1 bouquet 3 ways

happy weekend!

beet hummus

I love colorful food, there is something even more pleasing about eating food that is beautiful! One of my favorite colorful and healthy treats is beet hummus. It is easy to make, delicious and super pretty!

You can use homemade hummus or if you don't have lots of time, you can even use store bought hummus.

MY FAVORITE HUMMUS RECIPE:

Typically hummus has tahini or sesame paste but I like to make a nut free version.

1 can garbanzo beans or chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 clove garlic, crushed
1-2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
dash of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

Next, you will need to roast a couple of beets.

Once the roasted beets have cooled, puree them in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Next is the fun part! Slowly begin adding the beets to the hummus. The fun thing about beets is that the color is DYNAMIC and it doesn't take much to transform that hummus into someone colorful.

Keep mixing the beets until you've achieved your desired shade of pink.

The result is beautiful and a great way to brighten up a vegi plate.

free spring coloring page download!

Ok friends, I have a free coloring download for you today! I've also got two sizes available for you- one standard page and then a larger download that can be used as a placemat in your spring/Easter entertaining! Happy Coloring!

download 8.5 x 11 coloring page HERE

download placemat coloring page (8.5 x 14) HERE

You can find a whole bunch of more free coloring downloads HERE

marbled plastic easter eggs

I have a confession to make, plastic Easter eggs are not my favorite thing! While they are great for filling with goodies, they are really challenging to decorate. But this year, after lots of experimentation, I discovered a really pretty way to transform those plastic eggs!

I started with a variety of plastic eggs in all kinds of bright colors. 

Remember back in February when I shared how much I love the product Easy Marble? Well the great thing about Easy Marble is that it works on all kinds of surfaces, including plastic.

You can use Easy Marble just like any marbling process- pour the paint into water and it will float on top of the surface.

You can use a toothpick to move the paint around and even more marbling.

Then dip the plastic egg into the water and it will pick up the marbling! The cool part of this process is that the color of the egg will show through the marbling.

The result is really beautiful plastic eggs!

Looking for more egg decorating inspiration?

bird nest eggs   watercolor easter eggs   everyday decorating easter eggs   butterfly eggs

wood burned eggs

mermaid eggs   geometric eggs   doodle eggs   whimsical eggs

scrappy eggs   altered plastic eggs   speckled eggs   canvas eggs

coiled rope hanging planter

Recently I did some rearranging in our living room. After moving things around, I was left with a big space in one corner that was screaming for a hanging plant! While there are some really pretty macrame hanging planters out there, I was inspired to create a rope basket planter. The process is crazy easy!

You can make a coil basket out any thick rope or twine, you can even use scraps of fabric wrapped around the rope for something really colorful. But I like to keep it simple and use rope (out of everything I've tried, I liked using clothline the best). 

To begin, coil the rope. Using a machine, zig zag stitch the coil together and keep coiling and stitching.

TIP: I spend lots of time sewing heavy duty and non-traditional materials on my machine- I typically use a denim needle for these kinds of projects.

Once you have the base of the basket you can create the sides by tilting the coiled rope as up as you sew. 

Continue sewing until the basket is desired size.

TIP: The more you tilt the the base, the more dramatic the curve of the sides will be.

I created a basket to fit a self watering plastic pot which meant that I needed to build the walls of my basket higher than the pot so the pot wouldn't show.

I also created little loops around the edge of my basket.

Next I tied rope to each of the loops and I added glue to the knot to keep it secure.

I repeated this process on all of the loops.

The last step was to paint my basket. While I love using lots of color, our living room is decorated in lots of white and neutral colors with pops of blue so I wanted to keep it simple. I started with a thick layer of grey acrylic paint and then added lots of drizzles over the top.

I repeated this painting process on the inside of my basket.

TIP: While you could keep the rope natural, I really enjoy painting my handmade baskets. It adds a unique look but it's also another way to stabilize the basket. After a couple coasts of paint, the rope basket will be very firm.

Next, I potted a long house plant in the pot and then placed the pot into the basket.

Last, I hung the hanging basket.

Need some more rope inspiration?

coiled rope tote bag     coiled rope baskets    coiled rope pouches

rope rug

rope bowls online class