Do you know Polo?

Last week, Little P found a book she has become a bit obsessed with, a sweet picture only comic book from France called Polo. Today, we explored his website chezpolo.com which is really excellent and reminds me of Studio Ghibli or the Harold and the Purple Crayon books and the cartoons  HBO put out a few years back. If you have a small child around preschool age, I think they might adore Polo as much as mine does.

The only down side to the site is that it's all in French and while I know some languages, my French is incredibly limited. Context clues can help if you like exploring, but a few dead ends may make you want to track down a friend who can navigate the site a bit better. We will! The author, Regis Faller, has over 20 books for kids, so we also think you would enjoy picking up one at your local library. Nous aimons Polo!

Snow Day

As happy as I am February is eking by, the occasional snow day is still a welcome sight. In fact, I have never had a problem with snow, just the absence of light! But the snow in Iowa, well, it's just so-so snow. With no lake effect and a lack of hills, you're left with powder to cross country ski but scant places to sled. Luckily, today's was super powdery for me to shovel since my hubby's back was sore from old man back problems (he's 37!). Little P thought she'd help and as we went, I realized how big the flakes were. You could even notice the shapes usually only visible by microscope. So after shoveling, we sat outside with a piece of felt to collect snowflakes as they fell and to shoot a few pictures to share.

 We used this site to help us at least recognize the basic shapes we were finding. Some are beautiful while others lean toward utilitarian. Interesting.

This one looks just like the symbol for Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul where I had one of my all time favorite jobs!

If you would like to do this with your kids the next time it snows, I recommend black, blue or hot pink, Little P's fave! I'd also stick the felt in a fridge, so the flakes don't melt as quickly!

Wearing our favorite hats!

Our snow day was not over once we finished with the camera. After bounding about in the backyard, we found some sites to make snowflakes like this one and this one.

Here are our results.

Will your Valentine's be lovely? We shell see!

Greetings all! Excuse the inexcusable absence. There were no more excuses for not writing a post, so here I am. Today I have time, so today I will post what I have been up to craft-wise. Besides trying to finish a knit hat pattern, I had this easy yet adorable idea for Valentines day while we were in FL this January vacationing. It's cute, cheap and a great way to share shells that have gathered up in your craft closet.

First, we used card stock and patterned paper. Then we printed out some cute sayings like "You're so spe-shell" and "We shell always be friends".  I'm sure you can think up others somehow if ours don't appeal to you.

For the paper, I just used paste to put things in place since there was less mess, less wrinkles and less ink bleeding.


Now for the shells! When the inspiration hit, I had plenty of shells at my beck and call, so I tried to find ones about an inch wide which were also light since I wasn't sure how well the glue could handle heavy material. For glue, I just used mod podge  mainly because it dries clear and worked well enough with my light shells. The googly eyes were fun but I got the smallest pair, a bit tough for little P's fingers. I did see these at the store but I wanted to go with a classic craft look!

Cookie Review

Doesn't my title sound like a good vaudeville show? I would love to see some dancing macaroons right now. Leggy ones, preferably! Today is my favorite nephew's birthday.  E will be 13! The above picture happens to be my favorite although he was probably 8 or 9. I just love it though. Below is a more recent, more adolescent one. Typical middle schooler, right?

What better way to welcome him into his teens than with some sugar butter orbs in varying flavors? Plus I am poor and can bake moderately well. E said he didn't have any major aversions to typical cookie ingredients, so I thought I'd try three from sites online and then review them here. My three choices are:

Chocolate Chip Brownie Decadence
Thumbprints
Healthy Ginger Snaps

 Chocolate Chip Brownie Decadence

 This first one was a pin my buddy Tara put up on Pinterest. Beyond that, we don't know where it came from. But the recipe was attached with the pin lucky enough. To be honest, this was super easy! I even got Little Pea to help me. It's basically chocolate chip cookie, a peanut butter cup with brownie on top. I used mini muffin tins for mine which worked out just fine. I would say to use a tin with teflon like the one on the left since it was ten times easier to pop them out and keep their shape.

Recipe

Preheat oven to 350; smoosh 1.5 squares of break-apart refrigerated cookie dough into the bottom of each well. Place Reese cup upside down on top of cookie dough (or an Oreo!). Top with prepared box brownie mix, filling 3/4 full. Bake for 18 minutes.

The next two are from allrecipes.com, but I included the recipes for all lazybots.


Thumbprint or Rosenmunnar

This cookie requires only four ingredients, but I recommend making on a cool day as you can see the pool of jelly is more like a puddle. Or don't be as impatient as me and put refrain from sticking butter in the microwave to soften.

 

 

 

 

Recipe

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

2 cups all purpose flour, sifted

1/2 cup fruit jam or jelly

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add sifted flour, and mix well. Shape dough into 1 inch diameter balls and place on cookie sheets. Imprint your thumb in the center to make a 1/2 inch indentation. Fill with your favorite preserves.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown at the edges. 

Ginger Snaps 

This one ended up being my favorite! It uses whole wheat flour and 1 batch makes several dozen.

Recipe

1 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup molasses
4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 cup white sugar for decoration

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar until smooth. Mix in the eggs, and then the molasses. Combine the whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice, heaping the measures if you like a lot of spice. Stir the dry ingredients into the molasses mixture just until blended.
3. Roll the dough into small balls, and dip the top of each ball into the remaining white sugar. Place the cookies about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the tops are cracked. Bake longer for crispy cookies, less time for chewy cookies. Cool on wire racks.

The package arrived at E's on his big day and his reaction was satisfying especially since he said thanks several times with no coaxing from his mom. 

 

While I was away

With it being the end of the semester, I have found the days rolling away and my to do it list growing. Still, I was being very crafty in my absence. Here's proof!

For Little Pea's Montessori School, I made a craft basket to be auctioned off. All the money went toward their scholarship program. I had hoped someone would bid on it not knowing if such a thing would be fancied, but apparently it was sought after plenty and a very enthusiastic bidder claimed it proudly! So what's in there and can you make them? Why of course!

On the left is a knitted washcloth

Then a duct tape wallet

Next was my favorite, crocheted baby corn

The pink napkin is actually embroidered from a published design, so sorry I can't share that one!

But behind it is a scrap fabric wreath

The winner also gets a free lesson to learn how to make one of these crafts. I'm looking forward to teaching the winner some new craft skills!

This is freaking awesome!

New tutorials and recipes are in the works, but while you wait...

You wanna piece of me?

Yes please!

Check out Scott Hove's amazing apocalyptic cakes. Recently I found a love for frosting tips, but this is awe inspiring.  Maybe for my birthday?

The work appeared through a craft site grapevine which I don't think I need to rundown especially when you can go directly to the source for more info.  I can totally see a goth couple asking for this one at their wedding!

Scott works in Oakland, CA and his exhibit, "My Own Private Apocalypse" sadly is in LA right now. Everyone I know in the northern California area should go check out his warehouse in Oakland called Cakeland just to make me jealous.

 Genius!

DIY Onesie Part 3: Cupcake Cuties

Now for my last and finale DIY onesie... a Twinklecraft original....can you tell these dots should be drum rolls?... Mini cupcakes!
 
   I am working out many little characters in a peeking collection. In fact, my very first one was for a onesie. Eventually I hope to learn enough about graphics so that I can sell them and give a few away. This was a good upstart to that process with a few girlie cupcakes. They look especially cute on the small 0-3 months size, don't they?


Transferring Image


You can download the images here.

  After you print the image out, I recommend going over the image again in a black marker like a Sharpie.  In a very well lit space, fold the onesie vertically and then horizontally to where you would like the top of the cupcakes to begin.  Unfold and dot this spot with a water soluble or air soluble pen. This will be the top of the middle cupcake.

   Next, cut out the picture and tuck it under front of the onesie on a very flat sturdy service.  Pin in place and trace out images.

Stitches

As you can see, I used a light and dark pink with a minty green, orange, light blue and a brighter blue, and a medium lavender shade with a butter cream yellow. Of course all faces were done in black. To make the wrappers, I used a stem stitch. A back stitch was used for the icing and little French knots were the sprinkles. For most of the faces, I used the back stitch in v shapes but used a daisy stitch for the circles. If you are afraid you'll make a teardrop instead of a circle, just go very slowly when pulling the thread and then stitch it down when you are happy with your circle. An extra straight stitch was used for the eye.

If this image is popular, I'll be sure to add other designs to my blog in the future with instructions all for free, so feel free to follow me!
Missed the first two? Click ruffle butt or easy applique