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Showing posts with the label Upcycling and Repurposing

Chonky Boys: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches that Scream Summer!

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Featuring my thick and nuggy Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookies, these ice cream sandwiches are the stuff that summer dreams are made of.  If you've ever had the Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich at Disneyland , you are going to LOVE these!  These big and bold chocolate chip cookies are based on a recipe from my culinary school studies at Auguste Escoffier, but with a few modifications to give them that Jennuine touch.  They make the perfectas book for a fat slice of real vanilla bean ice cream.  And those mini chips?  You just gotta have that extra cronch! Thank goodness this recipe only makes 8 sandwiches, otherwise I would be eating them for breakfast lunch and dinner.  This way, my big family can help save me from my inner child diet-saboteur.   Print With Image Without Image Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches Yield: 8 Author: Jenn Erickson Loaded with chocolate chips and buttery, brown-sugary vanilla flavor, these mall-sized cookies form a perfect partnership with a
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How to Make Lavender Egg-Shaped Soaps
By Reurposing Plastic Easter Eggs

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Chances are, if you celebrated Easter this past week, you probably have a dozen or more of those colorful plastic eggs lying around.  So, what to do with those empty plastic shells once the last jellybean has jumped and the last peep has popped into your mouth? Last April I came up with this simple little tutorial for making lovely egg-shaped soaps with the help of plastic Easter eggs.  Even the packaging is made from upcycled materials. I shared the tutorial in a guest post at My Repurposed Life .  Today, I'm sharing it here on Rook No. 17!  How to Make   Egg Shaped Soaps from Plastic Easter Eggs   Materials Pour & Mold Soap (2 pounds will yield 1 dozen egg soaps) Essential Oil for scent -- optional Cardboard Egg Carton Acrylic craft paint & paint brush Small funnel* (typically available at craft stores) Drill with a 7/32 bit and a 11/32 bit Piece of scrap wood Plastic Easter Eggs Gorilla Tape & scissors Bamboo skewer
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Monkeying Around with Fabric Scraps~
DIY Fabric Scrap Monkey Cards

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For a card swap hosted by Making Memories With Your Kids , my daughter and I were inspired to monkey around with scraps and bits we could rummage from the craft room.  The result was this merry band of cheeky fellows. It was more fun than, well, a barrel of monkeys!   The craft was inspired by a project from one of my favorite paper crafting books, 365 Things to do with Paper and Cardboard from Usborne/Scholastic.  This book has so many wildly creative, cute and easy crafts to do with your kids! We gathered up some fabric and felt scraps, paper scraps, card stock and glue.  I made a pattern for the monkey pieces (which I'm sharing below) and got right down to business.... monkey business that is! Here's how to make your own... Fabric Scrap Monkey Cards Materials Pattern (Printable PDF HERE ) Fabric Scraps Felt scraps for the monkey body, eyes, mouth and hat Decorative paper (scrapbook, book pages, newspaper) Blan
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How to Make Easy Personalized Candlesticks for birthdays, holidays, and hostess gifts

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"Originality is nothing but judicious imitation.  The most original writers borrowed one from another." ~ Voltaire I always hoped  that someday I'd have the chance to quote Voltaire here at Rook No. 17.  I never thought, however, that it would be in a post about birthday candles.  Yet these personalized candles are in fact an imitation, although I'd like to think a judicious one.   Last Tuesday, one of my favorite creative bloggers, Carolyn of Homework , linked-up a post to "A Little Birdie Told Me..." where she shared several techniques for Embellished Spring Candles.   I was positively struck by the simple brilliance of her tissue paper transfer method.  Then, just yesterday, as I was browsing a loca l boutique looking for a birthday gift for a friend,  I spotted a pair of lovely candlesticks printed with the message, "Happy Birthday." I knew in an instant that I could use the technique I had learned from Carolyn to make my very
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Repurposed Light Bulb Hot Air Balloon DIY

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Incandescent light bulbs have lit the world since the late 1800s, and for just as long a light bulb's journey has ultimately led to the waste bin.  Every year, Americans throw away more than a billion of these miraculous little orbs of glass, inert gas and tungsten filament.   Recently I came across a brilliant little sculpture by artist  Souther Salazar on Pinterest .  Titled "Lightbulb Balloon (orange)" the piece uses an incandescent bulb as the basis to create a whimsical hot air balloon.  Genius!   For my part in this week's Elmer's Glue 'n Glitter project for Collective Bias, I took my inspiration from Salazar's work and created a sweet and simple trio of light bulb balloons of my own.  What I love most about this project is that it repurposes items that might otherwise be destined for the trash:  water bottle caps, light bulbs, and fabric and trim scraps.  My cost for this project was under a dollar. Next time
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