Decorated School Supplies

Since school starts tomorrow for me, I thought I would share with you how I decorate my school supplies. for my binders and notebooks I used washi tape and duct tape on the spines and to make places to write my name. The different colors of tape also make it easy to distinguish between different binders, so I can easily grab the one I need from my locker.

To add some color to my pens I also used washi tape. I bought pens that had a clear outside so that you could see into the middle. All I did for these was pull out the tip and ink tube, and the wrap tape around the tube and put the pen back together. I really liked these because they were colorful, but you didn’t have to worry about the tape coming off or getting dirty because it was inside the pen.

I hope you enjoyed these ideas, and that you have a great year!

Drawing Design

This isn’t really a diy, but it’s a drawing I did just for fun.

The process to draw this was pretty easy, I just found a silhouette of a dancer I liked online, printed it out, traced it, then filled it in with designs. Then at the end I just put some large designs in the background so it wouldn’t bee too plain. I hope you liked this drawing, and maybe I will inspire you to create your own design of something you love.

Chocolate Carrot Cupcakes

These cute cupcakes are so cute for spring, or Easter, and contrary to their name, there aren’t actually and carrots in these cupcakes.

The “carrots” on top of these cupcakes are actually strawberries dipped in orange white chocolate. The original recipe for these cupcakes came from something swanky.com. I made my chocolate covered strawberries first so they could harden overnight, but the chocolate solidifies pretty quickly, so they really only need to sit for an hour or two. First wash your strawberries, and lay them out on paper towel to dry. You want to make sure the strawberries are completely dry before you start dipping, otherwise the chocolate won’t stick. Then melt your chocolate in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring in between (it should only take 1 or 2 bursts in the microwave). I used orange chocolate melts, but you can also use white chocolate chips and orange food coloring.

Then dip your strawberries into the chocolate and lay them on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper to harden. You will want to use medium sized strawberries, because the large ones don’t fit on the cupcakes very well. Next, using a spoon, drizzle the chocolate across the strawberries to make them look striped like carrots. You can put the strawberries into the fridge, or just leave them out, the chocolate will solidify either way.

Next you need to make a batch of chocolate cupcakes, they can be homemade or from a box, it doesn’t really matter. While your cupcakes are cooking/cooling you can make the chocolate ganache by combining 2 cups of chocolate chips, and 3/4 cup of heavy cream. Microwave for 1 minute he stir until smooth. To make the “dirt” for your cupcakes process about 15 oreos in the food processor, until they are very fine (it should look like dirt).

Chocolate Ganache

Oreo “dirt”

Then, once their cool, dip the cupcakes into the ganache, then into the oreos, and let set. All that’s left to do is put the “carrots” onto the cupcakes. Thanks for reading!

Cinnamon Muffins

Hi, today I am going to share with you a recipe for cinnamon muffins that are great for breakfast, or as a snack whenever. I made this recipe with my brother, Henry, out of his cookbook, The Kids Cookbook By Betty Crocker, which has lots of great recipes in it.

First preheat the oven to 350°F and Grease 12 regular sized muffin cups (or you can do 24 mini muffin cups, we used both).First mix 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of milk, and 1/3 cup of vegetable oil in a bowl. Then add in an egg, and mix until fully combined. Next, add 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. While the muffins are baking, combine 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon in a bowl. Melt 1/2 stick of butter (about 30 to 45 seconds in the microwave) and pour into a bowl. When muffins come out of the oven, cool for 5 minutes on a cooling rack. Next, dip the tops of the muffins in the melted butter, then in the cinnamon-sugar mix. **Tip- I cleaned out an old spice jar, and now whenever I have cinnamon sugar left over from a recipe, I put it in there so I can use it next time.** Now your delicious cinnamon muffins are ready to eat!

Lego candy machine

My brothers and I had off from school today because it was so cold, so I helped my brother make this candy machine out of legos. You just pull out the piece on the right side, the candy falls down, and then you open up the door to let the candy fall out.  I got this idea from frugalfun4boys.com and she has a really good tutorial, so if you want to make you own you should check it out on her blog. You can order bricks to make you candy machine more coordinated, or you can just go through your legos to find the pieces you need, either way it’s super fun to make.

Peanut Butter Cookies

This recipe for peanut butter cookies is sooooo good from mycrazygoodlife.com. And the best part is, it is only 5 ingredients, and there is no flour so they are gluten free!

All you have to do to make these delicious cookies is o first preheat the oven to 350°F. Then mix 1 cup of peanut butter, 1 cup brown sugar, (or you can do 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of white) 1 egg, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and if you would like, chocolate chips (I would highly reccommend this). Next just roll them into balls and put them onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. I I got 10cookies out of this batch, but it depends how big you ant your cookies.

The cookies will only take about 8-10 minutes in the oven. The insides will still seem pretty soft, but they will harden up a little once the cookies cool. Don’t leave them in for too long, or the bottoms will burn (I learned this the hard way). But that’s it, wasn’t this the easiest peanut butter cookie recipe you’ve ever seen! I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as I did!

Phone Charging Station

Hi, I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while, but I had midterms all week so I’ve been kind of busy. Anyway, today I made this cute container to hold a phone while it is charging. I got the idea for this from makeit-loveit.com, but I decided to paint mine, instead of cover it in fabric like they did. First you need to find a good, plastic bottle for this. I used an empty body wash container that I had rinsed out and dried. You want a more oval shaped container, that isn’t too big, or too small to fit your phone. Next, I drew a line around the bottle as a guideline to cut on.

To cut out the shape, I had to use big kitchen scissors, but you could also use an x-acto knife. I cut a little above my line because it was very messy the first time, but then I went back around and cleaned up the line a little. Then I traced the shape if my charger on the back section and cut that out. This part would probably be easiest with an x-acto knife, but I just folded the plastic over so I could make a cut, then adjusted the size of the hole until my charger could fit through.

Lastly, you just have to design your bottle. I painted mine, but you could also use duct tape, mod podge tissue paper, or do fabric like the original one was. Now, your phone won’t have to sit on the floor while you charge it!

Yogurt Drops

Yogurt Drops

These yogurt drops are a really yummy, healthier version of chocolate chips. Plus, they are super easy to make. First you need to pour a yogurt cup into a plastic bag. I find that the easiest way to do this is by putting the plastic bag in a glass, and folding the top over the edge of the glass.

I used blueberry, greek yogurt, but any kind will work fine. Next you seal the bag, and cut off the tip so you can squeeze out the yogurt. Line a cookie sheet with saran wrap, and then squeeze out the yogurt into little drops.

I was able to fill an entire sheet with yogurt drops, but it depends on how much yogurt you use. All that’s left now, is to freeze the drops overnight. Once the drops are frozen, put them in a plastic bag and keep it in the freezer, so the drops don’t melt. Enjoy!

Book Fairy Costume

This past year for Halloween I was a book fairy. I posted a full tutorial on how to make the costume on my old blog, so if you want to see it click here. I hope you check it out!

Book Fairy Costume!

 

Glitter Mason Jar

Hi, I’m really excited to be writing my first post on my new blog, and today I’m going to show you how to make a glittered mason jar that you can use for pretty much anything.

Finished Mason Jar

This diy is really easy and all you need is a mason jar, superfine glitter, mod podge, and wash tape. First I covered the bottom 1/4 of the jar with mod podge. The line should be pretty straight, but it doesn’t have to be perfect. Next shake glitter over the glue on the jar. I did this over a paper plate then just poured all of the extra glitter back into the container. Let the jar dry for 30 minutes – 1 hour.

I’m using mine for colored pencils

Then carefully, so you don’t brush all the glitter off, put another layer of mod lodge on. The second layer of mod podge prevents glitter from falling off of the jar all over the place. When this layer is dry (it is dry when you can no longer see the glue) put your wash tape around the jar so you cannot see the uneven glitter line. And that’s it! you can use your jar for anything, art supplies, flowers, a candle, change, whatever you want! I hope you liked this post and my blog.

The jar also looks pretty with a candle in it