Thursday, March 29, 2012

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
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Sunday, March 25, 2012

Mushroom Spaghetti - A Delicious Meal in 10 Minutes : ) #MushroomSoup #Under$5Meals #Mushrooms #Spaghetti #Yum!

Tasty Mushroom Spaghetti, simple and delicious : )

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This is a simple, but crazy delicious little meal... sooo easy to make, and the kids will love, it, too : )

You can make this meal for well under $5.00 - really, if your Mushroom Soup is, say, 50 cents a can, and the Spaghetti is a dollar, or less, you're looking at $2.00 to $3.00, depending on how much you like to use... and if you add in the mushrooms, there's another couple of bucks, right there... so, under $5,00 for this meal, one way or another, and will easily feed 4, maybe more : ) - in case you have been following the thing where Gwyneth Paltrow was given the challenge of buying food for a week for $29, and for bringing that to light, since I don't know how well known that information was - how much money many people have to make stretch, to feed themselves and their families, in America - the $29/week budget... not easy, that's for sure... so I hope this little recie for Mushroom Pasta helps, too : )

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But this is delicious, one way or another, whether you
re on a budget, or not, is a delicious little comfort food meal, and the kids will love it : )

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Mushroom Spaghetti - yum!

2 - 3 cans of Mushroom Soup
1/2 can of milk, for easy measuring : )
1 package Mushrooms, sliced, sauteed in butter and a little Seasoning Salt (optional - is just as delicious all on it's own)
Spaghetti, about 3/4 a package - or make it all - depends on how many people you have, to feed, right? lol!

You don't have to add the extra mushrooms, but, man, are they ever delicious!


Directions: 

While the pasta is cooking, pour the two cans of mushroom soup in a bowl and gently mix in the 1/2 can of milk. (And milk is good for you, no matter what you've heard, lately... ; ) Cover with a plate and pop in the microwave for 6 or 7 minutes.

Clean and slice the mushrooms.  Yum, I love them, already! lol!

Heat the frying pan with about a tablespoon of butter.  Put the mushrooms in the frying pan, saute for a few minutes, sprinkle on some Seasoning Salt.  Get as fancy as you like with what you add, spice-wise... onion powder, garlic powder, garlic salt... sometimes we just like a really simple meal, so I just use the seasoning salt and, of course, a wee bit of butter (nothing wrong with butter, either... all natural, your body knows what to do with anything that God made... lol!)(Are you wondering where God makes all that butter, or thinking, oooh, that's why everything's better with butter!! hahahaha!).

Drain spaghetti, then run cold water over it so it won't be sticky, then serve! Is so simple and delicious, this super-easy Mushroom Spaghetti!  Enjoy! Ailsa xox!

Health Benefits of Mushrooms... see, they're not just delicious, they're good for you, too! lol!

Easy variations:  Use 1 can Mushroom Soup, 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup : )
                         Use 1 can Mushroom Soup, 1 can Cream of Celery Soup... but I'm saving my Cream of Celery Soup because I bought a lovely stalk of Celery, today, so I'll chop that up and add it to the Cream of Celery Soup... will be delicious!  You can add the same veggie to any of the Campbell's Cream Soups, and they will be sooo delicious, you'll love them -- Cook Broccoli Florets add to Cream of Broccoli Soup -- will be soo lovely, or add cauliflower florets... I love adding extra veggies to any meal -- really makes your meals healthier, and much more delicious : )

Crystal Trees - Great Holiday Craft and Gifts! #Easter! #EasterCrafts

Pretty little Yellow Crystal Tree 

Easy to make Crystal Tree... about $3 - for real!  : )

Now I can't stop making these pretty little Crystal Trees! lol!

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!


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