The Neighbor Treats

Oh, the Satisfaction. Another Holiday Delight checked off my list: the Treats for Neighbors. This year, I made the meringue cookies and put some in celophane bags, tied with a ribbon I had in the house, and photoshopped a drawing my son made into a hang tag. The neighbors were pleased, but next year, I think I'll make a few more cookies for each person. I quadrupled the batch and I would have liked to put another 4 to 6 cookies in each bag.

Now, onto making cookies for the firemen and policemen....

We Love Maisy

Well, we do love Maisy. And, so does my friend, Liz, and her little girl, Maia. So I made these overalls and will give them to Maia. Using Oshk*sh overalls, the work on these is very simple applique, with chenille, fleece and cotton fabrics. I think I'll give her these Maisy books, too.

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?

Spoonflower!

OMG! I JUST found this fab website to design your OWN fabric! $18 per yard (and with no set up fees)! My mind is literally reeling with all the possibilities! Go check it out - I know you have some ideas!

A Little Gnome

Here's a little gnome I was making to hang on the Christmas Tree inside a paper mache pine cone for R to find on Christmas morning. Unfortunately, I was discovered just as the finishing touches were put on the gnome. The smile and excitement from R were as irresistable as they would be on Christmas morning, so I surrendered him to waiting hands and he was immediately carried and played with before finding his precious spot on our new (as of today) nature shelf.




I can't wait to see what other treasures will find their way over to this little corner. And, now, I guess I'll have to make this little gnome a little friend to take his place in the pine cone. Darn!

Ready to Blast Off....

We wanted to go to the horse races this morning (well at least, I did). The racetrack was having a umbrella give-away promotion, and since our move this summer, our umbrellas have not surfaced from storage. We need those free umbrellas! So we got there when the gates opened at 10:00. I mistakenly thought we could go see the horses in the barn areas to kill some time before the first race, but that was not allowed. So we hung around, saw some horses in training walked to the paddock area and then we left (as there was still 2 hours before the first race). Off to a nearby children's museum, where the fun commenced...

Playing Astronauts for an hour.

M just finished her rainbow

R just desecrating the rainbow and gleefully showing sister.

And, on to more serious work.

Thank goodness for Children's Museums! And, for the little reasons to go to them!