The pattern I recently won at Today's Creative Blog by Skip To My Lou. It sat idle for less than twenty four hours! It took a couple days to do because I had to wait until Wednesday was sleeping and she recently fell ill with a cough but I finished it! And here is the finished product!
I actually had all the colours of felt to make this little project. (Having all the materials is so rare for me!) Between the thrifted felt remnants, Eco Spun store bought felt and the wool felt remnant oh and the corn batting this was a very eco friendly project. I could say it was a use what you got type project too. But in all honesty I am most happy about having a present made for Wednesday. It seems I keep adding to my list of homemade gifts for her and this was the first one I could check off. Just the sort of motivation I need to get me further in gear. Truth be told I am scared to look up how many weeks are left before C-Day! But like the Little Engine that Could, so can I!
I am also officially addicted to making felt food. It was so easy, so cute and thanks to my super duper sewing machine I don't have to do a lot by hand, which is nice because my hand stitching skills leave a lot to be desired. But I am okay with that. To help me on my way I have been googling free felt food patterns and have come across some most ingenious and absolutely adorable blog posts. Here is a sample of my favourites:
One Inch World has a few great tutes, I particularly love the lollipops and bow tie pasta, both for their sheer cuteness and crazy simplicity! This is also a wonderfully child friendly crafty blog you should spend some time surfing!
Here is the pattern for a super simple peelable banana from Deviant Art user starxxlight who also has the most adorable marshmallow plushie on her homepage.
And last but not least (and definitely not the last of links I have bookmarked) here is a quick tute for some felt sushi by http://hoogliart.wordpress.com/.
The list just keeps going but these were some of my favourites and 'fer sure gonna do's' and I thought I would share. There are so many more inspiration sites to choose from on Flickr and Etsy. And really, a peek in your own fridge and pantry just might be the inspiration you need!
That is correct folks, I won my first blog giveaway this weekend. It is so cute it almost hurts too! It is a Skip to my Lou pattern via Todays Creative Blog. So yes, this pattern which can be purchased for 1.75 USD or you can place her button code on your blog and you will receive the pattern for free. That is wonderful, I had no idea until right now! Details and tutorial are here. It is so cute and I think I might even have all of the colours in my stash! So this week, add it to the must do before Christmas pile!
This is Wednesday in her Little Red Riding Hood costume I made her! Is she not the most adorable thing you EVER DID SEE?! And she wore it! Twice! Love it.
The costume was inspired by this one at Martha Stewart.com I thought it would be a great idea for Wednesday because she really does not enjoy bulky costumes, things on her head or being a showpiece. Kind makes Halloween tricky non? (No pun intended) so I thought if I can get her to wear the cape (even by itself) then everyone will know what she is and we can both be happy. It worked, I had a blast making it and watching Wednesday trick or treat in it! Even with a red hooded sweater cloak on without the cloak people knew. She stayed super warm though with the coat and cloak and the layers on her legs. If a really cold wind hadn`t come up when it did we would have let her keep going for the fun of it.
This was her first year trick or treating and we were lucky enough to have a little friend for her to go around with. Her play date friend Sydney was a lion and man was she cute! They caught on to the process after the second house and then it was us parents who had to keep them from going to houses that were not giving out candy. Wednesday used a yellow basket for her treats but it emptied quickly when being swung about so we had to keep emptying it for her. She didn`t mind, she though getting candy was great but the whole process and being out with the big kids and the moon made her very happy. Daddy and I managed to get a few pics in but the camera was not cooperating. *sigh* Our little girl went trick or treating. She is growing so fast!
Details on the costume construction:
I started with the hooded cape. My mom had originally bought me a simplicity pattern that used a single yard of six foot wide felt but I did not have a six foot wide yard of felt. So, I used this tutorial at blueprints to make the cape. (Sort of, I cut it differently, made it from felt and tweaked it more) but she was a big help for the basic idea. I did use the Simplicity pattern for the hood though. Because the pattern did not have a seam allowance due to it being intentionally cut from felt I cut the pieces from a red fleece sweatshirt and used the nice wide bottom hem as the front of the hood. I had to tweak the cape a bit to accommodate the hood and the big fat black button (from an old Mrs. Claus apron of my mom's) but Wednesday was super accommodating in the many "Wednesday, can you try this on a moment for Mommy?" So far cost of costume = zero dollars.
Next I made the bodice-ish-shirt-thing. I just so happen to have a white turtle neck kicking around that Wednesday never wore (I am not a big turtleneck fan). I found two very nice pieces of black felt and laid them on top of the shirt and with a white pencil crayon just kind of drew the curve for the arm and a vest front. I ran the pieces through the machine with a semi-decorative stitch around the edges and then basted the pieces to the shirt. I finished it off by giving it a faux lace up with red embroidery thread. The felt and floss were both thrifted pieces) So far cost of costume = zero dollars.
The next day I began the skirt. Which was so ridiculously simple that I might lose this week to the sewing machine for Wednesday's wardrobe. But I digress. The skirt came from an old corduroy skirt my mom had in her alterations pile for some five years. She thought of it when I said I needed some black fabric for the skirt and offered it up. I snatched it without hesitation. It is lovely, I may have to use it elsewhere soon. Anyhoo, the skirt is just two pieces of fabric sewn up the sides, a wide hem and an elastic fitted under the hem. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Costume cost = zilch.
The 'fur lined boots' were a pair of fun fur topped striped baby leggings tucked into a great pair of black boots. The baby leg warmers I had on hand from last Christmas and the boots were another hand me down. Great touch though right? Costume total = nadda.
Last but not least I had to buy a pair of tights for her little thighs. I found a pair on clearance at Wal-Mart for three bucks. So, costume total? Three dollars + one and a half days effort. Not too shabby for my first time doing the Mama-come-Martha eh?
That night we carved the pumpkins. I asked Wednesday what she wanted and she said a monkey, so a monkey I gave her. For the bigger pumpkin I had wanted to carve something from a stencil but my poker took was not sharp enough for the intricate design so I let Wednesday draw on the pumpkin and then carved out her design. It actually looks kinda cool.
I roasted the pumpkin seeds by rinsing them, drying them in the oven a few moments and then I used this for a (lol) recipe:
Put seeds in a bigger bowl than you think you need.
Sprinkle with oil About two teaspoons per bigger pumpkin`s worth.
Sprinkle with about one teaspoon (per medium sized pumpkin) of sea salt. (Grind up bigger salt with a mortar and pestle or a rolling pin and sandwich bag. But sea salt does make the difference.
Mix well. Lay in a single layer on cookie sheets and bake at 375 until golden brown.
Try not to eat them all yourself. I said try. They are so very good!
When I took Wednesday shopping the other day she saw all the Halloween decorations and wanted "Spiders Mommy, spiders!" I couldn't find anything I wanted her to have (you know, that is not the kind of junk that falls apart in a day) so I promised to make her spider cookies. I bought some cookie cutters and Halloween coloured sprinkles for cookie fun. What a mistake, well in the beginning anyways. I tried out Martha's sugar cookie recipe because I had made it years ago and it worked perfectly for cut out cookies. For some reason though, I couldn't get it to work. I don't know if I didn't use enough butter or if I was too impatient when it came to the chilling but it didn't work out. So, I thought this one time I will buy a pre-made dough thinking of Pillsbury doughs. We went to three different grocery stores and no one carried it. I was getting really flustered. I went through my cookbooks and found a recipe in a book I trusted. I made the recipe exactly as it stated and chilled it overnight like a good girl. The next morning (Halloween)I pulled it out but it was so sticky as it warmed up. I thought "OMG this cannot be happening again!" but with a lot of flour I managed to get the cookies cut and almost three times the recipe yield. (Some were super thin). Thank goodness. I watched them like a hawk in the oven they turned out perfectly. I spent Wednesday's naptime decorating them with leftover cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. I had a lot of fun with the decorating. I had originally wanted Wednesday to help but I had managed to fluster myself so much trying to get the dough just right that I just made them up and let her have one after lunch. I put them into wax paper treat bags I made by sewing up the sides and middle of some folded wax paper. I stapled them shut and covered the staple with a pumpkin sticker. I had originally wanted to make them prettier but had no time for Halloween ribbon shopping. They still looked and tasted fantastic though. The cookie recipe? One of my new favourites for sure. Ron likes them plain and I can't wait to make a bunch for Christmas! This post is long enough, I will share the recipe at a later date most likely for an MMmm good Monday.
The sun started to come out so we used the available light to take some photos. Then over to a family member's house for even cuter photos!
We went trick or treating after much hub bub (It was almost like the world did not want us to go!) But we made it!
We let her trick or treat for about a half hour. And then we bundled her up under a wool blanket in her stroller and we went home. She was so pooped from the day she was in bed and asleep by eight o'clock. We ate some of her stash but we are not big on candy either. I'll let you know how long it lasts with everyone chowing down. Poor Wednesday, doesn't get any of it. The "Hide it and forget about it" method mentioned over at Unplug Your Kids works well!
I think, that is it! What a great three days! I will leave you with a slide show of the rest of the photos we took of the day. I hope your Halloweens were all happy, healthy and fun!
Pretty awesome yes? I really want to say these were fun to make but I had a deadline and things just seemed to keep going wrong! First, a batch of twelve Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes burned thanks to the muffin tin I was using. The bakers Secret non stick tins cook really hot. I don't like it. But the recipe says it yielded 36 cupcakes and it actually yielded almost 48. This was especially helpful because in my haste I forgot to spray the mini muffin tin and was only able to save half of those as well. So much for being the cupcake fairy to a few friends.
But I got over it and moved on to the icing, a Swiss Meringue Butter Cream again a la Martha Stewart. Again a big fail. First it took a pound of butter which I didn't have on hand and had to wait until Wednesday was finished lunch before I could go and purchase. Then, I don't think I let the meringue qhip enough because after I added the butter and let that whip It really just tasted like sweetened whipped butter. And to top it off when I added my colouring it separated and made the icing look (but not feel) gritty instead of green. Grr!
But, I managed to whip up a cream cheese icing that turned a great shade of green and finally began to decorate. The time limit I had (we were going to a relative's for some pumpkin picking fun) meant I couldn't calm down and let my creative juices flow, or really use any icing for decorating but the pictures in Martha's Cupcake book were super easy and super healthy and I ended up copying most of them.
All in all they did turn out great (Both in looks and taste) and I did learn a few things so next time it should not take me four hours to make some cupcakes! They were enjoyed by those that ate them and that is what counts. Although Wednesday woke up asking for marshmallows and cupcakes for breakfast.
Author's note: I find it hard to bake fom Martha's book when it is not a special occasion because the recipes yield so many (on average I think 24) and I do not eat many sweets. I am more of a muffin kind of gal, fruits and nuts and such right? But Halloween is the perfect time to break out of that norm right? Right!
Mmmm good Monday already! For this edition I bring you Butter tart Mini Muffins! These are so good you will have to give them away to stop eating them. For realz. I have been on a buttertart binge (well not binge but my butt was paying the price) because the local tartery (Rachel's Tarts) makes the most delish deep butertart with a homemade super flakey crust. But at 160 calories a tart I coudn't keep up the habit. So when I was at one of our local farmers market and a woman had butter tart muffins I thought hey! this might be the answer. Alas, her muffins were just too much. Mostly too much sugar. But I thought hey, if I tone down the sugar and make them in a mini muffin tin we just might have something.
That was weeks and weeks ago. The muffins were baked on Friday. I ate little else for two days. Thank goodness they are gone! But ow I have another gift I can make for Christmas Presents. I found the recipe through a google search and it was perfect. You can find it here at Chatelaine.com. But, I like to give the recipe text for linkaphobes. Ingredients
1-1/2 cups ( 375 mL) raisins
3/4 cup ( 175 mL) granulated sugar
1/2 cup ( 125 mL) butter, cut into chunks
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup ( 125 mL) milk
1 tsp ( 5 mL) vanilla, rum or butterscotch flavouring
1-1/2 cups ( 375 mL) all-purpose flour
2 tsp ( 10 mL) baking powder
1 tsp ( 5 mL) baking soda
1 pinch of salt
1/2 cup ( 125 mL) walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup ( 75 mL) corn or maple syrup
1. Place raisins, sugar, butter, eggs, milk and vanilla in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is hot, slightly thickened and just beginning to bubble, from 4 to 5 minutes. Cool slightly, uncovered, in the refrigerator, while continuing with recipe. 2. Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Grease 12 muffin cups or coat with cooking spray. Stir flour with baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in centre and pour in warm raisin mixture, stirring just until combined. Stir in nuts until evenly mixed. 3. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake in centre of preheated 375F (190C) oven until golden and a cake tester inserted into centre of muffin comes out clean, from 15 to 17 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately pour about 1 teaspoon (5 mL) syrup over top of each muffin. Cool in cups for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack. Muffins are wonderful served warm. Store in a sealed bag at room temperature for up to 2 days or freeze.
* If you make mini muffins like I did, cook for 8 minutes and just drizzle a smidgeon of corn syrup on the top.
When I had my own laundry room and a clothesline I loved laundry. Seriously, it was my favourite chore. I think my love of laundry started with cloth diapering and just grew from there. I was always looking for greener methods to keep our clothes looking good and clean. I made my own scented waters for ironing, had baskets of things for stain removal and even started to enjoy ironing. And hanging clothes on the line? That was my favourite thing ever on a nice day, it was soothing. And it was contagious, our college kid boarder liked to hang his clothes on the line as well. So relaxing. But now that we are crammed into an apartment across the country from my old home I dread laundry day. No longer do I look forward to any of it particularly the trips on the elevator. It is so small here and everything is so crammed that I can't keep baskets of stain removal tools and jugs of distilled water for my iron. Evrything is condensed, even my clothesline. Now I have a collapsible rack and a couple clothespin rings that just don't work the same because of the amount of wind the balcony blocks. It takes up to two days to dry the heavier diapers and sweaters. Sometimes I just don't have that kind of time. I need my diapers now! (Well, not now so much as we are int he thick of potty learning, another post for another time.) As I look over at the mountain of laundry I cringe at the thought of sitting there folding it just to start again in a couple days time. I long for my laundry room and clothesline. But what can we do? We can do what we can. I still use ECOS laundry detergent which lasts for freakin' ever, smells good and works on both cloth diapers and clothing. I still abhor the use of fabric softener and dryer sheets. I used wool dryer balls that I made myself. I use baking soda and vinegar with my diapers. And I hang what I can out on the balcony.But it is just not the same. especially at $3.10 a load! Sigh. But, for those of you who are looking to make your laundry routines greener or just plain better smelling, I will share with you my favourite things.
ECOS laundry detergent. I buy it in a 6L container and it washes some 215 loads in a HE machine. Even in my old top loader it lasted a long time because it suds up really nice in hot water. I think I used to pay eighteen dollars for the jug but recently found it for fourteen. That works out to less than seven cents a load. I buy one jug every six months. That is thirty dollars a year. that is awesome for someone who does as much laundry as me. I have a carpenter hubby and a cloth diapered babe, I do a lot of laundry! Speaking of cloth diapers, some websites don't recommend it because of the soy fabric softener in it but it has never hinder the absorption of my diapers and I am going on a year and a half of washing with it.
In lou of fabric softener I use a combination of white vinegar and baking soda because with diapers they also help to combat bacteria and odour. I find when you hang things like denim and terry on a line you will always have a crunch regardless of how much commercial softener you use. I found ironing helped to soften cotton right up. that or toss your air dried clothes int he dryer for a couple-ten minutes. Softens them up in a jiffy with less than a tenth of the power used to dry.
To keep static to a minimum when using your dryer, dry synthetic fabrics separately. When I dry my diapers I get absolutely no static because the bulk of the items are cotton and/or hemp. The microfibre inserts and PUL do not seem to affect the static levels probably due to the sheer outweighing of the natural fibres. Dryer balls are also great because they keep the clothes moving for air flow therefor leaving your clothes int he dryer for less time. I made three in a half hour using this tutorial from Goodmama.
For stain removal I had a basket that had things like peroxide (for blood), rubbing alcohol (for ink) laundry soap in a dish soap dispenser for stains that required a lather, tooth brushes and embroidery hoops (to isolate the stain and keep fabric taught). This basket was a big help and it made it really easy to attack the stain as soon as it happened. (Unlike now where sometimes I forget and the item gets washed and dried and the stain is there forever.)I read a great book called Clean House by Alison Haynes. I highlighted green cleaning recipes, post it noted pages about organization and probably read it in two days. I also kept in in my laundry room for quick reference. I recommend it, and if not that one I recommend buying a book to keep on hand to help you take care of your things.
I read that to prolong the life of your iron (or at least the steam function) it is best to use distilled water. I bought a 4L jug while grocery shopping and left it in my laundry room so no one would use it. I think it cost me less than two dollars. I used it for both my iron and a bottle of laundry scented water that I kept in a spray bottle for ironing and linen refreshing. Here is the recipe originally posted at PatternReview.com
Linen Water
1/4 cup vodka (price does not matter as long as it is 80 proof, and rubbing alcohol works too) 10-20 drops essential oil* 2 cups distilled water **
Mix vodka and oil first...the vodka is an emulsifier...then add the water.
*your choice of scent, but it must be an "essential oil"...these can be purchased at a Health Food Store.
**must use distilled, chlorinated water will kill the essential oil scent
I put it in some Christian LaCroix designed water bottles that I bought for the design. Because my iron manufacturer specifically stated not use linen waters in my iron I put it in a spray bottle to use while ironing.
When the babe was sleeping and I had the time to just hang out in my laundry doing laundry things like ironing, I brought my laptop with me and caught up on Bones and Criminal Minds. Who doesn't want to watch David Boreanez while doing chores?
Speaking of chores, I must go do mine alas sans Mr. Boreanaz.
So what do you do when your toddler outgrows her stroller just in time to double her body mass with clothing and snow suits? Go shopping of course! But what do you do when you are on an incredibly limited budget but absolutely have to have a new one because your toddler absolutely will not fit in hers for one more minute? Go shopping consignment store styles. But! What if your standards are set way too high for your budget because of the stroller you got at an incredibly good deal and are only replacing because you have to and not because you want to? You go to a liquidation store for a major retail chain and buy a brand new stroller for the same price as the second hand stroller you bout a year and a half prior!
Now, I am not endorsing Quinny as a stroller maker but our luck with the second hand Buzz model we bought for a fraction of the price was/is a great stroller and I was very sad to have to replace it. I was for serious. I like shopping for new shiny things as much as the next person but we really didn't have the money for a new stroller and the ever so practical mama inside me was really quite happy with the stroller we had. But, Wednesday was just not fitting in it one more second and with snow suit season approaching I just couldn't cram her into that harness one more day.
We were directed to a local liquidation store for Sears (who conveniently sell the Quinny brand) and as luck would have it I found a really nice stroller for just inside our budget. About half that price would have been better but with our needs we knew we would not get one under a hundred dollars even second hand. Our needs being smooth gliding action, good maneuverability, quality construction and compact once collapsed.We paid 125 on sale second hand for the last one. So, this one being 125 brand new was just what we needed.
It is the most compact full size stroller I have ever seen. Collapsing to a mere 27" x 11" x 13"and weighing in at a mere 14lbs it fits inside a large gym bag, which by the way it came with and matching. Serious plus over here. Canadian Dad describes it as an "expensive alternative to a umbrella stroller", and he is half right it is an umbrella stroller but it is a fantastic one and even full price it is 229.00 CDN and I can tell you from experience that is a decent price for a quality stroller.
Ours does not have the single front wheel like most pictured but this stroller really glides nicely and turns on a freakin' dime. We love it. It has so much more room for Wednesday than her last stroller both in strap, bum shelf and foot rest that we are just so happy with this purchase.
It has removable everything for cleaning which is uber awesome. But, as much as it is perfect for shopping in its compactness and maneuverability it is not built for shopping accessory wise. There is no giant accessory basket to hold a diaper bag or even cupholders for your fair trade organically grown coffee in a travel mug made from recycled materials. It does have a little basket underneath big enough to hold a purse and some snacks? I just hang the diaper bag off the back and use it like a basket though, and for the cup holders I bought a Jolly Jumper stroller caddy and that worked awesome for snacks, keys, cups etc.
We took it out for a spin this evening, and it was wonderful. We are talking one handed, no effort pushing. Which is nice because with the last stroller it took some control to keep it riding smoothly. The handles are not telescopic which was a selling feature for the last stroller but they are long enough to be comfortable for me and Ron didn't seem to mind the height of them at all.
I believe that is all I can say about our new toy. Sorry if this post read like an ad, it is not meant to I am just excited about having a shiny new toy...that accidentally matches my jacket. ;)
With he cooler weather approaching we don't get outside as often as I would like. To make up for it I am trying to create some real quality activities for Wednesday. Easiest of course is arts and crafts. Today, I pulled out some paints. Twice. This morning Wednesday painted for about an hour. But she was tired from an early rising and we were cleaned up without any sort of protest. Here are some photos from the fun.
Apparently though, I have created a monster. After Wednesday went down for her nap I went out for some much needed shopping. I came home to her crying. Just beside herself. Apparently she woke up from her nap and was ready to get back to painting. She didn't want lunch she wanted to paint. It took everything we had to redirect her attentions whilst the pasta cooked. (Can elbow macaroni take any longer to cook?!) I managed to talk her down long enough to eat some lunch and we were back to painting.
As it happened, whilst I was doing some much needed thrifting I came across a basket of tempera paints for two bucks. Sold. I was excited to bring them home for Wednesday, I had no idea they would be the end of my entire afternoon. I undressed her, put her in her booster seat, covered the table, put paint(s) in the egg tray and let her go to town. After she used up all the allotted paint I had givene her and a lot of paper she of course wanted more. I felt bad but had it been up to her she would have painted herself out of the paints I had bought her. So I told her we had to clean up the paints so that we could play with sparkly stuff.
Oi vey. there went my evening. We played with the sparkly stuff. making butterflies, that we had painted that morning we added glue and rhinestones and marker etc. Whilst she cared little for the butterflies, she loved the glue and rhinestones (obviously) but when it came time to pack it up for a stroll outside things got a bit hairy (is that how you spell it in that instance?).
I completely understand it was more about bounderies than glitter. Daddy was home and he has a habit of giving in whereas I am the enforcer of rules (naptimes, sugar content etc.)But this time he had my back and I think that bothered her even more. she became grabby with things and cried when she couldn't have them. It happens I know. But, afetr we got home from our stroll to the store she was adamant about glue and sparkles. Right up until bedtime. Carzyness.
Here is my dilemma though; I love love love to encourage her creative side. Her fatehr is both an artist and a carpenter and I am a craftbot so it is truly wonderful for both of us. But. Between the paly dough, paints, markers, colouring books, crayons, pencil crayons, glitter, pipe cleaners and pom poms I am forever fetching and cleaning. For serious. Today we painted twice, pulled out the play dough once, played with glue and glitter and coloured with markers before bed.
Is this normal? How do I get anything done? How do you mamas get anything done? And another problem has creeped up. Now with the glitter and paint Wednesday is too good for her colouring books and crayons. She went from colouring on and off all day and loving it to turning her nose at the suggestion. For that I have a solution. No more paint and glitter until she appreciates the simpler things a bit more. I know she is a toddler, not even two years and three months but she is both smart and too smart. So I think for both of us this is a good decision. The whining will drive me crazy but I am just as stubborn as she.
The artwork she is making is great though. When she draws, she draws a shape and can give it eyes, ears, nose, smile, feet and now hair without any help. She has been colouring as much in the lines as possible for her age since summer and is really getting the hang of play dough. Her imagination is growing every day and I want to encourage it but I also need her to love the little things again. Everyday cannot be twice painting. I think everyday cannot be painting. I'll figure out a schedule maybe...what do you do?
For today's edition of Mmm Good Monday I bring to you two wonderful peanut butter treats! Ron's favourite baked goodie is peanut butter cookies so when I baked him up a batch I had to bake myself something so that I wouldn't eat his cookies. I found a great peanut butter oatmeal bar that was awesome.
The cookie recipe is from Kraft's website and only bakes up a dozen, not enough in my book. But it is fairly low in sugar and high in awesomeness.
1 cup Smooth Peanut Butter (Kraft or a nice natural works well) 1/2 cup sugar (White works best but I like brown too) 1 egg
Preheat oven to 325º F. MIX peanut butter, sugar and egg. ROLL into 1-inch balls. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets. Flatten with fork. BAKE 15 min. (Do not overbake.) Let stand on baking sheets 5 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
And you get twelve of these delectable goodies!
The peanut butter bars were found through a google search for peanut butter and oatmeal. Unfortunately I forgot to bookmark it and I can't seem to find the one I used so for now you just get a picture of the uber tasty bars.
These lasted a few days and were perfect for snacking and taking places when we were in a hurry. I hope I can find the recipe (I printed it out at least just can't find that either.)
As the days get cooler I am hoping to use our crockpot more, maybe next week I'll have a chili recipe to share. :) (Or you could share yours with me!)
I first gave Wednesday play dough to play with shortly after last Christmas. I had bought her a Melissa & Doug set that had some dough, rollers, molds and such. The dough she really didn't care for but all the contraptions and the plastic molded packaging that acted like a 3D puzzle had her captured for some time. I didn't give play dough another thought until a couple months ago I was in the dollar store and they had a little six mini containers and some cookie cutters. I brought it out on a rainy day and she played with it for a solid hour and a half. We had a winner.
The next time I brought out the play dough she played with it for another hour. When I had to take her away from it for a nap she was just beside herself. She cried herself to sleep she was so upset. She eventually gave me a couple high fives, but she was weepy when she fell asleep. The third time I pulled out her play dough I found out the difference between the name brand Play-Doh and the cheap stuff. It was crusty and drying quicker and quicker with each use.
I found a homemade recipe that seemed easy enough. Remembering the homemade play dough recipes of my youth I was worried that it would not be vibrantly coloured enough for my tastes. I was very wrong. The recipe I made turned out quite pretty even using the super cheap food colouring I had on hand. I only made two colours because each recipe makes quite a bit but you could make every colour of the rainbow if you have the room to store it. It lasts quite a while too so you will be storing it for some time.
After I made the play dough I realized I needed a place to store it and the bit and bobs we had collected to play with the play dough. We had found a couple small sand molds from her beach toys, some plastic tools from a birthday goodie bag, Christmas cookie cutters not to mention the things to put in the play dough like shells, buttons and feathers! To house the fun stuff I converted an old train case I had laying around by conditioning the faux snakeskin with canola oil and giving the inside a good wipe down. Than I duped in the toys, put the dough into sandwich bags and then a plastic ice cream container and voila! You have a portable play dough station.
She plays with these toys at least three times a day. I think right now she is on her fourth time pulling it out. I put it away in between meals and other childish pursuits to keep the dough from drying out. The dough is great though, even if it does dry a bit you just knead it a couple seconds and you're good.
Also, the train case latch is still in working order and she has not figured out how to open it so she can only play with the play dough when I give the ok. Which is every time as long as I have had at least one cup of coffee in the morning. And now for the recipe. I got this from a book of eco-friendly kids crafts called Green Crafts for Children by Emma Hardy published by Cico Books London & New York.
1 cup white flour 1/2 cup salt 2 tablespoon cream of tartar (find it in the spice section) 1 tablespoon oil 1 cup water food coloring
Mix first 4 ingredients in a pan. Add food colouring to water and mix. Add water mixture to pan and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 3 – 5 minutes. Dough will become difficult to stir and form a “clump”. Remove from stove and knead for 5 minutes
This was so much fun. I stopped at two colours because it makes a lot of dough, but if you have lots of children to entertain you could keep going, the colour possibilities are endless.
Welcome! My name is Melissa and I love to create. Mostly I collect ideas and every now and again I have some good ones of my own. I love my family, coffee and storage. (Usually in that order.)If you have never visited here before please, grab a coffee and poke around. If you have any questions I am super easy to reach by clicking on a link below!
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