Dyed rice mosaic

Jasmine from Wayward Girls' Crafts here! I made some dyed rice, but once it was done, I had no idea what to do with it. The first idea didn't really work so I didn't do anything with that. The second idea was a flower. After I drew it on the canvas, I decided to go for it.

I used a jar lid for the center and free handed the petals. I figured the pencil lines wouldn't show since there would be rice covering it.

The first area I decided to cover was the center. I poured some Tacky glue on the circle and spread it out with my finger. I didn't have a paint brush so I used the next best thing ;) I made sure there was a thick enough layer of glue so the rice could settle in it and not fall off easily. Then I poured a handful of rice onto the glue. I tapped the rice down so it stuck to the glue.

After letting it set up for a few seconds, I took the canvas and tipped it so the excess rice would fall off. I poured the excess onto a sheet of paper so I could put the extra rice back in the baggy easily.

Then, I covered the background using the same technique. Instead of filling in the whole petal, I decided to let some white show and give the picture more texture (as if it didn't have any before!) Also, I was just lazy. I only put a thick line of glue on the outline of the petals and added pink. I then added those line thingy things on flowers (technical term, I know.) I used a thicker line of glue and made it slightly more narrow going away from the center. I tapped and tipped again and set it aside to dry.

It didn't take too long to set up and dry. Now it's all ready to find a home somewhere in my apartment!

Chicken-Broccoli Pocket Sandwiches

Kate here again with another recipe. Sorry about last month. I completely forgot. *Facepalm*

So I'm probably one of the last people on earth to hear about these: They're called EasyLunchBoxes and I love them. There is a large, medium, and small section for foods. It makes it really easy to pack fruits and veges. The compartments aren't sealed from each other but the company also sells little sauce containers with lids that fit perfectly into the large and medium compartments. I use mine to send peanut butter for dipping apples, hummus for dipping veges. They're also great for tiny servings of applesauce, yogurt, cottage cheese, mandarin oranges etc.

These sandwiches that I'm showing you today make a weekly appearance in my children's lunch boxes. I bake a large batch every couple of weeks and freeze them. When I want to send one in a lunch, I pull it out of the freezer and place the frozen sandwich in the lunch box. It thaws by lunch time. I've made quite a few different variations from deli meat and cheese to plain cheddar or pepper jack cheese to marinara sauce mozzarella and olives (we didn't like these as well) to the chicken and broccoli pocket you'll see here today.

First, mix up a batch of roll dough. This is the one I use:

9-10 cups flour (can make 5-7 cups whole wheat flour)
2-3 T. dry yeast
3 cups warm water
2/3 cup oil
1/2 cup honey or sugar
4 large eggs
4 tsp. salt

1. Mix 5 cups flour with the yeast. Add water, oil, and honey/sugar.

2. Mix well. About 2 minutes. Turn off mixer and let sponge for 10 minutes.

3. Add salt and 4 eggs. Turn on mixer, and add remaining flour 1 cup at a time until dough just starts to scrape sides of the bowl. This is a soft dough, a little on the sticky side.Knead for 4-5 minutes. This is a soft dough, a little on the sticky side.

4. Normally you would oil your hands and shape this dough into rolls, cover, and let rise until double and light. Then cook at 350° for 18-20 minutes. However, we're going to do something different.

Divide the dough into 3 sections. Lightly oil 3 cookie sheets. Roll out one section onto a cookie sheet. Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough in half lengthwise and into thirds crosswise. In the picture above, We were making ham and pepper jack sandwiches so we layed a piece of cheese on each section along with a piece of deli ham. But we're going to do something different for the next batch. You will need:

Cream Cheese
Salt & Pepper
Shredded Chicken (I opened a can of chicken, drained it, and shredded it with 2 forks.)
Small pieces of Steamed Broccoli

Combine the broccoli and chicken. Or not. You decide.

Spread each section of dough with a little cream cheese. Then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Top with a little chicken and broccoli.

I divided this pan into 8 sections. I'm not really consistent.

Anyway, now you roll up each section.

Then tuck the ends under. The oil from the pan makes this a little tricky. Do your best. Turn it over so the tucked ends are against the pan.Now they're ready to go into a 350° oven. You had that preheating, right?

Cook for about 15 minutes. You want them golden brown. Place on a cookie sheet to cool. Then place in gallon ziploc bags and put in the freezer. Easy peasy! Even your children can do it. Mine do. We had a lunch batch cooking night for FHE a few weeks ago. All six children in the kitchen.

Pretty good results I'd say.

(Burritos, sandwich rolls, and cookies to freeze. Firehouse Macaroni and Cheese to keep in the fridge to be heated up and placed in hot thermoses.)

Bakers Twine

Hello blog friends!

Kristie here today from Kristie Kreates.

I can't believe it's May already!

The spring weather has finally come to my part of the country and I'm hoping it will stay now.

But that's a whole other post, it's time we talk about

Baker's Twine.

Baker's Twine is pretty popular in the papercrafting world

and has been for a little while now. 

 It comes in a lot of different colors

and can be used on cards and layouts,

tags and altered projects.

But no matter how many colors I have on hand,

there always seems to be a project that needs a color I don't have.

I have a solution.

I make my own!

Today I'm going to share how to do that with y'all.

You only need a few supplies.

 

Crochet cotton, or any kind of white string.

A ruler, or sometime similar, maybe a paint stir stick.

Sharpie markers or alcohol ink markers

 (Copics, FlexMarkers, whatever brand you prefer)

The first step is to wind the crochet cotton (or string) around the ruler.

When you have the amount you want, be sure it is pushed tightly together.

Using a marker, draw stripes on the string.

Be sure to draw the stripes both ways on the string, 

 go over it a few times so it is good and dark.

  

Here I have used a green alcohol ink marker.
Experiment with how far apart you draw the stripes and see what you like.

 

Here I have used 2 colors. 

You can do whatever you want as far as color, customize away!

 

Once you are done with the stripes, just unwind it from the ruler.

Now you have customized baker's twine for your projects.

 

For storage, I use a piece of heavy card stock or cardboard.

Just wind it around the card,

cut a slit in the side and secure the end of the twine in the slit.

 

Crochet cotton is pretty inexpensive

and you probably already have some markers that you can use. 

I haven't tried this with any other types of markers,

but I don't see why it wouldn't work

with any kind that you might have,

it's worth a try.

 

Thanks for stopping by. 

I hope this has inspired you to make some of your own baker's twine

 and create something beautiful with it.

I'd love for you to stop by my personal blog

Kristie Kreates

and see what other things I have been creating.

 

Until next month, have fun creating!

 

 

 



SqueeZurts! Save Money and Make Kids Happy

Have you ever given your kids one of those sugary yogurts in a tube? I have many times because they are so convenient for lunches and when we're traveling but I've always wished that there was a healthier alternative since I don't like to give my kids high-sugar foods.
Thank goodness someone came up with a great alternative. They are called SqueeZurts and these are do-it-yourself tubes that you can fill with anything you want!

Save tons of money and cut out the needless sugar by filling your SqueeZurt with smoothies, yogurt, pudding--whatever you'd like! Like I said, I don't like to buy the high-sugar yogurt. In fact, I buy plain yogurt and then a low-sugar fruit yogurt and mix them together. My kids love yogurt and don't miss the sugar!

 I got to try out the starter kit from http://www.squeezurts.com/ and it came with 6 tubes and a handy bottle for filling, plus 2 fabric sleeves you can use to keep the little kids hands from getting too cold.
My kids were so excited to pack a delicious berry smoothie into their lunch bag. My 7yo told me that everyone was asking how she got that rainbow gogurt. :)

I filled some to take on a trip to Idaho and it was so handy. They are easy to fill and all you need is a bread tie to fold them closed with--just make sure you leave a little space if you're freezing the SqueeZurt.
The only trouble I had was when I tried to fill them with our favorite greek yogurt and berries. The mixture was too thick to get through the nozzle. One remedy is to slice off the end (about 1/4") of the nozzle on the fill bottle for a larger opening. In my case, I just added some milk to thin the mixture and froze them and they were perfect.
I am loving these so much, I think I'm going to have to order 6 more. My mom thought it was a great idea to have when the grandkids come visit.
You can buy SqueeZurts directly from the site http://www.squeezurts.com/

 or through this etsy shop
http://www.etsy.com/shop/kitchensinkboutique
Check them out on FB https://www.facebook.com/SqueeZurts
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kitchen-Sink-Boutique/159449537452486
SqueeZurts are reusable, refillable squeeze snack tubes that can be filled with anything you can come up with.  On top of the versatility and health benefits SqueeZurts allow, also reduce waste by reusing SqueeZurts over and over again.**

Yogurt. Applesauce. Baby Food. Energy Gel. Smoothies. Pudding. Fruit Juice. Veggie and Fruit Puree.  Frozen or not.


You control the ingredients  -  You control your nutrition

"Heaven Sent" Baby Shower Invitations

Just Jaime from Wayward Girls' Crafts here! I thought I'd give you guys a peek into my creative process today from when I planned a baby shower for my Wayward sister, Brave Brooke.

I made three Pinterest inspiration boards for Brooke to choose from a few months in advance. She chose our "Heaven Sent/Angelic Theme" which I loved too =)

From there I started thinking about how I wanted to do the invites. I found this image on Pinterest:

Isn't it adorable? I can't find a photo credit for it ANYWHERE so I can't give any credit for it, but I wish I could.

I wanted to use baby feet as a "v" in my invite. So I decided to make the invites saying "Heaven Sent" with the "v" being baby feet. I went to Joann and TOTALLY lucked out. They had these stamps there, calling my name:

The cardstock was gorgeous, you can't tell in this picture, but check it out here. I also used some of this because the store ran out of the gemstone.

The hardest part was the computer part--I printed the actual invitation on the opposite side of the cardstock. Making the size right proved difficult for my computer to comprehend. Eventually I tricked it by using skinnier paper but not telling it.

How would you use baby feet?

The shower was a huge success! Check out the decor, food and games.

Let's talk about buttons.

Hi crafty peeps!

Kristie here today and I'd like to talk about buttons.

I love to use buttons on cards and scrapbook layouts,

but sometimes they can be difficult.

Every try to thread ribbon through a small hole on a button

 and it just doesn't fit? 

 Or try to get yarn or embroidery floss through those holes

and get all those pesky little threads through.

I've got a solution for the problem.

Floss Threaders!

 

This is the kind I have, but there are different brands,

you can find them in your local drug store. 

They are meant to be used when you have braces

and have to thread your dental floss behind the braces

 to floss your teeth.

But they are great for threading other things.

 

 

Here are the supplies I'm working with today.

Take one threader and loop a piece of ribbon through it,

 just like if you were threading a needle.

But this is easier as you don't have to deal with a tiny eye. 

In fact this is a great way to thread a needle too.

Pull the threader through one of the button holes. 

If the ribbon or yarn is thick, you may need to give it a good tug.

Then thread it back down through the other hole

and you are set,

the ribbon is through those tiny little holes with no problem.

Now just tie a bow and you are good to go.

Or pull the ribbon to the sides and you can secure it on the back.

 

 Have you ever gotten something made and then

find that you don't have the right color of ribbon to match your project?

Here is a quick and simple solution.

Take a scrap of whatever paper you have used for your project and cut a very narrow strip.

See, very narrow.

 

 

Now just thread it through the button holes.

Criss cross it on the back of the button

Secure it with a glue dot, or another adhesive,

 which will also adhere it to your project.

 

Now you have a threaded button that matches your project perfectly.

 

I hope you have found these tips helpful and will remember them the next time you have to thread some buttons.

I invite you to stop by my blog

and see what I've been working on lately at

Kristie Kreates

Thanks for stopping by!

Be sure to come back often, you never know what great things you will find here on Mashed Potatoes and Crafts!

 

Until next month, have fun creating!

 

Save for Higher Education with IDeal

As many of you know, I was born and raised in Idaho. I think it's a great state and I loved my childhood. Now I love going back to visit that beautiful part of the country.
Idaho is the inspiration for this website and because I'm all about sharing great things, I wanted to tell you about a fabulous program to save for college. IDeal or the Idaho College Savings Program contacted me and with their help, my parents were able to set up a college savings account for each of my four children.

 The best part--my kids can use that money anywhere in the country. Each state has their own 529 plan and you must be a resident, which is why my parents set up the accounts for my kids. IDeal handled all the account setup which made this savings program a breeze!

What a wonderful way to support your grandchildren! As a college graduate, I can tell you that every dollar helps and this is a great idea to encourage your children to look to the future. I hope that each of my four children will have the opportunity to attend and graduate from college. I think education is vital to the future of our nation.
I invite you to visit the following link to

Learn more about IDeal and special benefits for Idaho taxpayers at www.idsaves.org.

Saving for Higher Education is Easy and Affordable with the IDeal – Idaho College Savings Program

 The pictures are of me with my four kids and my mom and dad--love those great Idaho people!

The IDeal – Idaho College Savings Program (“IDeal”), offers an easy and affordable way to save for higher education.  IDeal is a great way for family and friends to invest in higher education and can be done by starting with as little as $25. IDeal also offers the ability for anyone to contribute to an existing account through Ugift^® ─ Give College Savings. This simple online feature allows you to invite grandparents, parents, family and friends to celebrate special occasions and holidays with gift contributions to an IDeal account to help toward college education costs.

“IDeal is an excellent way for parents and families to financially prepare kids for college and start saving today, which is why I regularly contribute to my loved ones’ IDeal accounts,” said Idaho State Treasurer Ron G. Crane. 

The state-sponsored 529 plan is unique because money invested today can be used in the future on any qualified higher education expense, including tuition, mandatory fees, required books, supplies and equipment, and certain room and board expenses. Additionally, you can use IDeal contributions at any eligible 2- or 4-year college, vocational/technical school, or graduate school anywhere in the country – not just in Idaho. www.idsaves.org

 

Thanks to IDeal for this program and for the inspiration to get things started for my kids' college education!