Superhero Time

I saw this project last week on Filth Wizardry and I had to make one for my own daughter. She likes Batman so I constructed her a Batman Poncho-Cape and she LOVES it! I got the instructions from http://www.filthwizardry.com/2010/01/home-made-superhero-fleece-poncho-cape.html.

1 UP Burgers

I was having so much fun remaking Mario, I decided to incorporate him into our food by making 1UP burgers! Thanks to http://www.instructables.com/id/1UP-Mushroom-Mushroom-Burger/ for the help in constructing the burger :)

Mama Odie's Muffuletta Sandwich

Mine definitely did not come out as nice as the book pictured, but it still came out OK. This sandwich was very messy and hard to eat because of the height, but it was still delicious! This sandwich contained ham, salami, provolone cheese, and swiss cheese on a round Italian loaf spread with olive oil and muffuletta spread. 

Muffuletta Spread Recipe

5 ounces of green olives with pimientos, drained and sliced

1 tomato, chopped and seeded

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon of both salt and pepper

-from Disney's The Princess and the Frog Tiana's Cookbook Recipes for Kids/ Copyright 2009 Disney Enterprises Inc. Published by Disney Press, an imprint of Disney Book Group. 

Banana French Toast

The Banana French Toast was absolutely delicious! I haven't made French toast in awhile and this version was wonderful. It was a bit hard to cook because it was so tall, next time I will cut the bread thinner so its easier to cook.

Ingredients:

Loaf bread (French or Italian) cut into thick slices, about 2 inches

1-2 bananas sliced

3 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1-2 tablespoons butter

1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil

butter and maple syrup (for topping)

Cut a slit through the middle of the bread crust about 1/2 way through the slice. Stuff the pocket with 3-4 slices of banana. In a shallow dish, wish the eggs, milk, and cinnamon together. Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat both sides of the bread in the milk-egg mixture and place in the skillet. Cook the bread on each side for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with butter and maple syrup.

Recipe adapted from the book: Disney's The Princess and the Frog Tiana's Cookbook Recipes for Kids. Copyright © 2009 Disney Enterprises, Inc. Published by Disney Press, an Imprint of Disney Book Group.

Too much fun with perler beads!!!

This week, Lexi, my husband, and I have been having too much fun with perler beads! I saw them on some craft websites which reminded me how much fun I used to have with them as a child. My creations as of yet are now much more detailed recreations of favorite characters.

Can you tell we like Mario and friends? :)

Fun with shirts

Over the summer I had a blast stenciling shirts! Here are some of the shirts I made. I had so much fun I plan to make more in the near future...

Duke's Macaroni and Cheese

This recipe was both simple and delicious! It was VERY cheesy! The only issue was that the top got very dry and the noodles on top were hard. I'm going to try to hunt down how to fix this issue for the next time I make it. In all, I think it was delicious and a good first attempt at homemade baked mac and cheese! :)

Ingredients:

1 pound cooked elbow or shell macaroni

Butter or Crisco for greasing the pan

3 cups half and half or whole milk (skim milk would work too)

12 - 18 slices cheddar or American cheese

Topping:

12 buttery crackers

2 teaspoons paprika

salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13x9 baking pan or casserole dish. Spoon in 1/3 the cooked macaroni and one cup of milk then top with 4 to 6 slices of cheese. Repeat this two more times. 

For the topping, place the crackers in a bag and crush them with your hands or with a rolling pin. Mix in the salt, pepper, and paprika. Sprinkle mixture on top of the macaroni and cheese. Bake until bubbly, or about 35 to 45 minutes.

Recipe adapted from the book: Disney's The Princess and the Frog Tiana's Cookbook Recipes for Kids. Copyright © 2009 Disney Enterprises, Inc. Published by Disney Press, an Imprint of Disney Book Group.

Tiana's Famous Beignets

Tiana's Famous Beignets were delicious!!! Light, fluffy, square doughnuts, what's not to love? They are my favorite breakfast food! My daughter helped mix the ingredients and pat the dough down, I did everything else. They are not perfect but they were delicious! 

We fried them in our deep fryer but they didn't puff how I wanted them to and ended up being a bit lopsided. I think if the dough was thicker it would have been easier to fry them and they may have looked more square. I'll have to try adding some more flour next time.

Here's the recipe we used:

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups flour (and additional for dusting)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup buttermilk* 
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)
• Honey (optional)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine 2 3/4 cups of the flour with the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Whisk everything together. In a large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk*, water, egg, and vanilla extract. Then mix in the flour mixture. Dust your work surface with some flour and place the dough on it. Pat or roll the dough into a large 1/2 -inch-thick square, you can dust with more flour if it gets sticky. Next, slice the dough into 2 1/2 -inch squares.


To fry the beignets, you can either use a deep fryer or 2 inches of vegetable oil in a heavy saucepan. If you use a saucepan, heat the oil until it reaches 325°F on a deep-fat thermometer and keep an eye on the temperature while cooking and adjust the heat accordingly. Then, carefully drop 2-3 dough squares at a time into the hot oil. Fry them for about 2-3 minutes, turn flip and continue frying for 2-3 more minutes. Using a metal or silicone slotted spoon (plastic could get damaged), transfer the beignets to a wire rack set atop paper towels to drain (if you don't have a wire rack a plate with paper towels on it works). Dust the beignets with confectioners’ sugar or drizzle with honey (or both) and enjoy!

*you can substitute with lemon juice or vinegar and milk. Put 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice in a measuring cup and fill the rest of the cup to the one cup mark with milk.

Recipe adapted from the book: Disney's The Princess and the Frog Tiana's Cookbook Recipes for Kids. Copyright © 2009 Disney Enterprises, Inc. Published by Disney Press, an Imprint of Disney Book Group. 

Dollar Store Crafts - Bob the Tomato

I saw this craft on Dollar Store Crafts and I had to make one for my daughter, Katelynn, who is currently in love with VeggieTales! The craft can be found at at http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2009/12/bob-the-tomato-toy/! It only cost $2 and I was able to make one for each my girls, one big and one small.

Dollar Store Crafts - Wish Sign

 Wish Sign


$1 Wish sign
$1 Butterflies (3 pack)
paint - on hand
hot glue - on hand

I found this at the dollar store and I have seen wooden signs everywhere nowadays and I thought I'd make my own. I considered painting it a solid color like black, since most I've seen were black or white, but I preferred the brighter colors! I think the butterflies make it a little bit more whimsical. :)

I don't think instructions are needed... Paint and add butterflies... simple enough huh? :)

Dollar Store Crafts - Trinket Boxes

Trinket Boxes

$1 for boxes
$1 for the wood cutouts (only 2 of 4)
Paint - on hand

My eldest and I made these for her and her sister's room, she made her own and I made Katelynn's.

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Alice in Wonderland Dress: COMPLETE!

Here's my daughter Lexi in her completer Alice Costume!

Vampire Tutu

For Halloween, my eldest was Alice, of course, and my youngest was a vampire. I made her a simple red and black tulle skirt for her to wear over solid black clothes with a Billy Bob Vampire pacifier. Comfort for her was key. I wanted a full skirt but in the end I think I made it too full... but it looked darling!

For the skirt, I used one of those thick headbands with the holes. I strips of red tulle to the bottom layer then made a second layer of black tulle on top. It was very simple to do. I do recommend wrapping the headband around a box like you see in the picture, it made tying the tulle much easier!

Here are pictures of her in her costume. Not the best quality but she would not stop moving :)

  

Alice in Wonderland Dress: The Details

Working on the last details of the Alice costume. I am working on the hand embroidery, quite time consuming. I haven't embroidered in a while so I'm rusty. Even if its not perfect I think it will still look cute :)






I think the finished product is pretty cute. The embroidery took a couple weeks to finish, working a couple hours a day on it. I also made gloves out of ribbon and left over sheer material.

 

Thanks to alice_kingsley for the embroidery pattern at: http://alice-kingsley.livejournal.com/1295.html

Alice in Wonderland Dress: The Beginning

The first sewing project I am going to discuss in the dress I am sewing for my daughter Lexi. We watched 'Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland' and she has become obsessed and wanted an Alice dress (pictured) so I am making her one. Since there is not a pattern for the new Alice dress or one similar enough for a child yet, I used a pattern for a Cinderella dress and modified it for my needs. So far I have completed sewing the skirt and I have the bodice completed minus the puff sleeves and details. I will add pictures soon of what has been completed.

Here is another picture of the dress I am making.

Here is my daughter's Alice thus far. I have the completed bodice, minus the puff sleeves, and skirt minus the hemming. I plan on adding the sleeves,  sewing the dress together, and hemming tomorrow. Then on to the details. On the bodice, I am adding the buttons, black cording through the lace which will also help the lace lay flat, and I am placing small cording in place of the seams that were too complicated for a child's bodice, since it needs to lay flat and not curved.  The skirt has the most difficult details, the black embroidery on the skirt's edge.

Underneath the skirt in the film was a black and white petticoat what seemed like too much weighty material for a child's costume, so I decided to make a blue tulle skirt instead. I liked that the tulle shirt could be used later to dress up like a fairy or a ballerina, I liked its multi functionality. With the elastic waist, I could even wear the skirt and could match my daughters, who both have tulle skirts since Lexi loves to dress up. 

When I'm done with this dress, I will be sick of this color blue!

Dollar Store Crafts - Disney Princess Canvas

Disney Princess Canvas


$1 for the princess 'canvas'
set of permanent markers - on hand

I saw this at the dollar store and I thought my daughter, who loves Disney princesses, would like to have this in her room. It was a simple picture but with an hour of coloring and blending with my fingers and a q-tip, adding as much depth as I could I think this made quite a lovely piece of artwork. :)

Dollar Store Crafts - Autumn Wreath

 Autumn Wreath


$1 Wreath
$1 per flower bunch (I used 3 different kinds)
$1 ribbon
$1 per string of leaves (I used 2)
glue - on hand

I wanted an autumn wreath and when I saw these items at the dollar store I thought I could make my own. I only used about 1/2 the flowers so I used the remaining in a small vase on my window sill for an autumn color mini bouquet.

This craft is another simple craft. First twist the string of leaves around the wreath, use hot glue to secure. Next tuck flowers into the wreath and use hot glue to secure. Lastly add a beautiful bow.

Dollar Store Crafts - Name Plaques

Name Plaques


$1 each rectangle plaque
$1 each crown
$1 beaded ribbon
$1 wood cutouts - 4 pack
paint and glue - on hand
Gems - on hand


I made these for my girl's room, they hang on the wall above 'their half' of the room. Each plaque cost me around $3.50.






First paint all the pieces and let them dry. Then take a beaded ribbon and glue it to the bottom of the plaque. Then glue the crown and the wood cutouts onto the plaque. Lastly, use the gems to decorate the plaque.

Dollar Store Crafts - Kids Name Tiles

Kids Name Tiles


$1 Butterfly tiles
$1 Flower tiles
$1 Twine
$1 Clothes pins
Paint- on hand
Permenant marker - on hand
Hot glue - on hand


I only used 1/4 the bag of each of the tiles, a small bit of twine, and 1/4 the bag of clothes pins so this craft really only cost around $1!


Another simple craft. First paint the tiles. Write and/or paint letters on the tiles. Hot glue the tiles to the clothes pins. To hang I used 4 nails and wrapped twine around them to make a long rectangle long enough to hold the name. I clipped the clothes pin to the bottom string and had the top string assure the would remain upwards. 

Dollar Store Crafts - Butterfly Magnet

$1 for package of wooden butterfly cut outs
free - $1 for magnets (I save old and free thick magnets from mailers to use in crafts like these)
$2 for package of  small craft feathers from Joanns (I used Guinea Fowl Feathers because I liked the spotted look)
$2 for package of Goose Biots
craft glue, on hand


This is a simple and beautiful magnet. First, take two goose biots that are equal in length and glue them on as antenna. Next, decide how you want your butterfly to look by laying feathers on the butterfly so that both sides look as similar as possible. I recommend using larger feathers on the bottom then overlaying smaller feathers on top. Once you have the feathers how you like them you can begin gluing them on using just a small drop of craft glue.