Another Manifestation of Spring Fever

While I was trying to upload this picture, Natalie came into the office and demanded "Up".  Her bottom seemed awfully warm & squishy, but I didn't smell anything.  I stuck my finger in the back of her waistband and pulled it out to check the contents, a maneuver well-known to all parents, and was surprised by sticking my finger into a pile of goo that had worked its way all the way up to the top of her diaper.

I slung her over my other arm and kept my icky finger well away from the rest of my body.  As I rushed through the door of the kids' room, I managed to bang Natalie's head on the doorframe.  I had no choice but to let her wail as I apologized over and over again, trying to clean my finger and keep the contents of her diaper from getting all over the bed.

So then.  Now that I've grossed you all out, would you like a frog cupcake to celebrate spring (which I'm told is right around the corner, although the temperature barely cracked zero degrees today)?

DIY Christmas Gifts

Link of the day: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/holidays/giving/fromthekitchen.php

They have some great ideas for homemade Christmas gift ideas! I know that this year money is tight for a lot of us, and besides, homemade gifts always mean more than store-bought gifts, right?

In addition to the recipes on this site, I have come up with a few other ideas for potential gifts. I hope some of these can be of use to someone else.

1) Homemade vanilla. Buy tall-ish bottles with corks at your local craft store or even a thrift store (they need to be tall enough for a vanilla bean). Fill with brandy, and add 1-2 vanilla beans (split lengthwise), then cork. Let steep for at least a month. This will keep indefinitely.

2) Etched mirrors, glasses, etc. You could pick up glasses and mirrors for cheap at a thrift store. Trace your design onto contact paper, then press onto the surface. Cut out design with an Xacto knife, then use etching cream on the exposed areas, following the instructions of the particular brand you're using.

3) Teacup candles. Again, you could pick up teacups at a thrift store. Not only are thrift stores inexpensive, but you're reusing instead of buying new! It's like your Christmas gift to the environment.

4) Homemade kahlua. I intended to make this last year, and never got around to it.

5) Gifts in a jar. You can find a lot of great recipes on the internet.

6) Homemade dishcloths. Even if you've never knit before, the pattern on the back of the Sugar 'n' Cream label is incredibly fast and easy. One washcloth takes me about an hour to complete (maybe two hours if you're a beginning knitter).

I'm sure I'll be adding to this list in the coming weeks.

Fun Dinner Idea

Here's a fun recipe to get your older toddler or preschooler involved with making dinner.

Fun Taco Pies

Ingredients:

Your favorite taco meat recipe
Diced tomatoes
Shredded cheese
Two 9-inch pie crusts
Fun-shaped cookie cutters (the bigger, the better - small shapes are harder to fill)
2-3 eggs and food coloring, if you want to "color" the pies

Roll out the pie crust, and have your child cut out shapes with the cookie cutters (you'll need at least two of each shape for each pie). On one of the shapes, spread a tablespoon of taco meat, a tablespoon of diced tomatoes, and a tablespoon of shredded cheese. Top with the other shape, and seal the edges the best that you can.

This step is optional, but fun if you're not totally opposed to food coloring (I try to use it sparingly, and don't always do this step). Separate the eggs, and put the yolks in separate bowls - one for each color. Mix a couple of drops of food coloring with each yolk, and have your little one paint it on the pies with a basting brush.

Bake at 375° F for 10-12 minutes, or until golden. Serve with your favorite taco toppings - sour cream, guacamole, salsa, etc. Yummy!

Fingerpaints, part 2

Because I don't always read the comments on other peoples' blogs, I wanted to mention a question that came up in my comments section about the fingerpaint project.

How long is the paint good for? That's a good question, since this is the first time I have attempted this. I can tell you that the paint does develop a skin when it sits out, and the longer it sits, the thicker the skin gets. If it's a thin skin on top, you can just stir it back into the paint. If it's a thicker skin, scrape it off first, and stir up what paint remains.

I am storing my paint in the refrigerator, in baby food jars. I am going to experiment with freezing some, too, to see how it thaws out. I'll let you know the results of my experiment!

I also have a few different recipes for fingerpaints, and I'm going to try a couple of others, as well. The "pudding skin" is a bit of an issue with this recipe, when it's not all used at once.

Edited to add: The paint stayed good in the refrigerator for about a week, before it started getting moldy. I froze some in a small container, and it thawed out to the consistency of pudding skin. Totally unusable. Make only as much as you can use within a few days!

Craft day! Homemade fingerpaint

We haven't been doing a lot of crafts lately. It's summer in Minnesota, and since we get about two months of nice weather all year round, it's practically a state law that you need to be outside during the summer. We did manage to fit in a craft project this weekend, though.

There are lots of recipes for homemade fingerpaints, and they are all pretty simple. I went with a cornstarch/water/glycerine fingerpaint recipe. Ignore the mess on the counter. I didn't have time to Photoshop it out.
Begin with 1/2 cup of cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water.


Mix together. The mixture will be lumpy and dry-ish.Gradually, add 2 cups hot water, stirring as you go (to prevent lumps).Cook over low heat until it boils. I switched to a wire whisk after a few minutes, because I was starting to get cornstarch lumps.
This is what it looks like when it starts to thicken.
Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup cold water and 1 tablespoon glycerine.
Separate into batches and add food coloring. I went pretty easy on the food coloring - about 5-6 drops of food coloring gel per bowl - because I wasn't sure how well the fingerpaints would wash off. It washed off of skin very well, but the kids were painting topless so I couldn't attest to how easily it washes out of clothing.
As you can see, the paint was pretty pale - more of a watercolor effect. Next time, I think I'd try a few more drops of food coloring.
There was another reason I didn't want to overdo the food coloring. I knew that Natalie would want to paint, too, but that she'd also try to taste it (you can see the evidence on her face). I didn't want the kids ingesting too much artificial coloring.
As you can see, Sam had to take a taste, too.

One note: I let the paint sit for awhile to cool, and it did develop a "pudding skin" on top. But it stirred up nicely and was as good as new.

Milk Carton Semi Truck

This project is a little too complicated for my toddler to do right now, but I am definitely printing this one out for future reference. I think this would be a great project for a father and son to do together. Here are the directions to make a model semi-truck out of milk cartons and toilet paper tubes. http://www.freecraftunlimited.com/semi-truck.html

Craft day! Suncatchers

Today's art project is sun-catchers.  

Materials needed: clear contact paper

scissors

glitter, sequins, tissue paper, or any other small colorful accessories

Cut two smallish equally-sized pieces of the contact paper.

Peel the sticky backing off of one of the pieces.

Here's where the toddler comes in.  I find it helpful to keep mine busy doing something else during the previous steps.  Otherwise I'm likely to find that he's decorated his bedroom with baby powder in the meantime.

Decorate the sticky side of the contact paper with glitter, glitter pens, crumpled tissue squares, sequins, etc.

Peel the paper off of the other piece of contact paper, and stick it to the decorated piece.

You can leave it as is, or cut it into a fun shape.  We went with a heart this time.  

To hang in the window, use a paper punch to punch a hole in the top, loop a string through, and use a suction cup to fasten it to the window.

A variation on this idea:  Using a single piece of contact paper, have your child paint a picture With finger paints or another washable paint, of course (but I'm sure I don't need to tell you that).  After the paint is dry, cut around the design, peel the paper off the back, and stick directly to the window.  It comes off the window easily when you're ready to take it down, even after 6 months.  Not that I've left one up that long.  OF COURSE I wash my windows more than that.

Craft day!

This is not really a project that a toddler can help with, but it's fun to play with afterwards. It only takes about 5 minutes to cut out the pieces. While I cut out the parts, Sammy made a collage.

I'll call it "funny faces". It's kind of like a Mr. Potato Head, but the pieces are a lot easier to replace if they get lost.

Materials needed: sheets of different colored felt, scissors, and imagination.

Cut out a circle or oval for the face. Using different colors of felt, cut out various features and accessories. I made two noses, two sets of eyebrows, two sets of eyes, two mouths, and two "head toppings" (one hairpiece and one hat).


Because it's felt, you can just stick the features on to the felt face, and easily peel them off to make a different face. I didn't start out thinking that I was going to make Bert, but that's kind of how it happened. My interpretation:


Sammy's interpretation: