Make butter by Shaking up Heavy Cream

Did you know that if you shake heavy cream long enough, it will make butter?  *Pause for effect*  Yup.  It's true.  It takes about 20-25 minutes to turn 1/2 a pint of heavy cream into butter.  You don't even need special equipment to do it!  How do I know?  Because I roped hubby into making some homemade butter with me this past weekend!

Let's Make Homemade Butter from Heavy Cream!

 

Why this sudden interest in making homemade butter?  Don't worry, I'm not swearing off all processed foods.  I recently found out that February 7th was Laura Ingalls Wilder's birthday.  She was one of my favorite authors as a young girl.  I loved reading Little House on the Prairie and thought this would be a great way to celebrate her (and try out some cool food science too.)

Keep reading to see how we made our own homemade butter from heavy cream!

Risking Rejection.... while wearing sparkly tights

Eeek!  My legs... for all the world to see....

Today's post is a departure from my normal craft/diy posts.  Now, if you just want to see how I made these sparkly tights, scroll directly to the bottom of the post.  But if you want to read about a neat, new Thursday blogging series and a bunch of courageous gals, read on!

Finding beauty in the everyday

Heart shaped candy canes 

(bent using this tutorial)

Our current car collection

Christmas tree toys 

Red and white rice krispy treats

White play dough on our black table

Happy Thursday friends!

What's up Chuck? Canstruction!

Hi everyone! Did you have a good weekend?  Ours was kind of a mixed bag.  On the one hand we got a chance to relax and hang out as a family... which is especially nice since hubby is still away most of the week for work.  But on the other hand, we were just so sad hearing about Typhoon Haiyan's terrible aftermath in the Philippines.  (To see how you can help the survivors, click here.) 

*Sigh*

Ok, I'm trying to stay positive here.  Hearing about such destruction and devastation reminds me to be thankful for all the things I usually take for granted.   So I'm thankful for moments that we get to share together as a family:

Pretending to be monsters

Showing off our non-existent yoga moves

Enjoying the warm weather (Look!  No coat!)

Chasing each other around the park

I'm also thankful that we were able to see Canstruction at the Brookfield Place Winter Garden.  It's a joint competition and food drive  where teams of engineers, architects, designers, and students create sculptures out of nonperishable foods.  Sculptures will be up until November 13th and admission is free (just bring some canned food to donate).   Then, they'll be taken apart and the food will be donated to City Harvest, an organization dedicated to feeding the hungry in New York City. 
  
The sculptures were amazing.  I left feeling quite inspired seeing how people's artistic and creative skills were used to highlight the very real problem of hunger in New York City. 

Have a safe Monday, friends! 

Maker Faire 2013 (Part 2)

"Don't think.  Thinking is the enemy of creativity.  It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy.  You can't try to do things.  You must simply do things."  Ray Bradbury 

Often times when an idea pops in my head, I find myself just sitting on it.  I spend days thinking about it. I turn it around and around in my head.   And then I get overwhelmed by it.

I guess I tend to over think things.  (Anyone else like that too?)

Seeing the exhibitors at the Maker Faire really inspired me.  Yeah, they probably did a lot of thinking.  But, they also stepped out of their thoughts and actually tinkered and experimented with their ideas.  They dared to try and they dared to fail.

Alright, that was rather a long intro to these last set of photographs from the Maker Faire.  (To see part 1, click here.)  I guess I just wanted to say a big thank you to all the exhibitors.  Thanks for being brave and trying.  Thanks for showcasing your creativity and hard work.  Thanks for inspiring the maker in me. 

Giant felted dinosaur

Chair made out of very thin cardboard (or thick paper?)

Butterfly bicycle!

The inventor of this toy (and the one below) was at the faire showcasing his toys.  They were lovely, modern, and classic at the same time.

You build a structure and then drop marbles onto it.  The marbles slide around on ramps and through holes.

Pink elephant made of wooden shapes- who thinks of this stuff?

Awesome pink elephant

Maker Faire 2013 (Part 1)

Hi everyone!  How was your weekend?

This weekend we visited the Maker Faire held at the New York Hall of Science.  It's a yearly two-day festival where tons of "makers" (crafters, hobbyists, tech lovers, engineers, etc..) showcase what they've made.

The faire is advertised as the "greatest show and tell on earth."  Oh boy, it definitely lived up to that title.  We visited the faire for about four hours... and only saw about about half of the exhibits.  Crazy, right?  Not going to lie...it was difficult maneuvering through all the exhibits with a super active two year old... but I really am thankful that we were able to attend.  It was truly awesome to see so many people passionate about making things with their hands.   I left feeling quite inspired (and exhausted...oof). 

Here are some photos from the day:

Tiny race cars!

This bus brings green space to urban dwellers.

Some toy makers sold their toys there

These robots moved and spoke

Music created by people's text messages

P9218754.AVI from Pink Stripey Socks on Vimeo.

Super cute mini toy that you could create with your kids

Allergic to dogs?  Ever consider a robot dog?  (Chuck loved following this guy around)

Adventures in Brooklyn

Last weekend we visited Brooklyn to see the Renegade Craft Fair.  Wow.  It was really amazing to see so many talented crafters.  I walked away feeling super inspired (and super intimidated.)  

Below are some photos from the day's adventures.  I wish I could have taken more photos of all the vendors' wares, but, it was way too sunny and hot.  We ended up just walking through and then searching for shade.  Despite all my best efforts at using sunscreen, I still ended up getting burned.  Ick, ick, ick.

Some Brooklynites lay sod over a closed-off street to create instant green seating for an afternoon concert

Brave souls who ventured out into the heat to enjoy lovely crafts

Love these earrings because they reminded me of friendship bracelets

Cool word art (And now I'll know the different parts of Brooklyn)

One vendor sold lovely diorama boxes with interesting images

Chuck cooling off with his spray bottle

Chuck and I sharing a smoothie

Kiwi Crate Review + GIVEAWAY-closed! (Yay! Free Stuff!)

Way back in April, a company called Kiwi Crate contacted me about trying out one of their crates and writing about our experience on the blog.  Of course,  I was super excited by the opportunity and jumped on it.  (Free kids' stuff?  Sure, send it my way!)  Within a couple of days, this box of goodies arrived in our mail:

Each Kiwi Crate box is filled with all the materials needed to complete 2-3 super fun, hands-on projects. The projects in each crate usually center around a certain theme (e.g., music, bugs, pirates, etc...)  Our box's theme was bugs.  It contained all the materials and detailed instructionos needed to make two bug related crafts.

Yeah, I was all set to shoot a lovely photo showing all the materials neatly lined up... but Chuck dove right in and wanted to start crafting

Wow.  Let's just say that I was super impressed by the quality and quantity of the materials.  They really do provide everything you need. (Our box even came with scissors for cutting!)  All of the materials felt really high end and nice. (No crapt here!)  Once we completed both projects, we even had plenty of leftover materials. (Cha-ching!  I've stashed those leftovers away into my craft hoard to use for other projects later... tee hee...)

They say that the crates are designed for 3-7 year olds.  Since, Chuck's not yet 2, we took things slow.  He only did one project at a time.  That was just fine by me because they were a great way to help pass long and rainy days (you know the ones I'm talking about... when you're cooped up in the house and both of you are bouncing off the walls.)

Here we are completing our first project in April (hence the hair):

He did not want to let this little bottle go...

Sticking a mini glow-stick into our bottle to make a firefly

And here we are finishing up our second project a couple of days ago: (Is it me, or does he look bigger?)

The crate provided us with everything- plate, paint, sponges, paper, and brush

Such concentration!

As you can see, we enjoyed all the pasting and painting.

You can sign up to get a buy one crate, or you can sign up to get a month-to-month subscription (where they'll send you a different crate every month, for $19.95 per month.)  If you're not too keen on spending the money, you should still peek at their website because they have a great DIY, kid crafts, and activities section, showcasing lots of great (and free!) ideas for projects.  I thumbed through the pages and definitely picked up a couple of good ideas there....

I'm amazed that there are companies like this out there for kids.  When I was young, I got a couple of mail magazine subscriptions and I remember being super excited whenever a new magazine would come in.  Can you imagine what a kid would feel like if a whole box of  goodies came for them every month?  Pretty neat, right?  So neat that I thought that this would be a great giveaway for you readers!

Yay!  My first craft giveaway!

**This giveaway is closed** GIVEAWAY GOODY and RULES:
I'm going to gift one reader a single Kiwi Crate box. To enter, simply visit Kiwi Crate's Single Crate page and leave a comment below telling me which Kiwi Crate you'd like to receive.  That's it.  The contest will close by midnight Friday, EST.  I'll announce the winner on Monday's blog post.

Sorry, this giveaway is open to US and Canadian readers only (since they don't provide shipping elsewhere.)



Good luck!  :) I'm excited that one of you will receive a lovely package of goodies.

(Don't have children?  Try out for the giveaway anyway.  You can always send it to a lovely, crafty kid that you know.)

A + C's wedding

This past weekend we attended a cousin's wedding in Brooklyn.  It was a wonderfully intimate and elegant affair.  The bride and her mother's touches were everywhere.  The lovely bride altered her own dress and both ladies worked together to bake and decorate the cake and put together all the floral arrangements.

Here's what we wore to the wedding:  (We took these photos beforehand because it would be nearly impossible to take photos while entertaining an active almost-two-year old during the event.)

 And here are photos taken before the event:

Something blue

Wedding cake made by the bride's mom

Can you believe these flowers aren't real?  They're edible and made by hand.

My small DIY contribution- Handwritten escort cards

Wall decorations at the reception

Bride's bouquet

Here are photos taken from the ceremony:

Here's how we entertained Chuck during the ceremony

 Here are photos taken during the reception:

Beautiful lace back

Dinner time!

Cake cutting

Congratulations A and C!   Thank you for letting us be a part of your special day.