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How To Make a Yarn Wreath For All Seasons

Sunday, September 4th, 2011

Yarn wreaths are easy to create with a mere ten-fifteen dollars  in supplies and a whole lot of your own individual creativity. I have been dying to create my own handmade yarn wreath, but I hate to store out-of-season wreaths in my limited amount of storage in my house. I decided to create a wreath that you could use all year long that would be perfect for your door or to give as a gift this holiday season. I partnered with Walmart on this DIY project and I am excited to share it with you.

Supplies Needed:

1 straw wreath (large or small- this is the large one, pick this up at your local craft store if your Walmart does not carry floral supplies, approximately $4 for the larger size)

1-2 balls of yarn, depending on your wreath size (I selected Vanna’s Choice in Silver Heather, $2.77)

1 fabric quarter ($1.27)

2 pieces of felt ($.20 each)

1 autumn floral pick ($1.99)

8 alligator clips or 1 1/2″ bar pins that can be clipped to the back of your flowers (look for these over by the ribbon section or in the jewelry section of the Craft area, approximately $1.99)

Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks

Scissors

Stamina, Pop Tarts, & Food Network for entertainment

Leave the plastic intact on your wreath to help cut down on the mess as well as to help your yarn to slide into place. Begin by tying a knot on the back of the wreath with the first ball of yarn. Carefully wrap the yarn around the wreath, covering it with the yarn. Continue doing this until the entire wreath is wrapped with yarn and then finish by tying it with a knot again on the back. A small wreath will only use one ball of yarn, but this larger wreath ended up taking 1 1/2 balls to cover it. Covering the larger wreath took me about forty-five minutes. I recommend tackling this with a Food Network marathon. And a box of Pop Tarts.

Once your wreath is covered, you can embellish it however you like. For my wreath, I chose two different types of flowers and used alligator clips to clip these to my yarn wreath so I can switch these out with the seasons.  To see how to make these easy Fabric Flowers, go to last month’s Close to My Heart Pin to get that tutorial. I am also posting that vlog below for even more visuals on this easy flower. With one fabric quarter, you can make two of these for your wreath. If you want more fabric flowers on your wreath, purchase an additional fabric quarter in the same fabric or another fun fabric. I covered the alligator clip with a little square of felt so I could make sure it doesn’t stick to my wreath.

The other type of flower that I added to my wreath is a simple felt flower. These are so easy to make. I am showing you with this gray felt, but made six of these in yellow for my wreath. Begin by cutting a wavy circle out of your felt. The bigger the circle, the bigger the flower, the smaller the circle, the smaller the flower. If you want them all the same size, use the first one as your template for your other flowers.

Begin cutting into the circle in a spiral motion. Around and around you go with your scissors until you get to the center. Leave the little circle at the end of your spiral intact.

It should look like this long piece of twirly felt. It will not be perfect.  Just remember that you can trim and angle everything the way you want it when you start creating your flower. It will look beautiful!

Starting with the end where you begin cutting, roll the felt back up. Keep wrapping and wrapping until you get to that little circle at the end. You can hot glue the felt as you go, but I found that the felt flower holds together well if you wrap it tightly enough.  Feel free to trim if you have any bits of felt sticking out or not laying as nicely as you like.

Open an alligator clip up and situated it between that little circle of felt. Secure it to the felt flower with a little hot glue.  Make as many of these felt flowers as you like for your wreath.  For my wreath, I made six out of the two pieces of felt.

Now comes the fun part. Take your two Fabric Flowers and your six Felt Flowers and begin clipping them on the side of your wreath. The best part about the clips is that you can move them around until you have them situated in the perfect place on your wreath. No worries about gluing to the wrong place.

Next fill in around the flowers with bits of your floral pick that you purchased. I weaved in a few leaves and a little of the fun berry foliage until I was happy. You can tuck your floral pieces into the alligator clips of your flowers or weave it under the wrapped yarn, whichever feels more secure.

Step back and admire your handiwork. Isn’t she beautiful? We will be revisiting this wreath in the Winter season and I will show you other cute idea for embellishing it. The possibilities with this wreath are truly endless and the best part… no giant wreaths to store until next season!

I am participating in the Nesting Place’s, “You Made a Wreath Out of What?” linky party! If you have a wreath, you should too! Happy wreath making!

I am a part of the Walmart Moms program, and Walmart has provided me with compensation for these posts. My participation is voluntary and opinions are always my own.

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Posted in DIY | 38 Comments »

Back-to-School Close to My Heart Pin: DIY Fabric Flowers

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

This is the true story of two girls. One girl had a strong will and was a perfectionist. The other girl had a strong will and was a perfectionist. These two girls had a hard time coexisting together. One girl had to become a little softer with her heart and learn to let the little stuff go. The other girl turned four and just became a tad more laid back and a little easier for her mother to deal with.

Suddenly, these two became not only mother & daughter, but fabulous friends. They went on outings together, sang in the car wherever they went, watched girlie movies on Netflix,  and had many Chinese & haircut dates together. They did everything together and learned to love each other even more than before.

Now my best friend is leaving me for kindergarten.

Please don’t ask me about it.

I will cry.

This craft is an idea born from my own bittersweet sadness about my Emily leaving me for school. I wanted to create a little something for her that would remind her that mommy was always with her and was always thinking about her no matter where she was.  This is my Close to My Heart pin and I am sharing this craft idea with you today for the back-to-school season!

Head to your local Walmart and visit the craft supplies section of the store and you will find fabric quarters available for purchase for $1.27 each. You will also need one sheet of red felt for this project for the base of your fabric flower for a mere $.20!  If you are creating a pin for attaching the fabric flower to clothing, look in the jewelry section for 1 1/2″ bar pins with an adhesive backing. If you want to clip the fabric flower in your daughter’s hair, you can also find metal barrettes, hair clips, or even headbands in the jewelry section or by the ribbon to attach these simple flowers to.

If you don’t have a glue gun and glue sticks, be sure to pick those up as well.

You will need to cut nine circles out of your fabric. I used a large circle punch and created my template out of scrap card stock. You could also just trace a lid to a canning jar, if you don’t have a circle punch handy.

Grab your red felt and cut a heart out for the base of your flower. I just folded it in half and cut it just like I used to do my hearts for my Valentine’s.  This is the sentimental part of this pin for your sweet child, but if you just want to do a felt circle, you can do that as well!

Let’s make some flower petals. Fold your circle in half as shown.

Fold up one side of the circle that has been folded in half.

Fold up the other half of the halved circle and have it meet with the other side to form a petal.

It should look like this swirly thing on top.

Now hot glue the seam just a tiny bit together where the petal is gathered and then hot glue the end of the petal to the felt heart. Repeat this with all four ends of the heart. In the spaces left, fill in with three or four more petals. At the end, you will have one hole in the center to put in one or two petals that you have left. To get more visuals on this, I have created a vlog below where you can watch the petals being applied in action.

Once it is all filled in, it will look like this. You can leave it plain like this or you can add a cute button in the center by just smashing down the petals and hot gluing a button in the center. I think it looks pretty both ways!

On the back of your fabric flower, you can attach either a pin (for pinning to their jacket or backpack) or a metal barrette to pull back their hair. We did a few each way so that we could accessorize those uniforms and glam up her backpack too.

I hope she knows how much I love her while she is off to school and be reminded of my love when she looks at her pin. I hope you can give this easy craft a try and that it can serve as a reminder to your daughter how special she is to you.

I love you, Emily!

What special traditions have you created for the back-to-school season in your house? I would love to hear your ideas! Be sure to check out my vlog below for a step-by-step tutorial on how to make these easy pins!

I am a part of the Walmart Moms program, and Walmart has provided me with compensation for these posts. My participation is voluntary and opinions are always my own.

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Posted in DIY | 49 Comments »

DIY: Tissue Paper Pom Poms Tutorial

Tuesday, January 4th, 2011

Decorating for birthday parties can be expensive and it is one area that I am always searching for cute ideas that don’t cost a lot. My girlfriend had a birthday party recently and made the Martha Stewart Tissue Paper Pom Poms to decorate above her daughter’s party table. I loved it so much that I promptly stole it for Emily’s Barbie birthday party.

These pom poms are so easy to make, but add a lot of impact to the party decorations. Each one took about ten minutes and I was so proud when my husband came home and asked me where I bought them. We loved them so much that they have been moved to her room to hang above her dollhouse. The best part is that they only cost $1-2 to make (depending on how full you make these) so they will fit easily into your party budget.

To make the tissue paper pom poms:

1. Purchase tissue paper in your desired colors to match your party scheme. You can use one package (ideally 7-9 sheets) or you can use two packs, depending on how full you would like your flowers to be. The dark pink flower that I created used two packs of tissue paper, while the lighter pink ones only used one package of tissue paper.

2. Stack your paper and fold it accordion style (1 1/2″ wide). The crisper your folds the better the look of your flower so fold it as best as you can.

3. Secure the center of your flower with a little floral wire.

4. With your scissors, trim the corners either into rounded corners (as I did) or into points (for a star shape).

5. Do the same on the opposite end.

6. Very gently and carefully, separate the layers of tissue paper from one another and begin pulling them apart and shaping them. The fuller your flower, the longer this will take. Once your flower has been properly poofed (a highly technical term, I am sure), you can hang them with yarn, ribbon, or whatever else you might have on hand.

For more detailed instructions or other creative ideas for your pom poms, visit this tutorial from Martha Stewart.

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The Perfect Pink Barbie Cake Tutorial

Monday, January 3rd, 2011

 

 

Make the birthday cake of your daughter’s dreams with this DIY Barbie Doll Cake Tutorial. This simple bowl cake is the base of the Barbie dress to make a perfect princess cake.

Over the month of December we celebrated Emily’s 5th birthday.  This was the year of the Barbie which thrilled me to no end as I had envisioned a DIY Barbie Cake for my little girl long before she was even a twinkle in our eye.  Barbie birthday cakes are a true labor of love by the mothers who create them and this cake was a testament to my undying love for my daughter.

Today I wanted to share with you how we created our Barbie cake and some tips for creating this cake for your own little princess! The week will be filled with oodles of tutorials and ideas for making your Barbie party special and I hope to add a little inspiration to your own Barbie-inspired party!

For this cake you will need a white cake mix, strawberry gelatin dessert, eggs, milk, canola oil, a package of fresh strawberries, and your doll.


The doll that is pictured in this tutorial ended up not being used because the cake was not tall enough to form her dress and stand her upright. Doll toppers can be purchased specifically for your cake or you can ask your bakery if they will sell you a doll that you can use for roughly the same amount. My girlfriend also found a shorter generic one that could be found at the dollar store because the generic ones are not as tall as the real Barbies.

My best friend broke the legs of her Barbie for my cake.  May you all have a super awesome mafia friend like me who is willing to donate her legless Barbie for your project.

This cake recipe is an easy mix and dump cake, but you will need to finely chop your strawberries to mix into the cake. I used my food chopper to chop these up evenly and fine for the cake. Once you have done that, you have the brunt of the cake mixing portion done.

Dump all of the ingredients into your mixer, including those finely chopped berries, and give it a good mix.  I let it run for a good minute or two while my oven was preheating to 350 degrees.

Pour your batter into a greased mixing bowl. The mixing bowl I used for this project is a two-quart Batter Bowl that I had in my kitchen, a long ago purchase that I made with Pampered Chef. Many years ago when I bought it, the consultant had shared with me that it would make the perfect Barbie cake.

It doesn’t have to be a Pampered Chef bowl though, any two quart ovenproof  glass mixing bowl should do the job!

Now let Barbie sit back and take a little nap while her dress bakes.

Because of the depth of the cake, this cake will take roughly an hour and ten minutes to bake.

You want to make sure that the rack is not too high on your oven or it will really brown the top of your cake.

You will also want to keep an eye on it and test the center after an hour to see how it is doing. Mine took the full hour and ten minutes for this cake though.

Once the cake is done baking, you can pull it out and let it rest for at least fifteen minutes. Invert your cake on a cooling rack and let it cool for three hours before decorating.

I prefer to make my cakes in a two day process so I went ahead and wrapped the cooled Barbie cake in plastic wrap and rested it on top of a dish, then covered the whole thing in foil.  Make sure that your cake is completely cool before wrapping it for freezing. I tucked this in our freezer in a cake pan for support.

When the cake is frozen it is much easier to decorate and I have a lot less crumbs to have to work around.  That little tip came courtesy of a Michael’s cake decorating course I took and has served me well over the years of making and decorating special occasion cakes.

Now it is time to make the frosting.

You can definitely skip this step and just use two 16 ounce containers of vanilla frosting (tinted to your favorite cake dress color), but the jarred frosting won’t give you the stiffness you need if you want to decorate and embellish the dress.

This buttercream decorator’s frosting uses the confectioner’s sugar, shortening, milk, clear butter flavor (pictured above and purchased at Michael’s) and a little Meringue Powder that gives it a yummy whipped and buttered taste without adding any off-colors to your frosting.

Making frosting is a messy, messy job and is one of my least favorite parts about cake decorating. One way you can really cut down on the mess is to dampen a kitchen towel and drape it over your mixer while you are whipping up your frosting. This will cut down on the confectioner’s sugar dust clouds that you will find all over the kitchen and you can wipe down your mixer when you are all done.

Really try hard to resist eating this frosting. You really will need all of it to decorate your cake.

Doesn’t it look delicious though?

Tint the frosting, with food coloring, in your desired color. In our case it was Emily’s two favorites…pink and dark pink.

Now it is time to frost your cake. I frost my cakes frozen and they turn out beautifully. You just want to give your decorated cake a few hours to thaw before the guests arrive, but frozen cake frosting is so darn easy that you will never go back. It, basically, eliminates the need to do a crumb coat entirely. Frost it the best you can and remember that you can add as many details as you need to and that will cover up any of the imperfect parts.

To get the surface even smoother, dip your clean spatula in hot water and run it across the surface of the cake in long strokes. This will melt the frosting slightly to help remove stroke marks. Wipe the spatula clean and dip it in the hot water before each stroke.

Once your cake is smooth (ish), you are ready to add your embellishments to decorate your dress. Assemble your pastry bag with some of your extra frosting.  I used Wilton Tips #2D to make swirl flowers and my zigzag border, tip 3 to make the centers of the flowers and added dots to her dresses, and tip 21 for the shell borders and little loops on her dress.

You can add whatever details you prefer on your cake, that is the beauty of making your own Barbie cake. Embrace your inner-fashionista and have a blast making Barbie’s party dress!

Here is our finished diy barbie cake.

I left the top of Barbie’s dress on and tried to incorporate the lower half into looking like a continuation of her top.

Her hair was tied with a little leftover grosgrain ribbon.

If your Barbie has legs, you can wrap her in plastic before inserting her.

There is no need to cut a circle, she should wedge pretty easily without the extra step.  

After Barbie was done with this party, I put her dress top in the dishwasher and it came out clean and perfect. Barbie just got a good wash in the sink and I put her away…just in case we might need her next year.

The Perfect Pink Barbie Cake With Buttercream Frosting
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Adapted from The Cake Doctor Cookbook
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 10
This cake is so moist and full of strawberry flavor. The color from the gelatin adds a vivid pink hue and the flecks of fresh berry take these pantry ingredients to another level. If a Barbie cake isn’t your thing, wait for your post next week where these are transformed into a grown-up cupcake complete with a Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting. While buttercream icing is not my favorite tasting frosting, this frosting is ideal for decorating and piping beautiful decorations on your Barbie cake. The butter flavor really adds a lot of richness to this frosting. This recipe creates a batch and a half (or approximately five cups of frosting). This will likely be more than you need, but I would rather have extra frosting than not enough and make it all over again. Extra frosting can also be used to decorate a batch of cupcakes for the adults!
Ingredients
  • 1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix
  • 1 package (3 ounces) strawberry gelatin
  • 1 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries with juice (approximately 1 1/2 cups whole berries)
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 3/4 cup canola oil
  • 4 large eggs
  • For Buttercream Icing (Medium Consistency): 1 1/2 cups solid white shortening
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons [url href=”https://amzn.to/2HYXsjs” target=”_blank”]Wilton Butter Flavor[/url]
  • 4-5 tablespoons milk
  • 6 cups confectioners sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon [url href=”https://amzn.to/2Wu2Rmu” target=”_blank”]Wilton Meringue Powder[/url]
  • Pinch of Salt (optional)
  • [url href=”https://amzn.to/2V0n2bf” target=”_blank”]2 quart oven-safe batter bowl[/url]
Instructions
  1. Place your oven rack into the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Prepare a 2 quart oven-safe batter bowl by greasing heavily with cooking spray.
  3. Place the cake mix, gelatin strawberries and their juice, milk, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl.
  4. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for thirty seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat two more minutes.
  5. Pour batter carefully into your prepared batter bowl.
  6. Bake for 1 hour and ten minutes or until the cake springs back when pressed with your finger and a cake tester comes out clean.
  7. Cool for fifteen minutes and then invert your cake on a cooling rack. Allow the cake to cool for a minimum of three hours before decorating. For more tips see the post above.
  8. For icing: Cream shortening flavoring, and water.
  9. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together. Blend an additional minute or so until creamy.
  10. Tint as desired.

Love this tutorial? Here are a few of our other favorite family birthday cake recipes!

easy cupcake minion cake

gluten-free rainbow bundt cake

gluten-free cookies & cream cake

gluten-free snickerdoodle cake

 

this post contains affiliate links.

Have any cake decorating tips? What was your proudest birthday cake moment? Feel free to share them here!

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Posted in Desserts, DIY, Kid Eats, Kids Crafts | 58 Comments »

Gifts You Can Make: Kimba-Inspired Holiday Wreaths

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009


A Soft Place to Land has been a longtime source for me to find fantastically frugal decorating ideas. It started with two white pumpkins that sit on my step each year, it graduated into a ping pong wreath extravaganza, and now it has moved into the world of holiday wreaths.

When Kimba shared her e-book with me, it came with no expectations other than a chance to read it and enjoy it. I couldn’t help but read it and become immediately inspired to make the projects that were highlighted. The tutorials were easy to understand, the projects were budget-friendly, and I found a few new holiday traditions I would like to try.

Pictured above is the first holiday wreath that I decided to make out of her book. Putting things in perspective, this wreath is a gigantic 30″ wreath that looks expensively store-bought. It looks so expensively store-bought that I was genuinely offended that my husband never remarked a word about it. After stewing all day on irritation, I asked if he realized that this required a bit of work and effort with my glue gun. He was stunned…he thought I bought it. “If you only knew how much I am worth,” I muttered beneath my breath.

Pricing wreaths out at Hobby Lobby, I found I could get a scrawny 20″ wreath with three pine cones on it for about $100. This 30″ overloaded wreath cost about $30 in materials and is a genuine show-stopper! The tutorial guided you through ideas on how to achieve a full wreath, how to add texture into your wreath, and guidance even on hanging your wreath. The ideas were simply genius!

Unfortunately, my glass door would not shut on all of the genius work that was done. It required the entire brunt force of my body to shut the glass door and it smashed all of its elegance out of it. No wreath that pretty should look like that.


Our house addition on a budget was the perfect new location to display our gloriously gorgeous new wreath. I was able to mount the wreath with a trusty 3M plastic hook that can be removed without any damage to my new door. The best part about this new location is that you can even see it from our front window of our house. It makes our kitchen area so festive and I know it will be used yearly.

Unlucky for me, I was back to square one on my front door. Fortunately, I bought enough materials to make a smaller version too!


The red cranberries and red ornaments make my door really pop and make our house look more welcoming. Luckily, this modestly sized wreath (20″ wide) fits comfortably behind my glass door.

Of course, after seeing my wreaths, I have gotten a few gift requests that I make a few more! This truly would make a fantastic gift for someone you love or as a gift to yourself!

Pick up a copy today of, “A Very Kimba Christmas,” for a mere $8!

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Personalizing Our Home

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Living Room Before

We have been living in our little tri-level home for over five years now. When I think back to the house we moved into, I can honestly say that there is very little that has not been touched and retooled. We have a few things lingering that will require some time and money, but our house barely resembles the home we moved into.

The very first room that we tackled was our front living room. We had never done any real painting before and chose a neutral color that we thought would look good on the walls. The art in the room said little about our family and more about Linens ‘N Things. The color, just one tiny shade away from white and had pinkish tones to it that I just did not like. I did not have the heart or time to rethink our decisions, but five years later we have returned to that first room to revamp it.

This lamp, for instance, was one of my least favorite pieces in the room. The lampshade was dirty from years of use and abuse from my children and the brass spoke of another era altogether. I purchased a $3.99 can of black spray paint and visited Hobby Lobby where I found a new lampshade (marked at $40, but on sale for $20) and gave this little piece a makeover.

This tired old lamp now looks positively perfect in my house. With the coat of black paint and chocolate shade, it reminds me of a piece I would love in Restoration Hardware. Notice the walls? That is the new color we chose Dutch Boy in Honey Bear. It was the perfect neutral yellow that brightened our room up and made it look more modern.

That Linens ‘N Things art that spoke nothing of our family and our life has been replaced with three black-and-white 8×10’s that I had printed at Sam’s Club for a total of $4.38.

The first picture was taken just a couple of weeks ago of Emily’s foot dangling as she was swinging in the air at the park. Her little lacy socks and Mary Jane shoes were too perfect not to photograph. It spoke volumes about Emily’s girly-girl attitude even for a day of playing in the mulch.

The second picture, was a shot I took this fall of my entryway with all of the pretty fallen leaves and my sweet little white pumpkins. My favorite fall boots are resting in the corner after I had come in from raking.

The last picture was my most glamorous day ever- a photo shoot in my home with Redbook Magazine. Those shoes aren’t even mine, they are my friend’s, Kathy Friend from Flourish Boutique, who had supplied the wardrobe for the day. It was one of the most fun & exciting days for our family and that moment sealed the deal on our credit card free life.

I found beautiful picture frames at Hobby Lobby in black, to match our “new” lamp for $8 each. When you walk in, it brings people into a conversation about what those moments mean to us, who photographed them, and that our family is more than stock art from a home supplies store.

The furniture remained the same, but the curtains were switched to a cotton beige that would match the lampshade in the room. I found these for $19.99 at Target, but did four panels instead of two since this window is larger. The only other addition to the room was the leather ottoman resting next to our new personalized corner to add a little storage space for $59 from Target.

Faucet Before

Faucet After

Some of the changes we have been making, have been necessary ones because of the age of our house. A new roof was installed last summer and new gutters because they were broken, old, and leaking.

Little changes like a dripping and corroded faucet replaced with an oil-rubbed bronze one was a quick simple fix that brings me a lot of joy and less hassle when washing my dishes. We could have bought another white faucet, which would have been a lot less expensive, but it didn’t speak of our personal taste or have our personal stamp on it. These add personalization to our space and with each project behind us, the house becomes more about us and less about the previous owners that owned it before us.

With each project, we are able to modernize the house that I thought said nothing about our family. As we complete these projects that personalize our space, I find myself falling in love with corners in our home that I never thought I would love.

What have you done to personalize your home that you are most proud of?

Related Links:

Patio Renovation on a Budget

Our Kitchen Makeover

Our New Double Workspace

After Photos: Making Our Home More Inviting

Maximizing Your Space

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Posted in DIY, Family | 24 Comments »

Family Night Activity: Earth Hour

Friday, March 27th, 2009

Earth Hour 2009 is upon us and I wanted to encourage you all to enjoy a family night celebrating Earth Hour. Earth Hour is March 28th from 8:30 PM-9:30 PM this Saturday.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote.

Our family celebrated Earth Hour last year and my son still talks about it. It was definitely one of our favorite family nights ever and a great way to share about caring for the earth.


I had been looking forward to Earth Hour all week and sharing this experience with my family. We talked to Ethan about why we were celebrating Earth Hour and how much fun we were going to have. Since Earth Hour was between 8-9 PM last year, it was a special treat for the kids to stay up late and spend the hour with us.

The kids took a bath by candlelight, which they thought was a super fun treat! We filled the tub with lots of bubbles and threw in a couple of whisks and spoons from the kitchen. They whisked up bubbles to their hearts delight and sang fun songs by candlelight.

Ethan thought he looked pretty cool in front of the candles so he took some time out of his busy schedule to pose!

After our baths, we enjoyed a yummy snack while Ryan & I made shadow puppets on the wall for the kids. They thought these were hilarious and super cool!

Ethan had so much fun, he asked if we could celebrate Earth Hour every day! This gave me an opportunity to share with him easy ways he could celebrate AND save the earth. We talked about doing our recycling, turning the lights off when we aren’t in a room, and not being wasteful. Since this family night was such a hit, I hope we can do it with the kids again. Not only did the kids have a blast, but it was super frugal, while being extremely memorable for all of us!


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Dressing Up the Front Step For Fall

Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

I loved the white pumpkins featured in A Soft Place to Land and gained some inspiration from that post for my own doorstep. Of course, I took the lazy and cheap route, but I think they turned out beautifully.

I purchased faux pumpkins at Michael’s Craft Store. The were on sale for 40% off this past week. I found two pots to rest my pumpkins in and a bolt of black ribbon to dress up the pots.


I used my glue gun to attach the ribbon around the outside of the pot. With the leftover ribbon from the bolt, I made a bow and then tied it off with a little raffia. The pumpkins wedge perfectly in there.

I am hoping it will be something that I can use each year. I have found most of our guests think they are real pumpkins when they come over and have spent a lot of time thumping and touching them. I am not usually one to pick things that aren’t natural for decorating with, but I love being able to store these and use them year after year. If they are fooling people, then that works even more to my advantage!

Of course, if those pumpkins don’t last until next year, I have these two little pumpkins that I can set out there on occasion to dress up the step!

What are some creative ways you decorate your home for fall?

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Posted in DIY, Family | 13 Comments »

How to Make Homemade Nonstick Spray (DIY Pan Release Spray)

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007

The Best Nonstick Cooking Spray in the World from MomAdvice.com

Did you know that you can substitute your Pam cooking spray with this amazing diy pan release recipe. Stored at room temperature, this homemade version works great and won’t gunk up your pans like the usual cooking oil sprays. You won’t believe how easy it is to whip up this homemade cooking spray for all your baking needs.

Did you know that you can make your own pan release with just a few simple pantry ingredients.

When I first began baking, I relied heavily on store bought sprays to insure that my baked goods wouldn’t stick.

What I didn’t realize was the gunk that can build up on my pans from these sprays. Experts say that gunk can be removed, from your pans with a soak of baking soda and vinegar. I’ll be honest though, I have found it pretty darn impossible to remove this residue from my pans.

One popular substitute is a to purchase a spray bottle oil mister. These reusable misters can be filled with your olive oil (or vegetable oil) and applied just as you would with Pam.

Even after buying this kitchen gadget, I found my cakes and quick breads continued to stick to the pans. This green alternative just didn’t end up begin the solution I thought it would be.

You could say that my cake pans and these spray misters went together like oil and water.

Hahaha!


How to Make Homemade Nonstick Spray from MomAdvice.com

What’s the Secret to A Nonstick Spray That Doesn’t Gunk Up Your Pans?

I discovered this recipe when I signed up for a cake decorating course, at my local Michael’s.

I couldn’t wait to learn the secrets to perfect cakes and one of her best tips was on cake removal. I assumed she would tell us a product to buy, but it ended up being a pantry recipe that anyone could make.

Instead of commercial sprays, she greased her pans with a homemade mixture of oils and flour.

Say what?

That sounds way more affordable!

While fancy commercial cake release sprays were available, she found making her very own version of this yielded way better results.

I decided to take her word for it and can’t believe how beautifully it performed. I was no longer battling the icky residue.

DIY Pan Release Recipe from MomAdvice.com

How Do You make DIY Pan Release Spray?

DIY Pam Spray can be made with equal parts canola oil and vegetable shortening. Finally, the addition of flour, is added in to give this mixture a marshmallow creme consistency. I have found the use of a stand mixer makes this even easier to pull together!

How Do I Store My Homemade Non Stick Spray?

No need to refrigerate this because it can be stored at room temperature. I keep mine in a simple mason jar and apply it with a pastry brush.

Unlike coconut oil, you don’t need to worry about warming up your oil before applying it to your griddles and pans.

These ingredients may separate, but I just use a spoon to mix them back together when that happens.

How Do I Use DIY Pan Release Spray?

Keep in mind, a little goes a long way so start small. I find it is easiest to apply with a simple pastry brush. Dip your pastry brush, into the pan release, and paint it on your pans. This can be used to create nonstick surfaces on cake pans, bundt cake pans, griddles, and cake pans.

This recipe is so inexpensive so you will save some money at the grocery store too! I hope you can try it- you really won’t believe how great the results are. I won’t ever use anything else again!

How to Make Homemade Nonstick Spray (DIY Pan Release Spray)
 
Author: MomAdvice.com
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 1/2 cups
Did you know that you can substitute your Pam cooking spray with this amazing diy pan release recipe. Stored at room temperature, this homemade version works great and won’t gunk up your pans like the usual cooking oil sprays. You won’t believe how easy it is to whip up this homemade cooking spray for all your baking needs.
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1/2 cup vegetable shortening (room temperature)
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl.
  2. Using an electric mixer beat until mixture has increased in volume slightly and resembles marshmallow cream.
  3. Place in an airtight container with a lid (like a mason jar). This can be stored in your cupboard. In the warmer months, you can keep it in your refrigerator.
  4. If your mixture separates, just stir to bring these ingredients back together.
  5. Use a pastry brush to brush on the your homemade cake release. Remember, a little goes a long way.
 

 

 

Love this tutorial? Here are three other DIY projects I think you might like!

How to Cook Quinoa in the Rice Cooker from MomAdvice.com how to cook quinoa in the rice cooker

How to Make Perfect Brown Rice in Your Rice Cooker from MomAdvice.com how to make perfect brown rice in your rice cooker

Instant Pot Shredded Chicken how to meal prep shredded chicken in your instant pot

 

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Posted in Condiments, Desserts, DIY, Frugal, Saving | 17 Comments »

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