How to Make a Citrus Floating Candle

30th Apr2013

How to Make a Citrus Floating Candle

by Dinah Wulf

My brother was on Facebook the other day and a friend of his posted a picture of how to make a candle from an orange. I thought that several of these citrus floating candles would be perfect for an evening summer party centerpiece. We were visiting our dad recently and decided to try it out in his kitchen. Here is a quick tutorial on how to make a citrus floating candle.

Materials:

Orange
Knife
Cutting board
Spoon
Cooking oil
Water
Bowl or vase
Lighter

Step One: Cut an orange in half.

Step Two: Using a spoon, scoop out the orange leaving the center pith of the orange is intact. This will be used as the wick.

Step Three: Pour cooking oil into your orange. Any cooking oil like vegetable, canola, or olive oil will work.

Step Four: Carefully light your “wick”. It may take several seconds to light (longer than a regular wick). Note: We sliced the bottom of our orange so that it would not roll. Be careful not to pierce through the bottom. You do not have to do this if you are going to place it in water.

Step Five: Place your floating candle in the desired vessel with water.

Ta-dah! We used a medium sized orange. We were able to burn the candle for about three and a half to four hours. Be careful if you are doing this project with your kids!

Pass it on!

Category : Crafts, DIY Budget Party, Holidays, Special Occasions

Tags : Centerpieces, Christmas, Dinah's Tutorials, Repurpose, Repurposing Ideas, Thanksgiving, Upcycling Ideas, Wedding Ideas

2 Comm

30th Nov2012

Pumpkin Maple Toddy

by Dinah Wulf

Pumpkin Maple Toddy, Written by David Edessa

Happy Holidays!!!

{Via}

I was asked at work to come up with a hot toddy recipe for the holidays…. After tasting the Crown Royal Maple Finish Whiskey I insisted in combining it with pumpkin butter!!!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Pumpkin Maple Toddy recipe:

Ingredients:

2 oz. Crown Royal Maple Finish Whiskey
½ oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
½ tsp. Organic Honey
1 tsp. Pumpkin Butter (recipe below)
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
1 strip Lemon Peel
1 Cinnamon Stick
Hot Water

Instructions:

Pour the honey, boiling water, and whiskey into a mug. Put in a slice of lemon peel. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes so the flavors can mingle. Garnish with cinnamon stick.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Pumpkin Butter recipe:

Ingredients:
1 Pumpkin (small size; equivalent to ½ pound of purée)
Pinch salt
½ lbs. Unsalted Butter (real butter)
1½ tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1½ tsp. Ground Nutmeg
1½ tsp. Ground Allspice
½ tsp. Ground Cloves
4 oz. Dark Brown Sugar
Pure Maple syrup

Instructions:

Heat the oven to 400°F.

Split pumpkin in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Sprinkle squash with salt and brush with maple syrup. Lay flesh side down on aluminum foil covered sheet pan and bake for 45 minutes or until flesh yields easily to a small knife. When cool enough to handle, scoop flesh from the skin and purée in a blender. Pass through a cheese cloth to remove all pulp. Blend with butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, milk, and brown sugar in a blender until smooth. Pour into glass bowl and refrigerator till cold.

If you do not feel like making a batch of pumpkin butter, then Trader Joe’s offers a tasty pumpkin butter during the holidays.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Whenever using an electric blender make a cocktail always check the manufacture manual to verify that you can without damaging your blender.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

DRINK RESPONSIBLE & DRINK SMART!HaPpY HoLiDaYs!!!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Check out all of David’s FANTASTIC cocktail party recipes! Find the perfect one for any occasion.

Pass it on!

Category : Cocktail Corner

Tags : Christmas, David Edessa, Guest Author, Thanksgiving

1 Comm

29th Nov2012

Hanging Pine Cone Decoration

by Dinah Wulf

My husband, daughter, and I went on a walk around the neighborhood the other day and I found the biggest pine cones I have ever seen in my entire life! HUGE! Naturally, I stole several from the neighbors and we quickly walked away (I mean, come on, they had a jillion of them lying under their ginormous pine tree). I decided to make a hanging pine cone decoration for the upcoming holidays. Here is a photo of one of the pine cones and a regular sized pine cone just so you can see what I mean!

See? I told you! Anyway, here is what you’ll need to do this:

5-6 of the biggest pine cones you can find
A picture frame eye hook for each pine cone
Ribbon
Beads (optional)
Scissors

Tip: Avoid the sappy pine cones… way too sticky and annoying to work with.

This project is quite simple and fun to do with kids (especially the finding the pine cone part). When we got home, I rinsed the pine cones with water to clean them a little and get rid of any bugs because you never know! Simply screw in your eye hook to the center of the bottom of each dry pine cone and thread the ribbon through. I tied a pine cone to each end of the ribbon, hung them on a hook, and adjusted each length as I went along. I also added some plastic gems for some bling!

Tip: When you are trying to thread ribbon into a small hole, cut the ribbon in an angle to make it easier.

Here are a couple more pictures.

Pass it on!

Category : Crafts, Holidays

Tags : Christmas, Decorating Ideas, Dinah's Tutorials, Thanksgiving, Wreaths

0 Comm

16th Nov2012

Thanksgiving Table Setting

by Dinah Wulf

I am so thankful for so many things this year. My family, of course, is a big one. I’m loving having a two-year-old right now. I love that she is a sponge. She takes in EVERYTHING and now that she’s talking a little more, it’s amazing to hear what comes out of her mouth in that sweet little voice. We read books all the time because it’s one of her favorite things to do. So, this year for a Thanksgiving dinner I’m having with some friends, I decided to do a book/reading theme for the table in honor of my little lady. So, here is my Thanksgiving Table Setting.

My table is so big that a normal table runner is too short so I ended up making my own runner by layering two tablecloths. I made place cards with pine cones, a craft punch, and hand wrote each name with a sharpie. I also made napkin rings with recycled book pages and ribbon. I adorned the table with some antique books I have in my collection. I added some natural elements like shells, nuts, pine cones, and moss to glass containers. I used some pine cones that we found on a walk we had the other day and spread them randomly on the table. I also spray painted some mini pumpkins left over from Halloween.

Tip: Pumpkins always go on sale after Halloween. Some places give them away for free! They can’t get rid of the fast enough.

Here are some more pictures.

Pass it on!

Category : Holidays

Tags : Christmas, Recycled Book Pages, Thanksgiving, Theme Party Ideas

0 Comm

14th Nov2012

Recycled T Shirt Bunting

by Dinah Wulf

I wanted to spruce up my mantle for the holidays so I decided to make a Thanksgiving banner. Naturally, I wanted to use recycled materials so I found an old wrinkled cotton T shirt in my husband’s side of the closet (my side is neat and tidy of course!). There was a huge stain on the front right on the chest so this was perfect for my recycled T shirt bunting.

Here are the materials you will need:

Old clothing item
Scissors
Pencil
Ruler
Paper (to make your flag pattern)
Iron
Spray starch
Fabric paint
Spouncer
Stencils
Ribbon or rope
Hot glue

Instructions:

Step One: Grab and old T shirt or any other piece of clothing. Feel free to play with colors and textures.

Step Two: Make your flag pattern. I used a piece of cardstock (8”X6”). It’s easiest to start with a rectangle, measure the center of one end, and draw a diagonal line from one corner to the center mark for both sides and cut.

Step Three: Cut out your flags. I chose to spell out “Give Thanks”.

Step Four: Lay out your flags to iron and spray it with starch.

Step Five: Iron your flags.

Step Six: Stencil your letters using a spouncer. I chose green my favorite color! Check out my stenciling tips I from my stenciled place mat project. You can purchase these stencils online.

Step Seven: Allow your letters to dry and then hot glue each flag to your rope. I bought 3 yards of rope they had on sale for the holidays and cut it in half. It was perfect for my recycled T shirt banner!

Here are some AFTER photos.

I took these during the day…

Pass it on!

Category : Crafts, Holidays, Trash To Treasure

Tags : Baby Shower Ideas, Birthday Party Ideas, Bridal Shower Ideas, Christmas, Recycling Ideas, Repurposing Ideas, Stenciling, Thanksgiving, Upcycling Ideas, Wedding Ideas

3 Comm

12th Nov2012

Easy Fall Centerpiece

by Dinah Wulf

I don’t usually have a ton of Fall decorations at my house. I always jump from Halloween to Christmas. I have no idea what happens in between! I have seen so many inspiring ideas out there too. I thought I’d better get a move on it. So, this year I decided to take on some simple decorations. I’m hoping to have people over for Thanksgiving this year, AKA good excuse to make the house look pretty. I like this centerpiece idea is because it’s inexpensive, easy, and requires no storage because it’s made from real pumpkins and greenery from my back yard. I already have too many boxes of Halloween and Christmas in my garage…hmmm…maybe that’s why I don’t decorate for Fall! Here is how I made my Easy Fall Centerpiece.

For this project you will need:

small pumpkins
spray paint
newspaper
greenery
recycled jars
vintage tool box or other container
tea lights

I bought a bag of small pumpkins at the grocery store. These are typically about $5.00 or less (at least around here).

I spray painted them with metallic silver spray paint in a well-ventilated area.

Next I cut some greenery from my back yard.

I used a vintage toolbox I bought from one of my flea market trips months ago. I filled it with the greenery and recycled mason jars.

Finally, I added the spray painted pumpkins and tea lights.

That’s it! Easy peasey!! Here are some after pictures.

Have you signed up for my emails? I’d love it if you did!

Pass it on!

Category : Holidays

Tags : Centerpieces, Decorating Ideas, Dinah's Tutorials, Mason Jar Crafts, Thanksgiving

2 Comm

09th Nov2012

Thanksgiving Cocktail Recipes

by Dinah Wulf

Thanksgiving Cocktail Recipes

{Via}

Pumpkin flavored pie, muffins, bread pudding, lattes, beer, and cocktails!!!!

I love this time of year!!!

•<~>•<~>•<~>•<~>•<~>•<~>•<~>•

White Pumpkin Cocktail recipe:

Ingredients:

1¼ oz. Vanilla Rhum
¾ oz. White Crème de Cacao liqueur
1½ oz. Pumpkin Butter
½ oz. 2% Whole Organic Milk

Instructions:

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine rhum, pumpkin butter, liqueur and milk. Shake well and pour all contents including the ice in a tall mug.

Spiked Nutty Pumpkin Hot Chocolate recipe:

Ingredients:

¾ oz. Jameson Irish Whiskey
¾ oz. Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur
½ oz. Frangelico Hazelnut Liqueur
1½ oz. 2% Whole Organic Milk
Hersey’s Caramel syrup

Instruction:

Warm the finished pumpkin butter and milk on the stovetop (be careful not to burn). Stir till mixture is completely dissolved. Pour the rhum and liqueur into a footed mug. Finish mug by filling with pumpkin milk and top with whipped cream. Drizzle whipped cream with caramel syrup.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Pumpkin Butter recipe:

Ingredients:

1 Pumpkin (small size; equivalent to ½ pound of purée)
Pinch salt
½ lbs. Unsalted Butter (real butter)
1½ tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1½ tsp. Ground Nutmeg
1½ tsp. Ground Allspice
½ tsp. Ground Cloves
4 oz. Dark Brown Sugar
Pure Maple syrup

Instructions:

Heat oven to 400°F.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Whenever using an electric blender make a cocktail always check the manufacture manual to verify that you can without damaging your blender.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

DRINK RESPONSIBLE & DRINK SMART!HaPpY HoLiDaYs!!!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Check out all of David’s FANTASTIC cocktail party recipes! Find the perfect one for any occasion.

Pass it on!

Category : Cocktail Corner

Tags : David Edessa, Guest Author, Thanksgiving

0 Comm

22nd Nov2011

Simple Place Card Settings

by Dinah Wulf

Here are some simple place card settings that you can make in a jiffy.

This pear place card is perfect for a Fall party or for Thanksgiving and extremely easy to make. I bought inexpensive foam pears and pinned a black and white picture of each guest at their place setting. I embellished them with ribbon and scrapbook paper. There’s no need to spend money on photo paper, as plain white paper works well. Additionally, your guests can take them home as a favor.

Tip: If you are lacking photos of your guests, look for recent photos of them on Facebook or other social media sites.

For all you winos, you can also use recycled wine corks and scrapbook paper. I cut a slit on top and cut off the rounded bottom with a sharp knife so they will stand straight… super simple and inexpensive! I used them as food labels for a Wine Tasting Party, but they will also work nicely for place card settings.

Using natural elements makes a great table scape at this time of year. Use fruit or vegetables from the refrigerator tied with twine or foliage or flowers from right your back yard. Use a festive pretty ribbon from your craft or gift wrapping closet. Also consider using a branch of berries. For some pictured below, I used a craft punch for the tag.