More homemade toys

We were absent from the blogosphere for a while now- we were quite busy - our family has one new member, a cute little boy, almost three months old, and we did three rounds of chickenpox which meant being stucked in the house for six weeks and so we were forced to think of many boredom busters, meaning a lot of new ideas and games.

One of them is this box which can be used for distinguishing colors and fine motor development for toddlers. Originally, it was just an empty box of cornflakes, which I turned upside down, poked some holes in it (that was the hardest part because I didn't have a scalpel) and decorated them with some washi tape. As we were out of a blue tape, the Younger simply colored it:

We collected many bottle caps, in various colors and started sorting it:

                         

 

However, in the end, the girls really enjoyed in simple mess making:

All in all, it was one less boring rainy afternoon ....

 

Pesto pancakes

I love pancakes in all possible ways. Just a short reminder - in Europe we usually prepare much thinner pancakes than the ones in the Northern America. What do we need tortillas, when we have pancakes ...

Recently I started experimenting with their salty variants, and I'll share a recipe I am particularly delighted with.

Ingredients:
10 pancakes
10 slices of cooked ham
1 jar of pesto sauce (330g)
cooking cream - about 100ml
Parmesan cheese

Prepare 10 pancakes (considering that each of us has her own recipe for pancakes, I think it makes no sense to describe the process of making them), smear pesto sauce on each (I love the one produced by Barilla, but you can try and prepare it yourself). Add a slice of cooked ham, fold "in a triangle" (see the photo below).

Put the folded pancakes on a butter greased tray, pour some cooking cream over them and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake in preheated oven for no longer than 10 to 15 minutes, just for the cheese to melt.

Bon appetit!

Apple muffins

This is a recipe which I found in the advertising leaflet of a local retail chain and I was really surprised how tasteful they are, even better than our favorite chocolate muffins.

I've made ​​some changes and adapted the recipe to our taste, so soon it became a favorite and a very popular dessert among family members and friends.

Ingredients*:

300 g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
375 g peeled apples
150g brown sugar
125 g raisins
125 g melted butter
2 eggs
185 ml milk

Heat your oven to 180 Celsius degrees. In a large bowl, mix all of the "dry" ingredients - flour, baking powder, brown sugar, diced apples and raisins. In another bowl, mix all the "wet ingredients" - butter, eggs and milk. Then mix all together. By using 2 tablespoons, pour the mixture into muffin tins (I have been using those little paper baskets, which are great because the mold generally stays clean). Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

Hint: a plain toothpick can tell you whether the muffins are fully baked - poke the middle of any muffin with a toothpick and if there is nothing left on it, muffins can be taken out of the oven!

Here's the photo of our muffins, just before they were packed and became a delicious birthday present

*Notice: I've used the metric system, which we normally use in SE Europe, but you can easily recalculate it, try here.

 

 

Fall-inspired necklace

In my country we often call this time of the year "the golden autumn", because of all the colors related to it.

However, it is the perfect moment to collect different natural materials. We had a chance to spend some time in nature, and we brought home a bag full of acorns. Since many of their caps were connected, one to each other, they were ideal for making our today's craft - the autumn necklace.




The idea was born in a moment, and my girls soon had these unusual necklaces:

Very simple, isn't it? Try it yourself!

Need more ideas what to do with natural materials in the fall? Look for some great ideas at our fall-related Pinterest board.

Children paint - part 2

My little artists really adore painting ..... especially since mum found numerous ways to make colors in her own kitchen. We have already showed you how we made some paint out of flour, salt, yogurt and water , and in the meantime we also tried some new ways:

1. Ice colors

A little bit of water, some food coloring and a lot of patience until it all freezes over (this last ingredient is the most difficult to get). Super refreshing on hot summer days!

2. Liquid chalk

Cornstarch, food coloring and water are all you need for this fun way of painting. We had a small container in which we were preparing it, so we used one tablespoon of cornstarch, two tablespoons of water and a few drops of food coloring.

You can paint with a brush, or you can use your hands, and it's great and if you leave these colors in the sun, because when the water evaporates, you get the classic chalk, but irregularly shaped.

The photos are lousy, I know, but we did it on the day with a strong wind, so we had to hunt the stuff in our backyard, and unfortunately there was no time for taking many photos.

Let the play begin!