Not too long ago, my day job was absolutely killing me. I had a big deadline, I was desperately behind, and I had no child care at all. I needed to find some way of keeping the Zoodle entertained while I worked. Fortunately for me, I had one already on hand: a no-sew blanket kit I bought for her years ago.
I bought the no-sew blanket kit for her when she was still a toddler. I wanted Zoodle to develop some more fine motor skills, and this seemed like a good way to do it. I was profoundly wrong, of course. The activity was not age-appropriate for my child at that time.
Now Zoodle is older. She resisted at first, wanting something more appropriate for two people. Once she got into the task, though, she loved it. She sat there quietly and worked on that blanket for a couple of hours. I got to finish a chapter in my project.
Her no-sew blanket is now her favorite piece of bedding. She insists on sleeping with that blanket first, every night. She’s proud of her hard work, and she’s warmer to boot.
Here’s what you’ll need:
1 new-sew blanket kit (We got ours at Jo-Ann’s five or so years ago)
OR
2 equal-sized pieces of fleece fabric
1 pair of scissors. Rotary cutters and a matt are fine, but not necessary
Time
Cut the ends of your fabric into roughly equal lengths of fringe. You don’t have to be precise. My advice is to cut them together. (A grown-up should do this, if kids are involved.)
Tie the fringe pieces together, knotting each piece of fabric to the other.
Cover yourself and go to sleep, content with a job well done.
It really is that easy. As with everything, you know your kids best. The Zoodle is not able to handle big-people fabric cutting scissors. Your child might. Safety first!
Pinecones: Nature’s ornaments (source: colormesunny on pixabay)
It’s time for the winter holidays, and one of the most fun parts of the winter holidays (for me, anyway) is crafts. I loved the crafts we made in Girl Scouts as a little girl, and I love them now. These pinecone ornaments are an easy, fun, creative craft the whole family can enjoy.
When it comes to holiday decor, everyone has their own tastes and they’re all equally valid. Some people, whose faith is deeply important to them, like to incorporate a lot of religious imagery. Some people like a lot of bright colors and intense light shows. Our occasional cameraman, and my Spouse, is one of those people.
Personally, I like decor that emulates nature. I like natural or natural-look trees. I like piney boughs as garlands, and natural-looking wreaths on houses. Christmas is just one of many transitional holidays, a celebration taking place at or near the Solstice, and I find comfort in as many reminders of nature as I can get at such times.
We used scented pinecones, because that’s what I could get and because the cinnamon scent is kind of awesome. Okay, that’s not natural. It does have a calming, cheerful effect and can help keep bugs away.
You can use pinecones you gather yourself for this fun craft. The only issue is that you risk bringing undesirables like mold spores and bugs into your home. You can prepare your foraged pinecones for craft use following instructions like the ones on this blog; I have not made the attempt. Don’t leave your oven unattended, however; you don’t want to risk a fire.
To make the pinecone ornaments, you will need:
Pinecones
Twine
A hot glue gun
Glue sticks (we used glitter glue, because why wouldn’t you?)
Paint (Again, we used glitter paint, because we could. I don’t think watercolors would stand out against the dark pinecones, but a good thick paint should do okay.)
Paintbrushes
Ribbons, trim, other accessories (we used some of the trim and ribbon we got in our Michaels Grab Bag!)
Make a generous loop with your twine and attach it to the top of your pinecone.
Glue the loop into position with hot glue. An adult should do this part, or at least supervise!
Decorate the pinecones as you see fit. You can use glitter, or paint, or you can glue on other decorations. Get creative!
Let the glue dry and move on to the next pinecone.
Zoodle and I went to Michael’s the other day, looking to pick up a few things for a project. We got those things, but we spotted something as we got close to the checkout counter: a grab bag.
Now I’ll be the first to admit that I’m pretty easily distracted by bright shiny objects. I like adventure, and surprises. If you tell me “here’s this thing, we have no idea what’s inside it,” chances are I’m going to be all over it.
Plus, the grab bag was only four dollars! For four dollars we got a big mystery bag, full of plenty of excitement for one rainy night.
I was curious to find out if our grab bag would be worth the four dollars we’d paid for it. I don’t mind telling you, it was worth every penny. Watch the video below to see just what we got in our grab bag:
You can see that we found plenty of fun goodies in our grab bag. And since the original price tags were left on our items, it wasn’t hard to see we more than got our money’s worth.
We have the space to store all of our extra craft projects for a rainy day. If you don’t, you might want to pass on the grab bag. If you’re looking for a little bit of inspiration, or you’re looking for some fun stuff to have on hand for times when you just can’t get outdoors, the grab bags are a fantastic bargain. I will caution that they’re not appropriate for very small children, but older kids can use them at will.
Here at Turtle and Zoodle Make Stuff, we’re not going to pretend to be perfect. We’re trying new things. We’re learning new crafts. We’re experimenting with new tastes. Sometimes we screw things up. Sometimes we have a cooking disaster. We have meltdowns, or we have equipment failures.
You probably have them too. We’re here to show you that you’re not alone, other people have them too, and you’ll get through it.
This is about one of my cooking disasters.
I’ve made this dish a thousand times before. It’s a supremely easy weeknight meal. It doesn’t have very many ingredients, it’s vegan if you use the right pasta and avoid butter, and it’s delicious.
Here’s where the cooking disaster happened. Everything started out just fine. I went through all of the steps, just like normal. The only difference is that I was using a pot with a strainer built into the lid to cook the pasta. I burned myself with the pasta water, dropped the lid, and spilled the pasta all over the dirty sink.
Physical evidence of my mistake
I couldn’t just not serve dinner, so I had to cook more pasta. I didn’t want the broccoli to get cold, though, so I left the lid on while my second batch of pasta cooked.
Big mistake.
The broccoli kept cooking. It didn’t just overcook. No, the broccoli disintegrated. It pureed itself.
The funny thing is, it didn’t taste all that bad. The texture was terrible, as you can probably imagine, but the flavor wasn’t bad at all. I was horrified, and I didn’t want to eat it at all. I did document it, so you could get a good laugh and maybe forgive yourself a little bit the next time you make a mistake or two in the kitchen.
Ingredients
1 large bag broccoli florets
1 head garlic, peeled and sliced
1/2 tsp salt
2 – 3 tbsp olive oil
water
1 box pasta – I usually use whole wheat
Equipment
pasta pot
ladle
strainer
large sauté pan with lid
Bring the water to a boil.
Once the pasta is boiling, add the pasta to the pot.
Heat the oil in the sauté pan over low heat.
Add the garlic and sprinkle with salt.
Sauté the garlic until fragrant.
Sauté the garlic.
Add the broccoli and stir-fry to coat. You can add some crushed red pepper here. We don’t, because the Zoodle is averse to spicy food, but it would taste great.
Splash 1 ladle full of boiling pasta water into the broccoli pan and put the lid on.
Drain the pasta when done.
Transfer the pasta to a bowl. Pour the broccoli and garlic mixture onto the pasta and serve hot.
Pie crusts have been the bane of my existence since the beginning of time. Well, more or less the beginning of time. There was probably a time when I thought pie crusts just kind of happened, like rain and snow and weather. As it turns out, pie crusts are a pain.
I have one pie crust recipe that works for me. It’s a recipe my grandmother used. She passed it down on an index card, ingredients only, written in a shaky hand. Her crusts always earned praise from everyone who tried them, so I figured it was the best recipe around.
It turns out this was the only pie crust recipe she could make work. It’s the only one I can make work, too.
That’s okay. Turtle And Zoodle Make Stuff isn’t a master class on anything. It’s a place to learn and explore, and have fun. In this video, I’m sharing my family recipe for pie crust with the Zoodle. She may find a better crust recipe for herself someday. She’s a smart kid with a talent for sculpture.
This will always be the first, though. It’s a link back to her past, and where she came from. And here’s the kicker – it’s easy, too!
Pie Crust (makes two 9″ pie crusts)
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon raw sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
grated zest of one lemon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons ice water
1 tablespoon vinegar
Equipment
either
one medium mixing bowl AND one pastry cutter
OR
One food processor
*
two re-sealable plastic bags, gallon size
Rolling pin
Combine the ingredients in the bowl, or the workbowl of your food processor.
Use the pastry cutter, or your food processor, to combine the ingredients until they resemble a coarse meal.
Divide in two. Put each half into a resealable plastic bag and pat into a flat disc.
Refrigerate at least one hour, and up to a week.
When you’re ready to use, roll your dough out inside the plastic bags. Cut down the side of the bag and put into your 9″ pie plate.
Trim the sides and proceed with your recipe.
We used this recipe to make an apple pie. Apple pie isn’t hard. Most fruit pies aren’t hard (in contrast to tarts, which can be torture). To make the filling for the pie:
Apple Pie:
5 empire apples (You can use whatever apple you can get, but we had empire and they’re the best, so.)
1/4 cup corn starch
1/3 cup raw sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 recipe pie crust (above)
Equipment:
1 9″ pie plate
Oven
Baking sheet
Mixing bowl
Preheat your oven to 425.
Peel your apples, and dice them.
Combine the apples with the rest of the ingredients, except the crust, in your mixing bowl. Stir to combine well.
Roll out your crust and line the bottom of a pie plate with it.
Pour your filling into the prepared crust.
Roll out the second crust and lay it on top of the first. Crimp shut.
Vent the top crust. I put an x in mine with a sharp knife, because I have no artistic skill. You can use any kind of small vent in the crust that makes you happy.
Last Sunday, I had a problem. I’d spent a lot of time sitting around, and I needed to move my body. Zoodle wanted to work on our blog. I found a project we could work on together, a cute craft that required a lot of sticks. We probably could have found them in the yard, but I took us for a short hike in the Blue Hills instead.
The Blue Hills holds a ton of hiking trails, suitable for folks of all abilities. I used to take my dog, Yogi, there when he was a young pup. The section to which I brought Zoodle is smaller, and *almost* impossible to get lost in. It’s also not too steep or dangerous for little legs and feet.
Light on a trail
Zoodle isn’t the biggest fan of walking, so I figured she’d hate it. I was wrong. We didn’t get more than five minutes down the trail before the beauty of the park sucked her in.
Zoodle saw a ton of things she fell in love with. She demanded I take pictures of the way the light hit the trail, or of pretty rock formations. The proximity of the park to the city struck her with awe.
She did have a job to do. Zoodle found a ton of sticks to collect for
Collecting sticks
our project. I dropped the ball when it came to stick collection. All I gave her to carry them with was a plastic shopping bag, which ripped. She got frustrated as the sticks tore through the plastic, but she soon gave sticks to dogs we encountered on the trail.
When I was a little kid, I loved to go out hiking in the woods with my dad. It was special time, just for us, and it meant everything to me. I still remember some of those outings and the sense of wonder that came with it. Watching that same joy and thrill come over Zoodle’s face was the greatest joy imaginable.
We’ll do the project for which we needed the sticks sometime in the next couple of weeks. It might work out, and it might not. The memory of that hike will last forever, and that’s what’s important to us.
Handmade gifts are a fantastic way to make the holidays more personal and exciting for everyone on your list. They can be a fun way to involve your kids in holiday preparations, too, and to introduce them to the spirit of giving. This project – decorating ceramic mugs – is an easy and fun way to make a handmade gift your relatives will treasure for years to come.
Zoodle and I have done this before, although she doesn’t remember it She was probably about two years old, or maybe as much as three, and she colored on some big white platters with Sharpies. Our families were delighted with the gifts, but we ran into one problem: The decorations faded quickly, within a couple of years.
I did a little research and I found out that using regular Sharpies had been the problem. Oil-based Sharpies are meant for use on glass, ceramic, and other surfaces. Once set with a little time in the oven, the ink will last much longer. I still wouldn’t run it through the dishwasher, though!
Clear your workspace and draw your designs on your tableware of choice. Some people like song lyrics, others like abstract art. Do whatever feels good to you/your kids.
Put your finished project on a baking sheet.
Put the baking sheet, with your project(s) on it, into a cold
Preheat the oven to 350*F. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Let your art cool in the oven. This keeps the art from shattering in the cold air of your kitchen!
Wrap and give as gifts.
This project can be done with children who are old enough to refrain from flinging the ceramics and who won’t immediately put the Sharpies in their mouths. You know your child best. Zoodle was able to do this, with close supervision, at two. I know plenty of kids who would have trouble with both of those prerequisites at four. Be honest about your child’s abilities, and remember – this is about having fun with your kids, not putting more pressure on yourself in an already stressful time of year!
(please note: I’m not entirely sure how I managed to get the video into this post. If the video suddenly stops working, follow this link to our YouTube channel.)
