Crystal Trees, All Fancied Up! #Crystals #Crafts #ArtsAndCrafts Yay! : )

Pink Crystal Tree, even prettier! lol!

Yellow and Purple Crystal Tree -- so easy and fun to make, and so very pretty!

These wee Crystal Trees are super easy to make, and you'll only need the pre-made colored clay pot and tree from the Dollar Store (how much are they??  lol!  A DOLLAR! Looove the Dollar Store!) -- they'll probably be in the Easter section, with all the other pastel things! 

The 'crystals' come from a different Dollar Store, and are $2 a package, and they have a little hole in the top of each crystal.

Take the wire part of the tree top, and separate the wires out,  they'll be covered in white tape, so the wire will be thick enough to hold the crystals in place without glue (although, you could easily add some glue if that happens to appeal to you!).  Just put one crystal on the end of each wire 'banch', and loop around once to secure the crystal. I like the crystals to hang, so I like them loose, but if you feel like adding the glue, you probably won't need to loop the wire, just glue the crystal on straight to the end of the wire branch.

I really love bling (clearly! lol!), so I put a little pile of crystals around the base of the tree, too -- all very pretty, and makes a lovely wee Easter Gift.   The crystals will cast light and rainbows around the room, so all very pretty!  You can make rainbow wishes all day long, if you like! lol!

I found some lovely 'branches' at Michael's, pulled them apart, and pushed them into the pot around the Crystal Tree, to surround the Crystal Tree with the Flowering Branches.

I had initially just gone into Michael's to look for the tiny roses, I thought they would be soo pretty around the base of the Crystal Trees, and look how nicely they turned out!  I loove to look at them!  Will be hard to part with them, but they make lovely wee gifts : )

It's impossible for me to ever make just one of anything! lol!

The 'original' Yellow Crystal Tree -- so pretty for Easter, or any time of year : )

I am clearly obsessed with thee lovely little Crystal Trees -- and they cast little rainbows all around the room -- soo pretty!

$25 Off with $250 Purchase, Coupon Code: AFOCTWS25 valid from 10/15/2012 to 10/22/2012, First Come Fist Served from Alibaba.com, a great place to find all your craft needs! : )

Enjoy FREE SHIPPING with code SHIP99 Purchases of +$99 or more!

This WEEKEND ONLY! UP TO 80% OFF* SHOP NOW from Saks Off 5TH

ALL-NEW SHOE & BAGS UP TO 70% OFF* Dolce Vita, Halston Heritage, Love Moschino, ZAC Zac Posen and more 

SHOP NOWTHE YAY-IT'S-SUMMER-SALE! TAKE AN EXTRA 20% OFF* USE CODE SUMMER18 

SHOP NOWShipping is now a Global Affair! Guess what? We offer international shipping! Shop Now!$15 CAD Shipping on Orders of $125 CAD or More*$19.95 Shipping on Orders Above $100 for Hong Kong, Mexico, China, Taiwan, UK, Germany, and the Netherlands!

Blown and Painted Easter Eggs - They'll Last Forever! #EasterEggs #Easter!

Is this a Giant Strawberry??  Nooo, it's a blown Easter Egg, cleverly disguised as a strawberry! lol!

These little Blown Easter Eggs are so easy to make, and a lot of fun no matter what age you are, but will be tricky for the younger set to do without a fair bit of help.  Blowing out the eggs is really an adult job (insert jokes here for your own amusement! lol!).  The key is to use a really long nail (from the hardware store) or a turkey skewer thing... looks like a long nail, but is maybe used for holding the turkey legs together??  Lol!  Canny remember what that thing is for, I only use it for blowing eggs! hahaha!  (I'm making myself laugh, now! 'Course, you know what they say about me, I'm an easy laugh... man, I hope that's what they're saying, but you can never trust 'they'... hahahahaha!) 

So you can start with a dozen eggs, if you like, get a bowl, and whatever you've decided to use to make a hole in the top and the bottom of the egg.  It will need to be long enough to go right through the egg to comletely pierce the yolk, since that will never go through the hole intact.... silly!  The easiest way to make the whole in the egg at the top, is to wiggle the nail at the top a bit -- don't try to force it, will most likely result in a big mess, and who wants that? Nope, just take your time, it'll be easier than you might think.  Make sure the bottom hole is bigger than the top hole, but not too much bigger... maybe an 1/8", but don't despair if it's closer to 1/4"... the bottom of the egg won't be seen as much, and you could always cover it with a gem, or something, right? : )

Now, this is the fun part... Gently cover the top hole with your mouth.  Gently blow the egg out the bottom. Will seem slow at first, then whoosh, out it comes.  Directly in the bowl, if you're lucky.  haha!  Of course it'll go in the bowl, provided you remembered to put one there! lol!  

Hold the blown egg over a steady stream of water in the sink, and rinse the egg out.  Might want to use the bottom of the egg with the bigger hole for this rinsing stage.  Let some water go in the egg, cover both ends of the egg and shake it about, rinse it through, again.  The goal is for your egg to have NO smell, not even after sitting around for a number of days, weeks, months, years... you get the idea! 

Set each egg back in the egg carton, tilted to the side of each segment, so the egg can drain and dry completely.  

Once your eggs are completely empty and dry, you're ready to paint.  They will be virtually indestructible, so don't worry about them crushing in your hands when you're painting or decorating them... you should be fine, but a little care goes a long way, as with everything : )

I have decorated the blown eggs in sooo many different ways over the years.  Before my lovely children were born, I must have had a massive amount of free time (oh, and that was pre-internet, so maybe that's why I had so much free time! hahaha!), but I would go out and find all these gorgeous embroidery threads with a glittery streak in them, and carefully tuck the end of the embroidery thread in the bottom hole of the egg, then wind the embroidery thread around and around the egg, no spaces, until the whole egg was covered in the thread.  They were gorgeous.  I would make up baskets of these lovely Embroidery Easter Eggs for all the people I really liked (if I like you, you will know it by the amount of stuff I make for you! lol! Baking, crafts, babies... no, wait, that last one is not the same thing... hahahaha!)

Painting the Blown Easter Eggs is by far the easiest, and a lot of fun for the kids -- a great gift for parents, if you're still allowed to acknowledge Easter in your school, and you're still allowed to teach Art in your class (this part is for the teachers! lol!)... but you can decorate them with glitter, just rub the egg with glue, carefully sprinkle with glitter... that tiny, tiny glitter is pricey, but, man, is it gorgeous, and the kids will go crazy, they'll look so lovely.  A great gift for Mom.  Oh, hey, you could make these for Mother's Day -- there, pretty sure they can't stop Mother's Day! haha! 

You can paint anything on your eggs... the strawberry was particularly easy, since it's all red, green for the leaves, little black dots for the seeds, and voila, a giant strawberry!  I have standard painting for eggs, ones that I do on every single Easter Egg I've ever painted (um, well, errr, that's a lot of Easter Eggs, over the years!)  I'll link you to y other Easter Egg page, in case you'd like to try Rolling Your Eggs at Easter... signifies the rolling of the stone from Jesus' Tomb (this is my favorite Scottish Easter Tradition!)... plus, is a lot of fun! 

Okay, have fun with your Easter Egg Decorating!  Be creative, you'll love it! 

Oh, and if you want to hang your Easter Eggs, say from a tree, the window, your Flower Tree (should that catch on! lol!), just use some yarn or embroidery thread, make a small knot at the bottom (small enough to go through the bottom hole in your egg, but big enough not to come straight through the top hole in your egg...!)... use an embroidery needle for this step... then either make a loop and go back through the top hole and tie off at the end, or make a loop and tie it at the top (much easier!).  There you go, Easter Eggs that will last for years! 

A closer look at the Easter Egg, blown by piercing each end of the egg, the bottom a little bigger than the top, pierce all the way through the egg so the yolk breaks (and your jaw doesn't! lol!), all decorated up! 

Marshmallow Bunnies for Easter

Oooh, this is my standard picture I paint on my boiled eggs every Easter!  The other side is a mountain scene with evergreens, a mountain lake and 2 deer at the side of the lake and a sunset over the mountains -- have no idea why those are my two 'go-to' pictures! 

Oh, maybe a bit silly, or, as I prefer it, sweeeet,  but this is my Christmas Tree turned into a Flower Tree, and there's my wee Strawberry Easter Egg hanging in the middle! Cute, right? Those are just flowers I've collected, many of them clips for my jackets, sometimes I pin the flowers to my purse, and mostly I use the flowers to hold the top of my dresses closed so I show less cleavage... man, the amount of cleavage that is normal in Los Angeles, and the tiny amount of cleavage that seems to be okay in Canada... especially in this little conservative area... hmmmm, perhaps this area is not for me, 'cause I gots'ta be free to be me, if you knows what I mean! lol! 

Decorate your Hard Boiled Easter Eggs for Easter... Rolling your Easter Eggs down a hill : ) (Scottish Easter Tradition, and a lovely Family experience!

Happy Easter!! Ailsa xox

Get $10 off any order of Thinner-U, start losing pounds and save $10 when you enter GETSLIM in the coupon code. $25 Off with $250 Purchase, Coupon Code: AFOCTWS25 valid from 10/15/2012 to 10/22/2012, First Come Fist Served from Alibaba.com, a great place to find all your craft needs! : )  Well, you know I was a Cat Woman - that's my kind'a costume - lol!

#EasterCrafts: Marshmallow Bunnies #Easter #Bunnies #Marshmallow #SoCute #Teaching #EasterCards

I love to teach children how to make these sweet little Marshmallow Bunnies (although, truth be told, the adults sometimes love making them even more, they're so incredibly cute! lol!).  When my son, Aidan, was in Kindergarten, I was in at Aidan's new School (which we looooved!) to teach the Kindergarten Kids how to make the Marshmallow Bunnies. They're extra-cute (the children and the Bunnies!), so I thought I'd show you a few pictures and make a new page to let you try it at home with any small people you might know (or yourself, if you should, perhaps, have a certain yen for marshmallows and bunnies ... and some time on your hands!). It takes about 20 minutes to make the Bunnies, and the Kids love them.

Aren't these little Marshmallow Bunnies cute?? Aidan , who was 6 at the time, and I made the Sample Bunnies at home (that was our the Kitchen Island). It's fun to do wee crafty things with your Children, and they tend to remember doing stuff like this more than half the really expensive things you do with them, so if you have a bag of marshmallows kickin' around the house, try these out!

Supplies:

Large Marshmallows

Miniature Marshmallows

Icing Sugar (I use the Tubes of White Icing Sugar for ease...)

Food Coloring (I get the 4 Pack of Red, Yellow, Green & Blue)

Toothpicks

Coconut

Jelly Beans

Candy 'Buttons' (They're in the Cake Decorating Section in the Baking Aisleof Your Grocery Store)


Cupcake Holders or Plastic 'Eggs' that open.

Directions:

1. Take Two Large Marshmallows and 'glue' them together with a blob of White Icing.

2. Take One Miniature Marshmallow and cut it in half. Squish up the top of each half so they look like Bunny Ears.

3. Set out your Food Coloring like you are going to paint a picture. I put one drop of each color (red, green, blue, and yellow) on a plate, each with it's own place. Then make a 'large drop of color' with a drop each of Red, Blue and Yellow to make the 'black' you will use for the Nose and Whiskers. You can add one drop of water onto the food coloring if you need more color. Pink is made from watered down Red, so just play with it until the color is the way you like it.

4. Using a toothpick, dip the toothpick into the Red or Pink Color and carefully fill in the inside of the miniature Marshmallow 'Ears'. Set these aside to dry.

5. Using the other side of the Toothpick, dip it into the Blue or Green Dye, and draw on a nice pair of Eyes. Then use the Black color for the Nose, Mouth and Whiskers. Draw an upside down triangle for the Nose, little 'j', backwards 'j' for the mouth, then three little whiskers on each side.

6. Put some Coconut in a baggie or a bowl, and add a few drops of Green Food Coloring. Mix well. I always use a baggie and just shake it all up -- much faster.

7. Use a small amount of Icing to attach the Candy Buttons to the Bunny's Body. If your Bunny seems unstable (and it's too late for Therapy...) add another Mianiature Marshmallow for the Tail -- just attach it using Icing.

8. Put some Icing on the Bunny's Head to stick the Ears on. Press lightly to make them stay in place.

9. Put some of the 'Coconut Grass' in the bottom of the Cupcake Paper Holder, then gently place the Bunny in his (or her) 'Nest'. Put some Jelly Beans around the Bunny so they look like Easter Eggs. Cute, eh??

10. For the 'Tiny Bunnies', follow the same instructions, only use all Miniature Marshmallows and cut the Ears from One mini-marshmallow in half, then half again (okay, quarter it...). One Third of that tiny cut up mini-marshmallow can be used as the Tail. Open up the Plastic Egg, put in a small amount of 'Coconut Grass', the Bunny, a little more 'grass', then sprinkle on some tiny Candy Buttons. Very Pretty. (I mean you, but also, the bunnies are cute, too! ha,ha,ha!)

Live, Love and Laugh, Baby!  Ailsa!

Aaawww, I wish I could get this pic larger, but I must have taken it at an odd resolution,or something - gets too blurry when I make it larger, but maybe it'll be a good size on you' iPhone! lol! : )

These teensy weensy Baby Bunnies are made with the Miniature Marshmallows, and they are hiiill-arious! Omg, they're funny, they're cute, you'll all love them!

And they fit right in the little plastic eggs you can pick up anywhere : )

Oh, man, these are soo cute! I love them! The kids love them - everybody will love them!

This is my 'old' kitchen - I am desperate, and I mean, desperate, to build another house - I think I will either build this same house with just a four foot frost wall, since we live in a very mild climate, now, and you can get away with that, here - I'm afraid to go downstairs by myself, anyway, soo, totally works out for me, one way or another - hahahaha!

Here's how you can Build Your Own House,
or get lots of
great ideas for your own House Renovations! : )









My favorite books to start with, with Louise Hay - You Can Heal Your Life - brilliant, and it really WILL change your life... and Meditations for Daily Living - think that's the right title  - is so lovely, you'll love it - all very heartwarming, very clarifying... and Louise Hay has a tiny little book,
 I Can Do It - looove it, you'll love it, too... I love all of Louise's books... so lovely and life-changing : ) https://buildyourownhousebodylife.blogspot.com/2014/11/louisehay-you-can-heal-your-life.html




Easter Bird's Nests - they would be soo cute! For sure, I'm gonna make them, now that the idea is in mah' head! lol! : )

Oh, and here's something I think I'm gonna do for Easter Treats, this year - I just 'made up' this Chocolate RaisinBran 'recipe', after Christmas, when we had sooo much extra chocolate - for real - who would ever think I would have tooo much chocolate, or any chocolate that could be referred to as 'extra' chocolate, right? haha! But we did, and so I made these...

http://buildyourownhousebodylife.blogspot.ca/2016/02/chocolate-treats-what-to-do-with-all.html

So, see how it's in a giant piece in my hand? I was thinking, why not shape it into little 'nests', right, in a muffin pan, or in little cupcake holders, then place 2 or 3 little delicious Cadbury Eggs in each nest - or jelly beans - anything cute and colorful, to look like little pretty bird's eggs : )

Wouldn't that be soo cute? I'm'a gonna do it! lol! Will be delicious, and super-cute! : )

I'll post the pics when I get around to making these! : )

You can melt any chocolate, maybe a bag of chocolate chips, depending on how much you want to make - a little or a lot - me always makes a lot of everything - it's in mah' nature, I need a lot of everything - hahaha! Hello, excess, my old friend! lol! : )

#TheSimpsons Love it! Long time Simpsons Fan, AND, I even wrote 3 Simpsons Spec Scripts, back in the day - how's that for Early Fan Fiction? lol!
 Donuts always remind me of Homer Simpson! lol!
It's so nice to get a lovely card, and so nice to give a lovely card - I used to spend soo much time in the card aisle, trying to find just the right card, but now it's so super-easy, and you can really personalize your cards, too - #SoCool!




Man, I love sending Cards - and I'm a big fan of sending a lovely card for all sorts of occasions - it's soo much fun to get a card from your friends and family, right?  Makes you feel all special and loved 'n all! lol! I'm definitely gonna take advantage of a great deal  : )