HalloWreath

It's almost Halloween again. And of course crafters everywhere are getting into the spirit. What better way to welcome your Trick-Or-Treaters (or partiers) to your home than with a dark beautiful wreath in honor of the season.



What You'll need:

About a foot of 20 guage jewelry wire (your choice of material. It should be easily bendable).
Lots of sticks
Wood glue or strong craft glue
Acrylic paint
A hot glue gun or some other type of clear drying glue


Suggested Materials:
Fabric leaves
Glitter (or glitter glue)
Acorns
Spanish Moss
Feathers
Etc....you can really choose whatever you want to put on your wreath

First step is to paint the items you are working with. You may want a more natural fall theme or a spookier Halloween theme. You'll probably want to decide this before or as you are buying the materials so you don't leave anything out.

After the sticks have dried (if you did paint them) you'll want to get your wood glue ready. Assemble a base for your wreath out of the thicker sticks in the shape you want them and glue them together. You will need to get your jewelry wire at this point to tie together the joints (where the sticks are connecting/glued) because wood glue does not dry fast and you don't want them drying in a different shape. At this point you'll need to wait about a day for the wood glue to dry fully.
Then you can begin working on details. Use your hot glue gun to apply any other sticks or pieces that you want for added fullness of the wreath. It is good to "weave" them around the base. That is, don't just set them on top and call it a day. Pretend it is a puzzle. The more points at these parts of the wreath are glued to, the more it will stick together.

After you have the structure of your wreath completed, you can add decorations around to add your personal flair.

Tip: Raid the dollar store or craft stores for cheap Halloween decorations such as spider rings, rubber bats, plastic skeletons, fake birds, etc. You will find some treasures to add to your wreath and around the rest of the house!.

White Out!

Bleaching Hair. Scary.

Well, if you're a hair coloring fiend (and I know you are), it's more than likely you've bleached out your hair. If you've bleached your hair multiple times, than its more than likely you're fried it and ended up hairless and pissed. Oh, I've gone through it all. Smoking hair, broom ends, stretchy strands. My hair has been to hell and back, but along the way I've learned some things about bleaching.

The first step is buying the right kind of bleach. You may have to experiment with a few brands before you find the one that suits you best (I personally love L'Oreal Oreor Creme Developer used with a compatible L'Oreal powder bleach). But the real magic is in the strength of the developer. Let's discuss it.

I'm really not sure how low developers get, but anything less than a 20 volume will not life hair darker than ash blonde.

20 volume is great for blondes and light brunettes. It will get you to a white or pale yellow in a matter of minutes. For darker shades, this volume will not lift very much color, but it can lift one or two shades and give a lighter golden tone to your hair. This bleach can be used on the scalp relatively safely, but you are still at risk for chemical burns.

30 volume can be used successfully on medium to dark brown hair and lift quite a few shades depending on the brand you use. This volume can be used on lighter shades of hair, but with caution. This can be used on the scalp, but not for very long without risking chemical burns.

40 volume is great for very quick lightening on very thick or coarse hair and dark brown to black. But it cannot be used near the scalp. You WILL get chemical burns. Don't even risk it. Use this near the ends or along the length of your hair. Just remember this bleach is very strong and your hair will be prone to breakage moreso with this volume than the others.

You can use higher volumes, but for my to recommend it would be crazy. Luckily they're hard to find.

Application is perhaps, the scariest part of bleaching one's hair. I would recommend that unless you're extremely talented with the back of your own head, you get some assistance in bleaching. Otherwise you might miss a large chunk that may not look so lovely.

Mix your bleach to a consistency that is kind of like pudding or glue (easily mistaken for one another...Do not eat your bleach). Not too thick or the bleach will dry out, but runny bleach will not stick to your hair and the bleaching process will take much longer than you want it. You may want to experiment with consistancy a little before you get into bleaching your whole head. Do a test on a small amount of hair (either attached to your head or some cut off...either way it'll fall off after being bleached twice if it undergoes double application).

With the help of your assistant, section your hair off depending on how thick it is. If you've got enough hair to supply 3 other heads, the more sections the better. You just want to be able to spread the bleach evenly along the lengths of your hair and the roots.
Apply the bleach to your hair starting from the bottom up. For the first application (unless you have light blonde hair) you will need to keep the bleach about a centimeter from your scalp in order to avoid over bleaching at the roots. Once your hair is only a few shades off the desired color, apply the bleach to the roots and leave it on until your hair is the color you want it.

Tips:
If you can help it, try not to wash your hair for at least two days prior to bleaching to avoid chemical burns on the scalp and protect your hair a little more.

Those with darker and thicker hair may find that they need to do multiple applications of bleach. Bleach twice at the most in one day. After the first two bleachings, if you still want it lighter wait about a week and make sure to condition your hair well during that time.

Safe and happy bleaching, everyone.

Yum Yum, Plum Plum

Mmm...there's nothing like edible treats. Especially when making them helps you use up food that would have otherwise just rotted.
We had a large container in our refridgerator filled with mini-plums (they were called "Italian Prunes). You can use any kind of plum you want for this recipe, but I found these ones to have a really nice cherry-like taste and consistency after they had cooked.
I don't have a beautiful picture for you, because the pie was eaten and mutilated within a few hours, but I guarentee it was delicious. I stole this recipe from some website, but I tweaked it so I'm claiming it as my own! :)

Here is what you need.

Crust:
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup salted butter (slightly chilled)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 tablespoons salted butter (room temperature)
Optional: 1/3 cup of chopped nuts

Filling:
5 cups plums, pitted and sliced
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Heat your oven to 370 F
To make the crust, in medium bowl combine the flour, sugar, and baking powder. In a food processor (or mixer) blend your butter until it's somewhat smooth (some texture is fine). Then add your eggs, vanilla, milk, and lemon zest and blend all those ingredients. Gradually blend the dry ingredients into this mix. If the ingredients didn't mix all the way, hand kneed them until the dough comes together. Then stick it in the fridge to chill for an hour or two.

To make the topping, in a medium bowl add the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and lemon zest (and nuts if you're using them). Then add the butter and mix it all together with your finger tips until well blended and crumbly. Set this aside.

To make the filling, put your pitted and sliced plums in a large bowl. In a separate, medium sized bowl mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg until well blended. Then pour over your plums and mix until evenly coated. Set aside.

Now you can put it all together. Roll out your pie crust to about 1/4 of an inch thick. Its pretty handy to do this on wax or parchment paper so it doesn't stick to anything and you can just flip it into the pan. The pan you'll need for this will need to be 9-inches in diameter. So if you're buying special pie tins, make sure you get the correct size. Anyway, flip the dough into the pan and carefully pat down the edges (you don't want to thin them, just lower them). If you're feeling brave you can put edges on your pie, but they tend to burn for me.
Pour the pie filling in and evenly cover with the crumbly topping. Pop it in the oven for about 40 minutes (check on it after 35 minutes because ovens vary). Let it cool for a while and then dig in.

As a side note, if you're like me you will for some reason have enough dough leftover to make another pie. Well, I wasn't up for making another pie, so I just rolled these up into little balls and placed them on a cookie sheet, popped them in the oven for about 10 minutes. They're yummy little snacks because this dough is so sweet. If you're feeling adventurous you could make a little thumb print in each cookie and stuff a piece of sweetened (just sprinkle them with sugar and a dash of cinnamon) or dried fruit in the middle or just cook them with the imprint and plop your favorite jam on it later. Or, you can just cover them with whipped cream and eat them like that. It's all edible and delicious. Experiment.

Just so you know, this recipe can be used with cherries or apples as well.

Enjoy!

Oops, Sorry

I have come to realize that even though I have written about 10 new posts since the last time I actually added one to the blog, I haven't posted any of them. They're all saved as half-written drafts that may or may not be finished one day.
I keep finding that I forget to take pictures for each project I do, which can make a tutorial less visually fascinating.
I've been busy with college, but don't you worry. By the time you read this I may have posted ten new tutorials.
I have some bomb (delicious) recipes to share, some craft ideas, and some tutorials for sewing. If time allows, I'll be posting a lot in the following weeks and bringing this blog back from the dead.

Fabric Scraps 101

Fabric scraps...one of my biggest dilemmas. I hate wasting fabrics, so I literally keep bags full of scraps. If you're a a sewer or a crafter that deals with fabrics, its likely you have a bundle of scraps as well.


If you're into customizing your jackets, sweaters, pants, bags, and other items, you can easily turn these scraps into cute and custom appliques!



What You'll Need:
Fabric
Doublestick fusible web for fabric
An iron
A pencil or pen
Scissors
The item of clothing you want to apply the applique to



Get a sheet of the fusible web and draw the design you want on your applique.

First pick the fabric you plan to use for the applique. On the wrong side of the fabric iron on the fusible webbing. Cut out the design you drew. Peel the nonstick coating from the applique and put it on the right side of the clothing item you're adding it to. Iron it on.
In order to ensure that it stays on the clothes, you'll need to sew or stitch the edges. Make a decorative stitch to add some flair to your applique.

Look forward to more ideas for fabric scraps in the future.