sweets but don't want the extra pounds!

STEP 1: Cut the round pieces of the donut from tan felt. Cut two, one for the top, one for the bottom. (Pattern below)


STEP 2: Cut one 'frosting' piece from pale pink felt.




Maybe try making a chocolate donut with chocolate frosting or....?

STEP 3: Stitch the 'frosting' to the top donut piece using a blanket stitch.

STEP 4: Add 'sprinkles'.....any pretty beads that look like 'sprinkles' to you!

STEP 5: Stitch top donut to bottom donut in the center of the donut, using a blanket stitch.  Start stitching top to bottom at outside of donut, using blanket stitch. Stop and stuff  'donut' at intervals, continuing around the donut, until entire donut is stitched and stuffed.

STEP 6: ENJOY!!!



Print 2 copies: One pattern for 6" donut and one for frosting.

 

Felt Cardinal

An easy and inexpensive Christmas ornament.

I'm fully aware that Christmas is just behind us, (...at least for a few months!) but I wanted to share a simple yet elegant idea, which of course, is ultra cheap!!! I came across it recently in an old Christmas craft book I own, so I can't take the credit for the pattern, although I did my own thing, as usual.


STEP 1: Print out the pattern below and cut the pieces from felt. I used felt squares (more like 8"x10", actually) from the craft store that were .34 cents each! (WooHoo!!) I shrunk the pattern slightly, so I got all 7 pieces from the same piece of felt! (I feel another 'woohoo' coming on....)

STEP 2: Stitch 'tummy' piece to left body piece, lining up 'tummy' piece right under birds beak, and stitching down & around towards the bottom of bird, ending just before the tail starts. (Refer to photo, below)  **Here's where I did my own thing: the original pattern says to sew on a machine, with right sides together (not a concern when working with felt), turn out...etc. I followed the original directions but it looked a bit funky.... so instead I placed the two sides together, with right sides out, and did a blanket stitch around the outside edges. I liked the end result much more, & it wasn't as difficult to turn out a nicer end product.


Attach the tummy piece, placing it as shown in the above photo.

STEP 3: Do the same with the right 'body' piece, ending up with the two body pieces, only attached by the common middle 'tummy' piece. 

STEP 4: Starting under beak, stitch up and around head, going about halfway down the back. I paused here to fill head with stuffing. Continue stitching towards tail, going around tail, stopping to add stuffing when necessary. (You can wait & stitch all the way around, leaving a small opening at the end to stuff bird, but you'll need a long, skinny object to push stuffing into small places, such as the tail. A chopstick works great.) Finish sewing up body once the final stuffing is done. 

Add beads as you stitch for a more elegant finished look.

STEP 5: Stitch a cute swirl pattern to two of the outside wings pieces, making sure they are opposite...I made up a pattern as I stitched. You can use a white colored-pencil or tailors chalk to draw a pattern, then if any of the white chalk isn't covered with your thread after you've finished, just use a damp cloth to wipe the remainder off. Beads can be sewn on at this time, while sewing on the swirl pattern. I ended up forgetting to do this!

STEP 6: Attach wings to each side of the bird. If it will be hung as an ornament, attach a thread hanger.



I shrunk the original pattern slightly, ending up with an 8" long bird.
(The left bottom piece looks like a different color, but it's not.  

PLEASE comment or send pics if you make your own! I'd love to see some variations in color or wing stitching pattern!

Make a Tile Mural at Home!

Making your own tile mural at home or tile backsplash, can save you hundreds of dollars and is SUPER easy and inexpensive to boot! Such a great way to update your kitchen or bathroom at a fraction of the cost of a purchased tile mural.

STEP 1: Purchase your scene of choice in the form of a poster. I bought my poster from Prints Plus at the local mall. The size you purchase depends on the space available in your kitchen or bath. A large 24” X 36” poster was used for my project. 

STEP 2: Purchase your tile. Consider the size of your 'mural' when choosing a tile size. I used a total of 27 4” x 4” tiles for this project, but you can certainly use a larger tile for your mural. Just take your posters’ dimensions into consideration when figuring out how many tiles you need to purchase. In this project, I cut the poster down to eliminate the white border around the picture, and excess picture along the top and bottom that would cause the poster to hang over the tile. After trimming, the finished poster size was 12” x 36”. (This is how I determined the amount of tile needed: I wanted to use a 4” tile, my poster is 12” high…12 divided by 4 is 3. Therefore, 3 tiles will be the height of the mural. Next, the poster is 36” wide, with a 4” tile I’ll need 9 tiles. (36 divided by 4) So my mural is now 3 tiles high, and 9 tiles wide. 9 x 3 = 27. So I will need a total of 27 tiles for the mural.)

STEP 3: Trim the poster down to the desired size. Now turn the poster over and with a pencil draw a grid with the boxes the same dimensions as the tiles that were chosen. (4” x 4” tile/ 4” x 4” squares on my grid) Make sure to number the pieces, starting at the upper left-hand corner. The first square would be one, the square to its’ right a two, etc. This is for ease of placement later. Next, cut the poster following the grid lines. You will now have 27 pieces of the poster, all 4” square. Lay out all the tiles and number them on the back the same way you did the poster pieces. Lay the poster pieces on each tile in the proper numerical order, just like it will look on your wall.

STEP 4: For this project, the next step was to slightly burn the edges of each 4” x 4” picture piece, giving it a more rustic look.

STEP 5: Next, I decoupaged the poster pieces to each tile, using Mod Podge, making certain that the back of each poster piece was completely covered with the glue from edge to edge. This is very important since any spots not covered will bubble up on the finished mural. Once dry, apply a laquer to protect the front surface of the mural, following manufacturers’ directions. I used a spray-on with a matte finish. More than one coat is a good idea, considering moisture will be a constant issue, whether the mural is in the kitchen or bath.

STEP 6: Now you are ready to tile!

Center the mural first, then tile outward.

I used blue painters tape to keep lighter grout from getting into the 'frame'.

All done!! Our son-in-law, Pj, did all the tile-laying for us.