Snowflake ornaments

So thanks to Pinterest I've found some cheap, affordable ideas for Christmas decorations/gifts. I have become somewhat addicted to Pinterest. It's such a great website to connect, inspire and mostly to organize. I can't say enough good things about it. Love, Love, LOVE Pinterest. So today I decided to try to make glitter snowflake ornaments for gift/decoration. With some trial and error I think they came out pretty good. 2 things I have learned while doing this project...

1. Dollar tree may have everything....for a dollar, but somethings are worth paying more for. In this case, it would've been a good idea to invest in better quality mini glue sticks. I was so delighted to find packs of 20 glue sticks for a dollar and they will totally work on projects where you aren't going to actually see the glue shape but for this project, totally go with the better stuff.

2. More is actually awesome. The wider and thicker you go with the snowflake the sturdier and prettier they will be :)


What you need:
Hot glue sticks
Hot glue gun
Simple snowflake pattern* (I printed mine from a google search)
Modge Podge
Glitter (in as many colors as you want to do)
Newspaper
Wax paper
Paint brush
Dish soap mixed with just enough water to make the soap spreadable but not sudzy

1. Lay out 2 pieces of wax paper and using a paper towel coat the wax paper with a light (LIGHT!) layer of barely soapy Dish soap. When you run your finger over it you want it to be slightly slick but not so slick that you can see it leave a trail of your finger through it.

2. place your pattern under the wax paper and start to trace with hot glue, play with it a little until you reach a consistency that you like. *make sure you pick a simple pattern because the glue will spread a bit. you want all the pieces to connect but i wouldn't go too fancy unless you are making HUGE snowflakes.*

3. Allow pieces to dry completely before removing from wax paper. Rinse with cool water to remove any excess soap and then dry with paper towel. The water should be cool to help harden off the glue if you use hot water the glue will become pliable again, you don't want the glue to be pliable at all.

4. Modge Podge. the. Shit. out of them then sprinkle with glitter. Dry. Apply second coat of Modge Podge and glitter if you desire super glittery snowflakes. I did two and I think they are fantastic.

5. Allow to dry overnight. Then hot glue hanger to the back. I am going to use thin string, but i imagine a christmas ornament hook would do just fine as well. If they are a gift you could do some type of ribbon.

Happy Glue-Fest,

Love,

Tess

Blue blanket

I started this blanket in August and thanks to hurricane Sandy I sat still long enough to finish it. It was a basic square done in different sizes and color schemes. I got the pattern out of a booklet I found at Walmart. Its fairly easy. I'll try to post steps later.






I also started another one using lavender and teal. This will be one continuous square for the whole blanket. I'm gonna be so warm and snuggly this winter :-)




Love,
Tess

New Tegan and Sara video... yes please

The new single from my favorite twin Canadian Lesbians.

You're welcome

Tess

Family.

Today I got to spend the day with my parents and my sister and her family in Baltimore MD. It was a fun filled day spent at the aquarium. I got to thinking about how important family is. I know so many people who are at odds with their family some for good reason, some not so much. I didn't get to choose them and I don't always agree with them but I have to say they have always been there for me when i'm down and to celebrate when things are good. I love them and I feel pretty fortunate even if at times I wanna bang there heads together, especially times when my mother is driving...and my father is trying to also control the car from the passenger seat...ah good times. Grab your mother and hug her today friends... Or stab her...but gently cause she loves you.

I'm kidding,don't stab your mother that's crazy!

Inspiring thoughts brought to you via my brains.

Infinite love and gratitude,

Tess

Pumpkin Carving fun

So it turned out to be a fun afternoon. The boys weren't thrilled with the pumpkin dremel, however, I found it to be quite useful for the type of pumpkin I wanted to do. I like the innards, pulp, layer? left intact and they like the open face look, where you cut all the way through. Tom and I did two characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas and little T did a skull pattern out of the book that came with the tools. Turns out my fiance has a knack for pumpkin carving and he can bang out a carving in no time flat! It was so impressive :)

The pumpkin dremel comes with a dremel bit that isn't like a saw its like 4 tiny nub blades on the end which spin really fast. I think that Tom thought it was going to be like a mini saw. I loved it because it was easier on my hands an wrists that cutting it by hand. However, it is really really messy so I would definately reccommend either laying out a lot of plastic or doing it outside. Clean up wasn't too bad but if your doing more than one or two pumpkins with it....it could be bad.

Here's my Pumpkin king pumpkin carving looking all scary and stuff!

All three finished pumpkins on my front porch... and the tin can mummies I made. Tutorial to follow

What you need:

Empty cans from veggies and or beans

Cotton balls

tacky glue (or whatever glue is most convenient)

googly eyes

gauze

First you stretch the cotton balls out and put little drops of tacky glue randomly in spots and then attach lightly to outside of the can. It doesn't have to be an exact science the cotton is just used to make your mummy bulky. It doesn't have to be glued on the whole way either because in the next step you are going to wrap the entire can with gauze....

So as previously stated you will wrap the can in gauze. You want to do random folds here and there but try to get it even at the top and bottom so you don't have a one sided mummy. It should end up similar to the next photo. Once you reach the end you can just tuck the tail in or you can glue and tuck if you want it to be more secure.

For the googly eyes I just found two nice folds i made in the gauze, applied a drop of tacky glue to each and tucked them in the fold. MUMMIES!

OooOOoOOooo scary. They are a nice cheap addition to your halloween decorations. I will be putting tea lights in them next week and having them lite up on halloween for trick or treat night :)

Happy Hauntings ya'll

Infinite love and gratitude
Tess

Fantastic Friday

Hope you all are having a fantastic friday! I know I am. So we decided that this weekend is going to pumpkin carving weekend and I am so excited!!! We bought a pumpkin carving tool today at Lowes. I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend with the boys making awesome pumpkins to complete our Halloween porch decorations. I am also gonna dig into the pile of clothes upstairs to see what I can use for repurposing in DIY projects and what I can donate. My fiancé has more clothes than any girl I know... Its madness!! but I love him. :) we are slowly working through them so that we don't have to move them when we move in the spring. I also am putting together a magnetic board for the bathroom to hang my bobby pins and my hair ties from. I just have to get the magnetic sheet from AC Moore tomorrow. I may stain the wood, not sure yet. I will post pictures when I'm finished with it.

Look at these awesome DIY projects I wanna do:

Pot lid organizer

Crochet poncho

I think this poncho is totally cute. I wanna do it in this really pretty teal and green colors that I have.

Well friends that is all for now. I am going to enjoy my mushroom and eggs and then frolic off to my Friday at Wholefoods. 

Infinite love and gratitude,

Tess

Vegan veggie chowder

This soup turned out deeeeeeeeeeee-licious and I altered it to be completely vegan.

Here is a link to the original recipe:
http://luluthebaker.blogspot.com/2011/09/cheesy-vegetable-chowder.html

Instead of butter I used Earth Balance
Instead of chicken broth I used 2 Edward & Sons Not Chik'n bouillon and made 4 cups of broth
Instead of cheese I used 1.5 cups of nutritional yeast (you can add more or less to your taste)
Instead of milk I used unsweetened almond milk (you can use whatever dairy free milk you like though, I just prefer almond milk)

I also didn't have 2 large baking potatoes so I used 4 small red potatoes and I kept the skins on. I usually leave the skins on even if the recipe calls for them be peeled 1. because I am lazy and 2. the nutritional value in potatoes is in the skin.

This was the outcome, and it was awesome!

It got Nom-noms approval from my fiance :) Look at that face.

Bathroom cleaner extravaganza

Okay so the directions were simple. You take
1 part white vinegar
1 part dawn dish soap
(I did 2 cups of each)
Heat vinegar until its hot, pour in bottle then add dawn and shake up.
It was really easy! However, I recommend not shaking it up with the nozzle on. Stick your hand over the top or your finger in the top because I found that as soon as the bottle expanded from the heat the solution started spraying out of it from the pressure and some got in my eye. It only stung for a second...ha ha but word to the wise =-O
The solution is somewhat gel like so it sort of sticks where you spray it which is kind of awesome! I feel like I have to spray a ton of the runnier chemical sprays to get it good on the surface.
Waited a half hour....
and it worked pretty well. I have some tough areas with rust stains that will probably need over night treatment but for a quick cheap cleaner this is good.
love
Tess

Getting ready to get my supplies

My shopping excitement!

Greetings

Hello world! I'm Tess and this will be my space via the interwebs to share my thoughts, projects and useless information with anyone who cares to read. I'm a newbie blogger so bare with me this blog is under construction. 

Today I am trying to come up with a natural cleaner to clean the bathroom with. I came across a few good ideas... 

This one from Crunchy Betty seems like would work, although she tells this story about a scary toilet in her parents house that had me chuckling and considering using just straight up Coke Cola to clean my toilet from now on. http://www.crunchybetty.com/the-best-homemade-bathroom-cleaner-ever

This idea from The Thrifty Frugal mom sounds like it would be easier to throw together so i think it's the one I will try. http://www.parents.com/blogs/thrifty-frugal-mom/2012/02/06/recipes/homemade-bathroom-cleaner/

I'll report back how it goes this afternoon. Also have plans for a yummy vegetable chowder :) I love soup! If i could eat soup and toast all year round I think I'd be the happiest girl alive, however my fiancé and his son aren't soup enthusiasts like me (sad for them, really :P) so I cannot eat soup everyday.

Infinite love and gratitude,

Tess