Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts

Cooking and Crafting Creations!

While it feels like this summer has flown by, and was chock full of events, we were home for enough time to create a few crafts and some tasty treats!

I attempted to use up the remainder of the fillo dough, that Emily had left over from the baclava she made for Avia.  I rolled up some Nutella, and baked it.  While it was pretty good hot, once it cooled it was crunchy and dry. = /

Kristy gifted me several containers of eggs, so I made some devilled eggs, which were enjoyed by everyone!

When we had some sleepovers, I didn't want to break up the fun, so the kids had a grazing tray for whenever they got hungry.

Juliet made a colorful paper airplane from scraps!

My skirt kept getting holes where the repair thread would pull on the original material.  So, I quilted on some large pieces of cotton underneath, and, so far, new holes have stayed away!

Grace loved having Aunt Janet here, and made her a scrapbook page to take home.


Billy bought me 3lbs of adorable beeswax at the farmer's market, so that I could repair my wax covers.  Turns out, I didn't need much, and barely used any to refresh them.  

So, I thought I'd try my hand at making some from scratch!  The plaid covers worked really well.

I think the Baylor material must have some sort of synthetic material in it, because despite several applications of wax, to the point where it was pooling on the parchment paper, it never felt 'sticky' when I folded it against itself.  I told my mom that she could get rid of them if they didn't work properly. 

While Billy and I were in Poland, Grace walked with my mom each morning and collected shells from the river to create a very elaborate frame to give to Enisi!

For one of our trips to the Cornishes' I made a banana pudding.  The single night of settling was perfect to make the cookies all mushy!


My mom had left some whipping cream at our house, and since I don't use it in my coffee any longer, I made my own whipped topping!  


Sam's club changed their pancake mix bag size, so now one bag no longer fits completely into my container.  So, I spent yesterday morning cooking up the remaining mix into pancakes to freeze!  We have pancakes for days and days.  And this morning, only the twins ate some. So, 4 down, a couple hundred to go!


This feels like a sparse crafting post, but it was squeezed into a bustling summer.

later days

edit 8-21-25: added content

Grace's First Craft Show!

For the past few months, Grace has been working on crafts to display and sell at her first craft show!  When the local girl scout troop put out a craft show interest form a few months ago, I didn't even hesitate to sign her up and put it on her schedule!

On the day of, Emily came and was her usual helpful self!

It was a chilly, rainy day, and customers were kind of sparse, but she had a good time!




I think she shopped as much as she made, but I'd rather her buy birthday gifts from someone who made them, than from an online store!

When we got home from the sale, after putting everything away, Grace took out one of the white bags, that we rescued from the recycling bin at the school, coincidentally, and decorated it to look like a crayon box!  I thought she did a good job, even if she doesn't know how to spell large. lol.

Hopefully Kennedy gets lots of enjoyment from her crayon set!


I think Grace really enjoyed her first time as a vendor, and I'll be on the lookout for more opportunities for her, hopefully with a little more foot traffic, in the future!

later days

edit 6-8-25: backdated for continuity.

Cooking and Crafts - Ltd

Not many crafts/cooking out of the generic scope!

So, Julie's BFF's mom messaged me about getting Juliet some croutons for her birthday gift.  Juliet was super amiable to this notion, which is awesome, and ironic.  A few years back, Billy told me that he preferred my homemade croutons, so any occasion for which we've needed them, I've just made them from leftover bread!  So, after her message, I made them, and she was super happy. But she was also super excited to get them as a present, so she got double croutons! <3

Speaking of Kennedy, Juliet also made her a painted stone figure.  It was not super sturdy, and fell apart the day she presented it, but it was cute before she gifted it!


I feel like our crafting and cooking game is on par, but maybe above and beyond, since I have enough to make specific posts!

later days

Food and Crafts

I bought some pho noodles at Aldi a while ago, and thought it high time to use them, after reading about all the takeaway meals Strike and Robin eat in the Robert Gailbraith books that I'm rereading.  I found a noodle casserole recipe, which I doubled for our family.  Unexpectedly, it made so much that it wouldn't all fit into my largest baking dish!  So, I separated it into two portions, and froze the second one (with toppings in a container on top.)



I forgot to take a picture after cooking it up, but it was well received, and now we have a second round ready to go!

Emily's swimsuit bow detached from her skirt cover, and she gave it to me to repair.  This wasn't unusual in and of itself, but she gave it to me wet. children, lol. I got it reattached, then hung it so that it could dry before her final day of swim camp.

My previously repaired skirt had a few new holes that needed attention.  I added a new color, for the new repairs.  If this skirt continues at this rate, I'll have a whole new skirt made out of embroidered scraps!

During our camping trip, my previously repaired jeans ripped in a new spot just above the old repair.  So, I used another round of Sashiko on the new and old holes.  It seemed to be nice and stable on my trip to Oklahoma.

According to their supply list, the twins need some earbuds.  Since earbuds are super similar and tangle so easily, I thought I would try my hand at improving a few pairs that we had in the basement by wrapping them with embroidery thread.  I watched a quick tutorial, and then spent hours wrapping their cords, but they came out too cute!  They don't tangle nearly as easily, and they will be easy to pick out! = )

We seemed to go through a period of uneaten bananas, and I saw a video of someone using puff pastry with Nutella and wrapping up a slice of banana.  I didn't have puff pastry, but I did have some crescent rolls that needed to be used!  They were a big hit. = )

Another viral food video going around was a Brazilian limeade. Emily followed the instructions, and we ended up with an entire pitcher of it!

I thought it was pretty tasty, but it's not something I'd go out of my way to make sure we keep on hand all summer.  I'm really glad she made it though!


I found some cute containers at a rummage sale, so I upgraded my potato and rice flour into their new homes.


Emily made a travel bag for Abby for her birthday.  It came out pretty cute.


Grace found two halves of m&ms in her box and combine them into a whole!


Internet videos have seen us in the kitchen quite often this summer!  Emily found a video on how to combine yoghurt and honey, drip it onto parchment paper and freeze it to make a dippin dots-like treat. 


I didn't try it, but she was unimpressed.


I found an oatmeal cookie recipe to use up some of the old packets of oatmeal that were not being eaten by anyone.  I made two variations: oatmeal raisin & oatmeal chocolate chip.  Everyone gave positive reviews, depending on their preference.  I'm pretty sure only Billy was eating on the oatmeal raisin batch. = )


I attempted to make some cute little spaghetti nests, but possibly went too heavy handed on the sauce, because they did not crisp up like the pictures showed.  I didn't have any, but the ladies at my mom's meeting said they were really good, served with fresh basil and hot dog bun garlic bread!


Juliet and Emily went through an uncrustable phase, where they were eating one each day!  Unsure of whether or not we would use it past that week, I didn't want to spend the $7 on Amazon (and contribute to the production of more plastic goods) so I researched how to make them without a mold. It was not simple, so I never acted upon it. 

But, when I saw a 79 cent apple shaped sandwich press at the thrift store, I snatched it up!  Emily helped me keep them in stock, and now we have a small stash in the freezer.


We've been putting them in used bread bags that I tie off and cut, so that they can throw it away just like the store-bought ones if they pack them for school*. = )

Aldi's price isn't bad (less than a dollar per sandwich) but ours are much cheaper!


Kristy was cleaning out her eggs before their camping trip and gave me 8 dozen!  This in addition to the ones that I already had, made for a very full fridge!!!  I tried to pass along some of the gift, but had no takers.  


So, I cooked with them!

Yorkshire puddings, 


to go with some of the leftover steak that I'd made earlier in the week!  I made three meals out of it!  So good.


Devilled eggs, of course!


Egg noodles,


for a tuna noodle casserole.  I think everyone, except for William, genuinely likes this meal.


Billy's been fighting his 3D printer, first to conduct an experiment,


then to make cute little figures for Grace and Juliet.


William's roblox figure didn't come out quite as well as the girls' but he likes his blox.


He played with printing multiple badges for the robotics team to pass out next year, but his machine wasn't playing nice.  So far, I have two, which is not really enough to pass out. 


As much work as it is, I don't blame him for not wanting to fight it in his free time.  Maybe he'll try again next week with some gentle prompting from yours truly. lol.

Considering I feel like I've been home sparsely this summer, we seem to have completed quite a few projects this summer!  (Though some of these were before the school year ended.)

later days

*Emily is super conscientious though, and will unknot them so that we can get one more use out of the already reused bag. = )