Category Archives: Kids in the kitchen

May25

DIY Hidden Object Game

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DIY Hidden Object Game

I saw one of these in a game shop last Christmas, I thought it was very cool but not “I’m happy to spend $40 on this” cool.  It just looked far too easy to make myself.  Turns out I was right. You could make these in any shape or size, and fill them with just about anything.  We had all these things in the house already, so it was fairly inexpensive.

 

rice.2.jpg

 

There is several methods for colouring rice on the net, but I was looking for quick and simple.  The blue and red we made with just food colouring and a dash of water, mixed well then laid flat to dry.  The yellow we used vinegar in place of the water (some recipes asked for rubbing alcohol but we don’t have any of that).  The yellow dried about 3 times faster than the other 2, so that is the way to go.  Instead of placing the trays in the sun, I just put them in the oven at 50C with the door open.  The red took about an hour to fully dry (it took the longest).  I did stir it around occasionally to prevent any sticking and distribute the wetter rice.

Mixing the colour and spreading out to dry.

While that way drying we hunted around the house for appropriate goodies to put inside.  We came up with 20 items.  The amount of items you want to use will depend on your container size.  I think we could have easily used twice as many, but it was still a good ratio.  The items varied in weight and texture.

It would have been easier to mix all the rice colours together prior to filling the container, but the kids enjoyed layering the different colours with a few objects between, then shaking to mix at the end.

The container we used was an old straw holder. You can buy them full of straws at the grocery store for around $4.  It did have a hole in the top, but this actually came in handy as a place to insert a ribbon and attach the key to what is inside.

I took a photo of all 20 items, shrunk it, then printed and covered in clear contact.  Attached to the ribbon on top.  If you were to just use a clear water bottle or similar, you could just tie something to the neck of the bottle.

The key

The key

Once everything was put in and we were happy with the level of rice, I taped it up nice and tight.  And that’s it.  Some of the lighter items are easy to find and often pop up to the top, but theres several things we have not managed to find again, like the smily badge and dinosaur!

The kids really enjoyed this project and were able to be involved every step of the way.  It was a bit messy, but over all a success.

Mr 3 mixing in the food colouring.
Ms 5 spreading out the rice to dry
In the oven
Ms 5 filling the container.
The collection of objects.
Lid
Lid with ribbon inserted and tape over hole.
All taped up.
Some of the hidden items
I see and E!
A bottle of beads!
Lego!
The key
DIY Hidden objects game.
Apr13

Easter Biscuits – Kids in the Kitchen.

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Easter Biscuits – Kids in the Kitchen.

Much to my children’s disappointment, I am not much of a sweet tooth.  So I struggle to be inspired to make sweet treats.  But I figured we should do some ‘cooking’ for Easter, and this seemed simple enough for my likings.  🙂

They kids had lots of fun making mess with the icing and creating patterns on the Arrowroot biscuits.   I just bought ready made icing – because yes, I am that lazy.  🙂  Mini M&Ms and snakes for the stripes.

 

Easterbisuits2.jpg

Feb27

Soup Mix Scale Creatures, Sensory Craft

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Soup Mix Scale Creatures, Sensory Craft

I actually stole this idea from Mr3s current favourite show, Mister Maker.  We used soup mix, but you could use lots of different things, dry lentils, rice, couscous, anything that is going to give you a unique texture and that is fun to run through your hands.

IMG_4624

I just printed out some basic shapes from the internet.  Keep them simple as you’re going to cover up any detail anyway.  Smear the area with some craft glue and attach an goggly eye. Then let the kids sprinkle the mix over the rest of the glue area to completely cover it.  Gently shake off any excess into the bin.  These took about 24 hours to dry.  Once fully dry, cut out.  We created a simple background with some coloured paper and put them in $2 Ikea frames.

 

soupmix2

Feb3

Kids Valentine Craft, Love Heart Entrance – Bubble Painting.

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Kids Valentine Craft, Love Heart Entrance – Bubble Painting.

We have done a bubble painting project before for Easter, it is so easy and the results are always cool, so we have tried it again this time just using pink.  We also used some pink paper as well as the white, where as last time we just used white paper.

Valentine Door Hanging,

Valentine Door Hanging,

 

Again I cheated and printed out some heart shapes, rather than drawing them all just so all the sizes were consistent.  You could obviously trace around a cookie cutter too, but hey, did I mention I am lazy?  I didn’t really measure out the ingredients for the bubble paint, it really was a squeeze of dishwashing liquid, splash of food colouring and a splash of tap water.  Then let the kids blow bubbles in the mixture until the bubbles come up over the top of the bowl.  Get them to quickly place the paper gently over the bubbles and the patterns will transfer to the paper. Instead of cutting each shape out first this time, we did the painting then cut them out after they were dry.  Then it was just a case of attaching them to some gift ribbon with tape.  I stuck them to the wall with blue tac.

Ms5 and Mr9 blowing bubbles in the solution
Bubble patterns, left to dry.
Cut out and attach to some string with tape.
Bubble painting
Valentine Craft
Hearts on a string.

doorhearts

If you wanted to make these hang in a door way, it would be a good idea to paint both sides of the paper, so they can spin and still look pretty on both sides.

Jan25

Valentine Craft, Love Heart Door Hanger Part 2

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Valentine Craft, Love Heart Door Hanger Part 2

This is another variation of our earlier Valentine Door Hanger , the main difference is rather than hanging the hearts from strings, we hot glued them to a flat ribbon.  The finer details can be found in the previous post or by hovering over the images below.

valentine3

 

Method and recipe for making the hearts can be found on the previous blog entry.

kneading the dough.
Bake for 2 – 3 hours at 120C
roll out to 7mm thickness and cut shapes.
Mr3 painting
Ms5 painting the hearts
Create a loop that will sit flat against the door.
Jan21

Valentine Craft, Love Heart Door Hanger.

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Valentine Craft, Love Heart Door Hanger.

We made 2 different variations of valentine door hangers, but both styles use the same materials.  The hearts are made from salt dough, the same as those DIY Christmas ornaments you see all over Pinterest. There is plenty of recipes and methods available online.  The bows are a basic bow that again you’d see on Pinterest.  There is hundreds of bow tutorials all over the internet too, but I kind of made it up as I was going along.  

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We used the following recipe

  • 1 1/2 cups plain flour
  • 1/2 cup fine table salt
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 2/3 cup chilled water

Mix all ingredients as you would biscuits, using some extra flour as necessary along the way to stop it sticking.  Roll out 7mm thick, cut into shapes then bake at 120C for 2.5 to 3 hrs.  Once cooled, we painted them with craft acrylic paint.

The top bow feature for this one was made by cutting 4 equal lengths of ribbon, putting a small line of hot glue in the centre of one at a time, folding each end into the middle to create a single bow shape.  Then doing the same with the next ribbon, pilling them up as I went.  You can see this in the photos.  Finished off with a button.

Then it was just a case of threading the hearts, adding some extra ribbons and glueing all together at the back.

Mr 8 in the kitchen making salt dough (he did this all by himself, it is very easy)
kneading the dough.
roll out to 7mm thickness and cut shapes.
Bake for 2 – 3 hours at 120C
Ms5 painting the hearts
Mr3 painting
Create a loop that will sit flat against the door.
Small line of glue in the middle,
fold in each end onto the glue strip.
Finish off with a button

doorhanger

Dec19

Chocolate Cranberry and Pistachio Christmas Treat.

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Chocolate Cranberry and Pistachio Christmas Treat.

A good friend makes this recipe each year as just a large slab that she then cuts into squares (or shards as she calls them, lol), The colours just look so pretty together, so I thought I’d take it a step further and make an edible decoration out of it!

chocolatetree

 

There really is no recipe as such, and the method is as straight forward as it looks.  Heat chocolate until smooth and runny. You could use any kind of chocolate you like, milk, white, dark, I used a store brand milk cooking chocolate.   You can just pour it out onto a flat surface or use some cookie cutters like I have.  While still runny, sprinkle with your favourite fruit and nuts, pistachio and cranberry work well at this time of year as the colours are what I consider “Christmassy”.  Dust with edible glitter if you like, but it still looks yummy without!  

Light spray of oil to stop sticking
Pour in chocolate, using a spoon to help it reach the tops of the shape
Sprinkle with nuts and berries.
Sprinkle with edible glitter (optional)
Allow to cool
Mr3 cleaning up!
The cookie cutter set, $17 on ebay
Assemble
Chocolate tree

 

image

 

How the flat versions can turn out

Dec10

Home Made Teacher Gifts, Peppermint Bath Bombs

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Home Made Teacher Gifts, Peppermint Bath Bombs

It’s that time of year again folks. Time to thank the dozen different day care providers, half of which I don’t even know the names of, for putting up with my darling children 2 days each week.

This year I decided to make something that all the kids could help with, as last years gift required minimal effort from the kids.  So we made Bath Bombs and I am happy to report they were a success (we tested one out last night!) 

bathbombs

I used 2 different recipes, the first one was here

Dry ingredients: 

  • Baking Soda – 8 ounces
  • Citric Acid – 4 ounces
  • Corn Starch – 4 ounces
  • Salts – 4 ounces

Wet Ingredients:

  • Water – .75 tbsp
  • Essential or Fragrance Oil – 2 tsp (I used peppermint, as it is Christmassy)
  • Oil – 2.5 tbsp
  • Food coloring – 1 or 2 drops
  • .

For the pink lot, I used this recipe

You’ll need:

  • 1 1/2 cups bicarbonate of soda
  • 1/2 cup citric acid powder (use fine grade, available from chemists or pool supply shops)
  • Sieve
  • Potpourri or herbal teabags such as chamomile, lemon, rosehip or peppermint
  • An essential oil such as peppermint, lavender, geranium
  • Sweet almond oil (I just used vegetable oil)
  • Food colouring
  • Rubber gloves
  • Moulds from craft shops

Which came from here

The method I used for both was the same though.  Mixed all dry ingredients in a large bowl, then had Mr8 ever so slowly pour in the wet ingredients while I stirred like a mad woman.  With the second recipe, it doesn’t actually call for corn flour (starch) but I decided to throw a handful in just to make the recipe go further.  The second lot stuck together better than the first recipe while wet, but they have both dried lovely and firm and both fizz wonderfully in the bath tub.

We made the round ones in some empty plastic Christmas ornaments like the blogger in the first link did, as well as some smaller ones in some Aldi silicone trays.  If I was to make them again, I think I’d find a mould that was spherical, but a bit smaller, so you end up with more bombs from your mix.  I left the silicone tray ones to dry over night, and they popped out easily the next day.

It is summer here right now, and humid, which can destroy the bombs.  So before putting them in the little draw strings bags ($2 for 5 at the cheap shop) I wrapped them in cling wrap to protect them from moisture.

Added a little thank you note and Merry Christmas tag to the bags and we are ready to drop them off.

Mr8 weighing out the Bi Carb,
Mr 8 adding dry ingredients
Ms4 with the important job of mixing the dry ingredients,
We used this pink salt as I thought it would look cool through the green bombs, but normal salt would have been fine too
Mr8 measuring out the wet ingredients into a separate bowl
Stirring very quickly while wet ingredients are being added, so a reaction does not occur.
Press firmly into moulds.
Mr9 and Mr8 making the bombs
Drying out
Wrap with cling wrap to protect from moisture
Small bombs
Teacher gift,
Dec10

Make Your Own Sensory Santa Slime.

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Make Your Own Sensory Santa Slime.

Ok, so the school holidays have not quite started here, but this looked like too much fun and I had a fairly light schedule for the day, so we gave it a go.  The best part is, unlike normal play dough, it is not going to go bad when stored between uses.

sensoryslime

The recipe I followed required Elmers Glitter Glue, but after searching everywhere in a 20km radius I was still empty handed.  Apparently Elmers is available in Australia now, but from what I can tell it is only the white stuff, and I really wanted the clear version for this project.  So I just used non toxic craft glue, added my own glitter and was thankfully able to achieve the results I was after.  The recipe came from this delightful blog  

Santa Slime Recipe 

Combine the above ingredients in a bowl
 In a separate bowl combine
  • 3/4 teaspoons of borax
  • 1 & 1/3 cups very warm water
Once the ingredients of both bowls are mixed, combine them and mix, the slime will form almost instantly.

– See more at: http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2013/12/santa-slime-recipe.html#sthash.MROKZyw1.dpuf

As I mixed up the ingredients I found it very hard to believe it needed all that water – but it really did, and then some!  Not sure if it was because I used so much glitter or because the make up of the glue I used was different than Elmers, but it turned out really firm, almost like play dough, and certainly didn’t ooze like I anticipated.  After I got over the initial disappointment, I figured I could either spend another $11 on glue or try to fix it – had nothing to lose, so I added more water to a section of it in a bowl (which did nothing while cool) and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes.  Yes, it worked, the slime took on more water and began to get runnier.  I continued to do this in sections, increasing the time in the microwave and the amount of water until I had the desired texture.  

The kids have been having heaps of fun with it, even the older 2.  We ended up with about 3 litres of slime after adding all the extra water, so plenty to share between the 4 of them.  If I make it again using the same glue, I will use twice as much water from the start, because adding some extra borax to thicken will be a lot easier than adding extra water was!

What we used.
The little ones helping decant the glue
Stirring in the gold glitter
After mixing the red glitter and adding the borax solution
Santa slime
Home made sludge
Sensory play
DIY slime
Storing for later.
Sep30

School Holiday Fun – Rainbow Spaghetti!

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School Holiday Fun – Rainbow Spaghetti!

I actually made this for the little 2, thinking it would keep them entertained for an hour while I got some work done.  Turns out the older kids loved it too. Can’t really blame them, it feels cool and looks so pretty!  I just used one standard pack of pasta, if you were doing this at a birthday party, you might want to use 2 or 3 for lots of kids.  Separate into equal groups of as many colours as you have, then cook each pile at a time, rinsing the saucepan between colours.  You don’t need a lot of water, so it heats up quick.  The whole process only took about 30 minutes for 5 colours.  More details if you run your mouse over the images.  Enjoy.

Water, food colouring, pasta.
Add colouring, then pasta, cook as normal or a little less for firmer pasta
You don’t have to add oil, but it makes it extra slimy fun.
Ms4 having a play
Resisting the urge to eat it.
Sensory play,
School holiday entertainment.

RS

Jul28

Kids in the Kitchen, Egg Bread (French Toast)

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Kids in the Kitchen, Egg Bread (French Toast)

Here is another super simple meal idea that the kids can cook themselves.  Most people would consider it a breakfast dish, but we have had it as dinner on busy nights or when  we don’t feel like a huge meal.

All you need is fresh bread, lots of eggs (roughly 2 per person) dash of milk, butter or oil for the fry pan and what ever your desired sauce might be.  BBQ, tomato, maple syrup and bacon!

Flat bowl, fry pan, eggs, oil or butter, eggs and some milk/
Crack a few eggs into a bowl and whisk with a dash of milk.
Kids love whisking!
Place one piece of bread at a time in the bowl, turning so you cover both sides
Place in a hot fry pan (med=high) until slightly brown, then flip.
Ready to eat.
Eggy Bread
French toast

 

In a flat bottom bowl, whisk the eggs with a dash of milk, soak the bread for a few seconds each side, then place into a hot oiled pan.  Flip once the underside has started to brown and repeat.  Easy as that!

* You don’t actually need to use milk, but I find it helps the egg soak into the bread quicker.

Jul27

Autumn Theme Mobile, Using Oven Bake Clay

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Autumn Theme Mobile, Using Oven Bake Clay

I have had this idea in my head for a while, but wasn’t sure what medium to use.  This product is really fun and easy to work with, however, it sets more like a hard rubber than a ceramic clay, so it did not achieve the wind chime noise I had in mind.  Oh well, its still pretty!

 

Nature theme mobile / sun catcher.

Nature theme mobile / sun catcher.

Sculpey Oven Bake Clay. It is quite firm out of the packet, but softens up quickly with some kneading.
Ms 4 Rolling out the clay.
Cut just like a cookie or play dough
Reshape to make leaf like
Press in between the backs of 2 leaves
Leaf print
Ready for the oven, bake at 130c for approximately 15 minutes
After baking
Ms4 threading the fishing line and adding some beads.
Some things we collected on our bush walk
Drilling some extra holes in the piece of bark.
Autumn mobile,
Nature theme mobile / sun catcher.
Autumn and bush influenced mobile.
Jul27

Kids in the Kitchen, Home Made Fish and Chips.

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Kids in the Kitchen, Home Made Fish and Chips.

My kids love fish and chips.  But gone are the days you could feed the family from the local fish and chip shop for under $20.  So we always make our own now.  I am sure its not just me, but I hate crumbing things, fingers getting all caked up with goo.  So, outsourcing it is!  Even my 4 year old can do the whole process herself.  So while it may not be the healthiest meal (we deep fry the fish) it could certainly be a lot worse, and their sense of achievement and the skill building is totally worth the mess!

Mr9 is cooking some pinking fillets here.  He just cut them into small even sized pieces, so they should all take roughly the same time to cook through.  Flour each piece so it is dry, then dip in an egg/milk mixture before rolling in the crumbs.  You could also get the kids to make bread crumbs if you have a food processor.  We don’t, so we are just using store crumbs.

Mr9 is actually mature and coordinated enough to use the deep fry, but I am particularly paranoid about hot oil, so I took over that part of the process.

 

Pink ling fillets cut to size.
Drying in plain flour,
Dipping in milk and egg mixture
Coating with breadcrumbs
Ready to cook
Keep them separate so they don’t stick together while cooking
Frying
Drain on paper towel.
Home made fish and chips.

 

FIsh&Chips

 

And yes, we used frozen chips, shhh, don’t tell anyone.

Mar10

Decorated Eggs, Easter Egg Dying and Decorating.

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Decorated Eggs, Easter Egg Dying and Decorating.

While we did the Tie Dying, I also started experimenting with a few other methods of colouring eggs using a home made dye using ingredients that almost everyone has already in their kitchen.  These were some of the results;

IMG_6530

These are obviously pretty straight forward.  Dyed in a food colouring/vinegar/warm water mixture.  Then a scrap booking embelishment stuck on.  Would have preferred embellishments without the clear plastic behind them, but the craft shop didn’t have any like that and you can’t really tell from a distance anyway.

IMG_6521

I love how these turned out.  Just use leaves from the garden, lay over the eggs then cover with a stocking or pantyhose.  I actually used some stocking I had on hand and didn’t even need to ruin them in the process.  Dip dye for a few minutes and you’re done.

Crepe paper results

Crepe paper results

 

We actually discovered this dying method accidentally.  After we had finished the Tie Dying from a previous post, we placed the eggs on this pre shredded crepe paper.   Some of the eggs still had a bit of water in them from the boiling process, so when that ran out and wet the paper, the colour transferred onto the eggs!  So I took it a step further, wet a hand full and covered them in it.  The results are pretty cool I think!

The dying solution we used was 3 parts hot tap water to one part vinegar, with as much food colouring as you wanted, we only used about a teaspoon per large cup.

Some of the other patterns we created can be seen below.

Boiling in water, food colouring and vinegar (later discovered boiling is not actually necessary)
Some foam stickers to create patterns where the dye cant reach.
Trying to keep the eggs afloat to only colour one side – not very successful!
The leaf wrapped around egg within stocking prior to dipping in the dye solution
Leaf patterns
covering in crepe paper.
Wet crepe paper
Crepe paper results
Cant have a craft project without glitter? Yes, actually you can and you should
Egg decorating
Samples of some of the eggs we created
Egg Craft
Eggsperimenting with dying EGGS!
Mar2

Tie Die Eggs – Easter Craft, Egg Decorating

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Tie Die Eggs – Easter Craft, Egg Decorating

In Australia, Easter in my experience at least, is all about chocolate eggs.  The only time I decorated an egg was in grade 3, for a decorating competition.  But apparently in other parts of the world its just what you do at Easter time.  A friend showed me this idea and I just had to give it a go!  I rushed out to the local Op shops that afternoon and fumbled through a rack of ties trying to find any that were 100% silk (they must be 100% silk, polyester will not work). One shop charged $1 each and the other wanted up to $5 each, I told them they were dreaming and talked them down to $2.

$20 worth of Op shop pure silk ties

$20 worth of Op shop pure silk ties

 

You can do this with boiled eggs, but I wanted to be able to keep them for future years or at least future craft projects.  So rather than using whole eggs, we blew the eggs.  That was a challenge in its self, but once I got the hang of it, I cleared out a dozen eggs and away we went.  Cut the stitching at the back of the tie so you can open it up, remove any lining and cut a piece big enough to cover your egg.  Making sure the dark side (what was once the outside of the tie) is against the egg. Secure with a twist tie or as I did, rubber bands as tight as possible without breaking the egg. You want as much surface contact as you can get.  I then removed the excess fabric to make putting on the second layer easier.

All wrapped up tight in the first layer (print facing egg)

All wrapped up tight in the first layer (print facing egg)

 

Then wrap a layer of plain fabric (I used some flannel and calico I had in the scrap fabric bag) and secure again with another band.  Fill a saucepan with water and half a cup of vinegar (I didn’t measure, but would have used more than half a cup of white vinegar) and bring to the boil.  Different directions state different cooking times, from 5 minutes to 20, I went with closer to 20 minutes.  Then the exciting part!

Love the colours and patterns in this one.

Love the colours and patterns in this one.

 

Remove from the water and allow to cool.  Remove fabric and discover what you have created!  Don’t forget to blow out the water that may have ended up inside again if you used hollow eggs.  Out of the 11 we made, 3 didn’t work at all.  I can’t say for sure, but I think they were ‘fake 100% silk’ ties those ones!

Easter egg decorating

Easter egg decorating

 

So, looks like we are having scrambled eggs and omelettes for dinner tonight.

 

I used a small drill piece to try to make a hole in the eggs, a sharp needles works better though.
Miss 4 having a go and blowing eggs, she did pretty will for such little lungs!
$20 worth of Op shop pure silk ties
Make sure it says 100% silk, polyester will not work.
This one actually says 100% silk, but I have reasons to believe it was all a lie! It turned out to be one of the ones that didn’t work.
Cut out the liner and stitching to create a piece of silk big enough to wrap around an egg
DD attempting the wrapping
Ms 4 attempts to fasten the silk around the egg.
I cut away the extra fabric to make putting the second layer on easier.
All wrapped up tight in the first layer (print facing egg)
Miss 4 attempting the second layer, and failing, but at least she tried.
In the pot ready to boil
Weighed down the eggs with a glass bowls, because of course hollow eggs want to float!
Remove from the water and allow to cool.
Remove the bands and see what you end up with! This one didn’t turn out as well as some of the others,
Easter egg decorating
Love the colours and patterns in this one.
More lovely results.
Soem of the finished eggs.
Feb12

Valentine Heart Activities for the Kids, with a side of FAIL!

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Valentine Heart Activities for the Kids, with a side of FAIL!

The concept here is very simple, so the results are totally worth it. Gather up any old crayons, or you could even buy new ones if you like, but with 4 kids in the house, we have plenty of old odd sets.  Let the kids remove the paper (strengthening fine motor skills for the win!) and snap or cut into small enough pieces to fit in your desired mould.  *make sure your mould is heat proof!

IMG_1115Heat the oven to around 120c, it really doesn’t need to be very hot. Place in the oven on another hard tray (like a pizza tray) because they will be super runny before they set again and you don’t want crayon spilt inside your oven – ask me how I know?   If you do happen to spill a few drops, wipe it off with paper towel straight away, much easier to remove it while its still runny.

Once they are all fully melted, remove from the oven to cool.  I put them in the fridge after a while, because I am impatient.  Then just press them out of the moulds and you’re done.

IMG_1147

And now for the fail.  Originally I wanted to make crayon rings, for something a bit different on valentines day.  So along with my heart tray, I ordered a ring tray.  We were all set to go and excitedly looking forward to the results.

IMG_1076

But alas, this tray must have been for the freezer only.  I was sitting at my desk and thought ‘what is that smell’ walked to the oven to check and holey smokes!  I opened the door quickly, at which point the lot burst into flames!  So I threw some water on it in my panicked state.  The results?

IMG_1079A house full of toxic smoke and a colourful mess to clean up!  Oh dear.  So please, learn from my mistake, make sure you check the temperature ratings!

Fill the moulds with small pieces of crayon
Mr 8. Cutting the crayons into smaller pieces.
Ready to go in the oven.
Quickly melting,
The melted down smaller than expected, so I topped them up with more.
The kids popped the cooled shapes out of the moulds
The finished products
Ms 4 with some samples
Making shapes
The original project
Ready to go in the oven.
5 minutes later
fail fail FAIL!

Jan25

Christmas Decorations, Easy Toddler Activity

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Christmas Decorations, Easy Toddler Activity

These really are too easy and turned out so well!  I will be using this concept for some other projects as soon as more cookie cutters arrive.

IMG_0903

We used a tupperware baking sheet under them, but I think any flexible non stick surface would do, (baking paper).  Simply fill some metal or oven proof cookie cutters or moulds roughly 2 layers deep, and bake at around 180c.  Keep an eye on them until they are all melted.  The plastic beads we used did not emit any nasty smell and did not burn, even when I got impatient and turned the over up to 200c, however, make sure the area is well ventilated just to be on the safe side.

IMG_0905

Try to pile the beads up in the middle slightly, but only leave them 1 high at the edges, to avoid any bits sticking to the sides higher than other areas (you can see where this happened on the small man) Once cooled, remove the cutter and there you have it.  I ran cool water over them to cool them a bit faster and this didn’t damage the shiny finish at all.

The husband drilled some holes in the top for string, and there you have it.

IMG_0910

We will make a stack of smaller Christmas coloured ones for the trees next year.

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Place the beads, trying to keep them at only 1 high around the edges
Green and red for the tree
Nice and flat and smooth edges
Once out of the oven,
Drilling the holes for string
Ms 4 showing off her man
You can see some sharp edges on this one where the beads were 2 high.
The finished 3d tree from jelly mould
In the sun
Catching the sun light
Pink baby
Dec14

Classic Christmas Cooking – Window Biscuit Decorations

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Classic Christmas Cooking – Window Biscuit Decorations

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I helped the kids in Mr 8s class make these at school, so thought we would give them a try at home.  There is heaps of different recipes out there, so you can really make them any flavour you wants, but you want to choose a biscuit that doesn’t rise too much.   We used a basic butter biscuit recipe.

  • 125g butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup caster sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 2 cups plain flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.

I also added a sprinkle of cinnamon and all spice.  I probably don’t need to tell you how to make biscuits.  To be honest, they rose a little more than I would have liked, so might use a different recipe next time.  The recipe also started with the usual ‘pre-heat oven’, but after mixing the ingredients you had to put the dough into the fridge for 45 minutes.  What a waste of electricity having your oven running all that time?

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Use any shapes you like, then a smaller shape inside.  Pop a hard lolly (boiled lolly or jolly rancher etc) into the centre and bake on some baking paper at around 180 for only a few minutes.  The lolly will melt in the time it takes to cook the biscuit.  So simple.

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If you live in an area of the world that is humid, these wont last long on the tree.  So just eat them!

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Dec13

Sweet Christmas Treats – Mars Bar Crackles.

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Sweet Christmas Treats – Mars Bar Crackles.

These are a really easy alternate to the traditional chocolate crackles. They are not as sickly sweet either, so adults can enjoy them.

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All you need is 2 table spoons of cream (some recipes say thin cream, but either works) 200 or more grams of Mars Bars  Rice bubbles (home brand will be fine) and thats it.  I also add chocolate drops and coconut for some different textures, but that is not at all necessary.

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Break up the bars and add the cream (I also added coconut at this stage).  Microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring at each interval to avoid hot spots (burnt chocolate).  Once its all runny, you can either add the rice bubbles directly, or poor into another bowl that has the rice bubbles in it.  This actually works better as its easier to distribute and you don’t end up with a heap of chocolate stuck to the bottom of the bowl.

Allow to cool slightly (you can put it in the fridge) so that you can roll the mix into balls.  When its hot its just too sticky and you can’t get it off your hands.  If you are going to add extra chocolate drops, do it when the mixture is cooler so they don’t melt.

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