A serendipitous moment last Saturday resulted in this photo of a kiss:
Our Christmas preparations are carried out with great enthusiasm and anticipation. Age three is a wonderful time for the magic of the season.
My Beloved Angel
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Category Archives: Domestic Arts
Anticipation
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in this house! Claire is especially excited.
Our tree (before the star topper was decorated):
I made the star 25 years ago when I was broke, using tin foil and cardboard. Claire added glue and glitter!
Santa’s little elf can’t wait for Christmas. Every gift I wrap that she gets her hands on goes under the tree.
I glued the little wood spoons that come with sherbet cups. Then Claire painted both sides, and put glue on, and then put the sequins and star on (both sides).
And our stockings are hung by the chimney with care.
Our advent calendar (which now has two ornaments stuck to it).
And yesterday, Claire said, “Santa Claus makes special love so I feel happy in my heart and my heart feels love for everyone, and when they feel my big love I give them hugs and kisses.” Of course, she also wants a zillion toys from him too, but I think she understands the essence of the holiday. We read her picture books about the baby Jesus too, so she will understand the correlating story about this time of year.
It’s all about celebrating light and love this time of year.
Thanksgiving Craft
We made a simple craft today, a list of what Claire is thankful for. I wrote them down as dictated. Note the last item on the list. Also note that if it weren’t for my prompting, “Are you thankful for me?” I wouldn’t have made the cut. (I do feel a tinge of chagrin/shame that I manipulated myself onto the list.)
Resupplying
Earlier this year I made colored rice for Claire to play with. She played with it a lot outdoors last summer, and it had faded and gradually thinned out as it got scattered about. So I made more this week (along with small batches and dyed noodles for crafts). For a burst of color, see below.
More Crafts
Leaf turkey with leaves from our yard!
Turkey apple made in preschool!
Letter I (Island) and i (ice cream) crafts…
Indian Corn
Paper Bag Town 1
Paper Bag Town 2
Apple Crumble
I’ve wanted to have an apple dessert that doesn’t require the fuss of a crust. Sometimes I just don’t want to bother with making the crust, and Claire wants to help make things too. So I found a crumble recipe. The first version didn’t turn out superbly, so I tinkered with the ingredients, with the following result.
It was sublime. It’s a bit richer and sweeter than a pie (so smaller servings satisfy), since a pie crust is basically flour, butter, and little salt, while the crumble has sugar and spices in it. It really turned out well. Here’s my recipe (for a 10-inch wide, 2-inch deep pie pan):
Apple Crumble
6-8 large apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp. tapioca (or 1.5 Tbsp. flour)
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. nutmeg
Mix the apple slices together with the other ingredients and put it into a 10-inch pie pan.
2 cups flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. nutmeg
2 sticks of butter
1 ¾ cups rolled oats
Mix the first five ingredients together. Cut the butter into small pieces and use your fingers to mix butter into flour mixture until it looks like coarse sand. Mix in oats. Put the mixture on top of the apple slices; press down lightly. Bake at 425F for 10 minutes, then at 350F for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
Time For Change
I was sick of my hair. Long (for me), hot, shaggy, all over the place, drab. So I changed it. Presto! New me, at least externally and above the neck.
I also dragged out the sewing machine finally, and figured out how to thread it. Claire says she wants to be a ghost for Halloween, so I made her a costume. Unfortunately, she won’t actually keep it on. It’s not that she doesn’t like it; she plays a came of “on and off.” But I did it. I’m so proud of myself. Do you know how hard it is to sew a curve, or a 60-inch circle?
Because I’m not sure she’ll wear the costume, I also bought her a witch had and black tutu, and I made her a little cape. So as a backup she can be a witch if she wants. And all this will go in the dress-up basket too.
Autumn Beauty & Savory Fare
We made some today. Sequins make life sparkle!
I also received a bread maker from a friend’s friend, hardly used. My first loaf of whole wheat bread was quite delicious. I just need to learn to slice evenly. (It makes great pizza dough too.)
We’re Back
We are back, we’ve been back, we had a wonderful trip. I just haven’t had time to sit quietly and write about it. However, we have been crafting!
A Full Weekend
The weekend was fast! So much happened. We went to a toy store and bought a tricycle that one of Claire’s relatives is giving for her third birthday. The funny thing about all this is that in the store, the only toys that captivated Claire were the stuffed animals. She was hugging them, playing with them, using her imagination and having them say and do things. She had zero interest in the trike at the time, and even less interest in the other stuff packed into the small store. Makes me wonder when we’ll be getting a dog, since that is her very favorite of all time beloved animal. However, she did get into the trike once we got home.
Then later in the evening, we made our first backyard campfire. We were waiting until it was dark enough early enough so we could still have a reasonable bedtime. The fire pit was a housewarming gift from a relative. (Hey EP, it might look different to you, and that’s because it is. The first one was just huge for our patio space, so we exchanged that for the one in the photo.) We roasted marshmallows, which Claire decided she didn’t like. She likes them uncooked. And she likes chocolate. And graham crackers. Just not all together in the form of a s’more. Mmmmm, I enjoyed some!
Claire was learning about heat radiation and how to figure out the safest distance.
This evening I was puttering in the garden, and I gasped when I saw the flower below. I was beginning to wonder if they’d ever bloom. Claire calls them Morning Glorias. It was the first batch of seeds we planted right after we moved in. I see a ton of buds on the vines now, so we’re in for a full bloom soon.
Stained Glass Streamers
We made the simplest craft the other day, and it turned out so well. To make this, you need a roll of clear packing tape, some string or yarn, a hole punch, and a bunch of tissue paper of different colors cut up into small bits. Put a strip of tape on the table, sticky side facing up, and invite your child to put the paper pieces onto it. I had to tape the ends to the table to keep the strip stationary. When she feels it’s been decorated well enough, put another piece of tape, sticky side down, on top. Trim off any bits of paper sticking out of the edges. Punch a hole in one end, help your child get the yarn through the hole and then hang them outside in a tree, on a bush, off a pole — wherever you can tie them. Here they are hanging in the window for us to admire before going outside.
Now they are in the tree, fluttering about.
We watched them dance as we sat on our porch eating icy pops.
Paper, Paint, and Glitter Glue
I bought a package of die-cut flowers at Michaels, and we undertook to decorate some on Saturday. It took several days to work on this project, because the paint had to dry on each side before we could flip them to paint the other side, and the same for the glitter glue (which took forever to dry). It was difficult for Claire to summon patience through this process, and to understand that time had to pass. But it was worth the wait; this morning I hung them, and the grin on her face and her quiet exclamation of “Wowwww!” when she saw them was proof!
I made the ones on each end.
They rotate in the breeze, and they sparkle!
No Muss, No Fuss
We do a fair amount of painting around Chez Harper, but once in awhile I want a less messy activity. So today I tried an idea I saw at Frugal Family Fun. I may have had more fun making them than Claire did playing with them, but they’ll be around awhile for those moments of boredom when a quick distraction will do.
I took file folder and cut out a 5″ by 7″ window. Then I decorated them with markers. Then I took a gallon-size heavy duty zip-top bag and put in the following:
1/3 cup of mineral oil
1/3 cup of color A
1/3 cup of color B
A dash of glitter
Gently press the bag so all the air is pressed out and seal. With packing tape, seal the zip-top. Then I taped the bags inside the file folders and taped the folders shut. If I’d had quart-size bags it might have been a bit easier — in that case I’d have used 1/4 cup of each item.
Matching Games
I have an abundance of card stock in my art supplies, and Claire has a lunchbox full of stickers. She’s getting to an age where games (taking turns, following rules) are interesting. Instead of buying a card set, I decided to be frugal and make a memory matching card games. There are small sets with large-ish pictures, and bigger sets with smaller stickers. We tried out the butterfly game after dinner and it was a hit!
The inspiration came from this post.
Mellow Friday
We’ve had a busy week, with someplace to go every day until today. I decided today would be a relax-at-home day, and this morning Claire and I did two crafts. She is still learning how to handle materials, developing fine motor skills, and beginning to grasp the steps of a project. The two crafts we did were from the All Kids Network. We made a paper plate sun and the tissue paper fish.
With the fish, I prepared the materials and gave them to Claire. She put the bits of paper on. I forgot about putting the eye and the smile on, but no biggie.
With the sun, I cut up the pieces; Claire painted the plate and the smile. After it dried, she put glue on the rays and the sunglasses and told me where to position them.
She’s not quite three, so these projects are mostly a collaborative effort. But we have fun, and she’s starting to do more on her own. Here’s a happy child:
