Pie In A Jar

Mason jars are one of my favorite things in the whole world. They are so cute! And there are SO many options for crafting with a glass jar...

Today, I made pie in a jar! It's delicious, and has to be the easiest dessert I've made to date!

All you need is...

1 box of pre-made pie crust (in the refrigerator section)
1 large can of cherry (or your favorite flavor) pie filling
Mason Jars!

Simply fill your jars with a base of crust and pour in your filling, top with cute cutouts of extra pie filling, and they are ready! To bake: Bake at 400 degrees F for roughly 40 min, checking to make sure the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly! That's all! ENJOY, THEY ARE DELICIOUS!!!

Here's mine...

Circle Scarf Recycling

This project is faster than any other I have done before!

All you need is an old dress that you may be considering throwing out (too small? too big? tired of it?) and some scissors!

I took this dress (the top was pilling and becoming more trouble than it was worth, but I loved the bottom)....

Made a few simple cuts to seperate the top from the bottom...

Then a few to seperate the waistband from the rest...

Lastly I washed the cut of fabric so that the unseamed side would curl itself shut, and there you have it! new scarf, and room for a new dress in the closet!

Enjoy your new scarves!!!

Halloween Haven

Halloween is a crafters dream. Making an entire outfit, accessories, and getting to choose the craziest yet cutest option is amazing. Here is what I wore this halloween and rough instructions of how I made it...

CUPCAKE AND COTTON CANDY!!!

TO MAKE THE CUPCAKE:

1. Cut a hole in the bottom of a clothes hamper, big enough to fit around my hips

2. Hot glue tin foil onto the hamper to resemble a cupcake tin

3. Tie string in 2 large loops, opposite each other - to put on shoulders to hold your base up

4. Put on "cupcake tin" and shoulder straps, then wrap the entire upper section in "sparkle snow blanket" (This cost me $5 per roll at target, and I used 2)

5. Stick in cut up construction paper to be your "sprinkles" and wear either a red hat as a "cherry" or a cupcake hat so people have no second guesses as to what you are :)

6. Rock your outfit and get a friend to go as your matching "cotton candy"!

TO MAKE COTTON CANDY:

1. spray paint a small section of a "snow blanket" pink

2. Let the paint dry while you make a "cone" out of rolled printer paper or construction paper

3. Wrap them in the blanket, making sure the pink portion ends up as your outermost layer

4. Take a small chunk of the pink blanket and use it to add a little more fluff to your cone

5. Use bobby pins to secure your fluff and cone to your head

6. You're all set! Take tons of pictures, you're sure to be the hit of the party!

Highly Educated Shopper

This project is absolutely one of my favorites. It is the combination of a wallet and a hard covered book. The PERFECT gift for an avid reader! Here's how I made this gem...

Supplies:

Hot glue gun

Hard covered book with same dimensions as your wallet

Thin wallet with strong frame (Try to find one with a similar style to the one I have below)

X-acto knife

Steps:

1. Use your knife to carve out the pages of your book, making sure not to damage the binding or the covers.

2. Strip the outer layer of the wallet off GENTLY. Use your X-acto knife to cut only the very top layer away from the frame, then gently peel it away. (There are scissors in the picture. Use an X-acto knife instead.)

3. Glue your wallet into your book ONE COVER AT A TIME. Things to think about before this step: practice lining it up a few times to make sure the hinge in the wallet has room to open in the book's binding, gluing both covers at once could leave your wallet crooked, apply a lot of pressure after gluing or they may not adhere enough, and lastly do not take too much time between applying the hot glue and lining it up with your book cover because the glue dries extremely fast. Be careful about all these things because most wallets made with this type of frame and style have a base of cardboard, meaning if you mess up the first time and have to peel apart the wallet and book, you may end up ruining both in the process.

4. Enjoy your amazing gift, you earned it! If you are giving it away, be sure to track down a book you know the other person will love! A classic they have read a lot before, an author they enjoy, or a funny title you know they'll like carrying around in their purse!

Newspaper Nails

Ladies, these nails are magic.

I know about the lies of pinterest. 

The endless amazing looking DIY's that you try and discover aren't the promised "3 easy steps!" but rather a complicated project that ends up nothing like you hoped.

But these babies are the real deal.

Easy. Awesome. CHEAP!

Nothing new to buy! All you need is...

Nail Polish of your choice

Topcoat Nail Polish

Newspaper

Rubbing Alcohol

Here are your unbelievably simple steps:

1. Cut out cute pieces of newspaper that will fit on each nail. This may be specific words or small graphics (I chose some of each and they turned out well both ways)

2. Paint your nails and let dry completely

3. Dip into a small container of rubbing alcohol, then immediately apply your newspaper scrap. Be sure to do each nail one at a time for best results.

4. Gently peel off newspaper piece and apply your topcoat when dry!

Post a picture of your nails, I'd love to see them! Also, tell me what worked and what you had to change! Love the feedback!

PS I Love You...

As a junior in high school, this past year college letters coming to my mailbox have somewhat ruined the idea of getting mail being an exciting event. They all tell me how amazing I am and how great I am and insincerely rant about choosing their college. 

ENOUGH!

Getting mail you know someone really put an effort into making is so much better than what I've been getting! So, this weekend I'm making mail that rocks.

So here they are, my beautiful DIY envelopes...

Step 1: Find the perfect paper and decorations (I chose glitter with modpodge, ribbons, stickers, and killer markers! But I also love cutting out pictures from magazines and collaging them with modpodge, if that would work better for you!) You will also need a circular item to trace on the paper to ensure all of your circles match up!

Step 2: Draw identical circles on four pieces of paper and carefully cut them out. The size of your circles will determine how large they are, so try experimenting your sizes on old mail or paper you are recycling already before you mark and cut your nice paper.

Step 3 and 4: Depending on how you are decorating your envelope, these steps can go in either order. 

-Fold each circle exactly in half and line them up with one half over and one half under each other, then tape together from the inside so that tape does not show through on the outside. See picture below.

-Decorate your envelope!

Step 5: Secure your letter inside, address, stamp, and send it off! Make sure your envelope is securely closed and therefore will not come apart in the mail!

Rain, Rain... DON'T GO!

LOVE the concept of rain boots with super cute skinny jeans or an adorable skirt! Such a cute and fabulous fashion trend! But, as I'm sure you're starting to catch on to, I don't like having the same thing's other people have. I'd much rather have my own version. And even better, I love being able to say I made something I'm wearing. So here's a new adventure I've ventured into this week...

What I didn't like about my original rain boots is the awkward fitting in the back that scooped out at the calf to make a bulky and unflattering. So of course I had to do something about it! Here's a comparison of the before and after for the back of the calf:

The steps were simply this:

1. Cleanly cut down the back seam and v-cut the bottom to allow the two sides to come back together when tightly woven back together.

It's kind of hard to see below (which is good actually) but the base of my cut is a V shape to avoid a gap between the newly cut sides and to avoid a blister-maker in the heel of your boot!

2. Create slits on both sides of the cut that match up across from one another. Again, my camera/my photography skills fall short here but hopefully you can piece together the idea that there are small slits along the edges. Make SURE these line up BEFORE stringing the lace through, as the lace will shift the boot, so the slits need to already be strait.

3. Lace a shoelace or a ribbon through the slits making sure to keep up a pattern to ensure it looks even and polished. Example: I chose to always lace from the outside of the boot to the inside, which you can see below. This also helped cover up the slits that didn't turn out as cleanly as the others in the sides of the boot.

The results are fabulous!!! I'm wearing mine to school tomorrow through the aftermath of a huge rainstorm happening at the moment!