fabric stamp designed by Ji

no, i'm not still on "vacation". we have been home for almost month already and i haven't posted because i have been busy with mainly...uh hum...spring cleaning (especially organizing winter and outgrown boys' clothing into boxes and then up into our attic).

we did this with Ji about a year ago and i use the bag for grocery shopping every week ;)!  

the idea came from this wonderful book: Printing by Hand by Lena Corwin.

you need:

- have your child draw a design,

- pen and paper,

- craft foam paper,

- piece of cardboard,

- piece of fabric,

- fabric paint

- roller or a sponge 

directions:                                                  

1. trace drawing onto craft foam paper    

- first trace the original drawing onto another

piece of paper, then trace onto the foam paper

making sure it indents through onto the foam, 

btw - the paper will tear...                                 

2. cut out and glue onto cardboard               

3. using roller or sponge apply fabric paint to the stamp

4. have your child do the printing (we used this IKEA fabric)

5. and you do the sewing ;)

p.s.  it's supposed to be a flower :)

at first he drew one stem, then he looked at it, drew another,

looked at it again and said "and now i need to connect it here..."

it was so cute to watch him draw it:)

it reminds me of a little cloud with a ladder.

...on vacation

huge aquarium at Birch aquarium at Scripps

Oceanside beach

La Jolla beach

i'm in Tucson, Az with my boys visiting family and we took a mini vacation to San Diego...yay!!!

carneval balls

made some balls and pillows for the childrens' carneval raffle:

and we had to try them out :)...                  

pařížský dort - parisian chocolate mousse cake

...going to make this cake again in a couple of days - for Sl's 40th b-day!...mmmmm

"ta ta"

Ji drawing St's favorite - tractor on St's onesie with fabric pastels:

"ta ta":                                                                      

kašpárek

the carneval season is almost over, but we still have 2 more to go to!

.....we like to play at home too ;)

costume:

- ikea hat

- shirt and tights

"skirt" - i cut fabric triangles, sewed them with bias tape and added jingle bells

- wand - covered rod with fabric, added jingle bell and ribbon

baskets

yesterday i bought some more beautiful baskets form our local basket maker :)

carrot scissor pouch tutorial

need: 

- scissors

- outer fabic

- lining fabric - i like to use ikea bolmull

- ribbon or make your own bias tape ribbon ;)

- for template: carboard paper - cheerios box ;) and ruler

1. make a template (sorry, no photo):

 - outline a "carrot" on your pattern-cheerios-box-paper

aprox. 1,75cm larger than your scissors, then cut out.

2. cut fabric:

- using your template, trace 2 outer-fabric

and 2 lining-fabric "carrots"

- cut 2 pieces of ribbon - 15cm long

3. sew ribbon into place with the "right-sides"(if you're

using prints, etc.) of the fabrics facing each other, then

turn inside out.

   

4.  press(iron) so the lining fabic won't be "showing"

when both halves are sewn together

 5. pin both halves together with the right-sides

facing in (linig facing out)

 

6. sew together - carefuly, since you have 4 layers

of fabic...so you don't make overlapping creases

like i did - luckily it doesn't show on the outside!

7. turn right-side out and topstitch and voila!

apple štrůdl beer dough

yes, beer!!!
...i make apple štrůdl (pronouced stroodle - it's like apple pie but in a roll) almost every week and a friend recommended beer dough to me. at first i was a little hesitant - beer, only 3 ingredients and no egg? but i decided to try it and it was the best dough i have ever tried and i'm sticking with this recipe for good!!! so here it is...only i have 4 ingredients, cause i like mine a little sweet(eventhough the beer makes it sweet a little already i still add a tbs of sugar).

400g flour - i use medium(as opposed to finely) ground
125g softened unsalted butter
200ml beer

1 tbsp sugar(optional)

directions:
mix untill smooth and let sit in the fridge - makes it easier to roll out!

note: i'm sure the taste differs a little depending on the beer - i used Svijany - a czech tradtional type of beer. and i would say it's a bit sweeter than american beer.

apple filling:

6-8 apples of choice (my fave is james grieve!)

2-3 tbsp sugar

cinnamon 2tsp
handfull of chopped walnuts (optional)

crumb topping - piškoty or graham crackers

directions for rolling:
- make a strip of apple filling in 1/3 of the dough, leaving
approx. 4cm of the ends blank(they will be tucked in)
- sprinkle a thin layer of crumbs(i just crush the piškoty
with my fingers) on top - to soak up some of the juice
from the apples, so the roll isn'y too soggy)
- fold over the 1/3 flap of dough
- roll over
- add a thin strip of apple filling + crumbs
- fold ends inward
- fold the remaining flap over the top

glaze:
- glaze with a beaten egg
- make fork holes along the top - to let out excess steam

bake:
- 180° C untill golden brown - approx 20 min

dobrou chuť :)

happy valentine's day!