potato stamping {for St. Patrick's Day}

What better a time than St. Patrick's Day to introduce potato stamping to the little miss? I just sliced the potato in two, and instead of making my own shape by carving (we'll do that when she gets older), I found another use for my little shamrock cookie cutter. I pushed it into the potato and cut around it. Simple.

She was very entertained as she dipped the potato into the paint and with her whole hand clasped tightly to the spud she pounded the paper. More of a "stomp" than a stamp. It was fun.

shamrock bites

Here it is, my St. Paddy's Day version of the Love Bites I made for Valentine's Day. Substitute green for pink and switch the cookie cutter!

Here's the recipe again:

2 sticks butter, softened

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 green nonpareils

With mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With mixer on low speed, gradually beat in flour until combined. Mix in nonpareils. Roll dough to 1/2 inch thickness between two sheets of wax paper, transfer to baking sheet, and refrigerate for 3 hours or up to 3 days. (LOVE make ahead stuff! Especially when I made the dough I realized I didn't have a shamrock cookie cutter!)

Heat oven to 350. Cut out shapes from dough. Place on baking sheet 1/2 inch apart and bake for about 14-18 minutes, until just golden. Transfer cookies to rack, and cool completely.

You can brush the edges with light corn syrup and dip into crystalized sugar for a finishing touch.

make a brownie waffle!

I saw this on pinterest and knew I had to try it.

It is so easy.

We just whipped up our favorite brownie mix and scooped it onto our waffle iron just as if you were making a waffle. In three minutes we had a warm, chocolatey, and really fun snack! How about some vanilla ice cream for a brownie waffle ice cream sandwich?! Yes!

It doesn't have the dense, chewy characteristics of a brownie, as the Mister said, it's more like  eating the yummy brownie edges. Did I mention how happy he was with this whole idea?

Try it for fun. I doubt you'll be disappointed!

rainbow rice {st.patrick's day style}

Rainbow rice. An amazing sensory play project that I have been waiting to do with the little miss. I first saw it when I was pulling together ideas for her rainbow sprinkles birthday party. I wanted to wait and introduce it at a later time. I figured St. Patrick's day was a great time to learn about rainbows and leprechauns! And with the gray weather we've been having, I need to see rainbows now more than ever!

Originally, I imagined this as a super fun St. Patrick's Day party activity. Then I had a vision of two overly excited two-and-a-half-year-olds flailing rice all over my house and well, I chickened out!! I still made two boxes of rainbow rice, but the girls could enjoy them on their own. (I can hear my own mother laughing out loud right now.)

I started with a 25lb bag of rice. This was exactly enough for 8 cups of each color of the rainbow. Coloring the rice is very easy and I was surprised at just how fast it went.

I put the 8 cups of rice in a gallon size ziplock bag. Next, 1-2tbsp of alcohol, which helps set the color, and as many liquid food coloring drops as needed to achieve the color desired. I started with 25-30 and increased it from there. Seal the bag and toss the rice in the bag until the color is distributed. Easy as that. Empty the bag onto a cookie tray to dry.  The smell of the alcohol will go away as the rice dries.

Now to fill the boxes! I wanted something big enough for enjoyable play with funnels, buckets, etc., but not too big, I decided on 28 quart clear boxes with lids for easy storage. They measure 23" x 16 1/4" x 6". It worked out PERFECTLY for the 28 cups of rice I put in it (4 cups for each of the 7 colors of the rainbow). Enough rice to play with and have fun, but not too much to overflow into the house. Totally ideal for toddler size!

As I put each color in, I would push it towards the last color to make each color about 4" in width. Doesn't it make you smile?

To introduce Clementine to the fun of St. Patrick's Day: leprechauns, rainbows, shamrocks, and a pot of gold, I bought some golden coins and glittery shamrocks to hide in the rice.

I hid 6 shamrocks and 12 coins in each box.

I simply pushed them into the rice. Buried treasure in the rainbow! I told her all about leprechauns and I read her a little Irish poem that I had found. We talked about how tall they were, what color they liked to wear, and about their mischievous ways. And of course how they say they like to hide their treasure at the end of the rainbow! Next came the colors of the rainbow (I went with the classic ROYGBIV, she'll have to learn it eventually, right?!) As much as she thought all of this was so cool, all she really wanted to do was get her little hands into that box of rice!

She was very excited to find the coins and shamrocks. When they were all found she played for a VERY long time. Yes! I love a successful project. Will I be finding rice all over my house forever? Probably. But, I think it's worth it.

This is what the box looks like now...

tiny succulent+glass votive+rocks & moss= smile

There once was a lady in need

of some sunshine, or just something green.

She found a little plant at the store,

brought it home, but realized it required something more-

the plastic pot was rather grim,

there must be something else to put it in.

No soil please, no larger pot,

she had to use what she had already got.

She glanced around the room and thought for a sec-

A votive, a few rocks, some moss, oh yes!

This would be easy, simple, and quick,

like a makeover magic trick!

The lady smiled, she is quite pleased.

I know this, of course, because the lady is me.

This is such a SIMPLE thing to do! And so inexpensive! So many possibilities: a simple gift for a friend/yourself/hostess, a windowsill, a mantle, a centerpiece, a party favor...

Oh, and might I also recommend Sharon Montrose's sweet photographs of animals in her book, Menagerie. Check out the Animal Print Shop! If only I had a bigger house and more walls. (Or was giving Clementine's room a makeover)

handprint masks for mardi gras

A mask seemed like a perfect mardi gras activity for the little miss.

I showed her where New Orleans is on her favorite map puzzle. We listened to brass band music and talked about the festivities. She was super excited to get her beads in the traditional colors of purple (for justice), green (for faith), and gold (for power). We used these same colors to make our masks.

I traced her hands, one on purple paper, and one on yellow paper. I cut them out and glued them together at the palms and then to some cardboard (cereal box!) to make them a little sturdier. Next came the eye holes. The rest was up to Clementine. She glued feathers, drew with markers, and poured some gold glitter. It was a quick and enjoyable activity!

I wound a gold pipe cleaner around a wooden skewer (with the point taken off) and taped it to the back of the mask. Lastly, three gold ribbons tied to the top.

Tonight we'll feast on jambalaya and king cake. Having an excuse to celebrate all sorts of holidays is definitely one of my favorite things about being a mom!

best friend pasta necklaces

Pasta necklaces are so fun! What makes them even better? (Pretend this question is being asked to a two and half year old girl obsessed with pink) Well, when the pasta is pink, of course! I thought it would make them even more special to have a "locket".

The girls LOVED this!!!

First off, coloring the pasta.

Put the pasta in a ziplock bag with a tablespoon of alcohol and 4+ drops off food coloring (depending on how dark you want your color, enriched pasta requires a few more drops of color). Shake it around until it is all coated. Place on tray to dry.

Repeat this step for as many colors or types of pasta you want to use. Shoelaces make for the perfect string for the younger set. I cut one in half so each had the flugelbinder (yes, that is the name of the shoelace tip; impress your friends with that fun fact.) to use to ease in stringing the pasta. I tied a wagonwheel at the other end with a knot.

As for the locket, I cut a heart shape out of a sturdy piece of cardboard. For best results do not use corrugated cardboard as it bends too easily. I traced the heart shape onto pink paper and cut out three more hearts. One to cover the front, one to cover the back, and the third I glued just the top part down on the front, to make a sort of flap so you could "open" the locket. I punched a hole to string it on the necklace, and I glittered the sides to cover up the cardboard. After all was dry, I wrote "Best Friends" Lastly, I cut out pictures of the girls' faces. Two of each.

After the girls were done stringing, we tied a knot to make the necklace complete. Then we sat down with the pictures and a glue stick. We asked the girls to pick out the picture of their best friend, they did, and then picked out the picture of themselves. We glued the cute little faces under the flap, inside the "locket" and using a piece of sparkly pipe cleaner, attached it to their necklace.

"Awww, so cuuute," Clementine said as she raced to see herself and her new homemade necklace in the mirror. Yes, indeed.