Merry and Bright

Recycled cardboard egg cartons transformed into glowing, golden Christmas lilies.

 

My 5-year-old daughter and I have been on a mission to fill the entire month of December with daily projects to celebrate the Season; either a craft, or a recipe, or an outting.  Today's project came out so well that I had to share it.

After losing all of my chickens to my neighbor's dog, I have a stockpile of egg cartons that I have no other use for.  The tall centers of the cardboard ones looked like angel trumpets to me, so this is how we went about transforming them into festive flowers...

You will need:

• Cardboard egg cartons
• Heavy-duty, sharp scissors
• Paint of your choice--I used some metallic gel paints I had on hand
• Paintbrushes, of course
• A mini strand of Christmas lights

The first few I made took me awhile to figure out the best way to cut them out and really I found that carefully tearing them out most of the way was much quicker and easier.  The part you are keeping is the center supports, not the egg holes.  A one-dozen carton will give you five flowers, an 18-count carton will give you ten flowers.  Tear as shown in the photo below, being careful not to tear into your "petals".

And a little bit of cutting...I tried to keep it all in one piece to keep the mess to a minimum.

This is what you're left with.

Now make a little cut into each of the four corners about half an inch deep.

There's your petals.  Take your scissors and carefully cut them into a tapered shape.  (I forgot to take a photo for that part.)

Go wild painting them.  It becomes a very relaxing project once you get to this point and this is where the kiddos can begin to help.  I am boring and painted mine all solid colors.  My daughter got to mixing hers after awhile, but since they were all metallics it actually made for a very nice effect.  It might be neat to try doing some of them dry-brushed for a more rustic look, or maybe dip the tips of the petals in glue and sprinkle with glitter.  That would really catch the light and sparkle.

Here is the slightly tricky part... When they are mostly dry--dry to the touch--I found this to be the best time to curl the petals.  If you curl them before painting, they tend to uncurl.  If you wait to curl them after they are completely dry, the cardboard will crack.  If you can hover around and not forget about them, try to curl them with a pen/pencil as soon as you can touch them without rubbing off the paint and they will make a very smooth curl and stay that way once they reach the hard/dry stage.

There are already little holes at the bottom, so just gently push them onto the light bulbs.  This is also a bit easier if they are still a little damp.  The light makes the "pistil" of the flower and the cord becomes a vine!  I think these will look really nice woven into a strand of pine garland.  They came out so elegant that I plan to use them year-round.

Yes, that's a pumpkin left over from Thanksgiving in the background of my Christmas decorations... It's a Galeux d'Eysines and it's so pretty I can't bring myself to eat it yet.  Ideally though, I need to try to decorate for one holiday at a time...  Ha.

 

 

To my subscribers, if you're still out there...I apologize for the rare and sporadic posts.  With the new baby and homeschooling on top of that, plus the fact that I hope to get my housework caught up one of these years, I've had to neglect my poor blog.  Just know that I do miss you terribly and I often think back fondly on my blogging days.  I just hope Blogger will leave my content and settings here for me so I can pick up blogging again when my children reach, oh...say, 14.  (I don't know how the Pioneer Woman does it!)  Until then, I will try to pop in from time to time.  I hope you enjoy this simple project.  Take care!  :)

Recycled Crayons, with Glitter!

This is a little off topic from what I usually blog about, but we were so tickled with the results of this little project that I just had to pass it on.  I know many of you have young children in the home or grandchildren who will love this idea.  It made for a great rainy day project!

All moms know how crayons tend to multiply and turn up in the darnedest places (like in the dryer--with a full load of whites!)  While most young children seem to take immense pleasure from breaking their crayons to bits and peeling off the papers, seldom do they want to color with them again afterward. 

I've been finding little bits of crayons under the table, in the cracks of the recliner, inside of random drawers, here and there.  Usually I just toss them in the trash.  They'll never find their way back to the crayon box again anyway.  Then this morning, I saw the directions for recycled crayons on a blog...someplace!  I went back later and couldn't remember where I found it.  (If it was your blog, let me know and I'll link back to you!)

This is so easy and so ingenious.  My nearly-four-year-old daughter even enjoyed the task of removing the paper peels.  She really had fun sorting them by color group.  Then sorting them into the mini-muffin pan was the best part.

Pick an old muffin pan if you can, large or mini, because you might end up with crayon residue on it and it will have to be dedicated to crafts after that.  Lining the holes with cupcake liners would work too and probably preserve your pan, especially if you don't fill them too full.  You'll need to spray the holes with a vegetable oil spray before proceeding.

Take your crayons and break them into smaller bits and sort them into the holes in eye-pleasing color combinations.  You really can't go too wrong with this.  Pink and brown made a nice combination.  Black, grey and white went well together.  I really loved all the blues and greens together too.

Now here is the fun part.  This I came up with myself.  I took body glitter; the very fine, powdery kind you can use on your face and sprinkled it liberally over the crayons after they were sorted into the muffin holes.  I'd say I dumped in maybe 1/4th a teaspoon of glitter into each hole.  Give the pan a good tap and a shake to distribute the glitter.

We used Wet N' Wild Mega Sparkle body glitter.

Sprinkle generously for lots of bling!

Place the pan into your oven, preheated to 275 degrees and give the crayons about 10 minutes to melt.  Carefully pull it out and set it in a safe place.  There'll be no mercy if you splash it onto your carpet or someplace else you don't want it, that's for sure.

If you like, you can take a toothpick or wooden skewer and give it a little swirl while it's still liquid. Don't get too carried away or you'll loose all the neat swirls.

They don't take very long to set.  Maybe 15 minutes tops.  I put mine into the fridge after they cooled a little to speed the process.  We were very excited to get to coloring with them. 

Once they were set, they popped out of the muffin pan very easily!

We spent well over an hour or two coloring with them and once Ava was done with that, she also enjoyed stacking them into castles for awhile.

They color really well and you never know what color you'll get as you go.  The glitter adheres to the paper nicely.

I think these would make wonderful party favors for a child's birthday party.  I have some silicone fossil molds here somewhere and I think I might make some up as freebies for my summer Creation Club kids.  These will also be nice to carry a couple in my purse for a handy distraction when needed.  No more fuzzy, broken crayons lost at the bottom of my purse.  These are too big to lose!

Ava and her Nana spent most of the afternoon coloring.

These sure helped to brighten up an otherwise dreary day.  Today was so cold and cloudy, it felt more like February than May.

This post is part of "Get Your Craft On" at Today's Creative Blog.
Lots of good ideas there, go check 'em out!

Brushy Mountain Order

The UPS Man (aka. Santa!) paid me a visit yesterday.  I had placed an order with Brushy Mountain Bee Farm three days ago and it's already here.  Yea!

In addition to a few things I already had, I ordered two more deep hive bodies, two IPM bottom boards and new frames; enough to build three hives total.  Now I am ready for any swarms (or otherwise free bees) that may come my way.  I will see how strong my current hive is in April and may decide to do a split there as well.

So to add to my long to-do list today, I will be assembling the new hive bodies just as soon as I can get out to the hardware store for some nails.  They come precision cut for tightly jointed corners and you need to assemble them within no more than one or two days so that the wood will not have time to warp and make your life difficult.

But the thing I was most excited about is this:


Soap making supplies!

And how cute are these honeybee molds?  This first one is my favorite.  It makes a full-size bar, 4 oz.

This one is smaller and makes a guest soap sized bar, 1.75 oz.  The first thing I plan to use it for is a hard lotion bar.  More info to come on that...

I also got a gallon of 76 degree coconut oil and a pound of refined shea butter (and now I wish I'd gotten another pound or two of that.)  The last ingredients I have left to aquire are olive oil pomace and the lye--which is the most necessary ingredient. 

I have tallow I rendered from a couple fat does we took off my dad's farm last hunting season.  I don't know why, but the deer out there are always very well fed compared to others we harvest elsewhere.

And I have wax I got from my own bees.  There are a lot of things I can do with that:  lotion, soap, candles, lip balm, etc.

I am very eager to get started on this, but today is not looking very promising so far.  Among other things, I have a 3-year-old down with the flu and a hen in Chicken ICU that is needing bumblefoot surgery done.  Maybe I'll at least get around to making a few lotion bars...they are simple and easy.  Lip balms are too.

How to Make Suet Snowmen

I had seen a suet snowman similar to these on a blog somewhere a couple of months ago, a gift the author had received and she was showing him off.  A little searching on the internet turned up no further useful info, but I figured they couldn't be that hard to make.  Something akin to working with playdough?



I am cute, aren't I?  Please don't feed me to the birds!

 You will need the following:

• a large pot, a cookie sheet, a spoon and a rubber spatula
• 15 oz. of tallow (or a block of pre-made suet, with or without seeds, etc in it)
• 3 cups, any combination of:  birdseed, black oil sunflower seed, raw peanuts, raisins
• 3 bamboo skewers
• wire cutters
• paring knife
• one small carrot
• small twigs for arms
• scraps of fabric to make hats and scarves
• needle and thread -or- fabric glue
• hot glue gun

Weigh out your 15 ounces of tallow.  I used tallow that I rendered from a very fat doe my dad brought us during deer season.  Or you can buy beef fat from the butcher and render it for tallow.  Or you can skip that messy part altogether and just buy a couple blocks of pre-made suet anywhere you buy your feed for the wild birds.  Sometimes you can get it plain, but usually it will already have the seed or other goodies in it.

In a large pot, melt the tallow gently over low-medium heat.  Don't let it boil or simmer.  You want to remove it from the heat just as soon as it has all turned to liquid.  Tallow is flammable.  Be careful not to spill it on your burner. 

Measure out your 3 cups of seed.  If you are using raw peanuts or raisins, chop them coarsely.  I used the blender and powdered mine a little too fine, which gave my snowmen a peanut buttery appearance.  If you don't overdo this part, the suet will present itself much whiter.

Add your seeds, peanuts, etc. to the liquid tallow and stir it in.  Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.

Now, you wait.  Set your pot in the fridge for a bit to let it cool and thicken.  I set mine outside on the porch and later caught the barn kitties taking a sample!  Check it frequently and give it a stir.  You are watching for it to reach a cookie dough consistency.

Once it has firmed up enough so that you can handle it, use the palms of your hands to roll out 5 sets of balls:  small, medium, large for your snowman's body.  If it is sticking badly to your hands, put it back into the fridge a little longer.  It won't be messy if it is firm enough.

Pop your cookie sheet of balls into the fridge for 10 minutes or so before proceeding.  When you take them back out, you can roll them a bit smoother if you like.  Stack them to look like a snowman.

Take your bamboo skewers and impale them from the head all the way to the bottom of the snowman.  This will keep him from toppling over.  Cut the skewer off, leaving at least an inch sticking out to later secure his hat.

All five snowmen assembled:

Use a few more black oil sunflower seeds for each snowman's features and a sliver of carrot for his nose.  Poke in the twigs and trim to size for his arms.

At first, I thought I wouldn't bother poking seeds in for a mouth, but then I realized these snowmen were looking kinda somber.  Perhaps they were contemplating their fate and weren't happy about it.

A few more seeds for a smile...now that's better!

Pop your tray of happy-looking snowmen into the freezer to chill while you work on their hats and scarves.  I bought a remnant of fuzzy, warm, red flannel and had some scraps of wooly, white, cotton fabric on hand that was left over from the stuffed toy sheep I made for my daughter's mobile she had as a baby.  Use whatever you have on hand or whatever colors suit you.  Have fun with it.  :)

You can sew your hats on a sewing machine if you like, or by hand, or to be quick - just use fabric glue.

Scarves are easy.  Just cut 12" long by 3/4" wide strips of fabric and fray the edges.

A half an hour later, I go to retrieve my snowmen from the freezer where they are just chillin' and relaxin'.  They like this kind of weather.

Try on your hats and trim the bamboo skewer a little shorter if necessary.  A drop of hot glue will hold the hat firmly in place.  Tie their scarves snuggly about their necks.

These guys are finished and ready to be gifted to my friends and family.  I gave them as Christmas presents, but as easy as they are to make, why not make a few for yourself (well, for the birds, really) or as a nice surprise gift anytime during the wintery season.

I enjoyed the different reactions they got from their recipients.  My grandma was tickled pink and ready to put hers on the birdfeeder for Christmas day.  While my husband's grandma at first thought it was a cookie or something edible (for people) as it did smell a lot like a peanut butter cookie.  She loves snowmen and decided she'd keep him in the fridge to enjoy for years to come - hers will never be sacrificed to the birds!  These cheerful little fellas will bring a smile to whomever is lucky enough to receive one.

I don't believe they will last long once set before the birds!