Simple DIY Wine Cork Napkin Rings

12 Wednesday Mar 2014

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As I set my table the other day I realized just how boring it was with my folded napkins.

Napkin Rings (4)

So naturally I start wondering what could I make napkin rings out of other than toilet paper rolls. Naturally I start looking at Pinterest for ideas and this is what I came up with…..

Napkin Rings (2)

Supplies needed

  • Wine Corks
  • Heavy Wire (I used 16 gauge wire found in the jewelry wire)
  • Wire Cutters
  • Something solid to wrap your wire around to get the perfect rounded shape. (I used a plastic meat flavor injector from my kitchen)
  • Tiny screwdriver to make hole for wire. (I used an eyeglass size screwdriver)

Napkin Rings (1)

Step 1

Soak your corks overnight in a glass of water. This will make it easier to stick the screw driver straight in. They can soak until your ready to make them.

Step 2

Once you wipe the excess water off your corks take your screwdriver and stick in to desired place on corks. Remember your screw driver should not be any wider than your wire. You will not see a hole like you occasionally see with a cork screw. This is good!

Step 3

Take your wire and wrap it around what ever you have found to get your shape. Wrap the wire until it has the desired look you want. Remember to leave enough room on each end of your wire to stick into the cork. I stuck mine in about an inch on each end.

Step 4

Cut you wire and place each end into the cork.

Step 5

Shape your napkins as desired and pull through napkins ring.

Napkin Rings

Napkin Rings (3)

Be sure to check out the other wine cork napkin ring ideas on Pinterest when you get a chance. Enjoy!

The Cottage Mama Book Release

04 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by in Announcements, Sewing

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As a seamstress I have a hard time finding just the right books and patterns for my projects. As far as patterns, I use all that are available at my local fabric stores and occasionally a project comes up that I have to make a custom pattern for. Well I have news for you all The Cottage Mama, Lindsay Wilkes, has just released her first book ‘Sew Classic Clothes for Girls: 20 Girls’ Dresses, Outfits and Accessories from The Cottage Mama’. 

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I am super excited to order this book. Be sure to view The Cottage Mama blog for all the information you need to purchase your book. There are plenty of wonderful pictures included in The Cottage Mama blog for you to see just what patterns you will be getting with your book.

I personally will be ordering my book straight from The Cottage Mama web-site as I want my book to be signed.

Halloween Decor, Reusing Dancing Ghost

31 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by in Decorating, Halloween

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This year I wanted to reuse my dancing ghost but my daughter suggested I separate them and place the ghost in different areas throughout the garden. Apparently not to a seventeen year old. This was a great idea considering I do not like to do the same thing every year.  I thought moving them from the back yard to the front yard was different enough.

To my surprise the ghost look amazing this year! I might just be able to reuse these again next year just one last time. They are rather cheap and easy to make but I want to get as much use out of them as I can. 

If you would like to make these ghost you can view my dancing ghost blog that will show you how.

Puppy Halloween Party 2011

27 Sunday Oct 2013

Posted by in Party Ideas, Pets

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Last year I was able to have a Halloween party just for my pups. We invited their closest pup friends over for the special event. 

The only requirement for our Halloween party was all guest two legged and four had to dress up.

There was certainly no shortage of goodies for everyone. The pups had a homemade pup cake with cream cheese frosting.

The human guest had Romano and herb crusted breast of chicken over angel hair pasta with a sun dried tomato basil sauce. For our dessert we had coconut lime cup cakes, with candy corn decorations on top.

As you can see all of the pups enjoyed their special homemade Halloween pup cakes.

Sweetie enjoying her Halloween Pup cake

Sweetie enjoying her Halloween Pup cake

Yummy Frosting

And like all parties there are goodies jar full of homemade pup snacks for all guest to take home today.

Goddies for everyone

Goddies for everyone

Dancing Ghost, Halloween Decorating

21 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by in Decorating, Halloween, Tutorials

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Last year (2012) I found some wonderful ideas for Halloween decorating on Pinterest. Fortunately, I was able to try one of the ideas I saw. I have since deleted that pin from my Halloween board, but I did notice others have pinned similar ghost although many are dead end links. 

To make my dancing ghost/ floating ghost I used several things I already had laying around the house.

   

Supplies Needed:

  • White trash bags, one for each ghost
  • Clear plastic painters drop cloth
  • Stakes
  • Newspaper
  • Black sharpie
  • Scissors
  • String
  • Sticks from around yard (for bonfire)
  • Candy corn lights (or whatever you like, I already had these on hand)

Directions

  • Cut away the top of your trash bag (side with the draw string)
  • Cut your painters drop cloth into enough pieces for each ghost. I laid mine out without unfolding it all the way, and cut into 5 pieces/ strips, then trimmed as needed.
  • Ball your newspaper up into your desired head size.
  • Take your newspaper head and cover with your plastic painter’s drop cloth.
  • Now place this inside your trash bag bottom corner.
  • Place your stake into the ghost. (I used bamboo type stakes I bought from the dollar store for my vegetable garden and taped two together for my desired height)
  • Tie a string around the base of the head to make neck.
  • Take your black sharpie and draw your faces on your ghost.
  • Now take your ghost to your desired location in your yard.
  • Place ghost in desired position.
  • Cut a 3″ strip on each side of your ghost for their arms.
  • Now tie their arms together to make them looks as if they are dancing.
  • Now you’re ready to build your bonfire from the sticks you collected.
  • Place your candy corn lights throughout the stick pile for a bonfire look.
  • I used a small hook from my garden with a green colored solar light to add to the look of my bonfire.

 

I cut strips on one of my ghost all the way around as suggested in the tutorial I read but I did not like this look so I did not do it to all the ghost. When the wind blew these ghost were amazing.

After Halloween I placed ghost together in my storage area for this year. They were a little weathered but that was okay. The weathered look gave them a great spooky look. Will do another blog on how I reused these ghost this year.

 

Here is my daughter’s sick pumpkin. I thought I was going to die when I saw this. My only thoughts were who was going to clean that up after Halloween, and would it attract bugs. Fortunately, there was no bugs and the cleanup was fast and easy.

Simple Halloween Party Idea’s

18 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by in Holidays, Party Ideas

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Last year my parents brought my nephews over for trick or treating in my neighborhood.

Of course everyone needs to eat before trick or treating so I prepared a few simple dishes: crab stuffed mushrooms, meatballs with Aunties secret sauce, mummy dogs, and hot dogs.

For the mummy dogs I wrapped unbaked crescent rolls around half of the plain hot dogs as I have seen done on Pinterest. While wrapping I left just enough room for the eyes. Everything needed for the hot dogs cheese, onions, and slaw fit right on the platter. Chili stayed warm on the stove top so everything was in one area for easier and faster plating.

The mushrooms are made from my mushroom recipe blog. Enjoy!

Auntie’s meatballs and secret sauce recipe coming soon.

Baby Girl Gift Idea, Newborn Photo Prop

26 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by in Halloween Costumes, Sewing, Tutus

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Need a baby shower gift for a friend or loved one?
Why not give the expectant mother something she will never forget.
Just imagine babies first pictures in her first tutu.
Baby’s first tutu is a great gift for any expecting mother.
Available in any color or colors of your choice.

Stuffed Mushroom Recipe

25 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by in Recipes

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Through the years I have tried numerous stuffed mushroom recipes. After trying so many I have learned what I like the most in my stuffed mushrooms.

What you will need

  • 2 tbsp mayo
  • 2 tbsp cream cheese
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 tsp of hot sauce (your choice)
  • 1/4 tsp minced garlic (I love garlic)
  • 1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
  • 18 large mushrooms
  • 1 shallot onion, finely chopped
  • Fresh or dried parsley
  • Old Bay seasoning (yes even without crab)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Clean your mushrooms and remove the stems.
Finely chop your shallot onion.
Add all ingredients in to a small bowl and mix together.
Stuff your mushrooms.
Bake for 20 minutes, sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Variations
  • Add fresh crab for crab stuffed mushrooms.
  • Add finely chopped peppers or garlic.

Here is a wonderful recipe I found on Pinterest. I tried several and this was by far the best but I did not like the peppers in it. As you can see I changed the ingredients to my taste. My Songs of Joy…Family Food & Wine.

Halloween Tree Decorating

13 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by in Decorating, Halloween, Tutorials

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Normally I do not put up a tree for Halloween but this year as I was making my wreath and door hanger I started thinking of adding a matching tree to the front porch.

The colors I wanted in my door hanger and wreath/ witches broom were purple and orange. From there the wheels in my head began to spin with ideas for decorating a tree.

Supplies

  • Tree
  • Lights
  • Mesh Curly-Q’s
  • Decorations
Fist, add lights of your choice to the tree. I prefer purple lights on my Halloween tree but have seen many different types of Halloween lights. I am sure the candy corn lights would look amazing on a tree. Second, attach the mesh curly-Q’s throughout the tree. If you do not know how to roll mesh into curly-Q’s check out my How to Roll Mesh Blog. Finally, the fun part, decorating.

 

The tree topper is one of my favorite things about any tree. I originally was going to use a witch hat as the topper until I found this owl at Michael’s Craft Store. They add a little color around the owl and mesh I choose a few different colors and style of sprays.

I had no idea what I was going to put on the tree except for the felt witch hats I had added to my door hanger and witches broom. One of the first places I always look for decorations is the Dollar Store. I usually do not find actual tree decorations there but instead I find knickknacks that I turn into tree decorations. I found the cutest shelf sitters: pumpkin, mummy, and skeleton at the Dollar Store. I used my floral wire and wrapped it around their necks to get them to sit on the tree limbs. Another great find at the Dollar Store was the black birds and the fuzzy black owls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Michael’s Craft store I found the most amazing witches to hang on my tree. I have to say the witches are my favorite part of my Halloween tree.

Once I finished decorating I realized I needed a tree skirt to complete my tree. So I made a reversible tree skirt that I would be able to use on other holiday trees I do throughout the year.

 Happy Halloween! Be sure to check out my other holiday decorating ideas while your here.

How to Roll Mesh

10 Tuesday Sep 2013

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One of my favorite ways to decorate my holiday trees and wreaths is by rolling my mesh into curly-Q’s.

 

STEP ONE – GATHER SUPPLIES
  • Scissors
  • Ruler
  • Pipe cleaner or floral wire
    • If using pipe cleaner cut each pipe in half. If using floral wire cut wire pieces approximately 4″ – 5″ long
    • I have used both pipe cleaner and floral wire and I like them both. Cost wise floral wire is cheaper and last longer.
  • 10′ rolls of mesh in your desired color or colors
  • Tree or wreath
    • (The only store in my area that sales the mesh is AC Moore Arts & Crafts. Regular price is $9.99 a roll so I wait for it to go on sale for under $5.00 or I use a 40% off coupon.)
  • Be sure to add lights to your tree before adding curly-Q’s.
STEP TWO – CUT
Start by unrolling your mesh on a flat surface. Unroll a small amount of mesh at a time as the mesh will want to roll back up. Sometimes I lay something heavy on top of the mesh to keep it from rolling while I cut.
I cut my mesh in to 6″ strips.  This is not something you have to measure out with every cut. Just eye ball it and cut away. Since you are rolling these after cutting precise measurements is not necessary.
STEP THREE – ROLL AND ATTACH
After cutting your desired amount of strips you will want to begin rolling each strip from the center (cut side) attach two curly-Q’s together with one piece of pipe cleaner or floral wire.
    Smooth ends- roll evenly          Pointed ends- roll at an angle

STEP FOUR – PLACE IN TREE

Once you have made your desired amount of curly-Q’s, begin sticking them in your tree. You can stick them in your tree or use the wire you wrapped around the two curly-Q’s to attach to the tree branches. If curly-Q’s are stuck into the tree far enough they will not fall out.

Once you have attached or placed all your curly-Q’s to your tree you are ready to decorate.
For the tree pictured I used both pointed and rounded curly-Q’s.
If using your curly-Q’s on a wreath such as a grape vine wreath, you can us the wire to attach curly-Q’s to the wreath just as you would do on your tree.
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