Almond Flour Pancakes
In an effort to find out which foods affect me negatively and which ones can be good for me, I’ve begun looking for new recipes for every day foods that sound good and are also healthy. Not too long ago, I decided to skip standard white flour and make almond flour pancakes instead. At first, the batter didn’t look very appetizing but I decided to go ahead with it anyway.
(Here’s the recipe via Wellness Mama: Almond Flour Pancake Recipe)
How did they taste? Delicious! I added fresh berries and real maple syrup and it was one of the nicest pancakes I’ve had in a long time! Try it yourself and see!
Top 10 Crafting Books to Check Out – Part 2
Here is the rest of my craft book list that I think all creative people can enjoy:
The Complete Book of Retro Crafts
Go retro with this book. Perfect for hipsters, baby boomers and those who love anything vintage and retro. You’ll surely love the projects that would bring back the glory days. Not only that, but this book also includes pictures and historical notes that would make you know more and understand the nitty-gritty of retro and crafts.
Eco Craft
With all the problems and change brought about by global warming, wouldn’t it be great to create crafts while making sure that the planet benefits from your projects? Eco Craft is the perfect book for your goal. Not only would you enjoy making all the projects listed in the book, you’ll also be able to minimize waste and help save the environment.
The Repurposed Library
We all love books, but there will come a time when you have to give some of your books away to free up some space for your new collections. With The Repurposed Library, you don’t have to throw or give away books. Transform your books into mobiles, wreath, vases, shelves and even a tablet/Kindle “keeper” for those who want to feel like they’re reading the book in its true form. You can even make these old books into decorative pieces for your home.
You Are Awesome
Doing something fun can make you feel happy and satisfied. You Are Awesome is a book of crafts that would make you feel happy without having to do anything drastic. Abbey Hendrickson is a popular blogger that would guide you with the step-by-step instructions of each and every craft in the book. Have fun and be happy.
One Yard Wonders
With One-Yard Wonders, you’ll surely discover the wonders of sewing. Even if you are a newbie in the world of crafts and sewing, or an experienced seamstress, you’ll surely find the projects in this book easy and fun to do. As the book promises, you’ll be able to turn a yard of cloth into anything: accessories, jewelry, pouches, bags, baby items and even banners for all occasions.
Top 10 Crafting Books to Check Out – Part 1
Are you looking for a new hobby or just want to try out doing some crafts? Crafting can be fun and enjoyable, especially if you like the idea of creating something new from scraps or old material. Here are some of the best crafting books to check out (or give to your crafter friends).
The Big-Ass Book of Crafts
This book is packed with everything craft-related, from stationery, paper products, sweaters, body products, ornaments and other ideas for your home and for your friends. What makes this book more interesting is the way that Mark Montano wrote it: with witty titles and funny (yet helpful) instructions. You (or your friend) will surely love this big-ass craft book.
Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedia of Crafts
In this book, Martha Stewart compiles her endless crafts projects in one book. All the crafts that you want to try, with detailed instructions and visual guides can be found in this book. The Encyclopedia of Crafts is just one of Martha Stewart’s several books that you can check out. Perfect for beginners and expert crafters.
Craft-a-Day
Are you looking for a new and fun 365 project to start this year? Try to make one project a day with the help of this book. Craft-a-Day is packed with projects that would keep you busy every single day of the year. The book is also divided into weekly themes that would make your craft-making easier and more fun.
Go Crazy with Duct Tape
Who thought that duct tape can be used to make jewelry, bags and accessories? With this book, you can create almost anything and everything with duct tape. Duck Duct Tape is available in different colors and prints, perfect to customize your accessories and things. The book also provides detailed instructions to help you along the way.
Terrarium Craft
Terrariums are perfect to add a dash of nature to your home. You can also give these away for your friends and family. This book will help you in creating these whimsical and magical crafts. It is a perfect project for both crafters and gardeners. Mix and match different plants and stones to create your own style.
*Stay tuned for the next post to see what other five titles can bring you lots of great ideas for different types of crafts!*
Banana Coconut Cake Recipe
banana coconut cake
As usual, we bought too many bananas and some of them were getting a little too ripe to eat on their own, so I decided to make a banana cake. Since I was feeling a bit tired of standard banana cake, I decided to throw in a few more ingredients to make it a little different. I checked the kitchen to see what I had on hand and managed to find mini dark chocolate chips and shredded coconut. I thought to myself, why not?
I was happy to find it tasted great! The flavours and textures mixed well, not to mention it seemed to turn out lighter than standard cakes. I liked it so much that I’m sharing the recipe with you 
Enjoy!
Banana Coconut Cake Recipe
Bake at 350F for approximately 1 hour
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½-¾ cup cane sugar
¼ cup coconut sugar
2 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil or shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk (you can substitute almond milk as well)
3-4 tablespoons shredded coconuts
3-4 ripe bananas
Simplified Procedure:
1 – Mix wet ingredients together in one bowl (mash bananas into the mix).
2 – Add sugar to wet ingredients and mix until dissolved.
3 – Sift and mix dry ingredients in a second bowl.
4 – Combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients.
5 – Place batter into a cake pan and bake for 1 – 1½ hours. Pierce the cake with a skewer to make sure it comes out clean. When it does, the cake is done!
Craft City Guide – Toronto, Canada (Featured on Cut Out + Keep)
Hi All!
I just wanted to share with you my featured article about the crafty city of Toronto! Please check it out (here) and let me know what you think. I know I probably left out a lot, but it’s a good start for anyone new to the city.
Click the photo to check out the full post on Cut Out + Keep!
How to Use a Gum Wrapper for Cards or Decorations
I’ve always loved gum wrappers because they tend to have pretty designs and interesting textures that make them perfect for different craft projects. You can make any number of origami designs or even try something even easier.
Simple Waves
Start off by flattening out the paper.
Fold one side up, but not quite to the very top. This will leave a bit of the white paper showing for contrast.
Get some plain card stock or a standard piece of paper folded in half.
Measure out the width of the gum wrapper (as marked by the red lines). This will create a slit for the wrapper to sit in.
Draw a wavy line from one point to another and cut it out with a scalpel knife.
Slip the wrapper in the slit and secure it with a little glue or double-sided tape.
Add some special details like jumping fish or a beach scene and you’re done!
Skirt
Start off with the wave fold and turn it on its side. Fold it in half width wise.
Fold in two corners on a diagonal, making one side narrower than the other.
Flip it over and there you have a simple skirt. This is a great idea for inexpensive paper doll clothes.
Mountain
From the base fold used for the skirt, take the opposite corners and fold them in to the middle. This time, make sure one end is much wider than the other.
Secure the back with tape or glue and flip it over.
Now you have finished a simple snow-capped mountain! Perfect for paper scenes in frames or on cards!
Crafting Budget – How Much Do You Spend on Crafts?
I love being creative and making something fun from random materials that anyone can get a hold of. These days, I try to get free or inexpensive materials for creative projects just for fun. If you missed my previous posts about finding free crafting materials from around the house, please take a look at them and let me know if there is anything that I’ve missed.
While I do try to keep my budget low for crafting, there will be times when I will splash out on quality tools or materials that I know will go a long way. This is especially true for scalpel knives, paper cutters and writing utensils.
Over the years, I’ve certainly piled up quite a collection of paper, paints, adhesives and stationery. Most of my cost went into Japanese chiyogami and washi but I only use them for “special” occasions *^_^* Although everything takes up more space than I prefer, I try my best to keep it neat and organized… so I don’t forget what I have!
I believe that being creative should not have to be expensive, whether it’s just for fun or as a special gift. Also, many people seem to miss the point that crafting shouldn’t be terribly expensive. No matter your skill level or style, it’s possible to make beautiful things that you and others love as well.
That being said, I’m curious to know how much you spend on crafts in a year?
How to Make Fun Candy Garlands from Paper Scaps!
I still have TONS of paper scraps that I want to use, but didn’t have fun ideas for it -until now!
Here is a cute paper craft to make a paper garland that looks like it has a bunch of strung up candies without the sticky mess or the temptation!
Get out your scraps of paper -any will do. If you have different weights and textures, they can add nice depth when you’re finished.
scrap paper pile
Grab one piece of paper and draw out a bunch of circles (I used the middle of a plastic tape dispenser as my circle template.
Draw out simple shapes.
Find a good contrasting colour to make the wrapped candy tips. Make sure to measure the diameter of the circle as the long middle so it’s easy to tape to the back of the circle.
Measure the width to sketch out the candy tips.
Completed mini candies.
For large lollipops, draw out larger circles just like the little wrapped candies.
Draw out larger circles.
Choose several different colours to combine contrasting ones for each lollipop.
Choose several colours for variety.
Choose one colour as the base and one as the top swirl. Take the top colour and cut out a swirl. To do this, just start cutting at one point and follow the circle until you reach the middle.
Cut out a swirl.
To make the swirls thinner, cut along the middle of the strip and cut all the way through the middle. This should now give you two thinner swirls. You can use both swirls for lollipops or use one swirl for other hanging decorations.
Thin out the swirl by cutting along the swirl in the middle.
Glue the swirls down on the plain circles for the lollipop top. Cut out a few sticks and just tape them to the back.
Tape or glue on top of plain circle.
For simple mini heart lollipops, cut out small heart shapes and tape short sticks to the back. Simple!
Hearts and sticks from scraps of paper.
Attach the sticks to the back of the hearts.
I found these fun bright colours and just started cutting out rectangles and trapezoids (essentially a triangle with a cut tip).
Rectangles and trapezoids from scraps.
Glue the trapezoids to the ends of the rectangles to make a simple type of rectangular wrapped candies.
Rectangular candies.
For smaller scraps of paper, try to pair up shades of long thin rectangles together for candy sticks.
Pair up shades for candy sticks.
Take the lighter shades and cut out diagonal strips (width wise). Discard every other strip and glue the rest on the darker strip.
Finished candy sticks.
Once all of the candies are done, arrange them as you like along a string or ribbon. I like to arrange them close together so that the string is barely visible.
Arrange paper candies however you like.
Finished! Isn’t it adorable? I think it’s a great decoration for Birthday parties, children’s play dates, or even just to dress up the house with something colourful and fun!
Finished paper candy garland!
Let me know what you think and please send me your variations so that I can feature them on the site!
Coming up, Paper Candy Garland!
As per usual, I have gone quiet and apologize. I’m preparing an adorable craft that I hope you will all love -a paper candy garland! Please keep an eye out for the post, it’ll be colourful and fun!
Can Candy Making Kits be Educational?
I have subscribed to RRcherrypie on Youtube and can’t help but watch through all of the videos just to see how all of the different candies are made. When I lived in Japan, I noticed all of these different candy making kits but never thought to buy them since they are for kids, but the more I see how fun they are, I realize that I’ve missed opportunities to teach my old class something educational from something fun.
Each candy making kit can easily be a fun science lesson for children of all ages. You can show them how a combination of a powder and liquid can form a solid, you can show colour changes by mixing different colours, teach them to be patient and precise when combining mixtures and you can get the kids excited about making their own “food”.
Luckily, it’s not just restricted to people living in Asia. You can find the same candy making kits on Amazon, I’ve linked to a list here.
If you would like to see just what I’m talking about, here’s one of RRcherrypie’s videos:
