Archive for the ‘kids do’ Category

Top of the Mornin’ to ya.  First off I wanted to thank you all for your encouraging words in response to yesterday’s post.  Even though I had determined myself not to let criticism bother me… your support really lifted my spirits.  Thank you.

Now to a bit of St. Paddy’s Day fun.

After I finish a project, I’m always amazed where it ends up.  Usually far from where I intended.  Take this headband for example.  I was playing with creating a pin for my upcoming sewing class I’m teaching at 0ur local elementary school.  I wanted something simple and easy that the young kids could stitch.

I ended up with a headband.  Go figure.

This tutorial is in two parts.  The first is for making the felt shamrock… and the next (to be posted later) is for making a headband cover… suitable for any occasion.

Here’s how to make my shamrock pin:

You will need:

• A small piece of green felt and a small piece of lighter green felt (mine is chartreuse).
• A 1/2″ button
• Freezer paper
• Hot glue or craft glue

Yes, I’m using my freezer paper- again.  Trace your patterns onto the paper side of your freezer paper.  I’ve used a darker felt for the large shamrock and a chartreuse green for the smaller shamrock.  All my felt is from scraps of course.  Just an FYI, some quilt shops will sell wool felt scraps by weight.

You can find my simple template for the shamrock here.

Cut out the template from the freezer paper and iron it on to your piece of felt.  Make sure the waxy side is down when ironing.  The freezer paper will stick to the felt.

Carefully cut out your shamrock along the template.  After it’s cut out, peel away your freezer paper.  It leaves no mark on your wool.  Pretty cool huh.

Cut a small rectangle 1/2″ x 1″ out of the darker green felt.

Place the rectangle onto the back of your shamrock.  I placed my smaller shamrock over the top to make sure it was going to cover my stitching completely once done.

Once the strip is well placed, stitch into place on both sides using a tight zigzag stitch.  Leave the top and bottom open to allow it to slip onto the headband.

Next center your button into your chartreuse shamrock.  Stitch into place by hand or on your machine if you have a button mode.  I used a 1/2″ crystal looking button purchased from JoAnn’s.

Using hot glue (if you’re impatient like me) or craft glue, glue the bottom shamrock to the top chartreuse shamrock.

And now it’s ready to slip onto the headband.  Why make it removeable?  So that my cute little headband can be worn all year round of course!  I can even make a flower pin out of felt or ribbon to slip onto the headband…

It also makes my shamrock flexible too.  I can slip it onto a hair clip.  Or put a safety pin on the back and wear it as a pin.

I love the flexibility.

I will be posting my headband tutorial this afternoon… so stay tuned.

I haven’t been feeling well, and I really wanted some comfort food for dinner last night.

Homemade bread sticks and easy tomato soup were just what the doctor ordered.

These bread sticks are so quick and easy, you only need a fork to mix them.  And Lily, who is 7, loved to help me roll them out last night.  This is the perfect recipe to get the kids involved in the kitchen.  My kids have “helped” roll out bread sticks since they were toddlers and now at seven and nine, they are downright good at it.

Here’s the recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. dry active yeast
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• lemon pepper (or seasoning of choice)

Mix together warm water, sugar, salt and yeast.  Allow yeast to activate (about 10 minutes).  Add flour and stir in with a fork until dough holds together.  Turn out onto floured board.  Knead lightly into a ball.  Divide into 32 equal portions. On floured board, roll out into bread sticks.  Dip into melted butter and then into Parmesan cheese.  Place onto greased cookie sheet (16 per bakers half sheet.)  Sprinkle with lemon pepper.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  This gives the bread sticks about 10 minutes to begin to rise.  Cook at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

May be made in the morning and kept in the refrigerator unbaked.  Remove from the refrigerator about 30 – 45 minutes (depending on how warm your house is) before baking.

They can also be heated on a cookie sheet then next day at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes.

Mix together warm water, sugar, and salt.  Add the yeast.

Give the yeast a gentle stir and set aside to activate (about ten minutes).

Yeast is active when it’s nice and bubbly.

I always start my yeast in my measuring cup.  Once active, I transfer to the mixing bowl.  Add the flour.

This is a low tech recipe.  All you need is a fork.

Stir together until the dough pulls together into ball.  It’s not going to be pretty.  Don’t panic, it’s perfect.

Turn onto a floured board.  Knead it lightly into a ball.  It still will be a little imperfect. You’re right on track.

Cut into half, then quarters.  Cut each quarter into eight pieces by halving, and then again and again.

That way your pieces are roughly equal.  An you will have 32 little pieces of dough.

Roll each piece out into a bread stick roughly 8-9 inches.

Dip each bread stick into melted butter.  If you want garlic bread sticks, you can add 1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt to the butter and mix it well.  We love the bread sticks with lemon pepper which will be sprinkled on later.

Dip into grated Parmesan cheese.  If you want to save on cheese, you can also sprinkle it on.

Line them up on a greased cookie sheet (2 pans/ 16 bread sticks per pan).  And sprinkle with lemon pepper.  (Or seasoning of your choice.  Salad Supreme is popular, or you can use herbs… for garlic, it’s best to add garlic salt to the melted butter.)  We love lemon pepper because of it’s peppery spiciness.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Set the bread sticks and allow to rise for about 10 minutes, while the oven preheats.  Don’t let them over rise.  If you want to make your bread sticks ahead, make them in the morning and refrigerate until ready.  Remove from the refrigerator 30 – 45 minutes ahead of time to take the chill off and begin to rise slightly.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, until golden brown.

They are rustic and delicious.  Don’t aim for perfection.  It is their imperfection that lets you know they are homemade and wonderful.  I love the ones my kids make… they are sometimes long and skinny or fat in the middle.  It’s all good.

Served with a bowl of soup, chili or even pasta… these bread sticks are easy peasy and addictingly good.