365 Days With Kiddos - #37 - Make "Stained Glass" Hearts Using Crayon Shaving

The first time my daughter used a crayon sharpener she got so into it that we decided to sharpen every crayon we own. This, of course, produced a large pile of crayon shavings. I seemed to remember using these in a craft when I was a child, and after thinking on it a bit, I remembered putting them between pieces of wax paper, ironing, and making "stained glass". This is a great way to recycle and upcycle your crayon shavings.

How to Make a Stained Glass Heart (or any other shape) With Crayon Shavings
By Tiffany Teske
For all ages (children will need adult supervision when using the iron)

You will need:
- crayons that need to be sharpened
- a crayon or pencil sharpener
- wax paper
- a cereal box cardboard for making a template
- an iron
- a dish towel
Optional - a table top or standing ironing board to iron on (we just ironed on the counter on top of the dish towel)
Optional - foil ribbon, glitter, confetti, or anything else you would like to add.

Instructions:

1) Create a template in the shape that you want the wax paper to be. We used a heart we saved from a box of chocolates from several years ago. You can preheat the iron now. We used it on a medium high setting since we ironed through the dish towel.

2) Cut two pieces of wax paper to a size that the template will fit onto.

3) Put the template on top of the wax paper and trace. Repeat on the other sheet.

4) Cut out the shapes along the traced lines.

5) Cut out pieces of ribbon to sandwich into your heart.

6) Place one of the wax paper pieces on top of half of the dish towel. Place ribbon snippets, crayon shavings, and any other optional items on top of the wax paper.

7) Place the other wax paper piece on top of the other. Fold the empty side of the dish towel over on top of the wax paper sandwich.

8) Iron, with the steam setting off, on top of the towel, checking from time to time to see if the crayon shaving are melting in the sandwich.

Iron....

Iron a bit more...

9) When the shaving have melted, remove the dish towel and admire your art work! Tape it to the window using clear tape.

Do you know a variation on this craft? If so, please leave it in the comment below. You could make these smaller, put them on a string, and hand them out as Valentines...

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!! And 365 Days With Kiddos #35 - Make A List of What You Are Thankful For

Thanksgiving in the Canadian Rockies

Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday (next to Valentine's Day, since I am a romantic...). In Canada, today is Thanksgiving. I grew up in the US, where today is Columbus Day. I have the option now of having two Thanksgivings a year, but since I have been a vegetarian since I was 13 years old, I am not much for the turkey part of the turkey dinner, so we often only celebrate the October date. Maybe this year we will do US Thanksgiving, but with a twist. I know most people love their turkey dinner, but since they will have had it, maybe they can come to my US Thanksgiving....

Quin is looking forward to turkey dinner...

We had a lovely dinner at the home of friends last night. The weather was nice, very classically fall. My good friend, Karina Bergmans, joined us, as she is here for a three week artist residency at the Banff Centre.

Quinlyn, Karina, Emmanuelle & I

Today, the girls and I decided to take the time to write down some of the things we are thankful for. We each had a turn, and we each had many more things to be thankful for than we had room for on the page. Life is good! I think this is a fun and important exercise to do each and every year. We frequently talk about the things we are thankful for, but to sit down and spend some time thinking on it is important.

What we are thankful for... 

Birds remind me of my late grandfather... 

It is important to live in the present, which makes for amazing memories...

Do you have any Thanksgiving rituals you would like to share? Please leave me a comment below....

Heureuse Saint-Jean-Baptiste!

From my eldest daughter, who was born in Gatineau, Quebec, "Heureuse Saint-Jean-Baptiste, tout le monde!" To our friends in Quebec, we hope that you all had fun celebrating the Fête Nationale (National Holiday).

National Aboriginal Day at the Banff Centre- June 21st, 2011

Yesterday, I facilitated a mask making workshop at the Banff Centre, as part of an event they were hosting for National Aboriginal Day. Prior to story telling by award-winning writer Richard Van Camp of the Dogrib Nation in the Northwest Territories, people of all ages made masks. While adult mostly chose the masks with an aboriginal theme, the kids were most drawn to the butterfly and moth templates. I made sure everyone had what they needed and helped where I could but they just dove in and created with abandon. The time flew by and fun was had by all. My only regret was that I could not stay for the story telling as I had to teach at an evening event...

So many choices...

This one reminds me of a super hero...

Before...

After... My favourite adult mask.

These sequins and this glitter all belonged to ONE little girl...

This one was my favourite kid's mask.

What a lovely, colourful, afternoon...

Weekly Recipe - Happy St Patrick's Day Vegan Irish Stew & Sweet Guinness Quick Bread

I have not written a weekly recipe in so long that maybe I should call this feature the "Monthly or Longer Recipe"... I do apologize! Life has been handing me some amazing opportunities lately and, as usual, some challenges. I am the mom to two little ones, so my time is always too short for all the things on my plate. We are ALL busy, so this is no excuse, I just wanted to catch all of you up on my lack of posting.

So, Happy St Paddy's Day! My grandmother's father, Ira Stewart, was from Ireland. He was married to Gerta, from Sweden. They moved to Minnesota and were farmers. My grandmother, Harriett, has wonderful stories about growing up on a farm but she moved to the city as soon as she could and left the farm days behind her. Ira, was my great grandfather, and he was, well, a rather abrasive guy, until it came to me. He lived until I was 5 or 6 years old, and loved to hold me on his lap and to talk with me. I have fond memories of the small apartment he and my great grandmother lived in at a nursing home. My great grandmother used to pass me sugar cubes under the table and I would pop them in my mouth and suck on them until they melted. Today, I remembered my family...

I am not exactly sure how Ira would feel about the fact that I have been a vegetarian for 24 years. I adapted this traditional Irish Stew to make it vegan. Both of these recipes are great during the winter months, not just on St Paddy's Day.

Vegan Irish Stew
Makes 6 - 8 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time one hour

Ingredients
~ 4 cups vegetable broth
~ 4 cups water
~ 2 medium yellow onions
~ 3/4 cup pearl barley (rinsed)
~ 1/2 teaspoon salt
~ 1 1/2 lbs potatoes with skins (waxy, not russets)
~ 1 14 oz can of chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans)
~ 3 large peeled carrots
~ 1 - 2 celery stalks
~ 2 tablespoons tamari
~ 1/4 teaspoon thyme
~ 1/4 teaspoon rosemary
~ fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions
Cut all the vegetables into large chunks. In a large pot combine water, vegetable broth, barley, onions, and salt. Bring to a boil and cook at medium heat for about 15 minutes. Add in the potatoes and cook for another 15 minutes. Add the carrots, chickpeas, celery, tamari, and spices and cook for another 30 minutes on low. Enjoy with Irish soda bread or the Guinness bread below...

Guinness Quick Bread
Makes one loaf
Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 50 minutes

Ingredients

~ 1 1/2 cups non-bleached all-purpose flour
~ 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
~ 1 teaspoon baking powder
~ 3/4 cup brown sugar
~ 1 teaspoon cinnamon
~ 1 12-ounce Guinness (that leaves some of the pint for drinking...)
~ 1 cup walnuts, chopped
~ 1/2 cup raisins

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Combine all ingredients and pour into greased loaf pan. Bake 50 minutes. Serve right out of the over with butter or room temperature.

Photography Feature - Hearts

Well, Valentine's Day may be over until next year but I wanted to post some of the heart photographs in my collection. I used to find hearts to be too cute but now I love them. And I look for them around me and then capture them, in an attempt to collect them. Is there a particular thing that you are drawn to photograph? If so, please share it in the comments. Enjoy!

All Photographs by Tiffany Teske

365 Days With Kiddos - #29 - Decorate for Valentine's Day - More Free Vintage Downloads

We are decorating for Valentine's Day today. Quin and I need to make her Valentines and I need to work on the heart book mark project I am teaching at the After School Club tomorrow so we are in full swing with preparations for the Day of Love. While we are at it, I thought we should print out a couple of my vintage valentines, on card stock in a larger size, for wall and door decorations. We may be a little behind, since tomorrow is the big day, but on card stock these should hold up for years to come. Why not start adding to your decoration collection? Just right click on the images, add them to your computer, print them out, cut them out, and hang them up. You can also use them for card exchange Valentines, by reducing the size and laying them out on one sheet, then printing and cutting out.

If you would like to look for your own free downloads on the web, you can thank my friend, Maureen, who posted a ton of links on my Facebook Page. To find them you can go to the post on the wall that has a link to my vintage Valentine blog post.

Vintage Find - My Cousin's 1950s Themed Christmas Card (Think Norman Rockwell...)

Happy Holidays, compliments of The Krikkens

Ok, I had to share this with you! This vintage find was sent direct to my door, by my husband's cousin, Amy Beth (whom I incidentally knew BEFORE I knew my husband). I would have posted it earlier but our local mail being what it is, I didn't get it until after New Year's (along with about 20 other cards!). Amy Beth and her husband, Ramon, a photographer like myself, go all out for their annual holiday card. I am always in awe of his card. The thought that goes into them, the staging that is done, and the flawless execution of their idea is always incredible. And it doesn't hurt that they have THREE adorable boys to use as models. Great job, Ramon & Aim, spreading laughter, joy, and cheer to your friends and family far and wide!

365 Days With Kiddos - #23 - Learn About a Holiday You Don't Normally Observe

Quin's, 4 1/2 year old hands (sporting a bit of marker) holding the very tiny baby doll we found in rosca de reyes bread while celebrating Three Kings Day in Mexico.

The first week of January is already over. I was going to write this post on January 6th, but half of our family has been fighting the flu...

Karina, Quin, & I in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, January 2008

This week was the birthday of my very good friend, Karina. She likes to keep her birthday low-key after all of the holiday celebrating and it was a treat to have 45 minutes to chat on the phone with her. We got to reminiscing about the time she and I met up in Mexico in January of 2008. I was teaching a digital photography workshop in San Miguel de Allende, which is an amazing and inspiring part of Mexico for artists like ourselves. I brought my eldest daughter on the trip with me, she was about 19 months old. It was a memorable trip in many ways and I look forward to returning there with my husband and both of our daughters someday. If we do go, I would like to go in late October/early November during the los dios de los muertos festivities. On the trip Karina and I took we arrived at our amazing home rental on January 6th which is Three Kings Day. As I spoke with her this week, I thought about Three Kings Day, and some of the other holidays, like los dios de los muertos, which are holidays with interesting origins, traditions, and stories, but that are not holidays I grew up celebrating. I think it is a good way to teach my girls about other cultures by teaching them about these holidays.

Rosca de reyes bread

Three Kings Day, also known as Epiphany, celebrates the visit of the three wise men to Bethlehem to visit the baby Jesus. Epiphany is celebrated all over the world. In Mexico, people eat a wreath-shaped bread called "Rosca de Reyes". A small, plastic doll, meant to represent the baby Jesus is baked into the bread. The person who finds the figurine in their piece of bread has to provide the tamales for the next party, although it is said that everyone else tends to help anyway (very nice!). My daughter was given the doll from our bread, and we enjoy it as a souvenir of our time spent in Mexico. I have never made Rosca de Reyes but here is a recipe for you to try if you are game.

The newly-found baby doll in our rosca de reyes.

If you are interested in seeing more of my photographs of Mexico, just look to the right of this post, for the slideshow titled "San Miguel de Allende". I will also post some of the images as photography features in the coming weeks.

Thanks to the internet it is easy to find history, crafts, recipes, and other activities related to holidays all over the world. Some other holidays that you might like to explore with your children include:
~ La Befana; On the night of the 5th of January in Italy and Italian communities, kids wait for La Befana to fly in on her broomstick and fill their stockings and shoes with presents and candy while she looks for the baby Jesus.

~ Chinese New Year; This important traditional Chinese holiday begins with the first new moon of the new year and ends on the next full moon. In 2011, it begins on February 3rd. This time is filled with preparations, celebration, gift-giving, feasting, and spending time with friends and family. Children and unmarried people are given "lucky money" in red envelopes. A wonderful book we have read about Chinese New Year is Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin.

~ Mardi Gras; Mardi Gras means "Fat Tuesday" in French. This day, March 8th, in 2011, was set aside for excessive feasting and celebration before a long period of fasting. It is celebrated on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. A great craft for Mardi Gras is mask-making. Please check out this tutorial on masks that I made with a local after-school club.

~ Poila Baisakh; This is the celebration of the Bengali New Year. It is tradition to pay up your debts on this day and to create a book called halkhata for keeping track of your new accounts. At sunrise the celebration starts with a procession in which celebrants wear new clothes, and then dance, sing, and eat with family and friends.

~ Diwali; This holiday is celebrated in India as well as other parts of the world. It is known as the "festival of lights". It begins on the new moon between the months of Ashwin and Kartika, which will be October 26th, in 2011. During Diwali, homes are decorated, people share gifts, sweets, and wear new clothes. To welcome the light, diyas are lit everywhere.

If you celebrate a holiday specific to your culture please share it in the comments so that other readers may explore it, too...