Darbarella

My labor of love.

2014-04-08T16:40:00.001-04:00

As you all know, I love the library. I love crafting with book pages and really anything that has been previously used and discarded. I received an email asking if I could help with a project for The Sharing Tree, a local, re-use , recycle store in town dedicated to help teachers and crafters. I find so much treasure there.

Carly, the owner, was invited to do an installation at our local Whole Foods. She sent her design board and asked for volunteers. I saw what she wanted and signed up. I went by her store and grabbed some old sewing patterns. I then went home and started making paper flowers out of said sewing patterns.

Isn't it gorgeous? It requires scissors or a scallop punch. And a brass fastener. I found mine at office depot. You just cut out a few layers ( I think I used 5) then crumple them up and then thread them onto the fastener.

Then I made more flowers.

I needed to figure out a way to attach them to something. I attempted to string them from an embroidery hoop. That was a nightmare. I sat and stared around the living room until I fixated on a large chinese lantern hanging in the corner. BINGO.

I got out the old hot glue gun and went to town. Then about halfway through. I realized I had to make MORE FLOWERS. I switched it up with a few book pages that had pictures on it to resemble blooms. I finished and realized it still needed something. So, I went back and grabbed another sewing pattern and made a pom pom out of it and hung it with bakers twine.

I love it so much. It looks beautiful with the rest of the installation and Whole Foods may have a influx of customers that I told to just go look!

I found a small lantern, solar powered, that I am going to attempt next. I will post as soon as I feel the need to make another flower.

THE PAINTED COUCH

2013-09-03T13:15:00.003-04:00

A few years ago I bought a 2 piece love seat for our back porch. I paid 6 dollars for the set. It was a bargain considering I didn't care what happened to them. They were already a bit dirty. Add Florida weather and dogs and you have what will more than likely end up in a burn pile. And that is almost what happened Saturday. Almost.

I just loved the style of them and the fact they can be a couch, a chaise or 2 chairs made me hold off the burning. I did a little research on pinterest. I read several tutorials and felt confident I had the perfect practice furniture. I had left over paint from the hallway which my boyfriend affectionately calls "tidy bowl" blue. I ran up to Joann's and used my coupon(s)to pick up some fabric medium and I was off to painting.....the couch.
The link I followed was found here. You use indoor house paint mixed with fabric medium. It is that easy.

The pre-loved, dirty, couch piece.

During the process pictures.

I was concerned I would run out of the blue so I switched to lime green for the cushions. It took a while to dry since it was raining off and on all weekend and the HUMIDITY! But here is what the final product looked like in the end. A million bucks, a happy owner and a feeling of accomplishment.

Darbarella: Up-cycled book crafts.

2013-07-25T14:55:00.001-04:00

Darbarella: Up-cycled book crafts.

Sunday and Some Spray Paint

2013-04-29T14:28:00.001-04:00

I had a few pinterest projects that I wanted to do this weekend. Not labor intensive, mind you, just a couple lazy day projects that gave me a sense of accomplishment.

This is what I did:

PROJECT 1) I have a hard time throwing out jars with lids. I had a small collection of spaghetti sauce jars so I decided to transform them. I found this idea , here. Well, this may not have been the exact site but this is what I did. I took a few cast off toys and some soon to be trash and now I have awesome containers to hold my coffee stuff!

PROJECT 2) The office next door is closing down and they threw out a bunch of stuff, including a couple of paintings. Not my style but that was going to be fixed. I chose the painting of the beach scene because it had a frame and it was smaller. I got some vinyl stickers and some white spray paint. I followed this tutorial here. I wasn't sure what I was going to put on it and ended up having to use three different size stickers. My boyfriend helped with the placement and suggestions when I realized I ran out of the letter size I wanted. He also spray painted it for me because I was afraid I would muck it up. I love it. He wants to do one now, too!

Birthday Journey

2013-04-01T13:34:00.000-04:00

I had a birthday party to attend on Sunday. I also know the girl loves crafts. This is my idea. I love the final product and I didn't break the bank. Hell, I didn't even touch the bank.

This is what I did. I went to our local craft recycle store, The Sharing Tree, and picked up piece of foam board for 75 cents. I then found a Chamber of Commerce Map of Tallahassee (free) and ironed out the creases. I put the map on the ironing board, topped it with a dish towel and on the lowest setting ironed out as many creases as I could.

I then mounted the map onto the foam board with spray adhesive. I had framed the precious quote for my boyfriend a while back. I just hand wrote it on the foam board. If I didn't have time restraints I would have done it on the computer. I then attached push pins into the foam board and asked the party guests to mark on the map where they met the birthday girl and then also sign their name. In our case a lot of us met her at the same restaurant so we just all signed around the one push pin.

Again. I loved it. And I am certain I will make this again.

Pasta, from Scratch

2013-03-18T10:46:00.000-04:00

We are paying bills. Paying off loans. In other words, we are broke. However,silver lining, this is when I feel I am the most creative and resourceful. I wish I could remember to do these things when we had money in our account. It would save us more money.

I have made pasta from scratch before but with the help of a pasta machine. I still have the machine but I wanted a challenge( and less dishes). I guess next time I will look for something harder because THIS WAS EASY.

I used The Pioneer Woman's Blog for instructions, which there weren't that many. Our family consists of 2 so I used 1.5 cups flour and 3 eggs for 3 servings . I didn't want to come up short since I wasn't making more.

I didn't take process pictures, my hands were covered in dough.

I followed instructions from the blog and it all came together quite nicely. I rolled it as thin as I could get and just used a pizza slicer to cut it. I didn't do it exact and I loved the homemade look of it all.

Every so often my boyfriend's clients will give him tips in the form of food. We have gotten deer sausage,local honey and other baked goodies. This week he brought home halibut that his clients caught in Alaska.

I butterfly cut the halibut steak and popped it in a baking dish I had sprayed with Pam. I sprayed some more Pam on top and sprinkled with dill. Oven on 400. 10 minutes. I cooked the pasta. IT TAKES 2 MINUTES. 2 MINUTES. I am not used to cooking fresh pasta so I think I cooked it a minute too long. Still, delicious. I had some alfredo sauce from a jar (don't judge) in the fridge. I poured a smidge on the pasta then topped with the baked halibut. Fin.

I was proud of myself and no one was the wiser that this gourmet meal would have never happened if we didn't have 2 dimes to rub together.

Thrift Find and Chicken Pot Pie

2013-03-10T16:29:00.001-04:00

I went thrifting yesterday and found these precious individual casserole dishes. They are not Pyrex however, they mingle right in with my small,real deal collection.
I cleaned them up and had to use them. I used them today for lunch to make Lazy Woman's Pot Pie. It requires little effort. It can be adapted to things you may have on hand. Its cheap. Its good to have on a crisp, spring day.
Lazy Woman's Pot Pie
Use store bought pie crust if you want a top and a bottom. For my little ones made in picture, I had canned biscuits so I used that.
In a bowl I mixed 1 can cream of chicken ( I would have used cream of anything, really. Mushroom, celery, broccoli, potato,etc.)
To that I added 1 larger can of chicken.
Mix. Add seasonings. I added oregano, salt, pepper, thyme. Spoon into pie dish.
Top with pie crust or biscuits. I patted 2 biscuits together to make minis.
Bake according to directions on packaging of crust or biscuits.
Enjoy!
*had to put biscuits back in oven for 10 minutes longer. The bottoms were raw. Maybe, next time I will cut into quarters and put on top.

Upcycled Paper Bows and Sailboats

2013-03-03T15:21:00.001-05:00

Green Arts Fest is coming up March 30th at Railroad Square in Tallahassee,FL. It is organized and run by an amazing lady named, Carly. She is the owner of the non profit store ,The Sharing Tree, also located at Railroad Square.
I needed a springy project. I started making these today. I will be participating at The Fest and a portion of my sales will go to The Friends of the Library, so come buy stuff.
I found this wonderful tutorial, here. I have been enjoying all the possibilities and I hope you do too!
Hit up The Friends of the Library Store located in the main branch library for resources, if you need some one of a kind bows.

March 5, 2013

I worked on these last night, Origami sailboats. I used this tutorial.

And this was the result;)

Breakfast Wreath

2013-02-23T11:06:00.001-05:00

I needed a project on a rainy day. I perused pinterest and then came up with this. I adjusted recipe to use what I had on hand.
Ingredients:
1 Crescent Roll Tube
6 eggs
Cheese, umm about 1.5 cups,shredded ( I used cheddar and jack)
Sandwich Ham, right out of package, diced.
salt/pepper
Directions:
Lay out crescent rolls in star shape. (refer to picture)
Scramble eggs, then distribute onto star. Salt, pepper it. Then sprinkle the cheese and ham. (or bacon or sausage or ALL:))
Wrap points around to meet in the middle.
Bake according to directions on crescent roll package.
Enjoy.
Yes, its that easy.
* next time I am drizzling hollandaise over it.

They are turning ONE!!!!

2013-02-07T13:35:00.002-05:00

We are bad parents and ended up with a litter of six boxer/pit bull puppies last year. They started to arrive in the wee morning hours of February 16. It was a lot of work , laundry, etc. We found amazing homes for four of them. I am sure I did not mean to keep two puppies in additon to the parents we already owned, but it happened. I am also not so sure if I "kept" them or if I just stopped trying to find them homes. Either way, we still have them and they will be one soon and I love them, dearly. We never even re-named them. We kept the handles that we gave them for the vet. My boyfriend gives dogs greek god names, thus the parents are Aries and Eris. So, how we ended up with Pan and Lil Girl is kind of funny to me.

So that's how we ended up with five dogs. Oh, wait, yea I forgot to tell you, I also have a miniature, australian shepherd who affectionately gets called Ole-Round Tooth Bail , Granny or just Bailey. She is camera shy or maybe she just hides under chairs from 70 lb+ dogs.

Aries, aka Daddy Fatz or Fat Boy

Eris, their momma, at our first vet visit. All moms recognize that look of defeat.

The Pan Man and Lil Girl then ( The only girl in the litter of 6 and the smallest) then and now.

All the puppies, last year. From top left to bottom right: Saddlebags now, Maxus. Fozzy now, Leroy. Pan. Fat Boy now, Buster. Lil' Girl. Amos now Otis Amos Thomas or OAT and fittingly so. He weighs 97 lbs according to his owner. And last but not least,The Momma, Eris aka Bo Bear.

Aries is a fan of mommas home made peanut butter treats.

Dog Treat Recipe HERE

Up-cycled book crafts.

2013-02-07T11:36:00.001-05:00

I love the Library! I love the Friends of the Library Store too! It is a little store tucked in the corner of our main branch library where you can buy maps, records, books and other trinkets for a song or a verse;-) We are working on updating our web site but you are welcome to check it out, The Friends of the Library.

Since joining The Board of Directors, I am in the position to go into the basement and cherry pick books to make projects that I then donate to the store for Helga to sell.( Helga is the woman that makes things happen in that store. She is AMAZING!) I also, on occasion, do some craft fairs and donate a portion of my sales to The Friends. Its a good gig!

These are a few of the things I make out of pre-loved books. I understand that some people have a problem destroying books however it takes the guilt away if the library says its o.k. We are crafting people, not burning.

recycled paper. using book pages, old bills and whatever was laying around.

My booth at Railroad Square.

book purse

book purse.

book page magnets

book page ornaments. JOY cut out from cereal box. And christmas trees.

gift tags using recycled card board and book pages.

I love the accordian ornaments. They make a beautiful, unique garland.

book page owl made out of toilet paper roll.

Book page owl in a book page flower wreath!

Ain't 40 Sweet?

2013-02-06T13:12:00.002-05:00

Ain't 40 Sweet?

My best friend since the 8th grade is turning 40 this week. My girl LOVES salted caramel, well , salted anything really. I wanted to do something special without breaking the bank. I found this recipe on pinterest, salted caramel sauce, and decided to make it. I was originally going to use small jelly jars until I remembered I had some of these old, brown, unused medicine bottles I had bought several years ago.

I started by making the labels by just printing them on avery business cards.I tried to incorporate the theme with the medicine bottle through wording. I then used my handy,dandy grommet tool to add some sturdy embellishments. I happen to own a lot of different color bakers twine so I did every bottle in a different color twine. I then printed out the ingredients on avery return address labels. I loved how they turned out.

Right after I added the heavy whipping cream.

It settled into the most beautiful caramel color. Go figure.

The "fun"nel part. In hind sight I should have waited to put the labels on.

Love all the twine!

The ingedients. No, its not really fountain of youth water.

Textured sensory bags

2013-02-03T11:38:00.001-05:00

My friends son turned 1 this last week and I had no clue what to get him. I searched the web looking for ideas and came up with this, textured sensory bags.

I used different textured fabric: denim, taffeta, chenille, polished cotton,felt and embroidered cotton. I used scrap fabric and clothes that were in the donate pile. I didn't really measure much, just cut squares and sewed them together, stuffed with soft filling (from pillow I no longer used). I love how they turned out. The birthday boy seemed to enjoy them, too!

Glade Expressions.

2012-10-08T11:35:00.000-04:00

I am a Bzz Agent. What is that you ask? It is an online program that allows me to take surveys and try out new products then give my HONEST opinion.

I was recently chosen to participate in the Glade Expressions campaign. With 5 dogs at home, 4 of those around 70 lbs. you can imagine my delight when I was picked for anything dealing with making my house smell better.

I was a little hesitant of the new scents. Mandarin and Italian Cotton? Mangosteen? What the hell are those scents? I will tell you what they are, they are AMAZING. My boyfriend who never seems to have an opinion on the goings on of smells in the house, even stopped to ask what scent I sprayed after spraying Mangosteen. He liked it. And that is when I realized we had a winner.

We now have one in every room that has odors. And like I mentioned before, with 5 dogs, that is every room we walk into.

Brinner!

2012-06-13T22:40:00.001-04:00

My wonderful Mother brought me a surprise today at work. An awesome circus shapes waffle maker! It makes a lion, an elephant, and a clown. Of course, I immediately wanted breakfast for dinner. Brinner. This is what happened. Enjoy!
Drunken Circus Waffles
2 cups Bisquick Smart
1.5 cup fat free milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla )
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons bourbon
Stir until mixed well.
Spray waffle maker with butter Pam.

Follow directions according to your waffle maker, even if it isn't circus animals.

I added cherry hats for the clowns. A few peanuts for the elephants. Turkey sausage for the lions. And grape balloons:-)

Going Bananas!

2012-06-11T17:11:00.000-04:00

I have seen this idea trending on Pinterest and just had to try it. Apparently, if you slice and freeze bananas then run them in your food processor, it turns into an ice cream like substance. Skeptical? Me ,too.

I went and got 2 ripe bananas (didn't want to freeze too much on the off chance I wouldn't like it) sliced them and threw them in freezer.

Two hours later I put them in the food processor and 3 minutes later I had banana ice cream. I'll be damned if it wasn't delicious and sweet and yummy. I added a dollop of cool whip free and a bit of chocolate syrup. I will make this again. I might even add a cherry on top. Fun summer treat and an alternative to throwing the bananas out. Enjoy!
*this made 2 servings.

Homemade laundry detergent powder

2012-06-10T15:25:00.000-04:00

When its a rainy Sunday and I don't want to leave the house (or take off pajamas) I tend to catch up on projects that I have been meaning to do. Today was laundry. I have had the ingredients to make my own laundry detergent for weeks. And I finally did it. I scoured (pun intended) lots of websites to find one that didn't require boiling or adding water. I found all the ingredients at local Publix Supermarket. It took 5 minutes.

What you need:
1 bar ivory soap
1 Cup Borax
1 Cup Washing Soda
Grate the soap add the borax and soda. Stir for 5 minutes. Done.
It requires 1 tablespoon per load, more if a heavier load.
I packaged one up to take as a hostess gift this afternoon. Love.
* this is safe for all washing machines. it is low suds. remember suds do not equal clean.

On my way

2012-06-10T14:07:00.000-04:00

I recently saw a picture of myself that triggered a diet, I mean lifestyle change. Don't want to throw the "d" word around. It has bad connotations. I will be re-inventing recipes that I used to love on top of continuing to craft. I will *vow* to myself to post them when I can.
It's all trial and error right now. I love food and I like it to taste like food. I made these this afternoon and was very pleased with the result.
Used: egg roll wrappers, 2 left over baked chicken strips, diced. Tabasco buffalo sauce, broccoli slaw and 1 low fat mozzarella stick.

I put 1 tablespoon of broccoli slaw in each wrapper. 3 wrappers equal one serving. Divided chicken and cheese , added a few drops of the tabasco buffalo sauce (NO BUTTER!). Wrapped it up according to directions, sprayed with pam and baked on 400 for about 15 minutes. Best estimate 470 calories for all 3 rolls. Very filling and didn't feel bad for polishing the plate.

Spring Fever!

2011-02-21T18:19:00.000-05:00

The weather was beautiful and it was 80 degrees so this, by law, means I have to get outside and mess around in dirt. I am going to post a few of the projects we have going right now. Anything I do is never finished. I always end up tweeking and tweeking. But so far..this had happened in the last 2 days:) Enjoy. I had a blast!


St. Patrick's Day Tablescape


A few little flowers to brighten the front steps


A coupla cans of spray paint and some cute boats I found at the thrift store.


Valspar makes paint for plastic, no primer! LOVE!

Ketchup cans I have been saving. I am thinking after I have a lot, I will hang them from fence.


My favorite "spot" in the house.

Jon fenced in the back yard and the babies love it. Take a look at that HUGE Camellia!

2011-02-21T09:25:00.000-05:00

Pies in a jar? You can freeze them and have one when ever you want!

Such a cute idea. go here and see the cuteness.

16 Candles Valentine Treats

2011-02-13T11:50:00.011-05:00

Our local AMC was showing 16 Candles on Sunday. My best friend Celine, Tracy, and Pat McDonnell (who had NEVER seen it before!!!!!) Don, Winston and Cora decided we would take this opportunity to see it on the BIG SCREEN! Again. Paying 2011 prices for a movie made in 1984. We are brilliant.

I was fooling around on avery.com looking at templates for gift tags to print on business cards and came across this movie ticket template. This got my mind going. It was 8am and quiet and 2 cups of coffee:) I downloaded for free, the pattern ,then adjusted accordingly. I just looked up movie quotes from 16 candles and went from there. Next, I knew that REDBOX was giving away free codes for Valentine's Day. I looked up the code and voila! Then, I decided there was no way I could stop. Nope, next thing you know, I was at Walgreen's picking up microwave popcorn and movie candy. mmmm, sno-caps, my favorite. I, for some unkown reason, happened to have heart shape bath fizzies in the craft room. Along with red and pink ribbon. They started out in brown paper bags until I realized I may need more than 6.

I went on youtube and looked up 'how to make a paper bag' until I found a design I liked. Then I went looking for scrapbook paper and found one of my boyfriends old pin-up calendars. Score! Made bags then stuffed them and this is how it looked!
(some of the pictures you will notice were taken when I still thought brown bags were going to do the trick;))

xxooxoo

Calendar and Pin-Up Treat Bags


Each bag had a different quote.

I made a different card for the code.

The Goodies


So wrong. And funny.

This always reminds me of Celine, my best friend of 24 YEARS!


I love this idea and the pin-ups worked like a charm.


Winston, Don, Celine, Cora and Pat holding up our complimentary posters! Thanks AMC.

Learning to Love Your Mailbox

2011-01-28T16:47:00.000-05:00

My friend/teacher/rollergirl Lynn Talley told me about this site. It's called postcrossing and it is fabulous.

This is how it works. You go to the above link. You register (free). You request an address . You go buy a postcard or make one from your town. You mail said postcard to addresses that you have recieved randomly from ALL OVER THE WORLD. Put your ID on it, write a little note and MAIL IT! That's right, in the MAILBOX. It's that thing at the end of your driveway that usually has letters from people who you owe money. It's OK to be scared or mad at your mailbox but don't take it out on the mailbox, please. Use it to make your day better not worse when you get home. So, here is where it gets better! When your postcard is recieved, that person will register your ID number which in turn puts you on the random list that kicks out addresses to everyone else ALL OVER THE WORLD.

Now, the best part......when you get home one day and go check your mailbox you get excited and smile because in there, is something to brighten your day! I highly recommend this for moms who have children that are learning penmenship (do they even teach that anymore??) or just how to write a letter in general. It only takes about 3 sentences to fill a postcard! Perfect. Plus, it is not like a pen-pal situation, you only write once. You can request the person again if you wish. When you register recieved postcards it will map it out for you to give you a visual of how far it traveled to you. It's super cool.

When I registered and filled out my profile I asked people to share a favorite recipe. I have gotten a few so far. I also now know that amazon.com sells gelatin leaves..

Finland (today)


Netherlands


Estonia

HAVE FUN!

P.S. This is also perfect if you know a stamp collector.

The incredible, edible and malleable EGG!

2011-01-27T10:15:00.000-05:00

Let me introduce you to egg molds. That's right, I said egg molds. I learned that eggs are malleable when they are hot, its science.I was lost in blog world when I came upon these. I don't have kids and this made me want to start packing a lunch or throw a tea party or bridal shower or any reason . For the life of me I can't decide why on earth I would need to make these. But I want to and I am going to. I really browsed this site for an hour ooohing and awwing...check it out here!

By the way I had no idea that a bento meant lunchbox! Don't judge me.