DIY Tutu (Adult Size)
By:
Courtney Patach
I had the pleasure of running my first 5k this past weekend; The Color Run, OMG it was a blast! The website boasted it was the happiest 5k on the planet and I think it lived up to its bold statement. However, this race was the prequel; the race I signed up for is in January. We have a team named Sweating for the Dress. After seeing numerous tutus at this race and a pink sign that read “I LOVE TUTU’s”. I have decided I MUST have one for the next race coming up!
Supplies:
Instructions:
Wrap elastic around your waist, measure, and cut. The elastic should fit snugly; you want it to stay put when running, dancing, and straight out shaking your booty! Also measure and cut all of your tulle strips. I used a 27” piece of tulle for each tie to achieve a 6.5 inch tutu.
Take one single 27” piece of tool and fold it in half, like a hamburger bun. Then fold it in half again, only this time, like a hot dog bun. Then fold in half again and create a loop with your fingers and the elastic belt. I found if you stretch the elastic band over a chair back it will hold it in place for you to attach all the ties.
Finish attaching pieces to belt and voila; you have poofy, girly, twirly, tutu! Look out Color Run 2013, team Sweating for the Dress is coming through :D
*Please note, I used 6" pre-cut rolls of tulle (not whole bolts); I used 2 rolls in all.
Hot Chocolate Balls
By:
Courtney Patach
Ingredients:
- 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips* (about 2 cups) * I prefer a creamier hot chocolate and will substitute with ½ milk chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
Makes about 9-10 hot chocolate balls.
Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Microwave for one minute intervals, stirring often, until the mixture is combined and very smooth and silky. When you first start stirring, after the first minute or so, you'll wonder if this mixture will ever come together. It will look grainy and messy but after it heats thoroughly and is whisked to combine, it will magically become beautifully smooth. Be careful not to overheat as the chocolate can seize. The trick is to stir often since the mixture will blend together even when it looks like the chocolate chips haven't melted completely.
In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Microwave for one minute intervals, stirring often, until the mixture is combined and very smooth and silky. When you first start stirring, after the first minute or so, you'll wonder if this mixture will ever come together. It will look grainy and messy but after it heats thoroughly and is whisked to combine, it will magically become beautifully smooth. Be careful not to overheat as the chocolate can seize. The trick is to stir often since the mixture will blend together even when it looks like the chocolate chips haven't melted completely.
To make the hot chocolate: pour 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups (depending on how rich you like your cocoa) milk into a microwave-safe mug. Carefully drop one unwrapped truffle hot chocolate ball in the milk. Microwave for about 2 minutes. Stir well until the chocolate is combined with the milk. Serve warm and don’t forget the tiny marshmallows!
Blackberry Cobbler (Pioneer Woman HGTV)
By: Courtney Patach
Ingredients:
Watching t.v. on a Saturday afternoon, while folding laundry, when this recipe was featured on Food Network’s Pioneer Woman. It claimed to be so easy that it would become a staple in your dessert menu. This is by far the easiest cobbler recipe ever! I love simple recipes; tasty treats made with real ingredients, really fast!
Directions:
1.Start by greasing your pan with the extra butter. If you think you’re using too much butter, you’re not!
2. Next, mix 1 cup sugar, with 1 cup self-rising flour, 1 cup milk, and ½ stick of melted butter. Your batter will be thin; don’t freak out, it’s supposed to be this way.
3. Pour your batter into a 9x13 greased baking dish. Add the blackberries by dropping them on top of the batter and try to distribute evenly. The blackberries will settle, and the batter will bake up around them. Bake @ 350 for 1 hour.
4. Let cool to warm and enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or your favorite whipped topping!
Holiday Ornaments
Recently,
Kandis and I spent a weekend at the House of Awesome working on creating our own ornaments for our trees. She has three trees at her house, one of them dubbed the 'Geek Tree', and so she spent time painting ornaments. My own tree was full of cheap store-bought ornaments, so I thought I'd join her in the ornament making banaza.
Glittery Dinosaurs
It really wouldn't be my tree if it wasn't covered in dinosaurs. That sparkle. To make this happen, I purchased some small dinosaur toys from Hobby Lobby and the dollar store, a box of different colors of glitter, some Elmer's glue, screw-in eye hooks, and a Mod Podge spray sealant.
This craft is glitter intensive. Glitter at your own risk. You know what happens when you use glitter.
The first step was to lay out the dinosaurs and figure out where to place the hooks.
Then, using a pair of pliers, I screwed in the eye hooks into each dinosaur. Pay attention to where the bulk of the weight is, so the toys will hang nicely and not upside down.
Once I had all of the eyelets in place, I organized my dinosaurs by the glitter colors I was going to use. I didn't want all of the triceratops to be the same color, so I organized them first.
Next, using a cheap, throw-away paint brush, I painted them all with Elmer's glue, and then sprinkled glitter over them until they were fully covered.
Once covered, I hung them all on strings to dry, making sure they weren't touching each other. I put a sheet of freezer paper under them to catch any glitter or glue drips while they dried.
Once they were all dry, I took them outside and sprayed them with a Mod Podge sealant - to make sure the glitter didn't drop off whenever they were bumped. Once dry, I simply hung them on my tree - a fantastic, glittery, dinosaur tree.
Sculpey Ornaments
Sculpey clay is just amazing. You can make anything you want, bake it, and paint it. You don't need to be an artist or have any prior experience - just grab it, mold it, and have fun. The Sculpey we used was a bit older so it took a lot of work to get it soft enough to mold just right, but we were able to make some amazing ornaments.
Once molded, we simply baked them according to the directions. When ready they seem to get rubbery, but harden considerably when cooled. We made sure to insert holes to hang hooks before we baked them, too.
Once they're cooled and hardened, paint them!
Exterminate.
Then hang them on the tree and enjoy. Make anything! I think I need to create a Golden Snitch ornament next year.
Weeping Angel Tree Topper
As a huge Doctor Who fan, I felt like my tree was lacking an angel. A certain kind of creepy, stone angel who moved when you weren't looking. The tutorial for making a Weeping Angel has been popping up all over Pinterest, so
Kari and I made our own.
There's no need to reproduce the tutorial which is already well written - so here's a link to the
original.
We used a generic Barbie-type doll for ours - but at times we wished we'd forked over a few dollars to get an actual Barbie! The dolls we used were so cheap that at times their arms and legs would simply fall out of socket! Our wings are made out of foam rather than clay, and our hair made of hot glue. Additionally, we found a 'stone textured' spray paint - and although it isn't the stone grey we would have liked, the end result was still.... creepy.
Shinky Dinks
Nikki and Priscilla decided to decorate their office tree - with
Shrinky Dinks! Shrinky Dinks are wonderful because you can draw anything you like on them, cut them out, pop them in the oven watch them shrink down. They have a tiny tree, so Shrinky Dinks were absolutely prefect!
