Baroque Pearl Bracelets

I needed a present for a girl who loves to dress up and wear jewelry.  I thought that a baroque pearl bracelet might be the perfect gift.  I chose twelve assorted baroque pearls from my stash and wire wrapped them with 22 gauge sterling silver wire.  It was easy jewelry work that was finished off with a sinple clasp and charm.

Since I was happy with the first bracelet, I decided to make a variation of it. This one has pearls, adventurine rondels and a special aquamarine charm.

Next, I thought I'd create a bracelet with aquamarine and adventurine beads plus a sweet amethyst charm.  The clasp on this one was a puffy silver heart with a securit;y lock.  It turned out lovely so I was encouraged to make another version of this simple bracelet.

The fourth variation of this wire wrapped pearl bracelet included larimar chip beads, a puffy heart clasp and a 'LOVE' heart charm.  The look of this last bracelet enticed me to make the fifth and final version of this pearl bracelet.

This pearl bracelet features two large unique baroque pearls. One of the pearls looks like two large oval pearls fused together.  The other special pearl has a round white pearl nestled in a shell-shaped grey pearl.  This 'black and white' pearl bracelet was finished off with an 'S' clasp that is embellished with an amethyst cabachon.  As a reward 'wink' for making five baroque pearl bracelets in a row, I decided that this last bracelet is.... MINE. Lucky hardworking ME! (The extra three bracelets will be sold in my HM BFC locker box.)

Mochi Crunch Cookie Test 1

I love inventing new cookies for holiday gift giving but usually I start my test batches too late in the year and thus I reluctantly bake the same (but delicious) cookies year after year.  This year by starting my 'cookie experiments' in the summer, I should be able to create a few new cookie taste delights. The batch of cookies shown in the photo was the product of my love for the Trader Joe's Mochi Crunch Rice Nuggets.  Before finishing off my last bag of the tasty treats, I decided to add a cup of the crushed nuggets to a basic butter cookie recipe.  The original recipe said that the batch would result in 4 dozen cookies but I only formed 2-1/2 dozens. My idea of cookie size must be a bit bigger than other bakers (hahaha!).  The cookies were super delicious but not very festive looking.  I think for the holidays I will try to add something colorful like sprinkles or mini M&M candies.  For a more Hawaiian taste to send to mainland cookie lovers, I will add chopped macadamia nuts to a future batch.  As it gets closer to Christmas and I tweek this recipe into perfection, I will keep you updated. Yummy taste tests ahead....YAY! 

 

Artificial Chocolate Strawberry Dessert Cups

 If you've been to Japan, you know that pretend food is everywhere, usually in front of restaurants.  They look very realistic and edible.  When I saw kits for making some fake desserts at the Japan Hobby Show, I just had to purchase one.  I was surprised when I opened the kit box to find that it the contents were very simple.  Basically, there were two packets of what seemed like Hearty Clay, one dark brown   (a bit dry) and the other white. Even though the directions were written in Japanese, the diagrams were quite easy to follow and I was able to replicate the fake desserts. I was uncertain what the instructions intended, but I crumpled aluminum foil and placed it in the cups.  Over the foil I glued a circle of brown (slightly dry) clay.  Onto the 'chocolate ice cream' I glued seven ball of white clay and an artificial plastic strawberry.  Finally, tiny fake straws were skewered in. The 'straws' were made with toothpicks covered in striped paper.  As you can tell, this fake sweet is easy to replicate and you don't really need a kit to make it.  I plan to turn these dessert cups into fridge magnets by simply gluing a strong magnet to the back of each one.  These dessert cups are lightweight so they are perfect for this use.  Alternately, you might put heavy rocks or marbles in the bottom of the cups so they can be used as a paperweight.  I'm sure you are clever enough to think of a dessert party favor or small hostess gift. It's cute and  calorie free!   

Personalized Cat Banks

Quite awhile ago, I purchased two plastic screw on lidded banks from Daiso . I knew I wanted to decorate them (so plain) but I didn't have any ideas.  Finally after a long time, I decided to decorate them for two cat loving boys.  I wanted the coin slot to be hidden so I reversed the banks.  However, then the designs on the clear body of the banks were upside-down.  I solved the problem by gluing some bumpy grey yarn around the body of the banks.  Now the banks sort of look like cat scratching posts. LOL!

To decorate the recessed lid of the banks, I found colorful confetti (HM BFC), small ceramic cats            ( Daiso), and miniature Scrabble letters (from my stash). I used UV-LED resin (Padico) and a UV light to adhere the letters and cats first.  Then I filled in the recessed area with confetti (two different ones for each of the banks) and resin.  I used the UV light several times to make sure that all the resin was hardened and dry to the touch.

I am pleased with the outcome of the banks.  They are not only useful, colorful and cute but they feel so furry and cat-like.  Perhaps the best part is that the banks don't look like banks  (kids love to hide their money) and can be used to hide other special items.  If you can't find the banks for sale at Daiso you might be able to repurpose a Talenti ice cream jar (similar shape).  Anyway, have fun creating your own personalized bank as a gift or for yourself!

Father's Day 2026 Card

This year because of a trip to the East coast, Father's Day just sort of appeared on my calendar.  This meant that I had to think fast and work with supplies I had on hand.  I found a scrap of hand dyed (by me) watercolor paper (in my stash) that had the just right quiet colors that matched my husband's personality. I wanted to stamp an appropriate design over the dyed colors but I couldn't find a large enough rubber stamp.  Since he does a lot of traveling (even got a million mile recognition from American Airlines), I looked for airplane or travel stamps.  I finally located an impression folder which had postage images....good enough!  After impressing the dyed watercolor paper by running it through my Big Shot machine, I rubbed the surface lightly with a dark brown stamping ink.  After adhering the impressed, dyed panel to a grey card blank, I die cut the words using a Lawn Fawn die on grey metallic foil paper.  I used Fabri-Tac glue to attach the words to the front of the card and voila! my Father's Day card was done! My husband, father of my children,  loved the card!  I am happy that I found a quick and easy way to create a suitable card to celebrate this special day. Hope your dad had a great day too and you made him something heartmade!

 

Father's Day Blueberry Cornbread

 

While our sons were growing up, my husband cooked breakfast almost every Sunday. He usually made cornbread using the recipe on the cornmeal box.  The kids enjoyed it and I got to sleep in late. This year in honor of Father's Day, I decided to make my husband some cornbread. LOL!  To step it up a notch, I added blueberries, melted butter and heavy cream. Whenever we have excess blueberries and/or heavy cream, I freeze the extras and so I usually have them on hand to enhance everyday recipes.  Here is the recipe I created for Father's Day Blueberry Cornbread:

1 c. ccornmeal

1 c. all purpose flour

1/4 c. sugar

1 T. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 c. heavy cream

1/3 c. melted butter

1 large egg beaten

1 c. frozen blueberries

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.  Combine the liquid ingredients and add them to the dry ones. Carefully fold in the blueberries and pour into a parchment lined 9 x 9 baking pan. Bake the cornbread in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven and let cool before cutting into individual pieces. Enjoy! 

Resin Mofusand Coasters and Sumikogurashi Trinket Tray

I purchased a package of blank cardboard coasters from Daiso quite a while ago.  I finally decided what to do with them.  The inspiration came from some Mofusand stickers I bought in Japan.  Of course HM Ben Franklin Crafts has hundreds of sticker packages you can choose from to design your coasters.  It is simple work to adhere the stickers and then apply the UV resin (Padico) and set it with a mini UV kught (reasonably priced ones are available at HM BFC).  Apply just a thin coating of the resin or your coaster will warp.  Slight warping can be corrected by leaving the finished coaster under a heavy weight. Coasters like these would make great party favors and can be personalized with a name or message before applying the resin.  I only applied resin on the front of the coaster.  Before applying the resin, put the coaster on a jar cover over parchment so you can catch any excess resin drips.

I think this Sumikogurashi  sticker trinket tray turned out very well.  It was so easy to do . I started by applying a large sticker onto a printed cardboard tray .  I think I purchased the tray from Daiso or HM Ben Franklin Crafts. Next I poured Padico UV Resin into the tray and brushed it up the sides of the tray.  A UV light was used to set the resin and that required several timed exposure to insure the resin was dry.  The back of the tray was done in the same way.  Although, the resin makes the tray waterproof, I asked the resin manufacturer if the finished resin surface was food safe and he said the resin was designed to make beads or charms.  I guess this means that the resin coated tray should NOT be used to hold food.  I plan to use this Suikogurashi trinket tray to hold my current favorite jewelry pieces for easy access.  Making a simple tray like this is so rewarding.  It makes the recipient (me) smile everytime I look at it.  A big Sumikogurashi Smile to YOU!