Living La Vida Holoka


Christmas Wreath Birdseed Ornaments

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Make these Christmas Wreath Birdseed Ornaments to give your feathered friends a nutritional treat and add a little festive color to bare branches!

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I am such an animal lover and it always amazes me when wildlife visits our backyard.  We live in a heavily populated area with a couple parks nearby, but that’s it!  So whenever we have a new backyard buddy wander into our yard, I want to make sure that they’re taken care of! Someone has to!

I’ve made calls to get mangy foxes rescued and treated. I’ve shoved carrot tops under the shed for the rabbits who live there.  We let the caterpillars take over our dill so they could turn into beautiful butterflies.  And there’s currently a small pumpkin patch in the backyard for the squirrels to enjoy.  With the cold months charging forward, I’ve decided to make some birdseed ornaments to hang out on our apple trees to provide a little sustenance for our feathered friends.


We haven’t gotten much fruit – or any, for that matter – off of the three dwarf apple trees in our backyard.  But they’ve provided a home for the birds and some food for the squirrels and rabbits (I don’t mind since they have to eat, too).  The trees pop with pop with pink blossoms in the spring.  Their bare branches make a pretty backdrop during the winter months.  The branches are also short and thin enough to hang ornaments off of. 

How to Make Christmas Wreath Birdseed Ornaments

 
I ended up making a double batch of these wreaths because the first batch didn’t work out quite as well as I wanted them to.  But the second batch was perfect!  Just the right amount of birdseed and gelatin! 

The gelatin acts like a glue to hold the birdseed together and it’s totally okay for the birds to consume.  So are the cranberries!  They provide antioxidants and add a fun pop of festive color to the wreaths!

SUPPLIES

STEPS

  1. Spray the mini donut pans with non-stick cooking spray.  Then, place four cranberries into the bottom of each donut.
  2. In a small pot, add the water and the gelatin over medium heat. Mix until the gelatin dissolves.  Remove the pot from the heat.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, add the birdseed.  Pour the gelatin mixture over the birdseed.  Stir until the gelatin has been absorbed and the birdseed is fully coated.
  4. Carefully spoon the birdseed into the donut pans leaving a little space to add a looped piece of twine.
  5. Cover the twine with more birdseed and press the seed mixture into the pans with the back of a spoon or your fingers.
  6. Set the pans in the fridge for about an hour, or until the wreaths solidify.
  7. Remove the wreaths from the pans when you can pop the wreaths out by the twine and the twine doesn’t feel loose.
  8. Once all the wreaths are removed, you can hang them on the tree for the birds to enjoy!  


When I went to hang the second batch of wreaths, I noticed that the first batch of wreaths had already been nibbled!  Success!  These wreaths are an easy, kid-friendly holiday craft.  They would also make a great homemade gift for nature lovers and gardeners!  But most of all, it’s an easy way to give your winter birds a nutritional Christmas treat! 

Did you make these Christmas Wreath Birdseed Ornaments?  Share them on social media using the hashtag #livinglavidadiy. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!

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20 DIY White Pumpkins to Add to Your Fall Decor

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Add some simple elegance to your fall decor with these 20 DIY White Pumpkins. You can easily transition these budget-friendly projects from Halloween to Thanksgiving!


It’s officially fall, so I can officially talk about all things pumpkin! Okay. Who am I kidding? I bought my first pumpkin from the craft store in July!  I have an entire storage tote (and then some) devoted solely to artificial pumpkins.  I’ve made so many DIY pumpkin projects over the past few years, but my favorite decorative pumpkins are definitely white pumpkins.

Orange pumpkins are classic fall, but white pumpkins just work so well in home decor.  They’re the perfect blank canvas for so many fall DIY projects, but they’re also so elegant and pretty on their own.  If you’re looking to add some white pumpkins into your fall decor this year, check out these DIY projects! 

20 DIY White Pumpkins to Add to Your Fall Decor
  1. White Pumpkin Flower Vase DIY Tutorial – Get Green Be Well
  2. DIY Confetti Pumpkins – Made in a Day
  3. Melted Crayon Pumpkin – Best Ideas for Kids
  4. DIY No-Carve Copper Herringbone Pumpkins – Lovely Indeed
  5. Simple Mantel with White Pumpkins – The Honeycomb Home
  6. DIY Copper Striped Pumpkins – Homey Oh My
  7. Glitter Monogrammed Pumpkin – unOriginal Mom
  8. DIY White Pumpkin Decor with Paper Flowers – Finding Zest
  9. White Pumpkin Fall Wreath – Paint Yourself A Smile
  10. Framed Fall Pumpkins – Craftaholics Anonymous
  11. Glitter Pumpkins – Happy Happy Nester
  12. White Pumpkin Decor from Cheap Thrift Store Foam Pumpkins – Making Manzanita
  13. DIY Cute Faced Mini Pumpkins – Homey Oh My
  14. Mini Succulent Topped Pumpkins – StoneGable
  15. DIY Pumpkin Vase – A Pumpkin and a Princess
  16. Crackled and Studded Pumpkins -Classy Clutter
  17. Floral Pumpkin Wreath – Heath and Vine
  18. Pumpkin Glitz & Glitter – Life on Lakeshore Drive
  19. DIY Gold Confetti Pumpkins – Homey Oh My
  20. Pumpkin Decorating with Nail Polish DIY Tutorial – Joyful Derivatives

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How to Make Shark Pun Wine Glasses

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Make these Shark Pun Wine Glasses for your Shark Week watch-a-thon! This easy Cricut project features “punny” shark phrases and simple shark silhouettes.


Now that you’ve got your Shark Week Watch Party Essentials, it’s time to sit back and watch some truly fascinating and frightening TV!  Maybe that’s the thing that I really enjoy about Shark Week.  It’s a glimpse into the depths of the ocean and you never really know when the sharks will swim up from below and attack. 

Come to think of it, I’ve never been much of a fan of swimming in the ocean.  And especially now that shark sightings have become way more frequent along the Jersey shore!  No thanks!  I’ll stay on dry land.  In fact, I’ll safely enjoy watching these beautiful, stealthy, and unpredictable animals from the comfort of my couch!


Before this terrifying week of shark attacks and up-close-and-personal encounters begins, I made a simple wine glass project using my Cricut Explore Air 2 perfect for Shark Week watch-a-thons.  The first glass I made was this “Stop!  Hammer time!” glass.

I uploaded a hammerhead shark silhouette into Design Space and sized it to fit my wine glass.  Then, I used the Marker Felt font to create my text in all caps.  I cut the design on holographic vinyl (it reminded me of ocean water) and placed it on my glass.



For the other glass, I followed the same steps.  But this time, I uploaded a Great White shark silhouette into Design Space.  Then, I used the Cricut font, Sweet Dreams, to create my text. And that’s it!


Follow the steps below to make your own Shark Pun Wine Glasses! 

 

SUPPLIES

STEPS

  1. Create your text in Design Space and cut the vinyl.
  2. Remove the extra vinyl from the design.  Then, cut a piece of transfer tape to size.
  3. Remove the backing from the transfer tape and lay it over your design. Use a spatula or brayer to rub the tape down onto the design.
  4. Carefully lift the transfer tape off of the design.  It should easily come off.  If it doesn’t, you can help it along by lifting a corner of the letter.
  5. Once the design has been lifted onto the tape, position it over the glass and once again use the spatula to rub the vinyl, ensuring the design is flat and rid of any air bubbles.
  6. Peel the transfer tape off of the glass and fill it up with your favorite beverage! 

Want some more shark puns and phrases? Check these out!

  • Great White wine (Great White)
  • Stop!  Hammer time! (Hammerhead)
  • Let’s get hammered! (Hammerhead)
  • Mako me tipsy! (Mako shark)
  • Totally jawesome!
  • Wine with a bite
  • Jaw ready for this?
  • A nice fin wine
  • Drink like a fish
  • You’re gonna need a bigger glass (Jaws)

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Homemade Natural Bug Repellent

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Sick of swatting away mosquitoes while you’re hanging outside during the summer? Naturally keep pests away with this Homemade Natural Bug Repellent made with essential oils!


My husband is off this week, so that means we’ll probably be spending most of our time outdoors.  Honestly, we’ve already been spending all of our free time outdoors!  Last weekend, he had a four day weekend and we were outside doing some yard and garden work.  We pulled two dead azalea bushes from the backyard and replaced them with rock mulch and a couple dwarf butterfly bushes.

With all of our extra rocks, I cleaned up the front landscaping a bit.  I was carrying buckets of rocks back-and-forth from the backyard to the front yard.  During my travels, I ended up with my first mosquito bite of the season.  Right on my lower ankle!  

Despite having pots of lemongrass and lavender – known mosquito repelling plants – around the yard, bugs still happen.  It’s summer.  They’re outside and so are we! But the last I want to do when I head outdoors is douse myself with bug spray!  I recently found an article on Facebook stating that lemon eucalyptus oil is just as effective as using DEET.  After sharing the article, one of my friends asked me to create a blog post on the topic, so here we are!  


I was a little confused about lemon eucalyptus oil at first because I thought it was just a blended oil.  But it’s not!  This essential oil is actually derived from a type of eucalyptus tree.  However, there are a number of essential oils that can be used as bug – and especially mosquito – repellents. 

Mosquito Repelling Essential Oils
  • Lemongrass
  • Citronella
  • Lemon Eucalyptus
  • Eucalyptus
  • Lavender
  • Geranium
  • Peppermint
  • Patchouli
  • Clove
  • Tea Tree Oil

I decided to make a natural mosquito repellent roll-on bottle to swipe on when we head outside.  I used a combination of lemon eucalyptus oil and a couple drops of peppermint.  Lemon eucalyptus oil has a scent that reminds me of citronella.

I’ve only ever used citronella oil in homemade candles because it has such a potent smell to it.  Not only does it repel mosquitoes, but my husband really hates it, too!  So I wanted to balance out that lemon eucalyptus scent with a little peppermint oil. 

I also used jojoba as my carrier oil (dilutes essential oils to make them safe for topical application) since it’s odorless and moisturizes the skin.

SUPPLIES

STEPS

  1. If necessary, remove the cap and roller top from the roll-on bottle.
  2. Add 10 drops of lemon eucalyptus essential oil.  If using another oil to blend, like peppermint, add about 5 more drops of that oil to the bottle.
  3. Fill the rest of the bottle with jojoba oil.
  4. Then, replace the roller top and cap.
  5. Give the bottle a good shake!  Add a label, if desired, and apply to wrists and ankles before heading outside.


After I popped the top back on my new bug repellent roll-on, I made a label for it using my Cricut machine.  I’m keeping this little bottle in the kitchen, by the back door, so I can roll it on and go!  

How do you naturally repel bugs during the summer?

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