Gumball Machine Candy Holder

Here is another project I stumbled across on Pinterest and had to try. 

All you need is a flower pot and saucer, a wooden ball (flat bottomed),

a glass bowl, and paint & ribbon.

I started by glueing the wooden ball in the center of the bottom of the saucer. 

I used E6000 glue. This was my first time using it and it's so great!

So many people rave about it and now I know what they're talking about. 

It's really strong and dries so much faster than Gorilla Glue. 

I painted the saucer and flower pot with two coats

of black acrylic paint from the dollar store. 

It looked a bit chalky so when it was dry I sprayed the pieces 

with a couple of coats of clear gloss sealer.

You have to be careful here not to spray it on too thick or it will run.

After everything had dried completely 

I glued the glass bowl to the bottom of the flower pot.

I then tied a burgundy ribbon around the base and that's it!

But then I ran into a problem.  No candy in the house. 

Not a bit.

So now what? 

Do I fill it with granola bars? Almonds? Dog Biscuits?

I settled on mini marshmallows.

I like the pop of colour against the solid black. 

This project was so easy and inexpensive. 

And the ribbon (or even the paint colour) can be changed

to give it a completely different look.

One last shot of the marshmallows. 

They make me smile.

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I'm linking to these great parties this week!

Pinecone Map Ornament

Some super famous and super awesome blogger ladies had a Pinterest challenge last week.  Admit it - we pin photos to our Pinterest boards all the time, but how often do we get around to making anything we pin? See what Sherry, Katie, Ana, and Erin came up with.  Such talent.

I was a little slow to get anything ready for the challenge, but there was one Pinterest photo that Sherry posted that caught my eye. 

My version:

My "pinspiration":

source

Cute, right?

I'm always on the lookout for interesting Christmas ornaments.  And every time we're on vacation I have to pick one up.  So why not combine my two loves - ornaments and vacation? 

I decided to use maps of Hawaii as it is my absolute favourite place to be. I would go there every year  if I could.

I followed along with the tutorial on the source site and it was pretty easy.  Cutting out the leaves was the most time consuming. But actually putting it together took less than an hour.  Only one episode of True Blood.  (I'm only halfway through season 4 so don't tell me anything.) And I didn't have to go out and buy anything so it was essentially free.

You start with a styrofoam ball - you can buy them in multipacks from the dollar store. I think an egg shape would be cute too.  Using scissors, poke a hole in the top.  Cut a length of ribbon, fold it into a loop, and tie the ends in a knot.  Put a blob of glue into the hole and push the knot of ribbon in firmly.

I found a leaf shape online to use as a template and cut out leaves from my "Oahu Revealed" guide book. I cut out dozens of leaves, just randomly choosing areas on the maps that gave a good mix of land and water.  I also made sure to include some favourite spots we've visited. Don't worry, I'm not one to cut up important books, I have another copy.  As an aside: if you're going to Hawaii for the first time, the "Revealed" series of books are excellent.  Plenty of maps, detailed directions, and fun snippets of history. 

Glue the first leaf to the bottom of the ball to give complete coverage.  Mine didn't lay as flat as in the tutorial but it wasn't that bad and wasn't really going to be seen anyway.

Start gluing the top edge of each leaf onto the ball, starting at the bottom, and making sure that there aren't any gaps.  Give each leaf a slight upward curl with the scissors before attaching. Work your way up the ball making sure that the leaves go right to the ribbon. 

I glued a row of tiny foam beads around the ribbon to finish it off.

What do you think? 

I love it. 

And I love that every time I look at it I'm reminded of the most beautiful place on earth.

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I'm joining these great link parties this week!

Chocolate Scotcheroos

Do you like chocolate? 

Do you like peanut butter? 

Do you like Rice Krispies? 

Here is a recipe for the simplest dessert on the planet. 

The original recipe can be found on the Rice Krispies website.

This is the only measuring cup you'll need.

You'll also need a pot and two 8x8 baking dishes or metal pans. 

Seriously, it's that simple.

Ingredients

sugar
pancake syrup
peanut butter
Rice Krispies (or other cereal)
chocolate chips
butterscotch chips

Combine one cup of sugar and one cup of syrup in the pot. The original recipe calls for corn syrup, but I've found that pancake syrup gives you softer, chewier squares.  Heat to boiling, stirring often, and making sure all of the sugar dissolves. Bringing it to a full boil will also keep the squares chewy instead of hard and kind of crunchy. 

Measure out one cup of peanut butter.  Now would be an excellent time to give the dogs some peanut butter as a treat while you wait for the sugar mixture to boil.  Nothing's more fun than watching them wrap their tongues around their faces trying to get every bit.

Once the sugar is lightly boiling, remove from the heat and add the peanut butter.  Stir until smooth (or not so smooth if you used crunchy PB).  You can substitute any other nut butter (my fave is almond butter) if there is a peanut allergy.

Measure out 6 cups of Rice Krispies.  Oh...I guess I lied to you about only needing one measuring cup.  Unless you use it six times.  Then I'm not a liar.

Add the Rice Krispies to the pot a little at a time, making sure the cereal is evenly covered. Pour the cereal mixture out into the pans pressing it out and smoothing it as you go.  I've found that the back of a buttered spatula works really well.  There's no need to rush this as the mixture stays soft for quite a while. (You won't believe how many times I've had to re-write these instructions to remove double-entendres. I think I'm just going to give up and go with it.)

Set the pans to the side.  Now go wash that pot because you're going to use it again.  Add one cup of chocolate chips and one cup of butterscotch chips to the pot and melt them over low heat, stirring frequently. 

Once the chips are melted and blended together, divide it between the two pans and your mouth, spreading the chocolate out evenly over the cereal mixture.  Again, you don't have to rush as it stays melted for quite a while. 

Gratuitous chocolate picture

Once the chocolate is evenly covering the cereal, put the pans in the fridge for an hour or two to cool.  Once cooled, take them out and cut up into 1 1/2 - 2 " squares. 

I made one into a spider, just for fun.

You will get so many compliments on these. 

And no one will know how easy they were. 

I won't tell if you won't. :-)

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I'm linking to these great link parties this week!