Crayon art

This was a fun craft but can become messy very quickly. I started by just finding an image from Google that I liked. Once I found the perfect silhouette I printed it out on regular printer paper, cut it out, then used Modge Podge to paste it to the canvas.

Once the Modge Podge had dried I covered the people in tinfoil and used scotch tape to hold it in place.  This is all I had on hand but it still worked great! I also used the tinfoil to make a wall so that the wax wouldn't just stop at the tinfoil but drip down like rain on an umbrella. My next step was to set up my working area. I just used newspaper, I doubled up the paper at the bottom of the canvas because I figured there would be a lot of dripping, I was right :)

After I was all set up I let the glue gun heat up while I peeled the crayons.  I almost gave up when trying to peel the crayons this was no where near as easy as I remember it being in elementary school. I finally had the brilliant idea to soak the crayons in water! This worked great there were a few stubborn papers but for the most part the paper just unraveled once soaked.

Once the glue gun was warmed up I inserted my first crayon just like you would a glue stick,  Once the crayon was melted the wax pretty much just dripped out of the tip of the gun. Occasionally I would need to pull the trigger this created a much longer stream of wax. I just continued this process until I had used all the crayons I peeled.  I used 10 crayons for this project, I did not do anything special to come up with this number I just pulled all of the blueish crayons out of a 64 count Crayola box.

To get a steady stream of wax to drip I had to push the crayon into the back of the glue gun, I remember having to do this with the regular glue sticks so this is nothing new. The crayon melts much faster then glue so if you push too hard the wax will splatter. An example is in the picture below. I know this because it it happened to me, I even splattered wax on the wall of my apartment! Thankfully a magic eraser removed it, I was not going to lose my deposit due to a pinterest craft gone wrong!

Finished product! I would really like to do three more in red, yellow, and green and hang them on a wall in a square similar to something Andy Warhol would do.

Tips or tricks?! Do they really work

We have all scrolled past those Pinterest tips that are supposed to save time or seems so easy we wonder why we didn't think of that ourselves. Fruit and veggie prep is something I spend a lot of time doing because if I don't clean, cut, and portion out my fruit and veggies I end up wasting them.

The first trick I tried was to precut an apple then put it back together with a rubber band around it to keep it from browning in my lunch bag at work.  This was not successful :( but not too much is lost because a brown apple still taste good!

Next I tried peeling an orange by cutting off each end of the orange and then slicing the peel in between two sections of the orange. I then just rolled the peel flat.  This worked pretty well. No more wasting ten minutes getting the peel off the orange before you can enjoy it!!

I love Kiwi but always ended up eating 3 at a times because once I had peeled the kiwi much of the fruit was cut away with the skin.  This tip works great and saves so much tasty fruit!  Cut off both ends of the kiwi then take a spoon and wedge it between the fruit and the skin.  Once the spoon is in place just twist the kiwi in your hand and the spoon will gently peel away the fuzzy skin. 

Voila! Slice and enjoy!!

Baked Oatmeal Casserole

This yummy recipe was originally Pinned by my cousin Kendele and she loved it so much she told me I needed to make it! She was right this is delicious and will be breakfast for the rest of my work week :)

The recipe states that the blogger used strawberries but her pictures showed raspberries. I had both blackberries and raspberries on hand so I used those, I am sure it wold be great with strawberries too!

I am also very proud that I used all Trader Joe's products for this creation, I need to get better about shopping at Trader Joe's because they are such a great employer to Sam <3

Here is the recipe I followed

Finished product, only thing missing is a cold glass of milk!!

Spicy spaghetti squash with black beans

This is a great recipe and it tastes just like Chipotle without all the fatty extras.

I roasted the squash in the oven as instructed then removed seeds and scraped out the middle. This part reminded me of cleaning out a pumpkin :D

I cut everything up while the squash was roasting and sautéed in the pan following the recipe.

Then I served with my favorite salsa and tortilla chips! Delicious!! This is the recipe I used

DIY Beach Curl Spray

1 cup warm water

1 tbs sea salt

1tsp coconut oil

1 tsp hair gel

I mixed all of these ingredients in a measuring cup until the salt and coconut oil dissolved then poured into the spray bottle. Then once out of the shower I towel dryed my hair but I did not brush it. Then I sprayed my hair with the Sea spray.  I sprayed enough to make hair wet again but not dripping.   I scrunched my hair a few times with my hands and walked out the door.  

After finishing my errands I spritzed my hair again and scrunched it a bit more with my hands and this is the finished product below!

Button bowl

This project seems pretty easy then became tedious quick.  I started my drizzling glue on the ballon and then just sticking the buttons on but that was not a good idea.  The glue made the buttons slip around all over the balloon so for this part of the project less is more.  Eventually I started flipping the buttons upside down and putting one drop of glue on it and letting it dry a bit to become tacky then I stuck it to the balloon where I wanted and this method worked much better. Once I was satisfied with the shape of my button bowl I let the glue dry over night.

Once step one dried over night, I coated the buttons with Modge Podge.  I suggest only coating the buttons and not any portion of the balloon. If you get Modge Podge on the balloon it will dry leaving a layer of Modge Podge around the edge of your bowl that you will have to cut or tear off. I know this because that is what I did ;) I then let the layer of Modge Podge dry overnight before popping the balloon.  Once you have popped the balloon you may find that the glue or Modge Podge is not completely dry. I just let my bowl dry overnight again before I placed anything inside of it.

I am very happy with the result! I think it is a great colorful addition to my sofa table!!

Summer lanterns

This is a simple project that produces amazing results!  The color scheme on my patio is teal, pink, yellow and green and that is why I made these lanterns colorful!

These lanterns are so whimsical and match my patio perfectly I am very proud of this project!!

Orignal pin

Here is the tutorial I referenced