DIY Popcorn Tins

Popcorn tins are a great present to make with the kids. They are quick and easy to make and most of the ingredients you need will already be in your pantry. But best of all they are YUM and perfect for that hard to shop for family member.

Peanut butter and Chocolate Popcorn

Ingredients
1 cup un-popped popcorn
1 cup milk chocolate chips
½ cup smooth peanut butter
¼ cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1½ cups icing sugar


 
Method
1) Pop popcorn ( I used an air popper), remove any un-popped kernels and place aside for now.
2) Place chocolate, butter and peanut butter in a bowl and melt in the mirco-wave

3) Add in vanilla essence
4) Grab your popped popcorn, pour your chocolate mixture over the top and mix with a wooden spoon until covered.

5)  Sift icing sugar over chocolate covered popcorn, spread across a baking tray (or two) and refrigerate for 30mins to an hour.

6) Break apart and serve! or pop it into a tin as shown above ;)

If you do decide to do a half/half popcorn tin, put a piece of cardboard down the center of the tin before placing the popcorn into it. This will help keep the popcorn to one side while you add the second type of popcorn. Afterwards remove the cardboard and hey presto!

** This will keep for about a week (if you can resist it) in a sealed container and kept in your fridge

Slightly modified from original Recipe found here: A Tasty Recipe

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Sweet and Salty Popcorn

Ingredients

¼ cup butter
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
½ cup corn kernels
4 tablespoons caster sugar
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

1. Melt butter with the oil in a large pot. Add the sugar and cook it until just very slightly golden
2. Stir in the corn kernels and salt and make sure everything is well-combined.
3. Cover with a lid and cook on medium-low heat until kernels stop popping. Be sure to shake the pot once or twice to make sure the kernels are cooking evenly.
4. Remove from heat and immediately toss with the salt and cinnamon and serve.

 *will keep in air tight container for approx 5 days depending upon weather (keep in a cool dark place) and if you can resist!

Recipe from here 

DIY Handpainted Wooden Beaded Necklace

Finished Necklace

What you need

• Natural Wooden beads
• Necklace
• Paint
• Masking Tape

Please note: we currently have some kits available which include the wooden beads and the necklace. Please visit our Hand-Made shop to purchase.

Steps:

1) Using masking tape cover a portion of the bead which will not be painted.

2) Paint the area of the bead which is not covered with masking tape, sit the beads on an even surface (so they do not roll away) to dry.

3) Once dry, slowly peel the masking tape off the bead.
4) Thread finished beads onto necklace

And there you have it, a simple but effective design on a necklace you have made yourself :) Experiment with the position of the masking tape to make different designs on your beads.

Buy a kit from our Hand-Made Shop.

Summer Lovin' on Hand-Made.com.au

This week in our newsletter we featured some great Summer finds from our sellers. There are so many wonderful products available I wanted to share a few more 'Summer Lovin' Finds with you.

Two Little Monkeys	MadebyRen	DichroicCreations
InkedbyMichanne	TeppyBDesigns	MummaWhoMakes
SydandMe	ALouyDesigns	NeckArt
CharliBearCreations	BlueWrenHandmade	BalisterDesigns

Dichroic Creations

What inspired you to start your business?
My business actually started off as a hobby after my third child was born, I had bought a dichroic glass pendant and had fell in love with the magic of the glass and was determine to learn. As time went on and my little one started Kindy I would have two full days to do my creating and now the past two years since he started school I have been creating five days a week...and that's how my business got started. I feel very blessed to be able to do what I love whilst I can still be there for my kids.

What is your handmade business all about?
 I create unique dichroic glass jewellery which is fused in a kiln up to 7 hours a firing and some pendants are fired up to 5 times to complete. About dichroic glass:
It is pronounced dye-crow-i, and the name comes from the Greek language for two colours -Di means two and Chroic means colour.

NASA developed dichroic glass for use in satellite mirrors. It has a reflected and transmitted colour, so, as you look at it, the colours seem to change. This is why it is so difficult to truly capture it's full beauty with a single photograph. The effect is stunning and dichroic glass jewellery is possibly the most wonderful fused glass you will ever see - so full of light and colour.


What do you enjoy most about your business?
 I feel so lucky and privileged to be able to work from home, being able to work around my children has always been important to me, never to miss a sporting event or book character parade etc. I love what I do with such a passion and there is no nicer feeling knowing lots of people from around the world are wearing my creations.

 


















What is your favourite product to make? 
Defiantly my Picasso Style dichroic Pendants, they are quite different and unique. These dichroic pendants are not full fused or capped with a clear glass making the colours more vibrant and the texture gives them real character.....Wearable Art :)

How did you learn your craft? 
I had a two hour lesson on basic fusing and one lesson on grinding and from there I am self taught. There is no right or wrong way when it comes to creating and I have learnt my own techniques from trial and error over the past 5 1/2 years.

What handy hints do you have for people who are starting up a hand-made business? 
I think commitment is very important, keep routine and hours that you intent to work during each week. I commit myself from 9:00am to 1:00pm Monday to Friday and any extra time I can fit in is a bonus. I strive to list new items each week which keeps customers popping by to check ...so regular listings I recommend.

What plans do you have for your business in the next year?
I plan to keep doing what I love creating...Dichroic Creations will only ever be just one employee ME so it can only grow as big as the work load I can keep up with.

Visit  Dichroic Creations On Hand-Made

Five Fabulous Friday Finds

Origami Earrings Traditional Tsuru Bright Fluro Yellow by Joji Creations	Ampersand Scribble Print by CocoElla
Harry by LilyandAndie Dolls	Whimsy Wrap Bracelet in Red Kuh-ler-ful
Bucks Fizz Coconut oil by Alchemist Grove

First Birthday Celebration Winners.....

 A great big thank you to everyone for celebrating our first birthday with us :)


AND THE WINNERS ARE.....


Carmen Jordan - beaded necklace by Frosted Candy

Sarah Eather - One custom A4 Babushka print designed in the colours of your choice and adorned with quality embellishments By smudge designs

Jordana Ferrara - 20% off voucher by Jacsprat Creations

Cassie Mackinnon - One custom cuff bangle or skinny 3 set of bangles (excluding flower bangles) By Frosted Candy

Nicole Neale - Classic MJ handmade baby shoes in Pink Team Blossom in size 9-12 mths with non-slip sole by Two Little Monkeys

Amy Wyhoon -  Beautiful pastel coloured pendant, measuring 2.3cms x 5.7cms. Made using resin set on glass with silver-tone wire wrapped around it to attach to a 43cms silver-tone chain from Neck Art

Tennille Koelma - 20% Off Voucher from Said the Ladybird to the Turtle

Michelle Louwrens - 20% Off a custom taggie block and triangle set - Made by Me With Two Little Peas

October Pin of the Day

Five Fabulous Friday Finds

Loopy Love Lamp by Blue Bamboo	Boys Rocket Set by Dino Dust
Polymer Clay Pendant by Ever Rose Creations	Owl by Red Stitch Designs
Intricate abstract canvas drawing by Inked by Michanne

Referral Prizes

Q&A with Crafty Miss Anne

What inspired you to start your business?  

I have been crafting since I was really little. I preferred crayons and coloured pencils to dolls! Craft is a relaxing hobby for me. It's a good way to unwind and is a great outlet for expressing my creativity. Since childhood, I have loved making something unique for family and friends and watching their delight as they open their gifts. It was only last year that I decided to take the next step and start selling my handmade items. 

What is your handmade business all about? 
My handmade business is all about creating unique handmade items that are of a practical nature (e.g. cards, jewellery, homewares, decorative items etc.). I like to keep the customer/recipient of my handmade items in mind when creating something and try to envisage how they would use my item. I would hate if someone bought/received something from me and then couldn't think of anything to do with it.

What do you enjoy most about your business? 
Running a hobby business has proven to be very rewarding. Besides the joy of knowing that someone out there loves your handmade items as much as you enjoyed making them, I have also really enjoyed the social aspects with running a hobby business. I have been able to engage directly with customers and form friendships with people who appreciate the hard work, creativity and dedication that goes into handmade items. I have received some lovely positive feedback from customers and have a lot of support from family and friends which has all encouraged me to keep making Crafty Miss Anne even better!

What is your favourite product to make? 
This is a very, very hard question. I honestly don't have an answer as I enjoy so many different types of crafts. I love creating handmade cards, jewellery, homewares, decorative pieces etc. but can't pick which of them I prefer to make!

How did you learn your craft? 
I am completely 100% self taught. I have improved my skills through experimenting, making lots of mistakes and practising until I have perfected a technique. I love just having a go at different sorts of craft techniques.

What handy hints do you have for people who are starting up a hand-made business? 
As I work full time, my business is only a part-time hobby one. This means that I often only get a couple of hours (on a good day!) to make anything. While it's extremely hard to manage a full time career with a hobby I'm passionate about, I enjoy every single minute of it! My tips for juggling a full time job and running a part-time hobby business are: 1. Manage your time effectively – this is something that I am still learning how to do, however it is vital that you find little ways to make the most out of your crafting time 2. Get organised – another thing that I am constantly striving towards. Ensure that your creative space is organised and that your craft stash is accessible and easy to find which is very important when you have limited time to create! 3. Engage with other sellers – there are lots of other sellers out there that can provide helpful advice and feedback. It’s always a good idea to bounce ideas of other like minded people and I’ve made quite a few friends through this experience. The “Hand-made.com.au sellers group” on Facebook is a fantastic forum for all aspects related to running a handmade business. Hand-made.com.au is a great way to start up your own business. Kristian and Alison are an extremely dedicated dynamic duo who provide a lot of help, support and advice to their sellers. They listen to their sellers and actively seek feedback on what we (as sellers) want to get out of the site.

What plans do you have for your business in the next year?
Over the next year, I would like to gain a lot more exposure for my handmade items and for my online store. I would like to try a variety of different online and face-to-face promotional strategies.



Visit Crafty Miss Anne on Hand-Made.com.au

Q & A with Jacara from Jacsprat Creations

What inspired you to start your business? 

I have always been a busy person and had a lot of trouble sitting still and doing nothing ( yes im getting fidgety sitting here writing hehe ), my mind goes at a million miles an hour. Always extremely independant with a CAN DO attitude. That was up until 2010 when a not so nice workplace scenario and a health scare ( lumps in my breasts, EEK!) developed into me suffering from anxiety and panic disorder. Now I had heard about these things before, but never given it a second thought. I was like 'pfft! Im too strong for anything like that to effect me!' WRONG! All the years of being strong for everyone else had finally taken thier toll on me. I was rendered to being housebound. Now you might be thinking 'why on earth is she yabbering on telling me all of this?' Simple........Thats the reason I finally got to put my dream of crafting all day every day into action. I would have kept on working...kept on telling everyone that was going to sew my heart out 'when I retired', and kept on putting all my hopes and dreams on the backburner.

What is your handmade business all about?

Creating unique items for children that will become heirlooms.

What do you enjoy most about your business?

 Mostly I love to see people loving something that I have made with my own two hands. I dream that these things will be pulled out of the cupboard in the future by someone, to show thier children what was thiers when they were little, and for all the memories associated with that item to come flooding back like it was yesterday.

What is your favourite product to make? 

I honestly don't have one! I love everything I make and find that week by week my favourite will be whatever i am working at that particular moment.

How did you learn your craft? 

I grew up watching my mum do all of her mending by hand and my grandmother taught sunday school so she was always doing something crafty at the kitchen table. She was also a knitter and made the most beautiful cards from pressed flowers from her garden which she sold.I did basic sewing in year 7 at high school like eveyone but found it boring and too constrictive so I am self taught from books and magazines.

What handy hints do you have for people who are starting up a hand-made business? 
Perseverance is the key. If it is your dream...dont give up things will eventually happen. Most importantly.......dont listen to negative or nasty people! Print out the lovely emails or just your favourite bits and make a big inspiration board.

What plans do you have for your business in the next year?

I have lots of things in development! New dollies and more vintage inspired clothing just to share a few.....I cant tell you all of my secrets!


Visit Jacsprat Creations on Hand-Made.com.au