We Have Lift Off!

I love making things (as you can tell from this blog), so when I come across something that I can't make, it bugs the heck out of me.  Macarons have been one of those things.  I have tried with several (count 5) failed attempts to make these cute little cookies, each time with no success.  The thing about macarons also is that they are so time consuming to make and the ingredients are fairly pricey.  A batch takes about three hours of elapsed time to make (at least for me) and a small bag of almond flour is 10 dollars, so each failed attempt is so frustrating.  Every time I make a batch I tell my husband I'm never making these again.

I took a day off yesterday and spend the entire day crafting with Avery.  We made lots of fun crafts, bows and barrettes, animal necklaces, and to end the day I decided to try my hand at making macarons one last time.  Finally, they turned out!  They still aren't perfect, the middle is slightly chewy and the tops are a browned and not completely smooth (almond flour was too course).   But I managed to have feet (those crumbly things on the side of the cookie) and taste pretty decent. I was so surprised they turned out I didn't know what to fill my macarons with.  I didn't even have ingredient to fill them because I was thinking it would be another throw out batch!

I'll have to post more later.  I was just super excited about my macarons that I had to share.  Here is the best macaron reference guide online: http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2010/04/macarons-101-french-meringue.html

Happy Labor Day!

What Type of Water Do You Use To Water Marble Nails?

I get this question a lot on my youtube video.   Everyone seems to have different opinions, on which water is best and the right temperature.  For this experiment I used three different types of water: bottled, tap, and filtered tap.  The filtered tap was run through a Brita Filter.  I live in Southern California so I think my tap water is fairly hard (judging from the hard water stains on our shower).

I documented my experiment on the youtube video below.  I didn't try different water temperatures, but from my experience room temperature (~76 degrees Fahrenheit)  water always works best.

Here is my youtube video with the results of my experiment: 

Water marbling is tons of fun and you get a unique look to your nails.  If you want a step by step how to please watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YoxnPMbVhA  There are detailed instructions there.  

For those of you who are too lazy to watch the which type of water experiment here are the results:

the type of water does not seem to make a difference.  So have fun water marbling, and don't waste good bottled water!

Washi Tape to Upcycle Magnet Mailers

I love washi tape.  It's so cute and inexpensive that its so hard not to keep buying rolls and rolls. Finding cute magnets is also difficult.  I usually like to keep my fridge clean with minimal things on it, but since I had kids, their artwork is all over the fridge.  To help keep it cut I made these up cycled washi tape magnets using old magnet mailers.  Speaking of keeping your fridge clean, the I found the best stainless steel cleaner.  My mother in law gave me a box of these stainless steel wipes (possibly as a hint that my fridge was filled with fingerprints) that work so well.  I've tried to get the fingerprints and scratch marks off my refrigerator for a while.  After using these wipes the fingerprints are gone and the scratches are much less noticeable.  Sorry to get off on a tangent, here's the tut:

Tape over old magnetic mailer.

Washi tape thin to I went back and peeled off the writing off the magnet.

Cover the entire magnet.

Cut the strips using craft knife and ruler.

Zig zag the edges with a scissor.  The more random the cuts the better.

My fridge is so cute now.  I should really bring these to my work to stick on my cubicle file cabinets.

If you have lots of magnets you could also make a magnet photo collage or magnetic paper dolls.