Embroider Your Kids' Artwork!

In my evening/late night decompression time, when the house is quiet and the computer is mine... ALL MINE!! [evil laugh] 

ahem, sorry for that outburst...

Anyway during these last few lovely moments before collapsing into bed, I like to check on my favorite blog sites. 

Little Birdie Secrets is just one of those sites, and one day, oh yes, one of these days, I will actually do some of the fabulous ideas featured here! 

This one is truly ingenious~~ Embroidering your kids' art! Look how cute!

Go here for the tutorial. You don't have to thank me... but you are welcome. :D

Crochet Creation

As I said before, I have picked up my crochet hook again lately. Here is Lilly in a little hat that I made for her. I think that it is delightful. I have requests from my other kids- different colors, with or without flowers, but everyone seems to want one around here. Me included.

Reindeer Cookies

Here is one of our favorite family baking traditions. The reindeer cookie.

They are lots of fun to make, they look adorable and even the little ones can do it- with some slight variations to the theme, of course.

First you start with your favorite peanut butter cookie recipe.

Gather a few simple decorative toppings: tiny twist pretzels, chocolate chips and holiday M&Ms.

Roll dough into balls and then press flat as a usual PB cookie.
Then pinch slightly to create the 'reindeer' head shape.

Add a tiny twist pretzel for his antlers,

and chocolate chips for the eyes,

and finally an M&M for the nose!

Piece of cake! Well, cookie, actually.

Bake as called for in your PB recipe, but watch for the cracking of M&Ms-- may be a couple of minutes less.

Enjoy!

**special thanks to my hand-model, Maddy

A Time for Spooks

Here is one of our favorite family crafts. They are fun to make and they look great. And yes, this is an old picture... but I miss those days when the girls were smaller than me!

Cheesecloth Ghost

Materials

* Cheesecloth
* White sugar
* Warm water
* Bowl
* Wiggle eyes
* Scissors, balloon, large cup or jar

General Instructions

* Make a mixture of sugar and water. Put in sugar first—a whole bag to make multiple ghosts. Add water until it is a thick, watery paste. While sugar is dissolving, make a form for your ghost. I use a large plastic cup with a balloon in the top.
* Once sugar has completely dissolved soak pieces of cheesecloth in mixture. Remove and drape over "ghost form".
* Allow to dry a minimum of overnight. May take longer.
* Once dry remove form from underneath. Your ghost should be quite firm.
* Glue on wiggle eyes
* These make great Halloween decorations for dinner tables, at your doorway or on your desk.