30 Ways to Use Sprinkles

Do you use sprinkles? Sprinkles are colorful and fun toppings that can be used to decorate and enhance various dishes. Here are 30 ways to use sprinkles. 

• Cake: Frost cake with buttercream and top with a sprinkle coating for a festive dessert.

• Ice Cream Sundae: Add a sprinkle medley to your favorite ice cream flavors for a delightful crunch.

• Cookie Decorating: Sprinkle colorful sprinkles onto freshly frosted cookies for a fun and tasty decoration.

• Chocolate Bark: Melt chocolate, spread it on a baking sheet, and sprinkle with your favorite colorful sprinkles for a delicious treat.

• Birthday Cake Ice Cream: Stir 3/4 cup chopped birthday cake–flavored sandwich cookies and 1/3 cup sprinkles into 1 pint softened vanilla ice cream. Freeze until firm.

• White Fudge: Add sprinkles to white chocolate fudge to make them stand out. 

• Candy Apples: Dip apples in melted caramel or chocolate and finish with a sprinkle coating for a festive twist.

• Popsicles: Dip fruit popsicles in melted chocolate and sprinkle with colorful sprinkles for a tasty and visually appealing treat.

• Cake Truffles: After shaping cake truffles, roll them in a variety of sprinkles for a delightful assortment.

• Marshmallow Treats: Dip vegan marshmallows like Dandies in melted chocolate and coat with sprinkles for a colorful and tasty treat. 

• Ice Cream Cake: Decorate your ice cream cake with sprinkles for a festive and delicious centerpiece.

• Cupcakes: Add to your favorite cupcake recipe. Sprinkles are perfect to top off cupcakes.

• Donuts: Glaze your favorite donuts and finish with a sprinkle shower for extra flair.

• Cereal Bars: Mix sprinkles into your favorite cereal bar recipe for a fun twist on a classic treat.

• Pancakes: Sprinkle a handful of rainbow colored sprinkles onto your pancake batter for a playful twist. You can also use French toast. 

• Muffins: Mix sprinkles into the batter or use them as a topping for a whimsical twist on muffins.

• Truffles: Roll homemade truffles in a variety of sprinkles for an eye catching assortment. 

• Popcorn: Add sprinkles to freshly popped popcorn for a sweet and salty snack. 

• Pretzels: Try dipping pretzels in melted chocolate and coat with sprinkles for a colorful and crunchy treat.

• Grilled Cheese: Create a sprinkle covered crust on your grilled cheese sandwich for a delightful twist.

• Salads: Garnish your favorite salads with a sprinkle mix to add some crunch and visual appeal.

• Pizza: Add a sprinkle of colorful sprinkles to your dessert pizza for a surprising burst of sweetness.  Use chocolate chip cookie dough for crust. 

• Avocado Toast: Sprinkle some rainbow sprinkles on top of your avocado toast for a unique twist on a popular dish.

• Loaded Fries: Top your favorite fries with melted cheese and a sprinkle medley for a truly indulgent treat.

• Hot Chocolate: Stir sprinkles into your hot chocolate for a splash of color and sweetness.

• Smoothies: Top your smoothie bowls with a sprinkle medley for a burst of color and texture.

• Tea: Sprinkle some edible glitter sprinkles on top of your tea for a magical touch.

I hope you enjoy these ideas and have fun with sprinkles!

20 Friluftsliv Activites You Can Do Outside

Have you heard of friluftsliv? This concept is all about appreciating the beauty of the nature world.

Here are 20 creative and original friluftsliv activities that allow you to embrace the outdoors and connect with nature:

Forest Bathing (Shinrin-Yoku): Try spending at least 15 minutes in nature. Immerse yourself in the sights, sounds and smells of the forest such as by lying on the ground or placing your hands on a tree trunk. The act of spending time in the forest is what the Japanese call shinrin-yoku, a term originating in the 1980s that means "bathing in the forest atmosphere," says Qing Li, a researcher on this topic and a professor at Nippon Medical 

The ideal place to forest bathe is well, in a forest. But if you live far away from one or don't have the means to get there, any place that has a lot of trees and quiet spaces will do. Or city park 

Sunrise Yoga: Try doing yoga outside instead of inside. Practice yoga outdoors during sunrise for a gentle start to the day.

Cloud Watching: I love taking photos of clouds. Try lying on your back in your backyard or outdoors and observing the cloud formations. Try in different weathers. I love when it is cloudy just before a storm.

Natural Dyeing: Collect plants, berries or flowers to create your own natural dyes that you can use to dye fabric or other items. 

Outdoor Poetry Writing: Have you tried writing poetry outdoors? Let nature inspire your creativity by writing poems outdoors.

Night Sky Stargazing: Identify constellations and planets without any electronic devices. 

Outdoor Photography: Capture the beauty of landscapes, wildlife, or macro details.

Geocaching: Use GPS coordinates to find hidden treasures in natural settings.

Nature Mandala: Create your own fun intricate mandalas using leaves, flowers and natural materials.

Outdoor Sketching: Bring your art supplies and sketch the landscape or wildlife. 

Have a Picnic: Enjoy a meal outdoors during magical golden hours.

Sound Mapping: Record natural soundscapes (birdsong, rustling leaves) and create a sound map.

Have a Campfire: Gather around a campfire and share stories with friends or family. Prepare meals over a campfire or portable stove. I love making s’mores outdoors.

Enjoy these activities and let nature rejuvenate your spirit! Let me know how you celebrate nature in the comments. 

8 Instagram Tips

 

Instagram is a mobile sharing social media application. Instagram is photography based and good for uploading photos you take on your phone or with another camera. 

Instagram is one social media network that took me a while to get in to, but now I really like it. I have the accounts. My first is mythreadofthought and I use it to upload blog photos and photos from my shop. My second account annaleeheybusiness. It is more personal, but I am trying to promote my second Etsy shop on it more. 

These are some Instagram tips for your small business:

1. If you have an Etsy shop, show off studio photos  and product photos. Also, add a couple of personal photos. I like to keep a schedule of what I post each day. For example, on one day I will upload studio photos and another art journaling photos. 
2. Instagram is meant for adding photos you take with your phone. If you have photos you have taken with another camera or older photos, you can add these by saving them to your phone and uploading them. I will sometimes repost photos I have posted on Flickr on Instagram, but will add a filter to give them a different look.
3. Do not feel you only need to use the Instagram filters. You can edit photos first with apps such as A Color Story or Canva. A Color Story is good for making photos brighter and give them a colorful style. Canva allows you to add text to photos.
4. Use the maximum number of hashtags in your post. You can use up to 30. Check which hashtags are popular and find ones that relate to your photo.
5. Make your Instagram look cohesive. Think of how the photo grid looks overall and think about what photos will look good together. For example, you might use a certain filter for your all of your photos or choose to focus on a certain color. You can also try to form a bigger photo out of smaller photos which will give your grid a unique look.
6. Choose to upload a certain number of photos a day. You can upload one photo or do a group of photos. I like to upload either 3 or 6 photos at s time to make my grid look cohesive.
7. Fill in your bio. Wrote a short couple of sentences about yourself. Include a link to your website, blog or mailing list. 
8. Follow people related to your niche. Leave comments and like people's photos to gain followers. Respond to comments you get.

Do you use Instagram?