Tag: do it yourself

New Year, New Projects!

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Hey all! It’s been quite some time since my last post but believe me that doesn’t mean I haven’t been my usual craft self! I’ve been finding it harder and harder to find the time to write down these posts. I take the photos, have all the right intentions, but where do I find the time? From taking care of my little man to keeping house and working full time, it’s almost impossible.

My New Years resolution: Make The Time!

I always find it funny when you are looking on Pinterest, and one minute you are looking at “gym bag essentials” and you wind up watching tutorials on “how to diy dye yarn”. How did I get here? Not that I mind, because it got me interested in hand dyeing my own yarn.

Whenever I go into this fancy yarn stores, I am enthralled by all the skeins of brightly colored hand-dyed yarn. But as soon as my eyes read the price tag, back it goes, intimidates to even try anything with them for fear of wasting $20+ of yarn on something that won’t come out right.

My first project of 2018 was easy, affordable, and really fun! I hope you enjoy reading about it here ——–>DIY Hand Dyed Acrylic Yarn

Until then,

Stay Crafty!!

DIY Hand-dye Acrylic yarn with Acrylic Paint

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Back in my New Years post I talked about how looking at Pinterest for “gym bag essentials” lead me to “diy hand-dyeing acrylic yarn”. I’ve always loved looking at the beautiful skeins of hand-dyed yarn at my local yarn store but the price tag always scared me away. I am so happy my pinning lead me in this direction today!

Not only did I have all the supplies on hand, but it really only took me about an hour to complete and then 5-8 hours of drying time!

Supplies:

  • 1 skein white or cream acrylic yarn
  • Plastic solo cups
  • Plastic spoons or popsicle sticks
  • Large bowl
  • Water
  • Acrylic paint – your color choice(s)
  • Rubber gloves

Step One

Start by wrapping your skein of yarn around two chairs like the photo below. This will make it long enough to do a stopping effect with the yarn if you wish to do. When you are done, wrap 4 strands around the ends and middles and tie a loose knot. This way, your yarn won’t become a tangled mess.

Step Two

Take your yarn and soak it in a bowl. Make sure it’s nice and saturated to allow the “dye” to soak all the way through. Pick it up and squeeze the excess water out. You can dump the bowl and put it away, we won’t be needing it anymore.

Step Three

Mix your colors. I forgot to get a photo of this step, but all I did was pour it halfway full with warm water, then squeeze in a bunch of acrylic paint. Mind you, your finished colors are gonna be a lot lighter than what you see in your cup.

Step Four

Place your yarn in the cups like the picture below. I used a spoon to distribute some of the colors up and over the edges of the cups. But in the drying phase they will blend together too. Leave your yarn in the dye for 30 minutes.

Step Five

Slowly take your yarn out carefully, and dump out your paint dye. In this process I accidentally got some pure paint that hadn’t mixed on my yarn but I like it. Makes it unique! I put some rubber gloves on my faucet to protect it and I hung my yarn to drip dry. I also put a cup underneath since I didn’t want the paint to stain my sink 😋.

< strong>Step Six<<<<<<<<<
e hard part. Waiting for your beautiful yarn to dry! I have tried to use a hairdryer to speed up the process but didn't get too far with it. The only true way is to just wait it out. But I promise, the results are worth it!!

As I wrote this, I am still waiting for my beautiful hand-dyed yarn to dry and I cannot wait to make something out of it!!!

Until then,

Stay Crafty!

Homemade Basil Hummus Recipe

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It’s that time of year again. Where gardens are in full swing and this heat has them growing like crazy! I went out this morning and harvested my second batch of lettuce & my third batch of basil!

Anyone who knows me well knows I LOVE Basil. There’s something about the smell and taste I can’t get enough of it. From using Mrs. Meyers Basil Dishwashing Soap to having Basil a scented Candles around the house I am always surrounded by the smell.

When we moved to our home back in December, I told my husband that I would really like to have a vegetable garden this year. I have only ever had one once and that was when I was living home and it didn’t go so well due to poor soil we had purchased for the planter box my father made me. In the spring, my husband made me a beautiful planter box and we filled it with Natures Care organic specially mixed soil meant for raised garden beds.

I was determined to have a good year! So far, we’ve had plenty of rain, a lot of hot sunny days, and the garden is thriving. I planted 5 Basil plants, 3 varieties of Tomatoes, 3 variety of peppers (some hot some sweet), green beans and cucumbers.


The photo above was the first round. I relocated the lettuce to a big pot in the shade, and added a few more plants.

I have been trying eat more healthy, and I love hummus! My husband has made it for me a few times but after my harvest of Basil today I wanted to try my hand at it.

The result was amazingly yummy! I am so glad I got out in the garden today and was able to say “that came from my garden!”

The girls at work are going to love it and I can’t wait to share it with them!



Homemade Basil Hummus

10 servings – 152 calories per serving – 6g total fat – 8g protein – 18g carbohydrates 

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cup fresh basil
  • 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 3 tbs tahini
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Pink Himalayan salt (to taste)
  • Ground pepper (to taste)

Directions:

  1. Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor.
  2. Blend until all ingredients are blended and mixed well.
  3. Store in mason jars or other small snack size containers.
  4. Enjoy!

See, I told you it was easy!

Stay Crafty!

Fork-print Fireworks! (Toddler friendly!)

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Looking for a fun and toddler friendly craft for the 4th of July?? Try these fork-print fireworks!!! All you need is paper, a fork and washable paint (I did say toddler friendly 😂) you can try these many different ways, and even add glitter! The perfect craft for this holiday weekend!  

  1. Pick the paint colors your little wants to work with.
  2. Get your area ready.
  3. Place your painting surface in front of your little.
  4. Grab a fork.
  5. Help your little with dipping the prongs of the fork in the paint.
  6. Let them plant a few fork stamps on the page.
  7. Help them by turning the paper so they can make a firework!
  8. When done with all fireworks, dip the ends of the fork prongs in paint and make polka-dots on the way down the page for the firework trail.
  9. Look back and admire your littles artwork.
  10. Enjoy your 4th of July!!! 

See, told you it was easy! K and I did this craft this morning in about 30 minutes on top of a few other things he painted. 


Have a happy & safe 4th of July & Stay Crafty!!

Anchors-away!

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Hello again! Just wanted to share with you this easy wall decor idea! Since we moved into the new house Kaleb ended up with a bigger bedroom than what he had at the apartment (lucky kid!) and I thought it was time for a more mature theme for him. If you remember from my canvas & vinyl tutorial his nursery was grey, teal and chevron. There wasn’t really more of a theme than that other than a few whale blankets, a shipyard painting, and anchor sheets. 

Since we started with a blank slate, I wanted to enhance his theme more (lest I go buy everything over again) and I decided to go full blown nautical themed! 

I’ve been looking around for some wall decor that wasn’t too expensive, as my husband rolls my eyes everytime I bring a new piece of wall decor into the house 😂 and I couldn’t really find what I wanted. I wanted something that would tie in the new blanket for his big boy bed (I can’t believe it!) and the new curtains we got, both which are navy blue and white stripped. 

So what would any sane person do? I went to my local Hobby Lobby and perused the isles until something jumped out at me. 
I know I know, you must be thinking “hobby lobby has sooo many different categories for wall decor, surely you can find something there to fit your theme!” And I would tell you you are not wrong! But you can’t beat this project coming in at under $4.50! 

Supplies:

  • Cardboard Anchor 
  • Foam brush (can use paint brush)
  • Choice of paper (I used thin stripped scrapbook paper)
  • Modge Podge
  • Pencil (to trace the anchor)
  • Scissors 

The final result! (As you can tell by the two canvases I LOVE to make wall decor for Kaleb’s room) 

Stay Crafty!