Sharing Saturday 15-18

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Thank  you to everyone who shared last week!! I am blown away by the creativity and amazing posts shared. These features are just a sampling of the posts shared. I hope you will go and check them all out! This week our features consist of  May Features, Educational Features and Food and Play Dough Features. 

Sharing Saturday 15-4

Have you ever had one of those days where your computer just doesn't want to work. That is how my night is going, but it seems to be behaving now. First a huge thank you to everyone who shared last week with us! And a special thank you to everyone who took the time to visit what others shared!! This week our features are winter related, Valentine related and Others.

Gingerbread Play Date

Today we had a gingerbread play date with one of Hazel's best friends and his mother. To get started we had foam gingerbread men to decorate. I had bought them ages ago at the Dollar Tree I think. We had glitter glue, stickers, ribbon, googly eyes, beads and pom poms out to decorate them.

Hazel and I also read Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett (December's author of the month for the Virtual Book Club for Kids). Our friends were running late, so we did not have time to read it as a group, but Hazel and I enjoyed the story.


We had made some gingerbread cookie dough. I cheated and used a Betty Crocker mix I bought on sale post-Christmas. I had planned on making the dough from scratch, but didn't quite do it and then read my favorite recipe needed at least four hours in the refrigerator before rolling and cutting, and since they were due in just over an hour, I decided that wasn't going to happen. I had bought a white cookie icing for each of them and lots of candy and sprinkles to decorate.

We also made some gingerbread playdough. I combined the recipes from The Imagination Tree and Two Big and Two Little. I used all the spices in Two Big and Two Little's recipe, but the amounts and mix style of The Imagination Tree's recipe. We did not have a lot of time to play with it together, but sent some home with her friend and Hazel and one of her high school babysitters played with it more this afternoon. These pictures are a combination of both.

I know we were a little late for gingerbread, but we had fun anyway!

Ideas I Got From Sharing Saturday!

REMINDER: Monday is the first day of the Virtual Book Club for Kids this month and the author is Amy Krouse Rosenthal! I hope you will share an activity with us inspired by one of her books!

Well, one of my goals of this blog was to be a place where people could share ideas and get ideas. I love Sharing Saturday (and Happy Family Times) because this gives everyone a place to share. Today I'm going to share some of the ideas we have gotten from Sharing Saturday and loved!

We made an apple tree from a paper towel roll, tissue paper and red buttons. This idea came from I HEART CRAFTY THINGS. Thanks for sharing it with us!! We changed the idea a bit and made a free standing tree. Plus I let Hazel have a lot of control over it, so it is a bit messy.

Next we made a mini lavender rice zen garden. This wonderful idea came from Adventures at home with Mum. I used too much red food coloring, so Hazel calls it her pink rice. I also put some dried lavender flowers in with the rice instead of using essential oils. Hazel loves playing with it. This is her first rice sensory toy. We put shells, rocks, sea glass, pine cones, etc. in to play with as well. She likes the shells as scoops and we bury things in there.

Ok, this idea I know has been shared by many people. Doing a quick look I came up with You'll Thank Me One Day as being the most recent (or at least the one I noticed). Hazel has been wanting to make some homemade play dough. We did. We made two batches--blue and green. We scented the blue with orange extract and we scented the green with ground cloves. Then I put them in a large tupperware container and we added her dinosaurs and then some of her other animals from her zoo play mat. Oh, and she put Pocahontas wading in the water. Needless to say she loves it!!

Have you tried any of the ideas shared on a Sharing Saturday? I would love to hear about it!

Michaelmas

Hazel dressed at St. George ready to slay the dragon

September 29th is Michaelmas. If you haven't been following I posted some information about our preparations with dragons and harvest. Last year was the first time we celebrated this holiday, but it is a traditional holiday in the Waldorf education as well as the Catholic Church (though my Catholic husband didn't know about it).

To celebrate we dressed Hazel as St. George with her yellow cape, crown and sword. Traditionally it would be a wooden sword, but we have inflatable ones from a birthday party so we used one of those. I dressed up as the dragon using Hazel's dinosaur costume mask. It was definitely more dinosaur than dragon than I remembered so next year we will make a mask. I also held up the dragon I made her. Steve wanted nothing to do with our re-enactment, but I did get him to take a picture.

We also read the short story of St. George and the dragon from A Book of Dragons by Hosie and Leonard Baskin (Steve did listen to this). Then at bed time I read Sunflower Swords by Mark Sperring and Miriam Latimer and Dragon Tooth by Cathryn Falwell.

Our other big activity was making salt dough dragons and fall decorations. We made three colors of salt dough: green, red, and orange. Then we went outside to get some things to make texture on our ornaments. We used cookie cutters (leaves, acorn, Halloween, and dinosaurs--to be dragons and circle for the textured ornaments). Then in the circle ones we pressed leaves, branches, flowers, acorns, pine cones, etc. to leave texture. Hazel used her own rolling pin and really had a blast doing this. They are still in the oven or should I say the first two trays are, but will come out soon. Oh, and we poked holes in all of them with a straw.

Then we had a lovely dinner. We made huckabuck bread using the recipe from our Parent/Child Waldorf class last year. I shaped it into a dragon bread and sword rolls. This was our favorite part of dinner. We also had Harvest Apple Soup, but I changed the recipe slightly. Then for dessert we had a raspberry tarte from Trader Joe's. It should have been defrosted a bit more, but we enjoyed it. I will share more details about our family dinner on Tuesday for Happy Family Times!

As for today, I am thinking about what inner dragons I can slay. Enjoy!! Happy Michaelmas!

Blueberries!! We Picked, We Baked & Cooked and Ate

Sharing Saturday is still open!! Please stop by to share your child-oriented posts and to be inspired by what others share!

So our plans for this past week were cancelled. Hazel had been so excited to go to the Cape since my sister who lives in North Carolina was there this week, but we didn't have a bed to sleep in and the two-hour trip each way (and more with Boston traffic) would be too much for one day with a 3-year-old. So to keep her from being upset I planned some fun days for us. On Thursday we planned to go blueberry picking. The weather forecast was not cooperating, but we tried to chance it. I called an organic farm a friend had told me about but they had all of their pick your own blueberries on hold until next week, so I googled and found this family owned home that opens up their blueberry grove to be picked if you have an appointment. So I made an appointment for early in the morning hoping we would beat the rain.

We drove up to these nice couple's house. She had warned me not to get out of the car until they came out since they have guard dogs. They also have free-range chickens which Hazel loved seeing and hearing. They had a beautiful grove of many blueberry bushes. Hazel had so much fun we picked an extra pint! Our plan was to make blueberry jam so we would have it for Christmas gifts. Then we talked about blueberry pie and blueberry muffins and of course eating the blueberries on the way home and bringing some to Nonni since Hazel played at her house the next day. So we picked three quarts and one pint of blueberries. It did rain a bit on us, but it was only sprinkles so we stayed picking.

On our way home we stopped at the store for a pre-made pie crust. I figured with all the cooking we had planned we didn't need to make the pie crust as well. (This was the night we made the pancit as well.) We got home and had a quick lunch and then got to work. The first thing we did was the pies.

Hazel started mixing the filling. I decided not to make a big pie, but mini pies so we would not use all of our extra blueberries. (The jam recipe called for 5 pints, which is 2.5 quarts.) A full pie calls for a pint of blueberries and we still wanted some to eat and some for muffins. I went searching for mini pie recipes and then realized I would need mini pie pans. However, I found this recipe that used a muffin pan! I combined the filling recipe with my traditional one from Better Homes & Garden Cookbook. We used 2 cups of blueberries, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, a bit of lemon zest and mixed them all together and let them sit.

Then our next challenge was to find something to cut a four-inch circle. I found a lid to something that was four inches in diameter and it worked. Then we used some cookie cutters for the pie tops. I would change the recipe and use foil muffin liners next time. These were horrible to get out of the pan even with plenty of cooking spray.

While the blueberry pies were in the oven, Hazel had the best time playing with the scraps of pie crust. She made a house. She decided not to put a roof on it.

Then she put a mirror and a person in her house.

Can you see the person? It is the bump in the middle. The mirror is the flattish piece against the far edge.

Then the pies were done. Like I said they were not easy to get out, so they were not all pretty. This one however came out perfectly!

All right this is getting a bit long so you will have to wait until later in the week for our blueberry jam and blueberry muffins. Have you done anything special with blueberries this summer?

This is where I share...

Play Dough Day 2 And Mixing Colors with Ice

This morning when we got up, Hazel asked to play with her play dough again (click here to see yesterday or day one of our play dough pledge play). I had put most of it in the refrigerator since I knew the Jello play dough had to be kept in it. I had left the cloud dough out. The oatmeal play dough was hard to work with after being in the refrigerator. It may be because I made it a bit dry since I didn't want it to be so sticky. First we played with the cloud dough. (I think I could have used more oil in this recipe.)

Play Date with Play Dough

So today (Wednesday) I had scheduled a play date for Hazel with a very shy boy that will be in her nursery class next fall. His mother and I wanted to get the kids together so they would have a friendly face the first day they go to school since it will be the first time we are leaving them at school without us. (We both were in different parent/child classes at the school this year.)  I also took the Play Dough Pledge this week.

I figured I would combine the two so the kids would have an activity to do while getting comfortable with one another. (Note: All of  the recipes I used this time came from Playdoughrecipe.org.) I made two different types of Jello play dough (peach and lemon) and put them in the refrigerator. I added lavender and sprinkles to the lemon for more scent and texture. Then I made a rubbery play dough and cloud dough. This morning Hazel and I made an oatmeal play dough. Then once our play date got here, we made two types of classic play dough with a little experiment of adding juice concentrate to color and scent it. I had some grape juice and raspberry cranberry juice that I used to dye fabrics yesterday and saved some for the play dough. We ended up adding quite a bit more flour to make it a good consistency with the extra liquid from the juice.

Making the Oatmeal Play Dough:

The recipe seems very easy and it really is, but we adjusted it to get a dough we liked. The recipe calls for 1 cup of flour, 2 cups of oatmeal, and 1 cup of water. Then there are suggestions of using corn meal or coffee grounds to make it less sticky. We chose corn meal since I don't really like the smell of coffee and didn't want it on my hands. I also added more oatmeal to give it more texture.

Next we brought her small table and chairs from the craft room up to the kitchen where it is more comfortable and a bit cleaner. We also brought up all of her play dough tools and got some cars, plastic animals, sand castle tools and baking dishes and some glitter so everything would be ready to play with. Then I measured out the flour, salt and cream of tartar for the classic recipes and left them in measuring cups and bowls waiting for the kids to pour and mix. I also measured the water and put it in my electric kettle so I could get it boiling.

By this time, Hazel could not wait for them to get here. She is actually drumming on the tupperware containers that hold the Jello play doughs. She was dancing/skipping all over the place.

When her new friend and his mom arrived, we made the classic recipes. (I thought this freshly made and still warm would also add a nice contrast to the ones that had been in the refrigerator.) Then they started to create and play. They seemed to have fun. Hazel wanted to make cookies and fill the cookie sheet as well as two muffin containers.

Hazel's cupcake

Her friend started with the rolling pins (the textured ones), cookie cutters and dough cutters.  Then he liked the glitter.

Pink Cow

Both using cookie cutters

Star cookie cutter and rolled play dough

While Hazel worked on her cupcakes and cookies her friend made a pan of muffins. He put glitter on the bottom so they fell out when he tipped then over.

His Muffins (The front one on the left is the oatmeal play dough)

The Cookie Sheet (mostly Hazel's but a bit from all of us)

The kids did not seem to get into the cloud dough too much. Hazel's friend used it to decorate his cupcake/muffins like it was cheese (or at least that is what it looked like), but otherwise they didn't really touch it. I think I'll see if Hazel will play with it later with me or tomorrow. They had the most fun just adding glitter to everything!

So will you join us by taking the play dough pledge?

This is where I share...

Snow and Winter Fairies

Today it snowed...well not outside, but in my kitchen. We have been reading many books about snow lately and Hazel has been asking to make a snowman, a snow fort and tracks in the snow like the characters in her books. So this morning we took the idea from Rachel over at I HEART CRAFTY THINGS and used the recipe (and mix technique) from The Magic Onions. So while Hazel mixed the dry ingredients it snowed. (And trust me, it snowed in our kitchen--I needed the broom to clean it up.)

Then I added the oil and hot water and mixed. Then as it cooled I put a small amount in a different bowl for Hazel to knead and I kneaded the rest. We added white glitter as we kneaded to make it sparkle like snow.

Then I rolled it out for her and we used her toys to make tracks. We used a Barbie doll for footsteps, her various animals for animal tracks, a car and tractor for different tracks and then we pulled out her various texture tools for play dough. Then she wanted to make footprints in it so we re-rolled it and she stepped on it. Then we flipped it over and she made handprints. Then we took some of the rest and made snowmen. It took some creativity to dress them. My idea of paper hats, didn't work well. I went to look for new ideas and came up with beads. Luckily we had orange ones that somewhat looked like carrots for the noses. I used a pink baby sock with the toe cut off for Hazel's hat and some ribbon for scarves. You can see some of the sparkle in the picture of Hazel's.

Hazel's Snowman

My Snowman

My plan for today's post was to show you the toddler form of bendy dolls we came up with. Hazel had trouble wrapping the pipe cleaners well so I wanted to find something easier for her. We decided to make poinsettia fairies.

These are pretty easy. You need a pipe cleaner, medium to large wooden beads (2), small wooden beads, a fake poinsettia, embroidery floss (yellow), and tulle for the wings.

Cut the pipe cleaner into two pieces--one should be 1/3 of the entire and will be the arms.

Take the longer piece and fold in half. Stick both ends into your head bead (medium or large).

Wrap the floss around your and many times and then cut. Stick the entire looped floss into the loop of the pipe cleaner on top of the bead and pull the pipe cleaner tightly through the bead to hold the floss in place.

Take smaller pipe cleaner and twist under the head to make the arms and hold everything in place.

Next add a poinsettia flower (take the flower apart and use just the petals). Then the second medium or large bead. Put small beads on the legs and arms for more stability.

I used a slightly larger bead at the feet for the feet or shoes. I folded the ends up, but also used a little glue on it since my ends were not really long enough.

Then cut loops out of the hair so it is stringy. Take a piece of tulle and gather in the center. (I folded the ends in to the center so there would not be rough edges.) I used yarn to gather and on one I left the ends and tied it on and found this works best. On the other I used glue after cutting the ends.

I used some leaves for wings in this one.

I also made a few other winter fairies which I stuck in her advent calendar since I'm behind in my needle felting of nativity figures.

Mistletoe and Holly Berry Fairies

Snow Princess and Pine cone Fairy

Hope you are having a wonderful evening! Tonight I'm planning on needle felting a St. Nicholas for Hazel's advent calendar since tomorrow is St. Nicholas Feast Day. I have many stories and crafts to do with her in celebration.