[(Full tutorial photos are provided)]

I made these yesterday... and they're really easy!

For a DIY tutorial, go here: http://cooklovecraft.blogspot.com/2011/11/beaded-peacock-feather-earrings-diy.html (Full tutorial photos are provided)

I LOVE peacock feathers. Everything about them is awesome. They have the coolest natural color combination, they shimmer, and they are huge! Peacock colors have inspired some of the bracelets and other jewelry I have made. I love them!

Here we have a super cute pair of earrings. They are relatively easy to make and don't require many supplies. Peacock feathers are pretty cheap, especially if you order them from overseas via Ebay.

What you will need (with links! Sorry for the white boxes, I'm not sure why they are there and can't seem to get rid of them):

- 2 Foldover Clamps  (This links to an amazon product to make it easier to find, but you can also find these at Michaels, you just have to search)

- 2 peacock feathers, about the same size. (here is a link to Matched pairs peacock feathers  on Amazon. They are more expensive than other places you can get them online, but they claim to match the size and pre-pair feathers together, which is helpful).

- Peacock colored beads with holes big enough to go through end of feathers (I used deep purple, teal, and light green Chinese rondelle crystal 8mm beads. I found all beads on Ebay)**.

- Earring wires (I usually buy mine on Amazon or Ebay, here's a link to some that are a pretty good price, but you get a lot... Silver Plated Earring Hooks)

- Chain nose pliers with teeth (can be bought at craft stores or hardware stores, or if you prefer online shopping: Pliers)

- Scissors

** Chinese rondelle crystal beads are often fraudulently sold on Ebay as Swarovski crystal. They are beautifully shiny crystal beads but they are not really Swarovski.

Step 1: Cut peacock feather stems a few inches from the circular part of feather (see picture to better explain). rip off pieces of feather so that you have about 1 inch of a smooth strip.

Step 2: Grab strip with pliers and (this is hard to explain) crunch strip to make it more pliable and easier to string beads on.

Step 3: string beads on in preferred order (I did purple, teal, green on mine).

Step 4: Turn feather over and place tip in foldover clamp. Holding end of feather steady with one hand, use pliers to fold over each side of clamp. Give strong squeeze after both are folded to make sure that the clamp is flat. Make sure the feather doesn't bend over in this step or else it will hang sideways- fold each side of the foldover clamp slowly and carefully to make sure it dangles straightforward.

Step 5: Use pliers to open earring hooks and place feathers on using the loop on the foldover clamp. Close earring hook with pliers and you're done!

Step 6 (optional): trim bottom of peacock feathers with scissors to shorten.

I love banana bread, which is why I don't mind when the bananas start to get too dark to eat. It's like a sign from the heavens that I'm supposed to do something with them. Can't waste food, right???

Oh! and these have a cinnamon/brown sugar topping that makes it even better!

The full recipe is here: http://cooklovecraft.blogspot.com/2011/11/banana-cinnamon-bread-muffins.html

I buy bananas for my fiancee but this time I bought too many for him to eat before they got bruised and dark. So, I looked up recipes for banana bread. It's still pretty warm in So. Cal. right now, so I've been avoiding using the oven and decided I wanted to make muffins rather than a full loaf of bread. These were really, really, really good.

Banana Cinnamon Bread Muffins

Servings: 10-12 muffins
Time: To prepare- 20 mins. To bake: 15-20 mins (per batch)

Ingredients:

- 1-1/2 C. flour
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. Salt
- 3 Bananas, mashed
- 3/4 C. White sugar
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1/3 C. Canola or vegetable oil
- 3/4 tsp. Vanilla extract
- 1 C. walnuts (optional)
For the topping:
- 1/3 C. brown sugar
- 2 TBSP flour
- 1/8 tsp. Ground cinnamon
- 1 TBSP Butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (or 190 degrees C).

2. Line 10 muffin cups with muffin liners (or grease muffin pan if you prefer not to use liners).

3. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt (first 4 ingredients listed). In another large bowl, beat together banana, white sugar, egg, and vanilla (and nuts if you wish).

4. Stir banana mixture into flour mix until just moistened. Spoon batter into muffin cups.

5. In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients for topping except butter. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle over tops of muffins.

6. Bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out of muffin clean. Makes 10-12 muffins.

Enjoy!