DIY Snow Globes

Posted in diy, Holiday by peppermintsandhoneybees

Hello, I’ve been busy trying to get all of my Christmas shopping done and make the presents that I am hand-making. This was actually something I made last Christmas as presents for everyone and silly me I didn’t take any pictures of all of them before I gifted them, probably because I didn’t have a blog yet, but I do have one left. I kept this little guy for myself to put out.

I had looked at quite a few different blogs to see how they made theirs and after reading about how the ones containing water and glycerin had made the green of the bottle brush trees bleed after a year, I decided to go without liquid. I was worried it wouldn’t look as cool but I was pretty happy with how they turned out, as I was going for more of a terrarium scene than actual snow globe I guess. Plus I didn’t have to buy glycerine!

I used:

Old glass jars with lids
Bottle brush trees
Tiny winter animals, cars, people, houses, ect.
fake snow (mine is from Michaels where the miniature Christmas village houses and stuff is)
glass beads to glue on tree for ornaments (optional)
I used bakers string for the jar, you could also use ribbon or nothing at all
Spray-paint (again optional) I spray-painted all of my jar lids silver because they were from food jars
Glue, I used my trusty E-6000 but hot glue would also work

I glued the tree and animal to the inside of the lid and put the desired amount of snow in the jar. I then screwed the lid on after everything was dry and voila, It’s that easy! I’d love to see what yours look like so put them on Instagram and hashtag them #peppermintsandhoneybees.

7Dec2014

My Weekend

Posted in Holiday, Jewelry, Products by peppermintsandhoneybees

Hello, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I know it’s been a while since I posted but it was because I’ve been getting ready for a jewelry show I did yesterday and trying to get my Christmas shopping and making done. I was at the Holiday Market for an elementary school in my area and it was a great fist show to do. So hopefully now I can start doing more! I have some fun Christmas DIY’s planned for the next few weeks so for now here’s a picture of my table at the market. Have a great weekend!

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P.S. I’m so thankful to Ben for helping me out, I have the best boyfriend!

18Nov2014

Egg Drop Soup

Posted in Food by peppermintsandhoneybees

I may have found my new favorite recipe for the fall/winter. It’s been unseasonable cold here for November and last night soup was the perfect thing for dinner. I have been wanting to try to make my own egg drop soup since it’s one of my favorites but usually made with chicken broth. I didn’t think it would be this easy and fast, or good though!

Bring 3 cups of vegetable stock with a couple pinches of salt to a boil on the stove
chop up carrots, shitake mushrooms and green onions and add to soup
combine 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water in a small bowl and add to soup.
half scramble 1 egg in a bowl and add it a little at a time to the boiling soup

Once you add the egg your soup is done and ready to eat, it’s that easy! I added a little liquid aminos to mine for taste also. Soy sauce also works. Enjoy!

5Nov2014

My Halloween Costume

Posted in Uncategorized by peppermintsandhoneybees

I hope you had a spooky good Halloween! It was super cold here and even snowed a bit but Saturday night I dressed up and went to a party so I thought I’d share my costume, homemade as usual!

I went as Leela from the cartoon Futurama; see here for those not familiar…

She’s a Cyclopes who is the captain of a spaceship and an all around BA.
Here’s how I made her eye. I wanted to make sure I could still see so I used some of that plastic canvas people use to make needlepoint art with. I traced it, cut it out and colored the lashes and pupil in with a sharpie.

I bought the purple wig and the rest was put together with stuff I already had.

I went for something simple this year but was very pleased with how it turned out. What were you for Halloween?

Here’s one more withy sister. 😀

30Oct2014

Dresser Makeover

Posted in diy, home by peppermintsandhoneybees

Happy Halloween everyone! So this post has nothing to do with Halloween but I plan on posting my Halloween costume on my next post. But for today I have some photos of the dresser I just changed up. This dresser is older than me and also looks it. I could just get a new one but I like how sturdy this one is and hey it’s practically a family heirloom. It was my mom’s when she was growing up. I could have painted it but I like the look of the wood even if it is a little banged up so I decided some new drawer knobs would jazz it up. The only problem is that knobs are expensive if you buy them all at once and I couldn’t decide what I wanted. What to do? Get all different ones and mix and match. My style is usually all over the place so why shouldn’t my dresser be too!

Have a happy and safe Halloween tomorrow!

27Oct2014

Homeade Leave In Conditioner

Posted in Beauty, diy by peppermintsandhoneybees

If you have curly fine hair like I do or if you just want a little shine and added protection to your hair you probably use some spray in conditioner after you wash your hair. I used to buy it until I figured out an easy homemade recipe that is super cheap to make!

All you need is:

An empty spray bottle
any kind of conditioner (I like to use the hotel samples I pick up)
Aloe Vera juice
Water

I don’t really measure it out since it depends on the size of the bottle but I fill the bottle up about an inch with conditioner and then fill the bottle half way up with the aloe vera juice. I fill the rest up with water and then shake it up. It’s that easy! Use after you get out of the bath or shower and before you style your hair. I like to use a generous amount on my hair, and I can with this cheap easy recipe!

23Oct2014

Honey Tahini Almond Cookies

Posted in Food, pinterest by peppermintsandhoneybees

This is one recipe that I tried from pinterest that I will definitely be making again! Not only are they healthy but they are addicting. These cookies are packed with nutrition and naturally sweetened with honey. I also added a little agave nectar to mine for a little extra sweetness.

I got the recipe from a blog called http://www.anjasfood4thought.com/2014/03/honey-tahini-almond-cookies

1 1/2 cups almond meal
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup tahini
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon agave nectar (optional)
1/2 cup sesame seeds

Combine the almond meal, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. Next combine the honey, vanilla, tahini, and agave. Slowly stir in the dry mix until everything is mixed up. Roll into quarter sized balls and roll into the sesame seeds, coating the balls. Press them down on your lightly greased cookie sheet so they are about 1/4″ thick.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 10 minutes or until the bottoms are brown.

Enjoy!

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20Oct2014

Halloween part 2

Posted in diy, Holiday, home by peppermintsandhoneybees

Here is a little bit of my Halloween decorations for this year. This month has been crazy busy and I didn’t get to make all of the things that I had planned to decorate for the holiday but here’s what I did put up.

The Bats are just made from cardstock. I traced a plastic bat and taped them to the wall. The cat is a few years old from Michaels, and the crows and pumpkin LED lights are from Dollar Tree. The glass owl is an antique bank that was given to me as a gift and the skull candy dish was given to me by my mom last year from Hallmark. Happy October!

15Oct2014

Vegetable Bean and Lentil Stew

Posted in Food by peppermintsandhoneybees

It’s been raining here by Chicago all week and with the dreary cold weather it’s starting to feel more like fall. I decided it was time to make my Vegetable bean and lentil stew for dinner. I call it this because it’s the best name I can think of because I pack it full of all kinds of good stuff. I never measure stuff out when I cook so it comes out a bit different every time but I’ve tried to put together a recipe if anyone wanted to try it for themselves.

Usually I use a little of whatever beans and lentils I have in our pantry. For this batch I used:

Black beans, pinto beans, great northern white beans, and lentils. Use enough of whatever your mix is to fill the crock pot up 1/4 of the way. Fill it up with vegetable stock so its up above the beans about an inch fill with water about three more inches. I add 1 Tablespoon of chopped garlic and about 1/3 cup of chopped onions. I use a pinch or two of salt and some thyme.
Here is a picture of everything else I added. Also not pictured, kale and onions. I let the beans and lentils cook for a bout an hour or two first before I add everything else.

Next I chop up a few carrots, stalks of celery and two or three potatoes. I add a handful of kale and let let simmer until everything is cooked. Usually a couple more hours. I let it cook all day to let the flavors cook in. It’s good for a Sunday around the house. It makes quite a bit so you’ll have leftovers too!