My Little Hen

July brings...

June was spectacular, and now July is proving to be a classic too. Berries, peaches, pies and tarts, family, birthdays, fireflies, cool floating in the brook. We are fortunate to enjoy such simple gifts.

Must admit this peach tart was one of my best. That was due in part to adding 1 fresh farm egg to the dough. I've been buying eggs from our friend Christine. Now that we have a taste for farm fresh eggs it's very hard to accept store bought eggs.

July is hot and there is nothing like the brook for cooling down and relaxing. A summer essential for us.

July brings birthdays and this is a special one for an aging soul.

These three have know one another for over 50 years. They have a special friendship as neighbors.


This grandma is 83. Happy Birthday!

Kids Hand-Sewing Workshop

 The Valentine's Day Bunny workshop at Purl Soho was this weekend. The pictures will tell you the tale. Hardworking young crafters learned to thread a needle, trace and cut a bunny pattern from Homemade Fun, and practiced the blanket stitch while making their first soft toy.

This was clearly about the practice and not the final result. I'm very proud of these kids! It's an accomplishment to learn how to hand sew a toy in an afternoon workshop.

  

This bunny has a pocket and heart note that says "i heart u". 

The kids said they would like to make the bird ornament next! 

And I said ok.

valentine workshop at home

One of my favorite things about making Valentine's is using whatever materials might be around the house. It's surprising what treasures are in baskets, boxes, and kids junk drawers. Trinkets, old cards, sea shells, lucky white stones, marbles can all be used to charm a simple heart, or a little decorative matchbox card.

This pretty tulip image is from this month's Garnet Hill catalog, and the flowery paper inside the match box is a reused thank you note.

This pink paper is from a recent envelope that came in the mail, and the water color paper hearts are made from paper towels that we colored with leftover easter egg dye. (I'm finally glad to have found a use for them!)

I also made paper flowers from Homemade Fun, but I'll save that  idea for another time.

What's your favorite homemade valentine?

Bunny Bookmark

The fabulous wool felt I've been using for the bunnies, hearts, and ornament birds is from Purl Soho. This is some of the finest material I have worked with and very easy for kids to manage. The felt come in bundles of 8 and measure 8-inches x 12-inches. One piece is enough to make 2 soft toy bunnies or 2 bird ornaments. The scraps are also very useful and the colors brilliant. So fun.

  

Here I used one layer of felt to make a book mark valentine bunny, which means you could make 4 projects from one piece of 8-inches x 12-inches felt. A space at the top of the heart remains open for a secret valentine note.

Mourning Dove

Preparing for hand sewing workshops with kids for Valentine's Day at Purl-Soho. Mourning Dove has become a bird for the indoor winter branch we have in the window. I never realized how dear heart making can be.

Pretty,simple

Cold today, 20 degrees with a light dusting of snow. Took a walk in Central Park in search of a branch for my simple ornaments.

Paper Spirals

Glitter Pinecones

Both ideas are in Crafting Fun. Treat your kids to this simple act of wonder. Have them make several as gifts. They will remember it well. 

Christmas Popcorn Balls

As kids, our Aunt Maggie always made us popcorn balls at Christmas time. (She was a spinster and we didn't know her well but I always recall these popcorn balls- funny how memory works).

Once a year, repeat, only once a year, we make these sugary popcorn balls. To temper the sugary sweet goodness in every bite, I make them smallish, a little larger than bite-sized. No fun, I know, but how much sugar do we really need in one treat?

The trick (it seems there always is a trick to cooking little treats like this) is to let the sugar mixture cool until warm to the touch and then let the kids get started making little popcorn balls.  Once the mixture cools completely it doesn't really stick together. Have the team ready to roll.

Make a few batches, it won't go to waste if it cools too quickly. Don't use corn syrup. Splurge on the maple syrup. It makes them taste so much better. To make this a gift-making project, I wrap the balls neatly in wax paper then tie the top with pretty bakery string. Attached small jingle bells or cut paper snowflake to the string to make it festive. 

Aunt Maggie's Christmas Popcorn Balls

6 cups of popped corn

pinch of salt for sprinkling

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup real maple syrup

1/4 cup granulated sugar

wax paper and string for wrapping

ADULT HELP REQUIRED

1. Set out plate or wooden board on the table.

2. Pop corn and place in a large ceramic or glass mixing bowl. Lightly salt the corn and mix with clean hands or wooden spoon to combine.

3.  In a medium saucepan add butter, salt, maple syrup, and sugar. Heat on low until the butter melts, then bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Allow the mixture to boil for about 3 minutes or until your candy thermometer reads 270 degrees.

4.  Remove pan from stove and immediately begin to pour the mixture over the popcorn, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to mix well.

5. When the mixture is warm (not cool) you are ready to begin forming popcorn balls.

6. With clean hands, pack the sticky popcorn together (like making a snowball). Place the rolled balls on plate.

7. Cut 7 x 12 inch waxed paper sections. Wrap each ball  in wax paper and tie up with string. 

Makes about 10-12  3- inch popcorn balls.

Glitter Trees

These clothespins are now dressed up to hold small trees cut from sturdy white cardboard. ( Use card stock for younger kids since it is easier to cut with scissors). Dab white glue to make a pattern (fun, fun) and then sprinkle with glitter. These are almost as much fun to make as sugar cookies.  

They will also stand up on a flat surface. We have a forest of these on the mantel. I might even tie these onto a gift.

Go ahead, get out the glitter. The kids will love it! Just set out newspapers and work on plates to catch all the glitter.

Cards and tags

We are starting to think about our homemade cards and gift tags. I like all these bright colors (I guess these are vintage modern). Pop-ups like this (from Crafting Fun) are easy to do and can make any young crafter proud! I just like having them on the mantel. Very cheery.

Christmas Tree Ornament

I love to write here in this blog space but I think for now I will just try to delight you with some of my simple ideas for the holidays. Maybe this will be an antidote to holiday buying stress or help kids get creative with a few simple tools, in this case, needle, thread, wool felt (from Purl Soho), vintage buttons, and a bag of cotton balls for stuffing. Imagination required. Priceless.