Make "quill pens" out of straws (and dye paper with coffee and tea)

When we visited Williamsburg a couple of weeks ago (click here or here to see photos), hubby and I purchased a quill pen to try out.  After writing with it for a bit, we were inspired to make our own crapty "quills pens" out of straws and use food coloring as ink.

To make our straw "quill" pens, we sampled several different types of straws:  a bubble tea straw, a normal straw, and a stirrer.  We cut the tips at an angle to mimic the quill pen.

I also used coffee and tea to age some watercolor paper.  To do this, I let the paper sit in cooled black tea (or coffee) for a couple of minutes.

Then, we set the paper out to dry on some pieces of paper towel.

Here are the results of our paper dying.  Left- Original paper,  Middle- Tea dyed,   Right- Coffee dyed
As you can see, coffee made our paper quite brown.

And how did our  homemade "quills" work out?  Check them out below.  I first used all four writing instruments to write in print and then to write in cursive.

Top line- Written with a real quill
Second line- Written with bubble tea straw
Third line- Written with normal straw
Fourth line- Written with a stirrer  (Eek!  Please excuse my scary monster handwriting.  It was really hard to get the ink to flow out.)

 Happy crapting!    

Make Grass Egg Heads and Grass Stocking Heads

This post brought to you by Miracle-Gro. All opinions are 100% mine.

I have a black thumb.

This past year I've already killed four plants.  Sad, right?  Apparently plants come to our apartment healthy and alive, and leave in garbage bags.

That's why I had basically given up on the idea of having any plant life in our apartment.   But when I heard about Miracle-Gro's The Gro Project, I felt inspired to pick up my trowel and try again.



Here are my  two small planting projects:  Grass Egg Heads and Grass Stocking Heads (which remind me of Chia pets)

Materials:
- Miracle-Gro's Moisture Control Potting Mix
- Grass seeds
- Eggs
- Knife
- Safety Pin
- Googly eyes
- Permanent marker
- Glue
- Nude stockings
- Scissors
- Spoon
- Cup

Directions for making grass egg heads:
1.  Using a safety pin, I poked a couple of holes (spaced far apart) in the bottom of my egg head.  (I'm hoping these holes will allow excess water to drain out.)  Using a knife, I gently tapped the egg where I wanted it to crack open.  (This gave me a neater break.) Then, I poured out the egg's insides.

2.  I rinsed out the eggs and set them to dry.

3.  Once they dried, I glued on googly eyes and used permanent marker to draw a smile.  (Permanent markers won't wash away with water.)

4.  Chuck and I filled the egg heads with grass seeds and soil.  Then, we watered the eggs and set them out near a sunny window.


Directions for making grass stocking heads:
1.  I wrapped a stocking around a small cup to make it easier to fill.

2.  Chuck scooped a bunch of grass seeds into the stocking.  Then, we piled on the dirt.

3.  Once the stocking was stuffed to our liking, I tied it closed and trimmed the excess material.

4.  I glued on googly eyes and drew on a mouth using permanent marker.

5.  Chuck watered the grass stocking head and we also placed it on a sunny windowsill.

Cross your fingers for us, ok? The potting soil that we chose is supposed to protect our seeds from over watering and under watering.  I'm really hoping that we'll see lots of grass sprouting so we can give them hair cuts.  (Hrrm.. a mowhawk perhaps?)


**Update-  Guess what?  They grew!  We just spritzed the little egg heads and thoroughly soaked the stocking heads in water daily.  Here's what they looked like after 2 weeks.

If you're interested in turning your thumb a bit greener, you can check out Miracle-Gro's Pinterest page for more fun garden projects.

((Many thanks to Miracle-Gro for sponsoring this post.  It's my first sponsored post and I'm really thankful for this new opportunity.))

Painted Mosaic Styrofoam Tile Picture Frame

June is the month of Father's day and birthdays.  Chuck and I wanted to make gifts for hubby and my parents, so we made these mosaic picture frames out of painted Styrofoam plates and cardboard.

I'm so glad with how they turned out.  They're happy and colorful and made out of stuff that we had right at home.