(not quite) Daily Photo: April 21: Jumping for Japan

Our little elementary school did a school-wide fundraiser- 

Jumping for Japan

The kids raised over $2300 $2500 to help Japan's tsunami victims (via the American Red Cross).  I'm so proud of our kids!  

The kids were placed in groups and each group was called to the gym to participate.  The kids were asked to jump for 20 minutes.  The little kids got to bounce on small trampolines.  The older kids had several options- jump ropes, ropes with balls on ends to jump over (no idea what they're called!), jumping jacks...you name it!  The parent helpers tried to keep the kids motivated and that at least one person was jumping during the entire time.  I tried doing the jumping rope- I lasted for about a minute!  LOL!  It's hard to do!  (and I'm no longer ten years old) 

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(not quite) Daily Photo: April 20

Homemade Glasses

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Our Fairy Village: A work in progress

I've had an itch to create a Fairy Village for a few years now.  And my timing couldn't have been more perfect.  While Ava got to have a blast at her best friend Wynne's birthday party, Annika and I got busy and PAINTED and PAINTED and PAINTED fairy houses.

Okay, so they're actually little wooden birdhouses I bought at Michael's but

they're Fairy Houses to us!

I love Annika's creative spirit- I just let her do her own thing....

Here are the finished Fairy Houses

 (I can't decide if I should cut the hangers off or not)....

I only painted the little house with blue roof and scalloped edges, the toadstool house and the one with the rainbow roof.  The rest were done by talented Annika.

Fairy House Village, Take One 

(a few rocks and flowers on a green felt base)

Birds Eye view of the village

Here's the Toadstool Cottage.  Complete with flower-filled window boxes!

Annika's cute yellow, pink and purple cottage.  

Now here's where you need to help me.... what's missing?  I feel that the Fairy Village isn't complete.

I've found some wooden logs to use (not exactly sure what to do with them).  I'm planning on making some clay toadstool mushrooms and snails.  I was also thinking of making tiny signs for each cottage (so that we'll know which Fairy lives in which cottage).  I'd like to make a tree of some sort but not sure how to go about doing that.  

Any suggestions?  

(Hooray!  This is my 500th post!  )




ETA- We've made some modifications on Our Fairy Village!  Come check it out!  It's still not quite finished...we love working on it and changing it.  :-)


I'm sharing this with Sun Scholar's For the Kids Friday, BNOP's Metamorphosis Monday, Skip to My Lou's Made by You Monday, Magic Onion's Friday Nature Table, A Marvelous Mess Monday

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Daily Photo: April 20

Finding Hearts in the Most Unusual Places:

Black Walnut Shell.

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Things I Love {Polish Pottery}

I was first introduced to Polish Pottery while on a family visit to Austria several years ago (Annika had just turned one).  We stopped in to see - actually meet for the first time- a relative (second cousin? not sure) of mine.  I noticed all these beautiful blue and creamy mugs hanging in her kitchen and wondered where they came from (but I didn't get a chance to ask her about them).  

I discovered what they were a couple of days before our departure back home ...

Polish Pottery.  

Actually, if I hadn't been thwarted in my attempt to purchase a Gmundner Keramik piece (Austrian pottery) in Salzburg I would have never purchased my first piece of Polish Pottery.  I ended up with the Knoblauch (that's garlic in German) jar.  Guess what?  Seven years later I'm still using that lidded jar to store my garlic in!  

The nice thing about these pieces is that they both look beautiful and are completely functional.  I can wash them in the dishwasher and I've put mine in the microwave.  I've read that they're oven and freezer safe (but I don't think the pottery can handle extreme temperature range).  I like them because I don't see them everywhere!   

Here are just a few examples of Polish Pottery I happily own:

A few of my cheerful mugs.  My current favorite is the one front and center (with butterflies).  Annika's mug is on the left and Ava's mug is to the right of my mug.  Their mugs are a smaller version of mine.  Great for hot chocolate, teas and COFFEE!!!

I think this Lovely Lady is a Cheese Bell...I use her for decoration.

One of my pretty bowls...

Another, slightly larger, bowl

The piece that started my fascination with Polish Pottery....The Knoblauch jar...or The Garlic Jar

I just love those turquoise butterflies!

I'd like to add a HUGE THANKS to my Mom and to Mark's Parents who have helped me build up my collection!

Do you have a collection of a particular pottery you absolutely love?

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Daily Photo: April 19

Boice Creek

Wee bit of flooding going on in the valleys around here.  Hopefully this will be the worst of it!

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Tuesday's Special: My Favorite Sugar Cookie (turn it into a mini Fruit Pizza)

{mini fruit pizzas}

I've seen this particular recipe on at least three different websites (All Recipes, Moms Who Think and Simply Recipes) and it's no wonder as it's a very nice sugar cookie.  I've tried countless sugar cookie recipes over the years and unless someone suggests that there's a better recipe out there I'm sticking with this one!  

My Favorite Sugar Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar (they are sugar cookies!)

1 cup butter (softened; I use real butter- I buy it in bulk when I find it on sale and freeze it)

1 egg at room temperature

3 Tb half-and-half (or heavy cream)

1 tsp vanilla extract OR 1 tsp almond extract (I like almond; I like to use Penzeys)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F.  

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  

Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. (kind of like making a pie crust)

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, half-and-half and vanilla or almond extract.  Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and blend thoroughly (I start the process using a spatula and then switch to using my clean hands).

Chill dough in fridge for one hour.

Roll chilled dough on lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut into shapes.  Try hard not to eat cookie dough scraps!  

Place on parchment paper covered cookie sheet (I use my Silpat liners) and bake for 6 to 7 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Rotate the cookie sheet half way through baking time to get even browning (I set my timer for 3 minutes, rotate the sheet and reset the timer for 3 minutes).  Place on cooling rack.

I let the cookies sheets cool off before baking the next round of cookies (the dough will spread if placed on hot cookie sheets).  I also chill the scrap cookie dough before rolling it out again.  

Apparently this cookie dough freezes well but I've never had any leftover to try!  LOL!

Cream Cheese Frosting

via Simply Recipes

This frosting is great for fruit pizzas!

Ingredients:

8oz block cream cheese, room temperature

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, room temperature

2-3 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Cream the cream cheese and the butter together- I do this using my ancient stand mixer but you can also use an electric mixer.    Beat until the mixture is very smooth (stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure it all gets evenly mixed before continue mixing).  

Add vanilla extract and mix.  Add powdered sugar (begin by adding only 2 cups) and beating slowly.  Continue to add powdered sugar until you reach the desired thickness and sweetness.  

Spread on cooled cookies or cakes or eat by the spoonful.  :-)

Mini Fruit Pizzas

Ingredients

Baked & cooled sugar cookies

Cream Cheese Frosting

Fruit- anything you wish!*

*Suggestions for fruit: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, bananas and apples (sprinkled with either lemon juice or FruitFresh to keep them from turning brown), kiwi, orange slices and mangoes.

Slice the larger fruit into smaller, bite-sized pieces.  Spread cream cheese frosting on to the cookies.  Arrange the fruit on the cookies.  Eat.  Repeat!  

Note- these cookies are meant to be consumed almost immediately.  At least that way you don't have to torture yourself waiting to eat them!

Some of our sugar cookies got turned into mini fruit pizzas & gobbled up!

Yum!

And the remaining cookies were decorated by two very wild looking little girls!  Ava and Annika spread the cream cheese frosting on the cookies and then generously covered them with spring-y sprinkles!

Fun activity for kids to do ...especially when the weather goes sour.

Assortment of Spring Cookies!

Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe

via Moms Who Think

Ingredients:

2 tsp milk

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp light corn syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla extract or raspberry extract (I LOVE raspberry with almond sugar cookies!)

assorted food coloring (if you want your icing to be colored)

Directions:

In a small bowl mix the milk and powdered sugar until smooth.

Beat in corn syrup and vanilla (or raspberry) extract until icing is smooth and glossy.  If the icing is too thick then add more corn syrup until you get the consistency you want.  

Color the icing with food colors if desired.  

I really like this icing recipe- I think it's very versatile.  

Do you have a favorite sugar cookie recipe?  

*posted this at Balancing Beauty & Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday

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