Stunning Salad Spinner Art

Do you remember those Spin Art things that everyone used to have when they were little? Hopefully you do because they were so much fun! Seriously, all you had to do was drop paint from little bottles onto a spinning piece of paper and WA LA, you have a cool piece of art!

You actually don't even need to buy the kit to make these. You can use things that you may have around the house already (I did!). Cool huh? Of course, I found this idea on Brit+Co. It seems like a TON of my posts are inspired by this blog.

These past few days have gone by SO SLOW. I've gone to soccer everyday except Tuesday (surprise!), helped coach a volleyball camp, ran for a Sophomore Rep for a club for next year, prepared a speech for Leadership, taken the SAGE test in English, gathered all of my community service hours..... the list just keeps going. UGH! I feel like I'm going to explode! How much stuff can you pile on a fifteen-year-old? After such a pooey week, I really needed a simple, fast, fun craft to do. This was perfect! Plus, it brought back some memories. How can you beat that?

Salad Spinner Art

You will need:

a salad spinner

acrylic paint in various colors

paper

something to keep your workspace clean

(I thought a paintbrush might be useful, but I didn't need it.)

First, cover your workspace and prepare a spot to put your finished pieces while they dry.

Next, take your paper and place it in the salad spinner. I would recommend using thicker paper, like poster board or card stock, to prevent them from wrinkling when they're dry. I used extra envelopes we had from old Christmas cards. It can be whatever shape  or color you want!

Squirt or paint different colors of paint onto the paper. Make sure it is pretty thick, or it won't really work. I found that squirting it in circles made the paint cover better, which looked cooler.

Put the lid of the salad spinner on and spin. I probably waited ten seconds or so before stopping it (by pressing the button) and opening the lid. 

If you like the result, you're done. However, if you don't like it, there is a way to change it. You can always put more paint on, or put white and almost start over again. I wouldn't keep trying after two or three times, though, because there will be a lot of paint, which will take long to dry and it might wrinkle more.

I was really happy with this craft! It was super fun and only took me about twenty minutes, tops. I would say my favorites are the purple one and the blue, orange and pink one. My least favorites are the pink and black one and the pink and green one. My mom told me to do pink and green, so it's her fault that it turned out ugly. :)

I hope you have fun with it too!

Here are some pictures of the ones I made: 

This one was pretty good for my first one.

I added a lot of white on this one, but i like it!

Water stuff came out of one of these bottles.
That's why the middle was so weird.

I really like this one!

This one is my favorite out of all of them!

Good camerawork Claire... 

Eh...

This is my other favorite!

Blurry and ugly... oh well.

It left a pretty colorful mess inside the spinner!

Fabulous Fudge in Five Minutes

Well, something is definitely wrong with me because the other day I craved a salad. I'm pretty sure that's never happened in my entire life. The good news is, right after I started craving chocolate, so it looks like I'm back to normal.

The only chocolate we really had in the house was Girl Scout Cookies, but not any of my favorites. We have a few boxes left in our pantry, but they're those kind of cookies that you order because you like them, not because they're your favorite. That means, we don't have any Thin Mints or Samoas left, so Girl Scout Cookies were out. 

My next idea was to make fudge, but not just any normal fudge. In seventh grade FACS, we learned how to make fudge in the microwave. I know, it sounds gross, right? WRONG. It is a chocolate lover's perfect fast snack. Plus, it's just about the easiest recipe ever.

Here's how to make it.

Microwave Fudge

You will need:
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla

a large, microwave-safe bowl (make sure it fits in your microwave)

We didn't have enough powdered sugar, so I had to cut the recipe in half. There will usually be more fudge, don't worry.  :)

Combine the powdered sugar and cocoa powder in the large bowl and mix well.

Add the stick of butter and evaporated milk, but DO NOT MIX! To open the evaporated milk can, use a can opener to poke a large hole and a small hole directly across from it. Pour out of the large hole. The small hole prevents bubbling. Also, don't get a big can of milk unless you plan on using it for other things because you do't need that much.

Put the bowl in microwave for 2 1/2 minutes or until the butter is completely melted. Be careful, though, it is easy to burn it if you cook it too long.

Stir all of the ingredients together.

Add the vanilla and stir again. Make sure you get all of the lumps out of it. It will taste better later on. If it seems dry, you can add a little bit more milk.

Technically, you could eat the fudge now, but it is probably really warm. Place the fudge on a cookie sheet and spread it out with either a spatula or your hands. I recommended using wax paper for easier clean up! I also used the wax paper to shape it better.

Place the entire pan in the refrigerator for ten minutes or more until it is firm.

Cut the fudge into squares and enjoy!




This fudge was literally gone in less than two days in my house. I'm not kidding when I say it's delicious!

"Watercolor"

Hey y'all! I am in such an great mood right now. This warm weather is amazing! Today is such a nice day. The sun is out, it's nice and warm and spring is in the air. Really, the best word to describe it is just "awwwwwwwww...."

However, one word to describe earlier today would be "STRESSFUL." Yes, in all caps. A Biology test and math test to start off the day wasn't the greatest, especially because they were harder than usual. I'm glad it's over with, though. Whew! I do have a Geography test tomorrow too, but that should be a piece of cake. Let's hope.

The good news about having tests is no homework! This means that I had time to do a fun craft for this blog! As soon as I got home, I went right out to my deck and just sat there. It felt SO good! That was when I decided to do this craft outside. It needs very little supplies and a flat workspace, so why not?

I found this craft on Brit+Co, just like everything these days, it seems like. This is because I found so many things when I was browsing the blog one day. While I was browsing, this project looked easy and very fun, so I thought I would try it! I decided to make a pillow case because it was similar to what they did, but I'm sure you could try whatever you want. It's supposed to look like you decorated with watercolors, but it's really just Sharpies and rubbing alcohol. Neat huh?


Here is how to make it:

"Watercolor" Pillow Case

You will need:

something to decorate (i.e. pillowcase, throw pillow, shirt, etc.)

Sharpies

rubbing alcohol

cotton swabs

The first step is to prewash your item of choice. My pillowcase was just an extra that we rarely use, so I didn't have to wash it because it already had been before. You probably don't need to wash a pillow if you are drawing directly on that, but if you are using something like a shirt or a NEW pillowcase, wash it so the dye will sink it better. 

Next, plan out your design and draw it on the pillowcase with the Sharpies in the color(s) of your choice. I went with rainbow dots on the edge of the pillowcase. I like to keep things simple because if I really want to, I can always go back and add more, but can't take anything away. 

Once you are completely done drawing, take a cotton swab soaked in rubbing alcohol and dab, then rub, it on the Sharpie designs. This will blend the colors together and give it sort of a glow or aura. It doesn't completely blend everything, so keep that in mind when drawing. By the way, the bigger your design is, the more rubbing alcohol you will need to use and that will probably smell bad. Too much rubbing alcohol can make me feel sick. Bleh!

After you have blended everything, pop your creation in the dryer for a little while. This will let the dye sink in more, and of course, dry it! Mine took the awful smell out too, but that could have just been because I didn't use a lot of alcohol. 

And you're done! Easy right?

I really like how it turned out!

When I was looking at Brit+Co's tutorial, I clicked on the link to another blog, which showed how to make an ombre pillow using this technique. I really wanted to try this, until I read what happened. All she did was scribble a color in different intensities on a piece of fabric and put it in a bathtub with rubbing alcohol. First, that had to give her a headache. Second, she said it dyed her entire bathtub purple! I don't know why she needed to use a bathtub, though. I bet you could just dip it in a bucket and it would work. If you decide to try this, let me know how it goes!

Now go be creative!

Do You Know the Muffin Pan? - Cakes

I promised there would be a dessert muffin pan recipe, so here it is! This was on the same Brit+Co post as the tacos.

I think I was looking forward to making (and EATING) this more than the tacos. Don't get me wrong, they were both delicious, but let's get real, who doesn't love a warm, chocolate cake? This recipe pretty much had my name written all over it.

It's time to wash those jumbo muffin pans after making your tacos, because trust me, you'll want to use them again! Here is the recipe for the muffin pan molten chocolate cakes.

Molten Chocolate Cakes

(Muffin Pan Edition)

You will need:

1 cup chocolate chips (maybe a little bit more) ;)

1 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

4 eggs

3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon paprika

We only had one stick of butter, so I had to cut the recipe in half. It still made four cakes, though, which was plenty.

First, melt the butter and chocolate chips together. I did this by using a homemade double broiler. I showed how to do this in one of my previous posts. However, the chocolate melted much faster than the butter. I ended up melting the butter in the microwave, then mixing it with the chocolate while it was still on the broiler. It was sort of lumpy at first, but after adding more chocolate and stirring, the mixture turned out smooth like it was supposed to. 

Add the vanilla, eggs and powdered sugar and stir until everything is combined. Don't let it sit for too long or it will get hard. Just a heads up! Mix in the flour and paprika and stir well again. 

Fill the muffin pan with the batter. Each cup should be about 3/4 full. The cakes will rise while they are in the oven.

Evelyn, Georgia, and I had some fun licking the extra batter from the bowl. 

Georgia

Evelyn

Georgia doing the "turkey" to Evelyn and I.
Sorry about my weird, mouse-looking face.
Pictures aren't really my thing unless I try to look weird.

Bake the cakes at 425ºF for ten to thirteen minutes. The sides will be firm, but the center will be all melty and "jiggly," according to Brit+Co. When I think of "jiggly," I think of Jell-O, not chocolate. But hey, whatever floats your boat. 

It's better if you serve these right out of the oven, but make sure you let the cakes sit for about two minutes before removing them from the pan. I skipped this step without realizing and got a melty, chocolatey mess. It still tasted AMAZING, but it wasn't very attractive. We let some of the other ones sit and they turned out better. I didn't get a picture of it, though, because we took it out, but decided we should wait for my sister to get home from soccer. Bad idea. It sort of collapsed. Oh well. It still tasted good and that's all that matters to me!

Enjoy your mini, Mexican-inspired, muffin pan, molten chocolate cakes! (What a mouthful!) I know I did!

Sticky and Scrumptious

In the past few months, I've had some requests for Marshmallow Caramel Popcorn, so here you go! 

Once or twice a year, my whole soccer team goes to a teammate's cabin for a fun weekend together. One of my teammates, Lily, always brings this popcorn and we all LOVE it. Take it from me, once you have one tiny piece, within minutes, you will have a nice, ooey, gooey handful of this delicious popcorn. She brings a huge bowl full of it, which always ends up completely empty before the trip is even over. The recipe that I found is not the same recipe, but it still tastes DELISH! I mean, who doesn't like popcorn, especially when it's covered in sugary goodness?


Here's how you make the popcorn, it's super easy and takes almost no time at all!

MARSHMALLOW CARAMEL POPCORN

via All Recipes

Materials:

23 large marshmallows - Honestly, I have no idea why it has to be twenty three...
2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 packages of microwave popcorn

1 large bowl
1 large pot

First, you need to pop the popcorn. Easy enough, right? Obviously, I don't make popcorn too often (AT ALL!) and burnt it. Whoops! Some parts were literally charred black, but don't worry, I took those parts out!

Now it's time for the good part. Melt your TWENTY THREE marshmallows, brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and vanilla in a pot on medium-low heat and stir. It seems kind of pointless to stir at the beginning, but eventually it will be important so you won't burn it. That would truly stink if you burned the popcorn, like me, and the caramel!

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Keep stirring...

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Almost done...

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Woo hoo!

As you can see, I got a little bit tired of stirring.

Once your marshmallow mixture is completely melty and gooey, pour it over the popcorn, which should be in your large bowl.

Now all you have to do is spread the caramel throughout the popcorn. Being brilliant and all, I thought it would be easier to coat the popcorn with my hands. Sometimes I wonder where I get these ideas from. Let's just say... IT WAS SO HOT! Bad idea Claire. Instead, stir the popcorn with a spoon.

And that's that! I hope you have fun making (and eating, of course) your marshmallow caramel popcorn!