Monster Mail

Something not entirely unexpected arrived in the mail today...
I heard some rustling and squishing inside the box. So I opened it...and a little something blue began to clamor to the top...
And, then there it was: oogling me with its two googly eyes. And was that a smile I saw beneath all those fangs?
It's our very first Cotton Monster by Jennifer Strunge. His name is Angelo--and he's a pentapod monster, in case you were wondering. He is also made from all the best materials--recycled, that is. I think I need more of these...I mean, one for me--since this one will be a holiday gift for Beeper come Christmas. Thanks, Jennifer--I know my little boy will so love him. I do.

Lurking WIP

Watch out! Here comes my latest WIP. It's the vicious, snaggle-toothed, patchwork crocodile. Lurking in a corner near you....

Weekend Kiddie Project: Sewing Cards

This was the project Beeper and I dug into this past weekend: sewing cards. Sewing cards were on my mind for a few reasons:

1. Beeper recently has shown interest in helping me with my sewing
2. Beeper's pre-school teacher recently told us he needs some concentrated focus on further developing his fine motor skills
3. I did the post on the See and Sew book and they had some sewing cards in there

So, sewing cards seemed like the right project at the right time for us this past weekend. And, also, they are easy-peasy. Really. Just follow the instructions below....

Kiddie Project Materials:

• a paper hole punch
• several sheets of card stock (I buy mine at Paper Source--so many colors, it gives me tingles)
• Yarn (thrifted--those plastic bags full of the remanants of skeins past are perfect for this)
• Craft glue (I use Mod Podge)
• A printer of some sort
• Clip art (Need some of your own? I will happily send you a document with my clip art images if you leave your email address in the comments section below--10 clip art images in all)

Step 1: Creating Sewing Strings
First off, cut some pieces of yarn into about 24 inch lengths. I used a variety of colors just to add to the kid-appeal and also, just cuz I like color. Then knot one end--you need some decent sized knots hereso they will not pull through the paper punch holes when in use. After that, pour a little craft glue onto a slip of paper and dip about 1-2 inches of the unknotted ends of your yarns pieces into the glue so it is nicely coated, but not dripping and blobby with glue. Then lay the strings on a piece of parchment paper (or a cookie sheet will work too) to dry--really, anything you will be able to peel them off from later.
Step 2: Make the Sewing Cards
Select some simple clip art and insert into a document--I think simple black and white images work best. I used some basic black and white wood-cut style clip art as I wanted to print these on a variety of colors of card stock, (You can also draw your own images if you are arty like that and have the time and motivation.) Size your images so they will be big enough that you can have many holes around the permiter to sew through-- I found making them 1/2 to a full page size worked best. Also, the bigger the image, the sturdier it is for sewing since it will not bend in half as easily. Print out your images on the cardstock and cut out around the image--leaving a 1/4 inch perimeter around the image (this will give more space between your punched hole and the edge of the sewing card--so it won't tear upon use).
Then punch holes about an inch apart just inside the edge of the image. And VOILA! Sewing cards and hours of entertainment for the kiddies. These were so simple we even made an extra set for Beeper to bring to his pre-school (see Beeper pre-school teacher? We're doing our damnedness to address the fine motor concerns, okay already? We're not bad parents, really.).
Also, Beeper loves them. They were the first thing he wanted to do when he got up this morning. Warms my heart to see the little guy riding around on his sewing training wheels with these cards.

And remember, you can leave a comment at the end of this post along with your email address and I will happily send you a document with the clip art images I used for this project. And I promise, no strange SPAM emails will start coming to you after giving me your email address.

Irish Brown Bread

I used to buy this bread when I lived in Galway, down at the little corner shop, round the bend from my flat. It was baked fresh daily and was one of the simple joys of living in Ireland. It was my breakfast most days, slathered with delicious Irish butter and some sort of jam, served up with a cuppa tea. So perfect.

Happily, I met Colleen who was able to teach me how to make this bread for myself--and here I am 12 years later still baking this bread as a regular part of weekend breakfasts--especially when I have some leftover buttermilk that needs to be used up. I would describe it as being a cross between a hearty whole grain bread and a biscuit. And one its best features is how damn easy it is to make. Really--you can whip it up in less than 15 minutes and then just sit back and enjoy your first cup of tea while you wait for it to bake.

Here's the recipe:

• 2 + 1/3 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 cup of regular old white flour
• 1/3 cup of old-fashioned oats
• 2 tablespoons of oatbran
• 2 tablespoons of wheatgerm (or ground flaxseed if you prefer)
• 2 teaspoons of brown sugar
• 1 + 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 + 1/2 cups of buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted (can substitute canola oil)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet (or cast iron kettle with a lid). Mix together all the dry ingredients. With a fork, stir in the buttermilk and butter. Knead the bread in a bowl until mixed and relatively smooth--if the dough is too dry, add a little more buttermilk.

Divide dough into two equal sized balls. Place them on the cookie sheet, smoosh the ball slightly with the flat of your hand, then cut a cross-hatch in the top of each (to allow the bread to expand as it bakes). Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Once done, the Irish like to brush the top wiht a bit of milk and wrap the loaf in a teatowel to store it--of course this assumes you will eat it all in 2-3 days (which is not hard to do due to its yumminess and relatively modest size). I usually freeze one of the two loaves for instant brown bread at a later date.

Do enjoy it with some fantastic jam and european style butter if you can find any. I am partial to apricot or bumbleberry jams.

Nouveau Mangy Elephants

So, here are my new elephants I have been working on. My plan has been to sort of redesign my Mangy Menagerie plushies...just because I am ready to work on new designs and tired of the same old. I was ready for something with more dimension, a little more embellishment...I did the blue one first and proportions were all off--body too big relative to the size of the head (although it does make for a nice and mushy elephant that would be lovely for cuddling--check out that sweet jelly belly of his)...so I rescaled my design and above is the result. I think they are kind of jolie-laide.

They are made from thrifted and reclaimed felted wool sweaters, stuffed with eco-craft fiberfill (made from corn) and wool scraps, and embellished with button eyes and colorful felted wool polka dots stitched on in a swirly sorta pattern
I have several other new animal designs I am working out--a dog, a giraffe, a crocodile, and I think a pig for good measure. I will be selling a couple of these at the No Coast Craft O'Rama Dec 5&6, and one of these will go into my Etsy shop when I do my update.

Still wanna see more? More photos of the elephants here.

Just Another Week...

Nothing much to blog about 'round here this week. But thought I would share some photos from the week...our Grampa Ott Morning Glories that are still blooming and just make me happy everytime I pass their blooming faces in the morning... ...and the block castle Beeper built (you can't see it but it housed several wooden animals)......and some freshly made Irish brown bread (I promise the recipe in the future) with locally made apricot jam...
...and our Sunday afternoon hike a long the bluffs of the river. More plushie goodness to come soon...I've got some elephants waiting to be shared....have a good week.

Kindie Garden Plush Photo Shoot

If you haven't figured it out yet--I really, really dig taking photos. And, I especially dig taking photos of my plushies--I love to set up the scene, think of props, find some good natural light (not there often enough when you need it though), and then just get nutty with the camera. Honestly, it does make me happy to see my plushies in photos--it just brings them alive for me in a different way--and it also becomes a memento for what will ultimately be sold to someone who in all likelihood will be an utter stranger. So, now that my full batch of kindie-garden plush dolls is complete, I decided to do the whole photo shoot thing before the No Coast sale was upon me and I was too overwhelmed by last minute prep to take any photos (this happens to me every single year). And also, snapped a few solo photos of the doll I have selected to go into my Etsy shop update in November. Isn;t she a charmer?
Cherry red hair and a lopsided smile. What's not to love?

Dinosaurs in the House

Beeper and I put together some terrariums this weekend. He was in charge of gravel, spanish moss and dirt layering, and I was in charge of planting. Then Beeper put the finishing touches in place--the little plastic dinosaurs we picked up in the dollar section of Target.This was actually an idea I picked up from the Two Straight Lines blog (original post here).

Then I also did a bit more research on terrarium construction and found this link and this link most helpful in terms of terrarium 101 sort of instruction. Also, Martha Stewart has a little succulent terrarium overview here.
Beeper loves the terrariums---we even made a desert terrarium he will bring to his pre-school to share with his classroom.

I'm digging the results. The little dinos in there really do make me smile everytime I pass them. Welcome home, T-Rex.

Grandpa's Bastardized Chili

I made this last weekend, but thought I would share the recipe with you this weekend, just in case it is getting chillier whereever you are at and you too would like to cook up a nice little batch of chili to cozy up over this weekend.

This recipe was actually developed from my grandpa's chili recipe--which I really only learned through my mum since I never really knew my grandpa (I have, like, two memories of him--and none of them involve chili).

The thing is though, I didn't really like chili when I was growing up, and then in my young adult years I came to live in Galway, Ireland for a while--and in Ireland, well, I was almost always hungry because money was tight and I had to save all my Irish pounds to buy Guiness and Jameson's Irish whiskey at the pub. Really. So, I did not eat a whole lot while I lived there and was in a perpetual daydream about the foods we ate in the U.S. (lots of dreams about chips and salsa, I tell you). Then one night, this boy I knew who lived at the Salmon Weir hostel cooked up this huge pot of chili (Rory was his name--he was British--and a total bastard as it turns out, what with telling everyone he snogged with me when we never even so much as touched hands--and then even had the gall to tell people not only did we snog, but that I initiated it and he had to actually push me away...bastard) ....and well, even though I was not fond of chili, I was hungry, so when he offered it to me, I decided to try some. And I found I liked it, so I asked Rory how he made it and he gave me a brief tutorial, and then I was off and making my own chili from there on out. As it turns out, chili ingredients are inexpensive so it was one of the few things I cooked while in Ireland.

Which brings us to the chili recipe I make today--it is a recipe that has evolved from what I learned from Rory (bastard) in Galway, and the recipe my mum gave to me when I returned from Galway and asked about her chili recipe (grandpa's)...and then my own addendums to these recipes over the years. So, without further ado, here we are--my very own chili recipe:

• 1 lb of ground turkey
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2--28oz cans of diced tomatoes
• 1 can of blackbeans, drained and rinsed well
• 1 can of chili or pinto beans, drained and rinsed well
• 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 - 3/4 of a bottle of beer
• 2 Tbsp of mild chili powder
• A small handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips or a piece of dark chocolate
• Salt to taste

Heat a little olive oil in your chili pot, then place the ground turkey and onions in the pot and saute until the meat is browned and the onion is transluscent. Add both cans of diced tomatoes, including the juice in the cans. Add both cans of beans, the bell peppers, the jalapenos, the garlic, 1/2 of the bottle of beer, and all of the chili powder to the pot. Simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes, then add the chocolate chips , stir, cover the pot and continue simmering over medium low heat. I typically simmer the chili for about 1 hour or so. I stir and taste-test the chili at several points throughout, adjusting the flavoring by adding more chili powder, more beer, some salt, and even more chocolate if I think it needs it. I uncover the chili the last 15 minutes of cooking, turning the heat up to medium so it thickens a bit. Once done, serve it topped with some good sharp white cheddar cheese, some low-fat sour cream and and some tortilla chips on the side. You can even throw on some chopped scallions if you want to.

The recipe also adapts amazingly well to vegetarian standards--I just omit the ground turkey and add an extra can of beans (garbanzo or kidney), making it a 3-bean chili. I, in fact, ,often make it this way since I used to be a vegetarian and still love vege foods and beans, especially.

And there you have it: my grandpa's bastardized chili recipe. Open a bottle of beer, dish up a bowl and dig in.

Gang of Kindie-Garden Plush Dolls

Here is my latest WIP. It is a gang of Kindie-Garden Plush dolls, all based on a drawing I made way back in kindergarten (see my earlier post about this here). This design is very similiar to the one I made for the Plush You gallery show (opening next weekend), except that I changed up hair and clothing colors and gave them all stripey pants or shirts. I'm loving the one with the pink hair on the end... I will be selling these in December at the No Coast Craft O'Rama--although one may make it into my Etsy shop later in Thanksgiving weekend as part of a pre-holiday shop update. I'll let you know if I decide to do that.

Alternate Uses for Sculpture

The Minneapolis Scuplture Garden outside the Walker Art Center is possibly my favorite place in the whole city. I can recall when I first visited the Sculpture Garden back when I was in junior-high and I was just plain awe-struck. It is place that is both surreal and magical and inspiring. There is the ubiquetious Spoonbridge and Cherry by Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen...and then just all sorts of other stuff....stuff that Beeper and his cousin Bailey (I describe her as distilled sunshine) found alternate uses for on recent Saturday afternoon at the sculpture garden.... ...like this sculpture climbed and used as slide...
...or this scuplture that became the focal point of an extended game of hide and chase......and this one that was employed as some sort of wobbly swing. You can see what there is to love about this place--especially when it comes to exposing small children to art. It is not fragile, it not something you cannot touch, and it is larger than life--something that can be scrambled over, walked around, felt with your own hands.
And then we ended our visit with a walk across the Art bridge that traverses the I-35W freeway. Art does make the world a better place, yes?

See and Sew

Have you seen this book? It is See and Sew by Tina Davis (also the author of Look and Cook, and Sow and Grow). It is a beginning hand-sewing primer for children with loads of lovely little starter projects that would appeal to kids--and to some adults like myself.
To begin with, there is a whole section on basic sewing instruction--like how to thread a needle, selecting fabric (and how to use a color wheel, above), and various types of basic sewing and embroidery stitches--all done with lovely, old-school illustrations. And the projects? Clear instructions with written as well as illustrated instuctions, and patterns included.
Some of the projects in the book are how to make elf slippers...
...how to make a charming little chicken egg cozy (as well as a soft boiled egg!)...
...and how to make a cat purse (hmmm, how could I incorporate one of these into my wardrobe?). Of course, there are many more projects ranging from clothing (cap and mittens) to toys (a sock doll). And also, some more basic sewing projects that really could act as a primer for little ones--like how to make sewing cards.
And then the tail-end of the book contains some more instructions on finishes and trims--like how to make a pom-pom, monograms, etc.

I would have died if someone had given me this book when I was a kid--in fact, I almost died when I found it at my fave local fabric store (Treadle Yard Goods in Saint Paul). It was one of those things where I was standing at the fabric cutting counter with 12 bolts of fabric and spied the book across the room and abandoned everything to go get my hands on the book.

Beeper is just starting to express some interest in the sewing he sees me doing--maybe this year we can partner on some of these projects--do some joint-gift making for some of his friends....I've got a couple of ideas already. How about you and your little ones?