Dec 13th, 2011 by Angela
Yesterday was a bit of a rough day (flat tire, grouchy kids, nothing major), and I’m recovering from yet another round of mastitis (feeling better, but trying to take it easy), so we’re trying to have a low-key morning. It seems like the perfect time to finish a few Christmas gift projects while we listen to the remainder of our current book on CD.
Ruth and Bea collected the English lavender from our bushes this past summer, dried it, and stored it in jars specifically for making sachets over the winter. Ruth (nearly 9) requested that we make more heart-shaped sachets today, although yesterday I made a few birds as well, using this fabric bird as inspiration. Bea (age 7) sticks with rectangles, which are easier for her to tackle on the sewing machine (see end of this post).
So far, Hal simply enjoys sifting, sorting, scooping the dried lavender while we work. His contribution to the project is snipping up the scraps of fabric into teensy itty bits, and he is sure that is somehow tremendously helpful. Ah, well, it’s good practice with scissors and hand-eye coordination for him.
The girls were allowed to pick out a 1/4 yd of remnant fabric from the fabric store for this project, and I’ve been using thrifted odds and ends. Buttons are from our button jar of scrounged/thrifted/found buttons, and the ribbons and lace are also from the thrift store. Not only are the sachets a frugal homemade craft, but also make handsome, practical gifts the girls can put together themselves now that they are more confident in their sewing skills.
Here’s how we make them:
Ruth’s Lavender Hearts
Materials (per sachet):
- scraps of fabric approximately 4-5inches tall and wide, depending on desired shape/style of heart
- 3 Tbsp dried lavender flowers (you can also use cloves + diced dried orange peel, or dried rosemary)
- large handful of wool for stuffing (I use the un-spinnable bits of white/natural roving from the seconds/mill-end bags I purchase for dyeing and spinning. Un-dyed is best, especially if using light-colored fabric, so it does not show through.)
- bits of lace/buttons, embroidery floss, beads, etc for embellishment
- 1 piece of 8-10 inch-long narrow ribbon if you desire to hang the sachet from a door-knob or hook.
1. Place two pieces of equal-sized fabric facing each other, and pin in the middle (You can use two whole-pieces, or, for a more folksy look, or to use up those teeny bits of a lovely print, create patchwork blocks instead.) With tailor’s chalk or a pencil, free-hand a heart shape onto one of the blocks.
2. Stitch hearts together, leaving a small hole along one side (not at the point!). Trim away excess fabric, leaving a 1/4-inch seam allowance (I find it’s easier for Ruth to sew firs,t and cut after and that way she is more likely to produce a heart she is happy with.)
3. Flip fabric right-side out, using the tip of a chop-stick or pencil to press the heart’s point crisply.
4. Using a funnel, fill each lobe of the heart with 1 Tbsp of dried flowers. With the help of the chopstick, press wool stuffing into the rest of the heart (more stuffing = nicer-looking finished product. Don’t skimp!) When heart is halfway filled, pour in last tablespoon of lavender flowers in the body of the heart.
5. Finish filling with more wool until sachet is desired fluffiness. Using an invisible stitch (such as that used on quilt binding), fold in the seam allowance and close the hole.
Attach embellishments to your heart, and finish with a loop of ribbon tacked firmly to the top for hanging up your heart.
If your child is younger, s/he may enjoy this project more by making simple pillow-shaped drawer sachets like the ones below that Bea and I made together:
(Since I was sick over the weekend, I did not get to finish the second post on tactile play for preschoolers. I will do my best to get it up later this week.)
Happy Christmas crafting!
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Dec 9th, 2011 by Angela
Grandma Jan and Cousin Ruby got the children Perler Beads last week. I have fond memories of making Perler Bead crafts with friends as a child, and was pleased to see how much the children enjoyed them, too.
Hal spent the first few minutes just running his fingers through the beads in the pie tin. As a 3 year-old, he really enjoys the process of tactile play more than completing a project. When he settled down and started to work with the form, applying each bead one by one, fine-tuning his hand-eye coordination and fine-pincher grip.
The girls, being 7 and almost 9, focused on the design element, and did the ironing themselves. And we all helped clean Perler beads up from every corner of the living room floor afterward.
For more on tactile play for the preschool child, please come back and check out tomorrow’s post here on sensory play, and also this thoughtful post by Not Just Cute.
Posted in Crafting, Learning, Playing/ Free Exploration, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Dec 8th, 2011 by Angela
This is Fred Weasley (aka Freddie), our Indian Runner drake. He replaced our beloved Georgie Porgie Weasley, who was killed by a raccoon a few months ago. We all took a while to warm up to him because we were missing Georgie Porgie so much, but he’s definitely growing on us.
He’s constantly on guard, warning the flock of hawks flying overhead (or airplanes, as the case may be), squirrels and cats in the yard, etc. He’s also good putting the chickens in their place (afterall, in his eyes, his lady-friend ducks, Audrey III (in the background) and Ping, have first rights to the food tray, treats, worms, sunny napping spots.)
(We had a hambone in last night’s bean stew, and this morning the birds got to pick it for a treat. Freddie had his share and then let the other birds go to town. The extra protein and fat is important to them right now since the weather has been quite cold.)
Here you can see Freddie’s angel-wing (a deformity caused by improper nutrition in his early weeks. We did not acquire him until he was 8 weeks old, and the damage was already done to the wing.)
We are really enjoying our sociable, quirky drake as he nibbles our shoes begging for snacks, and attempts to herd us with the rest of the flock. He’s even taken to following us into the mudroom if he can get away with it. We’re looking forward to many more years of his company.
Posted in BCS Teaching Garden/SotE Urban Farm 2011 | No Comments »
The children are really enjoying this book. It’s those days where we have “nothing to do” that the kids engage in deep, meaningful learning on their own terms.
This week we’ve been playing a lot of card games (Bea’s favorite), which reinforce cooperation, strategy, addition, subtraction, memory recall for the girls, and help Hal ( age 3 1/2) with number recognition.
Our friend Dr. Ellie gave the children this paper punch-out book, and Hal has particularly been enjoying the city play mat in it. It has been really neat to see him maturing in his play, and listening to the detailed conversations his toys have with each other.
In the mornings, when it’s been too cold for the kids to play outside, and we have down time, all of the children have been sculpting with Bendaroos. Bea likes to create her own designs (a “long neck” dinosaur, above), while Ruth prefers to follow the directions in the pack (a Toco Toucan, below)
What learning are your kids engaging in when they have nothing scheduled to do?
Posted in Books and Reading, Learning, Mothering tool kit, Playing/ Free Exploration, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Dec 1st, 2011 by Angela
The ducks were quacking extra early this morning. I couldn’t figure out why they were so darn quacky at 7am, when they usually aren’t up until 8:30ish. In retrospect, I think they were chilly and complaining for a hot breakfast.
When I went down at 7:45 to let the poultry out, I had to break the ice on their watering pans. The hard frost on the garden was just simply stunning. The kids were all in bed (except George, my early-bird, who was happily playing with a spatula), so I stayed outside for a few minutes and enjoyed watching the birds scatter around the yard, crunching the frozen mulch as they flapped about, their breath trailing out in front of them.
Now, bread is rising on the counter, the baby is happily rolling about on his blanket, and there’s a Sweet Meat squash roasting to mix with some scratch so the poultry can get that hot breakfast they’ve been wanting.
Once the girls get up, we’ll work on some Christmas gift crafting while we listen to our new book on CD, followed by some baking and our Advent reading for the day.
Looking forward to a peaceful wintery day at home.
Posted in BCS Teaching Garden/SotE Urban Farm 2011, Birding, Changing Seasons | 1 Comment »
Nov 29th, 2011 by Angela
In this season, we add Advent readings, reflections and songs to our homeschool day. Some way we are enjoying this season of anticipation:
reflecting with an Advent prayer book from Ascension Presbyterian
reading from The Jesus Storybook Bible
celebrating with Family Hymns from Kortney at One Deep Drawer
playing with some of our Nativity sets on the nature table
creating an Advent wreath
Posted in Books and Reading, Changing Seasons, Learning, O Come, O Come Emmanuel | No Comments »
Nov 17th, 2011 by Angela
This post originally published in October 2009. I’m baking a raspberry batch for homeschool co-op and a peach butter batch for the neighborhood kids/my kids today. I make this recipe several times a month, even for breakfast, and the recipe is frequently requested, so I thought it was worth republishing.
PLEASE NOTE – I no longer make it in a 9×13 pan, but instead on a large jelly roll pan with the parchment on the bottom – I freeform a rectangle in the middle (it will not fill the entire pan). This makes it easier to cut and serve afterward.
These raspberry oatmeal bars were a hit with the kids, so I thought I’d share the recipe. It’s an adaptation of this recipe, which can also be found in Martha Stewart’s Cookies. The original recipe called for a more complicated raisin puree in the middle, and my girls weren’t so thrilled with it. Also, I found it didn’t fit the pan requirements very well, and made a few other small changes.
Raspberry Oatmeal Bars
For the filling:
approx 2 to 2 1/2 cups raspberry preserves (Edit 2011 – or any berry preserves or fruit butter)
For the bars:
1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg (edit 2011 – a great way to use our duck eggs!)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups old fashioned (not quick-cooking) rolled oats
organic sanding sugar, to sprinkle on top
Directions – 1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9 x 13 casserole dish with parchment paper and grease with butter.
2. In a large bowl, combine flours, salt, baking soda, oats. In a stand mixture with paddle attachment, beat the butter and shortening until fluffy. Add brown sugar and beat thoroughly.
3. Lightly beat egg and vanilla together. Add to the mixture and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low and slowly add the flour/oat mixture and beat until just combined. Mixture should be crumbly (see above).
4. Spread half of the flour/oat mixture into the bottom of the pan. Push thoroughly into the bottom of the pan.
5. With a spatula, spread the preserves in a liberal layer over the flour/oat crumb mixture. Lastly, add the remaining half of the crumb mixture until over the top, gently pressing it down. Sprinkle with sanding sugar (optional).
6. Bake approximately 30-40 minutes (rotating half-way through) until bars are beginning to brown on top and preserves are bubbling up around the edges. Remove from oven and let cool completely before cutting into 2-inch squares (this is a very important step, if you cut them while the preserves are hot and have not reset, the bars will crumble.)
Enjoy!
Posted in From my kitchen, Homemaking | 5 Comments »
Nov 16th, 2011 by Angela
I let the kids sleep in, and worked on tidying up a bit since the neighbor boys are coming over this morning for a play date (Bend-a-roos and Playmobils and sofa-cushion forts are on the agenda, according to the girls). Chickens and ducks were let out and fed a breakfast of mashed, roasted pumpkin, scratch and oatmeal. It was too rainy and cold to do any yard chores this morning, so after poutry-duty, I got to come in and have a few minutes to get a nice breakfast going and read my book.
Breakfast this morning is a new recipe I’ve been tweaking – Oatmeal-Honey-Molasses Bread. My kids really like the flavor of molasses (in the winter, we make some kind of gingerbread a few times a month), and we have a good quantity of honey on hand at the moment, so I thought I’d alter the oatmeal bread recipe we make frequently. Here’s the work-in-progress recipe (although, it taked pretty darn good this morning, and had a lovely caramely-color):
Larksong’s Oatmeal-Honey-Molasses Bread
1 1/2 tsp dry active yeast
2 cups high-gluten bread flour
1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1 Tbsp vital wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 Tbsp hazelnut (or olive) oil
1 1/2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp honey
4 oz warm milk
6 oz warm water
Directions:
1. Proof yeast in warm milk for 10 min. Combine dry ingredients in KitchenAid with dough hook.
2.Slowly add wet ingredients (including yeast/milk), except water. Process on slow, drizzling in water until good doughy consistency is reached (it will be a little sticky. You may need a teaspoon or two more or less than the recipe indicates, depending on humidity in your house.)
3. Knead with dough hook on medium speed, or by hand, for 10-12 minutes until dough becomes less sticky and holds together in a nice ball. Place ball of dough in oiled pan, rolling to coat, cover with a damp towel or Saran Wrap, and let sit in a warm place until doubled in size (in my cold kitchen, that took 1 hr 15 min, but may take 45 min in a warmer kitchen).
4. Punch down dough, and shape, rolling edges of dough under until formed into a nice loaf. Place in well-oiled loaf pan (I like a ceramic 9×5), cover lightly with towel, and let rise an additional 45 min, or until loaf has risen nicely over the edge of the pan (in a warm kitchen, it should take about 30 min.) During this time, preheat oven to 350, with rack in the middle.
5. Place loaf in hot oven, and quickly dump 1 cup of hot water in the bottom of the oven. The steam will make a nicer crust. Bake loaf for 35 min or until bottom of loaf makes a hollow sound when thumped. Let rest 5 min and remove from pan and let cool before cutting.
Enjoy this very moist, sweet loaf simply sliced with butter, or use leftovers for really yummy bread pudding or French toast.
Posted in Changing Seasons, From my kitchen, Homemaking | No Comments »
Nov 12th, 2011 by Angela
It has been a hard week around here, as we battled two upper respiratory bugs back to back. Finally, we’re on the mend! So, to cheer everyone up after all that time cooped-up indoors, following homeschool co-op yesterday, we had lunch at our favorite Asian market (where else can you get a fresh, delicious hot lunch for $1.25/kid? Steamed buns stuffed with Asian pork sausage, hard-boiled egg, shiitakes and onions? Yum!!).
After lunch, we walked across the street to the best thrift store in Portland. We’re not big on shopping, but a trip to the thrift store tends to be our favorite pick-me-up ( besides our weekly visits to OMSI). PACS thrift store had the nicest volunteers, great prices, and an amazing selection of vintage fabric, games, toys, craft supplies, dishes, stationery, books, etc. And it’s right in our part of town – about 5 minutes from our house (and, of course, just across the street from the above-mentioned amazing Lily Market).
We have pretty strict self-imposed rules for thrift-store spending – we may not spend more than 50 cents on a toy, $1 on dishes, $2 on vintage board games or linens, $5 on a bag containing several items or any one “extraordinary” item. Well, yesterday in the fabric section, there was a 1×2x3ft plastic bag crammed full of wrinkly bundles of fabric. The price was $5 (on sale!). I could see some pieces of very pretty high-quality quilting fabric, and took a risk and bought it.
Oh my goodness, it was a good risk to take!!
When I got home and sorted through the bag, there was quite a stack of good-quality flannel (enough to make about three kits when we have another sewing service party in the coming months.), and a total of approximately 4+ yds of fat-1/4, 1/4 yd and 5×5 inch squares of lovely cotton prints. But, the vast majority of the fabric was my favorite – Depression-era reproduction fabric!
Altogether, there were over 40 pieces of 1/4-yd, fat-1/4 and 1/2 yd remnants of high-quality Depression-era reprints (just a few are pictured above), and many more little pieces (great for doll and scrap quilts).
My favorite (even though I’m not partial to pink), is the 1/2 yd of coffee-mug print above. It will go perfectly in some French-press cozies or some mug rugs for Christmas gifts, don’t you think?
Well, now to get outside and string up our raspberry canes (yes, better late than never), and muck out the chicken coop. Then, we have nothing on our schedule for the afternoon except playing the two new games we also picked up yesterday (a wooden puzzle-based game and a 1960’s board game) and Christmas-gift crafting!
Blessings on your weekend!
Posted in Moderation and Economy, Sewing | 1 Comment »
Nov 6th, 2011 by Angela
A quick update after Sunday afternoon chores are done. Spinach-parmesan puffs (above) are cooling, a pot of 3-bean soup is simmering on the stove…looking forward to bringing them to our Sunday night homegroup in a bit, where we share a meal and fellowship with friends, and dig in to our new book together.
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts. – Acts 2:46
Posted in Building Community, From my kitchen | No Comments »
Older Posts »
Lark Song Knits There are 353 Posts and 951 Comments so far.
Share a book review on Shelfari, where this reader meets fellow readers.
Backup Trish Virus