Cheese Toast Boats

Come, sail away, come, sail away...



Inspired by a friend's idea of making tuna melt boats for her children, a lack of sandwich bread and Kraft singles, and the necessity of something toasty and cheesy to complement our tomato soup on a dreary day, I came up with these fun concoctions.

I sliced some Publix soft rolls in half, topped them with shredded cheddar and parmesan, and tossed them in the oven. (Make sure you sprikle the cheese liberally while they are on a non-stick baking sheet, because the extra that falls off will become crunchy, delicious little cheese straw thingys. Yummy!)

I told Jacob, "We're going to have cheese toast boats today!"
He replied, "They need sails!"
Of course! Why didn't I think of that?

So, we got out the craft supplies. Jacob colored the paper and then we cut it into little triangles and taped them to toothpicks. Voila. Instant "sails" for our cheese toast boats.



Bonus: it keeps little hands busy whilst Mommy fixes lunch.



Perfect for a rainy day. Thank you, local NPR station for reminding me of my favorite comfort food -- grilled cheese with tomato soup. Just like mom used to make!



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Jacob's 2nd Birthday Party

Theme: Curious George

Though I did hire out the activities portion to a nearby kids' gymnastics center, I managed to home-make a variety of things to go along with the theme. The party place provided plenty of fun activities led by someone other than me, brightly-colored paper goods, juice for the kids, and, of course, plenty of space for our guests (our apartment is woefully inadequate for more than 4 people and the Clubhouse at our apartment is no fun for 2-year olds). Plus, Jacob really seemed to enjoy all the bars and balance beams, jumping and climbing, and the mats and ball games. I wish I'd had a video camera!

Well, here's what I contributed to the brouhaha:

I made the invitations to look like a Curious George book cover:
(If this is an actual Curious George title, I couldn't find it, so I made it up. I drew the letters, scanned them in, and added the image from one of the books we own.)


I shamelessly stole the easel image below from a card on this wonderful Curious George resource site, but I will have you know I added a disclaimer on the back of each invitation.



I also put together some party favors, which included a Curious George book (of course!), play-doh and bubbles, which are all three of Jacob's favorite things. I printed out more of the "book covers" to decorate the bags, and included a thank-you message.



And, finally, I made and decorated my very first cookie cake (thanks for the recipe, JL, it was yummy!). Jacob isn't really a fan of regular birthday cake, but he seems to tolerate icing and LOVES chocolate chip cookies, so it seemed like a perfect fit.



Though I love the original George, I think the PBS version is cuter, so I used a mask from this PBS Curious George website as a rough template and freehanded the cookie dough into the shape of his face before baking it.

I did not plan very well, so I did a lot of improvisation with the decorating portion of the cake. The eyes are white chocolate bark, which I had on hand from an ill-fated attempt at making holiday cookies. I used J's shape sorter to make them into ovals, but ended up carving them down to size anyway.

Some other things I learned about making cookie cakes:
1. A large round pizza pan works great for baking the cookie. (Thank you, Angelika, for giving this to me as a wedding present. It has been useful in so many ways!) I probably could've used the pizza stone, too, but I'm not sure how that would've turned out.

2. Watch your oven and don't leave the cookie unattended. We took the cookie out about 5 minutes early, but it still wasn't early enough. It didn't have that soft, chewy texture I like so much. And don't forget that they will continue baking if you leave them on the pan to cool.

3. Decorator's icing might have worked well for this, but seeing as I didn't have any cream of tartar or egg white powder, I went with some other recipes I found on the "pretty internets," as Mary says. I used a version of buttercream icing for the brown, which tasted great. I think I should've used buttercream for everything. Mmmmm.

4.For the outlines and detail work, I used a version of a shiny cookie decorating icing using corn syrup and made it chocolatey and dark by adding cocoa powder. It was the right color and consistency, but I think I should've used a bigger tip so the outlines would show up better. But, it was my first time decorating a cookie, and I didn't have many choices of tips to work with, so I think it turned out okay. Except for the non-existent nose!

5. Chocolate-chip cookie cake portions left undecorated make George look like he has smallpox.

6. If you are making a cookie cake for a large crowd, you might want to consider making one this size and then making another, plain cookie cake in a different pan. We served about twenty folks (5 toddlers included) and only had one tiny piece left at the end. Of course, we probably should've cut smaller slices...

Jacob seemed to enjoy his cake, at least! Look at that clean plate! (I heard a rumor that he snuck some cookie cake from one of his guests, though. We'll have to teach him some manners!)



Here's a shot of Ethan wondering how his mom is going to top this for HIS birthday party next year...



I don't have more pictures of the "activity" portion of the party. I actually took very few photographs of the event. Gaines' awesome sister Amy was the "official photographer" and took some FANTASTIC photos. A ginormous number of fantastic photos. Which she is uploading for us. Yay! I can't wait to see them all!

(Illustrations by H.A. Rey © Houghton Mifflin. Company Curious George and related characters, created by Margret and H. A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Company and used under license. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLLP. All rights reserved.)

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Share the Love

I love making stuff, so the first FIVE people to respond to this post (at Facebook or here on the blog) will get something made by me. This might be the incentive I need to get creative again!

This offer does have some restrictions so please read carefully:
- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
- What I create will be just for YOU.
- It will be done this year (2009).
- It will be something made in the real world and not something over the internet.
- It might be a mix CD, a painting, a knitted scarf, a poem, baked goods, a poem about a painting of baked goods...who knows! There are other things it might be too, but I promise whatever it is, it will be made for YOU and with YOU in mind!

In return, all you need to do is post this on your blog or facebook and make 5 things for 5 other people.

Void where prohibited, use only as directed, for a limited time only, store in a cool dry place. Let's keep it going!

Thanks, Kristen!
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VBS Madness

If you are wondering why I haven't posted anything this week, I was helping out with Vacation Bible School every afternoon at our church.

I was the designated "Craft Lady" and had a fantastic time! I tried to encourage individuality instead of cookie-cutter craft projects, and I think I succeeded on that front. I don't think any parent can be disappointed when you can definitely tell that your children made something all by themselves! Though it did offer some interesting artistic interpretations...

The first day was crazy as usual, but the insanity was compounded by the fact that Jacob was running a mysteriously high fever which lasted most of the week and then quietly went away. Thankfully, my mom came on Wednesday so he could take a nap in the comfort of home and familiar surroundings. On Thursday, he ate three full meals, took two long naps, and slept 8+ hours at night, so we knew he was finally back to normal.

Despite Jacob's infection-fighting trauma, the week was actually quite relaxing and enjoyable, especially the kids' wacky conversations, the copious amounts of glue, the last-minute scrambles, the shoot-from-the-hip explanations, the sugar rush at snack time, and the time chatting with the other adults. I remembered why I wanted to be a teacher in the first place, and am actually looking forward to running a Kids' Club again soon, though I do think a few hours a week is my limit on interactions with large groups of elementary children that are not my own.

I did find out about a disturbing recent VBS trend which makes me even more proud of our church: apparently, in all of the other churches in our community, they charge a fee for VBS! Our church is the only one that offers it free. That's right, elsewhere parents actually have to PAY to send their kids to a VBS program! (One large church in the ATL area even asks the volunteers to pay to help cover costs!) Perhaps, if you are charging for VBS, you are spending too much time on the outward appearance and not enough on the heart. Just sayin'.

VBS is first of all an outreach. Sure, some kids from the church will come, but I think it is mostly a way to get families in the community involved with a local church and hear Christ preached. In fact, at our VBS, over 80% of the kids were from outside the church and most of them probably don't attend anywhere regularly. So why would you ask someone to pay to hear the gospel? I just don't get it.

Well, at least some things never change:

1. The awesome ladies in the kitchen who make all the cool homemade snacks! Their creativity amazes me: the "Paralyzed Man" made out of a cupcake with pretzels for arms and legs, and the cups of pudding with a brownie boat and little Teddy Graham people to represent Jesus and the Disciples when he calms the storm. Oh my goodness how cute is that?

2. The cheesy kid songs. I know I still remember songs I learned in church and at VBS. I hope these kids will, too. And hey, they get to take home a CD with all the songs on it! Reinforcements or parental torture? You decide!

3. Stretching a bit to make the crafts/activities fit the Bible story or theme. Okay, so sometimes that seems kind of lame, but as an English teacher, I think of all those glue-laden, glittery art projects as symbols-- tangible created objects to represent grander themes about The Creator. Same with games and other activities. Hopefully these kids will remember the story behind the symbols when they admire their creations.

I thought I'd share a link I've been enjoying of all the funny VBS-themed posts over at Stuff Christians Like. A little levity for those of you who either just survived VBS week or still have it looming ahead of you.

Oh, and one final tip:

If, for some reason, you have to write someone's name on a craft project, make sure that you don't accidentally smear the still-wet glitter glue drawings when you flip it over. No matter how hard you try to fix your mistake, it won't be right. And you might make a little girl cry. And when asked "What is a sin?" the little girl may answer "A sin is when the teacher messes up your craft project." Fellow VBS volunteers, you have been warned!

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Familial Birthday Craftiness

Friday night we Redd girls were in quite the crafty mood, putting together lots of little (and big) things to make the J-man's first birthday extra special.

My contribution was this Resa Design-inspired birthday shirt (my first-ever attempt at applique!):



Aunt Erin made these awesome blocks and put up all the streamers and decorations:



Aunt Amy stayed up way too late making this cute cupcake bib! Also, she took tons of wonderful photographs of the party! Much better than mine!



This blanket became part of the decor! Nana Susanne and Great-Grandmother Annette made this really cool embroidered alphabet blanket many years ago for Jacob's dad. I just took a (blurry) photo of the J square, but the entire blanket is stunning.



And the piece-d'resistance: Great-Grandmother Bobbie made this amazingly-delicious caramel block cake. Just like the one she made Gaines on his first birthday. Mmmmmmm. (photo by Amy)



I am thankful to be part of such a creative family. My mom and my aunts are also quite talented as well, and so I hope Jacob will be doubly blessed with creative genes.

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Five Favorite Craft Blogs

I'm not sure if "craft" is the right category, since it always brings to mind hand painted wooden heart creations from local hometown festivals, but it'll have to do. (Besides, "funky, cool, fabric-loving creative types" was just too long.)

Over the last few months, I've become drawn in to the world of kntting, sewing, fabric-designing, artsy, creative blogs. I've taken up knitting upon receipt of a most-awesome gift of needles, yarn and The Knit Book at Christmas, and I plan to expand my seamstress abilities beyond button-sewing to make something(s) from Amy Butler's In Stitches, another exciting Christmas gift. One day, I'd like to undertake the massive task of reupholstering our swivel rocking chair, but that may have to wait. I'll start small, and hopefully get around to finishing some of the things on my short list, like cards and scrapbooks and such. I have to finish my bib first, though.

Here are some of my creative inspirations, who all happen to be moms as well:

Angry Chicken

Anna Maria Horner

Soule Mama

Two Straight Lines

Wise Craft

And now maybe I'll finally complete my long-overdue blog series...

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Free Fabric Friday at Sew, Mama, Sew

So, remember how I promised to be more crafty and creative in the new year? I just got my first big incentive...

I was a winner of a free yard of fabric from Sew, Mama, Sew, just by commenting on their blog on their Free Fabric Friday!

I chose an Alexander Henry fabric called "The Grove." (I like trees.) I plan to create something from one of the patterns in my exceedingly exciting Christmas gift from Gaines' grandmother: Amy Butler's In Stitches. I think I'll start with the Simple Shoulder Bag, since I'm such a novice seamstress. (Say that 5 times fast.) I'll let you know how it turns out!

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Make Your Own Wizarding Wand

Who needs Ollivander when you've got instructions on how to make your own wand using little more than paper, a glue gun, and paint?!

This is a great project for those (with or without kids!) attending a midnight release party this weekend.

"Accio Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!"

Well, it was worth a try.

I discovered this via Apt Therapy: Nursery, which has loads of great ideas for design-conscious parents (and artsy wannabes like me).