Feb 9, 2014 | DIY
Last week I shared how to make some easy pastel-colored French macarons, and today I’m going to share what to do with the ones you’ve made. You don’t want them just sitting around, right? How about making them into something even better, like a cute little stack holding a message of love for your sweetheart? It looks adorable sitting on a desk, makes a great gift for children or teachers, and is quite easy to make as the clay is soft enough to poke holes into without power equipment. Here’s how:
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Jun 20, 2013 | DIY
I am just in love with Minieco‘s website – it’s so colorful and fun, my day is instantly brightened. Plus the author offers tons of downloadable paper templates and the origami-lover in me just can’t stay away. I particularly am drawn to the paper gemstone templates since they seem such a paradox. Precious gemstones! Made of cheap materials! By your own two hands! I needed some accent pieces for my seemingly-unending home office makeover, and so immediately decided to bump up the glam factor by using a glitter cardstock and making 2 coordinating gemstones for my desk. Here’s how:
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Feb 14, 2011 | DIY
Though I rarely cover non-wearable DIY’s on this blog, I’ve been struggling with what to showcase for V-day for awhile. In the past I’ve found that making non-edibles for my guy has not gone over well. In Hub’s case, he has always thanked me sincerely, and then proceeded to never wear or use whatever I have funneled hours into making. The sweater I hand-knitted him sat in the closet for 9 years until he finally admitted he wasn’t really a “sweater-person” and I finally gave it to Goodwill. The notebook I made, with the cover fashioned from one of his favorite shirts that he threw out, and then hand-bound…gathering dust in the bottom of his desk drawer. Yet everything edible I’ve ever made him he’s devoured within 24 hours, and loved. (Do you know any guys like that? I think maybe it’s a guy-thing.) So I was going back and forth between making something for my husband to wear (that he won’t) and showcasing it on this blog…since this is a wearables DIY blog…or making him something to eat and mentioning it.
So after many nights in thought I decided to forget the wearables idea (since I hate creating useless things more than anything)…and made Hub his favorite dessert: cheesecake, with chocolate swirls.
But…I made something else, too…for Lil Tot. Erasers…in the shape of chocolates! I made them using a make-your-own-erasers kit bought in Japan (but it’s also available on Etsy here, shipped straight from Japan to you.)
Sometimes I enjoy fiddly, time-consuming crafts like clay crafting and deko-sweets, and because these kits come with plastic molds in them, making tiny chocolates, donuts, cakes, and ice cream is super-simple! Then you dump the finished piece into the included box, add water, and zap in the microwave for about 3 minutes to let the binding agents evaporate.* Allow to cool and you have a fully usable eraser!
This eraser clay is soooo fun, and already I’m thinking of new tiny edibles to create with the remaining colors. And think of the trading potential at your little ones’ schools! (I hear those food-shaped eraser packs are the new tradeables among the Elementary set lately…)
I made a swirl chocolate with a dollop of whipped cream, a heart-shaped chocolate, and a chocolate square with icing lines and an almond on top.
I also made a pink chocolate truffle, a chocolate square with a pink heart, and two chocolate pieces that look like they were snapped off of a chocolate bar.
They’re so adorable it seems like almost a shame to use them!
If you’d rather not order kits like this from Japan, Sculpey also manufactures Eraser Clay
that cures by being baked in the oven – so you can create your own erasers in a variety of different shapes and colors. However, if you want to create chocolates, you’d have to buy either the 8-bar Set
or the Shape and Bake Kit
since the 6-packs don’t contain brown. (And you can’t make delicious-looking chocolate without brown!!;-) I haven’t used this stuff before so can’t recommend it one way or the other…has anyone else played around with the Sculpey brand of eraser clay?
Tomorrow I’ll be taking the in-laws to the slopes of Mt. Hood…and Lil Tot will have his first-ever skiing adventure! I’ll be stiff and sore from attempting to ski for the first time in…oh, 9 years or so…and looking extremely unfashionable as all my ski-wear is circa 1992 and I just haven’t seen the need to update it since. (Likely photos from tomorrow I’ll be keeping under lock and key lest word get out I have a neon…multicolored….ski…poncho. Yikes!!!) And since I posted about the V-day erasers today, tomorrow I’ll also be sharing my DIY Links of the Week from the past week…and there’s some great ones, so stay tuned!
Hope everyone had a lovely day – whether you celebrated the holiday or not! * x */ (That’s a kiss – kinda;-)
xoxox
Carly
*since U.S. microwaves tend to be 1000+ KiloWatts and Japanese microwaves are either 500KW or 600KW, I adjust the microwave times by subtracting about 10 – 30 seconds off the times recommended in the kits.
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photo from Etsy store 
