Sunday, May 30, 2010

fondant


As you may recall. I used fondant for the first time this year when doing my husbands 'cat' birthday cake. I love the flexibility of fondant and the taste was okay. I have since wanted to try marshmallow fondant as I hear its far better. Well looks like my opportunity is here! The Crafty Crow which is always posting the best stuff has just posted a marshmallow fondant tutorial! Yay! Click here to follow the link.

Friday, May 28, 2010

mothers day gift


I wanted to get the kids involved in homemade gifts this year so I toured the web looking for good ideas that were kid friendly. We found this great recipe on 'Under The Table And Dreaming' for this Lemon Sugar Scrub and since the only ingredients were sugar, olive oil and lemon we made enough for everyone we knew.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

getting somewhere

I thought a little progress report was in order. I am slowly getting some of my former self back. The craftiness is starting to flow! So far I've done all these dishcloths and I'm most of the way through a wine bottle bag. (I'll post when I finish) and I have high hopes for another project or two before winter is here again.

These dishcloths are quite simple and my favourite one is the wine coloured one. Cast on 42 sts, knit 3, purl one, knit 3 and repeat until you have a square.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

mosaics


When I was younger I worked in a Stained Glass studio. We did repairs, custom pieces and helps others pick out materials for there home projects. We also taught classes and my personal favourite was the mosaics class. Any skill level could turn out a charming mosaic and we enjoyed finding new ways to create them. We did table tops, lanterns, lamps, garden stones, door stops and fireplace surrounds. Until today though, I'd never considered doing this and I think its just brilliant! Now to find an enormous rock..

Check out Sweet Creations by Stephanie here for more info.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

hands and paint


I'm always on the lookout for crafts that the kids could easily make that would be pleasing to the eye of an adult. What I continually find is hand print art. So here I go again- with another kids hand print turned craft. This time you can find it at paintcutpaste.com or click here.


Wednesday, May 5, 2010

the long road ahead.. knitting.

In my other life before children I was kinda handy and a bit crafty if I do say so myself. That girl is far behind me now though.. My brain only has room for things like 'where are those diapers?' and 'who made this mess?' so when I tried knitting again after several years off.. it was like starting from scratch again. I had no memory of my former knitting self. So here I go starting out with the basics. I'm even including photos which will record my journey back to my knitting prime.

The basic washcloth:


and coming soon.. the bib.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Picky Eaters


I have 2 picky eaters.

2 picky eaters that more than likely got it from me. I have a complete fruit aversion as well as a strong dislike for many veggies and seafood. Why? Oh I've never completely figured it out myself.. but maybe someday over a bottle of wine.. (which I'm also complete opposed to) I might sort it out. It's probably too late to save me, but I need to do what I can to save the kids from a life of picky eating.

So far it's going fairly well. Both kids seem willing to eat more than I was at their age and my husband is quite positive and makes food fun for the kids. It's also helps that my husband and I are both involved in meal making and grocery shopping and try to involve our children too.

My favourite tool of the moment is the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution. This show is the latest in a string of Chef Jamie Oliver's shows dedicated to teaching people how to cook. Jamie is quite chef and quite a guy, focused on ridding whole countries of processed foods.

One of the tools Jamie employs with children when trying to show them the value of real healthy foods is the "I Tried Some New' stickers. I love it! And so does the wonderful and talented Wendy of Wendolonia. Click the link to download your own 'I tried something new' stickers. She has 3 choices for you- kittens, robots and pink stars!