Homemade Ink From Berries

Spring is here! That means bunnies, rain, and.... berries. We have been picking blackberries and mulberries. I can't decide which of the two I like better.

Today I will be showing you how to make ink out of berries. It is really fun and a little messy. 

What you need: 

• 1/2 cup of berries
• 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Begin by picking your berries. For my ink I used blackberries. 

Watch out for the thorns because they hurt! Also, you may want to wear old clothes because the berry juice gets everywhere. 

I picked about a half of a cup of berries the first time and got plenty of juice out of them.

 After you pick them put them in a glass bowl. 

Here comes the fun part. :) Now you can start squishing the berries. I just used a spoon. Don't worry about the seeds or stems. 

Once you squish all of the juice out, pour it into a bowl.

Add the vinegar and the salt and then stir until it dissolves.

You don't have to be precise with your measurements, just guess. 

I experimented with the unripe red blackberries just for fun. This is what the difference in colors looks like. I didn't get a very bright color with the unripe berries. It was a light pink. I wouldn't suggest it for writing with but if you want some different shades of pinks for painting it works well.  

The unripe berry ink is on the left and the ripe berry ink is on the right. 

Don't just throw out the left over berry pieces. If you have chickens they love it! 

Finally you can start writing or painting with your ink. Here are some things that I did with mine. 

Book marks! It's a little hard to write with a paint brush. :)

You could use it as paint, too. Do whatever you want to with it. I'm not sure exactly how long the berry ink will last but I wouldn't suggest keeping it for more than a few days. Have fun with it!

Lovely Scrapbook Paper Cards

Do you like to write letters? I love writing letters (and receiving them). Today I am going to show you how you can make your own pretty cards. The good thing about them is they are fun to make and you get to make them just how you want! Before I start here is a list of everything you will need. 

• Scrapbook paper (whatever design you want)
• Mod Podge 
• Blank index cards  5 by 7 (you can also use colored ones)
• Scissors
• Small foam paint brush
• A cat (I'm just kidding! Mine kind of got in the way of the camera) :D 

                                   

I had to put a picture of him. This is Klaus, my sisters cat. Don't let him fool you! This adorable little kitten can be quite mischievous. Okay, back to the cards... 

Most of the things listed above (except the cat) can be found at any craft store. You can get the blank index cards from an office store or online. These cards don't have to be used just for writing letters. You could use them as Birthday cards or Christmas cards, really anything you want.

Now finally we can start. :)

Begin be folding the index card in half. Be sure to press the folded end firmly. 

Now grab your folded index card, scrapbook paper, and the pencil. 

This step might be a little confusing but I know you can do it.  

Turn your scrapbook paper over and put half of the index card on the corner. Now grab your pencil and trace around the two edges. Here is a picture. 

Once you have traced it, grab your scissors and cut it out. 

All that you have to do now is put a thin coat of Mod Podge on the front of the index card and put on the scrapbook paper. 

When you put the scrapbook paper on try to keep it smooth or else you will get air bubbles on your pretty card.

It's that easy! If you want to do a coat of Mod Podge on top it might seal it in better. 

If you use sealing wax to close your letters you can just fold the index card a little shorter in the front. Here is what it will look like with sealing wax. 

If you want to get extra fancy you can take a strip of pretty paper and glue it to the bottom edge under where the sealing wax is. 

Also, if you want to use stamps on to add decoration to some of your paper you can. Make them however you want too! Here is a picture of a set that I made. 

They are the perfect size for writing! Here is another set of cards that I made for my cousin. I added a little more decoration to these cards including the embossed peacock. 

I hope that you have fun making your own set! If you have any questions on how to do any of it please ask! Thats all for now. 

I'm Back!

Hello! It's been forever since I have done a post on here! We have been a little busy. ;) It's been fun though. I have another tutorial coming up soon. I will be sharing how to make pretty cards. :) 

Since I don't have that done yet, I wanted to show you something that my awesome sister made for me.

She crocheted me a scarf! Isn't it pretty! Here is a picture of me wearing it.  

Just in case you want to make a lovely scarf for yourself HERE is the video on how to do it.

Heather (my sister) has crocheted tons of pretty things! I have tried to crochet in the past, but it all got tangled after the chain stitch... I am learning how to knit though! We went to a class at our library and learned how. It is starting to get easier. I finished my first square with no mistakes. I didn't count how many times I restarted. :D Here is a picture of it. 

 It looks a little crooked in the picture but if it is stretched out it straightens up. My plan is to knit tons of different colored squares like this one and then sew them all together. Eventually I will have a really colorful blanket. :) Do you crochet or knit? Or both? If so, which do you prefer? Knitting is easy for me because you repeat the same stitch over and over.  That's all for now. :) I will post again soon though! I hope that you have a wonderful Easter!! 

Straw Curls

Hi everyone! Today I am going to show you how I like to curl my hair using the straw curls technique. It is very easy and you will only need a few things to do it.

What you will need:

• Straws (any size will work)
• Small rubber ponytail holders
• A comb

Begin by combing out clean damp hair. You want your hair to be pretty wet. If your hair drys fast you may need to wet it again in the middle of curling.

  

Then separate a small section from the front and comb through it. If you do bigger sections you will end up with bigger curls. 

Now grab one of the straws and put it under the section of hair that is separated. 

Continue wrapping your hair around the straw until you reach the ends of your hair.

Grab a pony tail and wrap it around the ends of your hair and the straw.

 It should look something like this. 

Now pull both of the ends of the straw together.

Then squeeze one of the ends so that you can push it through the other. 

When you push it through the other end be sure to push it far into it so that it stays.

Continue doing this all around your head. You may need to stop in the middle to let your arms rest. It can get very tiring if you do it to yourself. ;) Once you finish let them stay overnight and wake up to pretty curly hair! 

This is a picture of what my hair looked like the next morning. 

To take them out just pull the ends apart, take off the pony tail, and pull the straw off.

You should get very tight curls. All you need to do now is comb your hair and style it. Beware if you have full hair like mine DO NOT comb it out. It will go "poof" and be all over the place! Just use your fingers to separate the curls. Thankfully my sister came to the rescue when I combed it and she did a pretty updo for me. I will be sharing about it in just a minute. :)  Everyone's hair is different. Depending on the thickness of your hair and if it is naturally curly or straight will determine the curls that you get.

Now I am going to show you how I like to style my curled hair. It is very simple and can be done in one minute! 

Pull your hair into a loose pony tail.

Then, twist your hair half way up and secure with bobby pins, a hair clip, or some really pretty Lilla Rose hair sticks like I use! 

You can buy them HERE along with some other pretty awesome hair accessories!

My curls will usually last two or three days. At night I like to do a braid or a loose bun to help the curls stay less frizzy. Just finger comb through your hair and style it again. You can incorporate a twist or a braid into your updo if you want something different. :) 

Painting

The other day we went to my grandparents house and painted. I decided to get some pictures while we were there to share with you. :) 

As always, I began with a blank canvas. This is the hardest part...trying to figure out what to paint then how to paint it. I started with a circle.

My first intentions were to paint a flower. But the more I thought about it the harder it sounded. Then, after sitting there for a long time I decided to just go wild and use my fingers. Every single one of them... Thankfully we were just using acrylic paint because it washes of much easier than oils.  Here are what my fingers looked like. ;)

Lovely aren't they? After covering my fingers in paint I finally began painting more.

Can you tell that I am having fun? 

I decided to add a little glitter to it. Yes, I blew it onto the canvas. It was fun. :D

I think that I had too much fun with it. :) It is still a little wet in this picture. Next time I think I will paint a more detailed picture but this time it was fun to just paint! Maybe I have inspired you to go paint something. Just have fun and dig in!