Yarn Snow Men

Aren't these cute? Found them, and all sorts of other wonderful things here on Spidatter!

Making Our Own Gingerbread House

So we decided this year we were going to try to make our own ginger bread house. We make one every year but we usually just get a kit and do it from there. I figured I'm a pretty crafty person, and I like baking so why not? So far I've made the dough, and cut everything out and it's in the oven. I'll give you some photos and play by play of the finished product but I thought I'd share the recipes and video I followed so you can get started too!

They make it look pretty easy and fun right? Not quite so easy, but still a lot of fun!

Gingerbread Recipe

1/2 cup butter, margarine or shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water


In a large mixing bowl beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until fluffy - at least three minutes. Add molasses and beat well. Combine dry ingredients and add to the batter a little at a time, mixing in each addition. You will have to use your hands to work in the last additions (Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes)

Note: This is enough for a small gingerbread house. Double the recipe if you want something bigger or you want the walls thicker



Royal Icing For Decorating Gingerbread House

1 lb. powdered sugar
1 tsp. cream of tartar
3 egg whites

Beat all ingredients until very stiff. Use as glue for assembling house. Icing will harden as it sits, so add a few drops of water as needed. Use assorted candies to decorate house

Natural Bubble Baths

So I've been trying to switch to all natural or organic products and bubble bath is one that I just haven't been able to find yet. I mean there are a few out there but I thought why not make one myself? So here are the recipes I (had some help) found and I'm still trying to figure out which one to try first! If you bet me to it let me know which one you like!!

Sweet Dreams Bubble Bath

This bubble bath has lavender and patchouli oils to relax you before bedtime. Use soft music and lighted candles in your bathroom for a soothing effect.

6 drops of lavender oil
3 drops of patchouli oil
1 quart of distilled water
1 bar of castille soap. (4 oz. Bar)
4 ounces liquid glycerin

Directions: mix the water, soap and glycerin together and stir. Now add your essential oils to the mixture.

Cold Season Bubble Bath

This bubble bath will help you breathe easier, with eucalyptus oil to ease the cold congestion. This is perfect for the cold season.

6 drops of eucalyptus oil
3 drops of spearmint oil
3 drops of peppermint oil
1 quart of distilled water
1 bar of castille soap. (4 oz. Bar)
4 ounces liquid glycerin

Directions: mix the water, soap and glycerin together and stir. Now add your essential oils to the mixture.

Pure Sunshine Bubble Bath

This citrusy bubble bath will cheer you up and energize you. Perfect for a morning bath or use after exercising.

6 drops of orange oil
4 drops of grapefruit oil
3 drops of lemon oil
1 quart of distilled water
1 bar of castille soap. (4 oz. Bar)
4 ounces liquid glycerin

Directions: mix the water, soap and glycerin together and stir. Now add your essential oils to the mixture.

Love Potion Bubble Bath

This bubble bath will put you in a romantic mood. All of the ingredients are considered known aphrodisiac – so look out!

6 drops jasmine oil
3 drops rose oil
3 drops vanilla oil
6 drops ylang ylang oil
1 quart of distilled water
1 bar of castille soap. (4 oz. Bar)
4 ounces liquid glycerin

Directions: mix the water, soap and glycerin together and stir. Now add your essential oils to the mixture

Quilting Help

So as I'm moving along in preparation to start my quilt (still need LOTS of fabric!) I'm gathering all sorts of tips and help along the way. I found this post originally on Total Tutorials but when to where it really came from and got all the details. Check out some of the photos, she's even gone so far as to have her nails done to do up this post. I think it's great, totally helpful for when I get to actually start sewing!

Hair: Side Bun

Wow, I wish I had long enough hair again to be able to do this!! Just a little idea for you guys for any party, wedding or event your going to. So classy right?

DYI: Halloween Votives

Aren't these great?! I love these! I think I might just make them! I was looking for some sort of Halloween decor without spending a lot of money so this is perfect! Check out the full DYI post here!

DYI: Old Photo Frame to New Tray

Isn't this pretty? All she did was painted an old metal photo frame white, got some cool paper to put in side (behind the glass) and there you go! On Going Home to Roost she has a whole post all about her back porch redo, it's really cool! Check it out. But I just thought I would share this with you. As soon as I find a good place for one I'd totally going to do this!

DYI: Book Ring Holder

Another great DYI from Ruffled. I know it's sort of bad to copy from other blogs but I just love sharing what I find and all the credit is for sure theirs on all their wonderful posts! I love sharing and supporting other blogs by "re-posting". Check out their post with all the wonderful How To details.

I think I might do this if I need to host another shower sometime!

What could you do this project for? Maybe even a fancy way to give a gift of jewelry?

This looks like so much fun! Have a wonderfully creative day!

DYI: Vermicomposting

I wanted to get a start on my composting before we had our house by having something inside. I looked into it, talked to people, read articles, and it seems sort of expensive and hard. Then I talked to my friend Kyle and he said "Get a bin, drill some holes in it, and I'll give you some worms". Of course me being the person that wants more details I asked him all sorts of questions. Sure enough, it's really not that hard, and really not all that expensive. Thankfully I had Kyle to get the worms from, other wise I would have been spending at least $30 on the minimum amount of warms I could find and that would have been way too many for an under the sink sort of set up!

So here is my little DYI on having a mini composting system under your kitchen sink!

1) Get a bin (I got mine at Canadian Tire, $3) and some dirt (Dollarama $1)

2) Drill some holes in the top and sides of the bin (on the sides make sure the holes aren't low down, it could get too full with compost or you could make it more tempting for your worms to crawl out!)

3) Put a little dirt in the bottom of the bin and spreed it evenly.
4) Buy some worms or get some from a friend (complete with a little compost to make it not so hard for them to get used to their new home)

5) Mix them in with the soil a little

6) Cut some strips of news paper. It has to be a sort of raw paper, so news paper seems to be perfect.

7) Put the strips of paper over the top of the worms and dirt

8)Put the lid on and store under your sink.

Pretty easy right?

Depending on the size of your bin (mine's pretty small, but I'm thinking of up-sizing) you may only have to feed them twice a month (I feed mine about two banana peals and a couple of cucumber ends a month and they're happy as can be!)

Some things they really like:
Banana peals
Coffee grind
Cucumber ends
Apple peals
Egg shells (it's good to crush these up pretty good to make it easier on them to eat)

Always keep news paper pieces on top. They eat that as a sort of palette cleanser and it helps them digest everything.

I hope this post was helpful! And if you're like me and would rather see a video to help me really visualize things here are a couple of great ones!

Happy vermicomposting!

I shared this post at: Tutorial Tuesdays

DYI: Fabric Wedding Banner

So I saw these on Offbeat Bride and I want them. I don't get excited often about DYI project or posts because well at one point or another I've tried them all in some form or another (I was a serious craftier growing up!) and I'm DYIed out at the moment but this one, this one is different! So to give you a little taste here are a couple of the photos!

I'm either going to take on this fun little project or request it as a gift from my sister, who by now has a serious stock of awesome fabrics! (there's always a good reason to give right? I love you Crystal). But either way I think I'd want my pieces at least 9'' long by 5''-6'' wide. I think any smaller and it would look silly using it in my backyard or living room (no more small things for a small apartment!! New house here I come!)

I think I would switch up the red bias tape for maybe a light sage green, but the red is pretty cool. Either way I love all the floral patterns, they make me happy! (As long as I pick ones that aren't too seasonal so I can use this throughout the year...so much to think about!)

For the full and very detailed DYI check out the post!

What's your new DYI project you're taking on? Or want to?

Message Cookies

Aren't these cookies great? I would love to send message cookies to my loved ones!

Make your own laundry detergent

How to Make Homemade Laundry Soap from Tonia on Vimeo.

I've been having these really crazy rashes. At first we thought it was bed bugs (there has been some on our floor in our old apartment). We did everything to get rid of them (if it was that) sprays, washed every thing, got a new mattress (we needed one anyway) and still the rash was there. Thankfully it wasn't the bugs, but now it's looking like I'm allergic to the detergent we were using! So on goes another attempt to figure it out, and my search for an alternative lead me to this! I haven't tried it yet but I'm going to!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Tutorial: Vintage Record Bowl

We used to make these all the time when I was little, so when I saw this DIY post on Off Beat Bride I had to post it! For all the instruction go to the post!

Vegan Red Velvet Cake

I wasn't aware that vegan baking could be or look so good until I found this blog! The Gluttonous Vegan has some amazing recipes and great step-by-steps on how to do it all.

You'll need:

1 cup soy milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp red food colouring (look out for the one where the colour is made from Red #40 (coal derivative) not cochineal/carmine (bug derivative)

For the frosting:

1/2 cup vegan margarine

1/4 cup soy milk

2 1/2 - 3 cups icing sugar

1 tiny drop of the red food colouring

Here's the ingredients, but to know how to make it you're just going to have to go to her site!

DYI: Bows

I love giving gifts, and I love wrapping them up real nice and making it more of a full experience then just what's inside. I love the anticipation that's built when you see a gift that's wrapped so beautifully, don't you?

Check out the post on Ruffled for the full DYI! And check out my gift wrapping post for more ideas!

DYI: Candle Holders

We were thinking of doing these for our wedding. Didn't end up doing but I still think they would look great hanging from a tree, don't you think? Check out this great post from Brilliant Imagery for all the how tos.

Tutorial: How to Make a Cupcake Tier

I found this great tutorial first on Total Tutorials and then went to the site and sew the full thing. It’s great and I thought I would share the pictures with you here. I might suggest crazy gluing the sundae dishes and plates together, especially if you have kids around. You don’t want you pretty cupcakes to be ruined by it all coming crashing down!

DYI Phone Wall Idea For Your Wedding

I saw this on Ruffled and thought it was the coolest idea. Check out the post for all the details and how tos.

Tutorial: How to Make Linen Flowers

Aren't these great? I found this DIY on The Bride's Cafe and just loved the idea! For the full "How tos" check out the post.