At Play

The girls spend a lot time playing with little people acting out different stories these days, which I love listening to. Over the course of the day we will find various groupings of toys, like this...

and this...

and this...

They have so much fun playing together, and it is so neat to see their imaginations and creative play come out.  Recently our broom was stuck upsidedown between couch cushions and made into the sail of a ship and the short dividing wall between our porch and living room was Davin's horse.

The Eiffel Tower

Davin's best friend (or her twin as she likes to refer to her) turned 5 last week and had a french themed birthday.  She loves Paris and the Eiffel Tower.  In coming up with a gift idea we decided to go with it and made her a shirt with an Eiffel Tower applique. 

I just bought a plain shirt at H&M, and then got an image of the Eiffel Tower online, using scraps to attach.  If I had more time I would have hand stitched it on, but time was at a premium, so I used the machine.

It turned out pretty cute, and the birthday girl seemed impressed that she had an Eiffel Tower shirt.

Mmmmm... bagels

After seeing these on Feather + Anchor a couple of months ago I had to give them a try, a recipe for homemade bagels, and it was really easy and yum, yum.  The recipe only made 8, and they were slightly on the small side, so the 2nd time around I doubled the recipe but only made 12 bagels, so they are nice and substantial. 

Miren was really into helping me mix and knead, and then Davin helped to shape them and take them off the baking sheet when they were done.

The only other modification was to the flour, I used about 60% whole wheat bread flour and 40% unbleached white flour.  Here is my version:

INGREDIENTS

3 cups lukewarm water

2 packets active dry yeast (not quick-rising)

7 tablespoons sugar

3 teaspoons salt

7 to 7 1/2 cups flour

(I used 4 cups of whole wheat bread flour &

3 cups of unbleached white flour)

1. Pour 1/2 cup of the water into a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it. Stir with a fork, then let the mixture sit for 5 minutes so that the yeast can thoroughly dissolve.
2. Combine the remaining 2 1/2 cups of water and the dissolved yeast in a large mixing bowl. Stir in 6 tablespoons of the sugar, then stir in the salt. Add 4 cups of the flour and stir by hand for 100 strokes to blend well.
3. Stir in enough of the remaining flour, about 1/4 cup at a time, to make a dough that’s firm enough to knead.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it with floured hands for about 10 minutes, using as much of the remaining flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking. When fully kneaded, the dough will be firm but supple and should hold the imprint of your hand.
5. Transfer the dough to an oiled glass or ceramic bowl, turning it a few times to coat the entire surface. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place it in a warm, draft-free spot until the dough has doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
6. When the dough is ready, punch it down. Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it for 1 minute. Divide the dough in half, then divide each half into 6 equal pieces.
7. Shape the 12 pieces into balls, placing them on a floured work counter and dusting the tops with flour. Let them rest for 2 to 3 minutes, then flatten them slightly with your fingers.
8. Fill a large soup pot about two thirds with water. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar and begin heating the water to bring it to a boil.
9. Working with 1 ball of dough at a time, press your floured thumb down through the center to make a hole. Stretch the dough slightly so the hole is about 1 inch in diameter. It will look like a doughnut. Set the bagels aside on a floured surface, covering them loosely with plastic wrap or waxed paper.
10. Let the bagels rest for 10 minutes while the water comes to a full boil. Meanwhile, grease a large baking sheet and set it aside. Heat the oven to 400°.
11. Working with the first bagels you shaped, gently drop 2 into the boiling water. They should float, but don’t worry if they sink initially – they’ll quickly rise to the surface. Boil the bagels for 30 seconds on one side, then carefully turn them with a long-handled, slotted spoon and boil them for another 30 seconds on the other side.
12. Using your slotted spoon, transfer the bagels to a clean tea towel to drain. Wait a few seconds, then transfer them to the baking sheet, leaving space between them. Repeat with the remaining bagels.
13. Bake the bagels on the center oven rack until they are deep golden brown, about 22 to 25 minutes. Then transfer the bagels to a wire rack to cool. Makes 12 large bagels or 16 small bagels.

Enjoy!!  I certainly did, with lots of peanut butter dripping onto my plate... mmmmmm....

Fit for a princess...

Davin and Miren were given handmade dolls for Christmas by their Aunt Carrie, and Davin has really taken to hers, coming up with her usual grand plans.  She came wearing a dress, but Davin has requested pants, shoes, gloves, and a crown.  So far we have only managed to make the crown, but I had to take a picture because although not exactly how I would have done it, reminded me again that I many times need to step back and let the girls exercise their artistic abilities.

The first thing I did was ask Davin to draw a picture of what she wanted it to look like.  Then I took her drawing and enlarged it to accomodate the doll's head.  It had to be "golden" of course, and then I just let her choose various ribbon and felt and cut out shapes as she saw fit.  I put the heat n' bond on the back, and then she placed them where she wanted and I ironed them on.

It was actually a quick project, and aside from Davin's first (but certainly not last) burn on the iron, I think it turned out great.

Booties are up next!

Body butter

Suffering from ezcema and psoriasis, winter tends to be pretty tough on my skin, and it is very hard to stay moisturized and reduce the itching.  Over the years I have tried pretty much everything, and recently have been interested in trying my hand at some homemade solutions.

After seeing various recipes on the Internet I decided to jump in and give it a try.  I had most of the supplies on hand, and being impatient I picked up what I needed at Cranberry Lane, just a few minutes from our home.

I started with this recipe, but then wanted to try and give my psoriasis a little extra TLC, and have seen where people have some success with Evening Primrose Oil, so I change the recipe slightly to incorporate that as one of my oils.  So here it is:

Body Butter

• 1 cup shea butter
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup evening primrose oil (original recipe called for almond oil)

1. Melt shea butter and coconut oil in the top of a double boiler. Remove from heat and let cool for 30 minutes.

2. Stir in almond oil and essential oils of your choosing (I used lavender and sweet orange, what I had on hand).

3. Wait until oils start to partially solidify then whip until a butter-like consistency is achieved. This should only take a few minutes, although make sure it is long enough to get it a bit fluffy.

4. Place in clean, glass jar and enjoy! A little goes a long way.

So far I am finding it very soothing and moisturizing, and my psoriasis looks and feels significantly better than it had been.

Next up - Lemon Lime Sugar Scrub!

Chair... recovered...

This is one I really should have taken a before picture of.  We bought this chair when Davin was about a year old, and although she enjoyed it, I think she used it more for doing tumbles off of than actually sitting in.  Miren, on the other hand, sits in it every single day while she watches her show.  The original light green gingham was looking a little brown, and overall it was just looking like a sad little chair.  Enter some Anna Maria Horner fabric and a new cover and it looks good as new!

I have never recovered a chair before, so I thought the easiest thing to do would be to deconstruct the existing cover and then use those pieces as my templates.  It was a bit time consuming, but I think it was worth it. 

I had a stack of Little Folks flannels that I was planning to make into a blanket, but given the fact that Dame and I already have an ongoing battle about exactly just how many blankets one family needs (I say you can never have too many, he argues they are just something else to fold and tidy up!), I thought we might be better served by using it for the chair cover, and I'm really glad I did, it adds such a great pop of vibrant colour to the room.

It took a few nights, although I think that was mostly in deciding which fabrics to put together, and then piecing it together.

I love how it looks, and Miren is pretty happy about it as well!

Lip Balm for Davin

This time of year Davin's lips always tend to get really dry and chapped. She isn't a fan of mint, an ingredient any many lip balms, so I said I would make her some... "my very own golden lipstick mama?"  Why yes!

I looked at the many recipes on line and started to get my usual bout of information paralysis, and then decided to just pick one that I had the ingredients on hand and go for it.

I ended up doing something close to this one, but decided to add a little lanolin as well.  Some I had seen also included honey, but I was out, so omitted.  Here is my version:

Davin's Lip Balm

1.5 Tbsp beeswax pellets
3 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp lanolin
6 Vitamin E oil pills (I pierced and squeezed out, but I think there was more on me that in the container...)
5 drops essential oil (sweet orange oil)

I just melted the first 4 ingredients in a double boiler (one that I use strictly for beeswax), and then added the essential oil at the end.

I then used an eye dropper to put into the plastic lipbalm tube containers.  It filled 6 tubes, plus I poured the remaining in a metal tin which I will use.

I've used it a bunch of times now, and I really love how it feels on my lips, although I will probably experiment with diffent essential oils next time, just to see the difference.

Overall definitely a hit and worth doing!