Colorful Melted Candy Suncatcher

A burst of color is what we need as we await the beauty of spring that is still yet to come.  And with some Jolly Rancher candies and our oven, we made a lovely suncatcher in the shape of an Easter egg.  It now hangs in the window, catching rays of sunlight through the translucent colors to brighten up the kitchen.  It's easy to make your own suncatcher by melting hard candy.  Here's how.


Supplies needed:

• hard candy in assorted colors (we used Jolly Rancher candies)
• baking parchment
• baking tray
• metal skewer
• waxed dental floss or ribbon

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F (140 C).  Line the baking tray with parchment.
2. Arrange the candies on the parchment in an eye-pleasing roundish shape.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the center is melted flat.
4. Tilt the warm tray to swirl the colors a bit and to even out the shape.
5. Allow the disc formed to cool.  Trim the edges with a knife or break off small shards to even out the edges somewhat.
6. Heat the pointed end of the metal skewer over a stove top burner and puncture a hole near the top of the disc.  Allow the edges of the hole to harden before threading with floss or ribbon.  
7. Hang up your suncatcher near a window.

I might be sharing this idea here.

8 Ways to Welcome Spring, No Matter the Weather

The calendar says that spring is here.  Winter is reluctant to leave these parts, but we're going to welcome spring with some of these activities anyway.  Here's how you can join us:

1.  Plant some seeds, inside or outside.  A recent post at Simple Bites demonstrates how to start seeds indoors.

2.  Make some colorful springtime snacks.

Ladybugs on a Celery Stick

Vanilla Sprinkle Ice Cream Bites

Deviled Eggs with Greens

3.  Play a spring-inspired game.

Eco-Friendly Flower Game

 Ladybug Games

 4.  Create some watercolor cards to send.

Watercolor Easter Cards

5.  Sing songs or recite poems or rhymes (with actions) that celebrate spring, Easter, and/or Passover.
     
          Some possibilities:

• Round and Round the Garden
• Two Little Blackbirds
• Five Little Ducks
• 1-2-3 Jesus is Alive
• Three Days
• Chad Gadya (One Little Goat)

6. Add flowers to your table or home decor.  Gather them fresh from outside or craft them inside.

Tulip Napkin Rings

7. Make a pitcher of fresh lemonade and invite a friend over to enjoy it together.

Cherry Lemonade Mixer

8. Sort through clothes and have a spring fashion show.  In the process, decide ahead of time what to wear to events like Easter or spring concerts.

I'm sharing this post here.

Tulip Napkin Rings {Made From Upcycled Cardboard Tubes}

Though I long for the warmth and colours of spring to arrive, the Canadian prairie is still locked in layers of snow and ice.  While I impatiently wait for the weather to change, why not add some beauty and creativity to our tabletop indoors?  Sandy Coughlin's ideas for creating a beautiful tabletop inspired me.  Just in time for Easter and spring, we now have some cheerful floral napkin rings to grace our table.  And you and your family can easily make a set too.  From start to finish, this manageable project can be done in 30 minutes or less.

Materials:

• Cardboard tubes (from paper towel rolls)

• Scissors
• Acrylic paint
• Paintbrush or cotton swabs
• Hot glue (and hot glue gun)
• Cloth strips or binding tape
• Green ribbon
• Sugar snap peas, optional 
• Flat toothpicks, optional

1. Cut petal shaped ovals from the cardboard tubes. The length of each oval should be parallel to the length of the tube (so that the petals resemble large fake fingernails).
2. Paint each petal with a thick coat (or two) of acrylic paint, making sure the brush strokes form a grain that is parallel to the length of each oval.
3. Cut rings from cardboard tubes, trimming them until smooth and even in size.
4. Wrap each cardboard ring with about 24 inches of cloth strips.  If using folded strips, overlap the edges so that the raw edges are concealed.  Secure inside ring with hot glue.
5. When painted petals are dry, arrange them in groups of three to form a tulip flower and fasten together with hot glue.  Attach the tulip flower to the cloth-wrapped ring with hot glue.
6. To add a stem to the tulip, cut an appropriate length of ribbon and attach it inside the napkin ring with glue, tape, or a pin.
7. Insert napkin and add sugar snap pea "leaves," securing the pea pods in a V-shape with a flat toothpick.  Trim toothpick as needed.

I'm sharing this idea at these fun places.

Gumball Bracelets

When I saw the idea to make gumball jewelry earlier this year, my middle daughter latched onto it and asked for many weeks if we could make our own.  It took a while to locate gumballs in a box, but I found some at Target for $1.00.  Today I finally collected the rest of the components and tools.  We certainly enjoyed putting together these colorful bracelets at last!

Piercing tools

Assembling color patterns

Our cheerful results

 I'm linking this project to Saturday is Crafty Day.

Craft of the Week: Muffin Bouquet for Mother's Day, May Day or Teacher Appreciation

Materials Used:

• Tin can
• Fabric (large enough to wrap can)
• Fabric glue
• Ribbon
• Artificial flower petals, optional
• Brass fasteners, optional
• Bamboo skewers
• Paper mini-muffin liners (extra)
• Freshly baked mini-muffins
• An orange (one that fits in the bottom of the tin can)
• Green ribbon or yarn, optional

Instructions:

1. Cut and wrap tin can with fabric.  See these instructions for creating a fabric wrapped vase for further details.  Decorate vase with coordinating ribbon by wrapping and tying a bow.
2. Place an orange in the bottom of the tin vase. Insert blunt ends of skewers into the fruit to form the stems for the bouquet.
3. If using artificial flower petals, pierce each petal toward the narrower end with a sharp knife.  Arrange petals into a flower and secure each bloom with a brass fastener (through the holes that were pierced). Place a muffin on each bloom and poke skewer through the bloom and half way through the muffin.  Tie a length of green ribbon or yarn around the stems to add greenery if desired.
4. If not delivering the muffin bouquet immediately, remove muffins and store in a tightly closed container to keep them moist.  Reassemble the bouquet by adding the muffins shortly before giving the muffin bouquet.

This post is linked to DIY Day and more!

Colored Pistachio Art and Napkin Rings: Craft of the Week - Part 2

We finally completed the gluing process with our dyed pistachio shells!  First the kids and I made some framed art.  Theirs turned out to be more abstract than my floral design above.

To find out how we colored the pistachio shells and pasta, see Part 1 of this craft.

Materials for Colored Pistachio Shell Art:

• colored pistachio shells and/or pasta
• Elmer's Glue All
• white paper
• straight twigs, broken and cut to fit the edges of the paper

The napkin rings were a solo project that I did.  Hot glue and little fingers don't mix.  The blue denim should match my mother's kitchen colors.  I will choose a different fabric to wrap the cardboard rings if I make a set for myself.

Materials for Colored Pistachio Shell Napkin Rings:

• colored pistachio shells
• hot glue and glue gun
• long fabric strip or ribbon (I used denim from old size 4T jeans)
• cardboard tube, cut into sections
• buttons (mine were salvaged from a stained shirt)

This post is linked to Just Something I Whipped Up @ The Girl Creative, DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land and...