Glitter, Here!

Well, it seems glittered items are popping up everywhere . In Columbine, one of my favorite stores here in Marin, glittered deer, glittered birds and glittered pine cones are for sale. They sell these small pinecones for $2.00 each or bigger pine cones in a bag - 10 for $30. As usual, I think, I can make that! There's a great store in Berkeley, Castle In the Air, that sells that beautiful German glitter. R and I have been collecting pine cones, so after my trip to Berkeley, tomorrow, we'll be busy! The nice thing about the pine cones is that you can put them surreptitiously in a corner before Thanksgiving and then bring them out center stage for the Holidays.

A Party in the (Dark) Park

My friend, Liz, had a party in one of our favorite parks around. We call it Dark Park, as it's always shaded by massive redwood trees. Superb in the summer, and today, it was almost 80 degrees (I know, we're spoiled here in Northern California). The party was to celebrate sweet Maia's third birthday. With such a lovely day to start, the children had fun with little cars, racing them down the slides and Liz made this great homemade playdough. I'll put the recipe, below. Maia and R had such fun with the tea party.



C and M wanted to come to the party, too, and Liz graciously extended invitations to them, as well. Where ever C goes, he finds the best things to make something. Here he's making a crossbow and arrow from a found long balloon, string and a couple of sticks.






For Christmas, I'm planning on making him a pocketed craft curtain to hold all kinds of recycling treasures with which he can make something. Things like string, toilet paper rolls, bits of metal, rubber bands, etc. I got the idea from Soulemama. It will be just perfect for him - I can't wait to see his excited smile when he sees it!

And, just to show you a small glimpse of the beautiful redwood trees....


And, as promised, here is the playdough recipe (it uses kool-aid):

1 C Flour
1 Tbsp Veg. Oil
1 Pckg unsweetened Kool-Aid (won't stain hands & smells good, too)
1/4 C Salt
2 Tbsp Cream of Tartar
1 C Water


Mix Flour, salt, cream of tartar & kool-aid in a medium pot. Add water & oil and stir over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes. When mixture forms a ball in pot, remove. Knead until smooth. Put in a plastic bag or container & refrigerate. (This recipe easily doubles for double the fun.) Here's a link for some other playdough recipes (pretty similar, but a couple of differences).




Liz's came out in lovely colors - green, red and a sugar-cookie dough color (using lemonade kool-aid). I've been wanting to make homemade play dough for as long as C has been interested - has it really been 7 years that I wanted and hadn't made it? Well, I'm off to the market to get the Kool-Aid so I can make it the next time the urge strikes! (Liz was kind enough to send the children home with homemade play-dough favors, so I'm set for awhile!).


And, boy, these photos look so flat and washed out. I need a new camera in the worst way! Any recommendations, anyone?

Christmas (And, the secret of a spreadsheet....)

OK. Each year I have EVERYTHING related to Christmas for our family saved in many worksheets in one MS Excel document. Sometime around the end of March, I perform a Save As and just rename last years spreadsheet. Then, as the year progresses, I put down thoughts and ideas of what I'd like to give and, yes, to receive (and, you bet, Thomas Keller's French Laundry and his Bouchon cookbook are definitely on my list this year). I just started reading a blog by a woman who cooked everything in the French Laundry cookbook. See her blog, here.

To my spreadsheet, I also add in gifts I've purchased over the year, which saves tons of time (now, if only I could remember where I hid that art set....).

In my Holiday document there are many worksheets, one each for: gift lists, christmas card list, holiday control journal (everything that I want to happen for the holidays - like making ornaments, having a quiet night with a yulelog for the solstice, driving around with hot chocolate to see the holiday lights in different neighborhoods, ideas for treats to make for the neighbors, crafts to make with the kids, and holiday events like the Nutcracker, ice skating, or Tea at the Ritz). I track my catalog and online orders and revel in being prepared. This does take a bit of effort to keep updated, but I feel it saves time in the long run. I just put an x in the first column when I have something completed. And, sorry for the photo on the right, just wanted to give you an impression of what the sheet looks like - it's just very simple.

Right now, I'm working on our Christmas card photo. Unfortunately, I lost my small digital camera this summer during our Alaskan Cruise, and my lovely Sony decided to have a bad card and doesn't work anymore (costs as much to fix as to buy a new one). So, I'm looking for a new camera - any suggestions for one that you love that takes great photos with not much delay between click and capture?

Well, the whole point of all this mad winter rush is to create traditions for my family, right? My children do enjoy the traditions. They love crafting - here's a red felt bird that we did a few years back from Familyfun.com - a great website to help get inspired. We've put multi-colored feathers in glass ornament balls and colored tulle, too (almost said tu-tu, there).

And, there is something about pulling out an ornament every year and smiling as we remember making them. We also put these birds on presents as hang tags (we made them a bit smaller).

So, something you do every year is a tradition? Since I enjoy cooking, every year I like to make treats for the neighbors. Last year was gingerbread. This year, I'm thinking of mexican wedding cookies or gingersnaps (still looking for a recipe). And, Martha had a great idea for presentation in a cardstock box you print out, cut, fold and glue. Inexpensive and cute. I was thinking of printing a little christmas greeting with our name & address on a small banner and attaching to the box.

More on Christmas to come (after Thanksgiving, anyway - now I'm just busy finishing the lists). Hope you enjoy your Friday and weekend!