Paper Button Garland

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Busted Button

I was bored tonight.

So I made this.

I got the idea from MY BRAIN for once. Lately it’s been hard to come up with an original idea, what with Pinterest and the Internet in general and my sweet creative friends kicking around. This is sooooper easy, and probbbbbably doesn’t require a tutorial, but like I said, I’m bored 😉 and it’s all about me, after all.

Enter: Supplies of Craftiness! I made another lil banner out of those vintage flash cards up there, but I will post about that some other time. Right now we need to focus on the task at hand. You are so distractible, aren’t you?

Here is where we get aggressive. Violence really IS the answer sometimes. Punch the heck out of some pretty card stock. It probably deserves it.

Then punch some more.

Paper-punching is so therapeutic. I use it to take my aggression out by thinking about things that bother me, such as the fact that I can’t wrap presents or drive.

Now! Get stringing!

Thisssssss lil number would be so cute in a girl’s room. Or above my crafting area/temple along with all the other exciting decorations I have planned!!! I can’t wait to share them with you 😉

Okay, that was way too easy and short of a tutorial so I’ll throw in a little somethin’ somethin’ I rigged up the other day- My daughter ‘organized’ my bathroom- she put all of my stuff on one side of the counter and all of her stuff on the other side. While she was sleeping I made a couple of mini collages to decorate this new arrangement. Here they are for your viewing pleasure:

And on that note, GOOD NIGHT! I’m going to be dreaming about buttons tonight…or at least cheese-shoes again…

Posted in Craft Tutorials | 6 Comments

Gumby’s Peppermint Patties

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Busted Button

Me and my pal Gumby ventured into a delicious, pepperminty, chocolatey realm  today:

He was ecstatic. These days he spends most of his time being chewed on by an autistic kid, so this was a welcome change.

I saw these homemade peppermint patties on Pinterest (say that 10 times, fast). If you want those instructions, here they are. If you want the slightly different, easier-yet equally delish, but more entertaining version, then read on.

This was surprisingly easy! Only a few ingredients and noooo baking which I always love. My oven is possessed.

That’s my new epicure garlic salt spice grinder in the background, by the way. I thought it was prettier than my salt tub, so I let it have its 15 minutes of fame here. I definitely used regular salt in the recipe.  😉

All you gotta do is mix up every ingredient, minus the chocolate (don’t worry, I’ll post the recipe down there ↓) until a nice dough forms. (You might need to add a bit more water or sugar to get the right consistency.) Then knead it on a sugared surface for a minute until it’s smooth. I need to knead you, baby.

(Mom joke, sorry)

Next, form the dough into a nice, big patty, and coat liberally with melted chocolate.

Just kidding… Imagine???

Now, roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper. I used wax paper because I am cheap and lazy thrifty and resourceful. You wanna aim for about as thin as a peppermint patty should be. (I’m helpful.)

Make sure you dust the top and bottom of the dough with some icing sugar, then stick it on a tray in the freezer  for 10-15 mins.

Get yourself a cutter of sorts that is about an inch in diameter. Out of the 200 cookie cutters I have, I couldn’t believe that I didn’t have a small circle! But my Birthday is coming up, so thanks in advance to the lucky one of you who is going to get me one.

I wound up using a popsicle cup, which was a pretty cool shape for a peppermint patty. I just made sure I dipped it in sugar every few squishes. (I just racked my brain for 5 minutes trying to come up with a better way to say that last word… sorry… ‘squishes’ it is.)

After another short stint in the freezer, these puppies will be ready to coat in chocolate!

And since we had a spare 10 minutes to kill, we thought we’d take advantage of the opportunity and have a photo-shoot:

Gumby felt left out. Because he was. That’s okay, Gumby. Chocolate will heal your emotional scars!

After your photo shoot, plunge the chilled patties (heehee that reminds me of ‘grilled patties’ and now im picturing making this recipe with ground beef!) into some melted chocolate.

To melt chocolate easily and effectively, pour the chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave it at 20 second intervals, stirring each time. When the chocolate is jussssst melted and smooth, it’s ready to go! It is really easy to over-cook it. Don’t do that. It is gross and doesn’t work.

Pretty lil things. After they’re coated, leave them for an hour or so on the counter until the chocolate has set. OR if you are like me and are unnaturally impatient had somewhere to be, you can put them in the freezer for 10 more minutes.

They were delicious, and a lot better than the store-bought kind, but more importantly, Gumby was extremely satisfied.  And now, the recipe:

Gumby’s Peppermint Patties

2 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 Tablespoons corn syrup (light)

1 1/2 Tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

a pinch of salt

1 Tablespoon margarine (or shortening, or butter, or even mayonnaise, if you’re feeling experimental. (And let me know how that goes…)

1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used dairy free ones- so these babies are dairy-free AND gluten-free)

Well, there you have it! And on that note, I’m going to go gain weight!

Posted in Dairy-Free recipes, Recipes | 17 Comments

Tonsil Bear

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Busted Button

Yup… Tonsil bear.

So, my best buddy’s daughter is getting her tonsils removed tomorrow. I thought to myself, “I will make her a care package.” And then my imagination took a wrong turn, as usual.

Meet Thomas:

Thomas is a lovely bear I got from my enormous re-gift pile the expensive store down the road. He went through a journey that most stuffies wont ever have to go through…

Surgery.

And I aint talkin’ Botox. I’m talkin’ total reconstructive mouth surgery. And a tonsillectomy while I’m at it.

First cut open his face below his original mouth along the bottom seam. (I’m writing this in tutorial form- AS THOUGH ANYONE ELSE ON THE PLANET IS EVER GOING TO DO THIS.)

Then get some red felt. I got mine from walmart. I wish I got it from Here, though, cuz it is the best felting blog ever, but instead I just stole a bunch of their ideas. Thanks guys 😀

Next I cut out this shape.  I don’t even know how to describe that shape…a hard boiled egg with pinched in top-sides?

Then I sewed it into Thomas’ new mouth opening. (I should have put a *Graphic* warning at the beginning of this post, but the thought of how very confused innocent people must be right now is kiiiinda entertaining!)

Now! In order for Thomas to undergo a tonsillectomy, he needs TONSILS!

And thankfully, the dollar store had a sale on.

Let’s make these removable. Countless hours of fun whilst the young one is recovering from surgery, yes?

Peeeeeeeeeerrrrrrfect. Now, just to disguise that pesky little original mouth… I had to put my plastic plush surgeon’s thinking cap on for this one! I KNOW! When in doubt….

MUSTACHIO.

“Ton-sows?” Wow, I really can’t get over how strangely cute this little guy is. I really hope his new mommy feels the same way!

And there he is- ready to be sent away to one of the best little 9 year olds I’ve ever met! I’ll miss you, Thomas! It was nice doing…um…business? with you? Never thought I’d get to know a teddy bear so well.

I have to go wash teddy blood and saliva off my hands now.

Posted in Craft Tutorials, Odd Art | 15 Comments