Aren’t these just the cutest ever Popsicles?  I love the one with oranges on it. And the one with kiwis. And the one that is pink with chocolate drizzled over. And the yellow-pink-chocolate striped one. And the pink one. And the rainbow swirled one. Sheesh. I love them all!

Amy Moss, of Eat Drink Chic in Australia, has made these darling Popsicles for a memory matching game for children.  She has directions and a printable pdf file so that you can make these and play a fun memory game with children.

I’m thinking that if you used paper instead of a real Popsicle stick, these would make fun bookmarks. They could be fun invitations to a grandchild’s birthday party, used in a scrapbooking project, or just as a ‘bouquet’ as a decoration for a granddaughter’s bedroom.

Amy is uber talented.  She has do-it-yourself projects that are absolutely darling. Take a look at the following.

	These je t’aime valentine cards would be fun for older granddaughters to make. Click here for the directions and pattern.
	This is a cute reindeer for Christmas.  Use it as a tag for gifts or postcards.
	She also has a pdf file of cute holiday tags. The pattern is in black and white. Select fun paper to print this on to make it a cool holiday tag.
	I think that besides the Popsicles, this love and thanks card is my favorite.
	Wait! THIS is my favorite. Even though these are ‘wedding’ love notes, I think they could be used for lots of other things. (Oh my. Amy has such cute things it’s hard to decide which is my favorite . . .)

If you have an older granddaughter who is into scrapbooking or making handmade cards, you could have a delightful afternoon making these lovely do-it-yourself activities together.

Please give a shout out of love to Amy and thank her for her creativity and willingness to share her projects with others.

Finger painting.  So creative.  So fun.  So gooey.

I recently found a recipe for homemade finger paints.  I wish that I had it when my children were little.  I certainly would have used it lots with them.  I guess I’ll just have to use it with my grandchildren.

Here’s the first recipe.  It has liquid dish soap in it which is supposed to make it so the paint comes out of anything that it gets on . . . like clothes.

Homemade Finger Paints Recipe 1

1/3 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups cold water
1/4 cup clear liquid dish soap
food coloring or food coloring paste

Mix the sugar and cornstarch in a small sauce pan.  Slowly add the water.  Cook over low heat stirring constantly until the mixture becomes smooth and almost clear.  This will take about 5 minutes.

Let the mixture cool.  Then add the clear liquid dish soap.  (Do they make CLEAR dish washing soap?  None come to my mind at the moment . . . ).  Spoon some of the mixture into empty baby food jars.  Stir in several drops of food coloring.  If you use the food coloring paste, the color will be more vibrant.

Home Made Finger Paints Recipe 2

3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup corn starch
2 cups water

Combine all of the ingredients in a small sauce pan.  Cook over low heat until the mixture thickens. Cool.  Pour into containers and add food coloring.

Isn’t it interesting that these recipes call for sugar?  The recipe creator must expect that children will eat the paint so they might as well make it tasty!

Be sure to have an apron for your grandchild to wear.  It would not be cool to send your grandchild home with clothing stained from your painting activity.  Have lots of paper on hand, too.

This paint should last up to a week if stored in an airtight container.

Have any of you ever made finger paints before?  If so, how did it turn out?

Yesterday at work, I had a cooking lesson. One of my co-workers is a salsa maker extraordinaire. I wanted to learn from him how he makes it — and how he uses his Magic Bullet. (Note: after our trip to Mexico earlier this year, I came home even more madly in love with salsa with cilantro. I bought a Magic Bullet but struggled with using it . . .)

So I hauled my Magic Bullet, 18 tomatoes, an onion, a jalapeno pepper, a clove of garlic, 5 limes, three bags of tortilla chips, a cutting board, a couple of bowls, a lime juicer, and several knives to work.  Did I carry all of this on the bus??? No. I decided I’d be better off if I drove.

Now, I am a pro — well, at least a one-time-using-my-Magic-Bullet maker of salsa.

That has made me hungry for homemade flour tortillas.

After a wee bit of searching, I found a great YouTube video that demonstrates how to make them. I like this video the best because it plays Snoopy’s theme song in the background.

If you have a press for making tortillas, you can watch this video.

This site also has a step-by-step tutorial on how to make tortillas that uses half white flour and half wheat flour. (The picture of the little girl eating a flour tortilla is absolutely darling!)

This would be a fabulous activity to do with grandchildren. While you are waiting for your tortillas to raise, you can make some salsa. Then, when the tortillas are cooked, you can spoon some of your salsa onto a tortilla and enjoy the delectable flavor dancing with your taste buds.

You could have some hamburger fried up before hand and make a flour-shelled taco. But, to me, that dilutes the salsa! Or, you could spread a wee bit of butter on a hot tortilla and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top for a sweet treat.

Have you ever made homemade tortilla? If so, how does your recipe compare with the ones that I’ve shared here?

When I was a senior in high school back in the Mesozoic era, I had a tube of lipstick that I loved.  Notice, I said I loved the TUBE not necessarily the lipstick. The tube was black and white zebra stripes.  I loved that little tube and I kept it just so that I could occasionally look at it long after the lipstick was gone.

Fast forward 265 years from that point of time in the Mesozoic era to today. Zebra stripes still catch my eye.

I recently saw a blog where a mother refinished a bedside table that her little daughter ruined with nail polish and nail polish remover. (I use the word refinish very, very loosely.) She took zebra striped duct tape and covered the tabletop. She turned a blasé white table into a stinkin’ cute one-of-a-kind  table.

And that got my grandma mind a-thinkin’.

I can imagine covering all sorts of things with zebra-striped duct tape:

• old picture frames
• pens and pencils
• match boxes (too hold small treasures for grandchildren)
• book covers
• notebooks (to turn them into journals)
• photo albums
• sketch pads
• juice cans or glass bottles (to turn them into pencil holders)
• broom handles (to encourage children/grandchildren/husbands to help you sweep)
• terra cotta pots

I did a bit of searching to find where you can buy zebra-striped duct tape. Word on the street has it that you could buy it at Target. I don’t visit Target very often because the closest one is clear across the valley from where I live.

But Amazon.com sells it — and a host of other designs as well! Amazon also has spotted leopard, tie dye, cosmic tie dye, totally tie dye, electric blue, purple duchess, funky flamingo, and sunburst yellow.

Then I did a wee bit more research. Holy cow! I was totally amazed at what I found. Did you know that you could buy duct tape with your college logo?  You can also buy sheets of duct tape. (My heart did a flip-flop of joy to see that they had the zebra design in sheets!)

But that’s not all folks. There’s more.

You can join a duct tape club (to participate in product reviews and solutions). And you can do a plethora of ductivities - make flip-flops, shoes, purses, clothes, megaphones, flowers, fridge covers, organizers, chair covers, pennant flags, and water bottles. It’s amazing all of the creative things that you can do with colorful, designer duct tape.

Spend some time browsing the ductivities. Then, buy some duct tape and have loads of creative fun with your grandchildren.

Have you done any crafty activities using duct tape?

(If any family member happens to read this, remember: my birthday is coming up. So is Christmas. Think zebra to delight me . . . )