Crunchy Butterscotch Pudding pops

Make instant pudding.
Pour into popsicle mold, fill halfway.
Add Heath bits.
Fill rest of the way with pudding, insert stick/handle.
Freeze.
Enjoy!

Father's Day Cereal Bowl

For his first Father's Day, I made Poke a cereal bowl especially for him, from 4L.  I also painted a mustache on his favorite mug.

Michael's had some ceramic paint on sale, so I went ahead and bought all the primary colors plus a few extras. I have many plans for this paint!

It's easy to use, if you are patient.  You can't just slop it on like acrylic paint - you must dab gently, otherwise you'll get streaks and lines instead of a smooth finish.

Paint, let dry overnight, paint again, let dry overnight, then bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees (or whatever your paint says to bake at for however long).

Yay! Custom-made wares!

 

 

 And now a photo of Poke enjoying cereal out of his awesome bowl:

Diaper Cake & Cupcakes

First, here is a picture of some hot glue that dried in the shape of Squidward:

Now here is how to make diaper cupcakes:

• Unfold and refold diapers lengthwise.
• Roll up like a doobie (half of the diapers - save the other half)
• Other half - roll up straight edge to edge.
• Wrap a rubber band around.
• Stick the doobie inside the straight roll.
• Decorate with anything that will not affect the integrity of the diaper (no staples/pins/markers/etc).

Tada!

For a cake, wrap them all up straight except for one, which will be the top layer.  Put a bottle of wine or water or something the mommy and daddy like to drink in the middle of a platter. Place diaper wraps all around, making three layers. Secure each layer with a big rubber band. Wrap ribbon around, or cover each entire layer with a receiving blanket - the possibilities are endless!

Update!

Hey folks, it has been a super busy month and a half over here.  I've been so wrapped up in doing projects that I keep forgetting to post them!  Bad Kel-Bell, no dessert for you!

Anyway, I have LOTS in store for the next few days, while Poke is off working his overtime and I'm all alone.  I'm trying to take a little break from crafting & creating, mostly because 4L's first birthday is coming up in a couple weeks and I need to be fully prepared.

Stay tuned!

PS - I forgot to tell you guys I've lost 14 pounds.  Yay me!

Happy Mother's Day! Footprint Gift

For Mother's Day this year, I made a footprint keepsake for my mom and Poke's mom.  It was free, because I had the canvases, the paint, and the little baby foot to make cute little prints with!  This is a very easy project, even if you have a squirmy baby - just enlist your partner's help!

I left the canvas white, and painted 4L's feet from heel to toe in green, yellow, and blue acrylic paints.  On the first try, we stood him up on the canvas and pushed his feet down, but that didn't give a very full foot shape.  On the second try, Poke held 4L like Superman while I pressed the canvas to his feet, one at a time.  Originally I thought I might draw a butterfly or a heart or something using the footprints, but they were so cute and simply precious on their own that I just left them.  I did paint his name and "May 2012" in green underneath the prints.  For the hanger I super glued a pop tab to the back (I've done this on ALL my canvases that are smaller than 8.5"x11", unless they were very bulky/heavy).

Just had to add a note in here that this is my 666th post. Heheheeee!

Electrolyte Pops

4L came down with a very slight case of HFM Disease, which he caught from our friend, who had caught it from daycare.  We were lucky though, because he only got a fever and a few bumps - our friend got blisters all over her whole body and was sick for almost two weeks! Poor little girl!

Here's 4L enjoying an electrolyte popsicle

Here's 4L not enjoying 102.9 degrees

Because HFM Disease causes a sore throat, 4L wasn't really interested in eating much for a few days, and he wasn't even really interested in drinking formula either.  I knew I needed to keep him hydrated, so I bought some generic electrolyte drink (Kmart Brand!) and tried to give it to him.  Unfortunately 4L is just like his mother in that he doesn't care too much for overly sugary drinks, and this stuff is way sweet.  I decided that I would figure out another way to get this liquid into his body, and the only option was in frozen form.

I took the caps from our bottles, filled them to the rim with the drink, and set some extra pacies in the caps.  Voila! Baby-sized electrolyte pops that are not only the right amount (about 1 oz) but also perfect for little hands to hold (4L is an expert paci handler). 

Overall, they were a hit.  The paci-pops were interesting enough to keep him sucking on them til they were gone, and because they were frozen I believe the flavor wasn't as intense.  4L didn't get dehydrated, the fever passed, and all was well.

Homemade Teething Biscuits

These aren't too bad, they taste a little bland so if you want to add vanilla, I would suggest doing so!  I added cinnamon but it wasn't enough flavor.

Recipe:

1 cup baby cereal (I used whole wheat)

1 cup flour

1 cup juice or water (I used half apple juice, half water)

Spray your baking sheet before you start!  Then, spray your hands.  It's easier than using a spoon.

Combine ingredients; Mix will be sticky. Roll into balls and flatten into cookie-type shapes.  Bake at 425 for one hour or until the outside is "hard".  

These biscuits are kinda weird in that they are tough on the outside but almost hollow on the inside.  This means that Little Miss or Mister can chomp away and they won't break apart or mush up (until after a really long while) and it prevents Baby from choking.

Ready to Bake

About halfway done

Finished Product

They'll stay fresh for seven days - after that, toss 'em to the birds!

Note the semi-hollow inside

What is this?!

Yeah, OK, it's pretty good.

Nom-nom-nom