Shell Ornaments - Used in Beach Themed Wedding (Favors)

I wanted to do a different theme for Christmas this year, so I decided to make shell ornaments.  I found a bag of assorted white shells, painted some Elmer's glue on them, glittered them, then hotglued an ornament ribbon on the back. They are so easy to make, but soo pretty.  The bride from the last wedding I worked on saw them on my tree and had to have them as her wedding favors, which was perfect since the wedding was the first weekend in January.
        I highly recommend  http://www.qualityshells.com if your local stores don't carry bags of shells, like here in Hawaii.  I ordered sand dollars and starfish, and every shell was in perfect condition, in a timely manner.   As far as I researched, they were the cheapest online! 

Here are the supplies you will need: shells (think about what size you'll want and how it'll look on the tree you are putting it on.  Mine was a tiny tree, so these shells were perfect.)  Glitter, glue (maybe a paint brush if you don't want to use your fingers)  Ornament ribbons (I bought these already tied)  and Hot glue gun.* I did it out in my carport on a piece of cardboard

I used iridescent glitter, which I would recommend.

Here are the ornaments all done! 

This was my tree this year.

Here they are again, used as favors in a beach themed wedding. 

Happy Thanksgiving! Crafts and Recipe Critique

This year I had people over for Thanksgiving since we are away from family.  Since I was entertaining, I wanted to add just a little more fall/autumn decor to spice it up a bit.
How I made the sign: *If you had a cricut or something like it, this would be a lot faster to make.
-I bought some textured scrapbooking paper that had these raised polkadots ( in mustard, a camouflage brown, and a nice autumn red).
- I traced a cd onto the paper to make the circles, then hand cut them.
-I also hand cut the lettering like my other sign (from computer generated lettering) and printed it on an off white cardstock.  The off white went a lot better with the colors I chose.
-Then, I found leaf templates online, printed on cardstock, then traced them onto the fall colored paper, then cut those out.
-Then I glued everything together (using elmer's glue)
-I bought a burlap ribbon from Ben Franklin and decided to use that to hang the letters on.  I hot glued the circles onto the burlap ribbon.  That worked great.

 Below: My daughter and I made these adorable and yummy acorns!  Pinterest inspired.  I saw a pic of these on pinterest, but no instructions.  I assumed they used frosting or melted chocolate to stick the Hershey kisses to the MINI nilla wafers (don't use the bigger ones, it won't look good), but I thought Nutella would be delicious, so that's what we did.  We used Nutella as the glue and used a toothpick to make the "stem" of the acorn.  These were a hit.  Thanks Pinterest and whoever came up with these!

 Below: I used the burlap ribbon I used for my "Give Thanks" sign to decorate vases I had around the house.  I filled the 1st vase pictured below with tangerines because I couldn't find little pumpkins but it still added that pop of color I was going for.  If I could find small lemons, I could have used those also. I filled the 2nd vase below with pomegranate seeds as an appetizer.  The 3rd vase is just for decoration purposes and I filled that with macadamia nuts that I had laying around the house that I didn't get around to roasting.  They looked fall-ish, so I filled a vase with them! 

I also tried this pumpkin pie cupcake recipe (this is not my picture, mine didn't look this nice) that I made for dessert at my Thanksgiving dinner.  I found the recipe on Pinterest.  I made the mistake of filling cupcake liners 1/3 way full instead of 1/3 cup like the recipe said.  Which made my cupcakes pretty shallow, but it still tasted great.
*Critique: 4 Stars
 Here is the link :
http://bakingbites.com/2009/10/impossible-pumpkin-pie-cupcakes/

Congrats Sign tutorial

Supplies Needed:
-Scissors
-Elmers Glue
-Tape
-Ribbon
-Old cd
-Black Cardstock
-Gold Spray paint (or print letters onto gold paper)
-Letters : C O N G R A T S ( I made mine on the computer, cut them out, then spray painted them
-White cardstock for the letters
-Gold Paint Pen

*You can always substitute different colors to match your theme.

First, use your old cd to draw circles with your gold paint pen, then cut them out around the gold line.

Second, Print out letters on cardstock and cut them out.

Third, spray paint letters to desired color.

Fourth, glue letters to circles.

Line the letters up in the correct order before you start stringing the ribbon through.

Punch 2 holes on each circle.  One on each side (not right in the middle so it doesn't flip around)

 

 

Secure with tape in back.

1st Birthday Party -Zebra Print Themed

This was the invitation (to set the tone of the party)

Birthday cupcakes with zebra print wrapper

Picture display of her 1st year

Lesson Learned: Do not blow up balloons too early, they will lose their buoyancy.  I would say an hour before party would be ok. 

Pink and Black Tulle and Hershey Kisses, so easy!

The centerpieces had a tower of oreos inside

Retirement Party: Black and Gold Theme

Here are pics from the retirement party.  I was so busy that I didn't even get a chance to take a good picture of the centerpieces on the tables, I apologize.

Centerpiece: Plastic Gold Bowl lined with tissue paper, a bag of coffee, two packages of cookies, coffee candy and chocolates, sprinkled in, all wrapped in clear cellophane and tied with gold curling ribbon

Favors: Make your own bag of candy from dessert/candy buffet

Dessert/Candy Buffet: Candy-Coffee Candy, Werther's Hard Candy and Chewy Candy, Hershey's Assorted Chocolates (Gold and Silver Wrapping), Rolos, and Peanut Butter Cups

Please look for another post on how I made the CONGRATS sign.

Desserts: Mini Oreo Cheesecakes on cupcake stand, Donut Tower (small white powdered donuts)

Sorry so blurry, but these were the mini oreo cheesecakes

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 Lesson Learned: Make sure you are buying the correct size of cupcake liner

Let's Get Organized - Mission 3

Mission 3 : GARAGE SALE

So of course when you start cleaning and organizing, you will come across items that you just don't use anymore, need or something you may use 3 years from now, but you just don't have a place for it.  GET RID OF IT!  I usually just give items away, but a lot of things I didn't need were brand new, a lot of clothes that don't fit me are still very cute and in good shape.  I decided to have a garage sale.  In my neighborhood, garage sales are HUGE.  I love going to them myself. 

I put together boxes of books, a tub of clothes, unused kitchen items : food processor (which was replaced by my magic bullet), small rice cooker (which was replaced by a larger rice cooker), measuring cups and spoons that had also been replaced by better ones (why do I need two sets of measuring spoons/cups?), craft items, my daughter's old toys, picture frames and beads from the jewelry business I'm now closing. 

I sold books for $.25 to $.50 each, clothes for $.50 each, small cooking appliances for $2 each.  The key is to keep prices low because the main idea is to get rid of it.  I didn't think that selling these items for so low would amount to me making $200! 

We made about $200 from selling these items that we don't use and are taking up space in our house.  We made money from selling our clutter!  Yes, we do have the leftover items that we didn't sell.  Am I having another garage sale?  No, but these items are not coming back into my house.  I am looking for a women's shelter and other great organizations to donate them to.  The key is to make sure I actually follow through and donate these items that are sitting outside my door.  *If you are interested, these places that take donations will give you a tax form that may qualify you for a tax write off. 
*I just can't understand why some people throw away valuable items that someone else may be able to use...especially more unfortunate people. 

Sesame-Oyster Sauce Chicken (Pinterest inspired)

Here is another recipe I tweaked a bit and made my own.  Not trynna brag, but I think my version is so much better!  I found this recipe on Pinterest and it was called Thai Cilantro Chicken, but there's nothing Thai about it and you can hardly taste the cilantro, so I made up my own name. 
**This recipe is baked, but my mom suggested stir fry and I thought that was an excellent idea for a different type of meal (chop the chicken, and add veggies such as snap peas, water chestnuts, mushrooms, broccoli maybe, sliced carrots, etc, be creative)  Will update when I try it as a stir fry.  Great idea Mom!

Sesame-Oyster Sauce Chicken
Ingredients:
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
 Fresh Ginger Root - I used about a heaping tablespoon or more of chopped ginger to give it a more oriental taste
*You may also use 2 cloves chopped garlic, but this time I skipped it.
4 Tbsp shoyu (soy sauce)
3 Tbsp sesame oil
3 Tbsp oyster sauce (recipe called for fish sauce, but I had oyster sauce)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro (chopped)

Instructions:
1.  Season chicken with salt, pepper, and a light sprinkle of sesame seeds (both sides) I always do this right in baking pan using tongs to flip.
2.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees
3. Combine sauce by food processor, but I've just mixed it before pouring over chicken. 

*The recipe says to let marinate for 15 minutes, but I just let it sit in the sauce until oven is pre-heated.  Takes about that long anyways.
4.  Using a spoon be sure to cover all parts of chicken. 
5. Bake in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes covered with tin foil. 
*Always check chicken in middle to see if cooked!

I serve with rice and green salad (with Sesame Soy dressing).