Perhaps the most quintessential tradition of New Year’s Eve is the champagne toast, but what about everybody who doesn’t participate in a sip of bubbly? Whether you’re under age or prefer to abstain, you deserve a fun and fancy drink to toast with at midnight. That’s why we love a good mocktail—or cocktail without alcohol. With a well-stocked mocktail bar, you can mix and match ingredients to create tasty kid-friendly drinks.

 

Image via Eat Drink Pretty

 

In fact, we think all these fun possibilities are even more delicious and interesting that traditional bubbly. With a few basic ingredients, you can make so many combinations. Use your creativity to whip up some yummy drinks that’ll have all your guests saying, “Champagne who?”

 

To create well-balanced mixed drinks, you need a few key components—mainly something bubbly and something sweet. Of course, you don’t need carbonation, but it is New Years, after all. Customize any ingredients you want to make your bar more sophisticated (cucumber, black currant, fresh herbs) or childproof (orange slices, fruit punch, crazy straws). Here are the key components to creating a fabulous mocktail bar:

 

- A bubbly base: Ginger ale, sparkling cider, Sprite or Sierra Mist, seltzer—these clear sodas are the perfect vehicles to add a little spritz to your glass. Pick your favorite or have a few kinds available.

 

- Juice: Orange, cranberry, pineapple, lemonade, peach nectar… these fruity liquids add sweetness and pack the flavor punch for your mixed drink. Stock as many as you like, but a good base is usually three different options.

 

- Fresh fruit: Whether it’s muddled or used for garnish, fresh fruit is delicious and gives your glass a festive touch. Doesn’t it just feel fancier? Berries and citrus are usually best—raspberries, blackberries, lemons, and limes, etc—but feel free to try any other favorites.

 

*Another fun tip: Try freezing berries to create a tasty alternative to ice. They’ll keep drinks chilled without watering them down and look prettier, too!

 

- Fresh Herbs: This is optional, and perhaps for the more adventurous, but some fresh herbs can really bring your mocktails to the next level. Mint, thyme, basil, and rosemary all add deep and complex flavors to an otherwise simple drink. If you’re looking to ease your way in to adding a little green to your glass, try starting with mint.

 

 

Image via The Kitchn

 

These kid-friendly bar basics will ensure tons of fun drink creations. Let the little ones play mixologists and come up with their own delicious concoctions. Keep in mind you can always tailor this to your friends’ and family’s preferences. If you’d like some recipes on hand, here are a few great suggestions:

 

Rosemary Citrus Spritzer from The Kitchn

 

Rudolph’s Nose from NCADD

 

Cranberry Kiss from Eat Drink Pretty

 

Strawberry Crush from La Fuji Mama

 

Alcohol content certainly doesn’t have the market cornered on festivity. Upgrade your cup of soda or juice this year and make a fancy drink worthy of starting the New Year with. Cheers!

Did you know gingerbread houses became popular in Germany during the 1800s after Hansel and Gretel was published? That’s pretty spectacular considering that in the fairytale, the beautifully edible house is used to lure two abandoned children into a witch’s trap. One wouldn’t think that makes a great selling point for creating confectionery cottages, but it seemed to really catch on and become a Christmas tradition. After all, that witch was on to something—she knew Hansel and Gretel couldn’t resist an enchanting gingerbread house… how could we expect anyone else to?

 

 

Image via Shopgirl

 

This tasty craft comes in an array of sizes, shapes, and levels of difficulty. For those who need a bit of a head start, there are kits available to help create the basic structure. Others love starting from scratch and baking their own gingerbread. Some people take gingerbread houses so seriously that they create life-size structures or participate in competitions. Whatever your approach, this is definitely a fun and delicious activity to try on your own or with the whole family.

 

 

Image via Worth Pinning

 

 

Image via Land O Lakes

 

And don’t feel limited to gingerbread! Some folks have started branching out and using other delicious treats to build their homes’ foundations. Try pretzel rods to create the effect of wooden logs. Or use rice crispy treats to suggest stones or stucco. These houses can be as elaborate or simple as you want. Don’t underestimate the beauty of simple gingerbread and white frosting. For those who like a little more opulence, grab colorful candies and make a full-on edible estate! Piped icing, nuts, cereal, and candy canes also make excellent decorating supplies.

 

 

Image via Cake Central

 

What gingerbread house approach is your favorite? Clean and simple, cozy and colorful, or grand and luxurious?

If Thanksgiving had an official dessert, it would definitely be pie. Pumpkin, apple, pecan, and so on… most Thanksgiving dessert courses involve more than one option. As you work on finishing up those leftovers, pay homage to this humble hero of the dessert table with this fun bottle cap pie craft. These pint-size pies are easy to make, versatile to display, and best of all… zero calories!

 

Image via

To get started, you have a few different options with materials to use. No matter what, you’ll need bottle caps to serve as the pie tins. As far as filling, you can use polymer clay, beads, felt, paint, glue, or anything else you think will work! Just as there’s an infinite variety of pies, you have many choices in how to create these mini versions.

 

Image Whimsy Love

Start by creating your crust. Press down tan colored clay or glue in felt, then trim the edges. Teeny tiny beads work perfectly as a berry filling (blue for blueberry, red for cherry, etc). If you don’t have beads, you can roll out your own with clay. Using clay is also great if you want to customize shapes for peaches or pecans. For a more solid filling, such as custard or pumpkin pie, use one larger piece of clay. Finally, add some lattice detailing by cutting very thin strips of felt, or again using clay, and any other details you’d like, such as whipped cream or a garnish.

 

Image via

There are a ton of possibilities, so have fun creating your own crafty recipes. These little desserts make adorable magnets, ornaments, or napkin ring decorations (just glue on magnets, rings, or ribbon to the backs), perfect dollhouse accessories, or just a sweet adornment anywhere you choose!

 

What was your favorite pie or dessert at this year’s Thanksgiving? What’s your all-time favorite?

Have you ever wanted your very own robot? With a few recycled objects, you can create a whole group of new robot friends. Not only are they really cute, but their facial features are magnetized and can be rearranged, just like a Mr. Potato Head! These mix-n-match machines are just as fun to create as they are to play with. Take a look at how it’s done.

 

Image via Spoonful (originally in FamilyFun Magazine)

 

 

You’ll need tin cans (pop-off lids tend to have safer edges, you but you can also cover sharp edges in electrical tape), strong disk magnets, and hot glue. As for the decorating, you can use colorful cardstock, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, pom-poms, buttons, and extra hardware and metal bits—brackets, bolts, hinges, washers, knobs, old keys, bottle caps, etc. A note about these: avoid anything sharp, such as nails, and be aware that this craft involves small parts, so it requires supervision and may not be suited for young children.

 

Once you have everything gathered, start creating facial features by gluing your collected items to the magnets. Make eyes, mouths, arms, and don’t forget special robot parts like antennae, wires, propulsion devices, and microcontrollers (make some up!).

 

Now you can start mixing and matching parts to create fun robot characters! Move them around, swap features… take your robots on an adventure! And guess what. When you’re done playing, you can store all the loose parts inside the tin can (or robot’s belly).

 

 

Image via Real Purdy

 

If you could create a fully functioning robot, what kind would you create? What skill would you give it or tasks would you program it to complete?

It always seemed like the official party line at mealtime was, “Don’t play with your food!” Well, the times, they are a-changing… A creative movement sweeping across kitchens and social media everywhere lately is food art. By transforming ordinary dishes into extraordinary pictures, many cooks, parents, and artists have been turning each meal into a cultural experience.

 

With all the beautiful colors and textures found in different kinds of food, it seems quite natural to turn them into art. This makes food preparation an even more creative experience, plus meals become that much more fun to eat!  Bonus: it’s a great way to excite little ones about eating more healthy foods, like fruits and veggies. When the broccoli florets are forming the treetops in a magical forest, it’s a lot tougher to reject them!

 

You don’t have to be an expert chef to compose clever dishes. Just have fun seeing what picture you can create with what ingredients you have.  It’s more assembly than anything else. You’ll be amazed at what you come up with!

 

 

Photo via Samantha Lee, Eatzy Bitzy

 

Photo by Idafrosk (Instagram), via Handmade Charlotte

 

Photo by bambini_pucillo (Instagram) via POPSUGAR moms

The gorgeous final products prove that you can be creative just about anywhere. Let the refrigerator be your palette and the plate your canvas!

 

Have you given food art a try? Would you? Show us your creations!

 

Scribble Town (ST): Yulia is everywhere!  We first discovered her while flipping through an Oprah magazine and then saw her work featured in Material World: The Modern Craft Bible.  Yulia is an expert paper artist and is generous to share her tips!  Where are you and what are you up to these days?

Yulia Brodskaya (YB): I live close to London, very busy with my paper art and two little kids.

ST: I have never seen anything like your art.  How would you define your work?  It seems to be a peaceful combination of craft and fine art.

YB: I just call them paper artworks; but I don’t normally try to put any labels such as craft or fine art or even focusing on the term ‘quilling’ too much. I use a combination of paper manipulation techniques to create my paper artworks.

ST: How did you discover this artistic process of creating paper artworks?  Was there somebody that encouraged you?  With your two kids perhaps they help with the playful aspect of your images!  Your birds and butterflies look like they will just fly away.

YB: I always had a special fascination for paper, I’ve tried many different methods and techniques of working with paper, for instance Origami, paper collages, however Quilling technique turned out to be ‘the one’ for me. I started to use it about five years ago: I was planning to create a small brochure with my hand-drawn illustrations to be sent out to potential clients and I was looking for an eye-catching image with my name ‘Yulia’ for the cover. I created a number of hand-drawn variants, but I didn’t like any of them and then I remembered an image from some school book showing a paper strips standing on edge, so tried to make the letters using this technique and apparently the attempt was successful; over the next couple months I switched to paper illustration completely.

ST: Through playing and dabbling we just stumble upon what we didn’t expect! Where do you find yourself feeling really inspired to create?

YB: In my little studio.

ST: How do you manipulate your paper? What is the process?

YB: I use cocktail straw and little cocktail sticks for rolling the paper strips (I didn’t know that there are specially designed tools available when I taught myself to shape the paper strips, I started to use the cocktail straw and I still use it now). Also, scissors, twisters for little details, glue and of course paper paper paper. For the process the best thing will be to search for some basic youtube lessons.

ST: Yup, anything can be a helpful tool especially when you know what your aim is.  Cocktail straws do the trick!  Yulia, any tips for our scribblers out there?

YB: Just have fun with it; it will be a pleasure if you enjoy it. The process is very slow and time-consuming so if you are not enjoying it the whole experience can be a plain torture.  I have a fish pattern that I designed for my workshop in Shanghai, it is very simple, people can use it as a basis for the quilling experiments.

ST: Thanks Yulia!  I’m going to give it a try!

Now that we’ve celebrated the moms, it’s time for Father’s Day this Sunday! How do you plan to celebrate the special fathers and father figures in your life?

Dads can be pretty tough to shop for.  A great alternative to spending money on a gift is to create something yourself. A homemade gift is unique and personalized, it took time and love to make, and it’s cost effective. And who can say no to that?

Here is a round up of some of our past craft tutorials that could be tailored into perfect homemade Father’s Day gifts:

photo: Oh, Hello Friend

For his morning cup of coffee or tea, why not give Dad his very own personalized mug? With just a dollar store mug, some Sharpie markers, and access to an oven, you can create a one-of-a-kind cup that’s sure to become his favorite! Another great variation is a personalized chalkboard mug. Take that same dollar store mug and grab some chalkboard paint and chalk.

Photo: Unexpected Expectations

Keep the personalized gifts with Sharpies coming with a unique phone case! If your pop has an iPhone, try creating a neat cover for him. With a plain white phone cover and permanent markers, you can design an exclusive phone case. Draw a picture, create an abstract design or pattern, or write a personalized message.

Does Dad have a green thumb? Paint a terracotta pot for him to showcase his plants in! It’s sure to dress up any office, patio, or windowsill.

I don’t know about your dad, but mine leaves pens and pencils all over his desk.

Regardless of their profession, most dads need something to write with so a pen and pencil receptacle makes a very practical present. Try altering this pencil vase (you can use a shorter vase or jar and golf pencils to make it smaller). You can also use the same technique for this wine goblet and apply it to a jar or cup for a perfect pencil holder.

   

photo: Pro Arts                      photo: Whatever

Maybe your dad has an office or room that could use a little decorating. Try a fun project for beautiful and original artwork to spruce up dear ol’ Dad’s walls. Grab some magazines and recycle them by making a colorful collage. Or discover the possibilities of melted crayon art with this gorgeous abstract masterpiece or this bit of pointillist perfection. Try something a bit more experimental with watercolor paint, salt, and glue.

Don’t forget to wrap your homemade gifts! Here are some great ideas for creative ways to wrap presents with plain brown paper.

Hope these ideas help you get started on a special gift for the dads in your life. Feel free to browse our archives for more fun crafting inspiration. Have a wonderful Father’s Day!

Scribble Town (ST): Lewie JPD said hello to us on the Scribble Town Facebook page one day and I am so happy he did! Lewie JPD is a cutting edge visual artist who has lived and worked in Sydney, Tokyo and Los Angeles. His work is a hybrid of imageries – pop, surrealism, collage and comic art – blended together to create zany worlds and characters. His strong use of color and free-styling, casual brush work come together to form eye-catching images that are unique and highly imaginative.

In the midst of excitement where are you and what are you up to these days?

Lewie JPD (JPD): Currently, I’m living in Sydney, Australia, by the beach. Everyday I spend time looking at the clouds and the ocean.

They’re always changing and are magnificent inspiration on a visual level. Of course, I have to dive in to the ocean and swim, too; everyday! Artistically, although trained as a painter, I have spent the last year creating all my new works digitally – on my cell phone! It is a large screen Samsung Galaxy Note and it has a stylus and a wonderful program called SMemo which I use to make art.

ST: That is quite a transition to go from painting to cell phones. I’m so curious to see your new line of work! You have traveled a lot and have mentioned that you grew up in Japan. How have living and being exposed to other cultures influenced your work, if any?

JPD: Growing up in Tokyo was a huge influence – not only on my art – but on my life. I moved to Tokyo when I was ten and stayed till I was eighteen. Then I came back to Australia for art school. Soon after I moved back to Japan where I worked as an illustrator for six years. Tokyo is a very exciting, dynamic city and the Japanese people are thoughtful and kind, innovative and hard working. Culturally, they are incredibly evolved and inspirational. I was lucky to be able to speak Japanese and have been very positively influenced by some wonderful, talented people there.

ST: Artistically Tokyo has so much to offer, as well! Is that how you discovered your love for drawing and painting?

JPD: I pretty much discovered drawing and painting on my own. Growing up in Tokyo in the 70′s, we had access to second hand American comics from a book shop in Roppongi – not far from a US base. Over six years, my brothers and I collected well over 3,000 of them – not only well know titles like Archie, Superman, Wonder Woman and Mad, but also, more obscure, equally entertaining ones like Swamp Thing, Sergeant Rock, Richie Rich and Cracked. We loved comics! I guess all those images rubbed off on me and I began to do some drawings and simple comics of my own from around the age of thirteen.

ST: I think your Dancing Fishface would be a great protagonist for a comic. Maybe another future project. I noticed that you even make films! How did this medium come into your repertoire?

JPD: Film making, too, I think, is an extension of all the comic (and book!) reading. Simultaneously to drawing, I began writing short stories in my early teens which lead to writing and publishing humorous zines (20 or 30 pages, photocopied, handmade, editions of 200 – with titles such as Free Spirit and Idle).

I then went on to writing and making short films in my late twenties; animation, comedy radio shows and later, after studying screenwriting at UCLA, feature films.

My latest feature – a coming of age story set in Tokyo – is yet to be produced – but I am confident it will, eventually! Film is a fantastic medium full of inventive and inspired collaboration. I usually make one or two shorts a year on video just for fun and practice.

ST: This is a loaded question, but which filmmakers do you like?

JPD: My biggest influences from the early days are David Lynch’s, Eraserhead + Martin Scorcese’s, Taxi Driver + Robert Altman’s, Nashville + Akira Kurosawa’s, Seven Samurai. These days I think all the great energy is in TV series, not only big dramatic shows like Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad – but also great comedy shows like Community, 30 Rock and The Office. Laughing is the best!

ST: The rumors are right- laughing is the best medicine!

What is the process of designing like when you create murals? The murals, tables, and benches you painted at Harry’s Espresso Bar are amazing! There must be a huge amount of planning when creating on such a large scale.

JPD: When it comes to art, I am not really a planner. I love to dive in and create things out of nothing, to be in the moment. I have been doing it now for over thirty years – that’s a lot of practice! – so I have enough confidence that even for big jobs like the work commissioned by Harry’s in Bondi Beach, I can just turn up, after a body surf and a coffee, with my bag of paints. I am amped with a positive attitude and start creating, going with the flow.

ST: Earlier you said that everyday you are inspired. Living by the beautiful beach in Sydney encourages that! How do these pops of inspiration come about?

JPD: I create every day. I carry a pocket size journal with me everywhere – for notes, ideas, comics and doodles – and I have been doing this since my twenties. For me, life and creativity are the same thing. Inspiration is everywhere. Ideas zing around all the time and pop in from nowhere. I spend a lot of time in libraries, cafes and also travelling. On the net, I constantly seek and find works of wonderful artists and get inspired that way, too.

ST: What other forms of art do you practice?

JPD: As I mentioned earlier, these days, I have been able to carry my art studio with me – in the form of my cell phone. I get pleasure from making new images everyday. Most days, I spend between three to four hours – and to since April last year, I have made 1,700 new works. Over the years, I have had various artist studio spaces, where I have worked on large style canvases and drawings for exhibitions, but lately I have been leading a more gypsy-like existence. Art on the go. Suits me well. The joy of expression takes many forms.

ST: Lewie JPD has a new solo exhibition of his latest work – and it’s a world first! – with all of the 28 featured art pieces created on his mobile phone – opening in Sydney at Deus Cafe gallery – 98 Parramatta Rd, Camperdown, Sydney on June 26th, 2013. His website is http://www.lewiejpd.com. Be there!

For another boost of encouragement and confidence to just start creating please go to the Scribble Shop http://www.scribbleshop.com/content/lewie-jpds-words-inspiration. Thanks Lewie JPD!

How green is your thumb? Do you like bringing a little of the outdoors inside with houseplants? Potted plants are a great way to dress up any room, windowsill, or patio. But while the plants add life and color, the pots themselves are often overlooked. Add some personality to your little terracotta tubs with paint. There are tons of ways you can paint your pots—and feel free to try any that strike your fancy—but two techniques that stand out lately are color blocking and drip-drying.

For this project, you’ll need: terracotta pots (or any ceramic pot), masking tape or painter’s tape, and paint, either acrylic or spray, in any colors you like. As you can see, you’ve got lots of options here!

First, decide how you’d like your pot to look. If you want it to have a base color, start by painting the whole thing in the color of your choice and letting it dry. For those who prefer the natural terracotta to show through, jump right into whichever technique you’re trying.

Photo via Dellie

If you’re going to color block, start by wrapping tape around the pot at your desired height. Next, grab your paint (be it on a brush or in a can) and paint the half you want to be colored. Spray painters should aim for about two to three coats. If you’re using a paintbrush, you can also freehand the line around for a more rustic look.

Photo via The Proper Pinwheel

If straight lines aren’t your thing and you’re ready to drip some paint, flip that pot over! Once it’s upside down, pour a bit of paint around the sides on the “top” (what’s technically the bottom) and start swirling your pot around on its edges so the paint spreads closer to the edge and eventually runs over the sides. Try to do this over something like tinfoil or plastic—paper will stick to any dried paint that reaches the bottom and give you a hard time.

Photo via The Lovely Cupboard

Let your pots dry and then load them up with your favorite plants (cacti, succulents, flowers, etc). To weatherproof these, spray with a clear sealant and then set them up outside.

Et voila! Your pots are as pretty as the plants they hold. Which style do you prefer? Do you have any other favorite ways to jazz up your planters?

Yesterday, I went to the movies and saw To The Wonder, directed by Terrence Malick (Tree of Life, Days of Heaven). Malick is probably best known for his gorgeous cinematic poetry. He uses beautiful camerawork to showcase the natural beauty of our world (and sometimes our destruction of it). One element of nature that he seemed to really focus on in this movie was water. Oceans, puddles, rivers, indoor pools—this film was swimming in shots of water, each more beautiful than the last.

To the Wonder (2012) – photo still

As I watched this visual theme develop, I started thinking about taking it beyond the theater with me, which makes it our new Scribblin’spiration! Water can take on so many forms and appearances. Sometimes it looks blue or green or gray… other times it’s clear. From far away, it seems opaque, while up close it’s transparent and can distort whatever you’re seeing through it. It can be in a natural body, like an ocean or river, or it can be in a pool. It could be running from a faucet or waterfall, or just sitting in a glass. Sometimes it’s still and tranquil while other times it’s rough and choppy. And that’s just in its liquid state! Don’t forget ice, steam, and fog! But for now, let’s focus on liquid. While seeing water is a pretty common occurrence, it still makes a fascinating subject for art.

 

Now it’s your turn. Try out your own artistic interpretations of water by observing a couple different examples. Go out to nearby river or pond. Take along a sketchbook on a trip to the beach. Check out some puddles after a rainstorm or just fill up a glass of water. Try working with pencil, pastels, paint, and watercolors. See how each medium changes the way the water looks and the mood of your picture.

 

Here are some artists’ own interpretations to give you an idea of how different water can look from one painting to the next. Have fun experimenting and don’t forget to share a link to your work with us!

Starry Night Over the Rhone (1888), Vincent Van Gogh

Portrait of Artist (Pool with Two Figures) (1971), David Hockney

Lemon Water (2010), Debbie Becks Cooper