Easy Greeting Card Project – Silhouettes
In an effort to reduce waste and purchasing new materials for projects, I’ll try to post different project ideas for you to try at home.
I’m sure if you searched your home, you would find a wide range of scrap paper from packages, old newspapers, magazines, flyers, wrapping paper etc…
No matter the size, one of the simplest decorative things you can make is a silhouette.
Silhouettes are basically a cut out shadow of an image. Usually just an outline of something without other details. They can be done with paper, fabric and even painted/colored in.
Here are a few that I drew as examples:
Use them to decorate your greeting cards, make cute gift tags or string them up for adorable mobiles.
One Good Thing A Day – Project Day 46 – Big Earthquake
Today we had one of the biggest earthquakes in Japan. I was quite scared and can’t even begin to explain how unpleasant it is living very high up in a swaying apartment.
After the initial wave, we went outside with many others and hundreds of children wearing their “protective” cone hats that are especially for earthquake days.
and cars lined up for blocks waiting to get on the closed-off highway:
The best thing about today is we were safe and can calm down now.
One Good Thing A Day – Project Day 45 – Old Friend
Got in touch with an old friend from high school…. it’s been quite a while and I’ve missed her so.
I was always so amazed with her work and see that’s she’s only gotten better:
Please check out her site to see for yourself: kristinedo.com
Healthy Chicken Vegetable Soup
When I get a cold, I make this hearty and healthy chicken vegetable soup. It seems to help a lot, because I feel much better after eating a couple of bowls and heal faster. This recipe uses a lot of garlic and ginger, but in the end, these flavours are not overpowering.
Next time you feel less than 100%, try this soup!
Ingredients:
6 chicken wings or legs
3 cloves of chopped garlic
2-3 tablespoons of finely chopped ginger
1 large potato (cubed)
1 large carrot (cubed)
1-2 leeks (10cm slices)
1 cup Chinese chives (10cm slices)
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 tablespoons dried basil
1-2 teaspoons salt
2-3 teaspoons pepper
0.5 -1 teaspoon chilli powder
2 cups small pasta (macaroni, conchiglie…)
Fill a pot with 1.5 to 2 litres of water. Add bouillon cube, chicken pieces, garlic, ginger, dried basil, salt, pepper and chili powder.
Boil for 10 minutes.
Add carrots, potatoes, leeks and chives and boil for another 10-15 minutes.
Taste the soup and adjust flavours accordingly.
Serve on its own or with pre-cooked pasta added later on.
One Good Thing A Day – Project Day 44 – Planting Day and Kirigami
It was such a beautiful day that I decided to plant new flowers.
So far, I planted lavender, carnations and an unknown mix of what could be posies (?)
It was a lovely time out and I hope they can grow well. The only problem is I’ll have to find a suitable home for them when I move.
To continue with the flower theme, here’s an example of a nice kirigami cut out you could try just by folding one piece of paper in half:
Greeting Card Project: Chiyogami Puzzle Piece Embellishments
As you may know by now, I love Chiyogami.
I’ve made many different things with chiyogami and always keep little scaps in a box for later use. If you have scraps of decorative paper or just want to recycle some leftover paper, here’s a great greeting card project that anyone can do, for any occasion.
First, get a bunch of little scraps along with a large sheet of heavy cardboard paper.
Next, cut a trip measuring one third of the sheet.
The wider portion will become the envelop and the narrow one will be the card.
Cut the narrow piece in half. Fold one piece in half for the card and set the other half aside for later use.
On the larger piece, draw out the envelope template. I usually trace the outline of the card and add about 0.5cm to the sides. For the flaps, it’s easy to extend lines to the edges of the paper, but also making sure to make it about 1cm narrower at the edges.
Cut out the envelope shape. Make sure you only cut the outside lines.
Add wedges (dotted line) to the side flaps to make it easier to extract the card.
Fold along the lines and make sharp creases, then add double-sided tape to the sides of the bottom flap and fold it up to secure it to the side flaps.
Set the envelope aside and grab the remaining piece of cardboard that you have. Cut out any shapes you like.
I decided to cut out a simple rectangle and heart.
Cover the entire pieces with double-sided tape followed by scrap chiyogami paper.
On the reverse, draw out simple puzzle pieces.
Cut out the puzzle pieces.
Secure them to the front of the card in the rough shape, or…
scattered all over the card.
I decided to scatter all of the pieces except one for this card, because I wanted that one piece for the envelope.
To tie in the envelope, secure one puzzle piece to the closing flap. This is a nice way to make a closing seal and to make the receiver excited about what the card looks like.
One Good Thing A Day – Project Day 43 – Best Drink in Japan!
Everyone knows the famous vending machines of Japan, but there’s something else that fascinates me more than the machines -the introduction of “new” drinks every couple of weeks or so.
You can pretty much find over a thousand different drinks that have a wide range of flavours, benefits and interesting bottle design.
I’ve tried quite a few of these drinks and my all-time favorite is:
The first time I saw it I wanted to try it, especially when I noticed that it contained catnip. The drink is a very nice relaxing drink with a subtle sweetness, unlike other drinks that seem like there are cups of sugar in them.
Certainly one of the top things I’ll miss about Japan when I leave *boo*
Simple Salmon Dill Pasta
I love cooking and will try making anything if it sounds healthy and good.
Sometimes there’s time to make dishes that require a lot of time for prep and cooking, which end up delicious, but I’m also a big fan of making simple dishes that anyone can make, even during quick breaks away from work/computer (>_<;)
For this recipe, you'll need (for 2 people):
2 cups Pasta (any kind)
200 g fresh or smoked salmon meat (without skin and bones)
4-6 tablespoons olive oil
chopped dill (any amount you like)
2 cloves of chopped garlic
salt and pepper (to taste)
optional: 1-2 teaspoons white vinegar
Boil water in a pot and add a pinch of salt just before adding the pasta. Cook until tender then drain.
In the same pot, heat oilive oil and garlic over medium heat for a minute then add salmon with salt and pepper.
Cook for another minute then add dill along with the drained pasta.
Mix everything together and serve.
You can adjust the flavors by adding more salt and pepper or by adding the vinegar while mixing everything together.
One Good Thing A Day – Project Day 42 – No more boring water!
Surely by now, everyone knows the benefits of drinking water and staying hydrated.
Most people say that you should drink 8 glasses of water a day, but actually, an adult male should drink around 14 cups while an adult female should have around 12 cups a day.
I try to drink as much as possible each day and average around 6-8 cups water with some other drinks throughout a day. After a while, water can certainly become boring and I find myself looking for something else…. which can be a bad way to add unnecessary sugar and/or caffeine.
I’ve checked out different “water recipes” and found that simple mint works very well. Here I used spearmint:
Today I’m using kiwi:
You can pretty much use anything that has a high water content like citrus fruits, berries and cucumber. Also, mix it up with other things like lemongrass or edible flowers -not only will it add a nice subtle flavor to your water, but they look very pretty as well.
Simple Kirigami
Many people would like to try kirigami but think it’s a very difficult craft that requires a lot of practice and precision. In reality, it can be as easy or difficult as you make it.
Star with a plain sheet of paper -any type, size or shape will do. Fold it in half and draw a light outline of half an image. Try one of these example:
The bold colors are just to show you the way to draw the outline and where you should cut.
They are great for beginner kirigami projects and for children as well. The beauty with these simple cut outs is that you can use them for many different projects and decoration like mobiles:
Just secure them to string or ribbons and hang them anywhere you like.
