Washable Paint

I bought some paint awhile back so that I could try my hand at making some handmade ornaments. The ornaments were a bomb, but the paint has proven to be a stellar investment. The kids had fun the other night making me some pictures and the best part is? I was smart enough to buy washable paint AND to put down some newspaper first.

Jelly Time

Last year, on a whim, I decided to try my hand at a really simple jelly recipe that used juice instead of real fruit. It was a hit with the kids and I used it for some of my Christmas gift giving. This year? I decided to make jelly again {sensing a tradition starting here!} and the kids decided they wanted to help. Yesterday we made a double batch of a cran-strawberry jelly that the kids are very proud of. They even plan to give it to their teachers for Christmas.

The whole recipe only takes about an hour to make and it's a very sweet jelly. You can use any flavor of juice that appeals to you. In fact, on Friday I made a blueberry pomegranate jelly that we have already tried and given two thumbs up.

EASY HOMEMADE JELLY

Ingredients:

3 cups grape juice (you can substitute with apple, white grape...)
1 pkg powdered pectin
4 cups sugar
glass jars (I used 8oz canning jars which yielded 5 jars of jelly)

Directions:

Combine grape juice and pectin in a large saucepan. Use a wire whisk to make sure they are mixed well and you don't have any lumps. Bring this to a boil. (I did mine on like a med-high heat...more medium than high)

Once this is boiling, add your sugar and again use your wire whisk to ensure there are no lumps. Let this come to a rolling boil, that you can not stir out, and boil for one full minute. Remove from heat after 1 minute.

There may be a foam on the top of the jelly, which you can choose to remove.

Add the jelly to each jar. Leave about a 1/4" of space from jelly to lid for heat space. Additionally, if needed you can boil the jars to ensure they seal properly for shelf storage. All but one of mine sealed from the heat of the jelly. I believe the last one we poured is the one that didn't quite seal up. If using canning jars, this means you can't make the little pop sound by pushing on the lid. If you don't need them to set for shelf storage, then you don't have to worry about this and can just put them in the fridge. You probably want to let them cool for awhile so you don't accidentally break any jars due to quick temperature changes.

Taken from TheFrugalGirl.com

Mommy & Lorelei Go Paint Pottery

Lorelei and I took a trip over to the mall to visit the little pottery place. We picked out some pottery and set to work making some creations together. It was lot of fun.

While we were off doing our girl activity, Caleb went with Daddy to see Transformers II in theaters which was the highlight of his summer I do believe. He absolutely loved it!

A Christmas Card Request

This afternoon after picking up Caleb from school I decided to do a little scrapbooking. Lorelei was overly interested in what I was doing. She kept picking through all my papers and bits. Her creative side intrigued with all the wonderful colors and patterns and shapes.

So, I let her have a few pieces and she stole a few more pieces, to glue them together and make, well...something. After I had finished the card I was working on which was part of a theme challenge, she was in awe over it. She kept asking to look at it, which in Lorelei speak means touch it. Which can lead to trouble, but she was very gentle with it.

As I cleaned up my stuff of the table so that it would be ready for us to sit down and eat she asked me in her sweetest little Luli voice:

"Mommy, will you make me a card?"

So I asked her what kind of card she wanted and she said she wanted a Christmas card.

I just finished up making it for her about 30 minutes ago. Wrote her a little Christmas note and plan to put it in her stocking for Christmas morning.

Of course, this means I have to make Caleb one. Due to a shortness of Christmas-type papers I'm going to have to go to Hobby Lobby tomorrow and get some additional supplies. But that's okay. I can't leave out my Bug.