Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows

I'm not a fan of marshmallows unless they are in hot chocolate or toasted. I've never been one to eat them straight out of the bag. Even so, I got the idea to dip them in chocolate and decorate them for Valentine's Day. I figured my husband and children would eat them, and I would just swoon over the cuteness.

When I saw the pink (strawberry) marshmallows on the grocery store shelf, I knew I had to have them for this project. Who doesn't love chocolate brown and pink together?

What started out as a cute project ending up being a delicious project. These are way better than I could have imagined!

To make them you need one bag of strawberry marshmallows, one container of Dolci Frutta, and sprinkles.

Simply melt the Dolci Frutta according to the directions on the package, dip one marshmallow, and carefully place the sprinkles on it. Stand on undipped end, and proceed to the next marshmallow.

I can imagine these for every holiday now, but those little heart sprinkles are going to be hard to beat.

Candy Cane Hearts

This is such an easy way to use up any leftover candy canes that you have hanging around from Christmas. Or, if you have no leftovers, you may be able to find some on clearance. I paid $.19 for 24!

Hot glue two candy canes together to form a heart and hang with red ribbon. It's amazing how striking they are!

For Your Safety

At the end of each school year, students must sit through testing. Iowa, California, etc.  Seniors are exempt from taking these, but because many classes have more than one grade taking them, the seniors are pretty much wasting time while everyone else is busy. Mac's AP Spanish teacher decided to put the kids to work. She thought it would be a great idea to have her students work on the school's landscaping while the other grades tested. 

Normally, I'm all for putting kids to work. If they have to be at school, they should be doing something productive rather than sitting in the auditorium and watching a movie. This particular day though, it would have been better if they'd stayed inside. The students were directed to pull weeds, and  almost every one of them came in contact with poison sumac. And they almost all broke out. Very. Badly. 

Do you know how to identify poisonous plants? Most people don't. Both of my boys are Eagle Scouts, and have gone on numerous camping trips, and yet they still didn't know. Abigail and I were on a walk the other day, and we discussed identifying these plants the entire time. By the end of the trail, she was able to identify every one. 

We'll start with Poison Sumac .  This plant is quite pretty, and doesn't look harmful at

 all! Except that it caused Mac to break out in blisters that ended up landing him in the Urgent Care office. Several of the students were given an injection, while the doctor Mac saw prescribed Methylprednisolone. 

Poison Sumac can look like a small plant, shrub, or tree. It usually has 9-13 alternating leaves and a red stem between the leaves. Every part of this plant is poisonous, including the bark of shrubs and trees. In the fall, the leaves turn brilliant hues from bright yellow to deep purple.

 

Next up is Poison Ivy. It grows as a low shrub, but can also be a climbing vine. It has three leaves that can be reddish and glossy, when they are very small. As the plant matures, the leaves are green and matte. 

As the "ivy" climbs trees you may notice "hairy" roots that are brown or red in appearance.  

Poison Oak is the last plant that we'll discuss. It looks exactly like a tiny oak tree, but has three leaves in a cluster. 

It's best to keep your distance from all three of these plants. The oil, Urushiol, on the plants is the culprit that makes you itch and break out in blisters. If you think you've come in contact with one of these, wash the affected area with cool water and antimicrobial soap. Warm and Hot water spread the oils! It's also important not to use a washcloth, and to shower rather than bathe.

Make sure that all clothing is washed. If the oils are not removed from your skin, you can pass the rash from one person to another. Last but not least, animals can carry the oils on their fur as well. If your dog or cat is hiking with you, make sure that they are bathed properly. One more note: Do NOT burn these plants as you can be affected by the smoke that the produce!

Reading Fun: The Mitten

*This is a re-print of a post that I wrote for Me and My Girl last year.



I believe that reading to your children is crucial at all ages and stages of their lives. Years ago, I would hold my tiny babies on my lap, and read softly to them each day. As they grew, we would sometimes read the same book 10 times a day, or more! I still read to my children. Abigail is 10, and cuddles up with me while I read long chapters to her. Autumn is 16, and still sits near by so that she can enjoy the stories, too.

This is the perfect time of year for this cold-weather story but, The Mitten, by Jan Brett, is a book that can be enjoyed year round. It can be enjoyed even more when you complete this fun and easy craft, and allow your child to tell the story back to you!

You'll need:

• Jan Brett's book, The Mitten
• 2 pieces of construction paper or felt
• a hole punch if you're using construction paper
• yarn or embroidery thread
• colored pencils or crayons
• a thick needle, such as for embroidery
• a printer
• this file and this file

Read the story.

Print out the files containing animals. Have your child or grandchild color the animals how ever they would like. If they are very young, you can cut them out after they are colored. If they are older, let them do it. Perfection is not what we are after.

In the meantime, freehand a mitten shape onto the construction paper or felt.


Cut around your drawing, leaving you with a large mitten.


If you are working with a very young child, you can punch holes into the construction paper mittens.


and show them how to whip stitch them together.



An older child might enjoy learning how to blanket stitch on the felt.


Abigail sat at the table for about an hour working on her mitten. She's got a pretty good attention span. Make sure the child has fun! It's okay to help them if they need it, but don't fret if the project isn't perfect.



Tell the story again. Refer back to the book if you have to.

In The Mitten, Nicki's grandmother, Baba, knits him snow white mittens. As he goes out to play on a snowy day, one of his mittens falls off. Animals come, one by one, to squeeze into the mitten for warmth.


First comes a mole.
In hops a rabbit.
Along comes a hedgehog,


followed by an owl,

and a badger!
They all make room for the fox.


And believe it or not, they find room for a bear!


The last little creature to squeeze in is a mouse.

She tickles the bear's nose, and all of the animals come flying back out of the mitten because of the great sneeze.


Once all of the animals are safely inside the mitten, make a loud, drawn out sneezing sound, and shake the mitten to release the animals. Young children will enjoy doing this over and over again!


Have them retell the story to you. And to their daddy when he gets home from work. And to Grandma and Grandpa, and anyone else that will listen!


I didn't find this idea there, but you can visit Jan Brett's website for other fun activities that revolve around reading.

How to Make a Gingerbread House

After reading that many of you have had bad experiences making gingerbread houses from kits this year, I decided to share my recipe and a few templates. I've used this same recipe for quite a few years, and it's never failed. It tastes yummy, too!


Templates: Click on the link, and print.
Gingerbread House Style 1
Gingerbread House Style 2 Part I
Gingerbread House Style 2 Part II



Step 1- Baking!

Gingerbread Dough:

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
4 tsp. ground ginger
4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
3/4 tsp. ground black pepper pepper
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
3/4 c. molasses
6 cups all purpose flour

In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add salt, spices, eggs, and molasses. Mix well. Add flour, 2 cups at a time, until well blended.

Divide dough into thirds, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Roll dough out on heavily floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut pieces out from templates. If you want to cut out doors or windows, do that now.

For gingerbread house pieces, bake 13-15 minutes. For cookies, bake 8-10 minutes.




Step 2 - Building!

1. Mix royal icing.
2. Set out a plate or board on which you are going to build your house.
3. Use icing to attach sides to the front and back of the house. Support the sides with cans as you go so it doesn't fall over. Attach roof with icing as well. Let dry several hours before decorating.




Step 3- Decorate!

Be creative! Using royal icing, attach various candies, cereals, pretzel sticks, and marshmallows to your house. The sky is the limit! Use your imagination!

Royal Icing: 4 cups powdered sugar 3 T Meringue powder 6 T warm water

Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer, 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer).

NOTE: Keep all utensils completely grease-free for proper icing consistency. This icing must be covered with a damp paper towel or dishcloth to keep it from drying out while you are working on it.

* For stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.

** Meringue Powder is made by Wilton and can be found at cake and candy stores as well as the craft section of Wal*Mart.

I'd love to see pictures of your finished homes, too!

Adapting the Pattern

Looking for a gift for the crochet/knitting enthusiast? Try my Crochet Hook Case. It goes together in a long afternoon or evening.

I adapted this one to fit long knitting needles and standard crochet hooks. Don't be afraid to lengthen the body of the case to accommodate your needs.



My adaptations were as follows:

Instead of cutting the fabric for the main body 20 x 34, I cut it 20 x 42. The fusible fleece for the main body was then cut to 20 x 20.



The large pocket fabric was cut to 20 x 30 instead of 16 x 20. The fusible fleece for that pocket is cut to 15 x 20.


The only other adaptation that I made to this case was to close it with three buttons rather than two.

When I started putting this one together I thought it was going to look dull with the plain blue and brown fabrics, but a few adorable buttons and some satin ribbon dressed it up nicely!
Have fun!

Vote!

The girls and I had errands in town, and I stopped by the polls on the way home. We're in a rural area, and there was only one woman in line ahead of me. I asked the woman behind the table if it would be alright for me to take the girls into the booth, to explain things to them. She sighed, and replied, "I guess so... as long as they don't touch anything."

So, our turn came, and we ducked behind the screen. I explained to the girls that you can push a button, and if you make a mistake, you can change it. UNTIL you push the red button that says CAST YOUR VOTE, that is. And just for good measure, I pressed the write in button for president. And wouldn't you know that it WOULD NOT let me change that particular button. And so, after talking with the ladies who were running the booth, and getting very frustrated because they told me that I needed to just push the big red button, and that I actually would not get to vote for anyone because I had been stupid and pushed the wrong button, I decided to write in my choice even though they were already on the ballot.

Lesson learned. Apparently, you CAN change your mind, unless you push the write-in button. I'll remember that next time.

Quick Skirts

Supplies needed:
one pair of jeans or shorts
1-1 1/2 yards fabric
thread
rotary cutter and mat
straight edge such as a quilting square

Pre-wash your fabric, and depending on desired length cut fabric into two equal pieces. You can cut the fabric on the fold line OR for a fuller skirt/bigger size, cut the fabric cut you length in two.

Sew sides together. Hem bottom with a narrow half inch hem. Gather the top of the fabric.

Lay your jeans or shorts carefully on the cutting mat, making sure that the waist line is even on a cutting mark, and there are no wrinkles in the denim. Carefully cut straight across the denim about 1 inch below the zipper.

Placing right sides together, pin the fabric to the jeans, gathering the fabric to the denim. Stitch. You may want to stitch twice with a straight seam, or zigzag the edges.

Done!

Feeding the Hummingbirds

image courtesy of Allposters

Buying hummingbird food can be quite expensive. You can make your own at home.

Boil 1 cup water. Stir in 1/4 cup sugar. Remove from heat. Do not continue to heat once the sugar is dissolved, as this changes the ration of sugar to water, thus changing the nutritional value for
the birds.

Never use honey, artificial sweeteners, or food coloring. If you are making a large batch, store the excess in the refrigerator to keep molds and yeasts from growing, as these can be harmful to the birds also.

Come on over to me and my girl, and I'll show you how to make some easy paper butterflies with your children today. Oh, and your boys will like them too!

Contributing Elsewhere

Cupcake from Mac's birthday

My friend Randi at i have to say... has asked me to be a contributor on her crafting site, Me and My Girl. Jump on over there today to see my first contribution!

Making a Crochet Hook Case: A Tutorial

I made myself a crochet hook case last month, and my daughter Autumn has become obsessed with it. Finally I asked her, "Would you like for me to make you a case of your own?" Without blinking she nearly shouted, "Yes!" I asked her what she wanted it to look like, and she said, "I want it to be groovy." Okey, dokey then! Off I went to the fabric store, and brought home some groovy fabric. She was thrilled.


And so, to make your very own crochet hook case that will be coveted by people everywhere,
you will need:

♥ Two fabrics: one main fabric, and a complimentary fabric for the pockets
♥ quilt batting or fusible fleece
♥ complimentary ribbon
♥ two buttons

Let's get started!

Cut a rectangle from your main fabric 20 x 34 inches.


Cut a rectangle from your quilt batting or fusible fleece 20 x 32 inches.


If you are using fusible fleece, fuse the fleece to the wrong side of the main fabric according to the manufacturer's directions.



If you are using batting, baste it to the sides of the main fabric. Your batting or fleece should be flush to the one end of the main fabric, and two inches short on the other end.

Cut two rectangles from your complimentary fabric. One rectangle should be 11 x 20 inches. The other should measure 16 x 20 inches.

Cut one piece of quilt batting or fusible fleece 5 1/2 X 20 inches.
Cut a second piece of quilt batting or fusible fleece 8 x 20 inches.


Press the rectangles of complimentary fabrics in half, making one rectangle 8x 20 inches, and one rectangle 5 1/2 x 20 inches.


Open the rectangles, and fuse or baste the lining to one side of the rectangle.


Press the rectangles closed once more.


Place the rectangle of your main fabric, right side up, so that the end with the batting flush to it is facing you. Place the complimentary 8 x 20 inch rectangle on top of it, with the open side towards you, 2 inches from the edge of the main fabric. Pin in place along each side.


Now take the remaining 5 1/2 x 20 inch rectangle of complimentary fabric, placing it on top of the first one, but only 1/4 inch from the edge of the main fabric. This will create two rows of pockets. Pin in place.


Take the whole thing to your machine, and stitch the sides that you have pinned using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Do not stitch along the bottoms of the pockets.


Now you get to decide how big you want to make the sections in your pockets. It's a good idea to vary the sizes to accommodate scissors, a stitch gauge, crochet hooks, or circular knitting needles. Divide the width of your case in thirds, and mark that. From there, you can mark stitching lines to suit your needs. Marking the thirds is imperative, as your entire case folds into thirds.
Stitch along the marked lines, making sure to back stitch at the beginning and end of each line.

Press. Fold the entire project nearly in half, right sides to the middle. Remember that you have a two inch section with no batting or fusible fleece? Only fold to the end of the fleece.

Pin the sides, so as to make your project look like a pillowcase. Stitch each side, from the folded end toward the open end, using a 5/8 inch seam allowance. Do not stitch on the fabric with no lining.
Turn your fabric so the right side is out, making sure the corners are nice and square, and not bunched up. Press.


Press the extra fabric without lining so the the bottom edge meets the bottom of the pockets.


Fold it up over the bottom of the pocket to create a nice hem.




Pin and stitch.
In order to make the flap that will fold down to keep all of your tools from falling out lay nicely, you may machine or hand quilt it.
In this case, I machine-quilted flowers to match the fabric.

Do not quilt the pockets!


Fold the flap down, and fold the right side of the case in toward the center. Find and place a pin in the seam that falls there to mark it. Cut two lengths of ribbon, about 18 inches long. Place the ribbons flat on your work surface, and lay the case on top of them in a way that the ribbons are about 1 1/2 inches from the top and bottom of the folded case. Pin the ribbon in place, and stitch from the inside following the lines that are already there.

click to enlarge

This hides the stitches that attach the ribbons.


Fold your case in thirds again, so that the left side of the case is on top. Bring the ribbons up so as to help place the buttons. Hand sew the buttons onto the left flap.

To close your case, simply bring the ribbon around the button, and tie it closed!


You're done! This pattern could easily be adapted to make a longer case for traditional knitting needles. Happy Sewing!