Homemade Playdough

I've been having fun scouring Pinterest for fun activities for my son (especially with a new little one on the way). This is one I came across a while ago, but just decided to try it out.

How Does She? has a great tutorial for homemade playdough that I used. It was incredibly easy - it took about 10 minutes from pulling out ingredients to taking the pot off the stove. The only thing that took a little while was mixing the coloring into the playdough. I divided what the recipe made into four bags, added some food coloring, and mixed from there so I wouldn't stain my hands.

It was such a soft and easy to use texture. I think I had just as much fun as Malcolm did!

Starting to play.

Having so much fun! He didn't want to stop playing.

Story Behind the Little Crochet Octopus

While I love all the items I put into my shop, there are some that have a special place for me. And this is definitely one of those.

The first one I ever made of these was the first thing I made for my little son Malcolm before he was born. I had seen some cute toy octopus (octopi?) at baby stores...but I wanted to do something a little more special for Malcolm. I pulled out my yarn and crochet hooks that I hadn't touched for a while, and got to work.

Here was the first version of the octopus.

And from that, not only was this little crochet octopus born, but it really rekindled my love of making things again. It was a combination of this, and some incredible encouragement from my husband, that inspired me to open my Etsy shop last June.

He's an adorable crocheted octopus, with big, friendly eyes!

I wanted to make something that would be fun for him to grab with his chubby little fingers.

Personal Projects

I haven't just been busy making things for my Etsy shop, but I've got a lot of personal projects I've been doing.

Lots of my friends are having babies! I made this cute headband and matching baby booties for one baby shower that's coming up.

Pencil organizers for a birthday gift. This one is for my niece.

Both include a handy zipper pocket for all the little things that can get lost. I made one out of Star Wars fabric for my nephew.

Burp cloths! These are for my little one who is on the way. Unfortunately most of the burp cloths we had for our first are packed away somewhere (can't remember which box!), so I'm just making a whole bunch.

And the fun thing about making new ones - using Star Wars flannel!

Works in Progress

Here are some of my works-in-progress for the week:

Crochet Grey Robot

Crochet octopus rug

Sneak Peeks for the Week

Here are a few works-in-progress for this week:

Mini spider!

Robot painting

Yummy Recipe of the Week

Want a yummy treat, with only a little bit of sugar? Here is a great recipe for Cinnamon Swirl Bread from MoneySavingMom.com. It's incredibly easy to make (even working with the yeast), and tastes incredible.

Here are a few tweaks I make to her recipe:

-I just use my KitchenAid mixer to mix up the dough - I don't use a bread machine.
-I add a bit of cinnamon to the dough while it's mixing.
-I add a smidgen (i.e. about 1/4 tsp) of unsweetened cocoa powder to the dough.
-I read this tip in the comments - after rolling out the dough, before you add cinnamon and drizzle honey, beat an egg and spread it over the dough. Then go ahead and add your filling. This is supposed to help the bread not fall apart as easily when it bakes. It's worked for me!
-If I don't have whole wheat flour, I just use all regular flour.

Bake, spread with butter if you'd like, and enjoy!

Geek and Sundry

If you're a geek, or even remotely like geeky things, you may have heard of the new YouTube channel that recently started up called "Geek and Sundry." If you haven't seen it, you should go check it out. It's pretty fun - they have a lot of different features and shows.

This week, on Felicia Day's "The Flog," Felicia and Colin Ferguson (from Eureka) learn to crochet. You can go watch it here.