Sunday, March 13, 2016

NATURAL DYE EASTER EGGS WITH RED CABBAGE

EASY EASTER DIY - BLUE EGGS

Natural dye Easter egg photo by Kreetta Järvenpää www.gretchengretchen.com

How are you? I hope you have had a very pleasent weekend and energy for coming week.  

I've spent my day making things I haven't had time or things I've been too lazy to do before...I read a book. Made finally a bird house from recycled wood. It's very bohemian looking, I have to say ;) Played with red cabbage and eggs because during this weekend I found a very beautiful pic of blue colored eggs in Instagram @minorgoods. They had made many shades of blue but me - usually I go with the flow and want to have things ready - so mine are just same blue. Although I left two of these eggs still in colored water. I will see how they look tomorrow. 

But this is the blue you get when you natural dye your white eggs with red cabbage. Isn't it amazing?


HOW TO 

You need white eggs, red cabbage, water, salt and white wine vinegar. 

First cook the eggs. I made 4 eggs 

Then I make the color water. I used 1 litre pot and used a bit less water and filled the pot with red cabbage, 1-2 tbsp white wine vinegar and one tsp salt. Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes and after that let it be for awhile like 10 minutes.

Meanwhile decorate your eggs. I used candle wax to make the pattern. I used those small birthday cake candles, they are great to draw. I also used lace. I wrapped it around the egg and sew it enough tight that the water can't get under it and one without masking.

I put the eggs in colored water (it looked strong purple) for few hours and look - they are all blue. 
Take them away when you are happy with the color. Deeper color needs more time. 

That's about it. You can eat the eggs even though the color is maybe reached the inside. All is natural. 

What do you think? Are you making these for your Easter dinner table?

xoxo
Kreetta

Sunday, March 6, 2016

HOW TO MAKE A BEAUTIFUL FLORAL PARTY DECORATION

FLOWERS IN THE JAR

How to make a beautiful flower arrangement? photo by Kreetta Järvenpää
Phew, this week has been so busy with 4 photoshooting days. We used flowers with all those  cookies, desserts, chocolate. I decided to make a blog post about one flower decoration we used. Actually this idea was born a bit before Christmas with my sister Kristiina at their beautiful Ryti-talo. There were Christmas handmade market and I needed decoration for my table and then she brought a very big class jar. I had been making flower frogs during the autumn and we got an idea to use them in the glass jar and I really have to say that way you can make magic with flowers and glass jar. 

How to make a beautiful flower arrangement? photo by Kreetta Järvenpää

It's very simple. You need a big glass jar. Mine were at least 20cm high but still I think that was too small. The other one - you can see above - is 30cm high. That was ok but I love to use bigger one! It's a lot of easier to put your arrangement in the jar if you have a bigger one or very small hands. I bet we all have a lot of glass jars and I'm quite sure that some might be quite big like those very old ones you've got from your mom, grandma, bought from antique shop or flea market. 

How to make a beautiful flower arrangement? photo by Kreetta Järvenpää
You need a flower frog. There are many kind of flower frogs but for example I have made mine from ceramics. You don't have to make, you can buy one. I have some vintage flower frogs too but this time I used my own design. You can find frogs from Etsy, vintage shops, flower shop or you can also use metal ikebana flower frog if you don't mind the look. Then you need flowers and water of course. My flower frog is open underneath so the flowers get the water.

How to make a beautiful flower arrangement? photo by Kreetta Järvenpää

This flower frog is my raku ceramics. The holes are too big for one thin waxflower  (it's one of my favorites!) but you can put several different kind of flowers in one hole. If you like my design, please don't hesitate to ask me if you want have a unique handmade ceramic frog. Usually I make normal ceramic - not raku. But this one I made last autumn in raku course. 

How to make a beautiful flower arrangement? photo by Kreetta Järvenpää
It's all about imagination. You might have plenty of ideas but you can also go through Pinterest and look for arrangements that inspires you or you can go and see beautiful floral feeds in Instagram like The_Greengallery, Joflowers, Hattieflower, Stilzitat, Flowerona, li.sense.a and many more. I had a lot of pink ranunculus so my arrangements are very romantic and a bit slavic this time.

How to make a beautiful flower arrangement? photo by Kreetta Järvenpää

When you get your arrangement ready you can put it carefully into the jar. But remember to put enough water. Or if you want them as wilted and enjoy of dried flowers  - forget the water.

How to make a beautiful flower arrangement? photo by Kreetta Järvenpää
These flowers are a promise of a spring. Hooray! Light you are so welcome! If you make a flower arrangement in the jar, love to see it! You will find me in Instagram @kreettakreetta just tag me and I'll come to see  your flower jar :)

Have a lovely Sunday!

xo
Kreetta 

ps. Happy Interior blog by Igor Josif made wonderful post about my ceramic flower frogs. 
Blogging tips