happy valentine's day!

the boys and the deer eating breakfast :)

stuffed fish

ok, so here are the ingredients ;)...

- lightweight paper

- colors - pencils, crayons, paper, etc.

- scissors

- glue stick

this is a project from my FAVORITE craft book: The Best of Making Things: A Hand Book of Creative Discovery by Ann Sayre Wiseman....if you don't have this book, get it!!! - great for making and inspiration! it has illustrated tutorials for tons of creative and educational craft projects, mostly using everyday household items.

fleece knee patches

i don't know what kind of gymnastic acts Ji has been doing at preschool, but lately he has been coming home with a new hole in his long johns and play pants almost every day! and eventhough i love sewing, i REALLY hate mending...well,i guess probably everybody does! and since my mended holes have come home as even bigger holes and plain ol' iron-on patches weren't working very well either, i decided i had to make a more heavy duty kind of solution...fleece patches! i think they're cute and the extra cushioning is also great! hope it lasts!

1. cut out patches                                                                       
2. apply fabric glue                                                                       
3. zig-zag stitch                                                                          
                                                                   

1. didn't have my chalk w/ me, so i just pressed a cup against the fleece and twisted it to the right and left a couple of times to leave a mark- quick and easy! btw - if you want an oval shape patch, do 2 overlapping circles.

2. apply fabric glue (i have a dritz fabric glue stick) to patch and glue on to pants...since the knee area is a pretty tight squeeze to do on the sewing machine (and there was no way i was going to hand-sew 3 pairs of johns!...did that already in the fall), i did glue instead of pinning! 

3. zig-zag stich around patch - voila!

p.s. if your hole i a bit larger, you will want to stitch up the hole before doing the patch, so your little one doesn't catch his toes in it! :)     

MY stirring whisk :)

we put away our christmas tree this week and so i gave the stirring whisk project a try...

and it went pretty well :)

i cut the trunk into sections and then debarked them. since i watered our tree every day, it was still pretty fresh, so it was pretty easy to debark it, plus it made our living room smell sooo nice!

now i just have to carve the date onto it, let it dry out and then give it a nice coat of kitchen linseed oil.

here are my tips:

- try to do this project while the tree is still a little fresh, it makes it easier! with dry trees it might help to put the whisk sections into water for a day or so(like my dad suggested)... 

- cut the side(whisk) branches longer than you need and trim after debarking.

- to make a rounded end i used my gardening scissors to chomp around it - much easier than doing it with a knife. 

p.s. like my fish knife? :) i've had this since i was a kid! almost every kid had one of these...they're not too sharp(only if you sharpen it ;). an they still sell them!

Mezirici chocolate sauce

this is the B.E.S.T. chocolate sauce i have ever had! it's our family's traditional recipe, originally from my great grandmother (so i named it after the town where she lived - Mezirici (pronouced mezyreechee)), but i learned it from my wonderful mom, who always made and makes it to top: our delicious b-day cakes as kids, christmas pastries, crepes with strawberries and whipped cream and icecream sundays! ....or we would just secretly take a spoonful.... :)

                          ingredients:

                          3/4 cup sugar

                          50 ml water

                          125 g cool butter

                          2-3 tbsp dutch cocoa

...you might think that i made a mistake with the amt. of water, but i didn't - it really

is the key to making it "creamy"...if you want it more runny, just add a little water.

1. prepare bowl (heat resistant) with butter - small slices or cubes, add cocoa on top
2. combine sugar and water in a pot, med-high heat, stir until disolved and comes to a boil
3. pour the hot sugar-water over the butter-cocoa and stir until all ingredients combine (1-2min)

p.s. the other day my sis sent me the link to banana icecream, and i'm just "ok" w/ bananas, but this was actually really good(and heathy!) and has just one ingredient! and made a great combo w/ the chocolate sauce...since the icecream is so healthy, we don't have to feel guilty about the chocolate, right ;) ?

pf 2012

wishing everyone  h a p p i n e s s  in 2012 :) !

christmas tree stirring whisk

this czech tradition is a wonderful way to upcycle your christmas tree - make some stirring whisks!!!...lovely and USEFUL christmas memorabelia, that you can use all year round! great for mixing thin or medium thin batters and sauces.

eventhough my grandfather was never much of a crafty person, he was very much a traditional person and this is one czech tradition he followed :) he made these over 30 years ago...and i stir crepe batter with them almost every morning :) but i wish he had carved the dates on the handles....

steps:
CUT,
PEEL,
SHORTEN,
let DRY

- i've never made one before, this year will be my first and we usually "put away" our tree late january (...i love having our christmas tree as long as possible!!!), so here are some straight forward photo directions i found, and when i make mine, i'll let you know how it turned out ;)
- if your tree will be dry like ours when you do it - my dad said he thinks my grandfather soaked it in hot water before carving off the bark.
p.s. to use - clasp hands flatly with the handle in the palms of your hands and roll your hands alternately forward and backward to make the whisk twirl!



yummy gingerbread cookies

i n g r e i e n t s :

500 g flour

100 g sugar

250 g honey

1/8 l   water

1 egg

2 tsp of gingerbread spice mix*

2 tsp of holland cocoa

2 tsp baking soda

* i used this spice mix(but not the recipe),

   or here's a homemade mix

 m i x,   k n e a d,   m a k e,   b a k e:

1. m i x  flour, spice mix and soda in a bowl

2. simmer water, sugar and honey together

3. while still warm, pour sugar-honey-water into the flour

mix and  k n e a d  together (by hand or - i used my kitchenaid)

4. add egg and  k n e a d  again

5. refridgerate dough for a couple of hours

6. m a k e - roll out dough and cut out cookies

(note: we also used cookie stamps and a knife to decorate)

7. b a k e  at med-high heat and remove from oven shortly

after the cookies rise (it also depends on how thin you make your

cookies, but we baked ours at 180° C for about 3-4 minutes)

  

optional:

- as soon as you take them out of the oven - while still hot, glaze with (very well) beaten egg.

tip: if you want to have darker brown cookies, add 1-2tsp  of cocoa to the egg.

optional2:

 - when cookies are cool(i usually do it the next day), decorate with icing. 

tip: if you're having a hard time making straight lines with your icing, try making a line of dots or dashs(that is, if your icing is not too runny), looks better than a runny line! and makes the cookies cuter!

if you intend to store them, store in a container with a cinnamon stick, a few cloves and vanilla bean stick :)

p.s. they make lovely ornaments!

winter is here!

today we received our first s n o w  - yay!!!

...and it's finally starting to feel christmasy :)

p.s. i actually already posted this little guy last winter, but i accidently

erased the post, and now seemed like the right time to repost him :)