Mason Jar Vase

I love mason jars, I do. I'm always looking for things to do with them. I found some great ideas on Pinterest. I took a plain mason jar and used my hot glue gun to create a heart on it. Once it dried I used some crafters paint and painted it red. It took a few coasts to cover completely. I then took the ring and tied some twine around it and screwed it in place. Added some flowers and I have a nice vase. It's really cute. It only took a few minutes.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse Ornaments

I am really into making Christmas presents. I have been searching for months for lots of ideas on Pinterest. I love all thing Disney, especially Mickey Mouse. I bought a pack of all red ornaments at Walmart for $4.97, a pack of white buttons (various sizes) for $0.50, a spool of red and white polka dot ribbon for 1.97. The paint, sharpie, and paintbrush I already had.
I started by making Mickey first. I used the metal ring top of a mason jar to mark the black area of the Mickey ornament. I have seen posts where the top part is colored in with a sharpie and post where it is painted with acrylic paint. I tried both. The sharpie takes much longer, but is shinier and dries faster. Be sure the take the metal top of the ornament off and color that area of the ornament as well. Once the top is colored/painted and dried hot glue the buttons on the red and he is done. It's that simple.
Minnie is equally as easy. Take the unused eraser end of a pencil and dip into white acrylic paint then stamp onto the red ornament. Be sure to have a random polka dot pattern. Allow to dry and attach the red and white polka dot ribbon. These made great gifts in sets of 2. I was able to make 4 sets for under $7.50. Everyone loved them. I'll be making more for sure.

Matches in a Mason jar

I wanted to make a gift for my sister and her home. My sister and brother in law just installed a new fire place. I thought this would be a great gift. As always I got the idea from a search on Pinterest. Here's what you need:

Mason jar- I used a qt size, you could use any size you want.
A sheet of sand paper
Matches
Glue
Pen
Scissors

This craft is easy! Trace the lid on the sandpaper, cut it out. Fill the jar with matches. Put the cut out sandpaper under the lid and screw on. You may have to glue the sandpaper to the metal lid. Decorate or attach a label as desire.

Banana and cream cheese with cool whip

I needed a quick dessert with things I had on hand. I modified a cheesecake recipe that I found on pinterest.
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz thawed cool whip
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbs banana syrup
1/4 cup sugar
Garnish with banana slices and chocolate chips

In a mixing bowl combine the softened cream cheese with the sugar. Using your mixer combine. Add the banana syrup and the vanilla, mix to combine. Spoon in the cool whip and integrate into the cream cheese mixture. Once it's all combined plate and garnish with the banana slices and chocolate chips. Enjoy.

Roasting chicken in a crock pot

 

After doing some searching, I found a recipe for roasting a whole chicken in a crock pot.  I didn't have a whole chicken, only chicken thighs.  I placed a crock pot liner in the crock pot (makes clean up a snap) then placed a family pack of chicken in the crock pot.  I seasoned with salt and pepper and turned the crock pot on high.

4 hours later the house smells amazing.  I turned off the crockpot and allowed the chicken to cool for about an hour before shredding the chicken.

Once the chicken was cool, I shredded the chicken.  It was falling off the bone into the bowl, I didn't have to do much shredding.

 

I seperated the chicken into 3 baggies, labled them, and put them in the freezer for future use. 

I can use the precooked chicken to make a salad, encheladas, soup, or any of a million things.  I kept the bones, put them back in the crock pot with the chicken jucies and added 4 cups of water, turned the crock pot on low and allowed to make homemade chicken broth.  I then strained, and put into a freezer bag, labled and froze for future needs. 

Thats all for today, until next time keep pinning.

Photo Coasters

I wanted to make some affordable gifts for Christmas.  I began searching on Pinterest for some ideas.  I came across photo coasters.  I discovered that they are quite affordable and easy to make.  I went to the hardware store and bought some 4x4 inch white kitchen tiles.  They cost $0.16 each.  I made Mod Podge (see Mod Podge post about how to do so), I printed 4x6 pictures and bought acrylic sealer and felt furniture buttons.  Oh.  To start you want to cut your pictures to size.  You need to select pictures that you can cut 2 inches of off.  I used a paper/photo cutter I bought at Target. 

 

 

 

 

You want to have all the photos cut before you start.  The Mod Podge sticks quickly, so you will want to be ready.  Use a foam brush and apply a thin layer of Mod Podge onto the tile. 

Position the picture onto the tile, you won't have long to reposition it.  Once its centered make sure you get all the bubbles out. 

Once all of the tiles have been Mod Podged onto the tiles, Mod Podge a thin layer onto the top of the photos.

 

Allow to dry.  You will notice some streaks on the photos.  Don't worry about them.  You will want to Mod Podge another layer and let dry completely.  You will want to do this 3-5 times.

 

 

Once the Mod Podge layers are dry you will want to spray with acrylic spray and allow to dry. Once they are dry you can add the felt buttons on the back of the tiles.

Thats about it!  The project was easy and fun.  I will be making lots of these for Christmas presents.  At a cost of $2.50 for a set of 5, how can I go wrong.  Unitl next time, happy pinning.

DIY Mod Podge

So, I am starting to make Christmas gifts.  I turned to Pinterest to gather some inspiration.  I found an easy recipe for DIY Mod Podge.  Find a jar with a lid,I used a speghetti sauce jar. Combin equal parts glue (Elmers) and water.

 

  Place lid on jar, mix to combine.  I used this to make photo coasters from tiles.  Directions coming soon.  The Mod Podge I made was easy and super cheap.  It worked well on the progect I used it for, and I have tons left for future use. 

Happy Mod Podging!