Kids can SEW !!!

Today my big kid's been "sick"... He's been coughing pretty bad (most during night, of course)... So today he stayed at home with me... 

He said this morning... "I feel like sewing, can we sew something?"... So we went on to Pinterest and Google to look for sewing projects for kids and before we found something he decided that he wanted to do some shorts or pants... So we focus our search on that and find out in between images and  webs how to sew one... 

Here are the pics of him doing it, he use an old dad's t-shirt... I just read to him from the computer and explained it a bit, show him the pictures... and he did his sewing and pretty much everything! ... Very proud we both end up :))

So first of all he used one of his shorts to see the size to cut, I told him to leave like an inch outside his short to cut...

He "knows" how to use the sewing machine, so one we figure out what to sew with what, he went to his sewing...

 Comparing and matching to continue...

Cutting his loose threads...

He wanted to add a Tag... So he cut another little rectangle and sew it.

 We try to use some fabric crayons but it didn't work out... so we end up using them directly on the fabric and iron it on it...)

This is like it end up... A little tight ("Not that much", as he says) but it's very strechy so he feels ok... Now a little transparent, yes it was, but it was made to be used at home , so it was good... As you can see he is veeery proud of his project at the end! :))

Wood and Paint!

This year I've been liking more wood for my projects... So from teacher gifts to friends birthday gifts wood has been the option... Luckily I have lots of scraps of woods, from pine to plywood and who-knows-what kind... I just go to the patio and look for the piece that has a size I can use... (which give you a hint of how pretty and uncluttered  a mean, organized is my back patio :D...

Well here are some of the projects...

This one was a Crayola Crayon for the teacher of one of my girls... 

So I first cut my piece of wood in 18' x 4', taking a couple of corners out so I can resemble the tip of the crayon... In the back I took just a bit so it was round and nice... Once sanded looks already pencil-like :)

                      

                      

 With a pencil a draw the design (that I already had done on paper, of course)...

               

 And I start to apply the paint... Is better if you already know the favorites color of the person, so you can make a most personalized gift.

               

               

               

So here is my personalized  wood Crayon, nice right?

As you can see is just a matter of paint here, once you have the shape and you do the design of your preference you can change the look easily...

Now in the back I put these little triangles so it could stand up on the desk... I put the pictures of how-to in the next "pencil".

             

Here is another one very similar, but look how just changing the colors changes everything... I started with the same shape...            

      

       

                             

 I use a very fine brush to do the letters (one of the girls wanted to participate and I let her write on pencil the name of the teacher and then I retrace it on black paint) and on the eraser area I distress it with a fine sand paper a little as it was a real eraser...

Now for the back support I used the same triangle corners that I took from the beginning to shape the tip of the pencil... and use the same two on each piece... I measure first that they were at the same distance from the borders and some wood glue and a nail in each and that was it...  

           

           

                        

At the end I use a dark brown shadow/pastel around all the borders of colors to give them a little depth and a coat or two of polyurethane to protect the paint. In the back I paint it with a white wash so the wood wouldn't look so bare, kind of like in the white on the tip of the pencil.

Then from these I got to this other project... 

I always think of the person I'm doing the piece , what he/she likes, his/her favorite things, colors etc. and on paper I draw until I'm satisfy with the result...

As you can see in this one Lucas likes marine motives and he is into painting and art even though he's just turning 7 years old...

Camila is turning one and always dress sooo cute and pink that I just came with this design...

Daniela was turning 12, her bedroom was just paint with this exact colors and this was a most for her!

Juan is into super heroes, so for his bedroom I thought of a clock, so this one required the kind of material that is used for background in a piece of furniture... very thin wood-like material and a clock mechanism...

This one was different too... I decided that the name was too short to look good on a big piece of wood, so I came up with the hangers idea... because I had just 3 letters I used 3 hangers and once in the position I thought of this seashells colors shape and gave a little texture on the background color...

Will see what next birthday will bring... :)

Well this is the latest of the painted boards... In this one I found the wooden pegs and because is intended to hold weight, I try something new... I did holes for the screws and then cover it with this caps that I found for kitchen cabinets... And it looks pretty good I think... The caps are very camouflage with the design.

Clay ... Camera... Action!

Today the kids wanted to make some homemade clay, the one you bake and can be used for a longer time (recipe later)... And end up making these cute "minions". 

These figures inspired us to start telling a story and my 4 years old started with the first scene..."Some minions were walking in the woods "... and the 6 years old said "and find a suspicious minion!"... and from that we went on, I explain to them that we had to work making "scene 1" bla bla bla, scene 2, bla bla bla... and so we did this story outside... We had fun and later enjoyed with my 8 years old putting it together on the computer... Sorry for the "sound" image, we don't know how it got there at the end :)

Here you'll see how they put this story, we all had a job to do (as you'll see in the last scene)... I filmed (director), my 8 years old read the scenes (script), my 6 years old help to arrange the scenes, moving the minions, getting plants out of the way of the camera, etc. (photography) and my 4 years old help getting rocks or leaves (stage assistant )... 

So it goes like this... 

                              Minios... Adventure in the woods

So this is the story of our afternoon today...

And as promised the recipe of the clay as follows...

1 1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 cup salt

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Water...

Well once you get all together, start adding water, this is for me the tricky part because never get it right the first time... so I have to star adding water little by little, but no more than 1 cup... Until you have a very smooth and nice dough in you hands and can be very malleable... Today I put a little bit more of water than I should so I end up adding more flour and the result was some cracks (that never happened before, but that didn't stop us to continue our project)... After you have work your figures, you pop them in the oven at 325F for about 20 minutes or so, all depends on the size of your figures and thickness; in our case was around 24 minutes when they were a little brown-ish...You have to watch this part of the process...

Happy to share it, hope you enjoy it!

Eating Healthier

I know that this is old news for all of you... but for me are new, Pinterest have open a world for me, every time a pin something and take me to a blog I realize that I'm not crazy or lazy or who knows what... I'm normal! ... Hahaha...

But returning to the subject... all this new information takes me to know about the Clean 15, the No to GMO's, Aldi supermarkets, local Farmers Markets, etc. ... And the other day I heard of a book and luckily they had it at the library (one trip that the kids and I love to do almost once a week!)... It's Super Immunity by  Dr. Joel Fuhrman ...(See the book here)

He can assures that "we all have the ability to live healthier, stronger and longer"... just watching what we eat!!!... And it's not a diet or a shake or anything, he simple explains how certain foods have certain nutrients and how each nutrient affects our immune system and all the illnesses that are related to that misuse of food (mostly process food)... There is a lot of information there for you to think and decide and even recipes!, and I say "decide" because a lot of the change implies a more vegan or semi-vegan diet and we ( I ) are not ready to that jump yet, so I'll do the best I can... 

A little pick (with a couple of comments) below... and this is after he has explains how each food affects your immune system... you have to read it...

"At first  simply make sure that both lunch and dinner include either a salad or a cooked green vegetable (this we do everyday!) and add mushroom and onions to that vegetable most days." (trying to... )

"Within two weeks you could accomplish these basics:

A salad every day, a bowl of veggie-bean soup with mushrooms and onions most days and cooked greens everyday."

"You can simply enjoy fruits and nuts for breakfast, a big salad with beans and a healthly dressing for lunch and then a nice bowl of soup with dinner. Soups can lasts up to five days on the fridge, salad dressing will last 3 days...A small amount of animal products can be added to any vegetable or bean dish if desires." ... again the book is here

I've just starting to apply it in my house, the kids already had a diet very close to what it should be, so I'm trying is to disappear slowly but steadily the processed food and add more nuts and seeds (as my budget permitted it) and mushrooms and beans!... Oh those beans, only the little one has always liked them... so I've discover a way to introduce them in my daily meals without them notice them!... I almost laugh when I saw how they ate them and compliment the food "Mmmm Mommy, delicious!" Ha ha!!!... Triumph :)

So now my red sauce and my meatballs have kidney beans in it!!!... 

Meatballs / Red Sauce with Kidney Beans...

I just saute a couple of garlic, some chopped red onions and pour half can of kidney beans... I think if I put the hole can they will notice something different in the flavor... 

After a few minutes I put it in the blender until I have this smooth cream and this I add it to a tomato sauce on the pan... (the tomato sauce being from a can or plain tomatoes, I know that I have to let go my cans too little by little) or for the meatballs I add this smooth sauce to the ground meat with some salt and pepper and an egg to the meatballs... if you need, add some ground bread or almond flour or whatever you use to give a harder consistency to the meatballs and just do them your regular way ... 

And just make your meatballs your regular way... I serve them with quinoa and a salad with spinach, peppers and sunflower seeds in the above picture...My kids love them and I'm glad they don't read this! :)

I've also heard of white beans added to cakes or cupcakes and you might frown at the idea but apparently they taste perfectly NORMAL!... if you are not told you'd never suspect it!... I've found a couple of recipes at Chocolate-Covered Katie and Pin them... they substitute the white or all purpose flour with white beans and oats or ground almonds, I don't have any idea how much can cost ground almonds, sounds expensive for my budget, but look forward to try it someday... here and then here are the recipes  ... But here is a pick...

Black Bean brownies!!!... 

Yes, instead of flour she uses bean and oats :)...

1 (15oz) can Black beans drained and rinsed, 

2 tbsp cocoa powder, 

1/2 cup quick oats, 

1/4 tsp salt, 

1/3 cup agave or maple syrup, 

2 tbsp sugar or stevia, 

1/4 cup coconut or vegetable oil, 

2 tsp vanilla extract, 

1/2 tsp baking powder, 

2/3 chocolate chips...

Genius Chocolate-Chip Blondies

This one has white beans and oats!

1 1/2 cups chickpeas or white beans (1 can, drained and rinsed) (250g after draining)

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda level 

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup brown sugar or coconut sugar 

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup ground flax or quick oats (20g)

1/4 cup peanut butter (or other fat source) 

optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips .

But getting on the subject... I think If you try to follow the rules of nutrition for a super immune system, plus cut the processed foods, drink plenty of water during the day and exercise at least a bit 3 times a week, I think we should be doing fine! (Happy face).

Feel free to leave a comment!