Category: Spring

Would You Like a Cuppa?

It’s funny how beverages of choice are so regional. For example in the United States, there has historically been a continental divide between coffee drinkers and tea drinkers. Tea has been pretty regional for the East Coast and Coffee the West.

The history of this divide started around the foundation of this country. We all know about the Boston Tea Party and how they threw tea over the sides of the ships, all over a 3 cent rise in taxes. (I find this historical fact both interesting and funny in the context on how there has been upwards of 14% inflation on so many products across the grocery shelves.)

Coffee started making its footprint in the United States with the colonization (and yes, even subjugation) of the Caribbean Islands and South America. But it found its biggest consumers with the people who moved west, not just the Mid-West but also the West Coast and upwards into Alaska.

In fact, before Starbucks became established and took over every major street corner, I grew up where you could tell whether your family was West Coasters or from back East. If your family had spent a few generations on the West Coast, you had a coffee pot in your kitchen. I grew up with many people whose grandparents drank tea, but their parents, coffee. Those were my New England transplant friends. And then in High School I made friends with a transfer student, who came from Virginia. She hated coffee and only drank tea.

What is funny is what the transition from tea drinking family to coffee drinking family looks like.

A set of grandparents came up from the Texas area. One was Texan, coffee drinker, and the other was from the Deep South. The only tea that was in this grandparents’ house was sun tea. And there was only ONE way to make it–so obviously a tea drinker. Every summer there was sun tea that was made, that beautiful dark golden brew. There is really nothing like it. Mind you, this isn’t the sweet tea that you will find in the Deep South, where verbal wars can be started on the proper summer time tea. Just good strong, dark, rich sun tea.

Now my parents were both coffee drinkers. And yet almost each summer growing up, my mom would brew at least one sun tea.

This dedicated coffee drinker, I’m a very picky tea drinker and it was only this summer, when the sun finally came out that I caught myself thinking “I need to make some sun tea”. You can imagine the “What the– where did that come from?” moment I had because I don’t make sun tea. And yet this summer was it.

So that prompted me to ask on my social media for recommendations and recipes from my tea loving friends who have the tea that even a coffee lover would love. Obviously the majority of my friends and acquaintances are coffee drinkers because I only had a few responses. But the responses that I received shocked me because I never knew about these teas and they never crossed my mind.

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Mint Sun Tea

One recommendation sent to me was:

  • 1-2 Regular Tea Bags
  • 3-5 Bags of Mint Tea OR Fresh Mint Leaves

Add the above tea bags into a glass gallon jug of water (which you use to brew your sun tea). Brew for 2-3 hours, in the sun, or longer if you want your tea stronger or you’re sun is hiding behind clouds.

When finished brewing refrigerate.

This friend also said that she adds honey into the tea before refrigerating.

I was excited about this recipe because my absolute favorite tea is Stash’s Moroccan Mint Green Tea. If I’m craving tea, this is the one I hunt for because it has the world’s best flavor. I’ve tried to get into the Green Tea fad, but I find the vast majority of green tea either tastes like grass or soap. (I’ve recently learned that the majority of people who don’t like cilantro is because of it tasting like soap. There is actually a chemical compound in these green that to certain taste buds taste like soap. So this is real and there’s a reason!)

Moroccan Mint Green Tea

If you’re like me, and not a green tea person, seriously try this one. It’s not just me. I have a friend who use to be a Japanese tea distributor, says that she’s extremely picky, and assures me that this tea is one of the greatest to make a sun tea with!

This friend is currently cooked with brewing Chai with Hojicha, Green Tea with Self Healing and fresh mint from her garden.

Strawberry Tea

This one surprised me when a friend suggested this. I don’t know why I never thought of fruit sun teas. Fruit just makes sense because of summer. Strawberries are appealing because I’m growing them and I love strawberries. And the recipe passed on is super simple.

  • 6-8 Strawberry Tea Bags
  • Strawberry Puree

In your glass gallon jug of water (which you use to brew your sun tea) add the Strawberry Tea Bags. Brew for 2-3 hours, in the sun, or longer if you want your tea stronger or you’re sun is hiding behind clouds.

Once your tea is done brewing, remove your tea bags and chill your tea. If you can’t wait, pour your tea over a glass filled with ice. Mix in strawberry puree for a stronger strawberry flavor. If you like sweet tea, add sugar to your liking.

Strawberry Sensation

Sweet & Spicy

This one was recommended by two different friends, one from Tennessee and one from Texas.

Sweet & Spicy

This tea I found intriguing because the ingredient list reminds me of staple recipes from Asia. In fact, reading the ingredients made me start craving Thai!

I’ve been assured that these tea bags alone are all you need for some of the best sun tea you’ve ever had. And since I grew up on sun tea made from plain Lipton tea, I can see how this is going to be amazing!

Along this line of tea, I was also introduced to the idea of Cinnamon Tea. This blew my mind!

I’ve never heard of Cinnamon Tea before. And I learned that 2 cinnamon sticks in about 4 cups of boiling water will give you a nice tea.

This is definitely on my list to make once fall comes. I love cinnamon, but I’m on a kick with my mint right now. However, my Chocolate Mint might need the cinnamon to bring it to the next level. It’s still missing something for me, and this might be it!

Natural Sweetener Alternatives

There are various reasons why people choose an alternate to sugar for sweetening foods and beverages. I’m personally leery about many sweeteners because the last thing I want to do is add more chemicals into my diet. So when it was brought to my attention that Stevia is a plant based sweetener, this product had my attention.

I’m hooked on the idea now that I have located stevia plants to add to my garden. So I will soon be growing this and learning how to make sweetener.

My mom has cooked with stevia and says it does well with baking. She also used it with alternate flour sources.

I’ve used the packets of stevia and sprinkled in my large water cup and 4 leaves of mint. So with nothing to hide, I was able to taste the stevia. I didn’t notice any off flavors that I’ve noticed with other sugar alternatives. The flavor is slightly different than sugar, but not enough of a difference for me to say it’s “different”. The huge bonus I can say about it is that I like how stevia melts into the water. If you’ve added sugar in cold water you know how much of a gritty feeling there is until the sugar has been well stirred and sat for a while. That’s not the same experience I had with stevia. I only had to give a good stir and I was good to go. No textural difference.

When my mom gifted me stevia, I seriously wondered what I was going to do with it. Other than just keep it in my cupboard for when my mom visits. Now I know what I’m going to do with this natural sugar.

I recommend giving this sugar alternate a chance.

Here is the packets:

Stevia packets

And the bag:

stevia bag

Looking for an alternative to tea?

I know that there are still some people who just do not lean towards tea drinking at all. Or maybe you’re looking for a tea that is kid friendly. There is one more option I have for you.

Infused Water

While waiting for some good leads for sun tea, I instantly ran across a post from on of my favorite bloggers. She just got me hooked on putting fresh mint leaves in my chilled water!

I have a 36 oz. water “cup” that I use to make sure I get my daily water in. The only thing I add to my water is 4-6 leaves from my mint plant of choice. Before you put the leaves in your cup, stack and roll them up, crush the leaves in your fingers, and then add them to your water. By crushing the leaves, you break open the cell walls of the leaves and release the oils within.

The best part about using fresh leaves from your garden (or produce stand if you haven’t yet planted fresh herbs at your home) is that you are not only drinking something tasty, you’re giving natural medicine that give your body the building blocks to bring you back into or keep you in health.

What I recently learned is that by putting mint leaves in your water, it can help combat ailments such as GERD (Gastro-esophageal Reflux Disease). I personally am not afflicted with GERD, but summer heat does a number on my body. Not only is my appetite affected, but I’m more prone to upset stomach. In fact, my stomach was upset when I first put mint in my water cup. By the time I finished drinking that cup, my stomach was back to normal. And since I’ve been using the mint daily, it hasn’t returned.

Anyone who works with herbs will tell you that the mint family does have properties that benefit your gastrointestinal system. I love learning about these things, because I try to keep off of as much over other the counter or prescribed medication as I can.

Here are some ideas of what mints you can use:

  • Mint
  • Chocolate Mint
  • Pineapple Mint
  • Orange Mint
  • Lemon Balm
  • Spearmint
  • Peppermint

And there are other types of mint that you can find at your local nursery for produce stand that sells starts. Better yet, maybe your neighbor has a mint they are growing. For example, I have Chocolate Mint and Spearmint. I had Orange Mint, but this crazy spring may have killed it. (I thought it died on me, but I recently saw a new sprig come up from the soil. I’m waiting for it to grow a bit bigger before seeing if it’s Orange or Chocolate.) One neighbor has Lemon Balm. Another neighbor has Pineapple Mint. And I only found out what my neighbors were growing by telling them about what I’m growing and what new projects I’m working on with my herbs.

Here are the flavors of the mints that I’ve tasted.

Chocolate mint just tastes like mint to me. The reason why it got its name is because when you crush the leaves, it stains your fingers brown like milk chocolate. I mentioned before that I’m very particular about my tea. I found my pickiness kicking in on putting this mint in my water. A tiny sprinkling of Stevia was just enough to pull this infused water around to allow me to drink this. Even though I found I could drink this, none of my kiddos liked this flavor. Instead, two of my boys leave my water alone if it has mint, because of this one. So mamas, if you want your water left alone, this one may do it for you!

Pineapple mint really does smell like pineapple. I can’t wait to get this in my water, because it smells like a Piña Colada. My neighbor just gave me a few sprigs this evening so I’m excited to try them tomorrow!

Lemon Balm, I swear it tastes like lemon! I usually don’t keep lemons in my house because they turn on me before I use them. However, I’ve used lemon balm in my chicken broth and it tastes just like I squeezed in some fresh lemon. You better believe that I have a new friend in my kitchen. I’m so using this herb instead of lemon or lemon zest.

Spearmint brings back so many fond childhood memories of incessantly chewing Wrigley’s spearmint gum. And yes, I’ve almost picked my spearmint plant bald for my water. And this is the infused water that my youngest will still steal my water. So this mint gets my recommendation if you’re looking for an herb infused water that is kid friendly.

I so hope you’ll join me in dressing up your water this summer!

What’s your favorite water infusion or Sun Tea?

I’m still looking for new ideas on sun teas in particular. But I want to hear what everyone is drinking right now to stay hydrated. Please comment below!

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Shake That Card

Maybe it’s because of my inner child. Maybe it’s because I have a house full of small children. But the one thing I can say with all certainty is that I absolutely love things that glitter and things that move.

So of course, I’m going to love shaker cards.

Have you seen them before? The few that I’ve seen in the market place have chunky glitter or confetti. Well, I’m going to show you how you can make these for yourself.

But first I want to show you how I make my own confetti. After all, why would I buy confetti when I have some absolutely beautiful scraps that I really can’t bring myself to throw out? There’s textured prints that I love and color schemes too. They make me smile. But there’s the glitter card stock. In the paper world, glitter card stock is my crack. When I have sheets in my craft room, I save it for my favorite people and special projects. So of course I want to use every splinter of that beautiful goodness.

Confetti is super simple! You just your paper scraps and cut them down to this:

Really I do NOT have that much spare time that I buckets and buckets of homemade confetti. If I have a lot of a color or paper, I do recycle those. But there’s something about mixing all your favorite textures and prints and mixing a mosaic in a bag. And this is a confetti blend that you will never find in the store.

For the shaker card I’m going to use my yellow blend. For the shaker gift tag I’m going to use glitter. Feel free to customize any of your shakers with plastic pellets, wax pellets, beads, baking sprinkles, or anything else that your imagination brings to mind.

Assembling Shakers

The possibilities for this style are endless. All you need is to build up a frame, a solid back layer, a transparent front layer, and a decorative face to sandwich in that transparent layer.

For my transparent layer, I usually lean toward laminator sheets. This is what I used for the gift tag. But this time I’m using a plastic packaging for the card. It doesn’t give the crisp window pane effect. However, I know most people don’t have laminator sheets readily on hand, and I don’t want anyone to think that you absolutely have to use that one product. If you’re a green person, this makes one less bit of unrecyclable plastic going in the garbage. So there’s that. Also, another idea is taking the thick plastic “glass” that’s found in a very cheap picture frame. You’ll need to use a blade to cut that down to shape. And you might need to score and take several passes to get a clean line. But definitely use whatever you have on hand!

Cut everything with your cutting machine.

Once everything is cut (and weeded if you’re using vinyl) go ahead and seperate everything out; card, frames, and bees (or other accessories).

The cutting files for this card and gift tag can be found here.

Assemble each group separately and set aside.

This is one time where an organized work station is going to be in your best interest. If you use my Bee Card and Gift Tag, you can understand how things can get a little intimidating. (For projects like this I always include assembly directions. I’ve chosen to work through this project here, because visuals are amazing, especially for people who need to see something instead of being talked through it.) But once you have everything broken down into the three groupings for this project, it has a very easy feel to it.

For the Card, you fold it with the cut out window on the front cover. Apply the honey accent around the window. I used vinyl here, but I probably would have had more fun with card stock. After all I have some fun geometric paper. I stuck with solid colors to keep a cleaner and more streamlined piece.

TIP: If your work surface is white and your cardstock is white, try putting a contrasting color inside the card. I used a mini mat inside the card. This made it so easy to find the white edge of my cardstock and line up the vinyl.

TIP 2: With longer cuts of vinyl, application becomes easier when you use the hinge method and prevent the tails from sticking to other parts of the card. Sometimes it takes a little patience to line up all corner and lines to get a straight application.

The best advice I have for the bees is to leave the black silhouette on its backing and build up the layers one at a time. And if you have a straight tip needle, it is your best friend for when your layers shift on you and you need to adjust them. Just put the needle tip underneath, lift the vinyl and reposition it. If you leave the image of the bees up on your computer screen, it’s a great reference point for making sure everything goes in the right place.

There’s a trick when it comes to building up your frame. The glue that you choose really does matter. Usually I like using a spray adhesive (drawing lines with the straw inside the bottle), but I’ve had more glitter failure with that glue on frames than others. Hot glue gun is great for quick setting. But it tends to be thick and make your overall card weight heavier. So the best glue for this project is wood glue. It give you the light weight benefit while maintaining some flexibility in adjusting your frame so all the layers are square. The disadvantage to this glue is that you have to allow for dry time.

Make sure that when you add your glue, that there is a steady line. If there are any gaps, there will be a way for your confetti or glitter to escape. And when all your layers are in place, adding a weight will make sure that you have the best press and prevent your paper from curling while it dries.

Final Assembly

I waited overnight for the glue to dry (but that’s also because I’m a late night crafter. It’s the one time of day where I can get things done without interruption.)

With the shaker card, I used painter’s tape to hold the frame in place. The back of the card is also the back of the shaker portion. By placing the frame through the cut out of the card, when I open the card to fill the frame with confetti, it will stay in position.

I placed the front decal bumble bees on at this point just because it was convenient. With the shaker gift tag, I wanted to put the bumble bee on the bee outline without having to think of messing up a glue job. As you can see with the first picture, I didn’t quite make it square, so I needed to readjust.

If you find that you need to adjust vinyl decals, the best tool you have is a straight tip weeding tool or a sewing straight pin. The sharp point is convenient for wiggling in under the vinyl and lifting a corner. From there you can lift the vinyl. And if you keep it on the needle tip, you can back you fingers out of the way and have a cleaner sight for lining things up.

Turn your shaker tag upside down and open the card. With the frames open you can place your confetti or glitter with ease.

Shaker Gift Tag: I was originally going to use just fine glitter. But when I saw how much yellow I had going on, I needed to have another color in to break up the monotone. The paper choice I made was my black glitter cardstock. I love the color choice. What I would have done differently is add two more layers of frame in there, for a total of five layers. This cardstock is extremely thick and doesn’t move freely around in the shaker. But over all I was pleased with the fill and would not suggest using more fill than what you see here. I would call this tag filled at 50% capacity.

Shaker Card: As you noticed in my bag of confetti, my yellow was not varied at all. And I also wanted to avoid the monotone in this item also. So I grabbed some of my left over card stock from the honeycomb (not yet cut into confetti), added a pinch of my red, and finished it with some texture of the black and silver glitter card stocks. I would have tossed glitter in this one too, but I wanted to show you what it looks like with just confetti. The fill capacity of the card is about 25%. I could have added more, but again I wanted to have a visual reference for you to see what level of fullness you might prefer.

Watching people’s reaction is the true test of how successful something is made. I showed this card to my sister and after initially looking at all the detail, she instantly started shaking the card and smiled as she heard the confetti rattle around!

Want to dress up the card more?

Please do! You paper, vinyl, and other choices are going to make your card and shaker look completely different. You could use crafting foam sheets for the frame. You can use all paper. In fact, I know ladies who have such an amazing stash of paper, that makes my selection look like a kindergarten class project. But I try to be kind to my husband and not keep insane amount of supplies, like I would truly love to hold.

Now for dressing up on this particular card, I’m a bit limited. I went crazy with the confetti and that’s where the focal point went. Since I don’t want to compete with the confetti, I had to keep the honey accent pretty simple. I chose two different shades of fine glitter and used a glitter Elmer’s glue of a contrasting color (which adds a touch of depth to an otherwise flat glitter). To make fine accent lines, I used a tooth pick dipped in the glue to draw my lines. And as you already know, once you add glitter, your lines instantly grow thicker. So don’t be afraid of having a toothpick thin line. The glitter helps you out.

This particular design would also look amazing adding flowers, grass, or any other embellishment. So please don’t be shy to add what your project needs.

I hope you have as much fun making this card and gift tag as much as I do. Please leave a comment below and email me pictures of how yours turn out!

Here are the files for the Bumble Bee Shaker Card and Tag.

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I Love You Means Propagating

Lately I’ve been very interested in the Boho style of event designing. A lot of event designers and coordinators tend to gravitate toward the fantasy of rich and fancy feeling decor. There is nothing wrong with that. I gravitate toward that. There’s just something about pretty sparkly things grabbing our attention.

Even when I worked for a decorating company, there was this huge gravitation toward bringing the Boho brides nearer to the glittery and sparkly end of design. I know why there is that nudging toward that direction. But I’m not going to speak ill of other businesses. I just want to take this moment to see and recognize those brides, and other event organizers and celebrants, who want to stay more toward the end of the spectrum of the simplistic and natural look.

This post is for you!

What I want to focus on today are a couple of floral options that are different than what might be proposed to you when you talk with a florist; succulents and preserved wild or garden flowers.

Succulents

Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Pexels.com

I don’t know if you’ve taken the moment to look at all different colors available in succulents. They are definitely a wide spectrum that diverges from the cactuses and green succulents that your mind naturally gravitates toward.

The best part about succulents, especially if you’re DIY as much as you can for your wedding, is that you can get these in advance and arrange your centerpieces weeks in advance. This is true, even in the middle of winter!

The one thing that you want to pay attention to is the little amount of care that you need to give them. But these are not going to wither or die on you when you look at them funny. They just need to be kept in soil designed for succulents and give them a little water every now and then.

Tip 1: Succulents loved being watered from below. So when watering them, place their dish (with drain holes) in a dish of water and give them a few hours to drink as much as they want. They have enough water when you see that the soil on top has been touched by water, not dry to touch.

Tip 2: If you see the petals start to have a wrinkled appearance, they are underwater. Make sure you soak them in a dish of water. It may take a little time. But once the succulents have gotten enough hydration they will look plump again and not wrinkled.

The only other thing that you have to pay attention to is how much light they get. Here in the Pacific Northwest, succulents are not about to get too much sunlight. They can be burnt by full sun, depending on your region. But in the couple weeks that you have them before your event, this is not likely going to be an issue.

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One issue that you might have is when you’re succulent undergoes what looks like a growth spurt.

This example is definitely an exaggeration of what you will see because I’ve had this succulent for well over a year. It started to bolt like this a couple of months after I received it. What happened here is that the window sill (eastward facing) did not receive enough light. So the plant grew to reach more sunlight.

Your succulents will stay small when they have enough light. So if you see this, or you notice that there is some growth that is starting, then you want to find your succelent(s) a sunnier location.

If you catch the growth quick enough, you can trim off the growth, and return your succulent back to the smaller size.

Take a length of dental floss, wrap it around where you want to trim and pull it tight. You can use scissors, but it will apply pressure from two points to cut. If you use thread or floss, you can apply even pressure around the plant. Also if have a cluster flower of a succulent, you can fit the floss in between the petals and top the succulent without damaging the rest of the plant.

The clipping you can then put in a new container with soil and it will propagate for you.

I put the topped succulent in this cup with water with another topped clipping that I’m waiting on soil for. It’s okay to put into water, but you want to get clippings into soil as soon as possible.

If you are saving money by propagating your own succulents from bought succulents, make sure that you give yourself enough time to let new buds grow. It doesn’t happen overnight. If you don’t have enough time, your succulents will look bald and not so happy.

Here is another What-Not-To-Do

This succulent was originally small like the first picture of succulents I showed you in this section. This one also grew to reach for more light. I should have trimmed this when it first started to grow. Had I done that, it would have remained small and cute. Instead, it changed its shape and spread. But what you can learn from this is what it will look like at the spot where you clip back the top your succulent. There is a small bud that you see on the top right. That grew in about two weeks after trimming. On the bottom left you see another bud grow in where I snapped off some of the larger leaves to practice propagation techniques that I’ve seen on FB reels.

If you are interested in looking to propagate succulents for your event, make sure you give yourself enough time to do so. You will want a couple of months to do this DIY. Talk with some local greenhouses with growers who have experience with succulents. Also there are FB groups dedicated to succulents. Join a group or two and learn from those who are succulent whisperers. There is a wealth of good viable information there.

I readily admit that I am not an expert. And there is a world of information available. Just do not take your advice from clips and reels on FB, Tick Tock, or anywhere else. I tried propagating leaves in a plastic bag, through a slit in paper to suspend over water, and directly in water. None of these have worked for me and I am most certainly a novice at propagating succulents. If you’re a novice, I suspect that these reel methods are not going to lead you to success either. (With the leaves, I tried about a dozen and not a single one grew. This is reason why I have little reason to believe these techniques work. Not working the numbers paid off. If I get a success rate of 1 out of 10 attempts, I call it a viable option.)

One other walking away point I want to draw your attention to, is take notice of the terra cotta pot decorations on my pots. These were painted on with acrylic paint and have stayed on the pots over a year later. So it will not flake off anything else. And this is an excellent way of incorporating your event colors. You can create endless possibilities with your design. Whether you go with feather like swirls, dots to simulate lace, stripes, or even using a stencil from any store’s craft department. You can certainly dress up your terra cotta to fit the look you are going for.

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Wild and Garden Flowers

Photo by solod_sha on Pexels.com

I’ve lost count of how many events that I decorated for where I would take home flowers after an event because there was no second life for the floral arrangements after a wedding.

Don’t get me wrong. I LOVED those events because I had pretty flowers to take home and enjoy for a week or two. That is definitely an occupation perk that I’ve enjoyed.

However, at the same time, it has always saddened me a little because I have always wanted people to have more bang for their buck when they are spending good money on a wedding or other event.

So here is where we join two very important passions of mine!

I breathe creativity and decorating. But I also love working in my garden and learning all the old skills of creating home supplements, natural cleaners, and especially new ways of putting food on my table.

The very day that I learned about making a Chive Blossom Vinaigretteis the very same day that I made it.

This is Day One of my Vinaigrette:

My Four year old and I did this together for the very first time and as soon as I saw how this jar looked I immediately thought, “How Beautiful!”

And this was the first, on many ideas that I had:

You can go with sentiments or go all the way with the couple’s monogram, name and wedding date, or even line art that goes with your over all Boho decor.

What I absolutely LOVE about this inspiration is that it’s simple but has so much LIFE after the wedding or event.

For example, this Chive Blossom Vinaigrette will become a salad dressing, meat marinade, or other meal flavor provider in as little as 3 weeks. The total cost for this is just your jar, the chive blossoms, and food vinegar. When you’re looking for cost saving centerpieces, you seriously can’t beat this for bang for your buck!

To do this idea, you will definitely have this be your day of preparation, so have a few hands on deck. You will want to clip your edible flowers, rinse them, and place them in the jars before adding the vinegar.

The reason why I say do this on the day of is because of the process needed to properly turn this into a proper dressing or marinade. It is shelf stable during the whole process, but it needs to be kept in a dark cool place for the 3 weeks of processing. You could also use the jars at the end of the three weeks, when the vinegar takes on a fuchsia/purple appearance. But you want to try to limit the heat and light exposure no matter if you do it at the beginning or end of processing.

Tip 1: This needs to be shaken once a day for the entirety of the three weeks. So you will have a cleaner look at the beginning of the process. At the end of the process, you will have some floating pieces from the flowers. That just naturally happens with daily agitation.

Tip 2: At the end of the 3 weeks, you will need to filter this vinaigrette through a cheese cloth to remove all debris (and rebottle) before you use this as a dressing/marinade.

Maybe puple is not the color that goes well with your Boho design. Here is a list of some other edible flowers that can be used in making your own version of a different vinaigrette. Or you can just put the blossoms of these flowers or others into a jar filled with water.

  • Nasturtiums
  • Pansies
  • Violets
  • Hostas
  • Borage
  • Calendula
  • French Marigolds
  • Chrysanthemums
  • Carnations
  • Hollyhocks
  • Sunflowers
  • Cornflowers
  • Gladioli
  • Honeysuckle
  • Dianthus
  • Antirrhinum
  • Tulips
  • Roses
  • Lavender
  • Pea Flowers
  • Broad Bean Flowers
  • Onion/Chive Flowers
  • Brassica Flower Heads
  • Pak Choi Flowers
  • Squash Flowers
  • Dandelions
  • Daisies
  • Chamomile Flowers
  • Red & White Clover Flowers
  • Chickweed Flowers

WARNING: Make sure that you only use flowers that have NOT had pesticides or herbicides used on them. Whatever has been applied to flowers will enter your body if you eat them or any extract that you make from them.

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Flowers as herbs and seasoning have different flavors that they impart. Some have a peppery note to them. The chives that I grow are a garlic chive, so it imparts a garlic flavor without having to fuss with cloves of garlic. I’ve also started working with Lemon Balm (a member of the mint family) which imparts a lemon flavor. So I could have added tiny Lemon Balm leaves in with the chive blossoms. Which now that I think about it, I’m definitely going to add that to my vinaigrette as soon as I post this!

Another thing to keep in mind is that for thousands of years edible flowers and plant leaves have been used for natural medicine. For example, Lemon Balm is great for combating the viruses behind the common cold. So you can give your body the things it needs to keep healthy while adding flavor to your food.

If making a vinaigrette is not something you will use after the wedding (or other event), consider looking into making your own chemical free cleaner. For example, you can still use this mason jar idea and make a kitchen cleaner with lemon or orange slices and peels.

If you’re not looking for a natural cleaner, than even using berries and mint, basil or other leaves in water, is a great of washing your produce before you eat it while borrowing it for a few hours for your event.

There is one more option for Fall and Winter Events when most of the edible flowers are not in season. You can make Pine Syrup or Spruce Tip Syrup. I found this type of syrup interesting because I have spruce widely available around where I live and real Maple Syrup is a luxury on my family’s budget. This can be a pretty centerpiece as well because you use the new growth tips on a spruce tree or pine cones for the Pine Syrup. I’m sure that you can imagine the possibilities for all your holiday parties with this one!

Decorating the Mason Jars

The simplicity of these jars is beautiful all on their own. But maybe you want to dress them up a touch. What can you do to add a little panache?

  • Paint the jar ring (White, Gold, or other event color)
  • Apply glitter to the jar ring (after finished spray with a clear coat of paint to keep from leaving a glitter trail)
  • Use squares of pattern, texture, or fancy cloth on top (held in place by screwing the ring down onto the jar over the fabric)
  • Decorate the jar itself
  • Use the jar as a base for a taper candle (with candle holder) to raise the level of the candle above other centerpiece elements
  • Put your table number on top of the jar

I hope you’re just as excited about these ideas as I am. These are definitely something fresh for existing wedding and party themes. Be free to experiment with using some of your food preparation and preserving techniques the next time you are decorating for your next event!

Files Used In This Project

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Resizing Critters

With Easter tomorrow there is a common crafting problem that pops up with those cute egg and sucker holders…resizing.

Not all eggs are sized the same. Not all suckers are sized the same. There are even some holders for chocolate balls. Not all chocolate balls are the same size.

I’ve seen more frustrated crafters than I care to mention. Either the designer miss-sized the holes, so things don’t fit or the crafter bought a candy that was not standard size for the file they bought.

The good news is that you don’t have to throw out the files that didn’t work for you. All you need to do is resize your file in your cutting program. And I’m going to show you how.

Resizing Your Critters

Step 1: Measure the diameter of your egg, sucker, or chocolate.

Step 2: (After checking to make sure your entire critter is grouped, to make sure you resize everything in proportion) Make a circle that fits the hole. You will use this circle to verify you have reduced or enlarged your critter to the size you need it. (See Photo 1 above)

Step 3: Check your program’s measurement type and decide if you’re going to do your measurement based off of your objects height or width. (See Photo 2 above)

You will notice in the photos that I have my measurements set to centimeters. The reason for this is because the plastic ornaments I’m using were sized in the metric system. I love designing in Inkscape because I can switch back and forth between the metric and imperial system with just a drop down menu.

The ornament I’m sizing down for is 4 cm.

Step 4: Select All: your entire critter and your sizing circle. Then increase or decrease your critter as you need.

This step will take a little time, because your entire critter is not going to be directly proportional to the hold diameter. I’m sure there’s a math equation that you could come up with to get you the answer every time. I am not a mathematician. So I use the computer program to do the work for me.

Step 5: Stop sizing in accordance to what you’re sizing for. (See Photo 4 above)

As I mentioned, I’m sizing down for a 4 cm plastic ornament. The ornament has no lip, other than the tab to string the ornament. And the caterpillar holder that I’m using does not have a base to deposit and hold the ornament.

If you’re using a cut file that holds your egg, sucker, or chocolate ball, you don’t have to be precise with your hole sizing. You just need the whole holder to be big or small enough to precisely hold your sweets.

However with a plastic ornament (I needed to use up my 3 cm and 4 cm ornaments that just are NOT standard size for any cut file on the market) I need to have a pretty precise hole size. I need to have it snug to keep the project together. So I made the hole slightly less than 4 cm so the tension of the two pieces of cardstock (glued together) was enough to hold the ornament with no other crafting tricks.

Step 6: Cut your file!

Obviously I didn’t resize in my cutting software. My software does not have a measuring system conversion tab. It’s permanently set in the Imperial measurement system.

If you find that you are also resizing outside of your cutting software, always make note of the height and width of your entire critter. This will allow you to quickly resize your entire critter in your cutting software without the guess work.

Let Me Do the Math For You

I want to make conversion easy for you, if you decide to go with my Caterpillar Ornament cut file!

Here are the measurements I used to make these Caterpillars for my boys.

Small Caterpillar3 cmHeight 2.7″ / 6.85 cm
Medium Caterpillar4cmHeight 3.6″ / 9.15 cm
Cheat Sheet for converting the Caterpillars for full ornaments.

3 cm OrnamentCircle Back Cover 3.5 cm / 1.38″
4 cm OrnamentCircle Back Cover 4.5 cm / 1.77″
Another option is to use half of an ornament and use decorative paper for the back cover.

Tootsie Pop3 cmHeight 2.7″
Dum Dum2 cmHeight 1.85″
Cheat Sheet for converting my Caterpillar Design into sucker holders!

Honestly, with converting you could go as large as you want to. You could size up even more for gifting sox, underwear, baby onsies, and baby burp clothes. Literally you can convert to package any kind of gift in a new way!!!

What do you do when it all goes wrong?

Let’s be honest. Sometimes we forget to resize something. Or we think the designer made it correctly, but our cutting software program uploads the file at non-original dimensions (which has happened!) Or there’s an entirely different reason. Maybe the item you’re crafting with is not uniform in size (which happens with cheaply made items).

That is what I ran into with another designer’s file while I was finishing my Easter crafting for my boys. I had used this other designer’s file for Rabbits with my 5 cm and 6 cm plastic ornaments. I had also gotten her Chick file. I had to make conversions for her files because all my ornaments were smaller than hers, for which she used to design her file. The Rabbits turned out perfect. The Chicks were hit and miss. The 5 cm Chicks turned out near perfect. The 6 cm Rabbits were perfect. But the 6 cm Chicks were too small!

Now if I were making these for clients, of course I would make the adjustments and make them new. However we all know that my boys are just going to rip into the cardstock and go straight for the candy! They’re not going to notice any flaws. So I’m free to make corrections.

The 6 cm Chicks (on the left with ribbons) had front bellies that just would not seal to the back cover. I mean we are talking eye sore, obviously not the right size at all. So to solve this problem I took ribbon bows and curled the ribbon down over the mistakes. Hot glue is amazing for tacking ribbon down in precise locations.

For the 5 cm Chicks (on the right), the half ornaments were having the issue of not staying in place at all. So I pulled out my glitter glue sticks and glued around the entire circular edge. I might have had smoother edges had I used Elmer’s glue and actual glitter. However, with a full weekend ahead and running out of crafting time, I opted for the glitter glue for the glue and done option.

The lesson I learned with embracing the imperfect (for a situation that doesn’t demand perfection) is to think outside the box. Cover up, fill the gaps with extra accessories, glue… it can all add to the beauty of hand crafting.

So if resizing is not exactly your cup of tea, do not fear. Don’t get anxious. Get close to being what you need and use your other skills to make it work. After all, a cut file is just a blank slate for you to make it entirely yours with the touch of your creativity.

Happy Easter!

Files Used In This Post

You can purchase Caterpillar Ornament and Floral Top Hat here.

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Taming Fly Aways!

I know these are common problems for family get-togethers. Either, your family is so large, that when you have a pot luck style meal there is always the problem of not having enough table space. Or your family is enjoying the sun with a BBQ and you spend more time than you can admit chasing down paper plates, napkins, and even silverware.

My family suffers from both of these problems. Every year.

Inspiration hit when I watched this video, tutorial using dollar store Jenga Blocks, from She So CraftDee. This video was so well put together with directions, that I don’t want to recreate what this talented woman did. So I will just direct you to her video if you want to learn how to create structures using Jenga Blocks. Instead, I will proceed with the road blocks I faced while working with this tecnique and how I made this Paper Goods Caddy.

Materials

  • (54) Jenga Blocks (I used 48 of one style of blocks and 6 blocks of another style)
  • Hot Glue Gun and Glue
  • Multi-Purpose Cement 0.5 fl oz (E6200 would be the best choice)
  • Ruler (Optional)
  • Paint
  • 1.25″ Nails
  • Hammer
  • (14) 0.5″ Wood Cubes
  • (3) Square Pen Holders
  • Glitter Paper
  • Metal Gift Tag
  • Vinyl
  • Transfer Tape
  • Elmer’s Glue
  • Glitter
  • Acrylic Paint Pen (optional)
  • Flat Face Rhinestones (optional)
  • Jewelry & Metal Glue (optional)

Project Dimensions

The overall dimensions are 17″ wide by 6.5″ high by 7.5″ deep. The interior of the silverware holder squares are 2.5″. The plate holder is 9.5″ wide by 1.75″ deep. The napkin holder is 7.5″ wide by 1.75″ deep.

This accommodates 9″ paper plates and standard sized napkins. In the picture are 9″ plates and cocktail napkins (6.5″). The dimensions can be adjusted according to your family needs.

Before I jump into how to assemble this caddy, I want to start with the pitfall of gluing options.

She So CraftDee only uses hot glue. I do want to draw attention to the fact that it’s not just any hot glue stick, but wood glue. Full disclosure, I have not yet worked with hot wood glue so I cannot attest to the strength or durability. But for the crafter who does not use hot wood glue or have never heard about it, it is not going to function the same way as the standard glue stick that you have in your craft stash. So please do not expect standard hot glue to work like hot wood glue.

I have decorated in enough wedding and other events that, professionally, I would not put trust in wood glue alone to hold a vase that holds water and everything else that adds weight. An LED pillar light is only going to weigh ounces. However, the weight of a glass vase filled with water, stones, flowers, and anything else of weight is going to add up quickly. There is no telling if and when glue will fail. So I would highly recommend that you reinforce your build in the legs and the base frame so that you can rest assured that you won’t have a catastrophe on your table tops. Wood glue and standard hot glue would all be adequate for any non-weight baring sides.

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Because this Paper Goods Caddy is a functional piece, you will definitely need to use something much more substantial, for reinforcement. I used Multi-Purpose Cement (from the dollar store) as my primary gluing option, with the use of standard hot glue to hold the blocks in place while the Cement cured. For a home craft, the Multi-Purpose Cement is a good choice if you just need a little bit of glue. You will use the full 0.5 fl oz tube for this project. However if you are a professional, I would recommend E6200 over all other glue.

TIP #1: Examine your Jenga Blocks. You want to make sure they are solid wood with no cracks, grooves, or holes. The cheaper Jenga Blocks do not give you the easiest surfaces to work with. I had a couple of blocks that had a gaping hole where the wood was laminated together. The glue went straight down to my work surface. If sanding doesn’t give you a smooth working surface, paint your blocks. The glue actually held much better to the painted surface than the laminated wood surface. Plus, the paint fills the gapes and grooves for you. Just be sure to let your paint dry overnight.

TIP #2: If you are using colored blocks, like I did, set up the pattern that you want your bricks to be in before you start gluing. This will keep your pattern uniform in the front and the back.

Prep the Silverware Holder

Please feel free to decorate the silverware holders in your personal style. However if you want to recreate what you see in the pictures, these are the steps that I took.

  1. Paint the top 2/3 of the pen holder with white acrylic paint. (Allow to dry.)
  2. Paint the bottom 1/2 with teal acrylic paint. (Allow to dry.)
  3. Cut Glitter Paper (or vinyl of choice) into 2.5″ strips (the number will vary depending on the length of your Glitter Paper or vinyl choice). Also cut 3 additional strips at 1″.
  4. Slide a 2.5″ strip into a box and crease the edge. (This will give you the cleanest edge and prevent you from mismeasuring the inside of the box.) Trim on the crease.
  5. Remove the backing and place on the inside face of the box.
  6. Repeat 4-5 for the remaining 11 inside faces of the three boxes.
  7. Take a 1″ strip of Glitter Paper and apply it to the bottom outside edge of the pen holder box.
  8. Tack the edge of the Glitter Paper closed with a dot of glue.
  9. Repeat steps 7-8 for the other two pen holder boxes.
  10. Glue two of your boxes together, Glitter Paper seam sides together. Use a very liberal amount of Multi-Purpose Cement in the center, with a rectangular frame of Hot Glue. NOTE: Hot Glue does leave a gap between items glued together. So if you want zero gap please use Cement only. You will need to clamp together the boxes until the glue dries (an estimate of 1-2 hours).
  11. Set Aside for Assembly.
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Prep Gift Tag

  1. Take a left over piece of 2.5″ strip of Glitter Paper. If it is large enough, wrap it around from top front, down, over the bottom edge, and up the back side. If it is not large enough, take two pieces that fully cover the front and back and cover each side.
  2. Trim the edges of the Glitter Paper that run over the edge of the metal gift tag.
  3. Create the hole, matching the metal gift tag, by piercing the Glitter Paper covering the hold.
  4. Using your cutting machine, cut “Family” (or any other phrase of choice). The Font I used was Chunky Confetti.
  5. After you weed your vinyl, apply “Family” with transfer tape onto your gift tag.

Prep the Paper Goods’ Feet (Optional)

My oldest son informed me that we needed to add a bottom so that the napkins and the plates could stay in the holder. He was concerned about his grandma having to put in and take out her paper goods. So I designed this so that the Caddy is not just a holder, but it’s a moveable container that can keep the goods in and be easy storage.

  1. Take 7 of the 1″ cubes and glue them end to end. This is one foot.
  2. Repeat with the other 7 cubes to make a second foot.

NOTE: you can use Hot Glue for this prep because the feet will not hold a lot of weight. I chose to the Multi-Purpose Cement because I have clamps, and I want to ensure that in the heat of the summer sun, the hot glue will not soften and become weak.

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Paper Goods Caddy Assembly

From my stash of Jenga Blocks, I wanted to use ones with colored ends, but didn’t have enough. So this is the reason why I used 48 blocks of one style and 6 blocks of another style (which were used on the sides of the plate holder). The two different styles of blocks had different heights, which lends to the floating brick illusion. The floating bricks could be more prominent by using an even smaller set of Jenga Blocks, still using the 2 row build.

TIP: If you have clamps, you can line your blocks up, like this, and mark several blocks at once.
Here is how I added the Multi-Purpose Cement. I placed Hot Glue to the left and right of the Cement.
  1. Mark off your Jenga Blocks. My blocks were about 3″ wide so I drew two lines at inch increments so that I could work fast and glue all the bricks together uniformly.
  2. Glue together your two row sections, 3 bricks on top of two. In the inch section I put a large circle of Cement with two dabs of Hot Glue on either side. Once Hot Glue dries, you are free to move on to the next piece to glue.
  3. You will have 6 sets of two rows.
  4. Glue together your napkin face plate, starting with the rows. Make 2 sets of 3 blocks, glued together end to end. And make 2 sets of 2 blocks, glued end to end.
  5. Start with the base and work your way up. One top of one of the 3 blocks, center a 2 block set and also glue on the arms that will attach to the plate holder. On top of the two arms and the set of two, glue on the other set of 3. On top of that glue on the last section of 2.
  6. Set the base for your plate section, by making 2 corners. If you are using two different sized blocks for a floating brick look, your larger blocks will be used here on the sides (they are the unpainted bricks in my photos). Glue your side piece on top of your front and back corner piece. Do this for the other side. NOTE: your center bottom piece is not going to be attached to anything for a few steps, so set those off to the side for the moment.
  7. Space out your corners by setting a two row section on top, do not glue.
  8. With your corners set, remove the two row section without moving the base corners, place your napkin face plate. Once you have the napkin face plate center, you know where to add the Cement and a single dab of Hot Glue.
  9. This amount of glue is not enough to keep the napkin face plate in place, so you will need to hammer one nail into each arm of the face place, into the base corner, so that it will offer the stability to the napkin face plate.
  10. Glue the two row section, which you used to space the corner sections, onto the middle arms on the side of the plate section. Use a dab of Cement and Hot Glue.
  11. Repeat this last step with a two row section for the back of the plate section.
  12. Glue a side arm, on top of the two row sections, on each side.
  13. Repeat steps 10-12 to form the middle of the plate section.
  14. Repeat steps 10-11 to form the top of the plate section.
  15. Turn the Caddy upside down and glue in the middle sections that were set off to the side, back in step 6.
  16. To reinforce the face plate a second time, you will use 4 nails to nail both sides of the left and right Jenga Blocks above it.
  17. Where you would like to add glitter, paint on your glue and apply glitter.
  18. (Optional) Use your acrylic pen and draw on a frame around the front edge of each of your blocks, front and back.
  19. (Optional) To add gems, place a dot of Jewelry & Metal Glue where you would like to add your Rhinestones. You can glam this up as much as you want, including using only Rhinestones instead of glitter (step 17).
  20. Hot Glue your “Family” Gift Tag to the Napkin Faceplate.
  21. Glue the single silverware box, upright on the right hand side. Apply the Multi-Purpose Cement Glue and Hot Glue onto the Jenga Blocks (to the height of the silverware box). Attach the silverware box.
  22. Tip the Cady on its side so you can position the Double Silverware Box. As you look at the side of the Cady, note that the middle row is the front of the Plate Holder. Use the Jenga block to create a 45° angle. The front bottom of the Silverware Box is lined up with the bottom edge of that middle Jenga Block. The top back edge of the box will be in alignment with the front of that back row of the Plate holder.
  23. Remove the double box and apply the Multi-Purpose Glue and Hot Glue to the side of the Cady where the Double Box will sit.
  24. Attach the Double Box to the Caddy.
  25. Turn the bottom of the Caddy upside down and apply Multi-Purpose Glue and small dabs of Hot Glue to the two recessed sections of the middle row.
  26. Attached the two feet, centered on that middle 4th square, into those recessed sections.
Nail placement for reinforcement
Placing the Paper Goods Feet
Close up of how I angled the Double Box.

Congratulations! You have completed a space saving Paper Goods’ Caddy.

Please leave a comment how this caddy turned out for you.

If you’ve seen a project that you want more information on how to make, please let me know so I can set you up for success!

Empty Tomb is now live. 100% of preceeds will go to the support of orphans in Rwanda.

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