Dried Wedding Flower Ornament

Posted in diy, Holiday by peppermintsandhoneybees

Happy Holidays everyone! I have a really easy but special DIY for this Season. And of course they don’t have to be from a wedding bouquet but these are from my wedding which was last June.

I wanted to preserve a bit of my flowers but I don’t want them in a shadow box because I had hydrangeas and things with tiny parts that would just fall apart anyway.

I don’t know how many years they will keep but they should last at least a few years.

All you need is some clear glass ornaments and dried petals and leaves. Be careful when placing everything in the ornaments because they are very thin glass and you don’t want it to break and cut you. It’s that easy! If you don’t celebrate Christmas and/or have a tree they would look great handing from ribbon in a window or from a shelf also.

I added some of my wedding pictures also, since I realized I never shared them on here last summer.

Have an amazing holiday season!

26Oct2016

Crockpot Applesauce

Posted in Food, Uncategorized by peppermintsandhoneybees

Hey, have you missed me? I’ve been trying to get the motivation to write a post, even thought it really doesn’t take that much time at all. Sometimes when I have a million other little things to do, I put things off even the things I enjoy doing. Since I graduated in July, I have been busy wedding planning, job searching and taking care of some sick family members in Indiana, so needless to say I’ve been busy.

I’m posting this recipe for multiple reasons. One, its super easy, two its healthy, and three it’s so easy I can’t believe I’ve never made it before!

I love anything that I can throw in a crockpot while I do other things. Bonus: it smells amazing!

Here is what you need:

6-8 Apples, diced (with or without skins)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. cinnamon

Add all ingredients to the crockpot and cook on high for 2 hours or low for 4 hours. I chose to leave the skins on my apples for fiber, but if you do this I would recommend blending it in small portions in a blender. If not, and especially if you like it chunky like I do I would just use a hand masher. I did this and while it was good, the skins were a little much.

I got the original recipe from The Healthy Maven Blog and tweaked it a bit to fit my preferences and crockpot size. Homemade applesauce is tastier than store bought and so cheap and easy to make, it would be a great healthy snack for kids. I love it because its a sweet snack with no added sugar.

Enjoy!

7Dec2015

Christmas DIY Roundup

Posted in diy, Holiday, Uncategorized by peppermintsandhoneybees

Hey all, remember me? Ah I just realized I haven’t posted since October! The reason being grad school is keeping me super busy. But even though I have been working on my art more than crafts I still want to spread some holiday cheer so I found a couple of my favorite diy’s I posted last Christmas time for a little refresher.

First there are these super fun and easy to make Snow Globes

Next the ever amazing Dyed Bottle Brush Trees and Wreath

And last but not least…Clay Paw Print Ornaments

I hope these give you some inspiration and fun and I’d love to see what other Christmas diy’s you come up with so show me on Instagram with #peppermintsandhoneybees. Also I have an exciting announcement to make soon so stay tuned!!!

30Oct2015

Concrete Pumpkin

Posted in diy, Gardening, Holiday by peppermintsandhoneybees

Happy Halloween! Halloween is my favorite holiday and I have one more pumpkin diy to share. I wanted to make this last Halloween but just ran out of time so it was definitely on my list this year. The Concrete Easter Eggs were my first experience with concrete and it was pretty easy so I was pretty excited. Also I did some research and I guess cement and concrete are not the same. Cement is an ingredient of concrete. Concrete is a mixture of aggregates and paste. So Concrete is stronger and will last much longer. The original idea is on the blog Fox Hollow Cottage.

First cut a hole and and design you want on the pumpkin with a knife. This one was a light I got at Goodwill so it already had a face and a hole in the bottom.

Next put plastic wrap tightly around the face so the concrete won’t leak out. Turn in upside down and spray the inside with cooking spray. I forgot this stepsons mines isn’t stick too bad but I would recommend using spray. I put my pumpkin I. A bucket to get it to stay upside down while I poured the concrete in. The concrete I used was Quikrete from Home Depot.

If you’ve never mixed concrete it’s pretty easy. Some people add the powder to the water, I like to add water gradually to the powder while I stir. Only add a little water at a time until you get an even and thick but pourable consistency.

Let the pumpkin sit for at least 24 hours after you pour the concrete.

When you cut the foam pumpkin off use a knife, scissors, and a screw driver came in handy for prying pieces off.

When I took my pumpkin off the eyes and eyes didn’t fill in all the way so I mixed some more concrete up in a cup and speckle some on to make them bigger and more triangular. It doesn’t have to be perfect though. The cracks and rough spots are what makes the concrete pumpkin interesting!

Show me your costumes in Instagram by using #peppermintsandhoneybees. Now go get your spook on!

9Oct2015

Lace T-shirt Redo

Posted in clothing, diy by peppermintsandhoneybees

Hello all I hope your are enjoying the beginnings of fall! Sorry for the long absence. As you may or may not know, I started grad school At Columbia College in Chicago and to say that it is taking up most of my time would be an understatement! So…if my posts are far and few between lately you will know why. No fear though, I’m still here and still blogging, I just don’t have as much free time to diy. Any ways I have this t-shirt DIY that I actually made quite a while ago and just never got around to posting. It’s quite simple if you have a sewing machine and a shirt you don’t mind ripping apart. I got the idea from this awesome diy blog Trash to Couture.

All you need is:

a t-shirt
seam ripper
sewing machine plus pins, scissors etc.
lace or crocheted trim. (Mine is from Joanne’s Fabric)

First cut the very edge off of the sides of the shirt including the sleeves. Don’t cut too deep, you want your shirt to still cover you. measure out how much trim you will need before you but it. Mine took about 3′ for both sides. you want to lay the open shirt out and measure from the bottom of the front to the bottom of the back. after you buy your trim pin in onto the shirt edge and sew it in place.

Next you want to sew the front and back together again but remember to leave a whole for your arm. I would leave a good sized hole so the shirt flows. And there you go!

3Sep2015

Lemon Mulberry Chia Pudding

Posted in Food by peppermintsandhoneybees

I’m ashamed to say that even though I’ve been putting chia seeds in my morning smoothies and in my tea and occasionally in Greek yogurt, I haven’t tried to make chia pudding until now. Chia Seeds are packed with nutrients and aid in digestion so they are understandably one of the current health food crazes, but they can also be made into a delicious and healthy dessert. When they get wet they get a gelatinous membrane around them that thickens whatever they are in.

I didn’t realize how easy it was or how many different variations you can make. I found this version from The Healthy Maven. That version was for lemon raspberry chia pudding but I had mulberries instead of raspberries so I improvised and it was still delicious.

The ingredients are:

2 cups coconut milk (or almond milk)
4 1/2 tbsp. chia seeds
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
The juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon
1 cup Mulberries, raspberries or well any type of berries
1 tbsp. honey or agave

Combine all the ingredients into a large container or jar, stir it up, and refrigerate over night.

It will be very runny at first but it’ll thicken up, I promise! Eat it plain or with more fruit and/or granola. You can add anything and I cant wait to try some more versions. I think pomegranate seeds would be good, or maybe strawberry kiwi. Let me know what you come up with!

27Aug2015

Carrot Cookies

Posted in Food by peppermintsandhoneybees

I actually found this recipe in the little booklet that came with my ninja blender. It looked good (and easy) so I thought I’d give it a try. It looked good and has carrots so its sorta healthy right?

It was super easy and fast to make since I just added all the ingredients and blended them. You definitely don’t need a blender to make these though.

The ingredients are:

3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs of flax eggs
2 cups flour
1 cup grated carrots
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. coconut oil

The last two ingredients I added to the recipe. Just combine everything and drop teaspoon sized amounts onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-12 minutes and that’s it! It was supposed to make 36 but I got about 28. (I made some a little bigger)
These are nice because they aren’t too sweet, although I think they would be good with honey drizzled on them. I was going to take some to work but Ben likes them so much he didn’t what me to! I’ll have to make more. 😉 Anyway, enjoy!

16Jul2015

Perler Bead Card

Posted in craft, diy by peppermintsandhoneybees

So every year for the past few years I have been making my own cards for my uncle’s birthday because I can never find good uncle cards. I’m close with my uncle and they’re all so impersonal! I had an idea to use perler beads, I used to make things with these as a kid. You just iron the design! I attached it to card stock and stamped the “happy birthday.” I got the design from Makeandtck on iconosquare. I forgot how much fun these little beads are and I’ll have to come up with some more projects for them! Also here is the embroidered card I made last year.

16Jun2015

Side Tie Shirt

Posted in clothing by peppermintsandhoneybees

This is actually a shirt I made long ago in high school but I made it with non stretchy vintage fabric from Goodwill, and I wasn’t (and still aren’t) that great of a sewer. So anyway it never really fit that great. I was fine everywhere but the bust. I kept it all this time because I love the fabric and I recently got an Idea on how to fix it.

The before

I took out the side seams and bought some white stretchy fabric. I cut the fabric in to strips about 2″ wide and folded and sewed it into a loop. Then I cut the strips about 8″ long. I made the bows by tying a knot in the strips and pinned them to the sides of the shirt. After I knew how many I needed and had them spaced evenly I could sew them in. The shirt is nice and loose now and has some stretch in it!

13Mar2015

Cat Tepee

Posted in craft, Sewing by peppermintsandhoneybees

Hey Peeps! I have a super cool project that I actually made a few years ago, but it’s still a good one so I thought I’d share it. All you need is a yard of fabric for the panels and a 20″x20″ piece for the bottom piece, a sewing machine, and 8 dowel rods that are 1/4″ wide. I got the original idea from a book titled “One-Yard Wonders” by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins.

After you cut your panels out you need to sew the sides of each three side panels together, leaving 1″ of space between the seam and the edge of the fabric. Then sew the ends of the insides of the panels leaving a pocket to push 4 of the dowel rods thought. Don’t put the rods in till everything is sewn though. Next sew the seams on the tops and bottoms, leaving the dowel rod openings.

Next for the Base cut a square that is 20×20″ wide and cut a square notch on each corner that is 2″. You will fold the sides in 1″ and sew the seam like in the picture, only I made all sides the same. Don’t forget to leave an opening for your last 4 dowel rods. These will have to be cut smaller to fit. Leave a few inches sticking out on each side.

After the bottom is sewn, attach it to the rest of the tepee by sewing the top of the bottom section onto the inside of the tepee. and then insert your dowel rods. I also tied a piece of fabric around the top to secure the dowel rods.

As you can see Gatsby claimed this one and still uses it! Lucy will sit in it occasionally but if your cat likes hiding in things (like most cats), then they will love a tepee!