Aloha!

So no step by steps here but I wanted to get this posted considering I have been slacking like crazy.  This is a cake that I made for a Luau themed going away party for a friend.  She wanted angel food cake with strawberry filling.  Just to make it fun I took the cake batter and divided it up into 6 different bowls and died them each a different color...  Pink, blue, green, purple, orange & yellow.  I then covered the cake in butter cream frosting and let each tier chill in the fridge to harden up the frosting.  The night before I had make all the decorative elements that I could place on after decorating.  I used white chocolate to make seashells and gum paste to make all the rest.  The flowers, surf board and palm tree were made out of gum paste.  Let me tell you, it took 3 tries on the palm tree but I finally got it right.  For the trunk of the tree I took a small wooden dowel and wrapped it in gum paste and then just used a tooth pic to texture it.  I then made the leaves out of gum paste with floral wire in the middle- I found this tip online.  It's best to do these things a day or two in advance because they need to harden and they wont go bad anyway.  I used marshmallow fondant to cover it, airbrushed everything for color and used royal icing for the piping (it was my first time piping so be nice, lol).  The "sand" is just brown sugar.  Here is how it came out...

Beaded Necklace

I just made quite a few pieces of jewelry to donate to a benefit and I took step by steps of how I did it.  Here is what you will need... 

~Beads
~Beading Wire (sometimes called Tiger Tail)
~Crimp Beads
~Clasp (I would start off with a variety pack because they will usually also have the wire ring that you will need to attach the dangle part of the necklace and sometimes even the Head Pin as well)
~Bead crimper (You can substitute your pliers if you need to but a crimper is best)
~Needle Nose Pliers
~Wire Cutters or Heavy Scissors
If you want to add on the dangle part of the necklace you will need a Head Pin

You will start by taking your wire and cutting it to the length you need, leave about 2 inches extra for attaching the clasp.  Place a bead crimp on the wire and then one end of the clasp.  Then loop the other end of the wire back through the bead crimp and crimp the bead.  Crimping is a 2 step process and the instructions will be on the box when you buy your bead crimper.  If you do not have a bead crimper you can use pliers and just crush the bead flat.  This will do the job although the crimp will not be as sturdy and wont look as nice.

You can now cut the excess on the wire tail but leave a little so that you can cover it with the beads you start to add on, if you don't cover the wire with the beads it will itch your neck. 

Now start to string on the rest of your beads until you have about an inch or inch and a half of wire left.  Now you will do pretty much the same process you started with.  Place a bead crimp on the wire along with the other part of your clasp.  This part will be a little tougher than the first part because you have to loop the wire back in through the bead crimp and also push it back through the beads you have already strung on.  You will want to make sure you do not leave any gaps in the string, crimp the bead on so that it is tight to the string of beads.

 If you have some wire left that you cant push through the beads simply use your wire cutters to cut it very closely to the beads so that it doesn't stick out and scratch you while you are wearing it.

You can now start on the dangle part if you want to add it.  Take your Head Pin and add on the amount of beads that you want.  If you have excess wire left you can use your wire cutters to trim. 

Then you will use your needle nose pliers to shape the wire into a loop, if you have round nose pliers these will work really well here.  Close the loop completely and then take your wire ring which you will need to open a bit and connect them. 

You can now attach the ring to your claps and your done!  Here is the finished product.

Spring Flowers

Wow, it's been a while since I posted.  These past few weeks have certainly been busy with family in town and so many other things to do.  I just wanted to take a few moments to post some of my recent flower arrangements.  No step by steps with this, I think flower arrangements should be what you want them to be. 

For this arrangement I used light purple stock, white hydrangeas, purple wax flower and filled in with some lemon leaves with steel grass looped throughout.  I also took a group of steel grass and made a ring of it to put inside the vase.  The ribbon was attached with double sided tape and I also added a ring of rhinestones. 

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This next arrangement was made mainly with things I found in my backyard.  I took daffodils and some budding branches to add some green.  I also used the steel grass that I had left over to hide the glass container that I had inside my moss pot.  I then used some other branches to add some heighth to the arrangement.

It's Official!

I now own www.FunctionalFruitions.com and I could not be more excited!  It's all starting to come together, I will soon have my new Etsy account running too.  I have decided to start selling the things I make, I can't wait to share.  Stay tuned!!

Easter Egg Craft

This project is fairly easy and would be great to do with kids.  Here is what you will need:
~Empty egg carton (paper not plastic or styrofoam)
~Eggs to paint (I found great paper mache ones at Micheals- a pack of 6 for around $2)
~Acrylic paint in your desired colors
~Paint brushes
~Glitter if you want to add a little something extra
~Scissors
~Twig
~Hot glue
~Ribbon

Start by taking your egg carton and cut it into three sections of four egg holders

Next, paint your section of four the color you want, I didn't fully paint the underside and the bottoms of where the eggs sit in since you wont be able to see those spots.

You can now begin painting your eggs.  Paint them flat colors, add stripes, dots, glitter...  whatever you want.
I used my paint pallet to set them on to dry but you could place them in your egg carton but set them in lightly so you don't mess the paint. 

Once everything is dry take your glue gun and add some hot glue to the inside of each egg holder so that the eggs will stay in place.

You will then poke two small holes at each side of your egg carrier, one at each side.  This is for the twig to go through, use a twig that is bendable otherwise it will break when you shape it.  You may want to use a knife to shave the ends of your twigs down a bit so that the go into the holes better.  Obviously an adult should do this part.

Next put your twig ends through each hole and use your hot glue to glue the twig on the underside of the carton.

You can now add your bow, tie it on however you want and your done!