Homemade Granola

Ellie and Robin and I made some granola to give to Ellie's preschool teachers and our friends. Thought I would share the recipe with you. (It's vegan--dairy-free and egg-free).

Maple Cranberry Granola

From Teresa, Ellie, and Robin

Dry ingredients:

6 c. rolled oats

¼ c. ground flax seeds

¼ c. wheat germ

¼ t. salt

¼ t. cinnamon

*see note

Wet ingredients:

1/3 c. canola oil

1/3 c. hot water

1/3 c. maple syrup

1/3 c. brown sugar

Additions:

1 c. dried cranberries

1 c. raisins

3-4 T. roasted sunflower seeds

Optional: ½ c. toasted slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl with a wire whisk. Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Pour the wet mixture over the dry and mix with a wooden spoon until well coated.

Spread the mixture onto the parchment with a rubber spatula. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. About halfway through, shuffle the mixture with a spatula or wooden spoon.

Take the baking sheet out of the oven and sprinkle the additional ingredients over the granola. Mix. Let granola cool completely. Store in an airtight jar.

*Note: If you use raw nuts or sunflower seeds (those that haven’t been toasted), you can add them to the dry ingredients before mixing in the wet ingredients and baking. Do not add dried cranberries or raisins before baking.

And...a Freecycle friend gave me these lovely jars!

Cardboard Wreath

I found the tutorial for this wonderful wreath on Elise Blaha's blog. You can find it here. She is a wonderful artist with lots of cool paper goods in her shop, Elise Joy. I made this wreath with paper from my stash and cardboard from the recycle bin. Elise recommended a nice type of adhesive from Paper Source, but I used my hot glue gun since it was handy.

I'm so inspired by this project, that I want to make a large wreath for over our fireplace that we can display year-round. Thank you, Elise, for sharing this project!

A Few Thoughts on Christmas

Last year, I bought most, if not all, of the girls' Christmas presents at the consignment shop. I just had really good luck, and I found great gifts. This year I didn't have as much good luck. So, I ended up buying new stuff in the store. Not everything, but a few things. I broke some of my rules this year--one being that I wouldn't buy stuff that required batteries. (We do have a supply of rechargable batteries and a charger, so we can deal with a few battery-requiring items.) But, toys that require batteries are not my favorite. The other thing is that storebought stuff always has packaging, whereas thrift shop stuff doesn't. When we were done opening presents last year, there was basically no trash--I think there was one piece of packaging that we had to throw away. I recycled all of our wrapping paper and that was that.

Another rule that I broke was buying storebought stuff made out of plastic. Plastic toys aren't my favorite either , but I did buy two plastic toys this year that I couldn't find on eBay, Craig's List, or Freecycle.

I do have to mention here, that I have a few things from the consignment shops, AND my friend Polly gave me a big container of Legos and a set of dollhouse furniture for the girls. Both vintage. I cleaned everything up, and Brendon made a few repairs to the furniture, so these recycled toys will appear under the tree.

It's also a little harder this year because Ellie is getting bigger, and she knows what she would like Santa to bring. She didn't ask for too many things, which is nice. And the other day, she told me she didn't want Santa to bring too much because we already had a lot of toys. I told her we would share the toys that she and Robin had outgrown with other kids. She likes that idea a lot, thankfully. (I've really been trying to get her involved with Freecycle.)

Next year, I hope to do better. I wanted to make reusable cloth bags this year to wrap our gifts, but I didn't get to it.

Here are my other ideas for next year:

-Start early on everything

-Try again to shop at thrift stores and consignment shops, Craig's List, eBay, and Freecycle

-Try to make as many gifts as possible

-Give books! There's no packaging!

-Buy gifts on Etsy whenever possible

-Buy gifts from local artists whenever possible

-Wrap gifts in cloth bags or recycled materials (my friend Serene is doing all recycled wrapping this year and she inspired me)

-Try to get Ellie and Robin to make gifts for each other and for Daddy

-Give to as many charities as I can

-Do more vegan holiday cooking and baking

Any other good ideas? Send them to me!

Dot Tree: Simple Christmas Craft for Kids

Okay, so this is going to be my first tutorial. It's a very simple Christmas craft for kids. Even the tiniest of artists can make this.

Dot Tree

Materials needed:

• white dot stickers (or colored dot stickers, which are helpful for the littlest of artists)
• colored construction paper
• markers, crayons, or colored pencils
• gluestick
• hole punch
• string
• optional: cardboard

Instructions:

1. Cut out a triangle for the shape for the tree. Cut out a small rectangle for the trunk of the tree. (Older kids can probably cut out these shape on their own.)

2. Color the dots. (Toddlers can just scribble on the dots or they can use pre-colored dots.)


3. Stick the dots onto the tree.

4. Glue the trunk to the bottom of the tree.

5. Optional: cut out a star shape and glue it to the top of the tree. (I happened to have a star punch, so I punched out the stars.)

6. Punch a hole at the top of the tree and put a short piece of string through the hole and tie a knot. (I used red embroidery floss, but any string or yarn will work.)

Optional: If you want a more durable tree, you can glue it to cardboard prior to applying the dots.

Voila!

Splendid Blue Wren Coloring Page

I got the inspiration to create my own coloring pages from Made by Joel. Joel offers really cool coloring pages--I love his art work and his blog. You can find it here. So...here's the first one. Hope your little ones enjoy it! (I think if you click on the image you should be able to print it. Please let me know if it doesn't work.)

Recycled Advent Calendar

I really wanted to create a handmade advent calendar this year, so I started Googling advent calendar ideas. I found a wonderful tutorial for a recycled advent calendar here at Craftastica. Ellie and I made this out of paper bags and catalogs that were in our recycle bin. (I also used some packing tape to reinforce it.) It was a two-day process, which was hard on a four-year-old, but we were both so excited about the result. Every day we move the purple paper clip along to the next number, and the girls get a little treat.

When I found this design, it dawned on me that anytime I want to find a project online, I should put the word "recycled" in the search. Recycled art projects are so fun because you can usually find what you need around the house--no running out to the craft store. And, it's eco-friendly. So...you'll be seeing another recycled project in an upcoming post.

Sock Puppets

Recently, Ellie asked me if we could make sock puppets. I just happened to have some socks that I was getting rid of, and I had the same thing in mind. I Googled "sock puppet tutorial" and I found great instructions for a no-sew sock puppet here at Simple Up. The puppets came out fantastic. We just used old socks, scraps, and craft stuff that we had around the house. (And a hot glue gun.) Ellie wanted to make a prince and a princess, and we had a little puppet show after we made them.

Ellie named the princess "Buttercup." (Now she wants to watch "The Princess Bride." Is that okay for a four-year-old?)

The prince...

And the puppet show...we use one of our chairs as the stage whenever we do puppet shows...

Catching Up

It's been a while, I know. So, I have a few things to catch up on...

Sometimes I take Ellie and Robin for wagon rides around our neighborhood. We go up North Avenue to Laurel Avenue, which is a really pretty street. We have some favorite things that we see...some stray cats; some gardens; our friend Annette, who is a poet and gardener; and my favorite tree. I don't know exactly what kind of tree it is, but I want to have one someday. I think it's some sort of ornamental Japanese maple. The reason I love this tree so much is the amazing color that it turns in the fall. It's a firey, orangey, coral sort of color. When I started my gratitude journal last year, my first entry was about this tree. It just blows me away. I took pictures of it in the summer and the fall. (My photos don't do it justice.)

Over the summer, I went to Ohio to visit my friend Polly. I hadn't seen her in so many years, and it was a short but wonderful visit. When I was there, she gave me some things for the girls--one being a complete set of vintage Danish modern dollhouse furniture. We're going to give it to the girls for Christmas, and we're on the hunt for an appopriate dollhouse to go with the furniture. I made some blankets and pillows for the beds. Just a quick 5 minute project with scraps...

And, I've been working on a little bird ornament. I made him from scraps, too. I was thinking he could be a prototype for future items in my someday Etsy shop...I hope to turn him into a pillows and soft toys.

Seymour

We had to put our cat Seymour to sleep back in August, so I thought I'd do a little tribute to her here. She was a sweet and quirky cat. At one time, she weighed 16 pounds! But the last time we took her in to the vet, she was down to 4 1/2 lbs. It was so sad. The vet never really figured out what was wrong with her. We thought it was psychological because she seemed to go downhill once we had kids. The vet seemed to think it was severe IBD. Poor kitty, she was always getting sick. Nothing seemed to help--we tried all kinds of different food and medications. In the end, the vet's office kept her for nearly three weeks. They did all they could to rehab her, but her quality of life was horrible.

I want to remember Seymour when she was healthy and plump. And I want to remember how much Ellie and Robin loved her. Ellie could not get enough of Seymour. She always wanted to play with her and snuggle with her. And Robin just chased Seymour and grabbed her fur and tail any chance she could.

We all miss you, Seymour. You were the girls' first pet, and they won't forget you!

I'm Back

Hello,

Sorry I've been gone so long. Hope you haven't given up on me. I haven't written for a number of reasons--but mainly because I'm working again. I'm writing part of another book for Disney, and I'm doing some grantwriting for our local community college and its art museum. So...for a while I was getting up early to work and squeezing in work whenever I could. Now, we have a wonderful new babysitter who comes twice a week, and I'm regaining my sanity. I haven't been able to do any creative projects, and I've definitely cut back on my thrift shopping.

I did have one little find recently, though--these cute Pyrex bowls with glass lids and Amish designs.

And...yesterday I got a wonderful box of vintage sewing goodies from a fellow Freecycler! (Makes me want to sew so bad. Makes me want to walk around the fabric stores for hours and look at patterns, notions, fabric, etc.) Here are some highlights:

Pretty floral trim...

Vintage Simplicty dress pattern from 1969...I love A-line dresses.

Vintage Simplicity sewing book from 1962...

Vintage Fruit of the Loom rickrack...

Hopefully, I won't be gone for so long next time.

The Farm Store

I know I've mentioned the farm store several times on my blog, so I thought I would share some pictures with you. I love going there, and so do the girls. They like to visit the cows and the chickens. I'm sorry I didn't get better pics of the chickens. They really are so beautiful--I love the light brown ones and the black and white striped ones. When we leave, Robin always says, "want chickens back, mom, want cows back." Ellie loves all the cats that run around the farm, too. The best thing about the farm store is it makes me want to cook.

Also thought I'd share this photo with you. Ellie and I have been making birdhouses out of Legos lately. Ellie likes to make them for our little owl fingerpuppet, which was a gift to Robin from our dear friend Schools. Hooty is his name.

Bunnies

So I got Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts out of the library. There are lots of pretty projects in this book, but most of them are too fussy for me. I prefer simple stuff. I like the fabric guide in the beginning of the book, and the CD of patterns that comes with the book is really great.

I made these patchwork bunnies for the girls. The bunnies are based on the menswear bunnies in Martha's book. I made them from fabric scraps that Ellie picked out. They look kind of rough in places, but I guess that's what homemade stuff is all about. I always thought I was so bad at sewing because nothing I made ever came out perfect. I still kind of feel that way, so I have to keep telling myself it's okay. The beauty of it is that it's made by hand.

And now for something completely different. I am getting my new car on Wednesday. It's an '03 Honda Civic LX sedan. Very cute. Can't really go wrong with a Honda. Looking forward to turning in my rental--a bulky Dodge Avenger-police car-type-of-car. Won't miss it at all.

Robin's Birthday Party

Just a quick note before I feature Robin's birthday party--my car was totaled. So...we'll be car shopping this week.

Robin's party was a bit early this year because I wanted to have it before my sister has her baby next week. I tried to do a Maisy theme. I can't bear to go out and buy any party stuff--I feel like it's so wasteful--so I just made a few things. I made this birthday banner when Ellie turned one, and we've used it for every kid birthday party ever since--just change the name each time. I cut out the letters from Origami paper.

A few Maisy coloring pages...(guilty pleasure, I still love to color)

Maisy goodie bags...filled with granola bars, cereal bars, fruit leather, and organic lollipops from Traders Joe's. I love consumable party favors.



Vegan vanilla cupcakes (My Favorite Cupcakes from Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet cookbook) with Maisy cupcake flags.



Lemon thyme zucchini flatbread--a Weight Watchers recipe--with zucchini from the farm store.



Tomato, basil, mozzarella salad with tomatoes and basil from the farm store. I wanted to get the mozzarella from the farm store, too, but the cheese lady was late that day and there was no cheese to be had.

I made Maisy invitations, too, but I don't have a photo for you. And...we got a new camera today! Hooray! It's a Nikon Coolpix. I hope I'll have better photos in my future posts. Ellie dropped our Canon Powershot on the floor a while back, and it no longer worked after that. I've been using an old camera ever since.

The Good and the Bad

On Monday, I got into a car accident. I've never been in a bad accident before. The girls were in the car with me, which made it even more frightening. I was hit from behind on I-95 and subsequently crashed into the pick-up truck that was in front of me. I was hit by a work van, and when I saw him coming, there was nothing I could do. I just covered my eyes. The driver felt terrible and was very apologetic. I just thank God that none of us, especially the girls, were hurt. My car has front and back-end damage. Hopefully we'll find out today whether it can be repaired or not. I am counting my blessings that we are all safe.




Here is something that cheered me up on that awful Monday. I was given a gift on Freecycle of a box of vintage fabrics and sewing patterns. The woman who gave it to me couldn't understand why I was so excited. She said, "it's just fabric scraps." But to me, it was a treasure box. Here are some of the highlights:

Vintage fabrics...some groovy...

Some floral...

And some patriotic...

Vintage patterns and a vintage sewing book...

A very nice gift indeed. I am grateful for the little things, too.