Mostly Homemade Creepy, Crawly Boys Birthday

Last week was pretty much been consumed with planning and preparing my kiddo's birthday party.  Since I created the cake, invitation and some of the games, I thought I would share.

First the invitation.  I love publisher for this kind of stuff.  I started with a template and just changed out the clip art and words to fit our party.  Here is what I come up with:

The only problem is these never seem to fit in a regular envelope.  Since I had to send these through snail mail, they needed envelopes. I created my own by folding letter sized paper using "the tape method" found here.


Games are a must to keep 7 little 5 years old out of trouble for an hour and a half.  We started our party with visor and paper bag decorating so that there would be a simple activity to keep everyone engaged while we waited for the rest of the guests to arrive.  Also, everyone would have a hat for sun protection when we went outside.  The visors were 3/$1 at the Dollar store.  I found turtle and frog stickers, star stickers, and our own markers for this activity.

Next was the scavenger hunt.  I hid one frog, lizard, snake, and bug house (dollar store again) per child and gave each kid a scavenger hunt sheet (also created in publisher) and a crayon.  The kids looked for each item, put it in their bag, and marked it off their list.  This went really well.  The kids helped each other out.

cut page in half to produce 2 sheets

Next, we took our bug houses outside to look for bugs.  I also had some shovels for digging and a bug net for this activity.  The kids had a great time with this, and it was easy pickin's due to the influx of lake flies.

We headed back inside for a game of Frog Hoppin'.  All I did was print out three large lilly pads from clip art, tape them to some pots from my kitchen, and put prizes in each pot.  I found green ping pong balls 6/$1 at walmart.  The kids stood in a line and took turns trying to bounce the "frog" (the green ping pong ball) onto the lilly pads (the pots).  When they got one in the pot, they picked a prize.  This was more difficult than I had anticipated for this age group, so we just moved the pots closer.

Next was the cake.  My birthday boy wanted a snake cake.  I looked on several blogs and birthday cake instructionals and came up with my own version.  I used this egg free chocolate bundt cake recipe minus the chocolate glaze.  I let the cake cool. Then put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes so it would be firmer for shaping.  Once I pulled it out, I cut it in half.  Then I put the two halves together to form an "S" shape, and used a serrated knife to shape one end into a pointed tail.  I rounded the other end and used the pieces I shaved off to form a head. I held the head together with tooth picks.

I iced the cake with a simple butter cream frosting tinted green. Frosting cakes is not my strong suit.  They always come out crumby.  This time I frosted it once, this layer of icing had crumbs running through it, as usual for me. I put the cake back in the freezer for another 15 minutes.  Then I frosted it again. This second layer of frosting came out much better.  I used two marshmallows and black gel writing icing for the eyes, a fruit leather for the tongue, and skittles to decorate the rest of the cake.  All of which were egg and nut free!  It is totally possible to make fantastic fun treats that are allergy friendly.

We only had a few minutes left after cake, so while we waited for the party to disperse, we did flyswatter relay races.  I found a pack of two swatters at the dollar store, again.  My son had a couple plastic flies in his collection of animal toys.  I split the kids into two groups, and they took turns carrying the fly on the swatter to one end of the room and back.  If the fly fell off, they had to stop and put it back on the swatter.

Everyone went home wanting more time to party, which tells me it was just about the right length.  Always leave them wanting more, right?  Most important, the birthday boy had a great time!


Hope this helps you plan a fantastic mostly homemade party for your own little one!

Button and Ribbon Topped Curtains

I had been thinking, for awhile, that my sewing room (which is really just a big landing at the top of the stairs) needed some curtains to give a pop of color to the room.   Once we cut down the tree that provided shade to that side of the house, the need was no longer about aesthetics but temperature control.  I had some fabric I found in the clearance bin that needed a purpose, some ribbon to use up, and black buttons. Voila- my curtains were born! 

Supplies:
Fabric
Lining
Buttons
Ribbon
Thread

This is basically a tab back curtain, with two lengths of thin ribbon creating the tabs in front instead of the back. The finished product should be 1 1/2-2 times the width of the window and however long you would like.  I made mine to fit the whole window, but you could certainly make these as valances or cafe style curtains.  Cut your fabric an inch wider and an inch longer than you want your finished product to be.

The ribbons will create the "pocket" for your curtain rod, so the length your ribbons need to be will vary with how thick your rod is.  I had a very thin rod, and cut mine 3 1/2" long.  Be sure you cut the ribbon longer than you need.  You will be able to trim the excess later.

Generally, tabs should be spaced 6-8 inches apart. Since my ribbons were so thin (1/8"), I spaced them closer for more support and visual appeal. Two ribons spaced about 1/16" apart created each "tab".  I just eyeballed this.  I placed my first and last set of ribbons 1 1/2 inches from each edge and spaced the rest 4 1/2 inches apart. When laying this out, put your fabric right side up, and pin your ribbons right side up as well.

Next take your lining, and pin it so that the right side is down.  The right side of the fabric and the right side of the lining should be together.  Pin this, and sew 1/2" seem around the edge leaving a 5" opening at the bottom so you can turn it right side out.  After you sew it, trim the corners and turn it right side out.

Iron the edges. Be sure to fold under your opening as it would be have been had it been sewn.  Fold the ribbons so that they come straight down on top of your fabric, and iron a crease. 

Top stitch the entire perimeter of the curtain at 1/4".  As you stitch over the ribbons be sure they are laying straight.

Next determine how wide your "pocket" needs to be for your rod.  I had a thin rod, so a 1" pocket was wide enough for me.  Mark a line 1" (or whatever width you need) from the top stitch line.  I used pins at ever ribbon to mark this.  You could also use a fabric pencil if you wanted.  Sew a line along your marks.  Again, be sure the ribbons are laying straight as you sew over them.  Once you have done this, trim the ribbon below this stitch so that when you sew your buttons on, they cover the ends.

Sew your buttons on to cover the ribbon ends. 

Then hang your curtain.

One thing to keep in mind with this style curtain, is that your rod will show.  You need to have a rod you don't mind seeing.  Also, this would have been so much easier if I had used one length of wider ribbon at each "tab."  If you are buying supplies, and not just looking to use up sewing supplies, I would buy 1/2" wide ribbon, and use one length to create each tab.  If you do use thin ribbon, as I did, you may want to shorten your stitch length a bit.  I did not do this on my first curtain and a couple ribbon lengths managed to slip between stitches and not get secured when sewing the first seam.  I left them in place, ironed them (unsecured), shortened my stitch length, and made sure I caught them when I did the top stitching.

I think this curtain could be really fun with different shaped and colored buttons.  You don't have to used buttons either.  Any embelishment that covers the ribbons' ends would work.  Fabric roses or rosettes could be really sweet for a little girls room.  Happy sewing!

Bluberry Nectarine Pie

I love homemade fruit pie!  There is just nothing quite like it.  Store bought stuff just can't compare.  Some summers I make a pie a week, but not this summer.  It has just been too hot, my rhubarb didn't do well, and the fruit selection has been expensive or not very good. Bummer! The 4th of July just isn't the same without a pie, though, so I cranked up the a/c and got to baking.  I still ran into the same problem with the fruit.  Add to that, everyone wanted something different (rhubarb, peach, blueberry), so I got creative.  Blueberries and nectarines.  I love mixing fruits in pies!
 

Start with a double pie crust, whatever recipe works for you. Most recipes don't have egg in them, but a few do.  So if you want the pie to be egg free, be sure to select one without eggs.  I love the flaky pastry recipe from The Joy of Cooking.  I use half shortening and half butter, so I get the great flakiness from the shortening and the yummy taste of the butter- best of both worlds!  I also add 1/4 cup powdered sugar to the dry ingredients instead of the teaspoon of granulated sugar.  It adds a nice hint of sweetness for fruit pies.

When making pie crust, the key is fast and cold.  Your butter and water need to be very cold.  I put ice in my water, and work fast.  This is in part, so things don't warm up, but also you don't want to overwork the dough.  Ice water is also your friend when rolling out your dough.  Any tears can be patched by pressing the dough together with a little ice water as glue. Although, in my opinion, a perfect looking crust is not important; you can get that from a store bought pie.  What matters is taste and texture. I also like to roll out my dough, put my bottom crust in the pie pan, and put the pan and the rolled out top crust back in the fridge while I make my filling. That way the crust is nice and cold when it goes into the oven. Once you have your crusts and pan prepared, make the filling

Blueberry Nectarine Pie Filling:

3 cups blueberries
2 cups nectarines sliced (I left the skin on and nobody was the wiser)
3/4 cup sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter cut into small pieces


Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Mix everything but the butter in a large mixing bowl.  Let sit for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Pour filling into prepared bottom crust. Work fast after this; you don't want the filling to make your crust soggy before you get it in the oven. Dot the top of the filling with the small pieces of butter.  Brush the edge of the bottom crust with ice water, place the top crust on top.  Trim crust as needed and seal bottom and top crust.  Cut vent holes and place in the bottom 1/3 of the oven at 425 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes.  Then place a cookie sheet under the pie pan (I usually put my pie shield on now too) and drop the temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for 30 minutes or until thick juices begin to bubble from the pie.  Remove form the oven and let cool on a wire rack before serving.

This pie was quite tasty.  In the future, I would use fewer blueberries and more nectarines.  They got a little lost in the blueberries, but nobody at our house was complaining.  Prep was super easy too, since nothing had to be peeled.  Happy pie baking and eating!

I do really LOVE to bake pies.  I think it is becoming a lost art. So if you have nay questions about crusts and/or pies, feel free to ask.  I would love to try to help!