Salt Dough Hand Ornaments - ON THE FENCE

My good friend Octavia Zuniga tested this Pin on making Salt Dough Hand Ornaments that look like Santa Claus.  I think it's an excellent idea and I am so glad she shared it with me along with the photos and her experience with this crafty project.

I have had great experience with the Salt Dough Footprint Keepsake so I knew this would be an easy and fun craft to do with kids.

Her main grievance is that once the ornaments are completed, they are far too heavy to hang on a Christmas tree so the term "ornament" should be used loosely here. Also, that is why I have labeled this pin as "on the fence."  It was a great and fun project to do with her kiddos, but at the same time it wasn't the same as the pin suggested and the use of the "ornament" on a tree is out of the question.

She did say that if you were to add some string and use a suction cup they would look very cute hanging on a window or using a nail on the wall.  Her idea now is to do this every year and hang them up as a sort of "growth chart" for each child which I think is a fantastic idea!

What you will need (along with paint)

This project did turn out awesome and I think very cute, they will just be used in a different way than the site suggested.

All done and very cute!!

DIY No Sew Tutu - PROVEN

Madison has a photo shoot coming up for her 1st Birthday (don't even get me started on how my tiny infant morphed into a toddler)

Although I am already nostalgic about her first year with us, I am very excited to watch her grow up and to mark the occasion I decided to make her a tutu to wear in her photo shoot!

I used 2 separate guides from Pinterest to make this "No Sew Tutu."  They were both rather confusing in their own ways so I used them both and came upon my method using a combination of the two!

Link 1
Link 2

I went to Joann Fabric and purchased a total of 2 yards of tulle (net) fabric.  I realize now I should have probably had extra for those "just in case" moments, and to be honest I didn't read how much of it I would need before I went to the store...oops!

I ended up having just enough, I would have had extras if I hadn't cut it incorrectly to begin with.

Following Link 1's directions I decided that I would measure Madison's waist (18"), add 2 inches and cut my elastic (20") and tie it together.

After that I laid the tulle out and determined I wanted each strip to be about 8" long (following the guide on Link 2) I doubled that because when you tie the knots you lose length because they are folded in half.  I didn't measure the width of the strips exactly.  I figured 2-2 1/2" would be close enough (and it really made no difference in my opinion)

I had more purple tulle than pink so I used a pattern that I thought would work best to utilize all of my cut pieces.  I would use 2 purple in one knot and a purple/pink combination on the next knot.  I continued that pattern all the way around.

One tutorial tells you to use a chair back to hold the elastic while you tie on the knots.  The skirt I am making is for a tiny person and the chair back would have really stretched out the elastic so I used her walk and play toy handle instead!  Mom's learn how to improvise!!

When it came time to actually tie the knots, I was very confused as to how either tutorial did it but I believe the photo guide on Link 2 was best.  You want to fold the pieces in half, making a loop at the top.  Use your index finger and thumb to open the loop while holding the tails in your other hand.  Put your hand with the loops under the elastic and grab the tails with the same hand that is holding the loop and pull the tails through.  I hope that makes sense.  You do want all of your knots facing the same direction so do this method for the remainder of your tutu.

Half Done!

When I first started I was concerned, to be honest.  I didn't think that the material I got would be enough, I didn't think it would look good together for some reason and I thought that the tutu would be too flat. 

I could not have been more wrong.  As you add to the skirt with more and more knots the full effect of the tutu begins to form and I am so pleased with my results I will definitely do this a lot more throughout her life!

I really hope you try this one, it would make a great gift and I only spent $7.99 total for this project, and for my first time doing this and reading the directions as I went.....it only took me about 25 minutes!!

Reindeer Cupcakes - PROVEN

My good friend, Amanda Benn found this super cute recipe online and sent it to me.  From the first time I saw it I knew we would have to try it as soon as possible.

These reindeer cupcakes were very easy and really fun to make!!

We doubled the batch so we would each have 2 dozen to share with friends and family, or to devour ourselves!

Okay, hold on to your hats and get ready to laugh at me, but I have never made cupcakes before, ever.  Not that I recall anyway, I am sure I have watched and "helped" my mom when I was a child but not in my adult life. 

We used Sixlets for the Reindeer eyes

I was no expert on filling the cups, I got cake mix everywhere at which point Amanda took over for me.  I was just making too much of a mess!!

I recommend making sure that ALL the cupcakes are completely done cooking.  When it came time to frost them, there were about 8 (out of 48) that were crumbling and falling apart, so we decided just to eat those and not decorate them! DARN! :)

We used red peanut butter M&Ms for the noses!

 

I think that they turned out amazing!  It was an awesome time with my great friend, Amanda and we got these delicious and adorable treats!!

 



We liked them better as Rudolphs!

Frozen Yogurt Covered Fruits - PROVEN

Frozen Yogust Covered Fruit

This idea, pictures and approval came to me from my good friend Katherine Subu.  She saw this awesome idea on Pinterest and gave it a try.  She then suggested it for my blog and took all the following pictures.

She said the recipe calls for plain vanilla greek yogurt, but she substituted that for Vanilla Honey Greek yogurt which sounds amazing all by itself!

Any fresh fruit would work great in this recipe but Kat used blueberries she had on hand :)

Finished Product! (Wish I was in New Jersey right now!)

She said they are DELISH and should be tried and shared!  Spread the word people!

P.S. if you try a pin and want me to share your results, like I did here, feel free to email me at jdenig@yahoo.com.

Thanks for reading!