Caraway Soda Bread

Homemade soup is on the menu for dinner tonight and as always I'm digging through a stack of recipes for something to cook with it. Usually I go for my trustee baking powder biscuit recipe but tonight I was wanting something different.

This is a recipe my mom found a while ago, and nobody knows exactly where it came from so I can't give credit where it's needed.

I can say however that it's delicious and so easy to make!

Caraway Soda Bread Recipe:

• 2 cups flour, all purpose or bread flour + a little extra for kneading
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1tbsp caraway seeds
• 1 cup buttermilk 
• 2 tbsp melted butter

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and either line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease it. 

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and caraway seeds. Using a rubber spatula add the buttermilk and melted butter to flour mixture, stir until just combined. 

The dough will be sticky and ragged looking. 

On a lightly floured surface knead the dough 6 times. Form into a round ball and put on prepared baking sheet. Cut an X in the top of dough. 

If desired you can dust the top of dough with flour. 

Cook at 375 for 30-35 minutes. 

Minion clay pot tutorial

Lately I've been seeing so much clay pot folk art from friends and different gardening sites that I thought I would give my hand at making some as well.

It is a great way to add a splash of color to your garden or entry way without breaking the bank.

Most of the clay pot crafts I've seen are pot people or lighthouses, both of which I love. I wanted to get my boys involved though, which meant finding something that would interest them as well. One of their favorite movies just happens to be despicable me so I thought it would be fitting to have some minions roaming our garden.


What You'll Need:

• 3 clay pots per minion. I used 6" pots for mine but you can use bigger or smaller. 
• Glue of some sort. I used PL Premium but gorilla glue or anything along that line should work. 
• A variety of paint to suit your minions. 
• Paint brushes.
• Scotch guard spray on waterproofing. 
• Minion hair ( I used a Petunia wave plant for the purple minion and a grass variety for the normal minion). 

First step is to glue your pots together! Take two pots and glue them together at the openings, this will create the body. Next take the third pot and glue it end to end to the body, this pot serves as the head. 

Let the glue set overnight or for a couple hours. 

Once the glue is set it's time for painting! I had to do two coats of each of the base colors. 

Let the paint dry overnight or until it is no longer tacky. 

Spray with scotch guard water proofing, you will need to do two coats of waterproofing.

The final step is to plant the hair! This was my oldest sons favorite part, he had a lot of fun walking around the garden centre searching for the perfect hair. 

Add a few rocks in the base of the head before adding dirt and the plant. This will help keep the dirt from falling through the draining hole. 

For the purple minion we used a six pack of petunia wave plants and for the yellow minion we used a grass variety. 

Knit slouch hat tutorial from old sleepers and onsies

Knit Slouch Hat Tutorial From Old Sleepers and Onsies!

Every parent I know has at least one box of clothes that don't fit their kids laying around. Or if you're like me, you have a couple diaper boxes stashed in the closet just because.

I always love being able to repurpose old clothes, and have been toying with the idea of making the boys some light weight slouch hats for a while now. Our fabric store doesn't carry a large amount of knit fabrics and I haven't wanted to order any in so using their old sleepers seemed like the perfect solution.

What you will need:

• A tape measure 
• scissors
• pins
• sewing machine
• several onsies/ sleepers/ t-shirts/ or knit material

The first step is measuring your child's head, or using the generic sizing for children's hats. To measure wrap the tape measure around the widest part of the head, just above the eyebrows and over the back ridge.  My 3 year old has a 21.5" circumference while my 16 month old has a 20.5" circumference. 

Once you know how wide your fabric has to be you can figure out how many pieces of clothing you need. I used two 2T sleepers for my youngest hat and 2 t-shirts for my oldest hat. 

Cut out the back panels of the sleepers/onsies or any side of the t-shirt/ fabric and make sure they are of equal length. 

Once your fabric is cut put the pieces together, one on top of the other wrong side facing up. 

Now sew each edge of the fabric together to create a tube.

The next step is to create the top of the hat.

Fold hat in half and mark each side about 4" down from the top with a pin.














Now sew a gradual half circle from one side to the other.














Trim edges.

The last step is to create the brim. Roll the bottom edge of the hat up and pin it in place. I rolled my brim up about an inch but you can do more or less depending on your preference. Once pinned, sew in place. 

The trickiest part of all of this was trying to get my boys to smile for the camera!

Crochet Chicken Coasters

I've been on a chicken kick lately, and while I was making chicken potholders trying to ignore all of the the snow coming down I had an idea to make chicken coasters!

I am really pleased with how the coasters turned out and can't wait to have a whole flock of them on my table.

I made them out of brightly colored cotton hoping to create a little bit of spring in the house.

I don't know about everyone one else but we've had a couple weeks straight of snow and I'm personally very ready for it to go away.

Here are a few pictures of the coasters, what do you all think?

The pattern is listed in my Etsy, Ravelry, and craftsy shops.

http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/crocheting/home-decor/chicken-coaster-crochet-pattern/88377

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/crochet-chicken-coaster

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/181538790/chicken-coaster-crochet-pattern?ref=shop_home_active_1

Crochet Chicken Ornament Pattern

My mother came to me a few weeks back with a picture of an adorable chicken ornament that she had found on google, and hoped that I could find the pattern for her. We're a chicken loving family and have more then our fair share of chicken decor so this little ornament fits in perfectly.

After searching online I managed to come across a pattern but was more then a little surprised by the price tag that went with it. Now I don't mind paying for a pattern especially a well done pattern but $6 for a tiny ornament pattern seemed a bit steep.

Needless to say I decided to make a pattern up instead and thought I would share it with all of you :)

I really enjoyed making these chickens, they whipped up quick and give a nice homey feel to our tree!

What You'll Need:

• Small amounts of worsted weight cotton in the colors of your choice. 
• Yarn Needle.
• Scissors.
• 5 mm crochet hook.
• Small amount of stuffing if desired.

PATTERN:

BODY:

Row 1:      Make a magic loop, ch 2, 12 DC into loop, pull tight and join with a sl st to top of ch 2, fasten off. (12 DC's)

Row 2:      Join new color into any stitch around. Ch 2, 2 DC in each stitch around. Join with a sl st to top of ch 2. Fasten off. (24 DC's)

Row 3:      Repeat row 2. ( 48 DC's)

Row 4:      Join new color in the last stitch worked of previous round. Ch 1. Fold work in half. Stuff chicken lightly here if desired. Sc through both layers in each stitch around. Fasten off. (24 SC's)

TAIL: 

In first SC of one corner join red yarn. * Ch 10, sl st into same space, repeat from * 2 more times. Fasten off and weave in ends. 

FACE:

Row 1:      Join red yarn in first SC of remaining corner. * Ch 5, sl st in same space, repeat from * 2 more times. Sl st in next 2 SC, ch 6, sl st into same space. Fasten off. 

Row 2:     Join orange yarn in sl st between comb and wattle, sc, ch 1, sc in space. Fasten off and weave in ends. 

FEET:

Row 1:      Join orange yarn into 9th SC from wattle. 

Row 2:      * Ch 10, sl st into third ch from hook, ch 3, sl st into same space. Ch 3, sl st into same space, sl st in remaining ch's , sl st in beginning SC, sl st in next SC. Repeat from * 1 more time. Weave in ends. 

HANGER:

Ch 30, sew onto center of body. 

I hope you all enjoy this pattern, and as always if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to message me. 

Crochet Viking Helmet

I've been working on some new projects these last few weeks, the main one being a halloween costume for my hubby.

Normally Halloween isn't my thing but this year my hubby's work decided to put on a contest for best homemade costume. What kind of crafter would I be if I didn't go all out right?

His costume took four days to do but I think it was totally worth it, what do you all think? I haven't taken a photo of the props I made to go with the viking hat but they're pretty fun to -a giant chicken drumstick and a mug of beer. We decided to go for a hungry hungry viking instead of a warrior viking.

The only difference I would make next time I need to make a viking hat is smaller horns. For some reason we ended up with long horns instead of the usual shorter kind but I'm stacking that up to being Canadian. My hubby will be the first official Albertan viking…

I can't wait to finish up my sons costume and share it with all of you :)