Stuffed felt owls

OMG! These were so fun to make. Now that my little monkey is 10 years old. I feel comfortable give her a grown up needle. Yay! I looked through a few craft magazines to get a few ideas. I have felt fabric coming out of my ears, so I decided to get crafty. I freehand cut all the pieces for the face. Then hand stitched the face pieces first on one of the felt panels. Then I stitched around the perimeter leaving the base open to stuff with Poly -fil. Once stuffed sew the closing. I watched TV as I did this. I think I will use them as props for fun children's photos.  Too cute!

Felt flower wreath

I originally thought I would use a felt owl as the centerpiece, but I decided against it. The wildflowers in my area are in full bloom, so I decided to add felt flowers instead. I purchased plumbing tubing at the hardware store for about $4 bucks. I then hot glued strips of burlap, and then added felt flowers, and leaves.
 The flowers are easy to make here's how:  Cut a circle out of the felt fabric. Then start cutting from the perimeter of the circle ,in a circular direction, towards the center. Once this is completed, start from the center of the felt shape and start forming a flower by wrapping in a circular fashion. It's much easier than it sounds. Cut out leave shapes and hot glue leaves, and flowers to the burlap wreath.  This project took about a half an hour, and was fun.

Princess hair and face painting

 

 

I absolutely love children's parties. My monkeys are outgrowing kiddy parties, but I miss planning them. Now I share my ideas, and creativity with other little monkeys. Here are a few princess hair ideas I've created for princess theme parties. I love using hair tinsel, ribbons, and glitter to create fun, and fairy princess hair designs. This in combination with face painting pulls the whole princess theme together. Little girls love seeing themselves, and each other all made up. Check out my website for more information about princess parties! http://christinedeangelis.com/#/flagstaff-childrens-parties/

Snowman fruit tray and reindeer cupcakes

Christmas in March??? I guess I dropped the Christmas ball! Here's a little Christmas food craft I forgot to post in December. I thought I would share with you now before I forget again.  We all need a little help during the holidays. My friends created this snowman fruit tray this past December which I thought was fun and festive. The reindeer cupcakes were created for a children's photo shoot I did in December and I thought they were adorable. They are made with peanut butter cookies, pretzels, and candy.   So cute!

Decor Mesh Christmas wreath

 

I have fallen in love the decor mesh. It's my favorite new crafting tool. Unfortunately it's not available in my area, but I was able to find it a Hobby Lobby in abundance.  I can't wait for the after Christmas sales because I will be one of those crazy shoppers waitingfor the store to open. I found many videos on YouTube.com showing different methods of using decor mesh.

Thanksgiving burlap flowers

I've hung the same wreath for Thanksgiving for the past 4 years, so I finally decided to make a new one using burlap flowers. I love the rustic look it gives to a holiday wreath.

Decorating Cake

With Halloween just around the corner, and the weather turning cold I'm feeling the itch of Martha inside me. I don't know what it is about this time of year, but something inside me yearns to create, create, create. Since this year's budget is tight I've been just using what I can find around the house. These cakes I made are not the prettiest, but seem to have a ghoulies quality about them. Just perfect for the holiday.

Decorative Halloween garland

Still feeling in the crafting mood... I decided to add garland to an everyday flower container for my front porch. I will probably fill with fall leaves to complete this look. I used pipe cleaner to line the rim of the container then added ribbon, and cat decor. I secured by twisting pipe cleaner to hold everything. Only took a few minutes. Happy decorating!

Burlap Halloween wreath

I have this old Thanksgiving wreath in the garage. Since I'm on a bargain these days I decided to go through my craft items to spruce up this premade wreath for Halloween.  I used pipe cleaners to arch the burlap, ribbon, craft rings, and craft ball to the wreath. That's it. Easy...

Hot Chocolate Love

I love that the weather is getting chilly. Although I'm not of fan of cold weather...  I love this time of year that I can make my monkey's some fun hot chocolate before they go to school. It really make you feel like the holiday season is upon us.  Enjoy the season!

Face Painting Fun

I recently added face painting to my service menu, and it's been an unexpected treat for me. I love hanging out with my monkeys, and their little friends. This brought together two things I enjoy. Creating, and kids. It's been such a delight for me, and I really enjoy seeing them so happy with their whimsical face work.

Witch broom Halloween Treats

The crafting season has begun! This is my favorite part of the year. I love to make handmade crafts during the holiday season. This is the only time of year I seriously become a night owl. I can get so zoned out making crafts, and putting the details touches on my projects I lose all sense of time. Here's my first craft project this season, and I saw this idea in the October issue of Martha Stewart. She is my craft muse. I purchased small brown bags from Michaels. They had several different color options which would also be fun to use. I filled one bag with candy. I used Hershey Kisses, and candy corn. Then I use a second bag pre cut with vertical cuts and place on top of first bag. Inserted clean sticks for broom handle, and tied with ribbon. I added Halloween rings for effect. I can't wait to pass these out to all my little house visitors. I hope this inspires you to get into the crafting mood.

Homemade Halloween

I love decorating my house for the holidays. It's become tradition in my house to decorate and get in the festive mood. My kids love it! They love it when we open the boxes, and they start pulling all their favorite decorations out. I love see all the things I've made over the years. It always begins back warm memories for me and the monkeys. We laugh, talk about when someone did something crazy that year... Best of all it sets the mood for an exciting new holiday ready to be filled with more fun, and happy memories. Decorating is one of the best things I do for my kids each year.

Here our dining room table dressed with homemade holiday decor.

I love ceramic Halloween decor. I have them all over the house. They are timeless...

Here I just filled glass canisters with yummy treats. I love that I can use this idea year around.

I love purchasing cloth napkins. I decided to make circle runners instead of using for there usual purpose. Love it.

I love giving away treat to our little unexpected visitors. It's kind, and I love seeing little monkeys happy.

Foam shapes, paint, and wood sticks all from the craft store. I painted the sticks and hot glued the bats, and accessorized with ribbons. Easy...

Candy Corn Wreath

I saw this on the cover of a magazine, and I had to make it. I love how it came out. I just went to Michaels and purchased the cheaps wreath I could find. I wrapped black ribbon and hot glued candy corns all over. It looks great on my front door. I think I'll make one each year.

Matzo Ball soup

I've been meaning to add this recipe on to my blog for a while now. Here it is:

3 qts. chicken stock

olive oil

1 onion diced

6 diced celery sticks

5 diced carrot sticks

10 diced potatoes

4 minced garlic cloves

shredded cooked chicken (optional)

basil, parsley, and thyme, salt and pepper

Matzo ball mix (I use Manischewitz)

vegetable oil

2 eggs

In large stock pot heat to low. Add olive oil, and diced onions. Soften. Add garlic, celery, carrots. Stir and cook for 3 minutes. Add stock and seasonings. Add shredded chicken if you like. Simmer until veggies are almost cooked through. Add potatoes, and cook until potatoes are almost cooked through. In the mean make matzo ball according to package directions, and place in frig. Once all veggies are cooked taste soup to make sure it's to your liking. Now is the time to add more seasoning. Once Matzo balls are in the pot. No more stirring. Form small balls out of the matzo( they will expand) then drop into soup. Don't stir. They fall apart easily. After 10 minutes gently turn over balls carefully. Cook another 15 minutes and the soup is ready.

I usually make this soup for the holidays with potatoe pancakes, and a dreidel game. I use the Manischewitz potato pancake mix. Its the best.

Easter Bunny veggie dip

My friend Stephanie made this cute Easter Bunny bread bowl out of baguettes. She just filled with her favorite dipping sauce. Nice festive touch. See Stephanie I'm rubbing off on you!

Hair Bling

Hair Tinsel is a fun way to live up your hair at any age. I've been using it for clients after color services. It's great for parties, and embracing the holiday seasons. I order my tinsel from the internet site Hair Flair. I used many tie-in techniques, but I like wetting the hair first. It's easier to install strands, and it seem to hold a little longer. It's a great way to earn a little extra cash.

My little bunnies

With all the cooking I had to do today I can't believe I was up for crafting. Kaya, and I have been busy little bunnies today. I decided to make a few stuffed bunnies. This concept is the same as the stuffed pumpkins for Halloween. I need to work on the pattern alittle, but I think they turned out cute anyway.

Foam Easter baskets

These baskets were really fun to made. We didn't want to stop. I think next year we will definitely do this project again, and pass them out to our neighbor friends. Thanks Martha!

Peep Cupcakes

I love making cupcakes. Kaya, and I stayed in the kitchen all day whipping up a mess. It's was fun, and exhausting. Happy Easter everybody!!!