Roadkill Rescue

D.I.Y Fire Pit

Some retaining wall blocks and some landscape block adhesive were all it took...


          

Button Bowl

Glue the buttons to a balloon and then pop the balloon once the glue dries to make a button bowl!
Mod Podge it afterwards to help it stay sturdy.

 

Keep Kids Entertained in Summer

Giant Ice Cube Awesomeness - filled with plastic  toys.

6 Ways to Tie a Scarf

Cute Heart Garland

Floating Cooler

 

Cut a noodle and tie a rope through it, then tie around a Rubbermaid bin.  The pool water will keep drinks cool, or add ice if your pool is heated.

D.I.Y Floating Candles

 

Tools and Materials
muffin tins or other molds
petroleum jelly or nonstick cooking spray
paraffin or beeswax candles, or wax bricks and color chips
double boiler
candy thermometer
craft sticks, for stirring1 1/4-inch metal-tabbed tea-light wicks

Floating Candles How-To
1. Coat molds with petroleum jelly or cooking spray; set aside. Place used candles in a double boiler over just-simmering water (never over direct heat; wax can catch fire if too hot). As wax melts, stir it and remove old wicks. If using wax bricks, melt and add color according to package directions.

2. When wax reaches pouring temperature (150 degrees for paraffin, 160 for beeswax; if you don't have a candy thermometer, wait until a thin film forms at edges), pour into molds. Then carefully lower in the new wicks.

3. After candles harden (1/2 hour to 2 hours), lift them out by the wicks. If they resist, put molds in freezer until they pop out easily. Wipe off any haze with paper towels.

4. Trim wicks, if necessary, to 1/4 inch before burning.

Muffin Tins Pick a size. Mini-muffin candles burn for an hour or so; large ones, for three. A variety of candles in tonal hues -- such as warm reds, oranges, and yellows, like the ones we used -- look wonderful together. Vary the sizes by pouring wax into large, medium, and mini-muffin tins, and create a playful polka-dot presentation. For uniform results, pour the wax to a depth of no more than 1 inch.

Cookie Cutters Use simple, broad shapes to make sure they float. To turn a cutter into a mold, run masking tape along the edge, snip at the corners, and bend the tape so the cutter sits flat on the foil.
With a set of graduated cookie cutters, you can make stars in many sizes at once. Float some in little bowls, and set others in shallow dishes of water. Arranged on a long runner, they will supply your dinner table with a galaxy of gentle light. We like beeswax for these candles. It has a more viscous consistency when melted, which prevents it from leaking out of the molds.

Pretty Centre Pieces

Creative Ways to Lace Shoes

Bubble Snakes

Add a fuzzy sock to the end and secure it with duct tape.  Pour some dish soap into a shallow container with a little bit of water and gently mix.  Dip the sock covered bubble blower into the solution and gently blow.
 

Moss Graffiti

Photo Tiles

You'll need:

• Tiles
• Scissors
• Modge Podge
• Printed photos resized to the size of your tile
• Sanding block or sandpaper (optional)
• Paintbrush

Now, you’ll want to choose photos that work well if you crop them into a square. So on your computer, pull up your photo editor (whatever you have is just fine – Picasa, Photoshop, whatev). Crop it into a square, and then resize it to the size of your tile.
That’s right, you need to measure your tile.




So in your photo editor, when you go to resize it, you choose the “size” by inches. For mine, you can see it’s just under 4 inches. I resized my photos for these tiles to exactly 4 inches (square). I always go a little over on purpose, because I’m like a monkey when it comes to cutting straight.
If make the image just a little too large, I can sand it down so it’s even with the square.
Also, feel free to use just regular old printer paper. The not-laser-sharp, somewhat rustic look of regular printer paper for this makes these things SO charming. So print them on printer paper (or photo paper, if you want to get all fancy).
Now you have printed pictures the size of your tiles.
Cut them out.




Don’t worry about cutting straight or messing up. All will come out in the wash.
Now flip it on over and give it a healthy coating of Modge Podge all over the backside.




Coat it evenly throughout the back of the paper – but don’t take too long or the Modge Podge will start to dry.
Once your backside is coated (hahaha), flip it over and place it onto your tile.
Gently rub the paper over the tile until it’s positioned just right.
Then take a straight, heavy object (like another tile or a book) and press down and pull the heavy object across the tile/picture. You are getting rid of air bubbles now.
Always pull in one way, or you’ll just reposition the air bubbles all over the picture (I learned that after the 20th one).




Now you want to get rid of the excess paper around the edges (unless you want to fold them down, Modge Podge them, and have your picture extend down the edges, which is fine by me).
I like to use sandpaper or a little sanding block, but you could also flip over the picture tile and use a straight-edge razor blade to just shear off the extra paper.
Just take your sandy device, if you’re using one, and run it firmly, in quick motions, across the edge of the picture.






You’re almost done!
Go go go!
Now you just brush Modge Podge all over the front and across the sides to seal everything down and in.
This is the artistic part. Because your ink is probably going to run just a teeny tiny bit, it will give the appearance of a painting. So use creativity when you’re brushing on the Modge Podge.
I like to give little half-swirl strokes, which just enhances the painting-like feel of the finished product.




Now let it dry for an hour or two.

Use them as coasters, put magnets on the back, make a collage, do whatever you'd like with your new photo tiles!  To hang them on the wall, I suggest heavy duty double sided tape.

Epsom Salt Luminaries

 

Empty jars
Epsom salts
Food coloring
Paper plates
3 bowls
Mod Podge
Clear gloss sealer

Put about one cup of epsom salts into each bowl. Add ONE DROP of food coloring to one of the bowls and mix until evenly distributed. Add ONE DROP of green coloring to another bowl and mix.
 
 Use a paintbrush to coat the jar generously in Mod Podge. You want to use a generous amount, but not so much that it’s dripping off the jar. First paint around the bottom rim of the jar, then the body of the jar, then the top rim.
 
 
Stand the jar up onto a separate paper plate and add some Mod Podge to the top lip of the jar. Sprinkle some epsom salts onto the lip.
Repeat this process for each color. Allow each jar to dry for a few hours. Use a clean paintbrush to loosen and remove any salt that fell inside the jars and to gently knock off any excess on the outside of the jars.
 
 Spray with a clear gloss sealer. Let dry for about 20 minutes, repeat for a total of 3 coats.
 
 

Pop-Up Heart Cards