Crafts: Mishloach Manot Cans

I love crafting with tissue paper. My favorite thing to do with it is to Modge Podge it on to things. I have lots of coffee cans in my recycling bin and I thought that they would make cute containers for our Mishloach Manot this year. I decided that the girls and I would decorate some white contact paper with tissue paper and Modge Podge and this was the result. Below is a quick tutorial:


Here's what you need

Empty coffee cans with removable paper labels
White contact paper
Colored tissue paper
Scissors
Modge Podge (I used glossy but matte also looks nice)
Paint brushes
Tape measure

1. Take the label off the cans and then measure the can with a tape measure. Use the measurements to cut out white contact paper that will fit over the can and completely cover it.

2. Cut out the contact paper with a scissors or use a craft knife on a self healing mat.

3. Cut the tissue paper that you are going to use into small (but not tiny) squares. Don't make them all the exact same size.

4. Start Modge Podging the tissue paper on to the contact paper you cut out. You can layer the pieces on top of each other and create different shades shapes and colors. When it is totally covered let it dry.

5. When the contact paper is dry gently roll the paper so that it will "mold" around the can.

6. Strip the backing off the contact paper and stick it on the can.

7. Fill with yummy treats!

Purim Sameach (Happy Purim) Purim Door Garland

Purim is one of my favorite holidays. It's so festive and fun. On Purim Jews give each other something called mishloah manot. Mishloach manot are small gifts of food (usually sweets!). According to Jewish law each person must give at least one gift of at least two portions of food that are cooked and ready to eat. Ideally the giver should hand deliver the mishloach manot to the person who is to receive the gift. This means that on Purim a lot of people come to your front door, hence, the Happy Purim (Purim Sameach) Purim Door Garland. This garland combines two things I really love; wool felt and hand sewing. Surprisingly it was quite easy to make. I was able to sit with the kids and sew while they did their thing. Below is a quick tutorial.


-1/2 yard of two different colors of wool felt. I definitely had a fair amount left over but I needed the width of a 1/2 yard to make the felt piece that the flags hang off of. I ordered my felt from Weir Dolls and Craft it it got here in 2 days! They also have a huge selection of all kinds of different felt.
-Matching embroidery floss the same 2 colors as the felt.
-Needle
-Scissors and a rotary cutter if you have one
-Ruler
-Computer paper and pencil to make the triangle pattern and letter patterns
-Pins

1. Cut off a 1/2 inch by 30 inch wide piece of felt in both colors from the wide side of the felt. I used a rotary cutter and a ruler but you could also mark it off with a ruler and use a scissors to cut it.



2. Make a 6 inch equilateral triangle out of paper and use it as your pattern. Using a rotary cutter and ruler or a scissors (pin the pattern on if you are using a scissors) and cut out 4 triangles of each color so you have a total of 8 triangles. If you keep "flipping" the pattern over you will use less felt (see above picture).

3. Write Purim Sameach (in Hebrew!) using bubble letters on paper. Cut the letters out and use them as the patterns. Pin the cut out, paper, bubble letters on top of the felt that you will be using and cut them out. Make sure to cut out a purple letter for a red triangle and visa versa!



4. Pin the felt letters on to the triangles. Cut off the piece of embroidery floss you will be using and sepreate 3 of the 6 strands ( gently pull 3 strands off of the 6 strands that embroidery floss has). Sew on each letter with the 3 of the strands of floss using the staight (running) stich. Don't forget to use the red embroidery floss on the purple felt and visa versa.

5. When you are done sewing on the letters pin the triangles onto the long felt strips. Use 3 of the 6 strands of red embroidery floss and the straight stitch to sew on the purple triangles on the wool strip and visa versa.

6. Hang it on your door!

Recipe: Soaked Whole Spelt Chocolate Cake (Parve/Dairy Free or Dairy)

This recipe was inspired by a recipe for carob brownies I saw in Nourishing Traditions. I have made both the parve/dairy free and dairy version. The parve/dairy free version was really delicious but as we all know most things taste better with butter (and yogurt) in them and this is the case with this cake. The picture above was taken about a half hour after the dairy version had been out of the oven. I had to quickly freeze the rest so that my kids would not eat it all up.

3 cups whole spelt flour
2 cups of full fat yogurt or 2 cups of water with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
3/4 butter softened or extra virgin coconut oil
1 1/2 cup Rapunzel organic whole cane sugar or sucanat (I have bought both of these at Fairway and Whole Foods.)
4 eggs beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 cup of cocoa powder (not dutch processed!)
1 tablespoon of baking powder
oil/butter and white flour for the pan

1. Soak flour with the yogurt or the water and lemon juice on your counter for 12 to 24 hours.

2. Cream butter or extra virgin coconut oil with whole cane sugar or sucanat.

3. Add the eggs, vanilla extract, salt, cocoa powder and baking powder. Please note: I have found that the eggs don't combine well with the dried whole cane sugar/sucanat and butter mixture. It does, however, all come together when you add the flour soaked in yogurt. I did not have the same problem with the coconut oil.

4. Mix in the soaked flour mixture until well combined and pour into the pan.

5. Pour batter into a 9x13 inch greased and floured pan.

6. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Toilet Paper Roll "2 or 3 Fingers" Finger Puppets

I was staring at all my saved toilet paper rolls recently, trying to figure out what to do with them, when I realized that they would make cute "2 or 3 fingers" finger puppets. I finally got around to doing this project with the girls last night and I think they came out really cute. We also had a really good time making them and playing with them. I predict that we will be making more of these soon. Below is a quick tutorial on how to make these easy finger puppets.

Supplies that you need:
Toilet paper rolls
Markers
Felt, fabric or colored paper scraps
Yarn cut up in to pieces for hair
Glue (we used Tacky Glue)
Scissors

1. First we glued on the eyes and drew the mouth and nose.

2. Then we designed clothing from our felt scraps and glued them onto our puppets.

3. The last thing we did was glue on the yarn for hair (R gave her puppet's "hair" a trim and added side bangs!).

The finger puppets were super easy and super fun to make. By the way this project worked well for my 4yo, 7yo and 10yo.

Fairway v. Whole Foods

When Whole Foods opened their store 15 blocks away from Fairway, at Columbus Circle, Fairway was obviously concerned. They put up a giant poster in the front of their store comparing the prices of 5 items. Fairway's prices were of course lower. That was one of the reasons why I was sure that I would not go to Whole Foods. I was a hard core Fairway shopper and nothing was going to take me away from my beloved Market.

Fairway is an Upper West Side institution. It's the kind of place where you can get your organic produce, European cheeses and your Charmin Ultra Strong "6 mega rolls equals 24 regular rolls" pack. It is also the kind of place where wearing your your flip flops in the summer can be dangerous. The back of your heels might get clipped by a too close to you grocery cart.

I clearly remember my first time I bought something in Fairway. I was standing on line with a bag of 3 oranges. A little old lady asked me if she could go ahead of me. I turned around and saw that she had an almost full cart. I told her no. Over the years I've had many conversations with other patrons with topics ranging from my pre-typed shopping list that follows my path through Fairway to the elevator that moves like molasses but has a door that shuts almost as quickly as it opens. This is the of the charm of shopping at Fairway.

When Wholefoods opened a new store 22 blocks from Fairway in the other direction on 97th and Columbus I had the same attitude that I had when they opened up the Columbus Circle store. There was no reason why I would shop there but this times the circumstances were different. D's pre school is right down the block so I am near it 5 days a week. It's also on the same block as the 97th Street farmer's markets and Michaels, 2 places that I frequent.

One morning, right after Whole Foods opened, I dropped D off at school and decided to stop by to see what the new store looked like. It was not the usual Manhattan grocery stores. It had wide isles and was very peaceful. Even at 10 am Fairway is a mad house. I walked around the store and checked out what they had. I bought a few honeycrisp apples and left. It had been a very pleasant experience even if the honeycrisp apple cost a bit more than they did at Fairway.

That next Monday I decieded to go to Whole Foods to pick up a few things that I needed. During this visit and I noticed more things that I really liked. The carts were larger and were easier to push. I noticed that Whole Foods has a private label brand that is very well priced and is of excellent quality. They had frozen fruits and vegetables, beans and grains, organic orange juice, organic milk, organic 100% natural hazelnut flavored coffee and bread, all things that I buy frequently. I also found out that their delivery fee was 3.99 versus Fairway's whose is 7.99. Even if certain things are 20 or 30 cents less at Fairway that extra 4 dollars for begins to eat up the savings. They also give 10% off if you buy a case of anything. I left Whole Foods a bona fide fan that day.

Much to my own surprise I now shop at Whole Foods about 50 percent of the time. Recently I was in Whole Foods, poking around the freezer and looking for a particular flavor of ice cream. One of the workers noticed what I was doing and came over to me and asked me what I was looking for so that he could check to see if there was any more in the back. A few moments later he came out with my pint of chocolate. You do not get this kind of service at Fairway. This is another of the reason why I keep going back to Whole Foods.

Over the past few months I've discovered the delicious Sky Top farms organic, non-homogenized milk Whole Foods carries, enjoyed their selection of local beers and discovered the joys of food shopping in a relaxed environment. I still have a special place in my heart for Fairway. They have a great kosher in house bakery, the best olive oil selection and a huge selection of organic produce. My love for Fairway, though, is no longer exclusive.

Back to School

Some people might think I'm crazy for saying this but I think that our winter vacation was too short. The kid's vacation started on December 24th and they were back on January 4th. By the time we got into a groove it was time to go back to school. We had a really nice staycation here in Manhattan. We managed to see an Alvin Ailey performance at City Center, the Flaming Idiots at the New Victory theatre and Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakqual. We also went to one of our favorite kosher restaurants Les Marais twice.

The kids spent a lot of time at home with and with out friends. The girls did a lot drawing and crafting and Z spent a lot of time reading. We also got to sleep late which made all of us very happy! I'm really looking forward to our next week off in February.

I thought that I would post some of our favorite crafts from last week below. They were all relatively easy and lots of fun to do.


T is learning about dinosaurs in school and has been drawing tons of pictures of them. I just like the way this picture looks.


I first saw these Styrofoam "wood cut" prints on Creative Jewish Mom this summer and I finally found the time to do these with the kids last week. We used the yellow Styrofoam trays that our meat comes on. They were lots of fun and even D who is 4 was able to make her own designs to print. Here's the tutorial. I did find that the prints came out best when we put the paper on top of the Styrofoam and gently rubbed it.



R made this stuffed heart inspired by Kata Golda's designs. We got a pattern for the heart from here and hit zoom out a few times to get the size we wanted (this site also has some other cool shapes that we hope to get to soon). R worked really hard on this. We did have to pull out stiches a few times but this is really the first real embroidery project that she did all by herself.

Hand Sewing with Wool Felt

As most of you know my foray into crafting is very recent. There are so many crafts out there just waiting to be discovered. I first heard about Kata Golda's wonderful book Hand Sewn Felt this fall when a bunch of the craft blogs I read reviewed it. I liked what I read and after checking out her lovely website I decieded to order the book.

I had done a very limited amount of hand sewing before I got this book and most of it was playing around with felt over the past few months. I had the book for a while and I spent a lot of time looking at all the projects before I decided to tackle this bag. I ordered the felt from Ohma Felt and a few days after it got here I started the bag. The directions were very easy to follow. It took about 20 minutes to cut out the felt, including the little dog, into the pieces that I needed. I spent 2 evenings watching a episode of season 2 of Mad Men completing it. It was that easy .

D loves her bag. She put her little toy dogs in it and has been carrying it around. It's a really good feeling to see your child playing and enjoying something that you made for her.