Knitting Zeal

Summer fun at Art Splash in Philadelphia

This week we had the chance to enjoy a complimentary visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see Art Splash, the museum's summer event of creative play for families.  This ten week long event runs until September 1, 2014.  Each week has a different masterpiece featured with accompanying activities for kids and their parents.  This week's theme was Art in the Garden featuring Claude Monet and his garden.  Monet is one of my favorite artists and I was excited to see how the museum staff shared his art on a child-friendly level.  It was very successful!

My son started at the Splash Studio with a painting craft based upon The Japanese Footbridge and the Water Lily Pool, Giverny by Monet.  Starting with a blank piece of art paper, my son used a white pencil to draw a design of his choice on the blank paper.  He then went to a paint station and used two different colors of watercolors to paint over the entire page, making the white pencil designs pop out.  At another table he was able to add his own footbridge and some lily pads and flowers with glue and tissue paper.  Watercolor pencils were also available to add more designs.  A simple activity, but it produced a great masterpiece that he could take home.  

Next we all headed to a Family Gallery Tour of three French artworks, including the Monet painting.  The Museum educator explained details of the art work in a great manner that was appropriate for the kids on the tour, which was geared to ages 6 to 10.  There was also a tour for kids ages 3-5.  Using an iPad to enhance the experience, the educator encourgaged discussion and questions from the kids on the tour.  

Each week the theme and activities change, so ideally a family could visit every week of the summer and experience something completely new. We attended Art Splash last summer as well and this year's activities were completely different. I liked that we were in the main musuem and had the chance to go on a hunt, using a printed guide, to find ten Art Splash masterpieces.  We found five on this visit.  At each masterpiece was an activity to do, such as find different objects in the painting or sketch details from the armour on a boogie board.  At the Staircase Group by Peale, another memorable painting at the museum, we were able to call a number on my phone and my son learned a bit more details about the painting, including that the ticket painted on the floor of the masterpiece was actually a ticket of admission to the painter's musuem, the first museum in Philadelphia!  

Art Splash levels what is usually not a child-friendly place into a wonderful creative learning experience.  From the child-sized lounge filled with building blocks and books to the cafeteria that has a tasty kids menu, the musuem has thought of everything to cater to families with young children and introducing them to our creative world.  I'm always amazed at how much my son enjoys exploring the art, considering that he isn't allowed to touch anything!  

Admission to the museum for kids ages 12 and younger is free, which is a nice feature.  Admission to the musuem is Pay What You Wish on Wednesday evenings from 5:00 until 8:45 p.m. and on the first Sunday of every month.  Regular adult admission is $20.  

The schedule for the remainder of the summer is:  

July 29–August 3: Mixed-Up Music
August 5–10: Mythological Mischief
August 12–17: Trip around the World
August 19–24: Medieval Worlds
August 26–September 1: Tea and Treasure

Museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday: 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Wednesdays and Fridays until 8:45 p.m.

For more details please see the Art Splash information on the Philadelphia Museum of Art's website. 

Thanks to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for providing complimentary adult admission for the purpose of this review.  No monetary compensation was received and opinons expressed here are my honest thoughts and experience.  

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Summer of fun activites, crafts and science projects for kids

So while I shared my Summer Bucket List of places to go and things to do out and about, here is a list of things to do at home using imagination, physical activity and creativity.  Most of these activities require items most people have at home already.  My son loves crafting and science projects.  I found most of these ideas on Pinterest and one of my new favorite blogs: Tinkerlab.  

Crafts and Science projects for kids

1. Elephant toothpaste 
2. Quill pen (writing or painting)  Tie this project in with a trip to Independence Hall, Ben Franklin's home and the Liberty Bell.
3. Magic scented foaming paint (for outdoor use!!) 
4. Bubble wrapped tree 
5. Homemade paint recipes 
6. Invisible ink/painting with citrus 
7. Rainbow flowers 
8. Magic Potion Spoons 
9. Salt and ice painting 
10. Soap making experiment 
11. Homemade paint
12. Plaster casting in sand This can be done in a sandbox or at the beach!
13. Make GAK!  (or slime!)

I also have picked up a few craft kits over the past year when I saw them on sale at the craft store or Target.  We have kits for:

1. Make a pop up book
2. Make bouncy balls
3. Make a hand impression in stone
4. Create a stepping stone
5. Sand art

Go outside!

And then there are activities to do outdoors that are just plain fun:

1. Have a water balloon fight with friends
2. Use water squirters with friends
3. Make "soup" in a pail with garden finds and water
4. Bury treasure in the sand box and go digging
5. Collect lightning bugs in a jar (and then let them go)
6. Have a relay race in the yard with friends
7. "Paint" with water...the house, the driveway, the playhouse
8. Chalk up the driveway with pictures
9. Blow bubbles
10. Play in the kiddie pool or with the sprinkler
11. Freeze small toys in a container.  Release frozen cube of ice into the pool.
12. Pull weeds!
13. Ride a bike or scooter
14. Practice the hula hoop
15. Play hopscotch
16. Set up the soccer goal net and practice those kicks
17. Go for a run
18. Walk around the neighborhood
19. Fly a kite! 

I'm sure we'll come up with many other activites too, but these lists give us a start on ideas to prevent boredom!

Tomorrow I'll have a post on a kid-friendly summer reading list!

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Planting a terrarium with friends

Once a week I meet up with up to two of my blogging friends to go for a power walk, usually at the local mall.  It's a great opportunity to socialize, exercise and discuss blogging things or just about anything else.  Having some supportive peers has been really beneficial to me in more than one way!  So when Hillary came up with the idea to get together to be crafty, I naturally said ok!  Her idea was to create terrariums, little indoor gardens under glass.  

Sherry knew that a local garden center, Primex, had a staff person who taught classes on terrariums, along with selling the necessary supplies.  We met there to shop and pick out potting medium, horticulture charcoal, plants and a few accessories.  It was a successful shopping trip!  Afterwards we headed back to Hillary's house to create our little gardens.  We each had brought a glass vessel. I had picked up a fancy mason jar at Homegoods a while back and decided it would make a pretty container for the plants.  We all chose to make closed terrariums, which means not only is a lid used, but the atmosphere inside the vessel is more humid and needs plants that can survive with that level of humidity.  The associate at Primex pointed out the types of plants that work well in humid climates, in particular mosses.  

We also learned that it's important to use soiless potting medium, avoiding peat.  The peat compacts too much and makes rehydration more difficult.  Adding horticultural charcoal to the medium helps retain oxygen.  While some terrariums are layered, mixing the charcoal into the potting medium is fine.  Stones do not help drainage, but can be attractive, so they are optional.  

I like the layered look, so I added a layer of gravel and stones to the bottom of my glass vessel. (photo 1.) Then the potting medium mixed with charcoal was added (Photo 2.)  We used 4 parts potting medium to one part charcoal. (Photo 3.)  My vessel was too narrow to fit all three of my plants, so I ended up only planting two. (Photo 4.)  I think that I may try to find a larger container and make a second terrarium later on with my son that may become a fairy garden.  After I was satisfied with the placement of my plants, I added some garden stones around them and misted the sides of the glass jar with a water sprayer to clean off the specks of dirt and to add moisture to the potting medium. (Photo 5.)

I found a tiny pink mushroom that I added to my terrarium.  Since it was such a tight spot, that's about all I could fit in there.  I think adding some Lego minifigs would be really cute too!

So the final results:  success!  These three crafty friends made some really pretty terrariums!  Now we  need to plan our next craft project! 

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December 2: holiday blooms

Welcome Spring craft: chalkboard flower pots

This may be the most excited I've ever been for allergy season SPRING! This winter really did me in between being stuck in the house from the Polar Vortex hell and all those snow days.  And while I realize technically it could still be cold off and on until the end of March, I am in full spring mode, ready for daffodils, tulips and flowering trees (Achoo!)

Inspired by an idea from Barb of A Life in Balance, I came up with this simple and fun spring craft.  Barbara challenged bloggers to use the tiny terra cotta flower pots in a spring craft.  

I decided to make a series of flower pots in two sizes that could be used as a centerpiece when arranged together on a tray in the middle of the table or  as a decoration in a line on the mantle or as a place marker for a spring dinner party.  I've wanted to try out chalkboard paint for a while, so this seemed like the perfect project for it.  I made chalkboard flower pots!

I purchased supplies at Michael's, Target and my basement (ok, I had a small collection of tiny flower pots already!)  I saw flower pots at Michael's and I think the dollar store might even sell them.  I was excited to find that Michael's sells small bottles of chalkboard paint for under two dollars.  I orignially had seen it by the quart at Home Depot, but didn't want that much paint.  I picked a regular acrylic paint as an accent in Robin's Egg Blue, because it just seemed very spring-like to me.  

Supplies:

• mini flower pots
• acrylic paint
• chalkboard paint
• chalk
• paint brushes or sponges
• jute twine or ribbon
• hot glue and glue gun
• small plants or soil and grass seed

How I did this craft:

I painted the flower pots first, and then added a second coat.  Since I was painting several pots, I switched my patterns with the two colors of paint for variety so the pots are not all the same.  Before using the chalkboard paint, read the instructions on the bottle for how to apply it for the best coverage and finished surface.  Using jute twine I found in the dollar bins at Target, in pink and natural brown, I added some accents to each pot. I used hot glue to secure the twine to each pot so it wouldn't slide off and simply tied the ends into a small bow.  I found a mini pinwheel at home and added that for some whimsy to one of the pots after it was planted.  I also added a little "happy Easter" sign that I had. I wrote "happy spring" on two of the pots with chalk.  

Meanwhile, I planted some grass seed to grow. (If you plan to grow seeds for your decorations, I suggest starting them in soil a week or two before you need them for the decorations.)  Initially I thought I would fill each pot with bright green grass, but then I found some teeny little flowering plants at Trader Joe's so I added them to the mix.  This was the most simple craft and adds a nice spring touch to my mantle!  If I were to use them as place markers, I would write each guest's name on the chalkboard painted part of the pot.  

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

 

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Tooth Fairy pillow tutorial

It took almost six and a half years, but the tooth fairy finally had a reason to visit our home this week!  In preparation, I stitched up a small tooth pillow.  My son was amused by it, but said to me, "You're really excited by this!"  We discovered that his bottom tooth was loose a week and a half ago when he was talking and I noticed that he had a tooth growing behind his baby tooth.  He didn't even realize his baby tooth was loose.  I told him he could wiggle it as much as he wanted as long as it didn't hurt.  He worked on that tooth for over a week!  He came home from school on Tuesday and announced that his tooth came out at lunch!  The lunch helper gave him a teeny purple tooth treasure chest to keep it and taped it shut so he wouldn't loose it before he got home.  He found a gold dollar coin in his tooth pillow this morning, along with a receipt from the tooth fairy and a new tooth brush, paste and flossers.  

Tooth Pillow tutorial:

Materials:

• two pieces of white felt, approximately 8" by 11"
• small piece of red felt, about 3" square
• white thread (I used embroidery/crochet thread, but regular sewing thread works too)
• sewing needle and a few pins
• pinking shears
• scissors
• small amount of fiberfill fluff
• tooth pattern (see step one below)

Directions:

1.  I started by sketching out a basic molar shaped tooth on a piece of paper, cut it out and pinned it onto the white felt.  I cut out two tooth shapes from the white felt using pinking shears.
2. With the red felt, I cut out a heart shape, using a small cookie cutter to trace the shape first.
3. Using white thread, I stitched my son's first initial on the heart.  Then I sewed the bottom of the heart onto one of the felt tooth shapes, leaving the top open to act as a small pocket.
4. I then pinned the two felt tooth shapes together with the wrong sides facing each other.  I stitched the two together with white thread using a running stitch.  I loosely stuffed the "roots" of the tooth while stitching it up and before it was completely sewed together I finished adding the fluff.  

Having the pillow with the tooth in it under his pillow made it very easy for the tooth fairy to find it in the dark!

Applesauce and cinnamon: Homemade canning

Apples and fall just go together.  We hit two local farms for apples this year, Tabora Orchards and Solly Brothers Farm.  Picking apples is an annual tradition.  We love going to Solly Farm because part of the picking process includes a hayride to the orchard and using an apple picker....a basket on a stick!  This year the apples were so abundant we were able to pick the apples ourselves off the tree instead of using the picker!  For $12 we brought home half a bushel of apples!  About half of them, at least 12 pounds of apples, became applesauce to be enjoyed all winter long.

 

I have two canning pots...this one I bought at Lowes on clearance during the "off" season.  I'm not even sure why they sell them, but I got it and some basic equipment for 75% off!

Making applesauce could not be easier.  I did a bit of research to see what the Ball canning book suggested along with a favorite canning book of mine, Food in Jars.  I ended up doing a hybrid of the recipes.  When canning foods with a boiling water canner, it's very important to follow a recipe, especially with the processing of the jars.  No one likes botulism, especially your family!  

For my cinnamon applesauce I used 6 lbs of apples that I cored, peeled and sliced into wedges.  I ended up with approximately 8 cups of apple slices.  To that I added about a tablespoon of bottled lemon juice and tossed them while slicing to prevent browning.  I added all the apples to my pot and to that added about half a cup of apple cider and about a quarter of a cup of organic sugar.  Over medium heat that apples cooked, partially covered, for about ten minutes with frequent stirring, until tender. I used a stick blender to chop up the large pieces of apple and puree them into sauce.  I continued to cook the applesauce another five to ten minutes on a low boil after adding a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon.  (I like Penzey's cinnamon!) At this point the applesauce was ready to eat!  To process it, I followed the directions for canning in the Ball Blue Book and processed the jars for twenty minutes.  

I ended up making two batches of applesauce, since I had so many apples. I left one jar out of the canner so we could enjoy it that day.  My son loved it!  I also added cinnamon to the applesauce before canning because that's how we like our sauce here!  This is a fall treat that we will enjoy all winter long.  If it makes it that long!

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Menu plan Monday for October 21, 2013

Boo! Ghostly desserts for Halloween!

This Halloween I have plans to do some baking and cooking of Halloween themed foods to help celebrate this fun holiday.  All of my baking plans were cancelled last year when we lost power for a week due to Hurricane Sandy.  This year will be better!  I have lots of Halloween cookie cutters and some themed sprinkles for sugar cookies.  I think they will be a nice surpise afterschool snack when the little guy comes home from kindergarten. 

Of course Halloween makes me think of pumpkins and all the great recipes out there using it.  I tried a pumpkin savory recipe last week that incorporated pumpkin into a pasta sauce.  It was interesting!  I really prefer sweet pumpkin flavored things, though.  This year I might try making Ghostly Pumpkin Pudding.  I love the cute little ghost faces and I think pumpkin flavor will be a nice twist on pudding, since I usually only make chocolate.  I think making them in small portions will be perfect for an after dinner sweet before heading out to go Trick or Treating in the neighborhood.  

 

Ghostly Pumpkin Pudding
From Food Network Kitchens

Ingredients

Pudding:
1 package gelatin
2 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
6 large egg yolks (reserve 2 whites for topping)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 (15-ounce) can pure pumpkin puree

Topping:
2 large egg whites
1/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 pinch fine salt
Small candy, for eyes

For pudding:

Directions

Put 1 tablespoon of cold water in a large bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over the surface, do not stir, and set aside until gelatins softens and blooms

Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a saucepan that can hold a stand mixer's bowl above the water. Whisk milk, sugar, yolks, cinnamon and salt in a heat-proof bowl. Set the bowl above the boiling water and cook, stirring constantly with a heat-proof spatula, until mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon and almost boils, 10 to 12 minutes. Immediately remove from the heat and pour over the gelatin, whisking constantly until gelatin is completely dissolved and evenly distributed. Whisk in pumpkin until combined and completely smooth.

Evenly divide mixture into 12 small 3-ounce cups (paper works fine) and refrigerate until set, about 4 to 8 hours.

For topping:
Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a saucepan that can hold a stand mixer's bowl above the water. Whisk the 2 egg whites, sugar, cream of tarter, and salt in the bowl by hand. Set the bowl above the boiling water and continue whisking until the mixture is hot to the touch and the sugar dissolves, about 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer bowl to mixer and beat with the whisk attachment at medium-high speed until eggs hold a stiff peak, about 5 minutes.

Spoon topping onto puddings in the shape of a ghost. Decorate with candy eyes and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Prep Time:5 min
Inactive Prep Time:12 hr 0 min
Cook Time:25 min
Level: Intermediate
Serves: Serves 12

Copyright 2008 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved

Halloween 2008 Web

Copyright 2013 Television Food Network G.P.
All Rights Reserved

What are some special recipes you like to make for Halloween?  Please share!

CSA recipe spotlight: oven roasted tomatoes

Since each week I've been bringing home over 10 pounds of tomatoes from our CSA, I've been having fun trying different tomato recipes.  I have to admit, cherry or grape tomatoes are not a favorite of mine.  I hate the pop/squish of seed mucus they make when bitten.  So gross.  I tend to de-seed them, but do you know how long that takes?  Last week we got to pick a quart of cherry tomatoes.  I gave away some, I ate a few, and I passed some off in my husband's salad.  This week we could have picked two quarts, but I passed since I still had half a quart sitting on my counter at home.  Then I found this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen.  So, I made the recipe!

Roasted tomatoes with olive oil and garlic, in the oven, slowly drying out at the low temperature of 225 degrees F.  So easy to make, and the oven was barely on, so it did not heat up the kitchen.  I had another meal planned for the night, so instead of using the roasted toms, I jarred them up with the garlic in an olive oil bath for another day.  Stored in the fridge, I think they should keep for a couple of weeks.  I think they would be a great addition to some pesto pasta or to a regular pasta salad.  Or, as a topping for grilled chicken.  This was a great way to use up all those tomatoes, and I even added a few plum tomatoes to see how they would fare.  It made the house smell great!

What ways are you using up all those tomatoes in August and September?

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Getting ready for school: packing lunch bags

There are just about two and a half weeks left of summer, which means its time to get ready for the kiddo to start "big kid school!" He'll be in full day kindergarten this year (gulp) and will need to take lunch to school, along with snacks, daily.  I am more stressed about this than necessary.  To make it fun, I've been assembling supplies for packing school lunches.  I had about half of the things already and supplemented with a few new tools.  

At the end of last school year I bought a new back pack and matching lunch bag (the red one) from Lands End because they were less than half price on sale.  At Target this month, the kiddo saw the Lego minifig lunch bag and asked very nicely if he could have it for kindergarten.  

I bought the square ice packs and the Reduce water week bottles, both found at Wegmans.  (I love the water week bottles.  They come with a fridge tray and it gives him one bottle a day that can be set up on Sunday and used all week. I order sports tops for them too from the Reduce Everyday website, since I think they will be easier to use for him.)

The sandwich cutters I bought a couple of years ago.  They are a pack of puzzle pieces that cut up a sandwich into a working puzzle.  I love them.  The kid has decided he no longer likes sandwiches, so these might not get used much this year!

We've been using the fabric snack bag for a while now and has held up well.  I do handwash it occasionally, but it usually only holds pretzels, so it's easy to keep clean. 

I have a tiny obsession with bento boxes and would love to pack a fun bento box lunch for my son.  I am not convinced that he would love it as much as me!  I discoverd Marine Parents on instagram and on her blog and love the cute lunches packed.  I do have some ideas for how to pack him some fun lunches using the boxes I have and hopefully as the year progresses we will both have fun with it!  I'm really hoping his picky eating habits start to fade too!  That will make packing lunches much easier too!

This is going to be a fun and exciting year here! We are almost ready for back to school!  Are you?

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A day in Bucks County visiting farms

A day in Bucks County visiting farms

My friend and I packed up our boys and headed out to central Bucks County for the day. It was miserably hot and humid, but it was also a bit overcast, so the sun wasn't too strong.  Our destination: Peace Valley Lavender Farm.  We had been there several times before, but never when the lavender was in bloom.  We were so lucky this time.  The lavender field was covered in blooms and smelled amazing.  We were even luckier as that was the day they were harvesting! 

We were able to check out the drying room where they hand bundles of lavender from the ceiling and on racks to dry out, along with a distiller.  The entire place smelled amazing!  The boys were great too. They thought it would be boring, but they had a blast running around and then making up their own game while the moms shopped.  We bought some lavender honey, some sachets and enjoyed the relaxing smell of it all.

The boys (and the moms) got a kick out of watching Lily the border collie heard all the cars down the driveway!  She stood guard and really did heard the cars.  It looked just like the way the dogs at the Maryland sheep and wool festival demo we saw heard the sheep.  She was a friendly dog! 

We stopped for lunch at Tabora Orchards, just down the road.  They make incredible sandwiches and have the best baked goods.  I love their bread.  The boys enjoyed their cookies!  After lunch we stopped by the Peace Valley Winery, a great local wine shop on the grounds of their winery.  We got to taste several different wines.  I bought a bottle of nectarine wine, which had a great taste, lightly sweet and perfect for summer.  We concluded our day with a short walk at Peace Valley Park where we checked out Lake Galena.  The boys found a pay phone and enjoyed playing with that old relic!  It was a great day during our Summer of Fun 2013!

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It's hot hot hot and the crayons are melting