DIY Bird Feeders

A couple of weeks ago, I was trying to figure out what to do with all the empty toilet paper rolls I had on hand. I always keep them for crafting purposes, but I was starting to run out of creativity on what to create next. Here's what I came up with. Bird Feeders!! Simple Simple. Here is what you  need:

Empty toilet paper roll

Peanut butter

Small spatula

Bird Seeds

Spread peanut butter with small spatula onto toilet paper roll

Dont forget to taste the peanut butter

Pour seeds into a plate

Roll the peanut butter covered toilet paper roll in the seed until covered

Put rolls onto a branch and Voila, instant bird feeder

Still waiting to see the birds eating from our creations. Then again, the weather has been so strange this year. The birds probably decided to stay down south. Smart Birds!!

Ni-xox-

4th Birthday Fun!

This weekend was my nephew's 4th birthday. I invited him to come sleep over at our house on Friday night. He was super excited and so was my little man. A cousin to play with, Yay!!

Watching Kung Fu Panda Saturday morning in our jammies!

My nephew loves pancakes (or pamcakes as he calls them). So everytime he sleeps over, I make a batch for breakfast. Since it was his birthday, I decided to suprise him with rainbow pancakes. It was the first time I attempted them and I think they turned out pretty nice. My nephew loved them. We even put sprinkles on them and a candle to sing happy birthday.

Rainbow pancakes before sprinkles etc.

Rainbow pancakes ready for the birthday boy!

The birthday boy!

Blowing out the candles!

Here is my nephew and little man playing on the mattress in the living room after breakfast. My nephew was chasing him with the frog and saying that Baby was a fly and he had to eat him. I guess he caught him! Too funny!

After breakfast and a bit of playtime, we headed off the toy store to get my nephew a birthday gift. He ended up with a play BBQ, some play food and a new pair of Spiderman running shoes. Pretty good! When we got home it was still a little bit early to eat lunch, so we headed off to the park. We met some friends there and the kids had a blast. Then it was lunchtime. My nephew and son are quite the picky eaters. I made a fun lunch in hopes that they would think it was cute and would eat. I was right. My nephew ate everything. My son...not so much. I think he's still a little to young to understand a fun lunch. I made grilled cheese cut into penguins with cheese eyes, octopus hot dogs with cheese eyes and mouth, with a side of the oh so famous fishies. My first attempt at a fun meal. Hopefully I can get some more inspiration and get really creative. Well, my first attempt was pretty successful. Bellies were full and it was time for a nap before my nephew's birthday party.

Looks yummy to me!

After naptime we all got ready and went over to my brother's house for the party. It was a great party full of family, friends, food and presents! The cake was amazing and delicious. My parents made it of course!

Power Rangers cakes my parents made for the party!

My nephew with his cousin and friend, ready to blow out his candles (again!).

While everyone was having fun, this was my little man most of the evening. No idea what got into him, but he was not a happy camper most of the party!

So thats it! That's what went on this weekend. It was fun, but now i'm exhausted!

Happy Birthday to my nephew! May you have many, many more and may each one be happier than the last! Auntie loves you very much!

Ni-xox-



My Own Recipe

Yesterday morning I felt like baking. But after this Easter weekend filled with decadence, I felt like making something healthy. A couple of weeks ago I baked some Banana Yogurt Muffins. They were delicious. Last week I made the same recipe but instead of bananas, I used fresh strawberries. So good! This week I had blueberries and pineapple yogurt in the fridge. Sounded yummy and tropical to me! So I added some shredded coconut and a dash of coconut extract and Voila. My creation! They turned out delicious! Fully of blueberry flavor with a hint of coconut. I dont find that you tasted the pineapple though. Maybe next time I can add some pineapple chunks....or just leave it out all together and just make these blueberry and coconut muffins. Anyway, they're good!



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Paper Plate Fun with my Nephew!

Yesterday was Easter Monday and the daycares were closed. My niece and nephew spent at my mom's house since she doesn't work on Mondays and my brother needed a babysitter. At around 10:00am I got a phone call from my nephew asking me to come over and spend the day with them. (Oh and my hubby was off too btw). So I accepted my nephew's invitation and spent the day at my parent's house.

I recently learned that my nephew who is turning 4 this week, loves crafting. I obviously love it too. I decided that it would be a great day to craft together. Before going to my mom's, we swung by the dollar store and I bought some crafty things. We spent the morning making things out of paper plates! I cant take credit for this idea as I got it off this amazing Blog I follow called Meet the Dubiens. They made the chickadee masks. After the masks we made some monsters, which was my idea! Everything came out super cute and we had fun making these little creations! Here's how they turned out!

My nephew's chickadee mask!



My chickadee mask (glued the handle on a little crooked...)



My nephew's monster (with muscles!!!!)

My monster (who kinda looks like Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc.)

Happy crafting everyone!


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New Ideas

Lately I've been really wanting to get back into my jewelry making. It's been awhile since I've gotten into it seriously. I've been inspired with new ideas and new media. I was browsing around on http://www.artbeads.com/ and I found this cute pendant made from a bottle cap (as seen above). The bottle cap idea is really cute, but what got me interested is the media inside the bottle cap. Turns out its resin. I love this idea of having an image with this clear covering over it. And not to mention something cute floating on top like the metal heart on the above piece. Very nice idea.

My latest collection that I have been creating is called Flora. Each piece of jewelry revolves around some kind of fabric flower. I really like this idea too. There are so many nice fabric patterns out there, that you can be very creative with this. Works well this fabric sample that you may have lying around the house.

Ok, so, I have a slight obsession with all things Alice in Wonderland. I own pretty much every movie made. This got me thinking about making an Alice in Wonderland jewelry collection. Fun right?? The resin idea gave me the idea to create beautiful pendants using Alice imagery vintage and modern. I'm getting excited just thinking about it!! So stay tuned for my new Alice collection. Hopefully I can figure out how to use this resin stuff and not make too much of a mess. But first, I need to order it! *baby steps*.

Check out my other collections on my Jewelry Blog http://www.delicatedesigns-nina.blogspot.com/ or my Delicate Designs facebook page! And remember, everything is for sale! Thanks for your support!

Ni-xox-

Mini Mug Gingerbread Houses

How cute is this idea???? I'm loving the Mini Gingerbread Houses that perch on the side of your mug. YUM! Some people are so creative. Gotta love it!

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Happy Holiday PhotoShoot

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Photography by: Me
Location: My bedroom
Purpose: Holiday Cards

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To Christmas List or Not?

Every year on my husband's side we all have to provide a Christmas list. At first I thought it was annoying and totally not original. But after years of not knowing what to buy everyone I think it's a great idea. At least this way, you dont really have to think and think and in the end buy someone another neck tie that they dont need, or a movie they already have. I think the list idea is good in the way that you end up getting things that are actually useful to you. Also, the list isnt strict in the way that you HAVE to buy something from it. It could just be inspirational so that you know in what direction to go. It has proved to be very useful.

On my side, I've tried to start to impliment the list idea. So far we just use a list for my brother and his family and my three cousins. My mom sometimes uses our lists for stocking stuffers.

This year, on my hubby's side, we decided to do a gift exchange for the adults. Anyone under 18 still gets a present from everyone, but anyone older has picked a name and only needs to buy one person a gift. In the envelope with the names, we attached our lists. We'll see how it goes. Because we only have one gift to buy, we have upped the budget a little. In the end, buying one gift instead of 14 is much better math in my mind and my bank account!!!

Do you think Christmas Lists are a good idea?

Ni-xox-

Glam Skull Centerpiece Tutorial

Here's what you'll need for this project:
Skull
Silver dish (mine was a plastic one from the dollar store)
Clear Glue
Paint Brush
Silver Paint
A small dish
Silver Glitter (mine was more or a dark grey)
Silver candelabra
Glue gun
Black tinsel garland (Or a black feather boa...couldn't find one for cheap)

First, paint the skull silver. Let dry. Then paint the skull with the clear glue and pour the glitter all over, covering the surface completely. Let dry (preferably overnight).

Heat up your glue gun. Glue the silver plate to the candelabra.

Glue the glittered skull in the center of the silver plate. Then glue the black tinsel garland around the skull (the garland may be too long, just trim off what you don't need). You can embellish with silver spiders if you like.

 

Sorry for the crappy picture, my camera sucks!


And there you have it. A very glittery, very glamorous centerpiece for your table of goodies this Halloween!
Hope you try making these easy DIY projects. I encourage you to embellish and add your own signature look. Enjoy!

Ni-xox

Easy Elegant Halloween Candle Holder Tutorial

I've really been into DIY lately. Unfortunately, with a baby, it's not always easy to make time. What I've learned is to DIY slowly. Don't expect to sit there for hours and craft or bake. Little bits at a time and you can achieve a lot more and make it look great. Here is one of my latest DIY that I created for the Halloween party we're throwing this weekend. Enjoy!



This is what you'll need for this project. (Oh and thin and wide black ribbon which I forgot to add to this pic)

First, heat up your glue gun. Measure a piece of your web ribbon so that it fits around your vase and overlaps a very little bit. Run a bead of hot glue down one half of the vase and stick your web ribbon around the vase.

Do the same with the top half of you vase. If the ribbon 's width isn't exactly half the length of the vase or is longer, don't worry. The ribbon can overlap or be short a little bit as we will hide the seam later. My ribbon happened to be exactly the size of the vase by coincidence. If I would have tried to make it that way, it would have never worked. You know how it is!

Here's where the hiding the seam comes in. Take a length of wide black ribbon that fits round the vase. On the seam side of the vase (I mean the seam going up and down), run a small bead of hot glue and glue your black ribbon around the vase to hide the gap or overlap between the web ribbon.

Then glue a piece of silver ribbon over the wide black ribbon for embellishment. Don't forget to always put the glue on the seam side of the vase so that all the glue lines are on the same side.
After gluing the silver ribbon, glue a thin black ribbon on top and bottom of the vase to finish the edges. Again, always gluing on the seam side of the vase. All your glue should be lined up in the back so that you can turn the vase around and hide all your glue lines. (I know I keep repeating myself, but it'll end up a nicer end product)

And voila!! Just add a small candle in the vase and you have yourself a beautiful addition to your Halloween decorations. Stay tuned for my Glittered skull centerpiece tutorial.

Ni-xox-

Not Much but Pretty Busy

I havent posted in forever. Mainly because nothing is new really. However, I have been pretty busy. After everone was done being sick, I had to get back to planning that baby shower for my cousin. It`s in three weekends and I hadnt started buying anything yet. So this weekend (except for Sunday because it was Easter), I went shopping. I bought almost everything. Decorations, games, prizes, etc. I have a few things left that I didnt find or forgot to buy. I still need some prizes, another bag of M&M`s for my guess how many M&M`s in the jar, and the food of course. I decided I`m going to make a brunch menu. I`ll bake different types of muffins, get fresh bread, different jams and jellies, quiche, deviled eggs, fruit platter, cheese platter, small tea sandwiches, etc. I think it`ll just be an easier menu to make and I mean, who doesnt love brunch!?!

Besides the shower, nothing really has been going on. Luca is doing well. He`s been a very happy baby lately. He`s also napping a lot less. Yesterday he only took a nap of an hour and then was awake all day. He wasnt even cranky. Weird! As long as he`s happy, he could stay awake all day if he wants. His nights are getting better too. He`s almost always doing his nights. The other night he slept from 9:30pm-9:00am! Awesome! He`s back in his basinette though. Since he was sick for three weeks, he wouldnt sleep in his crib and it was just easier for me to have him near since he was waking up every 2 seconds. I havent decided when I will try the crib again. Maybe next week.

His feedings are also going pretty well. He mostly likes his food. Some days are a little tricker than others. I find it harder to feed him when we`re out. At home its much easier. Who knows why....whatever! As for the breastfeeding, I only breastfeed him at night. Once before bed, then if he wakes up during the night and once in the morning. The rest of the day he has formula in a bottle. It just seems to work better this way. During the day, he doesnt seem too interested in breastfeeding. I guess he`s weaned himself. Pretty good for me.

So thats pretty much it.

Ni -xox-

I Love Love Love This!

While browsing around on the Internet today, I ran into this incredibly cute party theme, that one day I would LOVE to recreate. I found it on http://www.blissfultree.com/ . I love the vintage feel. I`m really into vintage things lately. Its just so pretty. I think I was born in the wrong decade!

Ni -xox-

Homemade Teething Biscuits

I discovered an awesome website called Babble. (actually I saw it on my friend Jackie`s facebook page. Thanks Jackie!). It has tons of interesting things. I found this super good idea for making your own teething cookies. They are a much healthier alternative to store bought. No sugar or preservatives. All natural and home ingredients. The recipe is very easy to make. There are other recipes too on their site for other teething cookies. These looked the simplest. Well, when the time comes that Luca is old enough to start chewing on cookies, I will definitely be making these.

Ni -xox-

A World of Jewels

For many years now, i`ve been wanting to start my own business. It hasn't been very successful. For a couple of years I started making jewelry. Of course when you think you`re so original, then you find out that everybody and his uncle is making jewelry. I even took professional pictures of my pieces. My jewelry was all made with sterling silver, swarovski beads and semi-precious stones. Even pearls that I bought myself in Hawaii. Anyway. Maybe I didnt try hard enough to market my stuff or maybe my prices were to high. Who knows. The idea isnt gone forever. I still have a box load of pieces I`ve made. One day maybe. Here are a couple of pictures from my collection.



Perfect for a Bride



Perfect for a Bridesmaid

So there it is. Leave me your thoughts.

Ni -xox-