how to make a pinata

What better way to get into the Cinco de Mayo spirit than to make your very own pinata. This weekend I made these cute donkey pinatas for a fiesta themed birthday party I am working on.

To get started stack two pieces of cardboard and draw a donkey outline and use a box cutter to cut two identical layers. 

Next, cut strips of cardboard. My strips are about 5 inches wide. You can make them as wide or as thin as you want. Take the cardboard strips and tape together the top and the bottom piece on the seam.

When you get to an edge, like the foot, just make a crease in the cardboard so it bends. 

The mini donkey pinatas were made with cereal and taco box cardboard.

Next, use glue and newspapers to cover his body, though this step is not necessary, I did this for reinforcement. Next, using a box cutter cut a door on the top to drop candy/prizes in.

Cut two holes on the top to loop for the rope if you plan on hanging him.

Next, using colorful streamers cut little strips of fringe. Surprisingly, cutting fringe and gluing the fringe on the pinata body took the longest.

Glue the fringed streamers in overlapping layers. I recommend layering about 3-4 of the same color at a time.

After all the fringes were glued on, I made his eyes and used black cardboard for his nose.

Click download to print the donkey eyes I made. I provided you a few different sizes depending on the size of your pinata.

He measures about 2.5 feet tall and 2 feet wide and is very strong and sturdy. If you have adults that are going to beat him I recommend reinforcing it with another layer or two of newspaper.

It's fiesta time!! As you can imagine after spending so much time with him I can't bare to use him as a real pinata to stuff with candy and to break, so he will now be a permanent member of the family.

Sneak Peak - How To Make a Pinata

This weekend is Cinco de Mayo and I am working on making a donkey Pinata for a special fiesta I am throwing in the next few weeks.

Pinatas are available to purchase in any party store, and even your local Target, but I thought it would be more fun to make my own. Making a Pinata is very easy to do and lots of fun!

Materials: Cardboard ( 2 large box), Box Cutter, Masking Tape, Glue, Scissors, and Streamers (Crepe Paper) in different colors.

Stay tuned this weekend to see how my Pinata comes out!

lettuce wraps

This week I took a stab at making some simple lettuce wraps to replace bread. They are really easy to make.



I simply washed the lettuce and carefully washed each leaf. You should have tiny little bowls like above. I am thinking about using these lettuce bowl to make some taco salads and other fun lunches in the future. What else could I make with these?

I layed the lettuce leaf flat and dried it with paper towl.



I was a mayo on my sandwich type of gal, but I have switched over to using hummus as a spread. Hummus is so good, I personally love hummus with garlic, and I never looked back.

I dressed it up with some slices of turkey and jalapeno cheese. Some slices of avocado would be delightful on top of this. And simply fold the lettuce leaf over.

It was easy and delicious. It was also very light weight. It is amazing how much bread fills you. I am definitely going to be making more of these.

weekend recap

This weekend was beautiful in Connecticut. I was able to snap some photos with my phone and post them on instagram. Are you on Instagram? I have two accounts: @kampal  for my personal adventures and @blackfeathershop for all black feather shop related adventures. And I will be sure to follow along with you too!

On Thursday, I took part in an Earth Day Fair and set up my Black Feather table, so last week I spent most of my free time working on new pieces. We had so much fun meeting sweet customers. I love when people ask me questions about what certain pieces mean. I had lots of people ask me about skulls and why I use them in making jewelry. As you might know, I appreciate and enjoy creating Dia de Los Muertos art (Day of the Dead), the holiday has a special place in my heart, so when I am not painting or drawing I incorporate it in my jewelry. Also, my jewelry is bohemian and rock'n roll inspired, so the skulls give it a little edge. I love wearing skulls, and aren't we all? We are all one big skeleton and skull underneath.

And this weekend we went to the annual Daffodil festival we have around here and walked around the huge pond at the park. I went there last year, remember this? There are thousands of daffodils blooming and it was beautiful. We also went to a huge flea market where I found lovely vintage jewelry that I am going to incorporate in a few one of a kind piece. 

My favorite find was a blue marble incan carving. I fell in love with this piece as soon as I saw it. Yanni snatched it up and bought it for me. I am either going to take in to the office or I am going to have it in my closet/office to hold bracelets. Or could I use it in the bathroom as a soap holder? Decisions..decisions. It's not everyday you run into a big and beautiful incan head.

We had some yummy food and fun times! Our little tradition has been to go to the Daffodil festival and then grab japanese food right after and I just had to stop by and get some ice cream for dessert.

I am so grateful for all the wonderful things around me. The wonderful people and the wonderful opportunities of meeting new people and finding new things in life.

It was a great weekend. I hope you have a great week too!

homemade twix pie

I have been having a huge craving for sweet treats lately. Is it wrong to indulge in a sweet treat every night? Though, I have made some serious progress in my workout and healthy eating routines, I think I will always have a sweet tooth, a sweet tooth that will have a mind of its own, and that I will never be able to control.

One night I was innocently reading one of my favorite blogs, when I saw this twix bar idea on Fanciful Twist, and my sweet tooth just had to make it. I am so glad I listened to it, because it came out tasting exactly like a twix bar, but better because it is homemade, and when you make something yourself, with your very own hands its an accomplishment, especially, when it tastes good.

I used Yammie Noshery's Twix recipe and started by making the crust, which is a simple, but yummy shortbread cookie. I am going to be using this exact recipe in the very near future for some cookie cutters I recently bought. I can't wait to share with you what I am working on next.

All you need is: 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter (I used slightly less),  1/4 cup of sugar and 1 cup of flour. Then I combined them to and pressed it into a pie dish, you can press into a square dish, but I only had a round pie dish. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown at 300 degrees.

While the shortbread was baking, I made the homemade caramel, which is very easy to do. Sorry for the blurry photo, this was a quick shot, as I ran to get my camera while the caramel was rising. All you need is: 1 cup butter, 2 cups brown sugar, 1/2 cup corn syrup (light), 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. I used the Fanciful Twist caramel recipe, but you can also melt caramels. I didn't use all the caramel, but I wanted a nice thick caramel layer.

Next, once the shortbread is out, I poured the caramel over the shortbread in a nice even layer to cover the entire shortbread crust, and then I put the dish in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes. And the caramel should be hardened a bit when you take it out, like below.

Next, the final part, melting the chocolate. I melted about 2.5 cups of chocolate chips in the microwave, about 4 intervals of 15 seconds, I would stir in between each interval. Depending on how chocolate you need and want and how large you pie dish is, mine is about 9 inches wide, you may need more chocolate to melt.

Pour the melted chocolate on the caramel layer.

Make a nice even layer of the chocolate over the hardened caramel layer.

Next put it in the fridge, until the chocolate layer hardens.

This tasted just like a real twix bar, but even better because it was homemade. It did taste a bit too sweet for me, so I am going to decrease the sugar a bit in the caramel going forward.

Enjoy this sweet treat!

m&m easter cookies

Happy first day of Spring! This weekend I was in the mood for some warm homemade cookies, so I made some spring inspired m&m cookies using pastel m&ms. I only made a dozen, so this is perfect to add to a Easter basket or bring to an Easter lunch. This recipe makes a dozen cookies. 

Ingredients 

• 1 cup of flour (I used whole wheat)
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 1/3 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 5 tablespoons of softened butter (note melted)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla (optional).

Add m&ms (I think adding white chocolate chips would be nice too).

Set oven to 375 degrees. I use a cookie scooper, but you can also use a tablespoon to scoop out the dough and place on parchment paper and put in oven for 8-10 minutes.

These came out soft and moist and delicious. I might just have to make one more dozen cookies.

One quick note, I don't know if you noticed, but I just did, many of my posts lately have been about food and baking. I love baking and learning along the way, and it's lots of fun to share recipes and my favorite treats with you. I am still creating dia de los muertos art and jewelry, going out and trying new restaurants, and seeing new things, but I haven't been bringing my camera along for all my little adventures. I have been going out and enjoying seeing the views with my eyes and not behind a lens.

I do enjoy taking photos and sharing my adventures. It is always nice to see a different perspective and see the different ways we all get to live out lives.

Now, that spring is here, my goal is to bring my camera along for more rides. When I am at home baking and cooking I have my trusty camera with me, so photographing my newest baking adventure is convenient.

So, I don't have plans on changing my blog to just baking and cooking, at least not right now, but it's just something I am loving right now. I hope you enjoy these little recipes too.

Cardboard Easter Eggs Name Tags

This is a fun quick project for Easter. All you need is cardboard, you can use a cereal box, I used a taco shell box and a pasta box.

 

And cut out ovals.

 You can use markers, paint, I used paint markers to design the eggs and placed family and friend names.

I am going to use these to attach to some Easter presents. But these will also be great to use to make cards.

homemade pretzels

I wanted to try something new this weekend and being at a basketball game and eating a soft pretzel got me thinking...I can make pretzels..so I went hunting for some recipes and found that making homemade pretzels is not only very easy, but really quick. Let me know show you how.

 

Dissolve 2 and 1/4 teaspoons in 1 and 1/2 cups of warm water and add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Add four cups of flour to mix and combine until dough is firm and not sticky.

Knead flour on floured surface and take a small piece to roll with hands and fingers to create long rope.

Next, make the pretzel shape by following these next three photos: 

Brush egg wash all over pretzel.

Bake in oven for 425 degree for 10 minutes, next broil for 3-5 minutes.

Add some spicy mustart and enjoy!