“Tie”-dyed Eggs

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I’m not sure if you saw this video circulating Facebook a couple of weeks ago, but when I did I knew I had to try it. I don’t normally take the leap from ‘like’ to ‘do’ when I see these videos (the majority of which are cooking videos that in 30 seconds and with just a few ingredients, result in an ooey-gooey, calorie-laden, fully-baked dessert) but this video was different.  I actually had all the materials close at hand and it looked simple enough to do with my girls. (*Links to videos below)

About a month ago I did a closet clean-out and came across some really old ties.  Honestly, I can’t believe my husband has hung onto these for over 25 years! I do understand some things have sentimental value, but these ties?? They were just ugly and hadn’t seen the light of day for decades!  So, why not recycle them and create something beautiful? No old ties in your closet? No problem! Really any piece of 100% silk fabric will work, so an old scarf would work too. Also, I’m sure you could find some really inexpensive ties or scarves at a thrift store.  Just be sure to read the labels because only silk fabric will work.

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You’ll need white eggs, squares of 100% silk fabric, string or twine or twisty-ties, white cotton fabric from old t-shirts or muslin, vinegar, water, and a stainless steel or enamel coated pot.

Getting crafty: Tissue Paper Flowers

Spring paper flower

Spring has sprung and seeing colorful flowers in bloom make me so happy!  I happened to have plenty of tissue paper and pipe cleaners on hand, so why not make our very own bright, colorful flowers?

It’s really quite easy and there are steps that my daughter’s nimble little fingers can do as well.  These flowers can be used as decorations for anything from a birthday party to a backyard BBQ.  The pipe cleaners make it easy to attach them almost anywhere.  I wanted to make my plain white flowers a little more cheerful for our Spring celebration so we sprayed them with a light mist of liquid watercolors. (I ordered mine here. Easy to wash off and clean up!!)  If you don’t have liquid watercolor I’m sure a bit of water with a few drops of food coloring would work as well.  Just be sure to use a spray bottle with a fine mist so that you don’t wet the delicate paper too much!   If you do have colorful tissue paper, then have fun with layering different colors colors together.  Each flower will be beautifully unique!

Step 1: Gather your supplies – 6 sheets of tissue paper per flower (cut your rectangular sheets into squares), pipe cleaners (I used green so that we could have green stems), safety scissors

Step 2: Stack the 6 sheets of tissue paper neatly and fold one side over about 1″.  Turn the stack over and fold back the same width.  Continue until it’s all folded up like a fan