Baby Shower Gift Wrap (It’s a Girl!)

My good friend is having a baby in May and her shower is coming up. I decided to go with brown paper and yellow, green and white ribbon with a touch of pink tulle. This is a really simple way to jazz up any gift.

The best way to tack the ribbon down is to use a little dot of hot glue. It holds well and is easy to pop off when unwrapping the gift. I start with a large ribbon, then layer smaller ribbons on top.

For the finishing touch, I added light pink tulle to create a sheer layer over the ribbons and also to create a bow. I needed some pops of pink since it’s a girl!

Easy gift wrap on the cheap!

Brown paper, Dollar Tree

Ribbon, JoAnn’s…sometimes found at the Dollar Tree or in thrift stores

Handmade Hair Pins

by ecscobey, 2014

Here’s what happens when you get 3 unexpected snow days. I got a lot of things made in those 3 days.

Eventually, when I get my act together, I’ll start selling these on Etsy. Someday…

Throughout this process, I figured out that you can peel large chunks off of feathers to create a slimmer feather.

Pretty handy trick!

Also showcasing my gray/black arrow nails.

I also figured out that you can paint bobby pins. Talk about a revelation!

@All images copyright to Erin Scobey, 2014.

Avocado Hummus and BBQ Tater Bites

 

I went to Wild Cow the other day and ordered this amazing Chick Pea Salad that had a pile of yummy hummus on top. It was super delicious and I decided I’d try to recreate it.

The BBQ Tater Bites were created out of too many awesome leftovers of things I shouldn’t really be eating…so in order to make myself feel less guilty about eating potatoes and barbeque, I made these small bites.

Slice leftover baked potato into 1/2 inch slices. Slather butter onto potato slice. Add a pile of BBQ, sprinkle with cheddar cheese and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until cheese is golden and bubbly.

I put a dollop of sour cream on top and served with a side of Avocado Hummus!

Avocado Hummus Recipe:

1 can chick peas (rinsed and drained)

1 avocado chopped

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

handful of sunflower seeds

salt/pepper/garlic powder …(I find that putting minced garlic in my hummus makes it way too strong)

2 tbs. chopped red onion  (just learned how to soak chopped onion in cool water for 10 minutes to make it less onion-y in a good way )

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until consistency is to your liking.

<- Great texture here!

Tree Branch Wreath

 

Materials:

Depending on what you have laying around your house, this wreath could essentially be free. But in the event you aren’t a hoarder like me, you may need the following:

green/yellow felt

hot glue gun and glue sticks

tree branches

scissors

moss/green things

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Step One:

Gather a bunch of fallen tree branches from your yard. (Include curious cats…)

Step Two:

Make a strong cup of coffee and find a Matlock marathon on tv to watch.

Step Three:

Plug in the hot glue gun and start breaking branches to the length you want. Mine turned out roughly 8”x10”…could be bigger…however, I’d probably wrap the corners with some hemp to reinforce a large wreath. These are really cute small also, as you’ll see in a minute.

 

I started with 4 sticks…and glued the spots where the sticks naturally rested on the other branches. I created about 4 layers of sticks stacked on top of each other, so about twenty sticks total.

Step Four:

Gather felt and random green things you have.

To make rosettes:

Cut varying sizes of circles from the felt and spiral cut from the outside to the center.

Use hot glue to tack the felt together…start in the center and curl around like a flower.

Step Five:

Attach rosettes with hot glue into the corners of your tree branch wreath.

Leftover wreaths….I had a whole pile of great branches left over and I couldn’t help myself, so I started making mini-wreaths.

I have had these little green plastic succulent looking plants for awhile and I finally found a good use for them.

Luckily, I have a wonderful wood working husband who cuts these little gems for me. I started hot gluing these wooden discs to the mini-tree branch wreaths and I love the way these turned out. I’m thinking wedding centerpieces with votive candles! Or, these would be good for a natural picture frame….or, you could purchase a very simple flat wooden picture frame and use that ready made frame to hot glue these little wooden discs to. Lots of amazing things to be done with wooden discs and tree branches.