Kimara's blog

Valentine's Day is a wonderful time to remember... "What the world needs now, is love, sweet love" :) Get a little gnomey love in your heart by using this desktop wallpaper for the month :) Peace and Love!

Michigan's official groundhog is named Woody. As it turns out, Woody is not a he, Woody is a she. By the time the Howell Nature Center got intimate enough with her to find out she was indeed female, the name had already stuck, and the rest is history :)

Yesterday we joined the crowds in hopes of finding out whether or not spring was around the corner. According to Woody, who stayed out of her home for the official 30 seconds, spring will come early to Michigan. (We'll ignore the fact that all winter has felt like spring!)

It was a blast, and I'd say it is something I can now cross off the old bucket list except we plan to make this an annual event :) Along with all the jumping around and cheering, Bug was interviewed by Fox News. In his first theatrical disappointment, Bug's interview did not make it on the air, but it was exciting just to be interviewed with the bright lights and microphone :) Some of the photos are blurry, sorry Bug!

 

If you'd like to see the official Fox News coverage, sans Bug, you can watch it here: http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/mornings/woody-predicts-early-spring-in-michigan
Hope everyone had as much fun yesterday as we did! Woody! Woody! Woody! Woody!

This year for Candlemas, I REALLY wanted to make some snow candles. But, alas, it is raining, there's never been more than 3 inches of snow on the ground at a time, and for the first time in my lifetime, there isn't a snowbank as far as the eye can see.

So, I needed to change plans. Instead of making candles this year, we made candle holders. And because I hadn't totally given up the snow theme, we made super easy, but lovely, votive holders rolled in Kosher salt. It has a snowy look, but is warm at the same time. We had some simple glass votive holders left over from a different project, but you could do the some thing with any glass or jar.

Materials:
Mod Podge, Sealer or crafting glue
Kosher salt
glass jar

Cover the jar with a thick layer of your choice of adhesive. I used a sealer on one and Mod Podge on another.

Sprinkle some salt on a flat surface, and roll the jar through the salt so all areas are covered in salt. You could add some glitter to the salt it you'd like.

When the jar is completed dried, coat with a sealer.

Put in a candle. The glass is opaque and gives off a lovely light.
 

Last day of January already... yikes! It's been a busy week, but I have made time to work on the new sweater for the Little Lady. I shared a link to the pattern last week... a lovely sweater knit in 1 piece. I've finished the back, one sleeve, and half of another. Cruisin' :)

I was going to make a skirt to go along with the sweater, but Michelle suggested I make the adorable reversible pants found in Anna Maria Horner's book Handmade Beginnings.

Aren't these sweet?

It's hard to see in the photos, but the yarn I'm using in the sweater has flecks of brown and green. I hit my stash and was able to come up with fabric to make 2 pairs of reversible pants that will look wonderful with the sweater.

So, the plan... finish the sweater this week... sew the pants next week... then I'll be taking to train to Wisconsin for a week of playing with the Little Lady. Can hardly wait :)

EDIT: Oops... I forgot to add flour to the ingredients' list. A lovely reader caught my mistake, and the recipe my includes 2 cups of flour. Thank you, Laura :)

I have a confession to make. Actually, not really a confession because that would imply that I am apologizing, and I'm not :) I guess this is more of an admission. Sometimes, oh, probably 4 or 5 times a week, I look at the clock before going to bed and I think... just 6 more hours and I can have a cup of coffee! Pretty pathetic, right? I'm telling you this just to let you know I'm always looking for things to do with coffee grounds. Yep, I do compost them, and I frequently use them in place of dirt in crafting projects, but still, I generate a lot of coffee grounds.

So, it's no surprise, that I'm drawn to making coffee playdough. Besides the abundance of coffee grounds in this house, it is a fun sensory dough. Yes, it does smell like coffee, but not enough to make wee ones wrinkle their noses. It also gives the dough an interesting texture and unique appearance. Over the years we have used this playdough as mud for pigs to wallow in, for dinosaurs to leave their foot prints in, and to make "brown stuff" like tree trunks, mushrooms, and at some point, someone will inevitably make doggy doo-doo... just happens :) 

This playdough does tend to dry out fast, so always keep the unused playdough in an airtight container. Also, if you allow the playdough to dry out, the color does lighten up. You can intensify the color by rubbing a little oil on the finished piece or coating it in a sealer like Mod Podge.

Another comment... the original recipe I got many years ago called for instant coffee and plain water. Instant coffee in my house... blasphemy! So, instead, I add very hot, very dark brewed coffee to the dough as a substitute for plain water. It still will not have a dark brown appearance, the instant coffee does make the dough darker, so I do add enough red and green food coloring to achieve a nice, deep brown.

COFFEE PLAYDOUGH RECIPE

1/2 cup of coffee grounds
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 cup of very hot coffee
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1/8 teaspoon vegetable glycerin (available at grocery, drug stores and some craft shops in the cake decorating section)
optional: brown food coloring
optional: 1 tablespoon instant coffee 

Gather all your ingredients.

If the wee ones are making this with me, we mix it up in a big bowl.

However... if I am making it myself, I sometimes cheat and mix it all in my food processor :)

If you want your dough a deeper brown, knead in food coloring by hand.

Store in an airtight container.

I love to make mushrooms and tree trunks with this dough. To make a mushroom, simple make a round disk with an indentation in the center for the cap. Roll out a stem.

Wet the end of the stem and add it the indentation. 

Wah, lah... a mushroom. Make many for your wee folk and woodland friends :)