Coffee Cubes

During my visit to Springfield, IL I visited a small coffee shop. I was quite intrigued and shocked when I saw the lady pop some brown ice cubes into my Caramel Iced Latte. I walked out of there staring at my frosty cup as brown objects bobbed around in my delicious refreshment. At first I thought it was dirty ice cubes, but that would be weird. Then my husband frankly said "it's probably coffee ice cubes." Of course he would immediately assume that. And to my surprise it was! I was ecstatic! This was such an ingenious idea, why hadn't I thought of it? Watered down coffee is one of my pet peeves and this would solve my dilemma! So here it goes:

Here you can see the end result of my latte cubes

I took leftover coffee from my french press and poured it into my ice cube tray (no grounds of course) You can't use nasty coffee for this either such as: Folgers, instant, or grocery brand. I used Caribou Coffee because it adds even more flavor to my drink.

And here it is! A delicious glass of iced coffee that won't have that old watery taste. Yuck. 

Decorative Tissue Paper Ball

I've always wondered how to make these fluffy creations. They always looked super easy to master whenever I would see them on Martha Stewart or the Hostess Blog. Hope you guys enjoy this small tutorial I put together to show you how to add a cute flair to your next party! 

Make sure you have 8 sheets of tissue paper

Fold them long ways

Fold them like an accordian or fan 

It's going to look  like this. Don't fan yourself with it, it doesn't work.

Now you can either use twine or any type of string

Tie the middle pretty tight leaving a long strand for hanging

Trim the ends into a round shape

Spread out into a fan shape then start pulling each piece apart. You can fluff it so it will form a ball shape in the end

Like this! Enjoy your little fluff ball!

Pom Pom Wreath

Many people have misconceptions about pom poms. They think they can't make them without a pom pom maker. They are actually extremely easy to make. And honestly I have never used a pom pom maker, my mom taught me a long time ago how to make these. Therefore with Easter approaching I thought I'd make a pastely pom pom wreath.

Grab some yarn

Frodo always wants to gnaw on my yarn...he's weird

Put the beginning of the yarn in your palm and hold it with your thumb

Wrap it around your palm until you get a big bundle

Take the end if the string and bring it around the middle

Slowly remove the bundle from around you palm while wrapping the end around the middle of it

Tie it into a knot. Then you'll want to cut all the loops

Yay! A pom pom! You can also use wool to make these and then felt them. That'd be really cute

Use some random piece of thick cardboard and use 2 different sized bowls to make your circles 

Then cut it out and hot glue your pom poms to the circle!

Easy peasy! An easter wreath!

Scrap Fabric Garland

I absolutely love the idea of making use of scrap fabric. I have so much and never know what to make with it. This would be ideal for birthdays or any party at all! It was really fun to make since you get to rip fabric and it doesn't have to look perfect.

 Have some twine to use for the stringing. Yarn, hemp, or any other string would probably work too.

Grab some scrap fabric that kind of correlates in colors. These are actually old aprons that I found.

Cut a small nick in the fabric about an inch in width. Some fabric you can just rip and it will stay along that line, others won't. You can make the piece as long as you want just not too short.

Tie them onto the string. I doubled up my twine to make it sturdier.

And there you have it! A gorgeous addition to any window or party! 

Quick DIY tidbit:

Here's something that I thought of on a whim. I was at the dollar store and saw these cutesy kid's tights and had to put them to good use!

Cut and wrap them around a vase! Adds a cute flair that can be changed at any time!!

DIY Dessert Tier

The other day while flea market shopping I was searching for a cupcake platter that we could use for our approaching Ladies tea party. I never did find anything that was worthy enough to grace our dainty tables. That is when the idea hit me! Why not make my own? I always pass by vintage floral plates and wonder what I could do with them. I have an addiction to plates, it is a problem that I am trying to cure. But with a few easy finds at thrift stores, you can easily piece this together too!

First find 3 gorgeous plates. Or 2 if you want it to be short.

Then find some candlesticks. Make sure they're not too big, you don't want them to cover the whole plate. (Sorry I didn't edit this one, it was from my phone)

Now this piece might be a little harder to get ahold of. I actually unscrewed it from a small serving dish at the thrift store. Hehe...I was sneaky. This is for the top plate.

Make sure to purchase either gorilla glue or super glue and adhere it to the plate. I also ended up painting my candlesticks white to make it look more shabby chic. I think other colors like turquoise and seafoam green would give it some character too.

Sorry, I didn't take any photos of the making process. I guess that kind of slipped my mind, but you get the idea! Have fun wowing your guests!

Mod Podge Easter eggs

I remember when I was younger my mom used to mod podge and I always thought it was so interesting. She also taught me this cool trick with magazine pages. It's sort of a butterfly effect which makes the pages transparent which is perfect for decoupaging. I thought I'd try this on my easter eggs!

Step 1: Get some mod podge. 

Step 2: Blow out some eggs and make sure you have a sponge brush.

Step 3: Get some thin materials to use for the decoupage like tissue paper, magazine pages, or cupcake wrappers.

I used these two pages for my decoupaging

 I decided to do a polka dot egg so I punched out magazine pages

 Got some of my vintage mini cupcake wrappers...

Put two together to make the egg stand

See how cute!

Step 4: Then you take a piece large enough to go around your egg and soak it in water. Make sure the whole thing soaks (despite what my pic looks like...haha)

Step 5: Now this is the hard part. You have to be really gentle or it will tear very easily. Make sure you lay the image side down. To start it, begin rubbing until it starts to roll. Once it starts to roll be very careful. You will have to keep adding water to the area you are working on, you don't want it to get dry.  Especially on the edges, they tear the easiest.

You will have an end result similar to this

Tada!! Translucent image for your egg! Make sure to pat it down before applying.

Step 6: You will use the sponge brush to dap the mod podge on the egg then wrapping the paper around it. It obviously won't fit so you will need to press and crease it continually. Who cares if it's not entirely smooth, just don't break the paper because it's even easier to tear with all that glue sliding around.

Hope everyone makes some cutesy easter eggs!!