Houseful of Handmade had a great looking feature a few weeks ago where the blog owner (Kati) created paper lanterns that look like they are heavy metal versions. (Ha – Heavy Metal – I didn’t mean it like that).
I’ve been making tea light boxes since the first weekend I owned my Silhouette Cameo so I knew these were going to be fun.
And HOH has a digital download library that’s free if you’ll sign up for her newsletter (which you should, because it’s also good).
Mid February through late March are an interesting craft time for me. There aren’t many holidays (we don’t celebrate St. Patrick’s Day), so it’s kind of a weird let down after the rush of Christmas, Super Bowl and Valentine’s themes.
We’ve always loved birds, and owls in particular are a treat when we hear them at night calling at each other. And they make a great craft profile with their easily exaggerated features.
So down with the paper chain hearts and up with my owls!
Click the red arrow to see how I made this. And the cut file is available as a free download at the end of this post.
I’ve seen this craft quite a bit, most recently an old post from hellolittlehouse.com surfaced somewhere in my line of sight (maybe Pinterest?), and I realized I really wanted to try it.
The weather last week has been unusually warm, so I wanted to stay outside for a bit. A nature craft fit my needs perfectly.
Our house is in a older neighborhood, and while that does have it’s downsides (older house = lots of things to fix, most of them expensive), it also means we have huge towering oak and gum trees in the yard. Not those spindly trees you see in the new subdivisions. Oh, their doors probably open and close correctly, and they probably don’t have any cracks in their walls or ceilings, but they simply do not have game when it comes to sticks and leaves for crafts.
The basics of this craft are cut out a letter shape, fill with cut-down-to-size sticks.
A good bit of my kitchen repertoire is based on dump and run recipes. You know the technique – a couple of cans of easy to acquire ingredients, combined with a few fresh ones, some time in the fridge or on the stove, and voila!
This one is extremely loosely based on a dish a co-worker brought to a potluck. Known as Texas Caviar or Cowboy Caviar, there are literally hundreds of recipes out there. It’s usually presented as a side salad or a dip for Fritos or those bowl shaped Tostitos.
The problem with all of them is they are loaded with a lot of fat, salt and high carb items. A few years ago, we radically changed our food plan because we were dealing with the carb counting challenge that a Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis brings. (BIG DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor or a nutritionist. Consult one or both for best management of a major health condition).
