Book Pendant Necklace

     Show your love of books with these adorable book pendant necklaces.

Materials:

*Mini book (see this tutorial on one technique for making mini books)
*Jump ring
*Jewelry chain
*Jewelry clasp
*Pliers
*Sewing needle

Directions:

*Create or procure your mini book (see this tutorial for one technique for making mini books).

*Carefully poke a hole in the spine of the book toward the top of the spine.

*Open a jump ring and slide it through the hole you have created.

*Add the book pendant to the jewelry chain and close the jump ring around the chain.

*Add clasps to the ends of the jewelry chain.

Horror Pocket Pals: Freddy Krueger

     I forgot to do a Horror Pocket Pals post last month, but fear not.  I still have several more horror plushies in store for you.  Not familiar with my Horror Pocket Pals series?  Check out this post for my Michael Myers plushie and this post for the box I made for him.
     This month's pal is Freddy Krueger.  A Nightmare on Elm Street was one of my favorite movies growing up, so it seemed fitting to make a Freddy Krueger plushie.
     If horror villains aren't really your thing, I'll be featuring some horror protagonists as well starting in May (assuming I remember).  I'm still trying to decide between two of my favorite heroines, but I definitely plan to spotlight one of the two next month, so stay tuned!

Materials:

*Red felt
*Peach felt
*Brown felt
*Black felt
*Olive green felt
*Gray felt
*Thread in corresponding colors
*Stuffing
*Black buttons

Directions:

*Print out a copy of the template given below.

*Cut out two copies of the body template from peach felt and one from red felt, two copies of the shirt from red felt, stripes for the shirt from olive green felt, two copies of the pants from black felt, two copies of the shoes from black felt, two copies of the hat from brown felt, two copies of the glove from brown felt, and the finger knives from black felt.

*Sew on a face using black thread and buttons.

*Sew the stripes on using the green felt.

*Sew the head part of the red body piece behind the face.

*Sew the clothes onto the body pieces.

*Sew the two body pieces together using a blanket stitch, leaving an opening for stuffing.

*Stuff and see closed.

Spring Cherry Blossoms and Bumble Bee Nail Art

     As I write this post, it looks like January outside.  Everything is covered in snow.  Maybe if I paint my nails with snowflakes, the snow will go away?
     At any rate, here's how you can get some cute spring nails, whether or not it looks like spring outside for you.

Materials:

*Yellow nail polish
*White nail polish
*Light blue nail polish
*Pink nail polish
*Black nail art pen
*Small dotting tool
*Pink glitter polish
*Makeup sponge

Note: The bee was left over from my nail art from a previous week.  It was still in good shape, so I couldn't bring myself to remove it and decided to incorporate it into my nails this past week.  I didn't take pictures of the process because I wasn't planning on posting it, but I'll describe the process to the best of my abilities.

Directions for the bee:

*Paint one nail yellow.  Let dry.

*Draw on a bumble bee using a nail art pen.

*Use a small dotting tool and white nail polish to add wings.

Directions for the cherry blossoms:

*Paint one nail blue.  Let dry.

*Draw on a branch shape using a nail art pen.

*Using the small dotting tool and pink nail polish, create flowers by stamping four dots close together.

Directions for the glitter nail:

*Paint nail pink.  Let dry.

*For a thicker glitter coating, apply glitter polish to a makeup sponge and sponge onto the nail.  You may need to do a few coats to get the nail sufficiently glittery.

Monarch Butterfly Nail Art

     It is snowing as I write this post, but someday spring will be here.  Right?  Until then, I'll be enjoying spring via nail art.
     I love butterflies, and monarch butterflies have always been my favorites.  My sister and I had a couple of pet butterflies growing up.  I believe our "tightrope walking" butterfly (it walked upside down along a piece of string) was a monarch butterfly.  Here is some nail art that reminds me of spring and all of the beautiful butterflies I've encountered over the years.

Materials:

*Orange nail polish
*White nail polish
*Black nail art pen
*Small dotting tool

Directions:

*Paint nails orange.

*Draw on butterfly wing shapes using a black nail art pen.

*Add white spots with white nail polish and the dotting tool.

Floral Nail Art

     Spring is here, at least technically.  While the flowers are not yet blooming here in Maine, you can still add some springiness to your look with these floral nails.

Materials:

*White nail polish
*Pink nail polish
*Red nail polish
*Black nail polish
*Green nail polish
*Medium sized dotting tool
*Small dotting tool
*Fine nail art brush
*Base coat

Directions:

*Paint nails with a base coat.  Let dry.

*Paint nails pink, with the exception of your ring finger nail, which you'll want to paint white.  Let dry.

*Using the medium dotting tool, add pink and red dots to the white nails.  Let dry.

*Using the small dotting tool, add black dots to the centers of the pink and red dots.  Let dry.

*Using the nail art brush, paint on green leaves.  This was the part of the process that I had trouble with.  None of my nail art brushes are super fine, so painting on leaf shapes was difficult.  I ended up using the brush basically as a stamp after some point in time and that worked out okay, but I would definitely recommend using a very fine brush if you can.

Alice in Wonderland Tea Party

     Here is the Alice in Wonderland tea party post I've been promising.  Brian and I held this tea party at the end of last summer, so you won't see the jumbo mushrooms or roses anywhere around.  I didn't end up making those until October, but they would have fit in well with this party.  Here are some tips for throwing a bash of your own.  Check out my Alice in Wonderland birthday party post for some additional decor and dessert ideas.

The Tablescape

     The tablecloth was an old one I sewed for my Alice in Wonderland birthday party a few years back.  The "flowers with faces" centerpiece was also from that party.  Check out this post to see how to make it.  The mini teacups came from Goodwill.  I had planned on getting mismatched teacups because that seemed more fitting for a Mad Tea Party, but when Brian found a set of mini teacups for me, I couldn't resist.  It's hard to tell from this picture, but the teacups are resting on the coffee filter doilies.  See this post for making the coffee filter doilies and this post for dyeing them.
     For the dessert stand, I placed a fancy looking goblet between two nice-ish plates.  I didn't use any sort of adhesive to hold them together, which meant the arrangement was a little more precarious than I would have preferred, although things seemed to work out just fine.  If you have accident prone guests, I would recommend going with something less breakable, though.

Food

     These mosaic sandwiches are pretty and fun to eat.  Prepare your favorite tea sandwich filling and place between two slices of bread.  Cut off the edges, if you'd like.  Cut slices of cucumbers and radishes (or other colorful veggies of your choice) and place atop the sandwiches.  Cut sandwiches into triangles.

     For dessert, macaroons can make a tasty treat.  I can't remember which recipe I used, so use whichever one sounds best to you.  You'll want to keep an eye on the macaroons, though, as some ovens cook faster than others.  When using the recipe I found, I originally tried cooking the macaroons for the amount of time the recipe called for, which left the macaroons a little singed on the bottom.  For successive batches, I put them in for less and less time, but they still ended up a little dark.

     Why not finish your tea party with these "painting the roses red" cream cheese candies?  I used this recipe, with some slight modifications.  I replaced the mint extract with vanilla extract because I'm not too much of a mint person.  I also ended up having to use more confectioner's sugar than the recipe called for, although I didn't record how much more I used.  I live in a really humid environment, so if you live in a drier climate, the original amount of confectioner's sugar may work just fine.
     Once you've prepared the mixture and are satisfied with the consistency, separate the mixture into two equal pieces.  Combine one with some red food coloring, while leaving the other as it is.  Using a silicone rose mold, add red and white mixtures to the mold to create your roses.  Leave uncovered to dry.  Store in a sealed container.

Costumes

     Add some extra wonder to your tea party by encouraging your guests to come as their favorite Wonderland characters.  Looking for some Alice costume ideas?  See this post for a DIY Alice hair bow and this post for how to make your own pinafore apron.  Need a hat for your Hatter?  Check out this post and this post.  Some ears for the Cheshire Cat?  See this post.  Don't have someone to be the White Rabbit?  Add a White Rabbit plushie (see this post).

Dyed Doilies

     Dyed doilies add a fun pop of color to any tea party.  While this method is intended for coffee filter doilies, cloth doilies can be dyed in a similar fashion.

Materials:

*Water
*Food coloring
*Doilies
*Plastic container large enough to hold a doily
*Paper towels

Directions:

*Fill the container halfway with water.

*Add a few drops of food coloring.

*Dunk a doily in the water for a few seconds.

*Carefully remove the doily and lay it out to dry on a paper towel.

*To minimize wrinkling, you can press doilies under a heavy book if you'd like.