Perfectly Imperfect

The Easiest Holiday Cookie & Craft (ever!)

For the first time in 2 months everyone in our family is healthy (knock on wood) and I was feeling festive and inspired to do some simple baking (for office gifts) and a fun (non-messy) craft for Pops and I to do together so I decided to make Chocolate Chip Meringue Kiss Cookies and some popsicle stick reindeer, dreidels and trees.

Making the cookies is seriously so easy. You need four ingredients and a mixer. Love it. The recipe is from Real Simple and could not be more so...and they got rave reviews from my hubby, who claims he does not like meringue and Poppy (who will eat anything if there is a chocolate chip in it)!

 

CHOCOLATE CHIP MERINGUE KISSES

Ingredients:

3 Large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat Oven to 225 degrees

2. With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium until foamy. Increase the speed to high and gradually add the sugar, 1 Tablespoon at a time; continue to beat until stiff and glossy, 2 to 3 minutes. Fold in the chocolate chips.

3. Drop mounds of the meringue mixture (each equal to 2 tablespoons) onto parchment lined baking sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart. Bake until firm & dry, 75 to 90 minutes. Cool completely on the baking sheets and store in an airtight container at room temperature. Will keep 2 days stored in the airtight container.

Our finished popsicle crafts are here. Just some colored popsicle sticks, craft glue, googly eyes and fabric puffs and a few minutes later - Viola! Cute and easy decorations or ornaments.

Turkey Pine Cone Craft

When I dropped Poppy off at preschool the other day, one of her teachers was sitting at the table making the most adorable turkey out of a pinecone, googly eyes and feathers!

I thought they would make fun placecard holders for Thanksgiving this year. And, it will be a fun craft to do with the kids while the grownups are cooking and drinking wine and doing other "not fun" stuff like doing dishes. These would even be a nice gift to bring your host/hostess.

Materials:

• Yellow and red felt
• Tacky glue
• Googly eyes
• Brown pom-poms
• Pinecones
• Pipe cleaners

Instructions:

1. For each turkey, cut out a yellow beak and a red wattle from felt. Then glue the beak, wattle, and a pair of googly eyes onto a pom-pom to create the turkey's head.
2. Glue the pom-pom head to the tip of a pinecone.
3. Allow the glue to dry.
4. Wrap a pipe cleaner around the middle of the turkey's cone body, starting from the top and twisting it together a few times on the underside. Separate the ends of the pipe cleaner (below the twists) and bend each tip into a 3-toed foot.
5. For the turkey's tail, individually wrap 3 or 4 pipe cleaners around the back of the pinecone, starting from the underside and twisting them together a few times on the top of the pinecone to secure them. Then loop both ends of each pipe cleaner to shape tail feathers.   

Happy Crafting!

 

Source: familyfun.go.com

Sew What?

So if you read this blog with any regularity you know I am not one of those crafty moms. Creative? Yes. Crafty? Not so much. But, I do have a subconscious desire to be crafty and have been trying to explore this uncharted territory with some "low risk" projects.

I found some cool fabric remnants on Etsy and decided to try making some "no-sew" table runners. I found the directions on a kids sewing website. Hey, if a kid can do it, I should be able to right? (Well, we'll see about that!). If I fail miserably, at least I know how to make eye pillows now!

Here are the fabrics I picked (I like graphic prints and flowers so these seem to fit the bill nicely):

 

The directions for creating the "no-sew" table runners are as follows if you'd like to make one too:

For your no sew table runner, first measure your table or a side table that you'd like to put your finished runner on. You want to measure 5 inches or more away from the edges. This will be your length.

The width will be 18 inches. Measure 18 inches wide on your table to make sure this will work on your table. If you'd like it skinner, adjust your measurement accordingly. We made ours 18 x 60 for a long table. If you are unsure a good size would be 18 x 44 inches.

You will need:
Material. Cut out to the desired length and width as done above.

Iron-on adhesive, you can find these at any fabric store or stores that sell fabric. You will use this to make your no sew hem. You can also use this for other projects that need a hem.

Lay your material on the ironing board wrong side up. Pre-heat your iron. Turn the edge up the width of your iron-on adhesive. Lay your strip of iron-on adhesive inside the edge.

Iron adhesive to material.

Continue with all 4 sides until you have a hem around all sides and place on your table.

Directions for table runner found here.

She's Crafty

My pal Lisa was kind enough to invite me over for an eye pillow making session a few weeks back and I am happy to report it was a success! Lisa is very crafty and very patient which is key to working with the non crafty and impatient (me)!

I had not been in the vicinity of a sewing machine since 7th grade Home Economics class when I made the most hideous chino skirt with an elastic waist band – clearly my taste in clothing has evolved since then. In order to set me up for success, Lisa set me to work cutting the fabric I wanted to use for the eye pillows ( a 9” x 5” piece for each front & back), then she pinned and sewed them together on the sewing machine she has had since she was 16. Then, I filled the pillows with a mixture of flax seeds (for weight) and lavender (for fragrance). I think the final results look great and I even made a kid sized one in an adorable print for Poppy. The rest will be Mother’s Days gifts this year.

Helpful hint: Buy your flax & lavender online. I got mine here.  Lisa said she got hers at Whole Foods and it cost a small fortune.

Eye Pillow Directions:

Step 1
Fold the silk fabric in half lengthwise, creating a 5-inch by 9-inch rectangle. This size is sufficient to cover both eyes .
Step 2
Sew the long side of the pouch and one of the two short sides of the pouch with a sewing machine or by hand. If there's a pattern on the material, make sure it's on the right side and facing inwards. Once sewn, you have a long, open-ended pouch.
Step 3
Flip the pouch inside out so the seams are hidden inside.
Step 4
Fill the eye pillow with flax seed and lavender. Use a 2-1 ratio of flax to lavender, or to your liking.
Lavender is known for its antidepressant qualities and also helps relieve insomnia and headaches.
Step 5
Finish your eye pillow by folding the ends in and sewing the last short side of the pouch closed.

Relax & Enjoy!

Sweet Dreams

With kids you go through cycles of sleeping well and then stages of not so much. Now that Poppy is three she has a very active imagination and is aware of monsters and other things that go bump in the night. So the other night, I “loaned” her my lavender eye pillow as a magic dream pillow that would bring her sweet dreams. Imagine my surprise when just a few minutes later I hear snoring coming from her little bed! I thought to myself, “Self, we need to get our girl her very own eye pillow!” And that’s what we did. This past Saturday I was at my ultra creative and crafty friend Lisa’s (of Picnic fame) gorgeous Berkeley Hills home for a craft show and she was selling none other than Eye Pillows! Score!

So now I have a craft date with Lisa to learn how to make my very own eye pillows (she claims they are easy). I do not sew at all so I’ll let you know if the claim is for real…In the mean time, here are some super cute options I found on etsy.com if you’d rather just put down the Visa and order one!

LAVENDER APPLES Organic Eye Pillow by eightXeight

 

RELAXATION EYE PILLOW by impromptudesigns

 

Rx3 Relax Restore Rejuvenate Lavender Eye Pillow no3 Country Fair Mushroom by nurturedthreads

 

Sweet Dreams!