DIY Glowing Fairies in a Jar
Most of us have seen the picture of fairies in a jar that went viral last year. We all found out that it was fake and photoshopped, much to many kids’ dismay. Here’s a REAL way to do it, no photoshop needed. BIG thanks to The Gold Jelly Bean for helping to make so many kids’ days brighter with this tutorial!!
What You’ll Need:
- Glass jar (cleaned one from spaghetti sauce or similar, or you can buy them at the dollar store)
- Glow sticks
- Rubber gloves
- Scissors
- Eye protector (like goggles or glasses)
- White tulle (optional, but looks better!)
Directions:
- Cut the tulle into a larger size than the jar and stick it inside. The tulle helps it look like the fairies are suspended in the jar, not just stuck on the sides of the glass.
- Put on rubber gloves and crack the glow stick to get the glow to activate, then stick the end of the glow stick into the jar and cut the top off. Be careful with this! There are glass and chemicals inside the stick, so be sure to not touch your eyes.
- Shake the stick all over the inside of the jar. This will take a while because it doesn’t just pour out, it may even get clogged. Use a new one, don’t try to get the glass out.
- After putting in the amount of glow liquid you want, put the cap on and shake. It will probably take 2-3 necklaces or 3-4 bracelet glow sticks to get the right amount.
- Turn out the lights and watch the amazement in your kids’ eyes!
Recipe: “Stained Glass” Sugar Cookies
This is the coolest and most creative use of hard candies I’ve seen since the DIY Christmas platters using peppermint candies I posted back in December. They’re beautiful, fun to look at, easy to make, and completely, 100% edible! Make them for your next potluck, for holidays, or just for fun. I can’t wait to hear how you like them!
Ingredients & Tools:
- Jolly Ranchers Hard Candies (Any hard candy will work, but cannot be sugar-free candy)
- Your favorite sugar cookie recipe (either premade or made from scratch, both work)
- 2 sizes of cookie cutters (these were hearts, but you can use your choice of 2 of the same shape, but different sizes)
- Baking sheet
- Wire racks
- Waxed paper
Directions:
- Roll out sugar cookie dough and cut out the cookies with a large cookie cutter. Use a spatula to move them to the baking sheet.
- Using the small cookie cutter, remove the centers of the large cookies that are on the baking sheet.
- Place 2 Jolly Ranchers (or other hard candy) of different colors inside the new empty center of the cookies. Choosing 2 different colors gives the stained glass look.
- Bake cookies with candy centers according to your cookie recipe’s instructions.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes to allow the candy center to harden before you then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.
- Once fully cooled, you can move them onto a plate or into a storage container, but to prevent the hard candies from sticking together place waxed paper between layers of cookies. Enjoy!
Recipe: Lemon-Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread
For a refreshing change from regular zucchini bread, bake this lemon-poppy seed version from Southern Living Magazine. It’s perfect for summer and rated 5-stars!
Ingredients (Makes three 5- x 3-inch loaves):
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 cup shredded zucchini
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 325°. Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each egg is added.
- Stir together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in zucchini and next 2 ingredients. Spoon batter into 3 greased and floured 5×3-inch disposable aluminum foil loaf pans (about 1 1/3 cups batter per pan).
- Bake at 325° for 40 to 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely (about 30 minutes).
Picture via Living Rancho Deluxe.
Homemade 3-Ingredient Toilet Bowl Cleaner
A lot of people use bleach or other cleaners in their bathroom, but some feel that they want to control the ingredients they use around their families. By combining the fizzy power of baking soda and tea tree oil in this toilet bowl cleaner recipe from All You, you can clean your toilet naturally, in about 2 minutes, and spend almost nothing (only $.48 per cleaning)!
What You’ll Need:
- Measuring cup
- Toilet brush
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 10 drops tea tree oil
- 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
Directions:
- Pour baking soda directly into the toilet. Immediately add oil then vinegar—in that order exactly.
- Let water fizz for several minutes.
- Scrub bowl with brush until clean.
- Flush.
DIY Cereal Box Stencil Halloween Candy Tote Bags
Update a classic fabric tote with easy-to-make stencils and sponge painting with this tutorial from Parents Magazine. Make these adorable tote bags and reuse them for years to come!
What You’ll Need:
- Fabric tote (get at any art supply store such as JoAnn’s or Michaels)
- Fabric paint
- Stencil brush or sponge
- Cereal box
- Crafts knife and cutting mat
- Masking tape
Directions:
- Cut one of the largest rectangles out from your cereal box.
- Either you or your child can sketch jack-o’-lantern shaped faces onto the box. Using a craft knife, an adult will now cut out the jack-o’-lantern shapes on a cutting mat.
- Next, tape your rectangle template with the faces cut out onto the fabric bag. Have your child dab on the paint using a stencil brush or sponge painting it as evenly colored as possible. You could also use the end of a sponge paint roller. NOTE: The trick to getting the paint on neatly is to hold the brush or sponge end perpendicular to the surface.
- Let dry fully for at least 12 hours (overnight would be best). To be safe, spray with waterproofing spray and then can be used in any Halloween weather for many years to come!
DIY Elastic Hair Ties
Elastic hair ties are such a popular hair accessory right now. They’re great because you can pull your hair back without leaving a huge dent, plus they’re really cute and you can wear them on your wrist. These little pieces of elastic can run you $5-$10 EACH depending on the brand and the color/decorations. You can make them yourself for a buck each or less!
What You’ll Need:
- 5/8″ foldover elastic (1 yard will make four hair ties)
- Scissors
- Measuring tape or ruler
Directions:
- Measure and cut a 9″ strip of elastic.
- Fold the strip of elastic in half.
- Tie the ends in a knot.
- Repeat.
Thanks to Minted for the tutorial! Be sure to check out their awesome website: http://www.minted.com/party-decorations
Candy Corn Home Decor
Have some empty wine bottles laying around and you are in need of some cute Halloween Home Decor? This is the perfect DIY Project for you. Super Simple, Easy & Cute all in one package.
Materials:
Empty Wine Bottles
Glossy Spray Paint – White, Orange & Yellow
Fall Foliage
Directions:
1. Make sure Wine Bottles are completely clean & dry.
2. Spray entire bottle with White Spray Paint.
3. Spray 3/4 way up with orange
4. Spray 1/2 way up with Yellow
5. Let dry completely.
6. Fill with Fall Foliage
7. Arrange on your mantle or as a centerpiece for your table!
Happy Fall!!!
Candy Corn Mousse Cups
Halloween is only a couple of days away! You can make some super fun desserts to give out to the kids’ friends or just as a dessert for the next few days. You can use them for Thanksgiving, too! Here’s how to make your own Candy Corn Mousse Cups:
INGREDIENTS
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
½ cup powdered sugar
¼ cup milk or cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 small container (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed
orange and yellow food color
candy corn
DIRECTIONS
Beat cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer until fully smooth. Slowly add powdered sugar, add milk and then vanilla. Continue mixing about 1 minute on medium speed. Fold cool whip into cream cheese mixture; stir until fully combined. Scoop about 1/3 of the cheesecake mousse into a bowl; mix with orange food coloring. Color another third of the mixture yellow. Leave the remaining third white. Beginning with the yellow mousse, pipe or spoon the mixture into each glass. Repeat with the orange and white. Garnish with candy corn. Then ENJOY!
Yield: 8 mini servings. We halved the recipe and were able to fill 4 shot glasses.
DIY Window Cleaner Tutorial
You don’t have to buy window cleaner from the store for $4 or more and have it filled with a bunch of chemicals you’ve never heard of. You can make your own, super effective window cleaner for just pennies!
What You’ll Need:
- 2 cups of water
- 3 tablespoons of vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon of laundry detergent
- A spray bottle
Directions:
Simply combine all the ingredients into the spray bottle. Shake gently to mix so to not create too many bubbles. You’re ready to clean your glass and windows!
How to Make a Hair Bow Picture Frame Holder
Picture via Thrifty NW Mom
Here is what you will need:
- Hot Glue
- Scissors
- Fabric (enough to cover the picture frame)
- Spools of ribbon (all sizes & textures)
- Spray paint (your choice of color)
- A sturdy picture frame
*Choose whatever size you want, I chose a big one because we have so many bows to put on it. I also have several smaller ones throughout the house. The basic wooden frames at the dollar store will work if you want to keep it simple. I found mine at a thrift store and it was falling apart when I bought it. See pic*
*You will also notice my fabric and ribbon aren’t matchy matchy :) You can choose a theme color, or you can be crazy. Ex. Hot pink and Zebra.
Here is a picture of my picture frame before I did any work to it. Yes, it was falling apart when I bought it! I still knew it would work for what I wanted.
The first thing you want to do is take your frame apart and sand it. After you sand it and wipe it down, spray paint it. I gave mine several coats and because it was an old frame with a lot of dings in it, I used a sand paper strip to give it a distressed looked after the paint dried.
The next step is to get your fabric and cut it to size. Place the fabric on the ground and place the inside of the frame (whether it’s the cardboard, glass, or wood) on top. You want to leave a few inches all the way around so it will fold over to the back where you will hot glue it into place.
After you have cut fabric, make sure the front of the fabric is facing the ground. Have the inside of the picture frame on top and start to hot glue. You will go through several hot glue sticks depending on the size of your frame. Put the glue on the edge and press the fabric to it.
Once the hot glue has dried and the fabric is secured, you can start putting the ribbon on. The purpose of the ribbon is for the hair bows to clip to it for show. You can place the ribbon horizontally, vertically, crisscrossed, or all of the above. Be creative. I did my ribbon crazy! Place a dab of hot glue on the back, put the end of the ribbon on it, then bring it across the front. Put another dab of glue on back and place the other end of the ribbon on it. Repeat this step until the frame is full of ribbon running across the front.
Place the center back into the frame and secure it. If you are using a small frame, place extra fabric or felt on the back to cover the ribbon ends. (It gives it a polished look!)
Now you are ready to add the bows! Check out my hair bow tutorials so you can constantly add to your collection!
