A Tie Dyed Easter

I just came across this awesome DIY project on Pinterest and had to share. Silk dyed Easter eggs!

You wrap the eggs tightly in silk ties, boil them, and then -- magic happens -- when you unwrap them, they've taken on not only the colours of the tie, but also the pattern! Amazing. I mean, just look at that paisley.

Get all the details about how to make your own silk dyed eggs on Foxflat. She also has some links at the bottom of her post to other people's egg projects -- with various methods and strategies on how to tie up the eggs for the best results.

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Etsy Love

A lovely lil' Valentine from those sweethearts at Etsy...

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iLove

This Valentine's idea from Brooklyn Bride is both high-tech and handmade, quick-to-read and oh-soooo-slow to make.... Check out the tutorial on how to make your own cross stitch QR code Valentine. Heh.

P.S. Brooklyn Bride's February mix-tape makes for some nice background music as you stitch...

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Lovin' My Legwarmers

Remember a month or so ago, when I was dreaming about legwarmers? Well, I actually made some.

I'm really pleased with how they turned out. They are thick and oh-so-warm. And they're perfect to wear with my fave winter boots.

I used the Anushka Tay's Tree Tunk Legwarmers pattern on Ravelry, with Patons Shetland Chunky Tweeds yarn, in the "Charcoal Tweeds" colourway, on 6mm double-pointed needles. The cable was really quick and easy to knit. This was actually only my second time knitting in the round on double-pointed needles, and I've got to say it was not so bad. I'm inspired to knit more! Maybe even socks...?! But first, my next knitting project will be another pair of legwarmers -- this time, fun ones to wear at the climbing gym!

I also wanted to share with you a little gift I sewed up for my friends in Montreal (don't worry, they've already opened the prezzie, so I'm not spoiling the surprise!). They have the cutest puppy, Teddy, so I wanted to make a fuzzy felt version of Teddy to put on the tree.

Here's Teddy and his felty counterpart... not quite as cute, but come on, I can't really compete with a real live puppy.

 

I hope you all have warm, wooly and wonderful holidays!

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7 Deadliest Halloween Recipes... Owls!

Today's Halloween recipes are some of my faves. Any excuse to incorporate owls into the mix, really.

Here are the seven deadliest owl-themed Halloween recipes...

Owl Smores by Living Locurto

Night Owl Cookies on BrightIdeas.com

Owl Cheese Spread by Recipe.com

Owl Bento Box by Mothering Corner

Owl Brownies by Sweet Mama

Owl Cake Pops on Bakerella

And last but not least...

Not one, but two, owl wedding cakes! Via Bella Wedding Events.
Amazing. If only I'd thought of that before I got hitched! :)

What a hoot!

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7 Deadliest Halloween Recipes... Eyeballs!

Yesterday's ghost recipes were all on the cute side. Not so, today, my fearful friends. Not so. Things are gonna get gross and googly-eyed, case here are the seven deadliest eyeball-themed Halloween recipes.

Eyeball Pasta from BBC Good Food

Oozing Potatoes by Sandra Lee on Delish.com

Jelly Shot Eyeballs from Jelly Shot Test Kitchen

Eyes of Newt from Parenting.com ... made from mini donuts!

 

Eyeball Cookies from Taste of Home

 Eerie Eyeballs from Britta Blvd

Eyeball Highball Ice Cubes from Martha Stewart

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7 Deadliest Halloween Recipes... Ghosts!

Boo!

Every year, it seems like there are more and more fun and awesome recipes out there for Halloween. So many that picking my faves was pretty tough... so I've broken it down into creepy categories.

Here are my picks for the seven deadliest ghost-themed Halloween recipes. Stay tuned for more revolting recipes to come later in the week!

Ghostly Pizza

Mashed Boo-tatoes

Boo-Nilla Shakes

Strawberry Ghosts

 Meringue Ghosts

Ghost Pumpkin Pudding Cups

Marshmallow Ghost Cake

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It’s Decorative Gourd Season!

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving, everyone!

To celebrate the Fall season, every year at this time, I like to dust off a webpage on McSweeney's Internet Tendency and read a now-classic piece of literature: It’s Decorative Gourd Season, Motherf***ers.

Be warned, the writing is full of cussing and cursing. But it's also full of shellacked decorative vegetables. And the combination is brilliant.

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Happy Pancake Tuesday!

Happy Pancake Tuesday! A fabulous day for flat foods all over the world.

Read up on your Pancake Tuesday facts and trivia over at The Guardian, and also pick up a few recipes. The sweet potato pancakes sound lovely.

The pancake is prehistoric. Grinding boring but nutritious grains into flour, blending them with protein-rich liquids such as milk or eggs and cooking the mixture made for an extremely palatable food, and it seems likely that pancakes were among the first things humans learned to cook. Once you've got fire in your caveman arsenal it's easy to heat a piece of flint or slate to make a basic griddle. The Roman food writer Apicius describes a batter of eggs, milk, water and flour which was fried and served with honey and pepper. It sounds rather good. --The Guardian

Though this is likely to change on a daily basis (and is closely linked to what pancakes are within my range of smell..) my top three forms of pancakes right now would probably be:

• Dosas (If you're in Vancouver, go to the amazing House of Dosas)
• Dutch Pannekoek (I recently went to The Dutch Wooden Shoe Cafe in Vancouver and loved it.)
• Puffy Oven Pancakes (like in this recipe; our version is pictured below... yum!)

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HO HO HO and LOL

Christoph Niemann -- the mastermind behind I Lego NY -- has been baking. His Let it Dough series will get you into the holiday spirit... and make you want to make/eat cookies.

Check out the full Let it Dough series on the NYTimes site.

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tiny gingerbread houses

The ultimate in holiday cuteness has got to be Not Martha's tiny gingerbread houses. Seriously. It does not get more festive than this.

Check out the full story on Not Martha here and here.

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...and a happy new year

"Happy Holidays," says Chronicle Books! "We made you a lovely little stop-motion movie."



(I love that woman's yellow blouse.)

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'Tis the Season (... Already!)

 I'm super excited to see my wreath made from recycled cardboard coffee sleeves included as one of the "8 Great DIY Wreaths" roundup on Apartment Therapy today!

The whole tutorial is here on Magpie and Cake and also over on Cut Out & Keep.

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super simple coffee cardboard recycled wreath tutorial

It's Wreath Week over at Dollar Store Crafts! Great timing, as just a few days ago, in a burst of Christmas decorating, I made a wreath of my own... using the cardboard sleeves from disposable coffee cups.



I hate the waste of disposable coffee cups. But coffee is also an essential part of my morning commute, and sometimes I forget my stainless steel coffee thermos. I started to collect the coffee sleeves in a drawer of my desk at work - partly to remind myself how much waste builds up over the course of a year - and partly to reuse them at a later date in some craft project that I'd eventually dream up.

The variety of colours and textures that these things are made of is actually quite lovely. Like little swatches of cardboard.

I also have a bit of a history with cardboard coffee sleeves: a couple of years ago, I made a whole quilt out of coffee sleeves.

I didn't take any step-by-step photos while I was making the wreath, but it is super easy to make. Here's how...

Super Simple Coffee Cardboard Recycled Wreath Tutorial

You will need: old cardboard coffee sleeves (don't use new ones; just collect a few, or ask your friends to donate them from their eggnog lattes); a cereal box (ie a larger piece of cardboard for the backing); a glue gun (or strong glue + a bit more patience); scissors, a ribbon.

1. Plug in your glue gun!

2. Cut out a ring of cardboard from the back of an old cereal box. I used two bowls to outline the circles before cutting. You really don't need to be very precise though, as the circle will be totally covered when you're done.

3. Take your cardboard coffee sleeves, and cut out leaf shapes. You don't need a template for this either. Try to vary the sizes of the leaves, so you can tuck some little ones in among the larger leaves.

4. With your glue gun, put a dab of glue on a leaf, then stick it down onto the ring. You want to glue onto the "advertising" side of the cardboard (ie. where it says the name of the coffee shop), so the finished wreath is plain cardboard.

5. Repeat with all the leaves, gradually layering them. Vary the angles of the leaves to create an organic, branchy look. Also mix up the sizes, colours and textures of the leaves as you go.

6. Tie on a ribbon, and you're good to go!

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a very crafty advent calendar

Forget how many shopping days are left till Christmas. Personally, I'm keeping an eye on how many crafting days are left. This week I got two more Top Secret crafty gifts finished up (at last!) but still have plans for more... unless all those holiday parties get in the way.

If you're looking for fun ideas for holiday and Christmas crafts, check out Cut Out + Keep's online Advent Calendar for crafters. Every day till the big Two-Five, they are posting a new craft tutorial... and today's tutorial is mine!



Here's my tutorial on how to make a 3D Joke Tree Advent Calendar. It's great for the silly monkeys in your life. And it's also a good excuse to whip out some corny jokes, such as these gems...

• Why are Christmas trees like bad knitters?
  They both drop their needles!
  
  
• What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?
  Frostbite!
  
  
• What do snowmen eat for breakfast?
  Ice Krispies!
  
  
• Where do polar bears vote?
  At the North Poll!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Cut Out + Keep is an online community for crafty and creative people to make and share step-by-step tutorials. You can post your own tutorials, show off things you've made or have a shot at someone else's project.

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ice lace

Ice lace is a simple and lovely idea from Resurrection Fern. She froze doilies to create some delicate outdoor decorations for her porch.





The more I think about it, the more I like this idea. Ice and lace make a complementary pair - both materials have elegant yet complex structures, both are delicate and strong at the same time...

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warm and wooly

What's more holiday-y than Rachel Denny's Domestic Trophies?

Deer made of sweaters. Seriously, you can't beat that.

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down with wrapping paper

If you're looking for ideas on how to wrap your xmas gifts this year without using wrapping paper, furoshiki is where it's at.

Furoshiki is a Japanese method of tying cloth in various ways to carry anything and everything - from boxes to bottles. It's a little like fabric origami, but with more practical uses.

The Japanese Ministry of the Environment created a helpful sheet on various ways to tie furoshiki, available as an image or a downloadable PDF.

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more holiday tutorials than you could ever craft before christmas

If you're looking for more ways to craft it up before Christmas - either for handmade decorations or for gifts - Whip Up has got your back.

Whip Up has posted a mammoth list of festive tutorials to keep you busy busy busy until the big day.

A few projects that I particularly like are...

• Egg carton fairy lights by Esprit Cabane




• Paperclip skate ornaments by Not Quite Vintage




• Bird mobile by Spool (they'd also work well as tree ornaments)




• Owl pennant by Moonstitches



• Fabric chain garland by The Small Object




• Modern paper ornaments by Design*Sponge




• Paper fortune cookies by For the Love of Paper

And my own Joke Tree Advent calendar is on the list! Woop!

Still need more inspiration? Also check out Whip Up's festive tutorial roundup from 2007 and their list of advent calendar tutorials.

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