homemade playdough

I've been making homemade playdough for Moo since she was around one year old. The recipe is so incredibly simple, I have it scribbled on the back on an envelope from a friend in my recipe file. There's something about the texture of homemade playdough that you just can't get with the manufactured product.

Ingredients

2 ½ cups Flour

½ cup salt

2 tablespoons Cream of Tartar

2 cups Boiling water

2 tablespoons oil

Food colouring

Method

1. Shift flour, salt and cream of tartar in a large bowl.

2. Pour in the boiling water and oil and mix quickly to make a soft dough.

3. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes or until you achieve a smooth consistency. Add a little more flour if the dough is too sticky.

4. Divide in the amount of colours you wish to make. Add food colouring and conitnue to knead until colour is even.

5. Store in airtight containers in the fridge. Will last a few months.

We made all the colours of the rainbow, I doubled mixture to make this many colours.

up-cycle : pretty prints for Mima

I had a few garments for the clothing bin but I really liked the prints. So I thought I would use the fabric to make some summer clothes for Mima. Being a wee thing it was easy to get a pair of trousers and a pair of bloomers out of two old shirts for her. I also made a top out of a pair of Karen Walker boat pants which I had sadly ripped last summer.
I cut patterns from some of her existing clothes, but you can find loads of patterns on the internet.

It is so nice to give these fabrics new life, and doesn't she look adorable x

rainbow connection : the tea towel

crafting

Louise from Mima and Moo also writes a weekly craft post for the blog of the lovely American children's fashion magazine Babiekins. We are so happy to be part of this blog. Below are the posts we have done so far:
Fake Plastic Painted Animals

Rosette Picture Frame

Floral Headband

paint dipped branches

I have seen so many things dipped in bright paint making interiors look fabulous lately. I have had this vase of branches in a corner of my lounge which I really like, but while I was busy spray painting animals for the Babiekins blog I thought why not add some turquoise to these branches. They are not technically dipped but spray painted, the effect is the same and so much easier. I really like them.

cardboard box: doll's bed

I'd been thinking about getting bed for Moo's doll when I realised I had the prefect sized box. so why not make one?

Moo and I carefully removed all the regular packing tape and replaced with gummed tape so that it matched the box and would be possible for moo to decorate or paint if she wanted too. I remembered about gummed tape from my childhood, it looks like brown paper but has an adhesive side and gums up when water is applied (you can get it at art shops).

We then cut the bed head and ends with slots,  we chose to make it look similar to Moo's bed, but you could cut any decorative shape

Cut away the sides off the box and use these to cut out the legs of the bed. We cut small slits in the bed base  for the legs to slot into. taped to secure. 

Then I finished it off by making a little doll size crochet blanket. 

Moo says "ssshh.... Red Riding Hood is sleeping."

loaf : soda bread

I have just started making bread. The idea of making my own bread has developed since Mima was born and a desire to make as much as possible of what she eats, so I know the ingredient and where they came from. I tried using a bread maker with decidedly average results, the loaf didn't rise much, looked horrible and tasted very yeasty. So I thought I would try soda bread. I had a recipe from the River Cottage Baby and Toddler Cookbook so tried that first. We were very happy with the result, it tasted lovely and looked fantastic. Soda bread is so quick and easy to make that it is now part of my weekly routine, I make two small loaves.
I will update you on any better recipes I find in the future, actually if you know any please email them to me! Also if I give it all up and start buying bread at the supermarket!
The recipe in the River Cottage Baby and Toddler Cookbook is for double this amount. I like to make this smaller size.

INGREDIENTS
125g plain white flour
125g wholemeal OR spelt flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
pinch of salt
150ml plain, full fat yogurt
100ml whole milk

METHOD
Pre heat oven to 200C.
1. Put flour, bicarbonate soda and salt in a bowl and whisk to thoroughly combine.
2. Stir yogurt and milk together, then add to dry ingredients and mix well. This will make a sticky dough, which results in a lovely moist loaf that keeps well.
3. Scrap on to a baking tray lined with baking paper, forming a large mound, I like to leave the surface nice and textured.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, until well risen and golden brown. Leave to cool.
I slice and freeze what we don't eat that day.