Key/Change Holder Dish

In keeping with the key ring theme, we are making key/change “dishes” as a gift that you can give dad for Father’s Day. They come in quite handy. You can also use these dishes to hold jewelry or little knick knacks.

You can make these dishes from lots of different things. We are going with ceramic dishes and we are using a very cool technique to decorate them. 

You don’t need very many things to create this cool little gift. All you need is some nail polish (your choice what colours you’d like to use; we went with blues), a big plastic tub filled with warm water so you can dunk your dish, and a ceramic dish of some sort (we found a couple at the dollar store).

First of all prepare your work area and put some newspapers down. You might want to have some paper towels and some nail polish remover with cotton pads on stand by. You may also want to wear some latex gloves to protect your hands.

Fill a tub, big enough to dunk the dishes that you have selected, with warmer water.

First we drizzled the nail polish on the surface of the water, swirling it around to make a cool pattern.

Then we dipped the ceramic plate (we also made a little bowl) in slowly and the nail polish will stick to the plate. Don't wait too long after drizzling the nail polish to dip. It may start drying.

Once you have the plate etc. looking as you want it, find a good place to let it dry for a couple of days.

You don’t have to do this last step, but we used a protectant spray to keep our polish sealed on the plate.

Oscar Dress Card 2019

The Oscar’s were last weekend so you know what that means...Oscar dress card! We’ve counted down our Top 10 looks and number one has a card inspired by it. As usual, they are in no particular order; they are just 10 dresses that we like. Take a look and enjoy!

Jennifer Lopez-This was a super sparkly dress and I love super sparkly. It does have a high neck which I’m not a huge fan of, but this dress was just so sparkly that it didn’t matter. J.Lo’s after party blue dress was gorgeous too. It reminded me of a peacock in a good way. 

Octavia Spencer-A few years back Octavia Spencer’s grey-silver gown was our choice for a card  and this year her pick was beautiful and very princess like with the puffy skirt and off the shoulder neckline.

Lady Gaga-Lady Gaga’s awards dresses have been absolutely gorgeous. She opted for two black gowns at the Oscars and the second one when she sang “Shallow” was so Audrey Hepburn-like it was a perfect ball gown for her big night. 

Krysten Ritter-This was a very lacy form fitting dress with wide arms. You don’t always think of lace and red, but this deep red colour looked really stunning in the lace and the little bits of sparkle were just what the dress needed.

Tina Fey-We always gravitate towards blue shades each year and this year is no different. Tina Fey’s simple, flowy, royal blue dress was bright and cheerful and it was the perfect way to kick off the show.

Constance Wu-Last year’s card was inspired by a dress almost this colour and it’s on our list of favourites this year again. Constance Wu’s dress is so dreamy and fun that it just makes you want to smile and watch Crazy, Rich, Asians over and over again!

Marina de Tavira-This dress was a perfect shade of red. It wasn’t your basic strapless gown; it looked light and airy with just the right amount of frills and layers.

Helen Mirren-When first looking at this dress you can’t for sure tell what colour it actually is, but when you look at it from different angles you can see the pretty bright pink shade that it is. Poking out is the underlying coral layer. It kind of looks like a layered flower. It’s super flowy and simple; it doesn’t have lots of frills and bling on it. The colour and fabric took over for this dress. It's super fun and cheery and ready to ring in Spring. 

Regina King-The slit on this dress is amazing! It was high on our list for our card to make. It’s such a gorgeous gown that not everyone could pull off. It was paired with the right amount of jewels so as not to take over the overall look of the gown. The gathering on the side as well as on the bodice was beautiful and constructed to flatter the wearer of the dress. And that train...beautiful! 

Amy Adams – Ok, so our winner for our Oscar dress card is...Amy Adams. Both Nicole and I loved this dress. It wasn’t a straight across strapless gown; it had some shape to the top. The white and silver go so nice together and the sparkly silver patter just made the dress pop. So stunning!

Take a look at our creation...

DIY Paper Heart Wreath

Happy Groundhog Day. I guess we should’ve made a card with a cute little groundhog on it. Oh well. We are still in the Valentine mood and this week we’ve come up with a fairly easy and super cute decoration that you can spruce your house, bedroom, or classroom up with this Valentine season.

We are going to show you how to make a heart wreath. It’s a very simple craft to do. All you need is some cardboard (or a paper plate), cardstock, patterned paper (optional), glue, something heart shaped to trace (you can use a cutting device if you have one, like a Silhouette), and some string or ribbon.

If you have some sturdy cardboard, you can cut out a ring for the wreath base. Ours is a 12 inch circle on the outside and the inside circle is about 9 inches. You can also use a paper plate as your base if you have one of the more flimsy paper plates. Using the really thick ones won’t allow you to flatten it down so that you can stick the hearts on. We tried! If you want to get even more Valentiney, you can cut a heart out of cardboard as your base and you will have a heart shaped heart wreath.

Next up we cut out a variety of different coloured hearts in a variety of sizes. We used Nicole’s Silhouette and a punch, but you can also find some different sized hearts to trace yourself and then cut out. Cookie cutters are always easy and good to cut out. You can also find templates online as well.

Another thing you can do, is cut hearts out of patterned paper. We are going with a red, white, and pink theme and have found patterned paper to match with that but you can do really whatever colours you want.

The amount of hearts all depends on the size of the wreath, but also on how full you want it to look. We just picked out a bunch of paper and cut a bunch of hearts until we used some of all the paper we chose. It’s better to have too many hearts than to have not enough and then have to cut more.

Start laying out the hearts on the wreath as you cut them that will also give you a better idea of how many you need to cut. Also, it might be a good idea once you’ve laid the hearts out as you want to take a picture so you can refer back to it while you glue.

We are going to use a couple of gluing methods. Some we are going to glue down with our glue tape; they will be more of the base hearts and as we build up on that base, we’ll glue some down with the glue tape and also use a glue gun to make some of the hearts 3D.

After you’ve got all the hearts just where you want them, attach some string, fishing wire, or ribbon to the top so that you can hang your wreath up for all to see and enjoy.

Take a look for some more inspiration:

http://happyhourprojects.com/heart-wreath/

https://typicallysimple.com/scrapbook-paper-heart-wreath/

https://www.theresourcefulmama.com/paper-plate-valentines-day-heart-wreath/

Pink Yarrow - Yarrow Facts and Remedies

“Tropical and festive, Pink Yarrow is a whimsical, unignorable hue that tempts and tantalizes. Bold, attention getting and tempestuous, the lively Pink Yarrow is a captivating and stimulating color that lifts spirits and gets the adrenaline going.”

 – Pantone 17-2034

For the last day of March we have "Pink Yarrow"as our chosen Pantone colour this week.

Yarrow is a flowering plant that is used for many herbal remedies. It smells similar to a chrysanthemum and its flowers are most commonly white but also come in shades of pink.

You might find yarrow in foods and in particular tea. During the 17^th century it was a very popular leafy vegetable that was similar to spinach and was often used in soups.

Yarrow Remedies:

Topical application is good for skin itch and rashes. It’s good for dry skin and eczema as well.

If you have a cold or flu with a fever (it helps bring the fever down), yarrow is good to have. Yarrow also helps if you’re congested. It helps with the relief of earaches and toothaches as well.

It also helps with cramping and hormonal issues.

Seasonal allergies can be calmed by yarrow tea mixed with mint.

Apparently there is such a thing called a Buckwheat pillows and you put yarrow in them to help you relax.

Taking yarrow before bed also helps you fall asleep if you’re having difficulties.

If you have a wound or bloody nose, yarrow can help to stop the bleeding. It’s known to help with bleeding and circulatory issues.

So there you have it, some symptoms that you never knew could be treated with yarrow.