Dinosaur Hoodie

$4.50 hoodie on clearance at Target
+ a little bit of green felt
= one happy dinosaur boy

I used this post as my inspiration.

This is the trick: sew the diamonds on and then sew them closed.  Super easy!

Apparently dinosaurs wear sunglasses.

Christmas Secrets!

I can finally share some of the fun Christmas projects that I've been working on this month.  :)

Once I discovered how easy it is, I've kind of become addicted to making pillowcases.  The girls each got one of these in their stockings and Isaac got a cute robot print pillowcase, also homemade.  I'm not the best at changing all our sheets frequently, but we've been having fun getting fresh pillowcases whenever we want to.  I think it helps to keep germs at bay when the kids are fighting colds.

I saw this casserole carrier on Pinterest and knew I had to make it!  The pink flowery one is mine and the blue one below I made for my sister in law.  These were really easy to make and work well.  I carried a hot pan in mine the other day and it stayed warm and didn't burn my lap either.

I used this tutorial for this fun minky quilt for my mother in law.  It came together fairly quickly and has me wanting to try another one soon.

What do you think?  Were there any secret Christmas projects that you made this year?

Pinterest Find: Easy Nightgowns

I'm picky about the pajamas that my kids wear.  We use only tight fitting cotton ones because they haven't been treated with flame retardants.  All the rest have.  Yeah, yuck.  If that's not enough, I also don't like polyester against their skin at night.  It just doesn't breathe well and a couple of the girls get rashes and dry skin very easily.

This leaves my kids asking longingly if they can wear the pretty princess nightgowns that they see in the stores.  I refuse and try to explain that they would not be comfortable in them, as pretty as they may look.  The only other solution I've come up with is to make our own pajamas.  I've searched Pinterest a few times for easy nightgown patterns and even pinned a few but never completed them.  However, when I saw this one, I knew I could do it!

(I won't rehash the instructions, click the link for those.  It is very easy to follow along and has great photos.)  I went right out and bought three women's t-shirts and made these easily.  The girls are thrilled and have worn them almost every night since!  I offered to iron something on the front, but they are enjoying them plain so far.  I'm going to have to sew a few more of these for sure.

PVC Pipe Ball Drop

I recently saw this idea on Pinterest and went a little crazy with it.

The idea is simple.  Pick out some PVC pipe pieces, drill holes in them and insert suction cups.  These can be used on a window or glass door to make a fantastic ball drop, or in the bath tub to pour water through.

Lucy and I had fun picking out lots of different shaped pipes.  They ranged in price from 63 cents to several dollars for the bigger pieces.

We found suction cups and bouncy balls at Hobby Lobby.  Just be sure the suction cups have an indented part, you will need that to keep them wedged into the pipes.  The bouncy balls were by the party supplies.

Ross used a clamp to hold the pieces in place while drilling through them.  We popped the suction cups in, and have been enjoying our new toy ever since!  It really is great for all ages; the big kids make the configurations and the little ones have a blast dropping the balls through.

More on Keeping the Toddler Busy...

Isaac still likes the other homemade toy I posted about recently.  I'm always on the lookout for things that might keep him busy for a few minutes while I work on a school lesson with the girls.  This one is another hit!  Big sister even enjoys playing with it.

I took a peanut can from Costco and covered it with construction paper.  We bought some brightly colored pom poms, and cut holes in the lid to fit.

Isaac had fun pushing the pom poms through the hole, dumping them all out, and then clapping for himself.

Such a cutie!

Homemade Toddler Toy

This has been keeping Isaac (13 months) occupied lately:

a Huggies wipes box and several frozen juice container lids

put them in the slot

 open the lid to get them back out again

I clapped and made a big deal when Isaac got one in the slot, so he's really proud of himself.  He really has to think hard and push to get the lid turned the right way, making this the perfect toy.  Esther likes playing with it too, just for fun.  :)

Bake and Take Day

I'm definitely not an expert bread baker yet but we had fun with Bake and Take Day! I first made a batch of zucchini bread and took some to a friend who needed a smile. I had big plans for making my whole wheat bread and taking it to a neighbor while still warm, but it took 4 hours to rise and was ready at 10pm. I'm not sure what happened other than I didn't use fresh ground wheat this time and I'm still a novice. The bread was delicious though. I asked Lucy and Julia who we should take the bread to and they chose our sweet neighbor Katy. She and her husband have a little two year old boy that my girls enjoy playing with. Both my zucchini bread and whole wheat bread recipe make two loaves so they are perfect for sharing. I think we'll be Baking and Taking more often!

I've been using the bread recipe from A Beginners Guide To Baking Bread by Marilyn Moll. Its got lots of helpful tips for getting started with bread baking. I'm excited to try some of the variations like bread sticks, cinnamon bread, herb bread and more. Mmmmm! Two lucky participants will each win a copy of this book. To be considered for this giveaway you need to enter your name and email address here at The Urban Homemaker. While you're there, take a look around at all of the other great products they offer. I'm tempted to invest in more of her cookbooks soon.

Laura at Heavenly Homemakers is offering a giveaway as well. What To Do With Your Kids In The Kitchen is a fun little ebook with simple recipes to create with and for your kids. I got to preview this ebook and we are definitely going to try some of the recipes. To enter this giveaway, simply participate in Bake and Take Day by blogging about your adventures and linking up at the bottom of this post.

Did you participate in Bake and Take Day? What did you bake? Who did you take it to? Write up a post on your blog and link up. Please remember to link directly to your post about Bake and Take Day rather than your entire blog. I'll leave Mr Linky open for a week so that you have time to get your blog posts up. Winners will be announced next Saturday, April 3rd. Thanks for joining the fun!

The giveaways are now closed. No one entered the giveaway for the ebook by participating, so there isn't a winner. Courtney and Tanya each won a Bread Baking book and have been contacted for their addresses.

<center><a href="http://onelittlewordsheknew.blogspot.com/2010/03/bake-and-take-day.html"><img border="0" src="http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c387/mercy589/Bake-and-Take-Day.jpg" /></a></center>

Bake and Take Day

March 27 is Bake and Take Day!

"Bake and Take Day began in 1970 as a community service project of the Kansas Wheathearts in Sumner County. The Kansas Wheathearts, an auxiliary organization of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, set out to share baked goods with family members, friends, neighbors, and those in need, generating goodwill in the community. The idea of a community member sharing a favorite recipe with someone special became so successful that the Kansas Wheathearts created a national Bake and Take Day celebration in 1973." link

On March 27th, bake something with wheat in it and take it to a friend, neighbor, or person in need. I'm excited about this and think its such a fun idea. Bake and Take Day is sponsored by wheat commissions across the country.

-The Kansas Wheat Commission is partnering with Stafford County Flour Mills Co to offer a cash prize drawing to participants. You can enter using the form on their website.

-The North Dakota Wheat Commission is also sponsoring this event and offering some recipes to try.

On March 27th I am going to host a Mister Linky here. I'd love for you to join us for Bake and Take Day and post about it on your blog. Feel free to share your recipe, photos, who you took the baked goods to and more! Come back here on March 27th and link up. One lucky participant will win a great book on bread baking and another will win an great little ebook What To Do With Your Kids In the Kitchen. Thank you to our sponsors, The Urban Homemaker and Heavenly Homemakers. For now, grab my button and help spread the word about this event.

Leave a comment and let me know if you plan to participate. I'm excited to see what everyone does. This would be a perfect time to try baking bread if you haven't yet, although anything with wheat in it counts. Do you have a favorite recipe you use for giving food gifts?

<center><a href="http://onelittlewordsheknew.blogspot.com/2010/03/bake-and-take-day.html"><img border="0" src="http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c387/mercy589/Bake-and-Take-Day.jpg" /></a></center>

Baking Bread

Reader Question:

"I actually haven't ever made bread before and I'm pretty sure that I'll have to make it a dozen times or so before getting it right, but I don't know where to start. I thought if you had a recipe that is reliable, it'd be worth a shot for me to try it.

Any thoughts? Also, I don't have a mixer...is that a problem? Have you ever had to actually knead dough?"

I haven't made bread all that much myself yet either! The recipe that I used the other day was great, but I did use my Bosch mixer to knead the dough. You can knead dough by hand, in a mixer, or in a bread machine with the same recipe. I have used my bread machine before to knead the dough and then I dump it out and bake it in the oven. Bread machines can be found inexpensively at garage sales or on craigslist, so that might be a good option if you don't want to knead dough by hand all the time.

The recipe that I used recently for whole wheat bread was from A Beginner's Guide To Baking Bread. This is a great e-book with lots of tips on bread baking and getting started.

My library has this dvd on baking bread so I'm going to check that out soon.

Here is a great tutorial on bread making with a video on kneading dough. I haven't tried this recipe, but it looks very similar to what I've used.

A reader shared her bread recipe with me in the comments on this post.

And another recipe with tips on how to bake bread. She also answers questions in the comments section.

Have fun!

(linked to Kitchen Tip Tuesdays)

Homemade Christmas Gift for the Grandparents

Lucy and Julia made these canvas paintings for the Grandpas and Grandmas this year. I've seen this idea on several blogs: Chasing Cheerios (but can't find the original post) and here is another tutorial. I bought a couple of canvases at Hobby Lobby and we used tempra paint like this. The girls use their paintbrushes and covered the canvases in paint. Once they were done I pressed each of their hands into the paint and lifted it up. I think these make adorable keepsakes! We did a set for each of the Grandparents and I'm planning to put a set above the baby's changing table. I might even make a canvas using the new baby's footprints as well. Do you have other fun homemade Christmas gift ideas to share?

Fun With Fleece

Joann's had fleece on sale for $4 a yard. I bought 1/2 a yard ($2) and made scarves for Lucy and Julia, scarves for Tozy and Calin (the dolls), and blankets for the dollhouse beds. Fleece doesn't fray so all you have to do is cut it to size. For the scarves I cut fringe and then tied knots in each one. Easy and fun!

Bosch Mixer Review

After saving my money from a couple of birthdays and Christmases and anything in between, I finally got a Bosch mixer! My old mixer wasn't great, and with being interested in baking my own bread and making more things from scratch, I really wanted a nice mixer. I've had it for awhile now and have made a few different things with it, so I wanted to share my thoughts.

I debated for a while between getting a KitchenAid mixer or the Bosch mixer. I first read about the Bosch mixer on blogs where people were making their own bread (and often grinding their own wheat as well!). The more I read, I kept running into rave reviews of the Bosch mixer. Looking up reviews on the KitchenAid mixer, I discovered that many people seem to have problems with it leaking oil or the motor burning up, especially when trying to mix larger batches of bread dough. I asked some mom friends on a private message board I belong to and several of them said that yes, their KitchenAid leaked oil (from the top, down into the mixing bowl). I didn't find as many reviews on the Bosch mixer, but the ones I did read were very favorable. The reviews all seemed to agree that the Bosch was a workhorse, lasts forever, and performed well.

This comparison chart (Bosch vs KitchenAid) from Everything Kitchens eventually helped me decide on the Bosch. The Bosch mixer has an 800 watt motor, while the KitchenAid's top mixer is only 575 watts. Bosch has a better warranty, but also weighs less and has a smaller profile which is better for my tiny kitchen. The bowl is a bit bigger, and the Bosch mixer does better at mixing bread dough. The prices are actually similar when you compare KitchenAid's top model to the Bosch mixer. I did discover after some research that the Bosch blender attachment is made of polycarbonate and therefore contains BPA. The blender attachment is optional and I will not be purchasing it unless they make it of some other material. The mixing bowl is polypropylene, a safe plastic, or you can purchase a stainless steel mixing bowl. I think the clear plastic lid may be polycarbonate, but the food doesn't really touch that part.

When I set out to purchase the Bosch mixer, Everything Kitchens ended up sending me the mixer and Nutrimill grain mill at a discount for reviewing them on my blog. Of course I enjoy chatting about things that I've researched and use in my home, and I thought you'd like hearing about my adventures with the mixer and grain mill. I'm definitely not an expert bread baker (or even cookie baker!) yet, but I'm having fun trying.

The mixer is short enough that it fits under my low counters, but I do have to pull it out each time I want to use it. There are suction cups on the bottom of the mixer (because its so powerful it can fling itself right off your counter without these I guess!), so I have to un-suction it every time I want to pull it out for use. I'd love to have more counter space so as to not have to move it every time, but that's just an issue with my small kitchen. I am able to store all of the attachments inside the mixing bowl, which is nice.

The Bosch mixer comes with a dough hook and french whisks. I also purchased the cookie paddles and the batter/ cookie whips, which are similar to the wire whips that come with the mixer, but they are a bit stronger for thicker batters. The whips and whisks are for pourable batters, and the cookie paddles and dough hook are for thicker doughs. All of the pieces, bowl, lid, etc, attach by turning them one direction or another until they click. I still get confused about which way I'm supposed to turn each piece, but overall its not very complicated to set up and use. There are also all kinds of different attachments you can buy for the mixer.

The Bosch is a bit different in the way that it mixes - the paddles or whisks fit down inside of the bowl and spin around, rather than coming up over the top like a KitchenAid. Here is a picture looking down into the mixer. I like this set up because one you put the lid on it completely covers the top and keeps in all of the flour dust when you turn it on.

I'm still working on finding a good bread recipe that we like, but the dough hook really does seem to do a great job at mixing and kneading the dough. I can put in all of the ingredients, leave the mixer to knead the dough for a certain amount of time, let the dough rise, then shape and bake the loaves. I don't find it to be any harder than using my bread machine, and I get better results. My bread machine seemed to make the bread crust a bit too dark for us, and then you get the weird shaped loaf too. With the Bosch mixer I can also make larger batches of bread dough at once. I have to try making bread a few more times with the Bosch, but I'm thinking of sending my bread machine the way of Craigslist, along with my old mixer.

I purchased the Bosch mixer and Nutrimill from Everything Kitchens and was very happy with their customer service. I received my items within just a few days of ordering them. They have a huge selection of all kinds of kitchen products, and have great prices. They told me that the listed prices for the Bosch and Nutrimill are from the manufacturers, but if you call and request a discount, the sales people are authorized to give you one. Another cool thing about Everything Kitchens is that they donate 1% of their proceeds to World Vision, an international humanitarian aid organization. I would definitely recommend purchasing through this website for their great customer service, focus on customer satisfaction, and their best price guarantee. You can read more about Everything Kitchens here, or visit their real live store in Springfield, MO.

The Bosch mixer comes with a great little cookbook and I'm still experimenting with different recipes - overall I'm happy with my new mixer! I'm going to be posting a review of the Nutrimill grain mill in the near future. I was interested in the grain mill not only to be able to grind my own fresh grain, but also to be able to use other lighter whole grains like spelt and white wheat. Check back soon for more about that. Feel free to email Santa Claus a link to this blog post if you're wanting to add these to your Christmas list.

Our Thanksgiving Tree

This is the second year we've done this and its becoming a wonderful family tradition that we all enjoy! Sometime in October I put up a tree (last year it was on Lucy's door, this year its on our bulletin board since her door is taken over by alphabet flash cards). Every day each member of the family gets to choose something that they are thankful for and write it on a leaf that we then add to the tree. Today Lucy said she was thankful for our house, Julia is thankful for birds, Ross is thankful for work, and I'm thankful for my husband. We enjoy this activity all the way up until Thanksgiving and its a great reminder to celebrate all through the month leading up to the holiday. I saved all of the leaves from last year in a plastic bag and labeled it with the date. Its fun to be able to look back and see the various things that we were thankful for last year.

Does your family have any special Thanksgiving traditions?

(linked to Gratituesday)

Preschool Games

I recently participated in a swap of Activities In A Bag where 20 of us got together and all made 20 of one kind of preschool activity and then swapped them. It was so much fun to come home and look through all of the preschool games! Each game is stored in a gallon sized zipper top plastic bag. I've continued the idea and put several more games in zipper bags and added them to my box. I'd highly recommend doing a swap or organizing one if you can find enough people who are interested. Here are some of the games that I made on my own...

Fishing - The idea is from here, with a few changes. I used brads for the magnetic part and wrote a lower case letter on each fish. There are also two of each color so that the game can be played several ways. The child can either name the letter on the fish that they caught, name the color of the fish, or try to find a matching color pair. For the fishing pole, I bought a dowel at Hobby Lobby and Ross drilled a small hole through it for the string. For the end, we hot glued the magnets together with the string in the middle. The string is a bit long, especially for Julia, but the girls both love "fishing".

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - I saw this idea here. I printed the pictures from the link given and then laminated them. The caterpillar is a green pipe cleaner and the fruit all have holes in them so that the child can string the food onto the caterpillar as the story progresses.

Star Counting - This idea was adapted from one of my Mailbox Magazine books. Since we are studying "sun" this week and "moon" next week I thought this would be a fun game to use. I put star stickers on small cardstock squares (1-10) and then made cards with only numbers on them. The child counts the number of star stickers on a card and then finds the corresponding number card. We are also going to use the number cards to practice counting backwards to "blast-off" into space. Of course I laminated the cards because I laminate everything.

Color Matching - This came from an idea that David Hazell of My Father's World mentioned on a cd I was listening to. He suggested getting paint chip cards from a home improvement store and cutting them up to make a color matching game. The different shades of each color are actually rather hard to distinguish, which makes this a challenging game. I punched the circles with a large punch and then laminated them all as well.

Story Dice - I absolutely love these! The idea is that the child rolls a few cubes and then has to come up with a story using the pictures on the dice. I got my inspiration here, and decided to use stickers for the pictures on mine. I bought wooden cubes at Hobby Lobby and then raided my sticker stash. I kept each cube to a topic - characters (Dora, a little girl, etc), things (a blender, a vase, etc), animals, weather and places, or transportation. Once I started making these I found myself searching every store I was in to find stickers that would work. I used Mod Podge, but it has stayed tacky, so I'm going to have Ross spray them all with a clear acrylic sealer spray. Lucy is very excited to use these and said she hopes to roll Dora every time so that she can tell me all kinds of stories about Dora.

Any other fun game ideas you've come across lately? We actually haven't used some of these yet, but I'm glad to have my box full of games available to pull out whenever I need them.

Sewing Projects

All the chilly fall weather we've been having lately has inspired me to work on some sewing projects. I made some pajama pants for the girls in both cotton and flannel. I plan to buy some white shirts and maybe embellish them a bit to match.

My mother in law needed a baby gift for someone so I put together this burp cloth and bib set for her. The burp cloth is especially easy to do, just fold the edges of the material under and sew it on.

I am planning to sew a cotton sheet and pillowcase for Julia's toddler bed (because I can't find just a toddler bed sheet in the stores anywhere). Other things on my list include making a fabric bag for Lucy to take to dance class, making Julia a crayon roll, and maybe some sewing for the new baby.

I was going to put up a Mr Linky for you to add sewing tutorials to, but Skip To My Lou beat me to it! Head over there to check out all of the fun tutorials and be inspired to sew something. I added my snack pack tutorial already. Do you have a fall sewing list that you are starting to work on? Have you seen any good tutorials on the internet lately?

**Update: The fabric bag tutorial was super easy! I made a dance bag for Lucy following the measurements given and then also made a small purse for Julia. For the purse I used 9 1/2" squares and the straps ended up being about 12" each.

Snack Pack Tutorial

These little snack packs are easy to make and a great "green" replacement for plastic baggies. My girls each have one and love to carry around their snacks. We use these often to carry snacks in the diaper bag when we run errands. I made one in just a few minutes the other day and took pictures for a tutorial. Unfortunately there just weren't very many pictures because its pretty easy to do. I designed this snack pack without a seam in the bottom so that it doesn't collect as many crumbs inside.

Start with two pieces of material about 14 x 5 inches each. Sew them right sides together, leaving an opening for turning. (The size doesn't matter exactly, this one turned out a bit too big I think.)

Turn the pack right side out and top stitch over the whole thing, stitching the opening shut as well. You will have a 14 x 5 inch rectangle.

Using a piece of velcro that is about 3/4" by 1 1/2", sew one side of the velcro near the top - centered, about 1 inch down from the top seam. I use a small zig zag stitch with one side of the stitch being on the velcro and the other side being on the material. This holds the velcro securely in place and keeps it from having any scratchy edges that stick up.

Fold 6 inches of your material over, shaping it into the snack pack. Place the other side of your velcro about 1 inch down from the seam and close the pouch being sure that the two pieces are going to match up. Unfold the material and sew that second piece of velcro on. You will be sewing the velcro on the opposite side of the material this time.

Take a piece of ribbon about 10 or 11 inches long and seal the ends over a flame so that they won't fray inside the pouch. (Hold the ribbon over a candle until the ends melt slightly and are sealed.) Fold your snack pack back up so that the velcro matches and the sides are lined up. Fold your ribbon in half and stick it into one of the sides. Sew each side of the pack shut, catching the ribbon in one side.

You're finished! The snack pack is washable, you can turn it inside out and fasten the velcro before throwing it in the wash (or just shake out the crumbs and reuse). Snacks will go stale if left in the snack pack for long periods of time so be sure and empty it out at the end of the day. Let me know if you attempt this and have any questions.

Meal For A Friend

One of my friends just had a sweet new baby boy and I signed up through our church to take her a meal today. I haven't actually prepared meals to take to other people very often so I had to do a bit of thinking. I ended up taking chicken salad, banana bread, chopped veggies and dip, and some apples. I wanted something that wasn't extremely common. Other people were taking the family meals this week too and I wasn't sure what they had already eaten, but I didn't want to make anything too strange that they might not like it. Here are a few of my thoughts on taking meals to new moms (or families with illness, etc):

-Check with the family about what food allergies or preferences they may have.

-Make a well balanced meal. Add a vegetable (even a bag of frozen veggies they can heat up), bread of some sort, and maybe a dessert. Healthy foods are best for helping new moms or sick persons recover!

-Include cooking directions if the food needs to be heated. (temperature, time, and other details)

-Including the recipe written out on a card can be helpful if the family likes the meal and wants to prepare it again themselves sometime. It also lets them know what is in the meal in case of any allergies.

-Try to package the food in containers that you will not need to have returned to you.

-Let the family know what time you plan to drop by.

-Deliver the meal in time for it to be heated. If you're bringing a frozen dish, deliver it the day before the family plans to eat it or have it already thawed. Let them know if it can be frozen for later use.

- Go for it! I wasn't sure what I was doing, but we've had meals brought to us by others and it was so touching and made us feel very cared for.

And just in case you're interested, here's the Chicken Salad recipe from my mother-in-law:

2 cups cooked, diced chicken

1 box sea shell macaroni (cooked and drained)

1 small can crushed pineapple (with juice)

1 cup chopped celery

1/4-1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup grapes (cut in half)

Mix all together and chill.

1 1/2 cups Miracle Whip

1 Tbs yellow mustard

2 Tbs pickle juice (or vinegar)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Mix well and toss with chicken salad. Chill 2-3 hours.

How about you? Have you prepared a meal for anyone lately? Do you have other tips to share? What's your favorite meal to bring someone?