Sweet Little Bits
Easy. Crumbly. Gooey. They are so good when you eat them right out of the oven with a big glass of milk..criminally good. The second day: not so much. Make them when you want to eat them.
This is all you need
Ingredients:
1 Package of Devils Food Cake Mix
1 Package of Chocolate Pudding Mix ( slow cook kind)
Milk
Chocolate Chips
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Prepare the pudding according to the directions on the box
Once cooked, add the cake mix into the hot pudding and mix well ( it will be thick)
Pour batter into a 9 x 11 inch pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips
Bake for 30 minutes
I thought I was going to have my kids help with this one..but once I started I was done in about two minutes. They weren’t too upset thought, because the house smelled like a chocolate shop and they had just eaten enough healthy food to acquire themselves some sweet points. Good timing. I had one bite ( which I savored ) and then Jaime came home and took them all to his work…probably for the best!
These unique novelty washcloth/soap combos are so fun to make, especially with lots of little hands helping out. For this practical project, I ordered felting wool from amazon, and a felting needle which actually came in handy even though we weren’t doing any fancy designs..just to get the strands of different color fibers to stay in place. For the soap, I headed down to Marshall’s discount store and picked out some cheap..nicely scented soaps that would probably make really nice gifts all on their own.The felting wool, when wrapped around a bar of soap and dipped in hot water, begins to shrink down and hug the shape of the soap, so experiment with some fun soap shapes. Organic, rock-like shapes, ovals and circles work the best..but heart shapes could be really cute too. The wooly soap will be rolled around in your hands as you “felt” it, so it’s nice if it is a smooth shape and easy to hold.
The wool we chose from Amazon
Fancy soaps on the cheap - courtesy of Marshall's discount store
Materials
Old nylon tights or panty hose (cut into tube like sections with one tied end)
Soap
Directions:
–Start by wrapping the soap in one base color of felt. It needs to be completely covered.
–Add some embellishment colors on top of the base color if you want. It will all be loosely wrapped.
We tried making a heart..but it turned out looking more like a circle.
Getting them ready to dunk into the hot water
–Once the colors are in place..put the soap wrapped in wool into a piece of cut up nylon stocking
–Next, fill a bucket or a bathtub with hot water, and dip the soap in with your hands.
– Rub and swirl the soap around till it gets soap and sudsy in your hands. This is how you “felt” the wool around the soap. The fibers fuse together and start to shrink down to the shape of the soap.
–Continue for 10-20 minutes
Ready
Felting the wool in the bathtub
Their hands are going to get REALLY clean!
You know it’s done when the wool is looking tightly wrapped and there are no loose pieces.
When you feel things are finished, rinse with cold water and lay the soaps out somewhere to dry. They will continue to felt together each time you use them.
Three beautiful felted soaps
Ready for the holiday gift exchange..
If you really want to show someone how much you care, and show off your crafty skills at the same time: Origami Gift Boxes are the thing. Here are some that Annabelle made recently with her Auntie Karen who is a pro crafter, artist and educator.
Oragami Box with Shell Designs
I wasn’t there when they made these so I didn’t take pictures of the step by step..but I will be adding those when we make more boxes. For now, here are some links to other blogs with instructions.
>http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-box.html
> Here is a good instructional book: Absolute Beginner’s Origami
There are a variety of box styles out there. The ones Annabelle made have a bottom and a lid with the two tone diamond pattern. With the shells and baubles on top..I think they are amazing! Thanks Auntie Karen!
The fresh herb wreath..try it or buy it? I can’t decide! Here is a gallery of 10 great fresh herb wreath ideas. If you would like to purchase one..there are so many good ones on Etsy for the holidays.
>This one particular Etsy shop had some beautiful wreaths, if you want to buy one.
>This tutorial is pretty comprehensive..if you want to give it a whirl yourself.
I like the one below that is made from rosemary and “memory roses” -whatever those are. I think making one of these would be fun, but I probably wouldn’t be able to part with it as a gift. Happy Holidays!
This fall I started building Annabelle a pretty grown up craft kit. I found this cool craft tool box, which came stuffed to the brim with craft items such as feathers, beads and trinkets. Then, I added some grown up beading tools and signed her up for a wire wrapping class at the local bead store. She was the youngest lady there, and she brought all kinds of creative energy to the group. I sat at the bar next door and raved to strangers about my superdaughter who was learning beading crafts fit for a professional at a mere age of eight. The kit, paired with some real instruction and guidance, launched Annabelle into a new creative hobby. Mission accomplished!
Annabelle's glorious craft box
When the box came in the mail from our beloved Amazon.com, we opened it to find it already pre-stuffed with packages of feathers, beads and shiny little gems. I found some old necklaces that I didn’t mind contributing, so we cut them up for the beads. Annabelle’s jaw fell open when I started cutting up my own jewelery for her kit…must be some sort of kid-fantasy!
Essential tools: Jewerly making with the wire wrap technique
For the jewelery making tools: I got her three types of pliers. Round Nose Pliers, Chain Nose Jewelery Pliers, and Side Cutters . With those three tools you can do almost anything. You will also need some craft wire for stringing the beads and accessories together
Some feather earings and a bracelet
You can place your orders now my friends!