EKO's Crafty Life

Here is a quick pic of my little one enjoying her gummy rose on a stick I showed you yesterday . Yes she still has bed head... try and convince a little girl with curly hair that you need to comb it out even if she is not going any where today!

Valentine Chocolat Pops; the tutorial I Love to arrange treats on a stick for my guests to eat or take home as a snack. I have been making these since I was a little girl with my mom, and now that she does not make them any more I have been given all her old molds.  Yes I have an entire cupboard full of molds! The Tutorial The first step is to melt the coloured chocolate that you will be using to paint the front of the pops, I uses little ceramic bowls made my Wilton  for just this purpose to microwave the chocolate on half power (I use the defrost setting) and keep it warm while working Using these bowls allow you to use small amounts of chocolate and not worry about getting water into the chocolate from the steam of your double boiler. one tip is to be sure you do not put a bowl in the middle of your microwave this is a sure fire way to burn that chocolate that is why I put them on the outside of a plate also this gives you something...

Making our Own paper for Valentine Cards  Earlier this week we decided to embark on a paper making mission to make our own special valentine cards here is the adventure. First the little ones ripped up an old egg carton and some old colouring sheets and place the pieces in a food processor ( the food processor was not plugged in at this point) We added some water and they got to make the machine go... that is when they were not running away hiding from the noise. There next step was to add some food colouring and sparkles  to the mix, the colour deepens as the paper dries Next the little ones spread a thin layer of the pulp into the decal ( i got this one in a craft kit at a thrift shop however they can be made from some fine screen and wood) and pressed some of the excess water out ( I know this is not the normal way but it produces a thinker paper that will still dry fairly quickly.) I then placed the paper on some parchment paper and pl...

Valentines Cookies on a Stick. It may not be apparent yet to my readers but I do like making things on a stick and having them in a little bouquet in my living room or by more door for guests to snack on or take home with them at parties.  Yesterday we had some people over so I made some sugar ( and non pictured gingerbread) cookies on a stick to add to a bouquet of chocolate pops (post to come). Ingredients 1 1/2 cups butter, softened 2 cups white sugar 4 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 5 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt Food Colouring ( I use gel colouring to avoid adding extra moisture) a little goes a long way Directions 1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until smooth. 2. Beat in eggs and vanilla.  3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. then stir into wet ingredients 4. knead dough together, divide into balls and colour as you would like 5. wrap balls wit...

A little while back I was in need of a gift for my husband from the the girls so after a quick trip to the dollar store, and then with a few supplies from home we made dad a gift that he is proudly displaying on his desk at work. We picked up a simple wooden frame and then my daughter went to work painting the frame with her favorite colours. the little artist at work. After the paint was dry I took a sharpie added a caption to the bottom of the frame,  and then sprayed a coat of clear spray paint on top of the paint job and then printed a picture of the two girls. Here is the frame on display in Dads office (I forgot to take an after pic)

My eldest daughter asked to learn how to knit today while the baby was sleeping so I got out a thick piece of yarn and a P hook. Mostly she is just wrapped the yarn around the crochet hook. But she did get a few stitches done before she just started wrapping the yarn around her hook. We started of good But lost patients and just started wrapping.

Making a "Stain Glass" window Start by drawing a picture on a piece of plasticized paper, options are freezer paper mack-tack ( what I used because I had it on hand) or even regular paper covered in plastic wrap,  just use what you have on hand. Use pencil to draw that way if any of the lines transfer you can erase them from the finished project. Sorry it is hard to see the lines but my mack-tack had a fairly bold print. Next make the glue, you could use watered down pvc glue but I jsut make my own: Mix 1 Cup water  1 tablespoon flour and 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil  keep at a simmer until thickend, cool and you are ready to go. Also rip up small pieces of tissue paper in the co lours you would like to use for your picture. Now we start the picture.  place a thin layer of glue on your drawing ( you can see the butterfly better here)   Next place pieces...

Faux Stain Glass Window My daughter and I made this last week, I took lots of picture and will post a how to soon.