looking for a cute and useful way to actually use the tea cups you have lovingly collected that sit sad and bored in your cupboards?  use one for every bulk jar you have in your pantry.  i just keep them in there.  i love to say whats up and give them little hand shnuggle every time i am i need a scoop of something.  they love their comfy homes.

i’m sure you’ve seen this before.  i first saw it on miss martha stewart’s website and fell in love with the idea.  so, when i saw some molds at the recycling depot  for 25 cents (holler!!!), i snatched them right up with wild eyes along with a bag of…wait for it…wait for it….drum rolls…a huge bag of broken crayons. seriously.  same trip.  game on!  so, i came home and had the funnest afternoon with my lil man!  check it!

first off, you can use silicone ice cube trays, candy molds, or mini muffin tins for these but be aware, once you use them for this, they will always be for this…because the crayon is impossible to get off.  you can thrift them of get them from ikea for $1.  true story.

first, pull out all of those old broken crayons and start peeling all the papers off. (or, you can buy a freshie new box).  if you cut a slit down the side of the crayon, it’s easier to peel the paper away. or plan ahead and soak them in water.  either tip will save you some time trying to get the papers off.  employ the kid lets. they love this part.  we listened to disney stories on vinyl and pretty much whistled while we worked.  

you will need a nice variety of colors, all freshly peeled and broken into little pieces.  i used a knife and cutting board.  Loji just went to town breaking them.

we had fun separating colours into little bowls.  i loved how the skin tones and gold came out in the end.  next time i want to try primary colour mixing…like blue and yellow to make green when you draw.  and red and blue to make purple…an so on.  you could also do these to fit a holiday or theme.  for instance, if you want to make these for a st. patties day celebration, take out just the green toned crayons and find a shamrock mold and save the other colors for another time.  oh ideas.  oh the babbletron.

start filling up the little molds with a variety of colours, breaking up the crayon pieces a little smaller if necessary.  

then place the molds in a pre-heated 250 degree (F) oven for 5-10 minutes…….peeking in on them every so often.  depending on the quality of the crayons, some melt faster or waaaay slower.  also, place tin foil down on a baking sheet under the molds, in case there are any spills.  melted wax is absolutely no fun to clean out of the oven or smell for days after.  believe me, i learned the hard way.  oof.

once the crayons are completely melted, pull the molds out of the oven and allow them to cool completely. takes about 15 minz.  careful, silicone trays are wobbly.  you don’t want to spill or burn yourself with hot wax. or do you? 

run the bottoms of each mold under hot water, to help soften up the silicone tray and help separate the crayons from the bottom of the mold. then push the molds from the bottom and pop out each crayon.  note: don’t use too complicated of a shape or they might break when you pop them out.

enjoy!!!!

since we're all getting to know each other here, i thought i would post a picture i took while on the ferry going from vancouver, bc to the sunshine coast, where i live.  as you can see, sometimes i spend my winters on the un-shine coast.   where are you living? what kind of winter are you having?

okay, so, this is the part, very much like the beginning of a dramatic movie when credits are binging forth artistically here and there and the music fades out and there's text across the screen informing you that this is a true story. gasp.  i always wonder how true and how big of liberties they took with the actual events and script. but, in any case, these cookies are a true story.  the recipe inspirado comes from the Peanut Butter Quinoa Cookies recipe in the book Quinoa 365:  The Everyday Superfood.  check the book out, if you have not, it is my favourite cookbook for gluten free baking. hands down.  for any baking, actually. 

i am a full on anarchist when it comes to baking.  you always hear that, in the kitchen, baking is where you have to actually stick to a precise recipe.  feck that.  total anarchy baby. substitutions is my middle name.  could be sexier, but let's go with it.  

almond butter chocolat chip quinoa cookies

2 cups quinoa flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter

1/2 cup sucanat, stevia, xylitol, erythritol, date sugar, or plain old cane sugar*

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups organic almond butter

1/2-1 cup chocolate chips (how chocolatey do you want them baby? it's up to you)

Preheat oven to 375F.

combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

cream the butter with the two "sugars" until smooth.  Beat in the eggs and then add the almond butter and mix well.  slowly add the flour mixture and blend well.   fold in your chocolate chips and chill the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes.

i like rolling little balls at this point but you could also use a 1 inch cookie scoop to spoon dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  place them 2 inches apart.  Flatten the balls with a fork in a crisscross design.

place on the center rack and bake 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies brown slightly on the edges and puff up.

remove the cookies from the oven and cool for a few before transferring to a cooling rack.  Store in a sealed container for up to 1 week. 

*so awesome using alternative sweetners in this one because my fam never knows. i can pop them in Loji's lunch and feel great about it.

*also, for all of you with super legit sweet tooths, the original recipe calls for 3/4 cup each white sugar and brown sugar.  my fave is to use 1/2 cup hippy kind, 1/2 cup brown sugz.  you get sweet from the added chocolate chips too....enjoy!

i will be the first to admit it.  i am a bit addicted to two things, as i pour a glass of wine, Scrabble and making, crafting and/or creating wonderful things out of materials that have been thrifted, found, recycled, repurposed or reused.  that is why this particular project has me blushing still.  i found a travel Scrabble game at the Salvation Army one day with tini tiles that inspired these pendants.  also, i have been holding on to these precious old maid cards for a while waiting for the perfect use.  this was totes perf!! 

i got everything i needed from the hardware store, which i was pretty amped about.  i tried a few different types of glue before settling on Titebond premium wood glue, but seriously, i bet most proper wood glues would work....no dollar store scores on this one.  i paroozled the isles until i spotted these cute little mini vices that worked soooo good!  they were about $8.  i glued between each tile, tightened the vice and then used a paint brush to paint the whole thing with a coat of the wood glue.  then, anxiously, waited for 24 hours for the glue to dry all the way because that is what the instructions on the bottle said.  man, i am impatient sometimes.  i was beside myself to finish one and see if they were going to come out as wonderful as the idea was in my head.  i then, very carefully, screwed in the smallest loop screws i could find (i have no idea what they are really called-but the man at the hardware store knew what i was talking about when i asked for them).  use pliers and go slow or you might split the wood.  i did 2 for the tops on some and one on the side on some, so they hung long ways. does that make sense? check out the picture to see...

i used them to decorate other gifts...i'll make a DIY on these cordials soon!!

my friend Kelly threw a SPARKLE party and these were pins she made up to promote it.  i helped her with decor one afternoon and my hands were glittered for a week...i shit you not.  spray adhesive, glitter, paper orbs, fumes, and sticky sparkled extremities.   oh my.

yes, t'was the night before Christmas and all through the house....there were snowballs and pouf balls and pompoms and such.  thought i'd show you the poufs i made from old sewing patterns and pom poms made from white yarn from the thrift store. love me some recycled and reused christmakkah fabulousness!

this guy came out soooo super ultra mega sweet sauce big time awesome.  i love him.  i got the idea from a store window that used the light up lawn deers all bundled up with scarves for their holiday display.  i cut up some thrifted sweaters, a crocheted blanket, swirled some scarves and ribbon here and there, and slapped some googly eyes on him. adorable.  he was the life of the xmas party last year.   i had strands of white pompoms hung straight down from the ceiling to look like it was snowing all around him.   kinda missing him in this moment.  those eyes!!

about a week before the big day, sandwiched in between holiday parties, events at the kids schools, and all the rest, are the sweetest nights when the tree is all lit up, you're listening to nat king cole on vinyl all shnugged up with your fam and last thing you want to do it cook.  so, knock knock...who's there? the pizza guy!!! yay.  the crowd goes wild!!  kind of becoming a tradition in our house to have a pizza night and see how creative we can get with reusing the pizza boxes and making ornaments with them.  i gave my little man a thick paint brush and some white tempera paint and he went to town on the box.  my older son, Malakai, went out and found a beautiful cedar bow with a candy cane shaped arch in it.   We cut out and hung stars from it and propped it up just right with moss and beach stones in a tall glass vase.  i really loved it.   i'm going to do a mini version in the bathrooms next year.