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DIY Upcycled Glass Flower Vases

I was browsing in one of my favorite stores, World Market, and came across these beautiful decorative vases. They looked like something I could make at home, so I thought I’d try to come up with a DIY version. I think you’ll like how easy {and inexpensive} these Upcycled Glass Flower Vases are. You could give them as gifts, use as table centerpieces or keep them around to hold fresh flowers.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Once you buy these tools you can use them for any polymer clay projects, but make sure to only use them with polymer clay and not on food items.

Glass jars come in so many shapes and sizes. I’ve been saving these for awhile now for a project just like this.

These polymer clay flowers are easier than they look. This was my first time working with polymer clay so I followed this video tutorial on making flowers {It’s like playing with grown up play doh!} Once you have shaped your flowers, bake them in the oven according to the polymer package directions.

Simply spray paint your flowers and glass jars and let them dry. Once they are dry you can arrange your flowers on the vases and secure with super glue. {I’m thinking a shiny turquoise spray paint would look amazing too! Experiment with different colors if you don’t like the plain white.}

Here are a few of the finished products. I just love how the mason jar turned out.

You can leave them as decorative vases or they can hold fresh flowers.

The wine bottle is my favorite, so sleek and simple!

I would love to see your finished DIY Upcycled Polymer Flower Vases!

Homemade Valentine’s Day Mints

I had a vision of mints the other day.

Cute, mini, glittery, heart mints for Valentine’s Day.

They are soo much better than those conversation hearts.

First you need a teeny tiny heart cookie cutter (I used this mini heart fondant cutter) or you could use a mini heart mold. I believe using a mold is the typical way to make mints.. but I didn’t have one so I improvised. This way works just fine!

For these hearts you can use a basic mint or cream cheese mint recipe. You first mix 2 Tbs softened butter, 1 Tbs Crisco, 1-2 tsp Peppermint Extract and 1/2 pound of powdered sugar. It should be clumpy. Add 1 Tbs hot water at a time (usually around 2-3 Tbs hot water total) until the mixture can easily be rolled into a ball without being too sticky.

If you want to make different colored or flavored mints, separate your mixture and add your desired food coloring or flavor.

Roll each color into a ball and place on a cutting board with powdered sugar. Roll out each ball flat until it reaches about 1/4 inch.

You want to wait about 10-15 minutes before you cut out your hearts or they will be too soft to handle.

Make sure you dip your cookie cutter in powdered sugar.

The trick to not get the hearts stuck in the cookie cutter is to press down quick and hard. If the mint gets stuck in the cutter, either wait a few minutes longer before continuing or just tap the cookie cutter on the cutting board until your mint comes out.

These are chocolate mints. I added a bit of cocoa powder to the mixture.

You want to then wait another 10-15 minutes after you’ve cut out your hearts. This makes it super easy to remove the surrounding dough and your hearts will come right out. If you want to add Edible Glitter now’s the time. Then place your mints on a cookie sheet and leave out for a few hours.

Then share with your friends and family! Happy Valentine’s Day!

Layering Scarves

First of all, I don’t claim to be a fashionista or someone you would be envious of fashion-wise. I don’t spend a lot of money on myself, nor do I want to.

Ok, ok…

there are sometimes when I wish I could be like many other women my age and go in for a massage or facial or buy the latest fashions, but I make due with what I’ve got. That’s why I like to give myself manicures and homemade facials and layer clothing to achieve different outfits.

That’s where scarves come in.

One of my favorite new things is to layer scarves. The different textures and colors bring an interesting twist to an outfit.


I don’t know if this is actually a scarf per say, but my younger sister who is in Napa Valley for culinary school bought me this beauty for Christmas from Baksheesh, a fair trade retailer in St. Helena

And this is your basic cotton infinity scarf.


and voila!

Look how different they look when worn together!

Ok…go to your closet right now and experiment!