Playdough Cookies

Pretty, huh?

It's been a busy, busy few weeks. We went on a family vacation to Disney World and we are gearing up for the Birthday/Holiday season around here. (My daughter, her dad, my mom, three nieces, a cousin or two, and my bestie's bun in the oven all have birthdays in December!) Be on the lookout for the cute things I'm determined to try and get done this year. As usual, I am totally behind in my plans and feeling overwhelmed. I am going to spend the next couple of days organizing, making lists, and getting all my online stuff ordered so I can concentrate on the fun stuff! There may or may not be baby footballs, kids capes, painted wineglasses, an ornament wreath, and oodles of cookies coming soon. I'll try to stay on top of it, I promise. 

Back to today's post. The Munchkin and I made these play-dough cookies a while back. They are so much fun and we will probably be making some holiday inspired variations soon (I'm thinking candy canes would be perfect for this!). These cookies are sooo much fun, they really feel like play dough when you work with them, we did simple swirls, but you can roll out the dough and cut them out or shape them, like sugar cookies, only better. You can also add some sprinkles or sugar for that pixie dust look. I used a recipe I found on www.allrecipes.com, I'll post it here so you don't have to jump around. 

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 ounces cream cheese
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• assorted colors of paste food coloring
• 
  

First things first, be sure to account for the chill time. I have found, and you may be able to relate, that young children are not the most patient bunch of folks. It may even be easier to make the dough and tint it the night before and let it rest overnight, then when your kiddos are ready you can just get to the fun stuff. 

-Combine butter, cream cheese, and sugar. Cream until fluffy. (I used my kitchen aide, if you don't have a stand mixer you may want to use a hand mixer. It's possible to do this with a bowl and spoon, but your arms will thank you if you have some gadget help available.) Add your egg and the vanilla and beat until smooth. 

-In a separate bowl, add flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to your mixer.  Mix slowly until a soft dough forms. 

-Divide your plain dough into bowls (one bowl for each color) and add your paste food color. I use Wilton's paste food colors because they are so easy to find at all my local craft stores. Regular liquid food colors will work, but they will not have the same intensity of color as the paste options. 

**Kneading the color in to the dough will give you the best results, however you should don gloves lest your hands (or the kiddos' hands) turn rainbow colors that take at least 24 hours to scrub off.

The Munchkin chose orange, teal, pink, and purple for ours

-Now that you've tinted your dough, wrap each color in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. (I know some people cheat and put it in the freezer for 15 minutes, but that always comes back to bite me in the butt so I don't anymore)

Gloves are your friend!

Our dough, ready to chill

-Now your dough is all ready to go, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 

-Like I said before, you can do a lot with these. If you want to make the rainbow swirlies we did, just take a small (about 1") ball of each color and smash them into one larger ball. Then roll it out like making a play-dough snake and curl into a spiral. You can also add a lollipop stick at this point, just dip the end into some egg whites for extra support. 

-The size of your creations will determine how long you need to bake yours. For mine, I only needed about 8 minutes per batch. The bottoms should be SLIGHTLY brown, any more than slightly and you'll end up with crunchy cookies. I don't know about you, but I prefer mine just this side of un-baked. 

-Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container. They didn't last long enough for me to give you any idea how long they'll keep, sorry. 

The munchkin had a blast making and eating these!

I think the less perfect ones are more "play-dough" looking. Plus, those are the ones that the Munchkin made, so they are automatically my favorites! I can't wait to see what you come up with! Send me pics! Send me emails!

Happy Tuesday!


-Nomi

Halloween Candies

Frank, Ghosts, & Skulls

I'm really started to get excited about Halloween this year. I have mixed feelings about Halloween, or at least the Halloween we celebrate now. It makes me more than a little sad and, sometimes, angry about the costumes that we see. It's even worse now as a parent, there are so many costumes available for kids that are so inappropriate. On the other hand, I love all the beautiful, meaningful, well thought out costumes and decorations and confections. We have a big trip coming up and, like a lot of people, money is tight. I just don't have the budget to do much beyond a few simple have-on-hand crafts with the Munchkin, like the Spiders and Ghosts that we just did. I have a couple more that we will try a little closer to the big day. Last year we made these fun candies, though. I thought I could share these for now.

Aren't the Frank's Handsome?

To make these you'll need:

-white, black, and green candy melts

(you could also use all white and add gel coloring)

- candy molds

- candy flavors (optional)

- food markers (optional)

I was able to purchase everything I needed at a local bakery supply shop, but I know that all of these items are available at the big craft stores, M and the lobby, so you can make them too. All I did was melt the candies according to the package instructions and fill the molds. If you want to add flavors, add them while you melt the candies. I used a paintbrush to cover each mold with a layer of candy before I poured in the rest to fill them up. I found that this helped eliminate some of the air bubbles that get trapped. I also used a smaller paint brush for the frankenstein pops so I could be more precise about the hair line. Once the mold is full and the sticks are in, pop it in the fridge for about 30 minutes (or if you are impatient like me, the freezer for 10 minutes works nicely too). Once they set, pop them out on a layer of wax paper or parchment for finishing touches! I used a black food writer to make the scar on Frank's head a little more prominent and a couple of the ghosts got colored in faces, sorry I didn't take a pic of those. I like the Wilton markers, but I have heard some rumors that there are other food marker brands that work better on the candy melt surfaces. If I get the inclination for a side by side test, I'll let y'all know! In the meantime, I'm racking my brain for some more fun Halloween crafts to do with the Munchkin.

Men's Shirt to Jumper Refashion

Ah, Pinterest, I'm so addicted. I could (and sometimes do) spend hours pouring through the beautiful pictures, dreaming of the crafty projects I could do, the beautiful clothes I could make, and the wonderful destinations I keep adding to my bucket list. The biggest problem I have is that I pin all these magnificent ideas, but not very many actually make it to the final product stage here. Several months ago, I found this shirt to dress refashion and I really, really, really wanted to make it for the Munchkin. It took a trip to the thrift store and a couple of days (though to be honest, it wouldn't take much experience with a sewing machine to make this a MUCH quicker project)

I think the Munchkin likes her dress and I am pretty proud of myself, I must say. If I were to do it again (and I probably will!) I'll probably try to get a coordinating fabric for the straps and pockets. Even with a 3XL mens shirt, I had some trouble finding enough material. I'd also make the bust of the dress wider so she wouldn't have to wear it as a jumper. And, finally, I'd make sure to take pics of the back of the dress...

It wasn't too difficult, though for a beginner like me, it was a little challenging. Totally worth it, though. You should try it, I made it for less than $5 with a Chaps shirt from a local thrift store. If you make one, link your pics below! 

Not into this photo shoot so much

There's a pretty pose

Do not want to look at the camera, Mom!

Silly Munchkin

Feel free to traipse on over to Pinterest and check out my huge to-do list, I mean, my inspiration boards.  (Beware, if you aren't pinning yet, you may be asking for an invitation very soon. And please do! I'd be happy to send one. Just, don't tell your significant others that it's my fault you got sucked into the pinning) 

Thanks for stopping by, I love to see/hear from y'all!

Hand & Foot Ghosts & Spiders

Aren't they cute??

The munchkin and I needed some afternoon distraction. Her Daddy has a new schedule at work and it's taking a bit for us all to get adjusted. It's particularly hard for Munchkin because he leaves earlier than he used to so it means she gets less Daddy time for a bit. She was feeling kinda sad and our home is pretty devoid of any Halloween decoration: "I know what we're going to do today!" (if you don't have kids you probably didn't catch the Phineas & Ferb reference, but you should check them out. It's a good cartoon!)

We aren't decorating outside our home because we won't be here for Halloween this year and I think it's an unspoken rule: if you aren't handing out candy on the 31st, your home shouldn't have Halloween decorations outside. How are the kids supposed to know which doors to knock on otherwise? But, that doesn't mean that inside has to be boring! Today we made a banner with Hand Spiders and Hand Ghosts. Super simple! (Thank you Pinterest! I saw these Paper Ghosts a while back.)  For the ghosts we traced our hands and feet onto white construction paper, cut out, glue one on top of the other. The spiders are traced hands minus the thumbs glued together. Add googly eyes or make eyes and mouths out of paper scraps. Lots of fun and easy for the kiddos to participate it.

It looks so bare! We need more Halloween decor!

I am still searching for more fun, easy, and especially inexpensive Halloween or Fall projects for me to do with the Munchkin. I shall share as soon as we get going on them! One of the other projects on my ever-growing to do list is the mantle. It needs to be painted at the very least. And that yucky fan is gone now, thankfully our AC has been replaced and we are living in a wonderfully cool home again. Keep your eyes peeled, that mantle project may find its way here too.




If you try them, I want to see! Shoot me an email craftynomi@gmail.com or post the link in the comments.

Tutu Fun

Tutus!! Who doesn't love tutus? Especially on little girls. I grew up dancing and I had more than my fair share of dance costumes to play dress up with as a child. Unfortunately for the Munchkin, we don't really have the expendable income to keep her in classes all week long like I would like to. That doesn't mean she can't have an enviable dress up wardrobe. We have the obligatory princess tiaras and wands, some fairy wings and lots of jewelry in her dress up box, but I think it needs more. I set out to find a relatively simple tute on tutus and instead found a whole sea of information about them. All you have to do it type tutu in your google search box and hold on, there are videos and tutes, pics, instructables, hints, and for those who have don't have the time or inclination, there is always ETSY to make your handmade facade come true!

The Munchkin in her new tutu

The Munchkin and I took a quick trip to the Lobby for the tulle and I let her pick the colors. She has been on a blue and purple kick lately so those were the obvious choices. We also picked up some red, soft pink, and black spools since it was on sale for 50% off! I already have lots of ribbon to choose from. Making the tutu was sooo much easier than I thought it would be. I was able to finish it up after the Munchkin's bedtime while catching  up on some of my DVR shows. It took less than 2 shows and I was completely done. The hardest part was not waking her up to try it on as soon as I completed it! (I restrained myself and we got some pics the next day). I even took some of the leftover tulle and made a "pony tutu" to match. I think the pony tutu was Munchkin's favorite part of the outfit. 

Newborn Tutu

After realizing how easy, and relatively inexpensive, it was to make the tutu, I will never buy one again. I made a couple more for some friends who are having/ recently had baby girls. As soon as they send me some pics of those precious girls in all their frilly fineness, I will be sure to share! I am considering a tute for these since they are so simple and I am sure I can explain it well. If there is enough interest, I will get to work on that. I may do it anyway, it'll give me an excuse to make more tutu's for all the wonderful little ladies in my life. I think Munchkin is going to need some Fall color tutus soon...

Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Bites

Would you like to make this batch of wonderful, brownie gooeyness? They are fantastic! The best part is, they are super easy to make. All you need is a basic box brownie mix, creamy peanut butter, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and a mini muffin tin.

Just bake up your brownies according to the box directions in a mini muffin tin. Carefully pop them onto a wire cooling rack after baking. The brownie centers may fall, but they may not. For a uniform look to mine, I used the back of my measuring tsp to create the indention for the peanut butter. Take about 1/2cup of creamy peanut butter, and microwave for about 30sec in a small microwave safe bowl. Then, carefully spoon the hot peanut butter into the brownies. As you can see in the picture, I added my chips while  it was still hot. If you want to avoid the melty look, wait until the peanut butter has cooled slightly. If you don't mind (or just want to get to eating as quickly as possible) just toss 'em on top and you are ready to go!

These are super fast, easy, and they look pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. One box of brownie mix yielded about 4 dozen bites. They didn't last long enough at my house for me to give you good storage instructions, but I kept them covered on the table for the day and a half we had some.

Question for you! I am looking for a great from-scratch brownie recipe. I love to bake from scratch, but I have not found a recipe I like more than Betty Crocker Fudge Brownies in the red box. If you have a brownie recipe that is the most amazing thing you've ever put in your mouth, please share! If I get enough maybe I can have a little brownie bake off n have some family and friends over to taste test for the best one. Interested? Shoot me an email: craftynomi@gmail.com

Handprint Fall Trees

The Munchkin's Handprint Tree

I am grudgingly trying to accept that the dreaded F-A-L-L is upon us. The biggest problem with f-a-l-l is that it is closely followed by my absolute least favorite time of the year: W-I-N-T-E-R. While the Munchkin loves the cold and she adores snow (though Im convinced it's because she has never had to deal with it more than a couple of days in a row), I am a spring/summer kind of gal. Nevertheless, the biggest, and hardest, lesson learned from parenting: it is not about me anymore. In an effort to trick myself into having fun during the yucky months, I am planning a few crafts and projects to keep my mind off the actual weather and keep my booty inside. 

I saw this beautiful handprint tree on Meet the Dubiens and knew it was perfect for us! I had wanted to have my niece make one too since she comes for daycare here, but it was a little more involved than she is ready to be. She made her own, beautiful fall painting creations while the Munchkin made her tree. I even got in on the fun and made a handprint tree too. It was fun and a big mess and the girls thought it was uber exciting to make such a mess in the kitchen, I usually kick us out to the backyard for the super messes. I think we will probably make these every year for a while, it'll be a good way to see her getting bigger every year. Though, I'm not always convinced I want even more proof she is growing, it is nice to look back and see how much smaller she was.

My Handprint Tree

If you want to make your own handprint trees you'll need some paints (appropriate for your workspace) in fall colors, a canvas or paper to work with (The Dubiens used canvas, but we settled for some plain old construction paper), some newspaper to cover your work area, and lots of towels that will probably end up stained. Paint your hand and arm brown and stamp onto the page, then use finger and thumb prints to add leaves. It can be as dense or as sparse as you wish, there can be falling leaves or leaves on the ground. You could even use bright green colors to make this a Spring craft instead of a Fall craft. 

There are so many projects and pictures I wish I had done with Munchkin when she was smaller. I feel like I missed a huge opportunity to record her life and growth, especially as a baby. I will not miss more of those!   

Welcome

Welcome!

I thought I should do a quickie introduction: My name is Nomi and I am a work from home mom. I have one beautiful, lovely, charming, wonderful, loving, perfect daughter (You'll see her modeling some of the projects because she was/is my inspiration to get back into crafting, baking,  and start sewing so she gets the majority of the things I make). Her father is the most wonderful man in my life, he and I celebrated our ten year anniversary this year, our first date was our senior prom in 2001!! I am amazed at how the last ten years have unfolded, and I would say I can't wait to see the next ten but I don't want my baby to grow up anymore so I can wait a very long time... 

In the meantime, I am so excited to share my new baby with you. Starting this craft blog has been a dream of mine since I started blogging over two years ago. It's been one of those back burner dreams, the kind that you don't really expect to happen because it seems too difficult or you aren't sure how to even get started. I have more of those than I'd like to admit, but I am very proud to say that this is one realized! Here, you'll find my crafts and recent sewing projects. If i start to feel really brave, I may toss up a tute (maybe?). I'll also try feature new recipes I try or confections I bake up and decorate. If you have any questions at all, leave a comment or email me at CraftyNomi@gmail.com. 






I hope you enjoy my new blog!