Community Creations to Combat Craziness! 🤪 (Also just to do something fun! 😃)

[M_Rustquill]

This is a topic for Create-Along projects! I will usually post one project per week so that everyone can get a chance to participate!

A few notes...

• If you would like to post a Create-Along project @ me on the discussion topic.
• If you have any questions (in general or about a specific project) ask them here.
• I will post the first project sometime today or tomorrow (vote here on what type of project it should be!)
• If you have any suggestions for a project please share them! (On the discussion topic )
• Please do not post on this topic unless you are doing a project tutorial.
  I don't think I've ever put so many links in a single post!

[M_Rustquill]

Here it is folks, the very first Community Creation to Combat Craziness...

Cream Tea Scones!

This is one of my favorite recipes, mostly because it so easy and it always turns out great! Unlike normal scone recipes, which require delicately folding the dough to make nice layers and a high rise (something I do not excel at, hehe), this recipe simply stirs the ingredients together to form a rough dough.

Shall we begin? The actual recipe can be found here [https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/cream-tea-scones-recipe] (Note: I do change some of the steps, but only because that's how I like to do it, not because there is anything wrong with the recipe.)

First, gather your ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt*
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar, depending on how sweet you want your scones (I usually lean towards the 1/3 cup)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or vanilla substitute)
• 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream*
• 1 1/4 teaspoon extract of some kind, optional (I.E Lemon extract, peppermint extract, etc.; I used lemon.)

*Don't have that much cream (or don't want to use that much )? Simply replace it with equal parts melted butter and milk (I.E. 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 cup melted butter; if you don't need all of the mixture, use the extra to brush the tops of the scones instead of using cream to do so.) Also, if you replace the cream in such a fashion, reduce the salt to 1/4 teaspoon to account for the salt in the butter (unless you have unsalted butter available).

Now we shall get on with the mixing.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt , and sugar.

Measuring Flour...

To measure the flour, spoon it into the measuring cup, then gently scrape off the extra. If you scoop the flour with the measuring cup, it will pack down and actually be more flour than you need--thus making your scones dry.

Next drizzle the vanilla, and any additional extract you may be using, into the bowl.

Pour in the cream (or milk/butter mixture), starting with the lesser amount.

Stir until a cohesive dough forms, adding additional liquid if necessary. There should not be any dry flour on the bottom of the bowl, but the dough should not be sticky, either.
It will look something like this (a bit shaggy and rough, but not sticky):

Lightly flour a clean work surface (a.k.a. the counter top).

Dump the dough onto the floured surface and gently (GENTLY!) squish it into a ball. Divide the ball in two, and gently pat each half into a circle about 3/4 an inch thick. (Note: in the original recipe it says the circles will be 5 1/2 inches wide, however, every time I have made these scones the circles have been closer to 6 inches. As the thickness it more important, just pat them until they are about 3/4" thick, and don't worry about how wide the disk is.)

Transfer the disks to a parchment lined (Or not; it works either way, but parchment makes the clean up easier) baking sheet (As in, one with out sides--also known as an air-bake pan). Brush the scones with cream (or remaining milk/butter mixture, or just milk, if you don't have any of the other two options.) and, if desired, sprinkle with course sugar (I also sprinkled half of one circle with ground thyme, since I had heard that lemon and thyme go well together. It actually was pretty good!)

Cut each disk into 6 wedges (cut it in half, then each half into 3 pieces); a pizza cutter (wheel, whatever.) works especially well here:

Gently (do you notice a pattern here? Pretty much everything related to making scones must be done gently ) pull each wedge apart from the others, and place them more or less 1" apart.

Chill the pan of scones in the freezer to chill for 15 minutes (this step can be skipped, your scones just won't rise as high.)
While the scones are chilling, preheat your oven to 425*F (If your oven tends to burn things at high temperatures, as our old one did, I would recommend turning the temperature down to 400*F; the scones might have to bake a little bit longer, but hey, at least they won't be burnt!)

Remove the scones from the freezer and bake until they are just starting to brown, and are no longer wet in the middle, about 14-15 minutes. If you're not sure if they are done, break one open and look at the middle; if it's wet they need more time. They should look something like this inside:

Tada!

Serve the scones warm for maximum delectableness; I especially like them with jam.
Voila! The easiest scones you've (probably) ever made!

I hope you all enjoy making Cream Tea Scones!

[M_Rustquill]

Finally, it's here, the second create-along project...

Your very own, easier-than-it-looks, Night Sky Painting!!!

A few preliminary notes:

• I did this with acrylic paints, but I realized to late that it probably would work better with water colors (or maybe oil pastels); basically, anything that would blend together a bit better.
• This is NOT, I repeat, NOT an inside-the-lines type painting. If you like art that tells you exactly where to put each line and dot, this is not like that at all. That being said, I would encourage all of you to try whatever splotches, smears, and colors that look good to you (I. E. If you don't want a purple smear along the top, try a different color, or put the smear somewhere else; all I'm saying is that this is more towards abstract art than a color-by-number kind of thing )
• This is a longer project than the first, as the first part needs an extensive amount of time to dry thoroughly. If you don't have enough time in one day, try doing the second part the next day. (Just don't be like me, who forgot about it till really late in the day .)

Now, let's commence the creating!
Supplies:

• One sheet of thick paper (Card-stock, watercolor paper, or the like). This is for the actual painting.
• One sheet of regular paper. This is for testing purposes.
• A fine-tip black marker.
• A regular black marker.
• A pencil
• Paints or water colors--blues, purples, hot pink, light grey, white, and black (the kinds of colors you'd find in the night sky/pictures of galaxies).
• Paint brushes--a fine-tip, a medium round tip, and a large, flat head.
• Some thing to put/mix your paints or water colors.
  Part One
  First, cover your work space (so as to protect it from any unwanted paint jobs) and gather your supplies.
  
  
  
  Next, with a pencil mark your paper on the left and right edges, about 1/3 if the way from the bottom. Mark the bottom edge in the middle, and make a mark about 1 1/2 inches above the previous mark. Now, draw a shallow curve from the mark on the left edge, through the mark above the bottom edge, and up to the mark on the right edge. Don't worry if it's not perfect, after all, have you ever seen a perfectly smooth forest floor?
  
  
  
  
  
  
  While still using the pencil, draw a tree line. Basically, a bunch of jagged points and divots, looking something like one of those heartbeat wave thingys. Go over it with the marker, giving the trees boughs of sorts. It will look kind of like this (Don't worry if it doesn't look like trees, per se. Once you fill them in, it will look awesome, trust me.) (It helps a ton to try this first part on the regular piece of paper first, to give you a feel for what you're trying to accomplish)
  
  
  
  Now you'll make the basic sky. Put streaks, smears, spots, whatever, around the paper. I started with some dark spots, then added some purple, then I put some light blue near the horizon and in the middle (for a swirly thing), with dark blue everywhere else. If you're not sure what you want it to look like, try looking up pictures of the night sky.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Let it dry completely. Don't take shortcuts, you'll regret it.
  Part one is complete!

Part Two
Put a tiny bit of light grey paint on the medium round tipped brush. Dab it lightly all around the sky, except where you want dark spots. (Note: Try it first on your test paper, to make sure you don't have too much paint on the brush.) This step is mainly what blends the different spots together. I mixed a little bit of pink into the grey for around the purple areas, and a bit of blue for around the horizon.

Now, do the same thing with the white paint, but only on a few spots rather than the whole thing. Continue to add grey, white, or other colors until you are happy with the result. I did a sort of swirled effect in the middle by putting tiny curves of blue, purple, white, and even a little black.

Fill in the bottom area with black. (The black marker works, or, if you have a lot of patience, black paint)

Tada! You're done, and now have a beautiful piece of art that will make people's jaws drop! (And only we will know how easy it was to make... )

(That shiny spot in the middle of the dark part is because the paint was wet when I took the picture.)

I hope you enjoy creating your own night sky painting!

[Hanna_Brassheart]

A post was merged into an existing topic: "Communal Creations to Combat Craziness" Chatting Corner

[M_Rustquill]

Today's project is...

A Use-All-That-Yarn-You-Have-Laying-Around Wall Hanging!

Supplies

• Size 4 (medium) yarn--3 colors of choice (I did grey (Color A), white (Color B), and blue (Color C) because they will coordinate with the room the hanging is going in)
• A 12" wooden dowel or stick (. As long as the stick is relatively straight, it will work--though, you might want to wash it first.)
• Scissors
• A tape measure
• glue (optional)
  Let's get started!
  Note: Because I did not keep careful track of what pictures I had taken for each step, occasionally the photo for a step will not be of the actual step being explained. I will put a "" where that is the case.
  Gather all of your supplies on a large, flat surface. Trust me, it will be way easier than trying to do it on a small or uneven surface (I.E. A squishy chair).
  1) Start by cutting 20 pieces of Color A--each 17 inches long.

2) Lay them (all together) out on your work surface, and place the dowel on top

3) Fold the yarn over the dowel. Cut a piece of yarn 38 inches long, and thread it under the other bundle

These pictures are actually from the next bundle of yarn.

4) Leaving a tail that is the same length as the bundle, tie a tight knot around the bundle.

For the first bundle I did, I did not leave a long tail. I then proceeded to do all but the last bundle before I remembered to take a photo. This is the last bundle.

Repeat steps 1-4 for the rest of the bundles, using these measurements:

• For the second and third bundles made with Color A: 20 strands 25 inches long; the strings used to tie the bundles needs to be about 43 inches.
• For the last bundle made with Color A: Make the same as the first.
• For Color B (2 bundles): 20 strands 20 inches long; the ties should to be about 40 inches.
• For Color C (1 bundle): 25 strands, each 30 inches long; the tie should be 60 inches.

A diagram, for your convenience...

Once you have all the bundle completed you will make some accent braids. (Don't know how to braid? See the BONUS SKILL at the end of the post)

Separate 9 strands from the Color C bundle. Flip the hanging so that only the 9 strands are in front, then divide them into 3 sets of 3.

Braid the sets until about 3 inches of yarn are left. Tie a knot with all 9 strands.

Repeat with the 2 bundles of Color B.

Now, trim the ends of the bundles to make a "V" shape.

All that's left is the string to hang it on (after all, it is a wall hanging, not a wall laying )

Cut 2 lengths of yarn that are 35 inches. Next, tie a knot with both strands held together--leaving a tail about the same length as the first bundle.

Tie another knot (still with both strands) a little bit above the first knot; leave enough space between the 2 knots for the dowel to fit.

Make a loop with the strands...

...Then fold it over itself, there will be a loop with a line underneath. Pull the line through the loop all the way...

...And scoot the knot snug against the dowel.

Repeat on the other side to complete the hangar.

Tada! You are now finished with a beautiful piece of home decor that can brighten up any room!

BONUS SKILL

Braiding is a very useful skill that can be used on many things, from hair to bread dough.
All it takes is three easy steps:
1) Divide whatever you're braiding into three parts, in this case, yarn.

2) Cross the right strand over the middle.

3) Cross the left strand over what is now the new middle.

Repeat these steps until the braid is the desired length.

I used the scrap yarn that I trimmed off the wall hanging to make a pompom, which I then attached to the braid--voila! A super fun bookmark that just happens to match the decoration!
Tie the scraps together in the center, as tightly as possible.

Attatch (by eather gluing or tying) the pompom to the braid. Fluff the pompom and trim it into a round shape.