On a recent shopping trip to Anthropologie (if you know me at all I don’t have to explain that this is my heaven) there were wonderful place mats in the sale room for about $7. They incorporated beautiful tribal type patterns and awesome color that only Anthropologie can have. Obviously I had to have them, but I wasn’t exactly sure what to do with them. Then I realized that the place mat was double sided. BLING!! (that’s the sound of the light bulb over my head) I could make this into a pillow.

First things first I grabbed my handy dandy seam ripper and made a small opening on one side of the place mat. It doesn’t have to be very big, just enough for your hand to get through.

Then I grabbed one of the ugly pillows that I was constantly recovering and decided it was time for the stuffing to have a new life. Now get barbaric on that pillow and rip, tear, and grab all that stuffing out of that hideous pillow and fluff it up! Yay!!

Now place all that newly fluffed stuffing through the opening in your place mat. I like my pillows pretty fat so I put a lot of stuffing in there but this is personal preference so just stuff until you like the fullness of your pillow.

Next just grab a needle and thread and sew up the hole and viola! You have transformed a place mat into a pillow!

I love the color and pattern that this adds and the back is a different pattern then the front! So when I feel like having a girly living room I’ll show the flowers and when my husband is sick of it there is a wonderful blue pattern on the back.

I hope you have been inspired and can look at conventional things in a slightly different light. I love my Anthropologie place mat pillows

This is so easy and fun to make and it’s a great craft if you have kids. It would also be fun to do your favorite inspirational words or your kids names, and I’m sure you have everything you need laying around the house. So let’s get all our supplies together….

- Paper: I used an old school book for the paper that I knew wouldn’t be missed. If you don’t have an extra book laying around grab a magazine or newspaper, even construction paper will do but I like having the print on it.
- Scissors
- Colored pencils or markers
- Something round to trace for your letters (about 2″ diameter)
- Ribbon
- Hot glue gun

Step 1: use your something round to trace and cut out 1 circle for each letter. I needed 6 to spell put “spring”

Step 2: using whatever font you like, or make up your own, write out your letters.
Step 3: I wanted something “springy” to decorate my banner with and I chose butterflies but you could use whatever you want. I looked at a picture and traced half a butterfly on a folded piece of paper and cut out 5 of them.

Using your colored pencils or markers, color your butterflies pretty!

Step 4: hot glue your letters and butterflies to your ribbon and find a lovely place in your home to hang your banner. I like mine by the front door to greet me everyday and bring a smile to my face!

Have fun making your own banner!!

This is another recipe from the “7 Days of Dinners” that also had the sausage, pepper and onion pizza. I’ll list out their recipe and put my changes in parenthesis. Happy eating

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
One 14.5 ounce can chopped tomatoes
One 14.5 ounce can vegetable broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper
8 slices multiple grain bread
8 slices havarti cheese (my new favorite)

A few tips for “finely chopping”… One of my favorite tools in the kitchen is the chopper from Pampered Chef. Best Christmas presents ever, I’m sure I squealed when I opened it. (Thanks mom!) This is totally a life saver, finger saver, and time saver if your knife skills are as good as mine (code for not so good)

Another trick I learned from my mom is to wear swimming goggles while chopping onions to prevent crying. You will look like an absolutely ridiculous kitchen super hero but it works and when your family tastes this soup they will know you’re a super hero for sure!

Okay let’s get cooking!
In a medium pot, heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the carrot, cover and cook for 5 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and vegetable broth, bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes. Stir in the cream.

And here comes another favorite tool in my kitchen super hero tool chest… The immersion blender!! I use it for everything from batters to creamy mashed potatoes to soups. It’s so much easier than transferring the soup to a regular stand blender then back into your pot etc… Yuck! But please be careful if you are using a nonstick surface… The metal on the blender will ruin the coating, so blend carefully.

Alrighty, using your new favorite toy, the immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth; season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile… Assemble your sandwiches with your favorite cheese between 2 slices of your favorite bread. (I’m obsessed with “havarti” cheese right now) Brush the outside of the sandwiches with the remaining olive oil. Grill, turning once, until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden brown and crispy. Serve with the tomato soup.

I hope you enjoy this yummy recipe and stay warm till June! Happy cooking

Today is the sausage, pepper and onion pizza. I’ll list out their recipe and put my changes in parenthesis. Happy eating

Serves 4
Prep 35 minutes
Bake 25 minutes

Ingredients:
1 lb refrigerated pizza dough
1/4 C EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 lb hot italian sausage, casings removed
1 onion, sliced (I diced mine and only used half an onion)
2 red bell peppers, sliced
Salt and Pepper
2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh Rosemary
3/4 C Ricotta cheese (my new favorite!!)
1/4 C parmesan cheese

1. Position one rack in the lower third of the oven, place an inverted baking sheet on top and preheat to 500 degrees. Using oiled hands, stretch the pizza dough to fit a parchment lined baking sheet. (500 degrees is WAY too hot for my oven so we cooked the pizza to the specs provided on the refrigerated pizza dough packaging)

2. In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbl EVOO over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and pour out remaining grease. In the same skillet, add 2 Tbl EVOO, the onions and peppers and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and the Rosemary (go light on the salt because the sausage is already quite salty)

3. Scatter the sausage, onion and peppers across the pizza dough, leaving a 3/4 inch border. Dollop with the ricotta cheese (generously ) and sprinkle the parmesan on top. Drizzle with the remaining EVOO. Set the baking sheet on the inverted baking sheet in the oven and bake until the crust is crisp and golden brown.

I hope you enjoy the yummy fresh taste of this pizza and have fun personalizing it!

Here is my most recent sewing project. I have gotten into this faze of dresses. I’ve purchased a few and this is one i made. I’m rather proud of how it turned out (not the pictures) and I look forward to using the pattern again. Enjoy!

RUFFLE!! I love the trend of ruffles right now.

Waist band cinches in nicely.

Pretty navy blue color with red heels of course! And I added a belt just to break up all the blue.

The back is very simple. Pencil skirt styling.

Pockets!! Another trend in dresses that I’m obsessed with right now

And one last shot of the gorgeous neck ruffle.

I hope you enjoyed my little project and are possibly inspired to make something pretty for yourself. I will try to blog more of my projects…. But I make no promises

Have a wonderful day,
Jessica

This year my mom decided to plant her very own pumpkin patch for the neighborhood kids to pick their very own for Halloween carving. I’m still one of those kids at heart and look forward to this past time every year. Mom let me pick one of her prized pumpkins to carve on my own!!

Now the surgery begins. Grab your favorite serrated edge knife and cut out the top of the pumpkin, with a triangle at the back so you can easily fit the too back on.

Tear off the top and dig in!! (remove all jewelry you don’t want to get slimed) Using your hands scrape out as much of the innards as you can separating the seeds from the pulp. We’ll save the seeds to roast later.

Here’s the line up of tools. You can get one of these pumpkin carving sets at your local craft store or Target. From left to right we have the scraper, perfect for getting the inside of your specimen nice and smooth. Next we have the scorer. This is used to transfer your paper pattern onto the pumpkin. Thirdly we have the poker (for lack of a better term) I use this guy to poke into the flesh of the pumpkin to begin my carving, this way you don’t bend your knife. And that’s who’s next, the carving blade. A slim knife with a serrated edge makes cutting out small areas very easy.

Ok now we have a clean and gutted pumpkin which is a blank slate for your creativity. You can take any route you want here. Choose the traditional spooky face or a pretty fall inspired design. Since I was leaving my pumpkin with my parents I chose to carve out a pine cone. It coordinates nicely with their decor and is reminiscent of all the pine cones around their house. I free handed my design with a pencil while looking at a picture.

The design I chose called for some parts to be completely cut away and other areas to be “etched” by peeling away the top layer and skin without going all the way through. I used the carving knife to cut all the way through where I needed too and an exacto knife (not pictured) to etch away the top layer.

And you’re done!! I love etching designs because it gives your pattern so much depth and different defused lights. Isn’t it pretty! Can I just carve pumpkins all year long and not just in one month?!

Ok now what to do with all those seeds? Rinse in a pasta caldron and pat dry on a tea towel.

Drizzle with a little olive oil and salt and coat evenly. Here’s where you could add different flavors too. You could candy the seeds by adding a little sugar and cinnamon or go savory with paprika, flavored salt or a little chilly powder! Yum. I usually go the simple route.

Spread evenly on a baking sheet with parchment paper (easy clean up) and toast in a 375 degree oven for about 35 minutes checking after 20. Cooking time will differ with every oven.

Mmmmmm… So toasty! Let cool and serve in a cute little bowl with your favorite fall beverage and watch the candle flicker in your pretty carved pumpkin.

This top is SUPER easy to make. There’s only 4 seams and 3 places to hem and your done! So let’s get going!!

To start things off I dissected a shirt that I already had and liked the fit of. Normally I wouldn’t go cutting up my shirts just to make a pattern because I would want to wear them again, right? Well this particular shirt was in need of new life, or the trash can, so I chose to use it to make my first pattern. Grab your seam ripper and gently take apart the seams. Trace the front and back of your shirt onto white construction paper and cut out.

Now you have the perfect pattern of your favorite shirt and you can make as many of them as your heart desires! I found this fabulous gray striped jersey at Joann’s Fabric store and I just had to have it. I like the chill surfer girl feel that it has Now you know what to do… pin down your pattern real good and cut it out. If you have striped or a pattern like mind does, do your best to line it up if you need too.

Pin with right sides together and sew your seam up the sides and at the shoulders.

Now for the hem. I ironed the edge of the sleeves under about a 1/4 of an inch and around the bottom about 5/8 inch. I wanted a thicker hem around the waist. Stitch together.

And your done!! See I told you that was going to be easy. I love this shirt and wear it all the time. People even ask me where I bought it so they could go get one too… I tell them to check out my blog haha

I added a little pleat detail to the back so it’s nice and fitted up top but floats away from the body down the rest of the shirt. I know I didn’t line up my striped but practice makes perfect right?! If you want to do this on the back of your shirt just make sure you measure the back a little bigger than you would normally need so you have enough fabric to gather.

Enjoy being creative and I hope you’re a little inspired to go make your own shirt! I like this pattern so much I went and bought more fabric today to make another one!!

For the smoothie I love to use the “tropical blend” of cut frozen fruit from Costco, which consists of pineapples, mango, papaya and strawberries… with a couple extra strawberries added to taste!

Throw your fruit into the blender, add enough juice to cover everybody and blend until it’s nice and smooth.

Now for that tasty fresh salad. My favorite lettuce is Romaine. It’s crunchy, juicy, sweet and stands up to whatever sort of dressing you put on it. Be sure to rinse the leaves before cutting them to get off any stubborn dirt, or who knows what else….

Okay… so you’re probably freaking out and wondering what in the world I am doing cutting lettuce with a “bread knife”. Well before you get all worked up about it, take a deep breath and go try it for yourself! The serrated edges make for a nice clean cut without bruising the leaves. This way you keep the lovely crunch that is signature to romaine!!

Since this is a summer salad after all, there is NO way we are going to smother this in a heavy cream dressing – you know the ones that make you feel more guilty after eating it than healthy. Olive oil and Balsamic vinegar make a lovely, light, sweet dressing. Drizzle a little bit of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) over the lettuce, then splash a very small about of balsamic vinegar all over. Just enough will make it sweet but if you add too much you’ll get that unpleasant vinegar taste, Yuck! Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and a few croutons and there’s your summer salad!

All that’s left is to pour your smoothie into a fancy glass, grab a fork and go outside to enjoy this lovely summer weather. Eat in style and enjoy!!

Now what makes these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies more special than other ones you may ask? Its that they’re made without sugar. Yes you heard me right… other than the chocolate chips, there isn’t any sugar in these Oaties. I like to think this makes them a little more guilt free, and yes I’ll just keep thinking that!

Okay so let’s get started with these yummy little guys.

Start by grabbing a large bowl and cream the butter with your mixer. Using softer butter make this much easier.

Measure out your honey. A little trick for measuring honey without a sticky mess on your measuring cup, is to coat it with Canola Oil first! Pour a little oil into your measuring cup, tilt so that the oil covers the whole cup, then pour out the extra. Now pour your honey into the cup….. and when you pour it into the mixing bowl you will be pleasantly surprised at how easy it comes out!!

Beat in the honey.

Add in your room temp egg and vanilla and beat. Please use real vanilla… you’ll be glad you did!

Now it’s time for flour. I use Whole Wheat Flour just to play up the healthy factor even more… sounds great since we’re not adding tons of sugar anyways. Plus, I like the slight nutty flavor that it adds. Feel free to use whatever you have in your cupboard though! Along with the flour add the baking powder, baking soda and spices and stir until mixture is well blended. If you choose to use your electric mixer, remember to start with a low speed or else you will have flour ALL OVER your kitchen! Not that I’m speaking from experience or anything…

Fold in the Oats. Yup this step is pretty straight forward.

Now the pies de resistance (what you’ve all been waiting for), Chocolate Chips! Semi sweet is what I use and of course I use a little more than what the recipe calls for. Shhh don’t tell… I want all of my cookies to have plenty little bits of goodness in them! Stir the tasties in.

Parchment paper is another trick of the trade. If you want almost no clean up after the cookies are done baking. Don’t you just hate it when you have to soak and scrape your cookie sheets? Parchment paper is your savior – you can even reuse the sheets between batches! Just lay it on top of your cookie sheets and you’re good to go.

A small ice cream scooper is perfect for dolling out little drops of goodness on your baking sheets. All of your cookies will be the same size and your fingers stay nice and clean.

These cookies don’t expand too much while baking so you can place them closer together if you want. I can usually fit about 16 per sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. I found that 11 minutes is just about perfect for my oven.

DONE!! But before you gobble them all up you need to let them cool on a wire rack or else they will just fall apart and that’s not good eats! So while you’re waiting, pour yourself a nice cold glass of milk. Now you can enjoy your freshly made tasty Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Let me know what you guys think of this healthier version…. enjoy!

Oaties Recipe

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened (one whole stick!)
1 cup honey
1 egg (room temp)
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 Cups Oatmeal
1/2 cups Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter in a large bowl. Beat in honey, then egg and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices until mixture is well blended. Fold in oats, then chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoon fulls on prepared cookie sheets (sprayed with Pam of using parchment paper). Bake on middle shelf of oven for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. Cool on wire racks. Makes 3-4 dozen. Enjoy with nice cold milk

For starters you will need to find a man’s collared shirt. If you’re married, raid your man’s closet… but be sure to ask first Otherwise you can find an inexpensive shirt at a thrift store. Alrighty, now that we have the shirt, grab your scissors and let’s go!

Time for a little shirt surgery… Your first incision will be the cuffs. Cut them off completely! OUCH! I do this because it gives the shirt a little more of a feminine quality and it looks more casual.

Next lay out your shirt on a flat surface inside out. A table is preferable but since I don’t have one, the floor works… I also use this opportunity to practice my yoga Make sure the shirt is not wrinkled and laying out nicely. Because I don’t plan on wearing my shirt tucked in, I like to cut off the tails of the shirt too. Just go straight across the bottom with your scissors and “POOF” no more tails!! Leave enough to hem it though…

Its time to go dig around on your side of the closet for a shirt (collared if you have one) that fits you the way you like it. Lay it on top of your man’s shirt, no wrinkles, and pin along the perimeter. Grab some chalk, pen or pencil and trace the outline. Basically you are using the smaller one as a pattern. I prefer chalk over pen and pencil because it washes out the easiest.

Here’s what it looks like when you remove your shirt. Nice guidelines for sewing.

For my first round of stitches I like to do a basting stitch – where you set your sewing machine to the largest size stitch that your machine will allow. In my case this is number 4. For regular stitches I set it to 3 or 3 1/2.

Do a quick basting stitch along the chalk lines and make sure to take the pins out along the way, so you don’t break your sewing needle. This will allow you to make small corrections without taking out the entire seam.

When you are ready to try it on, clip the corners so the fabric has more room to curve, especially under the arms.

If, after trying it on, you’re happy with the way it fits and looks, you will want to go over the basting stitch with a smaller stitch… probably a 3. Then cut the excess fabric off leaving a 1/4 inch seam. It doesn’t have to be exact but you don’t want a lot of extra fabric bunching up on the inside of your shirt, ick!!

Okay, now we move onto hemming the sleeves and bottom of your shirt. We’re almost done so hang in there!! This step is easiest done with a seam gauge but a regular ruler or measuring tape will suffice. So… with the “wrong” side of your shirt facing out, iron the seam under 5/8ths of an inch. Do this all the way around the bottom of the shirt and sleeves. Hold off on the pins for now…

When that’s done go back to your starting point and fold the free side under to the 5/8ths crease, iron again and pin in place. Do this all the way around the bottom and sleeves.

Woooo almost there!! Hop back over to your sewing machine and stitch close to the edge of your hem. This will make it look really sharp and professional. Through this whole process you will probably want to use a thread that matches whatever garment your are sewing but I’m using white so that you can see it in the pictures.

Turn the shirt right side out and your done!! Wear it proudly and tell everyone that you tailored it all by yourself. Have fun being creative with your clothes, or your man’s clothes that is. Remember don’t always accept clothes the way they are, but see what they could be

Start off by boiling water and use a cute mug just to make you smile. I love my electric kettle! It boils water super fast – way faster than a gas stove kettle, but use what you have… even a microwave would work!

When you have achieved your boiling point, pour the water into your favorite mug and place the tea bag gently into it’s little jacuzzi. Let steep (soak) for 5 minutes. Using a glass mug for this part is just more fun cause you can watch the tea permeate into the water! It looks so stinkin’ cool when it does that!

Beepity beep, Beepity beep, Beepity beep!! Haha… that would be the timer Abandon whatever it is you got sucked into for the last 5 minutes, extract the soggy tea bag and add 1 1/2 to 2 pumps of Torani Vanilla Bean syrup. If you’re asking yourself, “Self, where in the world do I find these fancy syrups?” wonder no more! I usually get mine at Smart and Final or World Market. Be sure to pick up a few of those nifty pumps too!

Add a splash of milk and your done! Enjoy your tasty afternoon drink with a homemade cranberry scone [I'll do a separate post about that] and slip into a relaxing few minutes all to yourself!

We shop at Costco for most of our ingredients for this recipe because we can get them in bulk and it makes tons.

You will need…

• A link of cooked sausage
• Cooked chicken
• Cooked, tail off, shrimp
• Mild salsa and green onions.

See… I told you you could make this!

Alrighty then, excluding the shrimp, cut everything up into small bite sized pieces and toss everybody into the pot. Heat to a boil, simmer covered for 10 minutes

Sprinkle with a little extra seasoning and serve over rice. Add an additional 20 minutes if you’re making rice. And your done, now how easy was that?! I usually double the recipe because left overs are the BOMB! Just think of all that goodness sitting in the fridge marinating in all the wonderful flavors and spices, it’s making my mouth water just thinking about it

One last word regarding that green can of sparkling pear juice. Whenever Brandon and I visit Ikea we purchase these tasty, bubbly drinks before wandering through the displays, it’s making a memory! Well I was there without him the other day so I brought these home as a surprise I love him!!

Easy Jambalaya Recipe
16 oz. Jar Chunky Salsa, Mild
8 oz. Smokes Sausage
1/2 lb. Cooked, small peeled shrimp, NO tails
1/2 lb. Cooked Chicken Breast
1 tsp. Thyme Leaves
1/3 cup Chopped Green Onions

In a large skillet, pot, mix salsa, sausage, shrimp, chicken, thyme and green onions. Heat to a boil. Reduce hear to low and cook 10 minutes. Serve with Rice and Cornbread. Makes 4-6 Servings. If you plan on doubling the recipe, double everything but the salsa and add 8 oz. tomato sauce.

Unique, organic, couture, traveled, just a few words I think of when you say “Anthropologie”. I don’t think I’ve met a single soul on this earth that doesn’t love the look and feel of Anthropologie’s clothing, photography and home decor. Meandering and dreaming through their stores has been a favorite past time for as long as I can remember. My dad was the first to introduce me to Anthro and ever since I have been in love!

This top, called the Pratia tank top, was an inspiration from Anropologie that I first saw on this other blog, Made by Lex. She has a great tutorial on her blog of how she made it and quite frankly I like it better than the original. Thanks Lex for being an inspiration to the free spirited sewing world. And here’s how I made mine…

Start with a basic cotton t-shirt of whatever color you like, I chose a light heather gray. Cut off the sleeves to make a tank and hem so that it doesn’t fray. I chose to go a little more detailed here and make a wide racer back just because I like that style. I used one of my other tanks to guide where I would cut. Alrighty, from here you’ll need some more fabric. You will need, a chiffon fabric (preferably one that doesn’t fray), a jersey fabric that is the same or similar color to the shirt you picked out, you can even use another shirt you have, and an accent color such as a darker color or different all together. Follow Lex’s tutorial on how to add the chiffon to your neck line and cut out tons of petals. You are going to need a lot, so pop in a good movie and start cutting. When you think you have enough cut a few more! Then start laying them across each other, pin in place and stich on. Lex used her sewing machine to attach the petals but I just used a old fashion needle and thread. This is going to take a long time so toss in another good movie, hunker down with your favorite drink and start attaching those petals. You want it to look nice and full so don’t skimp. And then your done!! Woohoo you made it. Wear it proudly and tell everyone that you made it, their jaws will drop.

Just remember to have fun with whatever projects your working on. I want to see pictures if you make this top, and let Lex know too, since it is her tutorial!!

You know how it is when you first get married, everything is mismatched and a crazy collage of colors, patterns and textures. Sounds like a trip to good ol’ Joann’s Fabrics is definitely in order. At first I was a little lost because I hadn’t really established a color scheme or theme for our living room yet. I knew we were going to be adding a beautiful fresh spring green color through paint and I knew that I’ve always liked zebra print. So after wandering around hopelessly up and down the aisles I found this fabulous green and cream zebra print fabric! It couldn’t have been more perfect for a pillow. “Definitely snatching this one up” I thought to myself. After turning the corner I discovered another zebra print in black and white, a perfect contrast and match! Now I have one remaining small accent pillow that can’t possibly stay the color it is now. I discovered a beautiful white fabric with stitching and lace detail to add some texture and another neutral to the party. Brandon probably thought I had lost my mind with all this safari print flying around but the end result was fabulous, if I don’t say so myself! I hope you like it and can be inspired to maybe step out of your comfort zone and pick a fabric you wouldn’t normally choose.

If you want to know how I re-cover the pillows continue reading…

1. Measure the width and length of the pillow and add an extra inch for a seam allowance. For instance, if the pillow is a 20″x20″ square pillow then you would cut two pieces of fabric 21″x21″. Make sense? Or cut a strip of fabric 21″x42″ so you can just fold it in half and have one less seam to sew.
2. Pin your fabric with right sides together (that’s the side that you want showing when finished) and stitch together.
3. Iron the seam open so it lays flat.
4. With the pillow case still inside out, iron down your 1/2inch seam allowance around the open edge.
5. Turn inside out again so your raw edges are now on the inside and your fabulous print is showing out.
6. Stuff in your pillow and pin the open edge with ironed seam together.
7. Now here’s where it get’s a little tricky… you can either hand stitch the pillow closed, add a zipper or velcro so you can take it off later or just sew it shut with your machine. I choose to do it with my machine because it’s the most efficient way for me.
8. Fluff and place on your couch, special chair or bed!
9. And…. Shazaam! There is your finished product.

I hope that all makes sense, if not please leave a comment and I’ll try and explain myself better

Yes yes I know. It’s already a week after Easter and I’m only now posting about Easter eggs. My excuse is that I only just got a blog to post on today! Well these aren’t just any “Easter Eggs”, they’re not plastic and they’re not hard boiled either. I learned this trick from my mom growing up coloring eggs and you can try this next year too!

About a month before Easter whenever mom was making something using eggs she would break them apart very carefully making sure not to have a huge hole and as clean a line as possible. She would then rinse and dry them. So now what do you do with empty egg shells? Put candy in them of course, and with a steady hand and Elmer’s glue carefully paste them back together! Now the fun and creative part… after the eggs dry paper mache them with whatever kind of paper you like. Growing up we used colored tissue paper but most recently with my own I used old sheet music cut into strips and pieces of news paper. I like the old fashioned vintage look that was achieved.  Allow to dry and your done! The best part is getting to share these little works of art with family and friends, but I warn you, don’t be disappointed if they don’t want to break the eggs. They’re just too cute!! Thanks mom for inspiring me to be creative and making it fun!!