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Dec 14

How to Transform your Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

Article by: Sara Lopez

I buy fake trees.

There, I admitted it.

There are several reasons: there is no pine needle cleanup party after disposing of the tree, I’m pretty sure my dog may attack the tree, etc. etc. But the main reason is because my older brother is allergic to real pine trees and if I had one in my front room, not only would he not be able to come over for Christmas, but neither would my adorable 2 year old niece and my sister-in-law. And that just won’t do!

I bought a little white, pre-lit, 5 ft. tall Christmas tree. Now I knew exactly how it was going to look out of the box… not that impressive. But I also knew I could work with it and transform it into something beautiful and stunning! So here are my tips on how to transform your small little Charlie Brown Christmas Tree into a fabulous and luscious tree that won’t cause allergic reactions!

Poor Thing…

First thing is first, get that tree out of the box and start fluffing those branches! Run your hands against the grain of the tree limbs and let the pines come back to life. Try to keep the limbs evenly spaced out.

Once you have fluffed enough, take some artificial flowers and arrangements and start sliding those into places that seem to need more girth.

Already looking a little better

I used all silver flower arrangements to contrast and compliment the white of the tree. After you have poked your flower arrangements into the middle pole of the tree, you can then string your garland.My garland is made of some adorable little silver and blue bells. After I strung my garland, I started to get out the ornaments!

My mother taught me a tip growing up that you hang the smaller ornaments at the top area and your larger ornaments at the bottom to create an effect of the tree looking much larger at the base.

Once you have hung your larger ornaments, you can now hang the smaller ornaments throughout or wherever you see needs a little extra something something.This is also the time when if you have long dangly ornaments you can place those. I typically also keep snowflakes or something else lightweight for a final decoration touch to add to any gaps that may not have yet been filled.

Now plug it in and enjoy!

Next we will make a topper for the tree! Keep an eye out for that upcoming craft!

Do you have any Holiday traditions you do every year? Let us know about it on Twitter and on Facebook!

Also check out our other Holiday Inspired Crafts:

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Dec 8

How to make your own stocking and an 8th Continent Soymilk Giveaway!


Sure, you can always buy a stocking from the store, but I couldn’t find one with the colors I wanted and I always love crafting around the holidays! Follow these simple steps to make your very own holiday stocking!

Supplies

  • material for the boot of your stocking
  • material for the top cuff of your stocking
  • sewing supplies
  • scissors

Directions

Fold your material in half so there are two layers.

Take a stocking you have lying around and place it over the material.

Cut around the edges of the stocking, leaving about an inch to sew the seam.

As you can see, I placed one side of my stocking along the folded part and the top of it at an opened part as to not have to sew along that edge.

Sew along all the edges, making sure to leave the top open.

Don’t worry if your sewing is a little crooked, we will be turning the stocking inside out to create a neat seam.

For the cuff of the boot, take two strips of a different colored material and sew them at one side, letting the other side have extra material larger than the top opening of the boot. Do not sew the cuff onto the boot yet.

Now, turn your boot inside out revealing the clean seam you first had sewn.

Tuck the cuff material into the top of the boot material.

make sure the rough seem for the cuff is towards the toe side and the open end is by the heel.

Sew around the top part of the boot and the bottom part of the cuff so that they are connected.

Make sure not to sew the open end of the cuff yet.

Cut a strip of material from the same color you made the boot out of, fold it in half, and sew along one side.

Once you have sewn the strip of material that will be used to hang your stocking, fold it in half and tuck the open ends of the strip of the material into the open-ended cuff.

Sew the cuff closed, going over the folded material you tucked inside.

Now you are ready to fold your cuff down and hang! That is… if you can get your dog to stop trying to help out with the craft…

You can add some more fun with glitter, puff paints, buttons, however you want to decorate your stocking! This is a great way to get the kids involved with crafting as well.

The Giveaway!

So now that you are in the holiday spirit, we want to hook you up with a stocking from us here at 8th Continent Soymilk!

I have three stockings stuffed FULL of 8th Continent Soymilk goodies including coupons for a month’s free of soymilk. Here is how you enter:

Comment on this post and tell us your favorite moment from the holiday season.

You can also like us on Facebook and post:

“I want some 8th Continent in my stocking!”

You can also follow us on Twitter and tweet:

“RT and Follow @8thcontinentsoy to win a free month’s of Soymilk for your stocking!”

Each one counts as an additional entry. If you do all three, you have even more of a chance at winning!

Good luck everyone and Happy Holidays from everyone here at the 8th Continent Soymilk Family.

(Even though we love all of you, only US residents can win.)

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Oct 28

Last Minute Halloween Crafts!

Can you believe that Haloween is literally only a few days away? You may have the fake spider webs up and the candy ready but you want to do a few more crafts to get in the Halloween spirit! We here at 8th Continent Soymilk are huge fans of Halloween so check out some of these quick last-minute crafts and get your spook on!

Spooky Halloween Wreath

This is a great craft you can do with the kids! Buy a wreath from your local craft store and use some Halloween decorations to sookify it!Take the fake spider web and stretch it across the wreath, making sure it has enough pressure and is tangled enough to stay attached. The spiders are the little spider rings that you can buy in a big bag! If you look at the ring behind the spider, you can snap it open and attach it to anything like the spider web you just decorated your wreath with. Pick up a creepy little skeleton and hot glue it on the side of your wreath for the finishing touches!

Get creative with it! You can always add more sparkle, googly eyes, or even attach some candy!

Like the Bat Garland above the wreath? Click here for those simple instructions on how to make it!

Scented Jack-O-Lantern

So we all know it is tradition to carve a jack-o-lantern for Halloween, but how about making it double as a Fall-scented centerpiece? Cut your pumpkin like you would typically do, (remember to cut the top at an angle so when you put it back on the pumpkin it won’t fall through). Scrape your pumpkin out and make sure to save the seeds to make a delicious snack from them later! Carve your pumpkin and ensure the bottom is flat so that it will steadily hold a tea light. Once your pumpkin is scraped and carved, take a few full cloves and push them into the inside topper of your pumpkin. When the cloves heat up from the tea light, the entire room will fill with a wonderful scent!

Spooky Sparkly Flower Arrangement

The flower arrangement pictured above looks like something you would spend tons of money on at the store, but guess what? You can make it yourself for much cheaper! Purchase any faux flowers, or even pull twigs and branches from your backyard. Spray paint them black and allow them to dry. Once dried, spray them with Spray Adhesive and toss your glitter on them! To mix it up, I made some of my twigs and flowers have black glitter and some of them have purple glitter!

Want to know how to also make the sparkly black craft pumpkins pictured above? Go here for directions!

We hope you all have a fantastic Halloween! Have you made any crafts for this year’s Halloween? Share them with us and we will hook you up with some coupons! The first ten people who share a picture of their Halloween craft  on Twitter or post them on our Facebook Page will win 3 free coupons!

Crafts Sara Lopez

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Oct 18

Halloween Craft: Batty Halloween Garland

We here at 8th Continent Soymilk are definitely getting in the Halloween spirit by doing fun spooky crafts to decorate our spaces!

Supplies:

  • Glue
  • Black ribbon
  • Black Card Stock Paper
  • a couple pieces of White Card Stock Paper
  • Pencil
  • Scissors
  • Small Hole Punch

Directions:

Print the outline of a bat on the White Card Stock to use as your stencil. Print the stencil out in a few different sizes so you can have different sized bats for your garland.

Cut out the outline and use these bats on white card stock to trace bats on the black card stock with your pencil.

Trace your bats on the black card stock paper and carefully cut out each bat.

Use the hole punch and place a hole near the tip of each bat’s wings. You can also punch two holes for eyes if you’d like!

Using the black ribbon, go in one hole in the front of your black bat, string it through, and out the other hole.

Continue to string bats on until your garland is as long as you like.

To make sure your bats stay in place, once you have strung all of the bats on, lay your garland on the floor and place a dot of glue behind each bat near the ribbon and let dry.

Once the glue is dry you have to decide where to hang your spooky and super cute bat garland!

Want to know how to make those adorable sparkly black pumpkins on the mantle? Make sure to check out our other crafts as well! Have you decorated for Halloween yet? We would love to see your home! Send us a picture on Twitter or hit us up on Facebook of your decorations and the first 10 people will receive a free coupon!

Crafts Sara Lopez

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Oct 14

Halloween Craft: Sparkly Black Pumpkins!

Pumpkins: Orange things you cut open, scrape a bunch of goppidy gook from inside, carve, and throw a candle in them right?

Well, yeah, sometimes… but just look at how cute these pumpkins turned out! A modern twist on Halloween decorating can be fun, and as you will see from this craft- super simple!

Supplies:

  • Craft Pumpkin
  • Black Spray Paint
  • Glue Stick
  • Flat Back Jewels

Directions:

Take your craft pumpkin outside or another very well ventilated area and spray paint it black.

Let your pumpkin dry overnight.

Decide what designs you want on your pumpkin and draw it out with your glue stick.

Apply the Jewels to your design and let dry.

There you have it! A super cute and simple craft you can make for Halloween. How about getting the kids involved? They can add glitter or pom poms or whatever they like! There are no rules in pumpkin decorating afterall.

We will be providing you with more and more crafts as we get closer to Halloween.

Make sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for any giveaways or contests we have coming up!

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Jun 3

Create Something Saturday- Earrings Frame

Article by: Sara Lopez

If you wear any sort of earrings, you probably recognize how much of a challenge it is to keep them organized. The long dangely ones get all twisted in the drawers whereas the studs end up miss their pair like a lonely sock on laundry day. So I decided to come up with a solution- The Earring Frame! This DIY craft is super easy and lets you put your jewelry out on display like works of art!

Supplies:

  • Frame (I got mine from a thrift store for two bucks!)
  • screen
  • Popsicle stick
  • scissors
  • hot glue gun

Directions:

If you bought your frame from a thrift store, make sure to wipe it down and clean it up.

If you don’t like the color of the frame you bought, now is the tome to spray paint it.

Once the frame is the desired color, measure ir and cut out a square piece of the screen material.

Don’t worry if the square is a bit larger than the frame, you can always trim it down!

Next place the screen on the back part of the frame and apply hot glue.

Use your popsicle stick to press the screen into the glue and allow it to dry to the frame.

Next step- pick out which earrings to display and attach them to the screen! Super easy and you will never lose or tangle your earrings again!

Did you make an Earring Frame? Tell us about it on Facebook or on Twitter!

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May 27

Create Something Saturday- Super Simple Pinwheel for Memorial Day!

This weekend is Memorial Day and we will be at Fiesta Hermosa passing out samples and coupons to all of you so make sure to find our booth and come say hi! Are you attending a BBQ this Memorial Day weekend? Check out this super-cute and super-simple way to make pinwheels.

Supplies:

  • pencil
  • 2 sheets of construction paper
  • push pin
  • hole puncher
  • scissors

Directions:

Cut your two pieces of paper into 2 large squares.

Fold from corner to corner and open up, and repeat in the other direction.

Cut along the folds until you are about half way to the middle.

Punch holes in each corner of the square.

If you have decorated your papers, make sure you have the decorated sides facing outwards.

Gently gather each of the hole-punched corners into the middle.

Take your push pin and put it through all four of the holes, poking out the backside of the construction paper and push into the eraser of the pencil.

And there you have it: a perfect pinwheel to show your patriotism on Memorial Day! What are you doing this weekend? How are you celebrating?

Let us know on Facebook and on our Twitter!

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May 6

DIY Felt Flower Pin for Mother’s Day

Article by Sara Lopez

You heard us right- Mother’s Day is coming up! Meaning in just two days!

We here at 8th Continent Soymilk think moms are something really special. So why not make something special for them? This year we are making our mothers a simple DIY Felt Flower Pin so they can wear it and be reminded daily how much we care for them.

Materials:

  • Felt Sheet (two or one colors depending on the color you want your flower)
  • Pin Backs
  • Hot Glue Gun
  • Scissors
  • Thread and Needle
  • Big Button

Instructions:

Cut 8 petals out of the felt sheet. You want them to be about an inch long.

Take the other felt sheet and cut out 8 petals that are smaller than the ones you cut out of the other felt fabric.

Cut a circle out of the felt fabric (which one is up to you seeing as this piece will not be visible once your flowers is constructed.)

Sew the Pin back onto the circular piece of felt and make sure it is secure.

Take your large petals, put a line of hot glue at the base and carefully pinch the sides together. Do this to all of the petals, both the larger and smaller ones.

Take your circular piece of felt with the pin back on it and hot glue the large petals onto the circle.

Once your large petals are glued, then glue your smaller petals inside of the larger petals.

Once you have all of your petals glued on you may want to look at your flower and see if you should to any trimming to make it look its best.

After trimming, glue a button in the center of the petals to complete your DIY Felt Flower Pin.

If you would like, you can also attached the flower to a hair clip, a purse, a headband, wherever you like!

So now that you have a present for our mama- tell us why she is so awesome! Go over to our Nice Job Mom: We Rock Campaign and tell us a tip your mom used to raise you and what makes her such a Rockstar mom! We are giving away a VIP trip to LA to see Sara Bareilles live and the top 5 winners get a bunch of cool stuff and $10,000 donated in their name to the school’s music program of their choice!

Did you make a present for Mother’s Day? Share it with us on our Facebook or on our Twitter!

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Apr 22

Easter Bunny Basket made from 8th Continent Soymilk Carton

So we have been brainstorming on how to celebrate Earth Day and the upcoming Easter in one craft and we are pretty sure we hit the nail right on the head! Check out this Bunny Easter Basket made out of an 8th Continent Soymilk Carton!

Materials:

  • Empty 8th Continent Soymilk Carton
  • Construction Paper
  • Pipe cleaners
  • Scissors/Craft Knife
  • 2 buttons
  • Hole punch
  • Glue stick
  • Stapler
  • White pom-pom (optional)


Directions:

First make sure to rinse out your carton fully and let dry.

Using the craft knife or scissors, cut out the spout from the 8th Continent Carton and toss it away. Don’t worry if your hole doesn’t look pristine- this part will be covered by construction paper.

Next, cut out one side of the carton and save this panel to use later as the handle.

Taking your construction paper, cut it to the appropriate width of the remaining sides of the carton and adhere with your glue stick. If you are using an 8.5”x11” piece of paper, you can get both sides covered and glue the back flaps over each other.

Next cut your bunny ears from another sheet of construction paper and cut out almond shaped white pieces to glue in the middle of each bunny ear. If your construction paper is a bit flimsy (like mine was), glue two pieces of the pink construction paper together before cutting the outlines of your ears so they will stay erect once you attached them to the body of your bunny basket.

Once you have completed the ears, glue the base to the inside of the gap between the body of the carton and the top.

Now you can punch a hole through the crest of the carton to insert the pipe cleaners to serve as whiskers.


Take your two buttons and glue them to either sides of the crest of the carton to serve as the bunny’s eyes.

Remember the side panel you cut out and set aside? Trim it down till it is about ¾ inches in width and staple the ends of it to either side of the basket.

If you decided to add a White pom-pom cottontail to your bunny, glue that on the end of the carton.

Now fill your Easter Bunny Basket with grass, (you can also shred magazines to serve as the grass), and add some sweets for the lucky person who will be receiving this adorable basket!

Did you like this craft? Make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for crafts like this weekly! Let us know how you celebrate Easter!

Also, have you entered our Nice Job Mom: We Rock Contest yet? You get a chance to see Sara Bareilles live in a VIP concert experience and we will be donating $50,000 towards a school’s music program of your choice! Make sure to read here for more details.

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Apr 15

Egg-Free Easter Craft!

Article by: Sara Lopez

If you didn’t already know, 8th Continent Soymilk is %100 vegan, and proud of it! We are also kosher, lactose-free, dairy-free and gluten-free!

We had posed a question a couple times throughout the last month to vegans, asking them if they do or don’t color eggs for Easter. The response was an overwhelming NO! It makes perfect sense, but that got us to thinking what other crafts you can do with your kids besides dying Easter eggs! We think we may have hit this nail on the head!

This is a super simple DIY plastic Easter Egg Garland. You have your kids help you decorate and paint the eggs, put candy in the and display them for your Easter decorations!

Materials:

  • Plastic Easter Eggs
  • Acrylic Paint or squeezable puff paints
  • One long piece of yarn
  • Buttons, glitter, sequins, etc. (optional)

Directions:

Decide what colors you want to paint your plastic eggs and put them out on a stack of old newspaper or even a magazine.

Open your eggs so that you can hold on to the egg while you paint it with the other hand.

Once you have finished painting, leave the egg opened and place on a newspaper to dry. (this way none of the paint will smudge off)

You can also mix it up and put sequins on your eggs, glitter, glue buttons on, etc! Let your kids express themselves and make their egg their very own style.

Once the eggs have dried, take the long piece of yarn, position it in between the two halves and close the egg.

Space the eggs out however you want and make the Plastic Egg Garland as long as you want.

You can hang it up for decoration and you can also include a piece of candy in them or unclip them and hide them for Easter Egg Hunt time!

Are you vegan or egg-free? How do you celebrate Easter? Let us know on Twitter and on Facebook!

Also, have you entered our Nice Job Mom: We Rock Contest yet? You get a chance to see Sara Bareilles live in a VIP concert experience and we will be donating $50,000 towards a school’s music program of your choice! Make sure to read here for more details.

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