Birds Nest Easter Treats

I'm a huge fan of easy no bake treats, Can you say Rice Krispie treats, lol!  However every so often I do like to experiment with new recipes and yes even turn on the oven to bake :) 

Now that I am about 34 weeks pregnant, and Easter is soon approaching I still wanted to do some "baking" for my family, well who am I kidding, I will probably be eating most of them myself, but my intentions were good :) 

This recipe only makes 6 nests, so they would be perfect as individual desserts, place settings, or for children to make and take in a childcare setting, or do as I did and make them for yourself, ahem I mean for your family :)  You could also make each nest smaller to make more.

Here is how they turned out.  I used Jellybeans, but you could also use Marshmallow peeps, chocolate eggs etc.

Ingredients:

2 cups of chinese noodles
1 cup Rice Krispies
1 pkg. Butterscotch chipits

1 cup mini marshmallows
Jellybeans, egg shaped candies, peeps etc.
wax paper

1. Measure out chinese noodles and Rice Krispies into a bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, microwave butterscotch chipits according to package directions to melt until smooth.  I added about a table spoon or so of shortening to the chipits to help with making them smooth when melting, otherwise I found they turned into a large clump.

3. Pour the cereal and noodle mixture into the melted butterscotch chipits.  Add the marshmallows and gently stir until everything is well coated with butterscotch.

4. Drop a large spoonful onto baking sheet lined with wax paper.  Mash down the middle and build up the sides to look like a nest.

5. Add a peep birdie, jellybeans, candies etc. to each nest. 

6. ENJOY!!  

DIY Apothecary Jars

I have been seeing these all over blogland, and I was certainly inspired to try and make one or two myself.  I was lucky to find the supplies at our local dollar store and Michaels.

Here is a link to some more inspiration http://sheskindacrafty.blogspot.com/2011/03/crafty-ladies-night-out.html

Here is my finished product


I started out with these supplies:

The jars are from the dollar store.  They were a real bargain at only $2 each.  I got two different sizes.  The rest I found at Michaels, I purchased 2 wooden candlestick holders, 2 round wood plaques and 2 wood eggs with flat bottoms.  I wanted finials, but could not find any there, and I did not feel like shopping around too much so I found the eggs instead of searching for wood finials.

Since the majority of the accessoris in my house are black, I painted everything with two coats of black paint.

Once everything had dried , I got out my glue gun and started gluing. I started by gluing a "finial" wood egg to each lid and set it aside.  Then I glued a candlestick to the centre of each round wood plaque.  The next step is to glue a jar to each candlestick.  Be sure to apply plenty of glue to the candlestick to ensure you have a  secure hold.  Put the lids on the jars and you should have something that looks like this below....

I tied on a strip of cut material that matched my curtain ties and chair cushions to finish them off.

Now you can fill them with anything you desire.  I chose to layer some beans and barley in mine.

Here is the finished product. I love how they turned out, and they were so quick and easy to put together

I will be linking this to the weekly parties as seen in my linky party page.

EASTER JELLYBEAN TOPIARY TUTORIAL

This was such an easy craft to put together, and depending on the size of your topiary it can come together in a few hours. I found pretty much everything at the dollar store all except the styrofoam ball, which came from Michaels.


Supplies needed:
- Easter Jellybeans- I used 6 bags (but they were smaller sized bags from the dollarstore)
- Wood dowel
- floral foam block
- easter grass or paper shredding ( you could also use sheet moss)
- small pail,clay pot, etc.
- styrofoam ball
- glue gun
- ribbon
- pink paint, white paint

1. Start by painting your styrofoam ball pink and your wood dowel white, let dry

2. Insert dowel into styrofoam ball, about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way down, put some hot glue in the hole to keep the dowel in.

3. Now for the fun part!! Take the jellybeans and put them in the styrofoam ball. I started at the stick end and worked my way around until I got to the top. It's helpful to press the jellybean into the styrofoam ball first where you want it, make a hole, remove the jellybean, fill the hole with hot glue and place the jellybean in.

4. When you are done, take some floral foam block and put it in your pail. I filled mine pretty much completely with the foam because the jellybean ball had a lot of weight to it, and I didn't want it to topple over. Insert the wood dowel into the foam.

5. Glue on some easter grass on top of the foam and tie a riboon on, and VOILA! You are done, and have a super cute and colourful Easter/ Spring topiary



Linking to  The Sunday Showcase at:  http://www.bystephanielynn.com/, http://serenitynow4amanda.blogspot.com/2011/03/weekend-bloggy-reading-link-up_25.html

We are Canadian Blog Hop

Welcome all fellow Canadian Blog hoppers. I have taken a little hiatus from my blog, however I seem to find time to read other blogs just not to comment on my own :)
Soon I will be back, as I will be on maternity leave with baby #2

HOME is where the Heart is

I took advantage of some free time I had this weekend and got to finish a couple projects that I had been wanting to work on.  We had a space in our entryway that needed some decorating. The top of the storage unit was just too bare and needed a little something to prevent it from becoming a drop zone for clutter.

Here is what I came up with.....

I purchased the wood letters and base from Michaels, they were white so I used some craft paint and painted the letters and stand black.  I had traced the letters on the back of some heavier weight scrapbook paper and cut them out prior to painting.
Once the letters were dry, I used Mod Podge to stick the paper on the wood letters.  I put a thin layer of mod podge directly on the painted letter and then placed the paper on the letter.  I painted an additional two coats of mod podge over the paper and let i dry,
This was defintely a quick and easy project, the longest part was waiting for things to dry!

I am Linking to The Sunday Showcase

Welcome

Hi and welcome to Jess & Boo.  Here you will find quality handmade items for babies, Moms and Home.

I have developed Jess & Boo out of a love for creating and crafting which I have done for many years.  After having my first child Jessica I wanted to share some of the things I make and with the support of family and friends the idea for selling my crafts came to life.

This blog will showcase some of my creations. Stay tuned!