Sunday, December 9, 2012

Indoor Kid Fishing Sets





So this Christmas me being the crazy person I am, decided to make magnetic fishing sets for all the kids in our lives for Christmas (they are all under the age of 5) They actually were quite fun to make! Here are the individual pieces :o)
The Fish:
I cut a fish body out of felt and a few circles and triangles for eyes and fins. I sewed all of these together and stuffed them with Fiberfil. I made a braided loop with jute and glued a magnet into the edge. I then sewed the loop into the mouth of the fish to give kids two ways to catch the fish. They can be caught by the magnet or by the loop.



The Pole:
I had my amazing husband saw a couple of these bamboo garden stakes in two pieces (about 2.5-3 foot each) after sanding off the rough edges I wrapped the bottom (handle) in jute using hot glue to put a “grip” on the pole. Then I tied (and glued) a long piece of jute for the fishing line.
The Hook:
This was quite the challenge! I needed something that wasn’t going to cause severe damage if it was flung by a kid, be able to house a magnet and not be sharp edged like a traditional fishhook would be. I tried salt dough but my husband’s uncle (my kids’ godfather) proved that that wasn’t going to cut it by dropping it and watching it shatter into pieces. He then quickly twisted a hook out of thick copper wire that was almost perfect! The Magnet had to be wedged into the ends of the wire and wrapped in jute to hide, but the copper works well, is light, no sharp edges and well looks good!

The Bag:
My Simple Produce Bag pattern only made out of muslin and measured to the length of the pole.
Ta Da!! Full fishing sets for the babies!

Monday, December 3, 2012

Sprouted Wheat Pancakes and Berry Syrup


It's recipe time!
I've been experimenting with buttermilk pancakes for a few months now and I think we've finally hit a recipe that tastes good and has the healthy aspects we like. . . And if you top it with yummy berry syrup, it makes an awesome breakfast!


Sprouted Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 1/4 Cups Sprouted Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 Tsp. Sea Salt
1/4 Tsp. Baking Soda
1-3 Tbsp. Honey (to sweetness preference)
1 1/3 Cup Buttermilk
1 Egg
2-3 Tbsp. Butter- Melted

Mix together Flour Salt and Baking Soda in a medium bowl. Drizzle with Honey. In a seperate container beat together Egg, buttermilk and butter (make sure the butter isn't too hot!). Mix together and drop by 1/4 cup (or smaller if you prefer, I make "baby" drip pancakes for the kiddo) onto a hot greased skillet or griddle. Once the top is slightly "bubbly" (see photo below) flip them, they should be perfectly browned on the bottom. Cook until the two sides match. Top with Syrup (Berry recipe below) and whip cream or butter.

Berry Syrup/ Sauce

1/2 cup- 1 cup Berries
a touch of water
3 Tbsp Honey or Maple Syrup per 1/2 cup of berries

Simmer on Medium-Low until pancakes are ready and berries are soft.



Pancakes are definately a favorite breakfast around here!

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Advent 2012

Advent is upon us and with that is my annual research into the holiday we commonly call Christmas. Every year I try to learn a little more about the holiday and "redeem" traditions of Christmas past.


Although I can't go into the specifics of my Christmas research right now, I'm sure you'll get to hear about it eventually on this blog. Today, I am sharing our Advent plans.


Advent is a time for us to prepare our hearts for the coming of Christmas, the day we celebrate as Jesus' birthday. For us we have decided to also try and make it a time for us to draw closer in activity and time to our kids and our family. Each day there is an activity planned as well as scripture to read. Time together as a family and time to discuss and spend with/for the Lord.


I also decided to make a simple Advent Calender for us to follow . .


First our lists . .


1. Put up the tree and decorate the indoors
   Isaiah 40:1-5
2. Decorate the front door and balcony
   Isaiah 52:7-10
3. Watch St. Nicolas as a family (on the computer)
   Isaiah 40:9-11
4. Make Paper Snowflakes
   Genesis 3:8-15
5. Watch A Little Drummer Boy as a family
   Genesis 15:1-6
6. Make Christmas Ginger Cookies for the Neighbors
   Deuteronomy 18:15-19
7. Make Neighbor Cookie Boxes
   Psalm 89:1-4
8. Make Hot Cocoa
   Isaiah 11:1-10
9. Hand Out Neighbor Cookies
   Zech 6:12-13
10. Make Cinnamon Christmas Star Ornaments
   Micah 5:2-4
11. Make a Christmas Candy (probably fudge)
   Mal 3:1-6
12. Sing and Dance to Christmas Music
   John 1:1-8
13. Watch The Toy That Saved Christmas as a family
   John 1:9-18
14. Take family Christmas Photo
   Mark 1:1-3
15. Decorate Christmas Gifts (for everyone else)
   Isaiah 7:10-14
16. Make Construction Paper Nativity
   Luke 1:1-15
17. Make and Decorate Christmas Cookies
   Isaiah 9:2-7
18. Make an Apple Cinnamon Struesel Dessert
   Matt 1:18-25
19. Make Pom-Pom Snowmen
   Matt 2:1-2
20. Make a Gingerbread Nativity
   Luke 1:15-25
21. Look at Christmas Lights around town
   Luke 1:25-35
22. Play a Christmas Game (toddler Friendly)
   Luke 1:36-50
23. Make Cinnamon Rolls
   Luke 1:51-66
24. Hot Cocoa and Christmas Cookies
   Luke 1:67-80
25. Christmas Breakfast
   Luke 2


So now that we've gone over the Advent daily activities, we can go on to how I made our advent calender. . .


I started by cutting and folding a piece of cardboard into a "Chinese take out" shaped box based on one I got with some dishtowels.'
I then folded up the edges using eyelets to hold the sides together,  I also ran ribbon with bells through the eyelets.
 I then made sleeves and numbers for our paper advent plans to reside in . . .
 I then wrote our plans out rolled them up into the sleeves and stuck them in the bucket. . .
 Cute little Advent calender for our family this year.
Oh and I'm sorry this post is slightly tardy. I was going to post it earlier, but then the baby got sick and clingy . . sad news!