Snack attack - Raspberry and almond bars

The girls are back to school so packed lunches and afternoon snacks are back on the menu.  These bars are healthy-ish, tasty and filling which is a must in an after school snack. Almond and raspberry is a winning combination.  Will even declared them the best thing he'd tasted all day; thumbs up all round!

Raspberry & almond bars

Recipe adapted from Real Simple

1 cup of jumbo (old fashioned) oats

3/4 gluten free flour

1 1/4 cup of whole raw almonds

6 tbs coconut oil

1/4 cup of honey (mild flavored)

3/4 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1/2 cup of raspberry jam

Preheat the oven to 350F and line an 8" square tin with baking parchment.   Blend the oats, flour & 1 cup of the almonds in a food processor until ground.  Add in the rest of the ingredients, except the jam, and pulse until combined. It will form a gritty thick paste.  

Reserve about 1/2 cup of the mixture.  Using your knuckles press the remaining mixture into the tin until flat & evenly distributed.  Using an offset spatula spread the jam over the base.  Take care to get jam up to the edges and in the corners.  Pulse the remaining 1/4 cup of almonds until roughly chopped. Sprinkle them with the reserved mixture over the jam.

Bake in the oven until golden brown on the edges and bubbly, about 45 minutes.  Leave to cool completely in the tin before cutting up.  I made about 16 squares. Store in the fridge.

Almond jammy goodness.

Anna inspired costume

The Frozen frenzy died down a while ago for my girls (isn't it about time Frozen 2 came out?!) but I think it is still very much alive amongst the younger ones. If our recent trip to Disneyland and the number of kids in Elsa costumes is anything to go by.  

My goddaughter was a little late to the Frozen party, in fact to the whole movie watching thing, so she is still very much a rampant fan.  I decided to make her an Anna costume for her birthday (Thanks Rob for the inspiration!). The sewing element is very simple and the techniques could be applied for any number of princesses, if you are that way inclined.

The skirt is a basic circle skirt with elastic sewed directly into the waistband.  Circle skirts are so easy to do and give the desired swirlyness. The cape is then the same principle except you then cut the circle of fabric to give the opening and instead of attaching a waist band you attach a hood.  I chose fleece for the cape which doesn't require any hemming, bonus!

To make the bodice I used one of my daughters vest tops as a template to cut out the basic design. Then created a velcro fastening at the back for ease of on/off.  

Cape detail

The great thing about making dress up costumes is you don't need to be too hung up on perfection; just make sure your seams are good and strong as these outfits can get ripped on and off at lightening speed several hundred times a day!

I am pleased to report the outfit was well received - "Best present EVER!" was mentioned! 

Embroidery for babies

Perhaps the title is a little misleading. I don't actually mean embroidery for babies but embroidery for babies. Get it?

One of my best friends at home (UK) had twins before Christmas; a boy & girl.  I've been rather slow getting round to making them a gift what with Christmas, sickness (yup we had the lurgy for Christmas too) and a family ski trip all happening straight after their arrival into the world. Anyhow that's my excuse....

Nicola (of a Pip and a Peach fame) introduced me to embroidery. She gave me this pattern last year when she came to visit; the fruits of which now hang in my youngest daughter's bedroom. I thought I could utilise the same pattern for the twins as it had a boy & girl version.

Embroidery is a great sewing skill to add to your repertoire.  Its gratifyingly easy and you get results fast.  There are many super cute designs out there, Etsy is a great source in case you are looking.  There are many ways to get the image onto the fabric, this YouTube video explains them well.  I just traced mine through the fabric.

Did I forget to do her legs???!

I added a back to these two as they are a gift. Gather in the edges of the fabric by pulling together with a running stitch then secure with a knot. I then hot glued the backing fabric to the other fabric.  You could also sew the two pieces of fabric together.

Welcome little babies :-) xx

The easiest fruit cake - starch and gluten free

This recipe is adapted from Pauline's fruit cake recipe. Pauline is my sisters step grandmother in law. Sis and I have done this recipe a million times (in the starch format) even as our Christmas cake for several years; its that good.  Its so quick and easy, beautifully moist and a great filler upper, a major plus in my book.  The original recipe adapted very easily to a starch free version with no compromise on taste or texture.

It is also a very forgiving recipe. You can vary the quantities/types of dried fruit and nuts with good results.

Pauline's fruit cake

600g mixed dried fruit of your choice

100g nut pieces of your choice

50g desiccated coconut, unsweetened 

3oz of liquid (sometimes I use brandy, orange juice or just water)

1 1/3 cup of almond flour (ground almonds)

1 egg beaten

1 tin of condensed milk

generous shake of mixed spice (cinnamon & ginger)

2 tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 320F (160C). Grease and line your preferred tin, usually 2 loaf tins for me.

Simmer the fruit in your chosen liquid for a few minutes, or until the fruit absorbs the liquid a little.  Transfer to a large bowl.  Add all the other ingredients and stir thoroughly to combine.  Spread evenly into the tin and bake until a tooth pick comes out clean. I tend to check it after about 45 minutes as it may need covering, and leave it in for another 10 mins or so.

A mighty fine looking cake in my book... 

DIY outdoor chalk board for kids

Sidewalk chalking is a big thing here in the USA, more so than in the UK, and my girls love it as much as the next.  I'm happy for them to scrawl all over pavements in the park but not so happy to step out of our back door and see their 'art'. I put it down to the neat freak in me and the lack of rain here which means you are stuck with said 'art' for weeks (unless of course you bother to hose it off!).

I decided to make a chalk board for the girls to scrawl/doodle/draw on until their hearts are content with the added bonus of covering up our dilapidated fence.

Darn easy project if you've got a fence to hide and/or artistic children:-)

Materials:

1. Sheet of regular plywood - ours is a massive 8ft x 4ft which is the width between fence posts so easier to secure.  HD or Lowes will cut to size for you. 
2. Chalk board paint.  I got mind from Lowes and just under $10 for the tin (I used all of it for our board).
3. Primer. I used some I had left over which was actually white.
4. Screws to attach to fence. We added a baton of 2x4 across the top for added strength as its so wide.
5. Bucket of chalk

One coat of primer, 3 coats of chalkboard paint, one evening of taking the fence apart then rebuilding (not my idea!) and we have a chalkboard.

Beautiful bucket of chalk. Looked like this for about 1 day...

Fortunately we've had a few cooler weeks (low 30's) so they have been able to use it.  I think I'll invest in a sail shade to rig up so they can use it more in the summer.  Although when its too cool for the pool it will be a welcome garden activity.

Are your kids chalk fans? Get making a board!

Polka dot party

Last years birthday party theme was the Octonauts, you can read about the party here.  This year we went dotty! Polka dotty to be precise, or poke her (said with posh English accent) dotty as the birthday girl insisted on saying. 

The polka dot train started with the party bags.  Connie & I spent a happy morning stamping corks into paint and onto sandwich bags.

The polka dot cake was fun to make, with its polka dot cake pops inside. There are plenty of recipes out there on "how to" which I perused before starting this one. 
A kind school Mum lent me her cake pop machine, which is little bit like a waffle machine but it makes balls of cake.  I made up a two batches of my regular sponge cake mix then divided it into 5 portions to which I added radioactive food colouring. I ended up with extras; better over balled than under I thought.  Some of the cake balls (why are they called pops?!) were slightly brown on the surface from over greasing the machine.  It barely noticed in the finished cake.  Then when they were cooled I popped the pops in the freezer.

The next morning I set to work building the cake.  A thin layer of batter on the base of the tin then evenly spaced the pops on the surface, see below. Apologies for the bad photo.

Originally I made up double quantities of cake batter but that wasn't enough; a last minute panic mix of a third batch and the balls were covered. As was the kitchen...

My preferred frosting is buttercream icing which I then decorated with lovely Smarties.   

The cake got a little squished at the park!

Pretty much every piece had a polka dot in it which went down well with the party goers!

The rest of the party food was polka dotted - dot sandwiches, crackers and dots of cheese, mini tomatoes, circular tortilla chips, cuties, sugar cookies with polka dot icing, oh and hula hoops. A great English crisp!

the birthday girl tucking in

If you don't know Oriental trading head over there for a browse; it is brilliant and reasonable! I got the plates, napkins, balloons & party bag toys from there.

Have you got a birthday party coming up? Come on, join us; its fun being dotty!

Quick Valentine cards

Not long until the big V day.  These cards are so quick and easy to do and use supplies you normally have at home already.  It is great craft activity to do with the kids; given they usually have 30 odd to do these leave them plenty of time to get writing the names!

I bought a pack of cards & envelopes from Joann's but you could do postcard style and cut the card yourself (reducing cost).  We had poster paint so I used that and watered it down a little which makes a better flicking/spraying action. The heart was cut free hand from another piece of card. I ended up using a couple as they got harder to get off the more painty they got.

Using a little spray adhesive stick on the heart and flick away!

We found just bending the card levered up the heart enough to peel it off put it onto the next one.

Now onto writing those names....

Happy Valentine's Day x

Over sized ruler height chart

DIY over sized ruler height chart

I made our existing height chart on a whim with the girls as an afternoon's activity a few years ago.  Whilst it is bright and colourful and made by them its not going to stand the test of time.  .  
My girls love their height/growth chart.  They are bounding with enthusiasm and excitement when Daddy gets out the special book as they stand like soliders with backs against the wall and can be crestfallen if they haven't grown since he last measured them.

When I think about height charts I think about pen marks up a wall.  I love the permanency of that, seeing your little people grow up before your eyes.  So at the back of my mind I had a thought that I wanted to upgrade our existing chart to something that would stand the test of time.
When I first started really looking at blogs I came across this beautiful embroidered growth chart at the Student Teacher. Sadly her blog is no longer accessible but she did have a great tutorial and I strongly considered make this one.

Image: The Student Teacher

A friend of mine whose blog is also out of action made this great height chart from old rulers, which I think may have sparked my imagination.

Image: A Year Above the Shop

One day (or was it night?) whilst looking at Pinterest wasting my life away looking for ideas I came across this growth chart from Dear Lillie. Bingo! Obviously I wasn't going to pay $70 when I could enjoy making one myself.  However it is a lovely chart so if you don't fancy making one pop on over to them.

Source: Dear Lillie oversized ruler growth chart

The first port of call was Home Depot for a piece of wood.  Mr Maker is the wood man so he took pleasure (seriously) in picking me up a plank; it is cedar and was $25. You could get a cheaper piece to get the cost down but make sure you spend time getting a flat, level piece.

I tried out various stains I already had and then went with the darker milk paint.

However I didn't like the end result.  It came out blotchy, most likely application error rather than the paint itself.  So I sanded it off and applied a coat of Feed-N-Wax.  The end result was rather pleasing; a warm wood colour with the grain highlighted. Sometimes the best results are the product of a mistake.

The stencils were from Lowes (click for link) which turned out much cheaper than any from Michael's.  I decided on the format and penciled on the numbers and lines.  As per instructions on the stencil box I attached them with tape and began dabbing/blotting on the paint.  An old not-washed-out-properly stiffened paint brush was the perfect applicator.

Bam! School boy stencil error!  Rather serious paint bleed from the edge of the stencils.  Take two:  I used a spray adhesive to hold them in place which gave lovely crisp lines.

Job done.  Two weeks later its finally up on the wall, now I just need to copy over our old measurements.  

Old & new

Reluctant dressed up model

Break down of costs

• Wood - $25
• Stencils (which are reusable) - $5.66
• Paint - $4.95 I only used a miniscual amount so plenty left for future projects
• Milk paint & wax - $0 
• Wall hook - $2

Really the total cost was about $28.  This doesn't include my time - a few hours, but what a saving.  Got to love that.