All That Jazz ( and glitter)

Hello friends,

I've been really feeling the holiday spirit and with all that love comes my use of GLITTER! I have been using a lot of glitter, metallic paint and shiny ribbon for my projects and to jazz up my paper bag gift wrap.


These are a few of my inspirations for holiday decor, wrapping and  things that shine:

Both images were found on Pinterest. I'm kind of addicted to that site!

http://inkkitup.blogspot.com/

Here are a few things I did to make my things sparkle:

Tape off your jars. Apply spray on adhesive ( found at any craft store). Apply glitter. SO easy!

Recyled wrapping paper found at TJmaxx for $3.99 and glitter ribbon found on clearance at TJmaxx for $5 for a pack of 12!

Any way you "dress-up" your holiday, be sure to add a little sparkle! It makes everything feel festive and puts that little extra touch of love on basic things.


Happy Holidays!


xo,

Christina

Happy Saturday, everyone!

This past week has been nothing but projects, projects, projects! But not the fun crafty ones that you see on CTGG. Instead it's been papers, presentations and studying for this grad student. Fortunately, I was able to squeeze in a craft session to release some stress... phew!

This holiday project is so simple and fun. I've seen all those beautiful cone trees in all the stores but man are they expensive! Almost $15 for a 1-2 foot tree made up of a plastic base, feathers or some other kind of fabric. I saw them and thought I could make some of my own just much less.

Materials needed:

• Tree Base: Different Options Include

Card stock
Cereal box ( use one you have - free!)
Paint swatches ( Free! Home depot or other paint supply stores)

• Hot glue
• scissors
• Things to decorate your tree ( yarn, wire, feathers, ribbon) 

First, cut your cone base material to the size you want. I like the look of multiple sizes placed together so I used the paint swatches that were 5inches by 5inchs for the small, card stock that was 8 inches by 8 inches for a medium size. Then I cut my cereal box down to 12 inches by 12 inches for the largest tree.

Next, fold into a cone and make sure your glue gun is nice and hot. Put a significant amount of glue on the inner side of the cone and fold together to adhere. You can clip the top of the tree with a clothes pin or chip clip until the glue has completely dried.


** I found that the thicker materials like the cereal box needed a little more glue on the inside of the cone and had to be secured with a pin at the top until dry ( only a couple minutes since hot glue dried very fast). The clip just makes it easier to hold while you are gluing.

Cones. Wrapped and Glued.

• Next, begin to decorate! I used mostly yarn to decorate because  I wanted the opposition of a warm, cozy material with my metallic frame I planned the place them with on my shelf. I also covered the small trees with washi tape ( Japanese paper tape) and used some ribbon as "garland" in  a medium sized tree.

I started with a little glue at the top and began to wrap the yarn around the cone. I placed more glue every 5 or so strands throughout for extra hold.

If you are using feathers or other materials just glue each piece onto the cone vertically and layer as you go. Fill in spots as needed or use glitter to add some sparkle!

Small tree

Large tree

They look so pretty wrapped in lights.

Finished trees in my display.

Happy Crafting!

XO

Hi all,

Thanksgiving is 2 days away! I always look forward to holidays at home. My aunt usually hosts the holidays and we have such a fun time with delicious food and drinks ( and more drinks). Being a big, italian family we always have a lot of laughs and loud conversations. I wouldn't have it any other way!

For this post, I wanted to re-create something I saw on the AMAZING site of etsy. I'm sure many of you have seen these cute paper straws at different places online. Not only are they adorable but also biodegradable. I came across birch print straws with craft paper wrapped around them but they were $10 for only 10. I thought I could make them easily so I ordered from a wonderful etsy shop ONEaugust and got way more straws for much less than previously stated.

I already had craft paper from a previous project but you can get this stuff cheap at any craft store or online (amazon, etsy etc.) You can also use other paper or whatever you have at home.

Materials:

• Scissors
• Hot glue or another sticky adhesive
• 10 or more paper straws
• alphabet stamps
• ink
• paper

Materials

Craft paper strips folded and cut with two points

Gobble, gobble!

DIY Sharpie Design Mugs

Hi all,

I've been seeing these sharpie on ceramic projects a lot on the web. Cool, handmade designs done with sharpies. Sharpies are something everyone usually has in their home. With dollar store mugs or plates, you can make a unique gift or piece of decor! I was inspired by some recent Target designs and my love of rustic arrows. Here is my take on sharpie design:

Dollar Store Mugs. Basic white.

 No prep needed. Just start with any mug or ceramic base and a permanent Sharpie marker of your choice.

After decorating your piece, set your oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. After that you will have permanently decorated items.

 They are great as personalized gifts or to enjoy yourself. You'll be making a less expensive version of some store favorites!

My finished pieces (L to R "Assorted Arrows", "C", "strung lights" and "J")

Happy Crafting!


xo- Christina

Holiday Tea Lights

With loads of tea lights left over from random events I found myself wanting to do something with them. I also recently bought the cutest washi tape for this holiday season (etsy.com/prettytape) I noticed one day as I was organizing my craft things that the size of the washi tape fits perfectly over the tea lights. So here is my idea of reusing the tea lights for an addition to my holiday decor!

Washi tape can be purchased on amazon, etsy and some craft stores. It usually ranges from $3-$6 a roll and many etsy shops sell them in packs.

                                  Simply wrap the tape around each tea light. Easy as 1,2,3!

These can be made for all different occasions. There is washi tape for thanksgiving, every season and all holidays! Have fun with it and use it for other projects as well. See link for other ideas for washi tape http://www.cutetape.com/creative/creations/

Happy Crafting!

xo- Christina

Engagement photos

Last weekend we had the pleasure of working with Adam + Amy Photography. They shot our engagement photos at the beautiful Ashlawn Farm in Lyme, CT. The day was so much fun thanks to Adam and Amy's laid back and fun photography style. They are so talented and such an awesome couple! We are thoroughly looking forward to having them shoot our wedding next September. Here are a few sneak peek's from our October engagement shoot.

Glass Bottle Decor

Hi CTGG followers!

I've recently been inspired by the things I've seen people doing with glass bottles. I feel like I should be doing something better with all the beer and wine we drink at our home, besides recycle the empty bottles.

I've been saving a few pellegrino bottles in my closet for the hopes that a fun project would come up. For those of you that may not know, pellegrino is a sparkling mineral water and the bottles are about the size of a wine bottle.

I came across the "wine bottle message" project on pinterest. Since I had no wine bottles around I thought  the pellegrino bottles would be perfect! This project is so simple but looks classic and can be changed with your mood or decor scheme.

All you need for this project is:

- Chalkboard spray in black
- wine or larger glass bottles
- warm water
- newspaper or cardboard to spray the bottles on
-Chalk or chalk markers

Most glass bottles that were previously filled with a beverage have some sort of paper logo on them. It is adhered with a sticky , annoying substance that often is hard to peel off. Soak the bottles in warm water for a few minutes. The paper logo will peel right off using a sponge or towel.

Once this is done you should have something that looks like this :

Once the bottle is dry and clean, apply your first layer on chalkboard spray. Spray according to the can directions be ensure no running or smudging.

After two layers, my bottles looked like this:

You may have to spray a little more to be sure there is no green showing. Allow this to dry at least an hour before decorating. Also be sure to spray this outside or in a place where there is plenty of ventilation.

Once everything is dry , you are ready to decorate! I decided to go for a simple message that works all year round. You can do more bottles to create holiday sayings or words like "JOY", "NOEL", "THANKS" etc. Feel free to but flowers, wheat, leaves, pussy willows or other fun things to give your bottles a rustic feel or to match your holiday theme!

Don't forget, earth day is coming up on April 22nd! So, save your bottles and create something fun too!

Have a wonderful day!

Healthy Snacks: Part 2

This next installment of Healthy Snacks is one of my favorites : French Toast ! I think that this wonderful meal can be enjoyed morning, noon or night. Even as a healthy snack ( eating a smaller portion). The classic way to make it is egg and maybe a little cinnamon... not so bad! The toppings are usually the calorie killer. A lot of sugar mixed with some unhealthy fats can make for a healthy treat gone bad. 

Don't get me wrong, a little indulgence here and there never hurt anyone. I just like to think of ways to incorporate indulgence without the extra lbs. :-)

This is my spin on the beloved anytime meal to make it a little more healthy.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 slices of 100% whole wheat bread
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen mixed berries
• 2 tbsp of honey or agave

Serves 1 person. 

Heat pan to medium, mix eggs and cinnamon well. Dip the bread in the egg batter and let cook fully or until golden brown. Once the bread is cooked , allow it to slightly cool just so it is warm. Now it's time for the healthy toppings! Add the Greek yogurt to one warm piece of bread ( not hot or else it will melt too fast). This gives the effect of heavy whipped cream. You get that creamy texture without all the calories. 

Next add the honey or agave. This sweetens up the tart yogurt and blends nicely with all the other toppings. Once those ingredients are added you can do one of two things with the berries. 

A. Puree berries with 1/2 teaspoon of honey or lemon juice and serve as a "syrup"

B. Add whole berries on top of yogurt and honey

Once all the toppings are added, place the final piece of french toast on top and garnish with the remainder of the berry syrup or honey.

I promise, if you love classic french toast with fruit you won't be disappointed! Variations of this are welcomed! Try any other fruits or even a fat free cream cheese as your topping.

Enjoy!

- Christina

Use What You Have

Use what you've got, save money.

We've all heard it all before. By reusing things in your home you can eliminate clutter, find new uses for old things and save some money in places you didn't expect. This post shows some of the things I've re-worked and re-used!

1. paper bags

Bags from grocery stores and shops make surprisingly fun gift wrap. Use pretty markers ( I used metallic ones) to add personal touches to the wrap.

• In being green , it's always smarter to use your re-usable bags at stores. But, if you do forget them ( and that's happened plenty to me) opt for paper over plastic and use it later on for this!

2. Old broken glass tiles & card stock

I had a lot of this around and was trying to think of what to use it for. Finally I came up with the idea of a fun frame for work. I hot glued the tiles to the 10x19 inch cardstock frame I made. It will frame my new chalkboard I painted on the wall!

** Instead of tiles you can use colored paper, beads, fabric or felt.

3. Toilet paper rolls

Toilet paper and paper towel rolls have a lot of craft functions.

-Shape them for stamps ( like i did in the heart tree pic)
-use as puppet or character bases
- modge podge paper or tissue paper onto them and construct a solid bottom for a faux flower vase

•The heart shape stamp is simple to make. Create your heart by pressing in the middle. Secure with string or tape. Dip in paint of choice and voila!


4. Chalkboard items

• Ok, so this isn't using what you've got exactly but with this one product you can transform a lot of what you've got!

I am totally in aw of chalkboard paint. The ability to take a not-so-nice houseware item and transform it for little money is priceless! I have painted everything from plastic utensil holders to the tops of side tables at work.

I think that the best pieces used with this paint are frames. Paint the glass with chalkboard paint and that's it. You've got a tangible platform for your thoughts, to-do list, meal plans etc. You can usually find this paint at any craft or home repair store. I just bought some for $3.99!

More uses coming soon!

Thanks for visiting,

Christina

   

Healthy Snacks: Part 1

Hi everyone!

Sorry I've been MIA from the blog world. I'll spare you the details but long story short my laptop was stolen out of my car. But no pity party wanted here, you live and you learn!

Lately I've been experimenting with a lot of fun recipes that are healthy and also taste good! Today's post I begin to share just two of my healthy snacks. Don't worry though, there are many more to come! 

If you're anything like me, you love a good snack. And if you're also anything like me, you know that snacks can include excess sugar and fat. I find myself often searching the internet for easy and yummy snack ideas. Although I've found many, I wanted something made from scratch. This is going to be first of many healthy snack posts with recipes from moi! 

For a sweet tooth, this recipe is a life saver. But this is also a great recipe for kids, adults and an altered version makes an amazing homemade baby applesauce ( one of my best friend's unborn baby was in mind for that one ). 

**This recipe does require a dehydrator. I bought one this past Christmas and it's been amazing! Homemade beef jerky, dried fruits, veggies and other tasty treats. For anyone that plans on making their own dried snacks regularly it is highly recommended. There are great deals on amazon, eBay and most home stores.

 

Homemade fruit leather

Ingredients for Applesauce/ fruit leather

• 4-6 apples of your choice ( I used gala)
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon 
• 2 teaspoons of honey
• lemon juice

These ingredients alone can make a delicious applesauce. For a baby food apple sauce use organic apples and puree in a blender or food processor.

For the fruit leather, refer back to all ingredients listed. Peel each apple and puree everything together. Spread evenly onto the fruit leather dehydrating sheet ( this comes with most dehydrators). 

It is usually best to do this in the afternoon because it takes about 12 hours to go from applesauce to fruit leather. This way, you can go to sleep and enjoy your fruit leather as an early afternoon snack the next day. 

Homemade Apple "Chips" 

• 4-6 apples of choice

• lemon juice ( if desired) 

Slice each apple through the core ( about half an inch thick) so each slice has a piece of the core in the middle. If you have an apple corer use this before hand. If not, just cut out each center before placing each slice in the dehydrator. 

You can cover each slice with lemon juice for a little tang. Most of the zip from the lemon juice disappears once dehydrated and leaves a sweet taste that compliments the natural apple flavor.

Allow the apple slices to dehydrate for 10-12 hours. Both the fruit leather ingredients and the apple slices can be dehydrated at the same time. This allows you to make one snack two different ways!

Check the apple chips after 10 hours and once they are light and airy they are ready to eat! Check the fruit leather after 10 hours also. Mine took about 12 hours but to be safe, always check it at 10 hours. 

Once they are done, enjoy! These both last for weeks if sealed in am air tight container or zip lock bag.

Check back soon for more CT Green Gal updates. Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment !

xo-

Christina