Love, Lydia - Notes from a geeky, plus sized artist.: gifts
Showing posts with label gifts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gifts. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

My First Bestowed Box!

Hello folks,

For Christmas I received a subscription to the Bestowed Box, a subscription box full of healthy goodies to make meals and try as snacks.  Below is my review of the December box!


December Bestowed Box



What do you all think?  I just got my January box a couple days ago, so I'll be reviewing that one soon too!  If you'd like more information on the Bestowed Box click here◊ (with my affiliate link) and if you want to try it out get 10% off your subscription with code LOVEHEALTHY.

And if you haven't had a chance yet please take a peek at my unboxing of the Enchanted Beauty Box, a brand new Disney themed (starting with Star Wars) beauty box.  And enter to win a box of your own in my giveaway!

I'll see you all again soon, and no, I've not forgotten about publishing my winter capsule wardrobe.  It's on the way, I've just been taking care of myself more lately, so writing at a more healthy pace instead of last minute speed runs is working better.


Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Handmade Holiday Gift Guide

Welcome friends, and happy Thanksgiving!


I hope you and yours have spent a wonderful holiday with family acknowledging all the good things you've been blessed with this year. Personally I am very thankful to have all of you readers here as I get to know you more each day. I'm especially glad you stopped by today because I have a wonderful batch of small business owners I want to highlight as we think about our holiday gift giving.

While I love many mass produced things like comic books, clothing, and makeup I also have a soft sport for all the beautifully handmade items. And the great part is there are tons of makers who focus on handmade items that fit more niche interests. I believe that spending our money on their great products is one of the most rewarding things we can do this season for our loved ones and the makers. So I hope that you will join me in shopping at some of these amazing stores as you find the right beautiful, geeky, fun, and handmade gifts for some of those special people on your Christmas list. At the end of the list you'll find a giveaway too!





Lydia's Designs - 2015 Handmade Holiday Gift Guide


Paper & Chocolate Press



I heard about Paper and Chocolate through The Rising Tide Society, and was hooked the moment I saw their fantastic superhero themed journals and blank books. As you can see they cover a bunch of great fandoms, plus they have more traditional journals as well as some lovely Christmas ornaments! They're running the following sales this year:

Seasonal Deals:

During November use the coupon code NANOWRIMO15 to receive 15% off writers notebooks and journals; excludes recipe books, ornaments, and guest books.

Black Weekend Special: Free Domestic Shipping with coupon code: BLACKWEEKEND2015, November 26-December 1.

Holiday Deadlines:

All custom orders and made-to-order items need to be ordered by Thursday, December 10, in order to arrive by Christmas.
All ready-to-ship items need to be ordered by Thursday, December 17, in order to arrive by Christmas.

Social Media:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Authored Adornments



Authored Adornments specializes in literary inspired jewelry. Seen above is a beautiful cuff bracelet, and in their shop you'll find rings, pendants, and earrings as well as bookmarks and wine bottle stoppers. Most of the works featured are classic literature, but they also create custom pieces and have items in partnership with John Green which you can find at http://store.dftba.com/collections/john-green.

Seasonal Deals:

Black Friday is amongst us once again! This weekend will include some great sales. Each sale will be announced the day before, so please stay tuned! Since Thursday is Thanksgiving and I'll be spending my time with family, the Friday deal will be announced a little early, thanks!

Use: FRIDAYISBLACK for 20% off your entire purchase, good through 11/27. Visit the shop for more information.

Social Media:

Facebook
Twitter
Tumblr
Instagram

Wood Notions



Sometimes I find myself looking for a more traditional gift, and ornaments are the perfect fallback. My husband, Bryan, is picky about no glitter being brought into out house, so I've found that one of the best types of ornaments we can both agree on are laser cut wood ones. Wood Notions has pegasus and griffin designs, many animals, and nature themed pieces, as well as creating custom designed pieces. I found them while looking for the perfect dragonfly Christmas ornament as part of Bryan's Christmas gift last year.

Social Media:

Facebook
Twitter

Ruskerville



You all may recall not that long ago I wrote about how I'd found a wonderful Ravenclaw themed planner, well, Ruskerville also carries planners fit for a time lord! And for those with less nerdy inclinations there are a variety of other general printed covers to choose from as well.


Holiday Deadline:

December 18

Social Media:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Paper From Heaven


Paper From Heaven is a fellow North Carolinian who creates bags for just about anything you could want, from the fantastic cosmetic set above, storage for essential oils, crayon aprons for kids, to crochet hooks. And her fabric choices are lovely to boot!

Holiday Deadlines:

12/12 for US order
11/27 for International and military orders

Social Media:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Spicy Paprika



Each pendant and earring in Amber's shop, Spicy Paprika is made delicately from tiny beads and semi-precious stones to create completely unique pieces. Each one is imaginative and has characteristics inspired by nature's own beauty. One of her pieces occasionally makes appearances here on my blog too, I was lucky to be able to watch her create it while visiting her home in California.

Social Media:

Facebook
Twitter

Olive + Pine



Olive + Pine collects beautiful handmade items from different makers and curates a collection that's sure to please the most picky people on your list. And importantly, their shop carries items hand picked for the men in your lives.

Seasonal Deals:

10% off storewide with the code SHOPSMALL valid Friday-Monday (for black friday, small business Saturday, and cyber monday!).


Holiday Deadline:

December 15

Social Media:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Pinterest

Flytrap Clothing



Flytrap makes beautifully designed botanical printed clothing. I own and love one of their cowls that I got last year when I first saw their work at the Boylan Heights Artwalk in Raleigh, NC. Their work is also 100% made in the USA, down to their labels. Additionally they carry a couple of shirts for men as well as womenswear (currently available in S-XL).

Seasonal Deals:

11/27 15% off your entire purchase
11/28 20% off all apparel, both men's and women's
11/29 20% off all scarves
11/30 - Cyber Monday, $30 off orders over $150, free shipping, plus a pack of blank Flytrap Clothing notecards.

Holiday Deadline:

December 21

Social Media:

Facebook
Instagram

babyCorn Soaps

BabyCorn Soaps create a variety of fun bath and body products as well as traditional soaps. Plus they make monthly subscription boxes on a nerdy theme (Star Wars is December's, and November featured Doctor Who) and a more conventional box with seasonal themes too. Anything from their shop would be perfect for the beauty lovers out there. Additionally they make items for men too, such as radioactive shave cream and lumberjack soap.

Seasonal Deals:

BFRIDAY for 20% all items except wholesale and subscription boxes from 12/27-12/29

Holiday Deadline:

November 30

Social Media:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

The Little Smith



And last but not least is The Little Smith. Their jewelry designs are hewn from wood and silver to create stunning geometric shapes and sinuous metal details. They've been kind enough to allow me to do a giveaway for one of their gorgeous Tigerwood Geo Pendant necklaces, pictured below. I'm thrilled to be working with them on this article since they happen to be longtime friends of mine.

Seasonal Deals:

11/27 - 20% off the Earth Collection with code blackfriday2015
11/28-12/16 - 20% off orders over $25 with code holiday2015

Holiday Deadlines:

December 16

Social Media:

Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest



Lydia's Designs and The Little Smith Necklace Giveaway

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share some of my favorite handmade shops with you today!  If you have any questions or comments I'd love to talk to you more, so feel free to leave me comments.

Love,
Lydia

P.S. If you need a few more ideas head over to my Etsy art shop at http://lydiasdesigns.etsy.com or check out The Rising Tide Society's own gift guide here.

Friday, November 20, 2015

Cooler Coverings - Fall Fashions

Hello Friends!

This week has continued to be yet another crazy one.  I've been to doctor's visits and getting things done with Bryan while he's around.  And hopefully I'll be able to schedule a follow up for some of the tests next week too.  In any case I've been having trouble with my keyboard that's led me to several house of troubleshooting and very complicated systems of trying to work around it as I've written posts and anything else typed online.  I finally found that a separate keyboard fixes the problem, even though it's super awkward since I don't own a Mac keyboard.  My computer is apparently warped enough that the keyboard is having severe problems, and the trackpad is starting to as well.  At this point my laptop is over 6 years old, so it's done well to get this far, but another fix is probably too costly since it's almost to the point of being outdated technology.  (I had to stop updating my OS a couple years ago since if I moved to the next version I wouldn't be able to use Photoshop.  Of course now it's harder to do all the beautiful things I'd like to do with the tools I can find for Photoshop because they're all meant to use with newer editions, and I'm still running Creative Suite 3.)  But on to more fun subjects.

Poshmark

On another note I am loving selling on Poshmark!  I started selling most of my clothes that didn't make the cut for my capsules there.  I haven't even finished listing everything yet and have already had 7 sales totaling around $90.  If you haven't tried it yet go for it, and have a $10 off coupon on me by using my code to sign up - PYIHF at www.Poshmark.com and then just download the app.  You can buy on the site using any device, but selling and the $10 for signing up is only available by downloading the app.

Fall Fashions

Transitioning to Cooler Coverings

Fall is here in full force and North Carolina is finally nice and cool most days.  I woke up this past Sunday morning to frost covered grass and chickadees pecking at our backyard feeder.  I'm finally having to break out my jacket a couple times a week and we tested out our new home's heater too.  In terms of fashions I'm experimenting more to make the summery portions of my fall capsule wardrobe keep me warmer.  Here are some examples:


With this outfit I decided it was time to start pairing some of my fun tees with skirts.  this outfit is comprised of my Switchfoot shirt, bag from Target, skirt from Torrid, leggings from Target, and boots from Hushpuppies/Trendsetter.

 

For Halloween I wore this Doctor Who, 9th doctor inspired outfit.  Dress from Her Universe, bag from Amazon◊, leggings from ModCloth◊, boots from Hushpuppies/Trendsetter.


I'm really excited to get to reading our picks from Fight or Flight's Halloween sale.  And Miles Morales Spiderman is a new one for me, which so far I'm enjoying a lot!


I know I don't show my makeup looks often, because I don't wear as much.  But I have fun playing around with it and a couple weeks ago I donned a bit to go on a double date night with Bryan's parents.  I used Boe eyeshadow in Fun House, Face Stolkholm's Jeanann eyeliner, Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara, and Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Venizia.


This date night outfit is the Paige dress from Cherry Velvet, leggings from Target, and boots from Hushpuppies/Trendsetter.


Another thing I've been experimenting with is styling my dresses.  In this shot I paired my LuLaRoe "Nicole" dress (I'm hosting a LuLaRoe online party for the next 24 hours if any of you readers want to catch a sale with me! You can find it on Facebook here.) with my sweater from Target, plus leggings from Target, and flats from Payless/American Eagle.


I also threw in some Julep nail polish by using the color "Darby" with this outfit, well technically I'd been wearing it for 6 days before this picture was taken.  It just lasts so well!  As always you can try a free box from my affiliates at Julep by checking them out here:

Jingle Bells Welcome Box


I've been breaking out my jacket from Maurice's, and wore it with a top from Old Navy, skinny jeans from Torrid, and flats from Torrid.


And finally my last outfit I'll be sharing from my fall capsule includes the jacket from Maurice's, top from Target, zip ankle jeans from Torrid, and flats from Torrid.

This fall capsule has gone well, better than I thought it would when I was panicking that first week about how to style things.  Now I'm thinking ahead to winter and the next capsule.  However I'm going to be doing a mini capsule for December as I adjust when my seasons change.  I've found that grouping the months of October-December would have been a better choice with less need for both summer and winter items.  So next year my capsules will run from January-March, April-June, July-September, and October-December.  I'll tall you more about what I'm planning for December in my next fashion post around December 4th.  I'll be taking a break from writing next Friday for the holiday and so I can focus on filling orders from my Etsy art shop at http://LydiasDesigns.etsy.com where you can find art like that in this picture below:


I'll see you all Monday!

Love,
Lydia

Sunday, November 16, 2014

70 No Knit/Crochet Yarn Projects

Hey folks,
So, a little while back one of the gals I follow on Tsu (which everyone should check out, it's the next Twitter/Facebook, but better) was looking for ideas on what to do with some boucle yarn.  It's tough to work with since it shows less stitch definition in knitting and crochet and it's kind of lumpy, but can be really beautiful.  Anyway, it got me thinking about how many great ideas there are out there for ways to use yarn that don't involve crochet or knitting.  I thought I'd put together a collection of them here.



1. Modern Dreamcatchers - Mollymoo Crafts

2. 3. 4. Lampshades, Lanterns, and Globes - MADE Everyday (video)

5. Fiber Art Wall Hanging - Official Etsy Blog

6. Text Based Wall Art - Debbie Smyth

7. Garlands (could use lace instead of the crochet bit shown and could try tassels instead of pom poms) - Uppercase Magazine

8. Yarn Wound Blocks for Stamps - Print & Pattern

9. Yarn Scrap Wall Art - Easy Makes Me Happy (you could use a photo

10. Mini Globes for Sting Lights - EHow

11. Woven Friendship Bracelets - Unicorn Hat Party (I made these all the time with campers when I worked at a summer camp in Maine!)

12. 13. Yarn Bowls and Huge Lanterns - Top Inspired

14. Yarn Chandelier Version One - Ruffled

15. Yarn Chandelier Version Two - Wedding Chicks

16. Superhero Coasters - Kandy Kreations

17. Cross Stitch on Pegboard - Dudua

18. Or Embriodery on Pegboard - Hand Made Romance/Evie Barrow

19. Yarn Covered Pipe Cleaner Lettering - Bloesem Kids

20. Old Fashioned Yarn Dolls (could be used as holiday ornaments too) - Spud & Chloe

21. Yarn Octopus (another possible ornament idea) - Craft Stylish

22. Felted Balls for Beaded Necklaces or other crafts - Instructables

23. Easy Greeting Cards (use any silhouette image and you could even make them larger to frame as wall art - Katie's Crocheted Goodies

24. Pixie Tutu - Bugaboo, Mini, Pip, Mr & Me

25. Circular Weaving - Beesybee Fiber and a follow up post here too.

26. A Felt Leaf and Yarn Garland - A Beautiful Mess

27. Pom Pom Scarf/Garland - Bubbly Nature Creations

28. Woven Rug/Anything Square or Rectangular - Fab Art DIY

29. Cardboard & Yarn Ornaments - Snap!

30. Yarn Ornaments You Can Make Any Shape - Decora Recicla Imagina (photos instruct well enough that you probably don't even need to translate the page!)

31. Mini Wreath Ornaments Using Shower Curtain Rings - Smile Like You Mean It (imagine all the fun little things you could decorate these with, from floral bits to miniature objects)

32. Yarn Filled Ornaments - Dollar Store Crafts or the Fantastic Pokemon Themed Version - Jabberwonky

33. Yarn Wrapped Presents - Strawberry Chic

34. Yarn Surprise Ball - Lisa Vollrath

35. Wrapped Star Ornaments - Frugal Fun 4 Boys

36. Yarn Wrapped Pine Cones - Family Chic

37. Yarn Wrapped Paint Rollers - Home Dzine

38. Costume Wolf Tail - iSave A to Z

And last but not least:

32 More Projects (no duplicates from the above!) - Buzzfeed

Hope you like them!  I'm going to start numbers 26 and 24 soon myself.  I've got way too much yarn in my stash and need to get to work using it up.  If anyone has more ideas (especially from your own blogs) I'll gather them up and make a second post with more.

Til next time.

Love,
Lydia

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Inkodyed Onesies

Hey friends!

So, over the last week I finally got to use the Inkodye that I received in my September Pigment + Palette box.  I'd been itching to use it from the start, but having trouble coming up with ideas for the magenta dye.  Then one of my best friends told me she was having a little girl, so I had the perfect excuse to use the dye!  I got some 100% cotton onesies, just the basic kind, nothing fancy.  And here's how I made the designs.

First off I looked at the instructions and ideas at http://lumi.co/guides/shadow knowing I'd want to try making shadow prints.  Inkodye works a lot like photographic emulsion, so I instinctively knew how I wanted to use the dye, but wanted to get it right the first time since the onesies were a gift.  Out of the 4 I made I think 3 were very successful and the 4th just so-so.  Tell me what you think:


So to make things like these I used some really simply methods and supplies other than the dye and Inkowash (a rinse that essentially removes the active agent in the dye making it light safe).  Things I used:
Painters tape (yep the kind for painting walls, one inch width)
Packing tape
Stencils
A round foam brush
A mini ironing board (any board or easy to move flat surface to lay items on while prepping and setting in the sun)
Some cardboard scraps (put inside the onesies to give a flat surface & prevent dye bleed through)
Scissors
Some old stickers I had
The onesies
A washing machine (hand washing would work too)

The instructions for shadow printing are basically this, put ink on the part of the shirt you want color, the block off the inked section with items that will become your design, or use something like a stencil to guide ink into just the areas you want it.  To facilitate this I used painters tape to tape down the stencils and used the round brush to put on the dye.  Here's a shot before the dye:

 

The stencils are from http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/.  They have some great designs, I recently picked up some of the more versatile ones to use in my collages and other projects:
 


For the heart design I took some old stickers and cut out a heart, put the heart on the shirt then added the dye over it with the brush, to save dye.

Finally for the last and toughest design I cut two portions of film strip to a size that would just overlap my tape box, put down a layer of dye, then used the clear packing tape to fasten the strips down.  This is the only onesie I feel failed, but only because the images in the strip are too hard to make out.  According to the Lumi site film is one the the harder things to print from because it can vary so much, and not be thick enough to black out light where it needs to most.  I also found that the knit of the fabric made the image more obscured as well.  On a silk scarf or other item with a very fine weave it might have worked better.  Since Inkodye works on any natural fabric I may give silk a try in the future, as well as other fabrics too.


As you can see in the second shot the color comes up slowly once the prepped pieces are brought out into the sunlight since the dye in UV reactive.  So here's what the shirts looked like when I first set them out VS 20 minutes later when they were ready to wash.



The final washed versions were given to my friend Saturday at her baby shower.  Here's what they look like close up:


Look for another post soon, I have some art shots, travel reviews, and more on the way!

Love,
Lydia

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Chalkboard Paint & Lettering Tutorial

Hey folks,

I've been quite busy between work, life and a bunch of little things.  For now I've got my blog set up to match my Twitter and Etsy feel.  I've been writing down all the ideas I've had for posts and organizing them for future reference and I'm excited to see things come together as I work on some new projects and revamping things.

Here's the long promised chalkboard paint/paint lettering tutorial.  Plus at the end there's a review of a great Pinterest recipe!  Ready?  Here goes!

Chalkboard Paint & Hand Lettering Tutorial




So we started out with all the items in this picture:
-Elmer's chalkboard paint, (the small tub paints up to an 8sq ft section in one coat if I remember right.  This is the same tub I used mixed with a touch of white acrylic paint to make the chalkboard tray/announcement board for my wedding, so it lasts quite well.)
-a paper plate for use as a paint palette
-painters tape to help with edging
-scissors to trim down the printed page of letting you want to put on your piece
-a cup of water for rinsing your brush in between coats of paint so it won't get ruined, I recommend a plastic cup you don't mind having a bit of paint left on after you work, so that it becomes a dedicated painting/rinsing cup.
-a ruler in case you want to measure your object to know where you will place the lettering (I do a lot of eyeballing for placement, but only because I've had a lot of experience with making something like lettering look centered properly. I still use rulers plenty too!)
-a simple paintbrush that's larger for the chalkboard paint 1/2 inch-2 inch size as you prefer
-a good paintbrush that's smaller for the detailed lettering, size 2-6 in flat or round as you prefer
-any color of acrylic paint you would like to use for your lettering, I have two bottles shown in the picture, one is inexpensive craft paint and the other is a great textured paint by Golden.  I ended up using the Golden paint for my lettering.
-an object you want to paint, with a finish that will take the paint - something somewhat porous, not too slick that paint will slide or wipe off.  If the finish isn't properly absorbent you may need to buy a different kind of paint, surfaces like glass or metal would be a problem this way, additionally I don't recommend them for the lettering transfer technique because the graphite won't stick.
-and not shown, you will also probably want a piece of sandpaper or an emery board to finish the edges  of the paint next to where the tape was to smooth them perfectly.


Step 1.

Tape the sides of the board since you want to keep the chalkboard surface on just the one face of the object.  If you don't want to try to put the tape perfectly even along the sides leave just a bit sticking up.  You can see where I've done this, especially at the handle where the light shines through the tape a bit.  As you put on the tape try to rub it down onto the surface thoroughly to keep the paint from seeping under the tape as much as possible.  I tend to rub it enough to make it warm as a rule of thumb.  Some people refer to this as burnishing it to hold it down properly.  Be sure you know how long your painters tape is graded for.  If you leave it on past the amount of time it's graded for you will be much more likely to pull the paint off your finished work.  I usually get the 2 week tape for projects like this, though they make longer and shorter holding tape too.


Step 2.

Put some paint on your plate, use less than I did here....I wasted more than I meant to since I wasn't sure how much to use for the first coat.  You can always put more on the plate if you need to, but you really shouldn't try to put partially used paint back into the container if you have leftovers.  It will leave horrible clumpy bits and keep your paint from looking smooth as you apply it later.  Then use the big paintbrush to apply the paint.  This picture shows a very uneven coat and a half.  The chalkboard paint can be applied with a bit of a heavy hand, but of course will take longer to dry.  It's water based and easy to clean up.  I tried to go with the grain of the wood on the paddle, though in the cup divots I went in circles, and those areas didn't take paint as easily and I ended up doing a total of 4 coats of chalkboard paint, applying two the first day I worked and another two a different day.
 You can see the difference here after two coats!  Much nicer already.


Step 3.

Between coats you can begin prepping the lettering for transfer.  First make sure you know the size you'll need to print the lettering at.  Then select a good typeface, figure out what size and style font you want (bold, italics, etc), and then print it off in solid black ink.  Hold it up to your object and make sure it's the right size.  If so you're ready to apply some graphite to the back of your printed letters.  If you have it available use a nice soft pencil, I chose a 6B, but most regular pencils will do.  The harder the type of lead the lighter the grey color will be for you to paint over/within the lines of.  Use the side of the pencil only, no point, and give a good coating as I was working on in the picture.  Then set it aside for later.


Step 4.

After you're done painting and the paint has had a full day to dry you can gently pull the tape off.  You'll probably notice some bits of paint that dried sticking up because they attached to the tape or areas that the paint seeped down under the tape.  By the time you take the tape off you'll probably feel like it ended up being a messier job that you thought, but this is where the sandpaper of emery board comes in.  Sand the surface just enough to take off the excess paint.  If you want a antiqued look you can continue and it will soften the edges, which might be perfect for a shabby chic style piece.  Here's a bit of my messiness:


Step 5.

Next trim your lettering as close to the edge of the word or phrase as you can.  Measure its height and width if you want to line it up perfectly on your object.  Then measure your object and add any measurement lines you might need to keep the lettering straight on your object. Use a soft pencil along with the ruler and a the measurements to guide you.  Don't press down much with the pencil or you won't be able to erase it later, and may leave imprints in a wood surface.   Then use at least 2 pieces of painters tape to tape your letters in place.  If there's lettering underneath the tape be sure to trace the edges on top of the tape before starting the next step.


Step 6.

Go over all the printed parts with a pencil or wood/plastic stylus to rub the graphite from the back of the paper onto the surface of your object.  Be firm, but remember if you go too crazy you might leave indentations.  This picture shows part of the G and R.  I only traced the edges of the parts under the tape.  You'll have to be very careful with that part and may want to go over the line a couple of times to make it look straighter.  You can also see the measuring line I used to help line things up correctly.

Step 7.

When you've gone over all the lettering (Or any design you choose, this isn't limited to lettering if you want to get creative.) carefully peel up the tape at one end of the transfer and check to see how well it copied.  If you're happy with it take off the entire transfer paper and go ahead and paint over your graphite design.  If you feel unsure of how to do this correctly, do a small test design beforehand.

Step 8.

When painting your design using at least two coats is recommended.  You can see the difference here between what one and two coats looks like.  I did 2 coats plus a bit of touch up at the edges on my lettering.  Please note if you are using a light color your first layer will probably pick up a bit of the graphite.  If so don't worry too much, you may need to do an extra coat of paint to get good coverage, but the subsequent coats will not pick up the graphite because they will be trapped within the first layer.  Acrylic paints are water based, but use plastic as a component.  So when they are fully dried you shouldn't be able to dissolve coats of paint you applied earlier or any graphite that may be stuck in them.  If you do encounter this I suggest switching brands to see if it helps.

The Finished Project - Beer Tasting Paddle

Once your lettering or design dries overnight you should be ready to go!  The resulting surface will not be dishwasher safe, you'll want to carefully hand wash it or use a damp cloth to wipe it down as needed.  Here's my finished paddle, the chalk lettering is a bit harder to make out because I could only find a big hunk of sidewalk chalk.  Classroom chalk is much more legible, so I recommend that if possible, I just used what I could find easily around the house.

If you test this tutorial out please feel free to share your results in the comments!  I'm happy to help with any questions you might have too.

I think this would be a great way to customize bridal party presents, a special birthday surprise, or a family plaque, plus a host of other types of items.


So the Pinterest recipe I tried this time around is one for Hawaiian style BBQ chicken.  You can find instructions for it here.  I followed the instructions, substituting Sweet Baby Ray's Hawaiian BBQ sauce for the Archer Farms one and using 5 chicken breasts.  I also accidentally poured in a bit of pineapple juice when I almost forgot to drain the can, maybe a couple tablespoons worth.  I felt that my crock pot wasn't cooking quite as fast as hoped for after two hours on low because the chicken towards the top was still mostly frozen.  I then put it on high and 3 hours later (5 hours total cooking) it was done.  I served this to my husband and two of his brothers when they came for dinner earlier this week and it was a unanimous hit!  We served the chicken shredded like pulled pork on Hawaiian style buns with sides of corn and Caesar salad, and it was fantastic!  I think next time I might try adding a couple more chicken breasts and cooking longer, so I'll have leftovers.  There seemed to be enough sauce for 6-8 pieces of chicken, and plenty of pineapple, I think we still had 2/3 left afterwards, though most of us liked it with less pineapple overall.  With a little extra sauce I think this could work for 9-12 pieces of chicken, or more depending on your crock pot size, our model is a 5 quart one.  Here's a shot of the finished product, (one of the guys decided to add lettuce to his):


Hope you all are having a great weekend, and I'll see you again soon!

Love, Lydia