the thrifty crafter

While a simple silohouette can get you kicked off of Lifetime’s Project Runway, using that of a small bird is a creative way to add some spring festivity to your Easter place setting.  Start with robin’s egg blue cotton placemats (a steal at BigLots for $0.50 each!), pair with natural-colored linen hemstitch napkins (see my other post for another place setting using these napkins), and add chocolate brown felt birds perched atop paper-wrapped wire napkin rings.   Paper Source provides a printable bird silhouette that, with some adaptation, is perfect for this project.

Here’s what you need:

• Brown felt
• paper-wrapped wire
• wire cutters and jewelery making pliers
• sewing machine and contrasting thread (I used white)
• glue gun and glue sticks

Here’s what you do:

1. Print a copy of the bird silhouette and cut out.  I removed the legs and branch for ease of sewing.
2. Fold felt and pin paper bird to felt, cutting out two birds at once.

   

3. Sew the pieces of felt together, trying to follow the shape of the bird as closely as you can.  Clip loose threads.
4. Take two wires and twist them together.  Repeat with another two wires.
5. Twist the doubled wires together, then form a ring.

   

6. Use wire cutters to clip to desired length. Remove any sharp edges and use jeweler’s pliers to bend free ends. You should be able to make two napkin rings from each braided strand.
7. Use hot glue gun to secure felt bird to napkin ring, making sure to cover area where ends of wire came together.

   

Tips: Eco-Fi brown felt was purchased at Joann’s in the remnants section for 50% off – I always peruse this bin and pick up whatever I think I might use for future projects – it is an abundant resource!  I only used an 8×10 piece for this project, so I have leftover felt for future projects.  Paper-wrapped wires can also be found at your local craft store.  I happened to have some in my crafting stash from my sister-in-law’s wedding – they were used to create inexpensive, artificial monkey tails for flower arrangements…I kept them because I knew I could use them for some type of craft project! Always keep stuff that has creative potential!

While my husband doesn’t love anything that makes our little dog look adorable, I happen to like giving him a little spirit for the holidays.  Recently, I saw a reversible dog bandana in a retail pet store that I thought would be super easy to recreate using spunky prints for the various seasons throughout the year.  By making a two-sided bandana, you can cut your adornment stash in half AND appease your husband by having less stuff!

For spring, I chose to do one side green for St. Patty’s Day and one side in pastels for Easter. My favorite place to shop for the prints (since you only need a small amount of material) is the clearance fabric bin at Joann’s.  The quilting quarters and Fat Quarters are only $0.50!  Using velcro closure, which you can usually find at the 99 cent store, this pet project definitely qualifies as a thrifty craft!

Here’s what you need:

• two spirited, holiday print fabrics
• scissors
• thread & sewing machine
• velcro
• hot glue gun and glue sticks (optional)

Here’s what you do:

1. Measure you dog’s neck.  Our barrel-chested little Jack Russell mix measures 14 inches.

2. Iron and pin your two fabrics together, print side in.

3. Trace out a bandana shape on your fabric (or if you plan to make more, trace onto a piece of stiff cardboard to create a stencil), using the neck measurement as a guide to the length (add at least an inch to have  an area for overlap).  For my bandana, see the measurements below (and no, I did not use the pythagorean theorem to find the length of the hypotenuse of the triangle – just connect the dots!!!)

4. Add 1/4 to 1/2 inch seam allowance along the outside of your tracing – this is the line where you will cut the fabric.

5. Pin, cut and sew, leaving one open edge to turn out your bandana.

6. Turn out, iron and close open edge.

7. Cut velcro into a 1.5 inch strip. Use hot glue gun with fabric glue (or use a sewing machine..i just got lazy!) to affix your velcro strips.  On one side, with the point of the bandana facing you, position velcro vertically, then flip bandana over, with the point still facing you, and position second velcro horizontally.

Cost: $2, with lots of extra velcro for other projects and enough material for a second bandana for a similar size dog!

I’ve always loved the robin’s egg blue, earthy brown and soft yellow speckled eggs you can find in the stores this time of year.  This Easter, I designed my decorations around these inspiring little symbols of the season and incorporated natural elements, like fresh willow branches and wheatgrass,  to capture the spirit of spring renewal.  Here are a couple of inexpensive and easy centerpieces ideas for your special gathering.

Egg Tree

Here’s what you need:

• one bunch of pussy willow branches
• tall vase
• one package of speckled eggs

Here’s what you do:

Clip your branches to the proper height for your vase, removing any buds that would fall below the level of the water in your vase.  Artistically arrange your eggs along the branches.

I found the pussy willow branches at Von’s for $4.99, the vintage milk glass vase is from a thrift store and the high quality speckled eggs (which are also used in the centerpiece below) were purchased at Tuesday Morning for $4.99 for 12 eggs (you can also easily find these at your local Michael’s or Joann’s craft stores).

Egg Hunt Centerpiece

Here’s what you need:

• two galvanized metal trays
• six small pots of wheatgrass
• one package of speckled eggs

Here’s what you do:

Place 3 wheatgrass plants into each galvanized planter.  Artistically arrange eggs among the blades of grass – I used a zigzag pattern with 4 eggs.

I purchased my 13×4.5×5.5 galvanized metal planters from Joann’s on a 50% off sale for $3.99 each and found the wheatgrass at my local farmer’s market for $0.99 each.

Tips: Instead of purchasing your eggs pre-strung and pre-painted, you could make your own and it would probably be cheaper, just more time consuming and messy!

I always make some kind of treat for my staff members around the various holidays of the year. This St. Patty’s Day, I was inspired by the Sprinkles Irish Chocolate seasonal cupcake and decided to try to create something similar at home.  I found a recipe for delectable, rich dark chocolate cupcakes from Cooks Illustrated and topped the cupcake with a basic cream cheese frosting, infused with Bailey’s Irish Cream.

I’ve had difficulty in the past with getting my cream cheese frostings to be stiff enough to be pretty for cupcakes – while they always taste delicious, they never look fabulous by the time they get to their recipients!  So, I did some research for tips on how to keep my frosting nice and presentable – and boy was I happy with what I found!

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

(makes 12 cupcakes; per the original recipe, do not double…make two separate batches if you need more)

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used Lindt 70% cacao)
• 1/2 cup (1 1/2 oz) Dutch-processed cocoa
• 3/4 cup (3 3/4 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup (5 1/4 oz) sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 cup (4 oz) sour cream

Frosting:

(makes 2 cups)

• 8 ounces cream cheese, cold
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted (measure, then sift into bowl)
• 2.5 tsp Bailey’s Irish Cream, to taste

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard-sized muffin pan (1/2 cup capacity) with baking-cup liners.
2. Combine butter, chocolate and cocoa in medium heatproof bowl. Set bowl over saucepan containing barely simmering water; heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted and whisk until smooth and fully combined. Set aside to cool until just warm to touch.
3. Whisk flour, baking soda and baking powder in small bowl to combine
4. Whisk eggs in second medium bowl to combine; add sugar, vanilla and salt and whisk until fully incorporated. Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Sift about one-third of flour mixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until combined; whisk in sour cream until combined; then sift in remaining flour mixture and whisk batter until it is homogenous and thick.
5. Divide batter evenly among muffin pan cups. Bake until toothpick inserted into center of cupcakes comes out clean, 18-20 minutes.
6. Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Carefully lift each cupcake from muffin pan and set on wire rack. Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes.
7. Have the cream cheese cold and the butter at room temperature. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until blended. Add sugar one-third at a time and beat just until smooth and the desired consistency. If frosting is too stiff, beat for few seconds longer. Do not overbeat. If desired, stir in additional flavoring to taste.
8. To finish, use a piping bag to frost cupcakes. Garnish each with a candy shamrock.

Tips: While the simple green fondant shamrocks of Sprinkles are super cute (below), I couldn’t find any and certainly didn’t want to make my own on a weeknight.  So, I picked up Wilton Candy Shamrocks at Michael’s (on a 40% off sale, of course!) for just over $1.

While perusing the web for crafting inspiration, I saw this gorgeous wreath on Domestifluff and HAD to try it.  And with St. Patrick’s Day around the corner, I thought a kelly green felt wreath would be the perfect decoration, not only for this March holiday, but reusable for Christmas later this year.  It is definitely a project that takes a bit of time, but what a lovely finished product!

Here’s what you need:

• 12-inch green wreath form
• box of straight pins
• 2 yards of green felt
• stamp pad (i bought a green one so it would blend in)
• a roughly 3-inch diameter lid (really, whatever size fits your stamp pad)
• scissors
• ribbon for hanging

Here’s what you do:

1. Use lid to stamp circles onto felt.
2. Cut out circles.
3. Fold each circle in half, then in half again and insert straight pin at the corner.
4. Pin each folded circle onto wreath form, clustering tightly to create ruffle effect.
5. Fluff felt after adding a few and continue adding until all visible surfaces of wreath are covered (everything but the backside).
6. Flip wreath over and use straight pins to affix your ribbon hanger.

Discussion: I am a dentist by day and cutting out ~130 felt circles the first day was a bit daunting for my hands.  It is important to spread this project out a bit so you don’t develop a repetitive strain injury, since you end up cutting out 300+ circles! What I did was stamp 16-30 circles at a time, cut them out, then pin and repeat the process.  Take a break to check out your favorite blog, have lunch, or walk your dog and your hands will thank you!

Cost: $12!

Wreath form was purchased at Michael’s with a 40% off coupon for $4, Eco-fi felt (made from 100% post consumer recycled plastic bottles) was purchased at Joann’s with a 40% off coupon for $6. Straight pins were purchased at WalMart for $1 and I found the green stamp pad at the Dollar Tree for $1.

I was inspired to create a new table setting for St. Patrick’s Day this year by the looks of a leprechaun hat.  Notions normally used to create belts were fashioned into napkin rings and linen napkins in the perfect kelly green were sewn up in a jiffy.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 yard of Dritz black woven belt material
• six Dritz gold fashion buckles
• black thread and needle
• 1 2/3 yards kelly green linen fabric (Joann’s)
• kelly green thread
• sewing machine and pins
• ruler and scissors

For the napkin rings:

1. Cut belt material into 5.25 inch pieces.
2. Thread a gold buckle onto each piece of belt material.
3. Overlap ends of belt material by 1/4 inch and use needle and black thread to sew together.
4. Cost: $11 for 6 napkin rings

For the napkins:

1. Iron material, then cut fabric into 19×19 inch squares.
2. Fold over 1/2 inch of material at edge, tucking free edge underneath for a clean seam.  Pin and sew two opposite edges, then repeat for the remaining two.
3. Cost: $7 for 6 napkins

Tips: This week at Joann’s was Coupon Commotion, where you can use multiple coupons in a single transaction.  I was able to get my gold belt buckles and belt material for 40% off, and my single cut of by-the-yard fabric for 50% off.  Gold chargers and plain black placemats were in my entertaining stash already and were originally purchased at BigLots for cheap, cheap!

Necco’s tiny pastel hearts with sayings of love on them serve as the perfect inspiration for a  holiday baking craft.  Last year, Martha’s team created these cute, techy cookie versions and more recently, I saw these in the winter Williams-Sonoma catalog, in a chocolate form.   What a festive, thoughtful and creative way to express your thanks and love to those around you this Valentine’s Day!  For the cookies below, I prefer to use a super easy lemon shortbread cookie with a basic, yet modified, royal icing recipe.  Letters are then piped on with store-bought red fondant icing to keep things simple.  These are definitely a labor of love, especially if you are mixing different colors of icing, but well worth the effort!

Shopping list:

• flour
• butter
• sugar
• salt
• 2-3 lemons
• powdered sugar
• parchment paper
• meringue powder
• red fondant icing pen
• food coloring (gel paste is best, but the liquid version works, too, and is cheaper)
• heart-shaped cookie cutter

* The last 4 items on your list can be purchased from Michael’s, or other craft stores, with a baking section.

For the shortbread cookie (adapted from Sunset Magazine):

Makes ~ 2 dozen 3″ cookies

Ingredients:

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Put flour, butter, granulated sugar, salt and lemon zest in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed until blended, then increase to medium and mix until dough is no longer crumbly and just comes together.

2. Form dough into a disk; chill 30 minutes.

3. On a lightly floured work surface, roll dough 1/4 in. thick. Cut dough into hearts with a heart-shaped cookie cutter. Arrange cookies on baking sheets and chill 15 minutes.

4. Bake until light golden brown, 15 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before icing.

For the icing (adapted from Martha Stewart):

Makes 2 1/3 cups

• 1 box confectioners’ sugar (1 pound)
• 5 tablespoons meringue powder
• scant 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar and meringue powder.

2. Mixing on low speed, mix in lemon juice until desired thickness is achieved. For a thinner consistency, usually used for flooding, add some water. A thicker consistency is generally used for outlining and adding details. Mix until icing holds a ribbonlike trail on the surface of the mixture for 5 seconds when you raise the paddle.

3. First outline, then flood your cookies.  Allow to dry completely prior to using your fondant pen for writing.

Bring them to your office on a tray for all to enjoy or wrap them in pairs in cellophane bags and tie off with red ribbon for a more personal touch.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Valentine’s Day, nor anything heart-shaped for that matter, but when I saw this gorgeous Lavender Heart Wreath in the winter Williams-Sonoma catalog, my opinion softened a little.  While the scent of a lavender wreath would be fabulous, the $60 price tag makes my purse strings want to snap.  Using this beautiful wreath for inspiration, I scoured my favorite discount and craft stores to create a more affordable, homemade version.

Tuesday Morning had lilac-colored dried phalaris for $1.49 a bunch – I purchased six bunches to cover the 12-inch grapevine heart wreath I picked up at Michael’s.

Here’s what you need:

• heart-shaped grapevine wreath
• decorative foliage (I used dried phalaris  – a type of grass)
• hot glue gun and glue sticks
• twill ribbon tape
• scissors

Here’s what you do:

1. Use scissors to snip your decorative foliage as needed – my phalaris came on long stems, so I clipped the buds from the stems.
2. Apply hot glue to the underside of your decoration and attach to wreath in a tightly woven, slightly overlapping fashion.  I started from the center and worked my way around the wreath (see picture) to ensure uniformity.
3. Once wreath is covered, flip over and thread your twill ribbon through the grapevine branches, as shown.
4. Use the ribbon to make a bow approximately 6 inches above the top of wreath.  Clip ends of ribbon tape on the diagonal so that the tips just brush the top of the wreath.  Hang and enjoy!

Tips: Use your 40% off Michael’s coupon for the wreath if it isn’t already on sale.  The twill ribbon tape I used was free from J Crew when I purchased a gift for someone and requested a box.  Always keep things that could be of use to you later, even if you’re not sure what you’d use them for immediately!  Save-on-Crafts has dried lavender for $8.50 for a bunch of 60 stems if you want to try to replicate the WS wreath, though you’re on your own for how much you’d need to order!

Cost: $12!

This time of year holiday catalogs fill our mailboxes.  Unfortunately for a lot of us, decking the house for the holidays with gorgeous items from Pottery Barn, West Elm, Crate & Barrel and Williams- Sonoma just isn’t feasible.  What I try to do every year is browse through the catalogs and get inspired to create my own decorations and replicate the store’s classic style for much less than retail!

Twine Wrapped Tree

If you browse through my other posts, you’ll see that I love to decorate with twine by wrapping it around things.  I love the texture it creates and the organic look of it.  Recently, I was flipping through a West Elm catalog and saw these modern trees (above) and thought, what a great thrifty craft!  And can be made for SO much less than the sticker price!

What you need:

• craft spray glue
• newspaper
• styrofoam tree form
• jute twine
• hot glue gun

Here’s what you do:

1. Create a workspace with newspaper.
2. Secure twine to the top of tree with a spot of hot glue.
3. Apply spray glue in 2-3 inch sections and wrap twine around form of tree, making sure twine is taut and avoiding gaps between wraps.
4. Finish by securing twine to bottom edge with hot glue.

Note: It is important to start wrapping from the top of the tree, as wrapping from a larger to smaller diameter direction can be frustrating – the twine will want to roll toward the smaller diameter area.  So, start from the top!

Cost: $5! Twine was purchased from the 99 cent store and the styrofoam tree was purchased at Michael’s with a 40% off coupon for $4.  That’s a savings of $45 from the West Elm retail!

Red Berry Tree Topiaries

Decorating with red berries during the holidays is one of my favorite looks.  Unfortunately, good quality topiaries can be hard to find, especially if you like to shop the after Christmas sales for your holiday decorations – oftentimes, berries are missing, chipped or scratched. Here’s a way to have a beautiful topiary, on the cheap, with little effort! Comparable topiaries (like the one on the left) can be found at Target for up to $29 per tree!

What you need:

• wire cutters
• tree topiaries
• red berry picks
• silver (or gold) spray paint
• bright green reindeer moss
• terra cotta pots
• hot glue gun and glue sticks

Here’s what you do:

1. Use wire cutters to remove berries from their stems. Make sure to save one berry with a 3/4 inch of stem for the top of the tree.
2. Place sole berry with stem in top of tree, leaving 1/3-1/2 of an inch visible.
3. Secure first layer of berries below top berry with hot glue, making sure to place them as close together as possible, eliminating as much of the background as you can.
4. In sections, starting at the edge of your most recently placed berries and working outward, cover rest of the tree with berries.
5. Spread newspaper to create a large workspace.
6. Use spray paint to coat terra cotta pots, using short strokes and spraying another layer (after first coat dries) until pot has a uniform coating.  Make sure to flip the pots after waiting for them to dry and spray the upper rim.
7. Place berried topiary in newly painted, dry pot.
8. Attach reindeer moss with hot glue in sections to exposed areas of base.
9. Display and enjoy!

Cost: less than $10 per tree,  not bad! AND you have leftover silver spray paint for other holiday projects!

Tip: Michaels has wonderful sales throughout the month of December – most things holiday are often 40 -60% off!  I purchased my red berries at a 50% off sale, so each pick was only $0.49 (I used 17 picks total for two trees).  Spray paint and pots were cheapest at Home Depot – only $5 for everything.  An even less expensive, and less time consuming, way to do it would be to find silver pots that you like at discount stores like the Dollar Tree or 99 cent store.  And don’t forget your 40% off mailer coupons at Michaels for things that aren’t on sale!  My reindeer moss (which is the same color and look of the stuff they’re selling at Pottery Barn for $14 per bag!) was only $3 with my coupon.  Thrift and discount stores (like Tuesday Morning) are also wonderful places to find craft materials for pennies on the dollar – I actually found my topiaries at a thrift store for $1.99 each!

If you check out my Fall crafts posting, you’ll see that I love decorating with this apothecary jar!  It is such a great vessel for displaying pretty things and decorating with it is so simple! No instructions needed, simply fill and display!

What you’ll need:

• glass apothecary jar
• small, shiny, glass ornaments

Cost: $3 (+ cost of your reusable, versatile jar – mine was purchased at Ross for ~$8)

Everyone should have some type of decorative glass bowl in their decorating armamentarium.  Like the apothecray jar craft above, there is nothing easier than filling the vessel with simple and pretty things, like pinecones during the holidays.  Try to look for bags of pinecones in which some are spray painted gold or silver (or do it yourself!) for a more festive touch.

What you’ll need:

• decorative glass bowl
• cinnamon scented pinecones

Cost: $2! (+ cost of your reusable, decorative glass bowl – ours was a wedding gift and is from Crate and Barrel)

Any vase of flowers can have a lovely holiday feel by adding one simple flourish – cuttings from your newly purchased Christmas tree!  Don’t throw those extra branches away when you trim your tree!

What you’ll need:

• flowers
• vase
• cuttings from your tree

Cost: Free! (+ cost of your fresh flowers, of course!)

I saw a similar vellum-wrapped vase a few years ago in a Martha Stewart Magazine.  While she used gorgeous amaryllis to fill her vase, I opted for a flower that is less expensive and easier to find.   Here, I clustered mini white carnations and large red ones to create a lush focal point for my end table.

What you’ll need:

• red & white flowers
• tall, cylindrical glass vase
• 1 sheet of 12×12 white vellum
• red embroidery thread
• vellum tape

Here’s what you do:

1. Stand vellum paper against vase to determine proper height.  Cut.
2. Apply vellum tape to one edge of vellum paper and secure to glass, wrap vellum around vase, and secure free edge with vellum tape, overlapping edges slightly.
3. Find middle of string and, starting from the base of the vase,  wrap string around and up the vase, keeping thread taut and criss-crossing as pictured.  Use vellum tape to secure free edges of thread at lip of vase.
4. Arrange cut flowers in vase and enjoy!

Its that time of year again when everywhere you look, the rich colors of autumn abound….if you live anywhere but Southern California, that is!  Unfortunately for us, palm trees stay green and lawns aren’t littered with gorgeous crimson,  rust or gold falling leaves.  So, what’s a girl to do to bring in the fall season?  Get crafting, that’s what!

After last holiday season, I picked up some clearance items from Pottery Barn in preparation for decorating this year.  Among my finds were life-like acorns and preserved leaves in gorgeous hues for only $2.97 a box!  There is so much you can do with these simple vase fillers!  Here are a couple of easy projects to get those creative cogs turning.

Leaf Coasters

What you need:

• a set of photo coasters
• preserved, or artificial, leaves
• tweezers
• scotch tape

Here’s what you do:

1. Choose  four different leaf shapes in four different colors, selecting leaves that are comparable in size to that of your photo coaster insert.
2. Lay your selected leaf on the cardstock insert to position.  If your leaves extend beyond the edges of the cardstock, use scotch tape to wrap the tips around and secure to the backside.
3. Using tweezers, gently slide the cardstock into the plastic insert, being careful not to wrinkle or damage the secured leaf.

Photo coasters can be found at many stores.  These have a very simple design and were given to us as a wedding gift.  They can be found at Crate and Barrel for $20 for a set of four.

Cost: $3 (with lots of leftover leaves for other projects)!

Golden Wheat and Leaf Wreath

What you need:

• grapevine wreath
• dried wheat stems
• preserved, or artificial, leaves
• fall foliage craft stems for colorful accents
• hot glue gun
• glue sticks

Here’s what you do:

1. Pre-arrange wheat and leaves to ensure full coverage of your wreath
2. Hot glue 10-12 leaves on wreath in a scattered, yet deliberate, way, as if they fell on the wreath naturally.  You still want some of the grapevine wreath peeking through between leaves.
3. Cut your wheat stems to half their original length for ease of insertion.
4. Insert wheat stems into grapevine wreath horizontally, as close to 180 degrees as you can.  This ensures the wheat lays flat against the wreath and does not stick out.  Use hot glue as necessary to secure rogue wheat stems.
5. Cut buds off of your fall foliage stems, leaving a 2-3 inch stem. Insert into wreath at various points, making sure to even out the color distribution.
6. Turn wreath over and snip any length of wheat stem that protrudes from the back or can be readily seen.
7. Hang and admire your handiwork!

Wheat was purchased at a farmers market for $2 a bunch, wreath and foliage stems were purchased at Joann’s (foliage was 70% off after Halloween!).  Remember to check for coupons for your craft stores!  I was able to use a 10% off transaction coupon the day I bought these!

Cost: $12!

Flowers with Acorns and Lentils

What you need:

• 5″ square vase
• one box of acorn filler
• few handfuls of dried lentils
• plastic water bottle
• Exacto knife
• autumn colored flowers

Here’s what you do:

1. Place plastic water bottle inside square vase, centering it.  Fill square vase with acorns around water bottle to determine proper height, mark.
2. Remove plastic bottle and use Exacto knife to cut water bottle to marked height.  Smooth cut edges with scissors, if need be.
3. Center the cut bottle in square vase again, this time filling lower 1/2 inch or so of square vase with dried lentils to stabilize plastic container.  Fill acorns around plastic bottle, making sure there are no gaps where the plastic bottle can be seen.
4. Fill bottle with water and arrange cut flowers.

Cost: $3 + the cost of flowers

Apothecary Jars with Fallen Leaves

What you need:

• preserved, or artificial, leaves
• glass apothecary jar

There isn’t an easier craft than this!  Simply take a handful of leaves and place into jar, making sure to fluff them so they are not crushed.  Put on display and enjoy!

Cost: $3 + cost of apothecary jar (check discount stores for deals on these…I found mine at Ross for $5.99!)

Dinner parties are a great way to get your friends together for some Halloween fun!  Setting the table with creative, handmade details will impress your guests and satisfy your own creative sweet tooth.  Here is a tablescape that incorporates the littlest pumpkins centerpiece craft and the hand dyed napkin craft as well as a simple napkin ring fashioned from chenille pipe cleaners and mini feather boas.

Here’s what you need for the Feather Napkin Rings:

• mini feather boa
• black pipe cleaners
• scissors
• ruler

In order to get the right size lumen for the napkin ring, I wrapped a pipe cleaner around an existing napkin ring and twisted it.  Then, wrap the ends of the pipe cleaner around the diameter of the chenille ring to tuck, leaving a small tail unwrapped to serve as the “glue” for the feather boa.  Cut feather boa into 8-9 inch pieces. Take a strand of feather boa and wrap around the chenille ring in the opposite direction as the tail until you reach the end, bending the pipe cleaner tail around the ends of the feather boa to secure. No glue necessary!

Cost: $2 for 8 napkin rings! Can’t beat that! Materials were purchased at Michael’s at the regular price of $0.99 each!

Add some frightful fun to your home decor this Halloween with a couple of spooktacular wreaths!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• feather picks
• bleached moss
• plastic spiders
• grapevine wreath
• styrofoam wreath
• hot glue gun with glue sticks

For the feather wreath, arrange your feathers prior to gluing to make sure you have enough material to cover the entire face of the wreath.  When arranged, insert the individual picks into the grapevine wreath, bend the ends that stick out of the back and secure them with glue.  You can buy more picks to cover the entire wreath, but I think it looks nice with the grapevine background.

For the mossy wreath (original idea from Martha Stewart), as for the feather wreath, lay out your moss prior to gluing to ensure you have enough to cover the styrofoam completely.  Once ready, apply glue to the styrofoam in 2-3 inch sections and press moss  gently against the hot glue to secure.  Adorn the finished wreath with black plastic spiders for an extra creepy effect.

Tip: Make sure to use your 40% off Michael’s coupons for purchasing the wreaths if they aren’t already on sale.  For the feather project, make sure fall accessories are on sale – these were 50% off, so in total, I only spent $6 for 12 feather picks.  The bleached moss was a clearance item at Pottery Barn that I scored for $2.97/bag.  I ended up using two bags on a 12″ styrofoam wreath.

Cost: $10 per wreath!

Tired of using flowers for dinner party table decor? Capture the essence of the fall season and All Hallows Eve with this creatively simple alternative.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• low, metal trays
• dried black beans
• mini pumpkins, preferably in different colors

The trays I used are actually repurposed, rectangular tart pans from Williams-Sonoma which were the perfect dimension for my rectangular table.  Galvanized metal trays would also work well for a more rustic look.  Simply spread the dried beans into the bottom of the tray and place the pumpkins on top.  Using two different colors of pumpkins gives nice contrast and brings in more colors of the season.  If you want, you can glitter the pumpkins for a magical effect.

I found the dried black beans at Big Lots for a whopping $1.00 per bag.  The small pumpkins are sold at grocery stores.

Cost: less than $4 per tray (after using tart pans I already had in my cupboard)

Is it me, or is the trick to shopping the discount stores weeding out all of the tacky stuff?  For people like me, who have a simple design esthetic, I don’t want ghosts embroidered on my placemats or cheesy black, orange and white plaid napkins for Halloween.  I want a simple bright orange napkin paired with a simple black placemat.  I’ll make the tablescape interesting and fun with other adornments, but as a thrifty crafter and entertainer, I think your basic table linen pieces should be able to be mixed and matched with other linens throughout the year, not just for one specific holiday. While it was relatively easy to find plain black placemats (Big Lots, $1.00 each), I had a surprisingly difficult time finding those bright orange napkins.  So, I decided to stop searching and purchased clearance bamboo colored napkins for $0.99 each and dyed them orange with good, old-fashioned RIT.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• a large bucket
• a wooden spoon (or some other utensil to stir the bath with)
• a disposable containter, like a 7-11 Big Gulp cup, to mix the RIT in
• tea kettle or large pot to boil water in
• gloves
• salt
• detergent

Basically, you’ll want to follow the directions on the RIT label for best results.  There was no way in heck I was going to dye napkins in my nice All-Clad stockpot, so I used water just off of a boil to fill a plastic tub that was placed in my sink.  Make sure you dye all articles at once for the same amount of time, otherwise discrepancies in color will occur.

Cost: $9 for 6 napkins

Need a crafty and inexpensive way to hold all that candy for the trick or treaters?  Try this super easy project to add a little spook to your serving bowl.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• craft spider web
• wire fruit bowl (this one purchased from Target for the REGULAR price of $2.49!)
• lotsa candy!

Any type of basket that has natural catches would work well for this project.  Even if your vessel doesn’t have ideal roughness, you can always use Zots to adhere the web to the bowl.  Spread out your webbing, and starting on the bottom of the bowl, use Zots or photo mounting squares to tack down your starting point.  Delicately thread the webbing through and around the wires of your bowl in a non-symmetrical, almost haphazard way, tacking to the bottom of the bowl as needed when you want to change direction.  Finish by tacking to the bottom of the bowl where you started (this doesn’t have to be pretty – no one will ever see the bottom!).

Eh, voila!  A cute, easy and festive way to pass out candy this Halloween, with a reusable bowl, to boot!

Cost: less than $4!

My husband I adopted a little Jack Russell Terrier mix last Christmas who is just too cute NOT to dress up for Halloween!  Since he is perfectly snausage-sized, I decided he should be a hot dog this year.  Unhappy with what I was finding in the stores, I decided to make my own with the help of Simplicity Pattern # 3952, purchased at Joann’s for the sale price of $1.99!

I chose material, again, based on what was on sale.  It just so happened that felt by the yard was on sale for 50% off, which worked out great! A word to the wise – felt can be fairly difficult to turn out so if your patience for craft project difficulty is low, use a fabric that is a bit easier to work with.

The key to keeping this project inexpensive is to shop sales and clip coupons!  I bought the felt and pattern at one visit, then the next week bought the extras – foam, batting and velcro – when coupons could be used.  Plan ahead!  Like everything in life, procrastination has its costs, and trying to whip up an outfit without watching the sales could end up costing you more than buying a pre-made outfit at the store.

Cost: $15!

No Easter brunch would be complete without a luscious, lemon dessert.  There is something about the tart citrus fruit that calls to your taste buds and leaves you yearning.  Here, I’ve scoured the internet and made some adaptations to a couple of recipes for lemon lovers and made crisp and absolutely delicious Lavender and Lemon Shortbread Cookies and light and creamy Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting, topped with candied ginger.  Two recipes that will, without a doubt, satisfy that lemon craving.  Enjoy!

Lavender and Lemon Shortbread Cookies

for the Shortbread

• 1 c butter
• 1/2 c confectioner’s sugar
• Lemon zest grated from 2 lemons
• 2 c flour
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t baking powder

Cream the butter and sugar together. Stir in the lemon zest and the dry ingredients. Mold dough into 2 flat discs with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.  Roll out dough on lightly floured surface and use cookie cutter to shape cookies.  Bake cookies at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes – in my oven, I found 20 minutes was plenty of time.   Allow to cool completely before icing.

for the Icing

• 1 c confectioner’s sugar
• 3 tsp chopped fresh lavender (Original recipe used dried culinary lavender, I used fresh because I love the organic look of the purple flowers)
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 1-2 TB lemon juice

Whisk all ingredients together, starting with one tablespoon of lemon juice and adding more as needed to create a smooth, pourable icing.   Pipe outline on cookies with white royal icing and allow to dry, about 5 minutes.  (I only made a fourth of the royal icing recipe for these cookies – you don’t need much) Flood the cooled shortbread cookies with lavender icing and allow to dry.

Lemon Buttermilk Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), soft
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract
• 2 tsp lemon zest (Original recipe did not include this – I added for extra lemon flavor)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Beat in egg. Add vanilla, lemon zest and lemon extracts into the buttermilk and pour half into the sugar mixture. Mix in half of the flour mixture, followed by the remaining buttermilk and the rest of the flour. Stir only until just combined. Divide evenly into the prepared cups.

Bake at 350F for 18-23 minutes, or until a toothpick tester comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

The March 2009 issue of Martha Stewart got me all excited to host a St. Patrick’s Day gathering at our house this year. Not only does the issue have a recipe for what looks to be quite delicious Irish soda bread, it also has a recipe for brining your own corned beef! Too bad it takes 2 weeks to make – maybe next year?

While I love being in the kitchen, I get very excited to entertain and set the scene.  Especially when the color scheme is varying shades of green!  Hitting up my favorite bargain shopping havens for new green linens?  It really doesn’t get any better than this!

I started at the Crate and Barrel outlet and scored some fabulous green textural placemats  for $2.95 each. It is so hard to restrain oneself in that place! Everything is so much cheaper than in the retail stores. But I digress…

Green linen napkins were found at Ross for $2.99 for 4!  Go next door to Bed, Bath & Beyond and they cost $3.99 each! They are very similar in style to the Pottery Barn Linen Hemstitch napkins, but much less expensive!

To incorporate gold, I used basic gold chargers that I picked up at Big Lots.  Only $6 for a set of four.  They aren’t the best quality, but since most of the charger is covered with a plate and I really just wanted a *pop* of gold color, they worked out great.

To finish my place setting, I wanted some napkin rings but wasn’t really finding anything I liked. Then I thought, what better piece de resistance than a simple single shamrock placed at each setting? I had already purchased little shamrock pots at Trader Joe’s for decoration throughout the house, so simply snipped one for each setting.

Here’s the final spirited, yet classy tablescape, for $5.25 per setting:

Tip: Snip your shamrocks just before guests arrive.  Unfortunately, the shamrocks will wilt, so make sure everyone sees your creativity before they sit down to dinner.

Baking makes me very happy, if only because I get to use my fabulous Kitchen Aid mixer. Around the different holidays of the year, I like to bake cookies and cupcakes for my family, friends and staff at work. What a great way to show your appreciation without spending a bunch of money!

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day this year, I made Martha Stewart ‘s Perfect Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing and tried out the recipe for Vanilla, Vanilla cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream frosting from Billy’s Bakery in New York. Needless to say, they were a hit!

The cupcake recipe was found at a great little blog, 52 cupcakes. I have to agree with the cupcake queen, these are fabulous! I made the cupcakes in gold foil baking cups and decorated them with little shamrock picks I found at Michael’s and green sprinkles. Delicious AND adorable!

Billy’s Vanilla, Vanilla Cupcakes

Makes about 30 cupcakes
1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.

2. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.

3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about two-thirds full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.

4. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Billy’s Vanilla Buttercream

Makes enough for 30 cupcakes

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 6 to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add 6 cups sugar, milk, and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy. If necessary, gradually add remaining 2 cups sugar to reach desired consistency.

Martha Stewart’s Perfect Sugar Cookies

1. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar; add dry ingredients, and mix until incorporated. With mixer running, add egg, brandy (or milk), and vanilla; mix until incorporated.
2. Transfer dough to a work surface. Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.
4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch in between. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes; do not allow to brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool.
5. Decorate with Royal Icing, optional.

Martha Stewart’s Royal Icing

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar and meringue powder. Mixing on low speed, add a scant 1/2 cup water. For a thinner consistency, usually used for flooding, add more water. A thicker consistency is generally used for outlining and adding details. Mix until icing holds a ribbonlike trail on the surface of the mixture for 5 seconds when you raise the paddle.

Remarks: As for Martha’s cookies, I still need to master my flooding technique. Otherwise, people seem to like the flavor of the cookie (even though royal icing pretty much tastes like powdered sugar).  I’ve made them with brandy and with milk.  It seemed to me that the ones with brandy were easier to roll out and less sticky.

To finish, place two cookies in decorative clear bags. I wrote “You’re my Lucky Charm” on the bags – a neat treat for staff to show your appreciation.