Catching up with Abby Elaina
I’ve been getting a lot of mail recently asking when my next episode is coming out, and what I’ve been doing this past year. Well, it’s been a busy one! Let me catch you all up.
Tiny Paper Tiger
Why haven’t there been any new episodes?
Despite being incredibly busy this past year, my husband who is my camera/sound/lighting man has been even busier! Which means Episodes have been postponed due to our hectic schedules, check out what that crazy stunt man has been up to:
Will there be more episodes and tutorials?
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Mismatched Candle Holders
Recently I’ve been seeing a lot of really cool home decor spreads featuring these clusters of large mismatched candle holders, so I decided to make my own, and they turned out cuter than I had imagined. I had to do some digging on around on the dusty shelves of my local thrift store, but found exactly what I needed all for under $10! To match my gray, white and green living room I went with a green color scheme for my candle holders, but I’m sure it would look great in any color. I was tempted to go all white, but I think the 6 different shades of green really add a cool burst of mismatched color to my living space.
While I was shopping I tried to find candle holders with a large flat top to hold larger candles, but could only find ones for the typical tall skinny ones, so I improvised! I found a dozen decorative little wooden pieces from the craft store (around .50 each) and used those to create a nice large flat surface on the top, and some of the candle holders I also added a nice wooden base at the bottom from an identical piece to make the design look finished. I played around with them for awhile before glueing them in place to see what looked best. When you’re shopping for your candle holders, try and find ones that are different heights and thicknesses.
Here’s what you need to make your own set of mismatched candle holders:
Supplies:
- Cheap (and otherwise ugly) thrift store candle holders, I made 6 all together.
- Different shades of acrylic paint, I used a different shade for each candle holder
- Square of Circular decorative wooden pieces, I used both
- E-6000, must have for any crafter
Here’s how to make your own set of mismatched candle holders:
1. Glue your wooden pieces to the top (and bottom if needed) of each candle holder with E-6000 or glue of equivalent strength.
2. After the glue dries, paint each candle holder. 2-3 coats may be needed depending on what the candle holder is made of. I found that metal was easiest to paint.
Yay! Now you’re all done, let these little guys dry…
Place some new candles on each holder and enjoy your new set of mismatched candle holders! Depending on where you’re going to put them, you may want to keep them in one large group or split them up like I did, and put half on each side of a love seat in my living room.
I’m so happy with these, what a fun, easy way to reuse and repurpose old junk. I’d love to see these done in different colors, please send me pictures if you complete this project. I’ll be happy to answer any questions or comments below…
Happy Crafting!
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Vegan Deviled “Egg” Recipe
My husband love love loves Deviled Eggs, I made him these little bad boys last night and he fell in love. They are essentially little bit sized Potato Salads, so yummy for a summer snack, and great little h’ordeuvres.
The recipe is pretty simple, it does take a good 45 min to make, so I suggest making a bunch at once to last you. They stay good for a couple days. So, here’s what you need:
Ingredients:
6-10 small potatoes potatoes of your choice, peeled and halved
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise (can’t go wrong with Vegenaise!)
2 teaspoon yellow mustard
1 to 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
dash hot sauce
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon dill relish (optional)
paprika, for sprinkling
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, and grease a cookie sheet. Coat all sides of each potato with olive oil. Place potatoes face down on prepared cookie sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, or until soft (but not too mushy).
2. While the potatoes are roasting, mix the rest of the ingredients (except paprika) together. When the potatoes are done, allow to cool a bit, and then use a sharp knife to cut into the flat side of each potato and then hollow it out with a spoon. You want to be left with a little cup-shaped potato.
3. Add the scooped-out potato to your mayo/mustard mix and blend well. You can then fill the hollowed out potato shells with the mixture piping it on with a cake decorating bag, or just spoon it in there. Sprinkle each potato with paprika.
If you’re a hungry monkey, you can just eat them warm right then and there! If serving for a party or entertaining, I suggest putting them in the Fridge for an hour to chill. You’ve got to get creative when it comes to vegan cooking sometimes, but I promise cven egg-eaters/meat-eaters will be stoked to eat these delicious little bastards.
Happy Cooking!
Book with Real Binding
This week I sat down for tea and crafts with my lovely friend Anna. 
We made some super cute DIY journals with real bindings! A project I’ve been wanting to try for awhile, I was so surprised how well they turned out. I have a feeling I’ll be making about a million more of these cute little books. I used regular copy paper, but I think I will make a sketch book or watercolor journal next.
Here’s what you need to make this handmade journal:
Here’s how you make this handmade journal:
1. Fold 48 pieces of paper long wise.
2. Cut each piece in half.
3. Make 8 small booklets using 6 sheets of cut paper (12 pages per booklet).
4. Use this template to mark holes with your needle in each booklet.
5. Sew booklets together, following the holes you’ve already marked and secure bias tape under outside stitches.
6. Sew all 8 booklets together side by side, crossing the outside stitch (shown above), then heavily mod podge/glue the entire spine and let dry.
7. Cut two pieces of cardboard (I used the back of an old sketch book) 4 3/4″ x 6″. Allow 1 1/2″ for the spine, mark where each piece of cardboard lays on fabric.
8. Cut rectangle of interfacing to fit within the front and back covers (iron on if fusible). Cut top and bottom of spine and sew down.
9. Glue extra piece of scrap fabric around spine of pages to secure and glue bookmark ribbon (optional).
10. Put cardboard in place and glue down edges of fabric, let dry.
11. Glue inside pages in place by gluing bias tape and scrap fabric to each side of cardboard.
12. Glue card stock over each side of inner cover.
All finished! So so so cute. I’m so stoked on this little book, I don’t even want to write in it yet. This is a great way to make a super personalized recipe book, or address book, maybe even a daily planner. I’m going to play around with some different sizes, try some other vintage fabrics and possibly even add a closing latch or small inner pocket. The possibilities are endless! Please leave any questions or comments you have and I’ll be glad to help. As always, I’d love to see your version if you complete this project.
Happy Crafting!
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Scrap Fabric Coasters
This week I have an upcoming dinner party to attend and I wanted to make a special hostess gift, one that was a little more thoughtful than the typical bottle of wine. I would first like to express that I think that hostess gifts are highly underrated and often too easily forgotten. There’s nothing classier than showing your host gratitude for their hospitality and delicious meal! Plus, I also just really like dinner parties…
So, I pulled out some scraps from my embarrassingly huge collection of extra fabrics and came up with these adorable little fabric coasters.
What you need to make these Scrap Fabric Coasters:
Supplies: Scrap Fabric, Interfacing, Scissors, Iron and your trusty Sewing Machine!
How you make these scrap Fabric Coasters:
1. Use this pattern to trace onto your scrap fabric.
2. Cut out 10 layers of fabric and at least 1 layer of interface for each coaster.
3. Iron each piece flat.
4. Sew 10 layers together to make each coaster (I used a wide zig-zag stitch).
Tie around a cute bow, slap on a little hand-made tag and there ya go, a super adorable gift that is guaranteed to get you an invite to the next dinner party! Also a great idea for a DIY housewarming gift. If you’re worried about the edges fraying (depending on the scraps you used), try using a little FrayBlock. Just one of the many of ways to use up those old scraps. Coasters may also be really cute if done in different shapes, I’d love to see your version of these, please send me pictures of finished projects <3
Happy Crafting!
