fairyguts – Page 8 – No Chaos No Order

Thumbprint Hearts?

Posted on April 19, 2013 by fairyguts Posted in heart .

Have you seen this on Pinterest?

I wanted that. So I followed the written directions. Three times.

The dough has been mixed per instructions and a variety of shapes laid out for thumb-stamping.

My first batch got burnt. I left them in the oven for an hour. :/ I should have listened to my BRAIN and not the directions…

Second batch I baked for only 15 minutes. They poofed up and obliterated the print marks. They also looked grainy and had crackles that I didn’t like.

Last batch is not photographed, but same results. Then I turned to polymer clay. Here are the single prints. I wasn’t sure what I’d like better – singles or combined. Also, if we have another kid, we’d need to make another combined one and I like the idea of having Robin’s 1yr print separate.

Here is our combined heart. My print on the right, husband’s on the left, and Robin’s fit perfectly where ours overlapped!

I had a lot of brown polymer clay on hand so I decided to make it out of this, and will paint it in silver and black. I hope it won’t mess it all up!

If you look for more thumbprint hearts like the inspirational photo, you find that people are actually using metal clay to roll, stamp, and then cut out half a heart shape and then soldering the halves together. I was very disappointed in the post that suggested this flour/salt recipe would work. I did find a different recipe that might be interesting to try that is made of cornstarch and baking soda. But I’m a little burned out on this project now! Maybe later!

Polymer Robin robin

Posted on April 18, 2013 by fairyguts Posted in heart, home .

Before Robin was born, I received a small figure of a woman who had a space in her chest. While I was pregnant, I kept some paper leaves (for “Sprout”), but once Robin was born, I wanted a little bird to fit in there. I made one out of polymer clay.

Where we were did not have very good ovens for baking it, so I left it ‘raw’ until I got home. When I did, I burned it up good! So, while I was experimenting with flour/salt dough, I thought I’d make another one. … this took a couple tries!

My first idea was that the body was too thick while the little head was too thin, so I decided to use an aluminum foil ball for the center.

Then I added the orange belly:

Rolled it into a tear drop shape and bent the point over a bit for the head:

I like to use ball point pens to make the eyes, but I use a straw that I squish flat to make the faux feathers:

Then I baked it at the lowest setting on my oven (200 f) and still burnt it!

So, I made another one (which I liked better, actually), turned the oven off, and let it sit in the slowly cooling oven for 20 minutes. This time, it seemed to work! It’s not squishy anywhere and not burnt, either – Yay!

And here is the little bird where it will live:

{this moment}

Posted on April 14, 2013 by fairyguts Posted in heart .

{this moment} – A [Sunday] ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. As inspired by Collecting the Moments … One by One and SouleMama

Baby proofing

Posted on April 12, 2013 by fairyguts Posted in heart, home .

Since his birthday, Robin has been scooting everywhere and we were frantically baby-proofing the house. One thing that needed special attention (and isn’t really quite done), was the Wii.

The internet cord and flashing light was irresistible to Robin. Oh, and it was on the floor. (Darn, no before. Again.) While the TV was on a sewing cabinet without the sewing machine in it, there wasn’t much room for the Wii without getting in the way of the tv. And, it would still be visible with lots of other plugs and cords around.

So I took the sewing cabinet apart and added a bottom to create a shelf. I still need to figure out how to put the one side back on so it’ll open and close, but that will be for another day.

Removing screws from the side with the handle that didn’t really open anything:

Side removed – that was easy! :

“Shelf” put in. I used peg board so there would be good ventilation in the cabinet. I did not count on the ‘front’s’ decorative edging to leave the shelf visible. Bleck. On the other hand, now I didn’t have to worry about drilling holes for electrical wires to come out of! Also, helper babies don’t really help. They chew.

So, I screwed the ‘front’ back on and installed the shelf. It is just resting on the edges of the legs. I may go back and add some strips of wood to the sides and across the middle.

I took the handle off the old front and made it the ‘back.’ Except, now I’m not sure how to attach the new front because the legs gain stability by being screwed to it. I may need to cut some holes after all.

Regardless – it works well holding all the plugs and wires and Wii and Robin has shown no interest in what’s inside! … for now!

Robin’s Hospital Scrapbook

Posted on April 12, 2013 by fairyguts Posted in heart, relationship .

I have been working on this project for the last three weeks in every spare moment I can find and I still haven’t gotten much done. I printed out all of the photos related to my pregnancy and our time in the hospital with Robin. I stamped and wrote the names of the people in the photos and wrote in dates. I sorted them chronologically. I put them in an album so I can sort them into stories and have been putting those stories into the scrapbook. Yay, me, making progress! But I haven’t felt any of it was photo/blog worthy.

So far I have completed the front and back of three pages. It took only three pages to summarize my pregnancy. Including the month on bed rest in the hospital! At the time, it felt like what was happening was epic, but really … it was the most un-exciting vacation I’ve ever taken. I read, crocheted, and played on my computer for a month. Woo. Hoo. But, I guess it makes things easier now! 😀

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{this moment}

Posted on April 7, 2013 by fairyguts Posted in heart .

{this moment}

Posted on March 31, 2013 by fairyguts Posted in heart .

Conquering The Chaos Of My Food, One Meal At A Time: Breakfast

Posted on March 28, 2013 by fairyguts Posted in health .

I’ve gained even more weight since then! (2012-12-24)

I have gained so much weight since I got married. Food is a big challenge for me. I am an emotional eater and it doesn’t matter what emotion it is, I will eat to cope with it. Multiple diets, tons of education, and heaps of self condemnation have not resolved this problem. I know what to eat. In fact, I would say that with my scientific background, I know better than most people just exactly what happens in the body which explains why we should eat the way we should. But I don’t.

And as I have been toying with freezing meals and organizing my recipes I have acknowledged that I am lazy. I am SO lazy! It’s crazy! But … who cares!? I am no longer going to make myself feel guilty for my laziness. Just like I’ve been doing with my organizing projects, I am learning to observe how I eat – no judgment – and identify problems and fix them!

For example. I need to eat fruit. I like oranges. So, I buy a bag of oranges and put them in a pretty bowl on my counter. I like to look at them – they are pretty! I don’t eat them. When I’m hungry, I go into the kitchen and look at the oranges and then make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The oranges mold in the bowl. Oh, the guilt! “Why are you lazy? Why are you wasteful? Why are you weak?” SCREW THAT! I am not judging myself anymore, just finding solutions!

Before marriage and pregnancy (2012 -10-10)

So, in finding solutions – one meal at a time – I discovered I like breakfast cookies!! Mmm. And if I make a double batch, I can freeze enough cookies for two weeks worth! I pop them in the microwave for 45 seconds, pour some milk, and grab a banana. I eat that!

Here is my cookie recipie:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c rolled oats
3/4 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c light brown sugar
1 1/2 T flax meal
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
2 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
2 eggs
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add wet ingredients; mix well. Gently fold chocolate chips and raisins into the batter. Drop batter onto the baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 12 minutes.

Makes 7 servings. Cals 410.9 fat 11.1g carb 73.1g fiber 8.2g sugar 34.7g protein 10.0g

Next up, lunch! O.o

Robin’s birthday party

Posted on March 27, 2013 by fairyguts Posted in heart, relationship .

He’s a whole year old! I spent a great deal of time making decorations for his party. Early in the week (while the husband was at a conference) but late at night (while the baby was sleeping) I had a sandwich delivered and I dyed eggs. (Did you know Jimmy Johns delivers big fountain sodas and delivers UNTIL 4 AM!!??)

I emptied 3 dozen eggs and, using the recipes and procedures described at “not martha”, I dyed them up, leaving them to dry until the morning.

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I was so pleased with how vibrant they were! The magenta was indistinguishable from the red (for me), but it worked out just fine. I filled them with candies and stickers, then glued matching tissue paper over the holes. They were a big hit with adults and children at the party!

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Next, I was inspired by Half Baked – The Cake Blog to decorate his cake like a robin’s egg. I went a bit extreme, though, when I decided to make a two-tone cake to look like a hard boiled egg. Here’s what I ended up with (my dad made the cake stands for me, straight from this wedding blog):

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One change to the directions given on the blog was that, instead of directly dabbing the cake with a brush, I cut the brush short, wore gloves, and drew my thumb against the brush to fleck cakes with chocolate. It was messy on my hand, but didn’t get everywhere else.

To top the cake with little eggs (I didn’t like what I saw at the stores) I tried to make my own. I flecked them in the same manner as the cakes. First, I stuck pins into the ends of chocolate eggs (foil removed) and melted some candy chips:

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I used the pins as handles to dip into the candy and then as hangers to let them dry:

After flecking them, I put them on the cake and cupcakes.

I also played with plastic eggs making a banner (inspired by skiptomylou) that ended up being not very noticeable hanging from the tree and a wreath (inspired by u-createcrafts) which I forgot to photograph.

We took his very first photo next to his height chart (inspired by ME! I’ve been making these for nearly 12 years now!) and I’m looking forward to doing this year after year. I’m sure he’ll be more comfortable with grass by next year and will stand on his own!

(Oh, I forgot I made a number “1”, following creative jewish mom‘s blog – you can see it on the other side of the chart from Robin)

It was a beautiful day and we had fun playing with the family in the spring sun.’

Happy Birthday, my darling bird!

{this moment}

Posted on March 24, 2013 by fairyguts Posted in heart .

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