Paper Box - How To

I love making paper boxes of all different sizes as they make great gift boxes, the smaller ones for trinkets, worry dolls, or homemade jewelry and larger ones for cookies, cupcakes, or other bits. I've been making them for so long, I don't even remember learning. They might have been something my mom taught me and/or something from my Girl Scout days (my mom was my leader for a long time). When working & loving at camp it was something I often taught kids, especially to store worry dolls, jewelry, or just for fun.

They can be made from plain, colored, or decorated paper and are a great way to recycle & reuse newsprint, comics, brown paper bags, doodles, or old wrapping paper. Versatile and can be made in all sorts of sizes.

Flowered Bottle Necklace

Happy First Day of Spring!

In honor of this wonderful time of year, I was inspired to find a new project for some things I had sitting around here. Recycling some little bottles I had on hand I came up with this flowered bottle necklace that I am considering filling with wildflower seeds to wear carry with me. (Or to give to a friend to carry with them.) Sometimes, a person just needs to have some flowers to share with then world, even in the most powerful form of a seed. This is a super simple project that definitely helped me celebrate the coming of Spring and all it's beauty.

 I started with small glass bottle, I had left from candy making at Christmas time. (Every year I made hard candy for Christmas.) I have a small stash of these small bottles that the flavorings for the candy come in, cleaned and the labels removed. (So don't be surprised to see more projects utilizing these.)

Using acrylic painted I attacked a couple of these small bottles with greens and flowers, letting them dry between layers and then again at the end. (Of course, any theme could work.)

Once dry, I attached hemp cord securely around the neck of the bottle, knotting. (It has a nice earthy look and feel.) Using a bead pattern, I knotted the cord every so bit and added earth tone pony beads, securing the beads with the cord. I finished the end with a knot, leaving the cord long enough to slip over my head without needing a latch. (You could use any jewelry making technique, macrame knots, braid, or selection of beads. The one pictured is just the one I chose this time.)

Now, they just need to be filled with flower seeds and are ready to go. (Maybe give Mother Nature a bit of help spreading her colors.) Bring on Spring! Bring on the flowers!

(Of course, it also could be used for scented oils or something.)

Bleach Bottle Pig Planters

With thoughts of spring and planting...

I've making bleach bottle pig planters since my early days as a Girl Scout. We would make them in multiple sizes, depending on the available bleach bottles, then plant them with flowers to sit on porches or in flower beds.

The strip of pictures are from a Craft Day at the nursing home. (See references to 'The Ladies Who Craft.')The piigs were cut, painted, googly eyes attaches, and sprayed with an acrylic sealer. Once everything was dry the potting soil was added and ivy planted in each. Perfect for window sills.

The instructions below were written out to be used as an example for recycling projects out of everyday things that would otherwise be thrown away. They don't need any special supplies since pain and a a craft knife or scissors are both items most crafters have readily on hand and they are a nice size for most flowers, herbs, or other plants. Most important remember that the emptied bleach bottles must be thoroughly cleaned and rinsed to get rid of any lingering bleach as it WILL KILL ANY PLANTS in the planter otherwise. (Unfortunately, this was not something we were able to do at camp for lack of enough bleach bottles. It can take some time to save up enough for a group.)

You can cut the ears any way you want, just make sure they have the notched flap on the bottom to help keep them in place.

Check out on CutOutandKeep too!

St. Patty's Table and Dinner

Cheers! Another St. Patty's Day passed. Check out the table settings all put together and the menu served on it. (The boys were a little late for dinner, but everything held and it ended up just as yummy and just as nice as they devoured the feast in their typical record time.)

The Table Settings

Menu
An Irish Inspired Stew
Peas (we have to make the separate since not all of my brothers like them)
Pot of Gold (or Cheddar Beer Soup) (with some alterations since I am vegetarian and have no interest in a meaty stew, including using vegetable broth instead of chicken)
Deep Fried Battered Pickle Chips (not b/c they are Irish, but I like them & they are green)
Traditional Soda Bread
Apple Cider
Beer
Shamrock Cut Out Cookies (from a favorite local bakery)
Rainbow Cupcakes
Brownies

Rainbow Cupcakes

It's been a  busy day of baking and cooking to getting ready for tonight's St. Patty's dinner. For a special treat, I made rainbow cupcakes. (They're going to double as part of the center piece.) I started with mixing a white cake mix batter (in this cake I just used a boxed cake mix that was already in the cupboard) according to the directions.Then divided it into six bowls and colored with the colors of the rainbow; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.

 I layered each color in paper lined cupcake pans. The large cupcakes have a bit of every color, the small cupcakes have at least three colors or more each. I like mixing the regular sized cupcakes with the small bit-size ones. Then into the oven to cake (according to the recipe/directions) until done. (Usually sticking a toothpick in and coming out clean is the best way.)

Let cool. Ice and decorate. (I used a white cream cheese frosting with some green sugar sprinkles. I looked for shamrocks, but had trouble finding them.)

I don't need to a rainbow for luck... I made my own. Sweet, yummy, and might lead to a treasure all it's own.

Bottle of Irish Spirit - Video How To

Check out my video for the complete how-to, from just en empty bottle start to finish project.

Bottles of Irish Spirit

Still in the prep work for my St.Patrick's Day dinner I knew I needed some festive centerpieces for the table. So, I came up with these festive Bottles of Irish Spirit.

Using an empty and clean green bottle, I removed the labels, then dried thoroughly. (In this case I used bottles from Hard Cider that were in my recycle box.) Using a white and shamrock ribbon I attached a "label" with my hot glue gun (a wonderful invention). Then embellished the bottle by attached a fabric white rose I made before hand and ribbon to the front, again with the hot glue gun. (Find the instructions for the Fabric Rose here.)

Inside the clean bottle (no cider remnants here), I stuffed some green shamrock decorative wire I had left over what something I wore to a St. Patty's Day party last year. (Don't worry there was more involved than just the shamrock wire.) Then topped the bottle off with a green felt circle and a little bit more of the white ribbon with my hot glue gun.

The whole project cost nothing extra, using things I already had here, empty bottles for recycling, and scrap fabric from the place mats I already made and took very little time. And they are going to look great with the rest of the St. Patty's goodies for my table.