Valentine's Day Cinnamon Buns
Pinterest is such a great resource when you're looking for festive things to do for the holidays. I found the idea for the heart shaped cinnamon rolls here, via pinterest.
We're cutting back on wheat, so this was a special treat for my children. If you're a baker, by all means use your favorite cinnamon roll recipe. I used the orange-cinnamon rolls that come in a tube at the grocery store. I think they are made by pilsbury.
These were extremely easy to make. To start, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Separate the cinnamon rolls and gently unroll them half way. Take the unrolled portion of the dough strip and re-roll it in from the end until the two halves meet. Finally, give the center of the dough strip a little pinch to form the bottom of the heart. Bake following the instruction on the can (or your recipe) and then top with the frosting. These would be adorable with pink icing.
heart shaped cinnamon orange rolls
I'm a huge fan of slow food, but I don't always have time to make cinnamon rolls from scratch. Generally that just means we don't eat cinnamon rolls. It's nice though to surprise the kids every once in a while. I made the heart shaped cinnamon rolls for an after school snack and they were a hit.
Painting is a great way to spend a blustery day. This project appears in Create With Me Winter 2012 (Volume 2 # 1)
It is also all over Pinterest. Trees seem to be the popular choice but you can use masking tape to fashion just about any shape.
Tape resist is a very easy technique to learn. You simply tear off pieces of tape and stick it to the paper in the desired shape. Next, you paint. The tape will resist the paint. Once your picture dries, you peel off the tape. The paper that was covered with tape will still be white, assuming you used white paper.
Red and Kitty's tree
Mom's tree
Red and Kitty's tree, with tape
The kids and I had a lot of fun with this. Red tore the tape for the tree on the left so that her little sister could paint it. I did the tape on the right. My son opted for snowflakes and we made a snowman for the wee one as well. We sat around the table with a roll of masking tape and a few sheets of watercolor paper. Then we painted. After we applied the watercolor, we sprinkled on a little bit of salt to give it more of a snow effect. The hardest part was waiting for it to dry so that we could peel off the tape.
Happy Love Day Earrings
Ruby Drop Earrings
I'm Sweet on You Earrings
Earrings make great handmade gifts for Valentine's Day. I found instructions for all three of these designs in the "Inspiration Projects" gallery at Fusion Beads. Unfortunately, the "Ruby Drops" earring are no longer in the gallery, but it is one of their designs. You can read about how I made the Ruby Drop earrings, as well as an assortment of other jewelry projects over at Modern Minerals.
Playdough fun
Given that I have two older children, I’m almost ashamed to admit that I’ve never made my own playdough before. I was nosing through my Create With Me Winter 2012 (Volume 2 # 1)
magazine and it just seemed to easy to pass up.
It’s a fairly simple recipe, I’ve seen it all over the internet.
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups water
1 cup of salt
2 TB canola oil
1 TB cream of tartar + food coloring.
The article calls for rubber gloves so that you don't stain your hands while mixing in the dye. I added the food coloring to the pot prior to cooking it so I didn’t find the gloves to be necessary.
You can do it several ways. The recipe calls for tossing it all in a saucepan (minus the food coloring) and cooking it over low heat, stirring, until it comes together in a ball. Once it is done and has cooled enough to handle, portion it out and color it individually. (This is when gloves would be a good idea). My good friend Maleah, suggested otherwise.
I put it all in, including 7 drops of the neon blue food coloring and a couple of drops of mint extract, and then proceeded. It comes together very quickly, although it does go through a gloppy, oh my gosh what is this mess sort of phase along the way. I love the smell, I love the feel and I love that I know exactly what is in it. We’ll definitely be making this again. The only thing I might try differently next time is how I mix it together. The salt didn't seem like it completely dissolved so I might try mixing it with the warm water first and see how that goes.
