whoo whoo

One of my latest interests is Pinterest. My husband got me into it. I was very reluctant. Ugh, another website I have to learn, I thought. I still struggle with Facebook. But then, after an hour or so, I began to get the hang of it. And then... I was hooked. I've been finding all kinds of inspiration, mostly do-it-yourself type projects. One of the first do-it-yourself projects I saw was these owl ornaments. Then I googled it, and found that lots of people have been making them. I saw these owls made by children.

So we've been saving our TP rolls, and this weekend we made our own owls, which we plan to hang from our tree. They were really fun and easy to make. Next I think we might try this button bracelet that I also saw on Pinterest. I know I've seen a bag of buttons at the thrift store... :-)

♥, Kelly

closepin dolls & houses

How to make a Clothespin Doll kit

One of our dear friends gave Zoe and Ashley a homemade clothespin doll kit last year, and they have spent many happy hours making dolls with it. So, when Zoe and Ashley were invited to a birthday party this weekend, we knew right away what we wanted to give this creative 8 year old girl =)

The kit includes:

* Some fabric remnants (remember the doll clothes will only be a few inches by a few inches when cut to size, so a little fabric goes a long way)

* Fast Grab Tacky Glue

* An assortment of ribbons and accessories

* Yarn for hair

* Pipe Cleaners for arms

* Clothespins

To make the hair we like to wrap some yarn around our fingers and lay it on a ribbon or more yarn, like this:

(You can also make a thick braid to wrap over the head, which is
cute too.)

Then tie the ribbon in a bow for a ribbon in her hair, like this:

We also included a couple of dolls for examples, like the kit we received last year. Zoe picked out this inexpensive unfinished box with a handle like a purse. Her friend can paint and decorate the box herself. To "wrap" the present we tied a bow around the outside.

I had to show you the card Zoe made too—it's so cute. It's a picture of the tea party they are having for the birthday party:
XOXO, Kelly

gluten-free, sugar-free, salt dough gingerbread house, part 2

Painting the "candy" decorations.

Beginning to put the decorations on the house.

Note: The glue wont hold long over painted surfaces—so don't paint where you plan to glue!

We are particularly fond of how the roof came out.

The finished gluten-free, sugar-free, salt dough gingerbread house.

The "frosting" or snow is a mixture of white craft paint and corn starch.

For Part 1 of the gluten-free, sugar-free, salt dough gingerbread house, click here.

For the link to the gluten-free salt dough recipe, click here.

Nisser & gluten-free salt dough Gingerbread House

If you look at my posts/photos from this time last year, or if you have been following along since then, you know that I am half Danish, and we like to incorporate Scandinavian traditions. A big part of Scandinavian Christmas traditions are handmade/homemade decorations. So, when we started making gluten-free salt dough a while back, I thought it would be perfect for Christmas ornaments.

These first 2 pictures are of Nisser that we made. We used a template that Andy drew. I cut the dough around the template with a butter knife. After they were baked and cool, Andy and the girls painted them and I hung them with ribbon on our tree.

Then I thought, rather than make gluten-free gingerbread for a gingerbread house, why not use the salt dough? So, last week I made some dough and added a tablespoon of cinnamon to give it a gingerbread color. Using another template that I made, we cut the dough for the house and baked it. Today we hot glued the framework of the house together, on a scrap piece of board.

I didn't want to make the pediment with the dough, so I made a template by folding paper, until it fit. Then Zoe traced and cut the pieces out of cardboard, and we hot glued them in place.

After the structure was complete, we made more dough. We used the lid of a spice jar as a cookie cutter for circles, which we will paint to look like candy for decorating our gingerbread house. We also used a little bear shaped cookie cutter and a little heart cookie cutter. Tomorrow we're going to paint them and attach them to the house like candy.

"Why not use candy?" you may ask. Well, as you know, we don't tolerate refined sugar very well, and I'd rather not have it around anyway, so we are going unconventional here =] I'm also thinking of adding ribbon and fabric —so this is not a typical gingerbread house. But we are having tons of fun with it, and that's the whole point anyway, right? Also, I want to put a light inside and reuse it every year for Christmas.

Part two of our project —still to come =]

Click for the gluten-free salt dough recipe we use.

crafts for the airplane

Zoe and I packed her backpack today for her trip to New York. We thought it would be fun to play checkers in the plane, but we didn't think our big wooden board with glass pieces was appropriate, so we decided to make a soft set ourselves.

We got stiff felt from the craft store and cut it into about 1 inch strips. We used 8 strips of each color, following the number of squares on our wooden set.

Once we had a tight weave, I hot glued the squares around the edge, and then trimmed the excess with scissors.

Next we used our glass pieces as templates to make felt versions.

Zoe cut the felt pieces with scissors.

We also cut extra pieces to make kings.

But we couldn't stop there. Following the instructions in Zoe's book, Dragonfly and the Web of Dreams, we began a bracelet for her to finish on the plane. We also packed her two books, lots of paper and crayons, and a cd player with headphones, to listen to her High School Musical soundtrack.

Off to finish packing! :-)

sewing a purse

Our neighbor gave purse craft kits to the kids at their daughter's birthday party -- what a great idea! Zoe couldn't wait till the next morning to sew her purse. She gulped down some food and went straight to work, very seriously.

She braided the yarn that it came with for the strap, and I ironed the flap just slightly, so it would lay closed.

Here she is later, on our way out the door to see some friends at the park. She put this outfit together by herself, including the sunglasses. Too cute! When she isn't wearing the purse, she hangs it decoratively on her closet door.

Fairies :-)

Here are the fairies and the fairy house that I made the girls for Christmas! I'm so excited - I can hardly wait! All Zoe talks about is fairy this and fairy that. She even tried to make some fairies herself with tissue paper. Then, when I was using the computer one day, I overheard her talking to herself, saying, "I hope Santa gets me fairies and a fairy house for Christmas." I don't think she said it for my benefit because she acted like she didn't know I was in the room, and usually she would shoot me a grin if she was being coy.

Anyway, I made the fairies and the house with felt, as you can see. It was not expensive at all to buy the materials, but it did take many hours to make. My awesome husband even took both girls to Whole Foods in Boulder today to get our entire Christmas dinner list, while I stayed home to finish the fairy house. It was cute because he had to call me half a dozen times to ask me questions about different items :-)

The fairy house has a ribbon for a handle so it can be carried or hang on a door knob. Of course it can also be placed on the floor, windowsill, couch, table, you name it. Both the fairies and the house are hand sewn. Even the wings, which are silk flower petals, are sewn on. The only glue I used was to attach the head. Next time I may drill a hole through the wood so I can attach it with yarn, and make yarn hair as well. Or I may give them a hat to cover the hole where it is attached. I haven't decided yet.

And now I'm off to hide my laptop until Christmas, so Zoe doesn't see this post :-) (I will use it after they go to bed however.)

Cheers, Kelly

Mint Swirl Brownies, Lights & Crafts

I know I'm obsessed with these brownies, but I couldn't resist sharing one more with you! I'm still doing the mint, but this time I also added some Vanilla Pudding, then I gave it a swirl with a tooth pick for a pretty effect. It tasted amazing too :-) Just add 5 minutes to the bake time if you try this.

Flourless Brownies

Plus 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of mint extract.

(They are even better cold after after being in the fridge!)

Note: I used alchohol-free extract because it was the only spearmint I could find, and I don't care for peppermint. If you use one that is not alchohol-free, you probably wont need 1 and 1/2 teaspoons. I'd start with 1/2 tsp and taste to see.

Some of the lights in Longmont:

A time honored tradition in our house is watching A Christmas Story on Christmas Day... Notice the lamp at this house above... LOL Where did they find it?

Zoe dipped pine cones in white paint to create snow.

And we hung them on the tree with our Scandinavian designed dolls. They are part of relief work - I did not make these myself.

A baby blankie I knit for a very good friend.

Zoe taking a picture of her new hairdo today. Love the missing teeth!