Mindful Domesticity

 

This wonderful wall quilt was inspired by one of my favorite designers. She released a new redwork hand embroidery block each month last year. I had fun trying to keep up with the handwork. The quilting part has reminded me that I enjoy small quilting projects and I'm a terrible quilter. I used 2 strands of floss throughout. Working with 2 strands gives more control with the tiny details, but also shows flaws better.

 

 

Pattern:

http://www.elefantz.com/

 

 

 

Homemade pizza! Watching the changed and rising dough was fun.

I LOVE this homemade playdough recipe. It feels just like the real thing only tons cheaper! 2.5 c flour, 1/2 c salt, 1 T alum, 3 T oil, 2.5 c water. I've tried a lot of different recipes and this is by far my favorite. We made 3 different colors. This makes enough in one batch to fill 5 of these dollar tree small containers. 

Jell-O ring. Have you seen one of these recently? We actually make them quite often, the kids love 'em!

Picking, eating, canning.

Made yogurt. First time, can't wait to taste it. Part of my effort to reduce waste- all those plastic yogurt cups...

UPDATE: It tastes great too! It was fairly easy. This is plain so I added a bit of fresh raw honey, mmmmm. Fruit would be good too.

She made some bread from scratch with a group at church. She was very excited.

Sometimes we have too much fun in the kitchen. Here are some empanada wrappers filled with Nutella, lightly fried, and tossed in powdered sugar. Oh yes- it was better than you can imagine. Thank you Dana!

Picked a lot of strawberries! Made lots of jam, shared some berries, ate many, and still there's some left!

Check out this dinner action! Thanks Abigail! Now I can find time to craft- or maybe just change diapers...

So I found a cool recipe for making a cake in a mug in the microwave. They said 'don't worry when the cake rises over the mug while cooking, it will shrink back down.' Hmmm...I should not have believed them. It rose, and rose, and oozed. It was not super yummy but surely fast and easy. Reminded me of the Coco Wheat days...

I would add the optional chocolate chips next time, and 1 less tablespoon sugar.

I might look for a vanilla version and let the kids try.

These gummies are so yummy, fun, and easy to make. We made red, green, and GRAPE. (I just love the grape!)These bunnies are standing up to show how sturdy they are. My capable assistant also whipped out 2 dozen cupcakes while we were in the kitchen. A perfect "Goodie and a Movie" night. Thanks Dana!

Fun sandwich wrap. Although, we still use tupperware for our sandwiches, this velcro wrap made with laminated fabric will keep our sandwiches fresh too. What a great alternative to ziploc baggies- which are devastating to the environment.

A German Chocolate cake. This is the real thing, all from scratch. This thing is heavy, and super delicious and moist! I could have cooked the frosting base a bit longer but overall, for a first, excellent!

The last of the cakes for a while. (not decorated by me)These little cakes make for awesome tea parties!

Katherine is also enjoying the practice.

This is such a happy little cake! We can make 6 tiny cakes at once now- so lots of decorating practice.

Pina colada gummies. Yummmmmm.

Airbrushed clowns- so fun! Hard to get a pic with good lighting at the end of the night, but impressive they waited this long to gobble them up!

I'm not the only one responsible for decorating cakes around here now. Since learning a few tricks at "Cake Class", I've had a full staff of decorators.