This DIY Tea Pot Will Make You Want to Throw a Tea Party

As the end of the year approaches, so does the chillier weather. And with that, we need ways to warm up like scarves, coats, hats, and also tea! After learning how to make tea, we decided that this season we needed to DIY a tea set to brew our herb-filled drinks. Bring it on, winter! We’re ready for you.

First-on-tray

Materials:

– tea pot and mugs

– tissue paper

– porcelain pens

– dishwasher safe Mod Podge

Tools:
– Scissors

– Foam brush

– Small paint brush (optional)

Instructions:

1. Cut out tissue paper triangles.

2. Paint a layer of dishwasher safe Mod Podge onto the tea pot.

3. Gently add your tissue paper triangles and paint another layer of Mod Podge on top. Allow the glue to dry.

4. Add designs with porcelain pens, just stay away from the lip of the mugs and the spout of the pot.

5. Warm your paws on a hot drink!

When we saw that dishwasher safe Mod Podge existed, we got very excited about all the creative possibilities. If you can’t find any at your local craft supply store, order it online.

First cut out your tissue paper shapes. We used three different colors (how cool are those stripes) and made different size triangles. The world is your oyster here, so cut out as many colors, patterns and shapes as you desire. It would even be cool to tear the paper for some rough edges.

Add a layer of Mod Podge to the tea pot in the area where you want your tissue paper. Gently place the shapes on top of the glue, then add a second layer of glue. Be really careful — the paper tears easily when it’s coated in glue.

For a little extra pizazz, we added black stripes to the top of the tea pot. As long as you don’t scrub the pen, it should stay on the pot just fine!

We love the colors on this little tea set! Time to invite some friends over for a tea party. Also, why aren’t tea parties a thing anymore? They should be!

Our gal Brittany is such a proper lady.

Look at her hold that mug.

What else would you add to your tea party? Share your ideas and recipes in the comments!

Nothing says the holidays like gingerbread house decorations. But, sometimes we'd rather skip the making-the-house part. Lucky for us, the folks at Dylan's Candy Bar have a pre-assembled gingerbread house just waiting to be decorated like the dickens. Each gingerbread house comes with a bunch of festive candies, but we hit up Dylan's Candy Bar in person to stock up on even more gummy candies, candy canes and a whole collection of colorful candy accoutrements.

Armed with more candy than you've even seen in person before, we created five gorgeous gingerbread houses: Candy Cane, Emerald City, Stripes + Lights, Color Blocked Craziness and Gold Rush.

How to make the best gingerbread house ever...

First thing’s first: get yourself a gingerbread house and mix up a batch of royal icing.

Then, it’s time for CANDY. Seriously.

Talk about a sugar rush.

Now, let’s start tricking out these houses!

Check out these creative gingerbread house ideas!

CANDY CANE Gingerbread House

Grab a Dylan’s Candy Bar Signature Holiday Paint Can ($30; Alt: Down Under Delight Paint Can, $17), as well as gumdrops, peppermints and candy canes.

You’re going to need a LOT of royal icing to stick on all the little candies! Make sure you’ve got two piping bags per house, just in case. We created a scalloped roof complete with red polka dots. Candy canes flank the door, welcoming you in, and we’re particularly in love with the sour gummy hedges in the front.

Add your finishing touches.

Voila!

So obsessed with this roof.

EMERALD CITY GingerBread House

For this house, you'll need a Mini Bin Filled with Mini Gumballs ($16; Alt: Sour Gumballs Bulk Bag, $6) and then you can pull out all of the green goodies.

The roof of your gingerbread house is definitely the best canvas for creativity. We created polka dot and squiggly stripes on this green roof. And sour gummy shutters? Yes please.

How fun are those fish at the top of the door? Sort of remind us of Eureeka’s castle.

STRIPES + LIGHTS GingerBread House

Dylan’s Candy Bar Wizard of Oz “Over the Rainbow” Paint Can ($16; Alt: Dylan's Candy Bar Rainbow Sour Belts Paint Can, $17) to create our striped roof.

Cut up gummy stripes to be the same length as your roof. Use royal icing to attach. Create icing windows and adorn with rainbow shutters.

Then use royal icing to create a string for your “lights” to hang on.

We couldn’t resist creating a few Christmasy hedges in the front of the house, complete with bright pink lights on top.

It almost looks too good to eat.

These gingerbread house designs are creative and so simple!

COLOR BLOCKED Gingerbread House

Just pick out some Dylan’s Candy Bar Tackle Box ($24; Alt: Dylan's Candy Bar Classic Christmas Tackle Box, $28), Dylan’s Candy Bar Everything Under the Sun Paint Can($17) and Dylan’s Candy Bar Whirly Pops ($3.75 each) to make this house.

We started with a criss-cross roof and embellished with floral candies.

Then, it’s time to add color everywhere you possibly can.

One fish, two fish, blue fish, blue fish!

GOLD RUSH Gingerbread House

Finally, we’re bringing the gold rush back with this minimalist design. The gingerbread dudes from Dylan’s Signature Holiday Paint Can ($17; Alt: Dylan's Candy Bar Candy Land Mix Bulk Bag, $9) are what really take this sleek look to the next level.

First cover the roof with icing, then add in gold stars. Use white chocolate-covered pretzels on the front of the house, and make sure to make dripping icicles out of your icing.

To finish it off, add snow piles around the house to give it a truly wintery vibe.

Done and done. And complete with a gummy gingerbread dude welcoming you in. Go ahead and pop a kiss off the top — we won’t tell.

And there you have it. Five ways to decorate the best gingerbread house ever.

We hope you have found some new gingerbread house decorations to get creative and inspired by this holiday. Tag us on Instagram when you complete, join our newsletter for more holiday inspiration, or take the Gingerbread House making class on B+C Classes!

Brit + Co may at times use affiliate links to promote products sold by others, but always offers genuine editorial recommendations.

This post has been updated.

Ann Taylor’s spring dress collection is just too good. They always nail polished styles that still have the perfect amount of playfulness! From fun prints to more basic colorways, these stunning spring dresses from Ann Taylor can take you practically anywhere in style.

Scroll on to shop 8 Ann Taylor dresses I'm definitely eyeing for spring!

Ann Taylor

Belted Sheath Dress

Springtime is prime time for pastels, and this light pink number nails the seasonal color. It's pretty polished in the details throughout, plus it's all cinched together oh-so nicely with the thin belt around the waist.

Ann Taylor

Studio Collection Silk Flutter Sleeve Midi Dress

Oh, yeah. The ruching on the side of this silky midi is nothing short of flattering – I could definitely see this style working wonderfully as a wedding guest dress.

Ann Taylor

Striped Pleated Sweater Tank Dress

With contrasting vertical and horizontal stripes, this sweater-y (but still lightweight) tank dress doesn't have to work too hard to make a statement. Thus, you can easily pair it with some basic black shoes and a colorful cardigan to complete your spring look.

Ann Taylor

Tweed Sheath Dress

This color, though! Aside from the stunning buttons and modest coverage, I love the bold shade of this dress for spring. Again, it really speaks for itself, so you shouldn't have to dress it up too much to pull a 'fit.

Ann Taylor

Square Neck Flare Dress

Easy-wearing and oh-so soft thanks to the light material it's made of, this midi dress is practically begging to become your everyday piece this spring. A square neckline is always flattering, plus this design's skirt is the right amount of casual.

Ann Taylor

Dotted Crepe Column Midi Dress

Polka dots are the pattern to rock this season, so I'm obviously eyeing this chic silhouette. It's fairly free-flowing, but comes with a sleek belt at the waist to gather your look together.

Ann Taylor

Denim Sheath Dress

Denim dresses are everything to me, and I love that this one makes a more formal departure from the other casual denim pieces in my closet. It definitely has a workwear quality to it – I'd wear it with ballet flats and a polished cardigan for an easy, yet put-together spring outfit.

Ann Taylor

Striped Smocked-Waist Midi Flare Dress

Hello, waistline! This midi comes complete with a smocked waist that flatters your bod to a tee.

Subscribe to our newsletter to shop more spring fashion finds!

Brit + Co may at times use affiliate links to promote products sold by others, but always offers genuine editorial recommendations.

This post originally appeared in our #31DaysofDIY series, and we just can't get enough of this cozy scarf! We hope you love it as much as we do.

Truth time: I love crafting, but when it comes to knitting I ALWAYS get frustrated. I was lucky to grow up with a great teacher, my grandma, but year after year we would need to start from the beginning because of angry battles in which the yarn won. My main trouble when learning how to knit a scarf was figuring out how to hold the yarn in my fingers to give it the proper tension, looking at the stitches on my needle and realizing which piece needs to go over and which goes under, and then before I knew it I would end up frustrated with a pile of knots.

Arm knitting is a great beginning step to learning how to knit. Since you are working with your arms, which are now also known as extremely large needles, it’s easy to see the stitches and understand what to do with them. It also goes a lot faster than regular knitting — this circle scarf took us 30 minutes start to finish. Don’t get me wrong, it did take time to learn arm knitting too. My arms got tied up in knots and I had to cut myself out, but with practice I got it! For this DIY scarf project, we broke the steps down to be very basic and to help you understand which way the strands need to move. Scroll back through when you’re making your scarf to really get the hang of creating stitches. Soon you’ll be an arm knitting pro and then soon after that you’ll be a knitting pro. We promise. (Not sure if you believe us yet? Try out ourIntro to Knitting course!)

What You'll Need

  • 2 skeins of super chunky yarn
  • Scissors
Arm Knitting Pro Tip: The yarn that is attached to the skein is called the working yarn, and the piece that you pulled out is called the tail.

Instructions

1. Hold both ends of the yarn in your hand and measure out seven “elbow” lengths of yarn. At the seventh “elbow” mark, make a slip knot and place it around your right arm just below your elbow.

2. Create a loop with the tail and hold the top of the loop with your right hand.

3. Put your left arm through the loop and grab the working yarn.

4. Put the new loop on your right arm. Tighten by pulling the working yarn. Cast on 24 stitches.

5. To start the next row of stitches, you will hold the working yarn in your right hand, pull off your last stitch, and insert your left hand through the new loop.

6. Keep repeating for all 22 stitches until your knitting is on your left arm.

7. To create the next row you will hold the working yarn with your left hand, pull the last loop off of your arm, and insert your right arm through the new loop. You will want to create 8 rows. The knitting should end on your left arm.

8. To bind off your scarf you will need to knit two stitches on your right arm. Then pull the first stitch over the second stitch. Knit one more stitch from the left, and then pull the first stitch on the right over the second stitch on the left. For the last stitch, pull the loop off your arm, snip the end, and pull through so you end up with a second tail.

9. Time to stitch the scarf together into a circle. Meet the two ends together and, using your two tails, weave the sides together as if you were lacing a shoe. Secure by tying a knot where the ends meet.

Arm Knitting isn’t the easiest thing. Believe me, you can get really tangled up in the strings, especially when you’re working with multiple skeins. We suggest sticking to two skeins when you’re starting your arm knitting adventures. Once again, I suggest you scroll back up and go through the images multiple times. The stitches will seem awkward at first, but with practice it will “click” and you’ll be creating rows of stitches in no time at all!

To begin your knitting adventure you are going to want to hold both ends of the skeins in one hand and measure out seven “elbow” lengths of yarn.

At the seventh “elbow” length mark you will want to create a basic slip knot. To do this you create a loop by crossing the two strands over one another. Grab and pull the back strand through the loop. This will give you a loop with a knot! Slide it onto your right arm.

Time to complete your first stitch! The first row of stitches are referred to as “Casting on.” To cast these stitches onto your arm you’re going to make a loop with the tail end of your yarn and hold it in your right hand.

Weave your left hand through the loop and grab the working yarn.

Pull the working yarn through the loop.

Slide the new loop onto your right arm.

To tighten your stitches, pull the tail and working ends of the yarn. You want the stitches to be tight on your arm, but not so tight they can’t move.

You will need to cast on between 22-24 stitches. I’m not going to lie, I watched many tutorials over and over before I was comfortable creating stitches. I scrolled back through the tutorial every time I was casting on a new stitch. When you’re ready, move onto the left arm!

We will now only be using the working yarn (yarn attached to the skeins). We’ll work with the tail again later.

Hold the working yarn with your right hand and slip the last stitch over your hand while pulling the working yarn through. This will create a loop.

The first stitch of the second row! Slip it onto your left arm.

You will want to pull the end of the working yarn to tighten these stitches.

Second row of stitches done! They should all be on your left arm and your right arm should be free.

Now move back to your right arm. Hold the working yarn with your left hand and slip the last stitch over your hand and slip the knew loop onto your right arm. Scroll back through the tutorial to master the stitches of arm knitting!

You will want to create eight rows of stitches. They will end up on your left arm.

Time to “cast off.” It was nice having a warm cozy piece becoming one with my arm but I wasn’t ready for the commitment forever. To start casting off, you will need to create two stitches onto your right arm.

Grab the first stitch on your right arm and pull it over the second stitch and off of your hand.

You will now just have one stitch remaining on your right hand. Next you will need to create a new stitch on your right hand (by pulling the working yarn through the stitch on your left hand). Repeat the process above. Slip the first stitch on your right arm over the second stitch, leaving one stitch behind. You will follow this pattern until you have reached the end of your 24 stitches.

Can you believe it? You’re all done! For your last stitch you’re going to snip the working yarn and pull it all the way through to create a knot. When snipping the yarn, leave a two-foot-long tail.

Can you believe you made that with just your arm?! We can’t! Now I know we’ve said we're hooked on crafts, but arm knitting is in a whole other ballpark. We are OBSESSED!

Using the long tail you cut from the working yarn, you will tie the two ends of the scarf together to make a cowl scarf! Weave them through the rows of stitches as if you are lacing a shoe lace. There is no science to this, just weave them together. Tie the end in a knot with the tail end of the yarn from the beginning steps. Luckily this yarn is very fluffy and forgiving. It is impossible to see mistakes.

So fuzzy and warm. This is definitely a winter staple.

Try making more scarves with different types of yarn. We still used two skeins but this yarn was less fuzzy and created a less dense scarf.

Like we said, this is a winter MUST!

Have you ever tried arm knitting, or are you still trying to figure out how to knit a scarf? Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for more DIYs!

This post has been updated.

As much as we love talking about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce...Jason Kelce and his wife Kylie Kelce deserve their time in the spotlight too! They have a loving and hilarious dynamic that's somehow made room for not one, but three kids. And guess what? They recently welcome baby number 4! From their very funny announcement to everything they've said since, there's a lot of fun to unpack here.

Here's everything to know about Jason Kelce & Kylie Kelce's exciting pregnancy!

OMG, when did Kylie Kelce give birth? 

Kylie and Jason welcomed their fourth daughter March 30, according to PEOPLE, but an official announcement was shared via the couple's joint Instagram post on April 1. "Whoop, there she is! Finnley “Finn” Anne Kelce 3/30/25," reads Kylie's caption and we think it's the cheekiest way to describe her arrival.

The subsequent photos of Finnley are just as cute as she's seen wearing the cutest floral onesie and being held by her parents. Call us biased, but she has the most precious face we've ever seen. Even her uncle Travis thinks so!

PEOPLEalso reports the NFL player incredulously told his brother how much he wanted to see Finnley after the latter asked how he felt. "Yes, I want to see my new niece, Jason! You only sent one picture. You didn’t even tell me what name you picked yet."

But his complaints stopped the minute Jason showed him Finnley during their latest New Heights podcast episode. Travis immediately melted and said, "Hey, little muffin! Look at you. You hanging out with Mom? Tell Ky I said hello. I’m glad everything’s going great." He even thinks her name is "adorable."

When did Jason and Kylie announce she's pregnant?

Amazon Prime

Kylie Kelce shared the huge news on Instagram November 22nd! Of course grandma Donna Kelce was the first to leave a comment. She wrote, "🔥🔥🔥🔥😍😍😍 Love it!!!" Brittany Mahomes also commented by writing, "Ahhhhhh Congrats you guys!!!🥹🤍."

How did Jason and Kylie's other daughters react?

Amazon Prime

In Kylie's same Instagram post, her and Jason's daughters can be seen expressing a range of emotions. There's an 'Eek' expression from their oldest daughter Wyatt, a happy look from their middle daughter Elliott, and pure tears from baby girl Bennett. Kylie wrote, "I feel like we captured a very accurate representation of how each of the girls feel about getting another sister. At least Ellie, mom and dad are on the same page! 🤷♀️"

How did Jason and Kylie prepare to be a family of six?

Amazon Prime

Jason Kelce took the news of being an official girl dad like a champ. He told E! Newshe's "got it pretty easy" because "the clothes are all going to be hand-me-downs or already bought." Not only that, but they'd already secured a baby crib prior to their newborn's birth.

“I love my kids so much, and especially my daughters,” he added. "I was telling somebody out there because they're expecting their first — and they look at you. They smile at you. There's just a way that kids have to warm your soul in a way that nothing else can.”

He also shared his excitement about watching his daughters grow up with a new sibling. "And hopefully we'll welcome a fourth into this world, and we'll be able to watch them fight and tear each other apart and all the good stuff."

He even appeared on The Rich Eisen Show where he joked, "I'm screwed [in] like in 10 years. The moment they’re all in middle school, I feel like it’s just gonna be chaos." He also hopes Wyatt "can start helping out a little bit more." But, he's still looking forward to it! "I obviously have not had a son, but there is something about a daughter in the way I think as a dad, you feel an extra amount probably of protection and love toward that child," he shared.

What did Kylie say about her fourth pregnancy?

Kylie previously opened up on her new podcast, Not Gonna Lie, about her feelings on her fourth pregnancy. At the time, she said she was "so incredibly grateful to be able to get pregnant, but it is a means to an end." She further said, "When I tell you that I cannot stand being pregnant, I mean it. I don't have a a fun time."

If that sounds a little uh...negative, it actually makes a lot more sense when she explained more! She elaborated, "I am nauseous for most of my pregnancy. It tapers off a little after the first trimester, but I continue to have nausea throughout my pregnancy." Woof, I know that's tough!

Kyle continued by explaining she hasn't even really had the fun, wacky cravings many pregnant people get — instead she had more "aversions" in each of her pregnancies. I'll take cravings over aversions any day!

The podcast host then joked, "When you're super pregnant and someone comes up to you and says, 'Isn't this just the most beautiful thing ever? 'I want to punch you in the face. I'm not going to, but I want to."

Follow us on Facebook for more updated about this cute family!

This post has been updated.

Ever since Good American Family premiered on March 19, there has been renewed interest in the real-life adoption case of Natalia Grace.

The latest Hulu series stars Ellen Pompeo as Kristine Barnett, who adopted an orphan from Ukraine with her husband, Michael Barnett. However, after taking in Natalia, who had a rare form of dwarfism, Kristine began to suspect that she was an adult pretending to be a child.

New episodes of Good American Family are being released on Wednesdays, but as we wait to see what happens next in the TV dramatization, many fans are wondering whether Natalia's adoptive parents ever faced jail time. Here's everything we know.

Scroll to find out what happened to Natalia Grace's adoptive parents, Kristine and Michael Barnett...

Who is Natalia Grace Barnett?

Max

For those unfamiliar with the infamous case, Natalia was born in Ukraine in 2003 and was first adopted by a different couple, Dyan and Gary Ciccone, back in 2008. She only lived with the Ciccone family for two years before they claimed her behavior was disruptive and relinquished their parental rights.

This led Natalia to be placed up for adoption again, and in 2010, the Barnett family welcomed her into their Indiana home. She was thought to be 6 or 7 years old at the time, but soon afterward, the Barnetts claimed Natalia had adult traits, such as adult teeth and body hair, and believed she wasn't actually a little girl.

Additionally, they alleged Natalia was a "sociopath" and had tried to harm them and their biological children, Jacob, Wesley, and Ethan.

What happened to Natalia Grace and the Barnetts?

Max

The Barnetts ultimately petitioned an Indiana court in 2012 in order to change her birth year from 2003 to 1989. Legally, this made Natalia 22 years old, and she was placed in a Lafayette, Indiana, apartment by herself; meanwhile, the Barnetts relocated to Canada with their three sons, Jacob, Wesley, and Ethan.

Afterward, the Barnett family reportedly cut contact with Natalia, who moved in with another couple, Cynthia and Antwon Mans, about one month later. The Mans family petitioned to become her legal guardians in 2016, and by 2023, they were able to legally adopt Natalia.

What happened with Natalia Grace and the Mans?

Max

Nonetheless, Natalia wound up leaving Cynthia and Antwon's home by the end of 2023 after alleging they were controlling. She currently lives in upstate New York with the DePaul family and appeared in the docuseries The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks. There, she called the Barnetts abusive and alleged Kristine had hit her with a belt and pepper-sprayed her.

What happened to Kristine and Michael Barnett?

Max

Following their move to Canada, Michael and Kristine eventually got divorced but maintained that Natalia had exhibited violent behavior. Some allegations include that she'd appeared at the foot of their bed with a knife in her hand and attempted to poison Kristine's coffee.

Despite the fact that they filed the petition to change Natalia's age in 2012, Michael and Kristine weren't charged until 2019. They faced multiple counts of neglect, but Michael was found not guilty in 2022, and the charges against Kristine were subsequently dropped in 2023 after Michael testified in her pretrial.

Kristine Barnett reportedly wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post, "If there had been any abuse of Natalia or evidence of it, I would have been found guilty of it, and I would be in jail. I believe Natalia takes advantage of that sympathy to manipulate people."

Michael filed for divorce in 2014 and later appeared on The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks. As for Kristine, she has mostly flown under the public radar.

Still, following the finale of the docuseries, Kristine shared a long post on Facebook, responding to allegations against her.

"Natalia was a very much loved and cared for member of my family. She was not abused by anyone in my family. Let's get straight to these allegations. Nobody ever took a belt to Natalia, and the allegations that she was 'beaten' are just plain false. Any discipline of Natalia was very minimal and not out of the bounds of normal parenting," she wrote.

Natalia went on to call the docuseries "highly sensationalized," adding, "Michael Barnett and Natalia Barnett may have the same monster, but that monster is not me. That monster, whether it's mental illness, sociopathy, or whatever it actually is, may be different for each of them. But it's within their own psyche."

Who plays Natalia Grace Barnett today?

Disney/Ser Baffo

In Good American Family, Imogen Faith Reid plays Natalia Grace, and Mark Duplass depicts Michael Barnett. Ellen Pompeo has said the latest series intends to show both sides of the adoption story in an "intentional and thoughtful" way.

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