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Laura Egley Taylor

Then a miracle occurs . . .

How to be creative and other inadvertent parenting advice

April 26th, 2011

All advice is autobiographical.

This thought for the day, is appropriately enough, stolen from Austin Kleon, author of “How to Steal Like an Artist and 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me,” a highly recommended smart and charmingly inspirational pictorial for creative people.

The quote is included as a kind of disclaimer, but I was struck by the wisdom of it. Whether giving or taking, it might behoove us to remember where advice comes from: we can speak with real authority only about what we have experienced, ourselves. Which may or may not apply to the situation of another.

While Kleon’s post isn’t intended to be about parenting, many of his insights can apply there nicely—as well as to writing or drawing. After all, parenting is the original creative act, right?

Some more of his gems:

“It’s in the act of making things that we figure out who we are.”

“You are, in fact, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life. You are the sum of your influences. The German writer Goethe said, ‘We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.’”

“Step 1: Wonder at something. Step 2: Invite others to wonder with you.”

“Creativity isn’t just the things we chose to put in, it’s also the things we chose to leave out.”

Check it out.

 

Photo: “Well, son, when I was your age. . . ” Tim and Reeve get in some father-and-son wondering (while I lag behind, as usual, taking photos) on our early morning hike in the southern New Mexico’s Organ Mountains last weekend.

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For Valentine’s Day: Cute thumbprint cards for your Valentines

February 13th, 2011

vday-cardsRemember the fun of exchanging those cute (and, well, corny) valentines in elementary school? Times have changed, but kids still love to swap valentines.

Here are some quick and easy ones for you to make. Just print out these charming cards (designed by Mothering staffer Melyssa Holik) from one of the PDFs provided below and customize them with a thumbprint.

(To download instructions and to see examples of where thumbprints might go, click here.)

What you’ll need
• card stock (white or lightly colored)
• a stamp pad
•  thumbs
• crayons, markers, paint, or glitter (optional)

What you do

1. Download one of these PDFs:
To print onto 8 1/2 x 11 in. paper (four cards on a page), download the file here.
To print onto 4 x 6 in. paper (one card per page), download the file here.

2. Print the pages onto paper or card stock.

3. Cut out cards.

4. Decide where thumbprint should go in picture.

5. Press thumb on stamp pad, then on card to make thumbprint.

6. Add additional decoration using markers or paint or glitter, if you’d like.

7. Add a personal note or secret message.

8.  Drop card into in your Valentine’s hand-decorated paper mailbox!

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P.S. Check out the other fun and crafty Valentine projects Melyssa Holik and I created as part of our 2011 V-Day Crafty Challenge. (Scroll down to the P.S.)

Card designs by Melyssa Holik

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For Valentine’s Day: Sweets for your Sweetie

February 12th, 2011

brownie-bagsBag some sweets for your sweetie with these fun designs you can print out on small paper bags—plus a fabulous recipe for sea salt brownies!

P.S. Click here (and scroll down to the P.S.) to see the other fun and crafty V-Day projects Melyssa Holik and I have undertaken this week.

(Click to download printable PDFs of these instructions and Mel’s bag designs.)

What you’ll need
• small paper bags (often sold as “lunch bags”)
• a printer
• pinking shears (optional, but they make for a nice-looking bag top)
• treats to put in the bags (We highly recommend the sea-salt brownies below!)

What you do

1. Download the bag patterns mentioned above and select the pattern you’d like to print onto your bag.

2. Print a test page onto paper, then hold the test page up to your paper bag to see where on the bag the ink will land. Make a note of the orientation (which direction the top of the bag should be facing) since every printer seems to be different!

3. Place paper bag in your printer (where you normally would put paper).

4. Set your print settings to a custom paper size of 5 x 7 inches.

5. Print!

6. (Optional) Using pinking shears, cut off the upper 2-3 inches of the bag (to make it look less like a lunch bag)

7. Fill with treats and give to the Valentines in your life.

Note: It can be difficult to get a paper bag to go through a printer. It might be necessary to try turning the bag (and adjusting the orientation of the design accordingly before you print). We found it worked best with our printer to feed the bag into the printer open-end first and with the flap on top, facing us.

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Sea Salt Brownies recipe by Cathe Olson

Cathe says: These are my favorite brownies. They are moist, fudgy, rich, and the touch of salt perfectly complements the sweetness. You’ll never go back to plain brownies!

4 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate, broken into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup unsalted butter or nonhydrogenated margarine
2/3 cup unbleached sugar (evaporated cane juice)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs or equivalent egg replacer
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Coarsely ground sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil an 8-inch square baking pan.

Melt chocolate and butter in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring as needed to prevent scorching. When smooth, remove  pan from heat and cool to room temperature.

Pour cooled chocolate mixture into a mixing bowl and whisk in sugar and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Gently stir flour mixture into chocolate mixture. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spread batter in prepared baking dish. Lightly sprinkle the batter with coarsely ground sea salt. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until mixture is firm.

Cool at least 30 minutes before cutting.

Makes 16

—Cathe Olson

Cathe Olson is a frequent Mothering contributor and author of Simply Natural Baby Food, The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook, and Lick It! Creamy Dreamy Vegan Ice Creams Your Mouth Will Love. Check out Cathe’s website and blog.

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Photo and bag designs by Melyssa Holik

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For Valentine’s Day: Fun and Easy Felt Necklaces

February 11th, 2011

felt-necklacesMore from Mel and Laura’s Fabulous Crafty V-Day Undertaking: A quick and easy project for Valentines of all ages!

(To download a printable PDF of these instructions and shape templates, click here.)

What you’ll need

•    scissors
•    pieces of felt in a variety of colors (we used 9 x 12 inch sheets of basic felt)
•    tacky glue
•    yarn

What to do

1. Download and print out the provided PDF of instructions and shapes.

2. Using pins or a stapler, attach the felt to the page containing the shape you want to cut out (so that it won’t slip when you cut it).

3. Cut out the shapes you want to use. (If you want to make a more complex shape, glue a smaller shape onto a larger one. Allow the glue to dry before proceeding.)

4. To create a hole for the yarn to go through, fold at the line indicated on the pattern and carefully cut a semi-circle.

5. Cut yarn to the length you want the necklace to be (approx 18-24 inches). Leave enough room to slip over the wearer’s head.

6. Thread the yarn through the hole and tie ends to secure.

7. Give the necklace to your Valentine!

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Photos and design by Melyssa Holik

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For Valentine’s Day: Snow globes

February 11th, 2011

three-globesAll these years, I haven’t forgotten snow globes we made out of baby food jars when I was in kindergarten. I loved those things! So when—as the snow was yet again coming down outside our office windows—Mel and I started putting together our list of things to make for Valentine’s Day, I saw my chance to create these again.

Back in the day, we used some pretty awful plastic flowers (I think we were making our snow globes as Mother’s Day presents), but I thought it might be fun to try making some using old castoff toys and gumball machine trinkets. Here’s how it works. . .

(To download a printable PDF of these instructions, click here.)

What you’ll needninja-v-glue
• small glass jar (my favorite turned out to be not the standard baby food jar but a jar that horseradish came in)
• glue gun
• white glitter
• distilled water
• small toy or plastic flower or greenery

What to do

1. Wash jar and remove label. (If label leaves sticky residue, rub it with vegetable oil, then wash with soap.)

2. Wash and dry jar lid and toy.pouring

3. Glue toy to inside of lid using glue gun. (Note: some of the lids didn’t have linings of any sort, so the inside of the lid was exposed metal. Because the inside of the lid is the “ground” for the snow globe, I wanted it to be white. So I cut circles out of white yogurt container lids and glued them into the jar lids.)

4. Put a small amount (approx. 1 tsp) of glitter in jar. (Amount depends on size of jar.)

5. Fill jar to brim with distilled water.upside-down

6. Carefully screw lid onto jar. (You probably will want to do this over the sink.)

7. Turn jar over and let it snow!

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A couple of notes:
I found that, surprisingly, some baby food jars, once opened, will not re-seal. So, when choosing the jar to use for your snow globe, check to make sure it will seal before you get started. (I ended up having to put glue around the edges of my jar lid before screwing it on, to ensure that no water would leak out.)

After making these, I read online that adding a tiny bit of glycerin will keep the “snow” up in the air longer, in case you want to try that.

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Photos by Melyssa Holik

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For Valentine’s Day: Love Poetry Magnet Kit

February 9th, 2011

poetryNothing says LOVE like, um . . . romantic poetry on your refrigerator? Well, sure! And that’s our offering today: a do-it-yourself Valentine-themed magnet poetry kit.

(To download a printable PDF of these instructions and two pages of poetic words, click here.)

What you’ll need
• magnet paper (these are magnetic sheets of “paper” with a printable white surface)
• your inkjet printer  (Note: do NOT use magnet paper with a laser printer!)
• scissors

What to do

1. Download and print out the PDF included here. Check to make sure pages 2 and 3 fit on the page properly. (They should— but it’s always a good idea to run a test before printing onto the magnet paper.)

2. Load the magnet paper into your printer.

3. Print out pages 2 and 3 from the PDF.

4. Cut out each word.

5. Place magnet words in a small box or tin (we like using the little tins that mints are sold in in); and

6. Present to your sweetie!

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OR, for bonus points! Make your own personalized magnet kit for a one-of-a-kind gift—using any words you like: the recipient’s name, your name, some of his or her favorite things, words that reference places that are important to you, words that evoke a special memory, song titles, pet names, favorite foods, etc.

Here are some of our suggestions for making a successful poetry kit:

1. Using your computer word-processing software, select an easily readable typeface in a large point size. (We used 24-point Helvetica.)

2. Make the line spacing at least 1.5 or double spaced so you’ll have room above and below to cut.

3. Type in your words. Put 3 or 4 spaces between each word, and hit return when you reach the end of each line to avoid hyphenations.

4. Be sure to include a mix of nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Then add some suffixes like ly, ing, ed, and s to give your poet more flexibility. Don’t forget to add plenty of articles, conjunctions, pronouns (especially I, you, me, we, us!) and prepositions: words like the, it, in, my, your, over, up, on, out, of, for, from, a, an . . . without those little in-between words it can be hard to make sentences!

5. Print out and cut up, following the instructions above.

Now . . . start making beautiful poetry together!

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P.S. If you make these, we would love to see some of your poems! Email us at laurat (at) mothering.com

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Magnet set created and photographed by Melyssa Holik

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For Valentine’s Day: Paper Doll Bookmarks (with fabulous hair)

February 6th, 2011

two-bookmarks

Next up in Mel and Laura’s Several Fabulous Things You Can Make for V-Day Project: paper dolls!

But not just any paper dolls. These paper people have long lovely locks like Rapunzel—or any number of pro football players these days—to help your favorite reader mark his or her place.

(To download a printable PDF of these instructions and templates, click here.)

What you’ll needboy-bookmark

scissors
colored paper (card stock is preferable, needs to be sturdy enough to handle being handled a lot)
hole-puncher (to make small round holes for yarn hair to go through)
needlepoint needle (or one with a big eye, anyway)
yarn
glue stick

1. Download the PDF included here. Print out the paper doll pattern from the PDF—or create one of your own.

2. Place pattern on back side of a piece of colored card stock. Using a pencil, lightly trace around pattern.

3. Cut paper doll out of colored paper.

4. Using hole-puncher, punch holes into the top of the head.

5. Using a needlepoint needle, thread yarn through first hole. Pull yarn so that an equal amount is on each side of the hole. Cut yarn. Tie knots at both ends of the yarn (so that yarn “hair’ doesn’t slide out of the hole). Thread yarn through the next hole; repeat until paper doll has a head full of hair.

green-kid6. Cut a short piece of yarn to use as a hair tie. Tie it around the pieces of yarn hair.

7. Using scraps of colored paper, cut out other shapes to glue onto the paper doll: a heart, flowers, clothing for the doll, words, etc. (You can use the shapes we’ve provided in the PDF as templates.) This is also a fun way to use little decorative bits you might have left over from other projects, like the flower I used in the photo on the right.

8. On the back of the paper doll, write a short note or Valentine’s Day message.* Don’t forget to include the date.

*Some (perhaps corny, but hey! It’s Valentine’s Day!) possibilities:
• You wrote the book on being a good friend.
• Read between the lines: I like you.
• Valentine, you can read me like a book!
• You’re a best-seller, in my book.
• Being with you is a real page-turner.
• Valentine, my love for you is no fiction.

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For Valentine’s Day: OMG Truffles

February 4th, 2011

truffles-low-resAnd. . . we’re off! On the Mel and Laura’s Several Fabulous Things You Can Make for V-Day Project, that is.

First up: Truffles. And not just any truffles. These are dairy-free and nut-free, sure, but they don’t taste like they’re lacking a thing. Heavenly stuff. We made them recently for our March-April Peggy’s Kitchen article (which features special treats for kids with food sensitivities) and we could not believe how good these were.

Don’t be daunted by the photo. We’re here to tell you these are not hard to make. And once you’ve mixed up the ingredients and let them chill, rolling the dough into little balls is just the kind of thing a child can help with.

This recipe was created by Mothering contributor Ginger Park, whose son, Justin, has dairy and nut allergies. (To download a printable PDF of the recipe, click here.)

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Justin’s Five-Star Truffles, recipe by Ginger Park

I wanted to create a chocolate truffle as velvety as the real thing so that I could watch my child do what our customers do: close his eyes and go “Mmmm . . .”

16 ounces dairy-free semisweet chocolate or chips
2/3  cup Silk Creamer (soy)
6 tablespoons soy butter (butter substitute), room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3  cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Optional Chocolate Shell

16 ounces dairy-free semisweet chocolate or chips

In large glass microwavable bowl, combine chocolate and Silk Creamer. Microwave 2 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Add soy butter and vanilla, and continue to whisk until velvety. Pour mixture into 13-by-9-by 2-inch glass baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least four hours.

In small bowl, combine cocoa powder and cinnamon. With either a 1-inch cookie drop and mini ice cream scoop or a 1-inch melon baller greased with soy butter, form 1-inch balls. (After you scoop up the mixture, roll it into a ball in your palm.) Roll each ball in cocoa-cinnamon mixture (omit this step if adding chocolate shell). They’re ready to eat—or store in airtight container in freezer or refrigerator.

Chocolate Shell: Melt chocolate chips in double boiler, stirring occasionally, until velvety smooth. Remove top pot of warmed chocolate. One at a time, using fork or fingers, dip chilled truffle balls into chocolate, shake off excess, then set on cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Chill in refrigerator 15 minutes.

(For an extra-fancy look, after dipping the balls into the melted chocolate, we sprinkled some truffles with nonpareils and drizzled others with melted, dairy-free white chocolate. For a professional-looking white chocolate drizzle,  Mel couldn’t find her pastry bag, so she filled a plastic sandwich bag with the melted white chocolate, then poked a tiny hole in the bag and carefully squeezed out a thin stream in a decorative pattern across the truffle.)

Dusted Cocoa Topping: Put 1/3  cup cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon cinnamon into large ziplock bag. Place truffles in bag, then gently shake until covered with cocoa powder. Ready to eat, or store as directed above.

Makes 45 truffles.

Photo and truffle styling by Melyssa Holik

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listen up, kids: here’s what we’re gonna do

February 4th, 2011

tastingSo, the other day, Mel (staff photographer Melyssa Holik) and I were just hanging around, shooting the breeze, sprawled out on the bouncy balls we use for desk chairs and stretching breaks, staring up at the ceiling and asking each other those age old questions: “What do you want to do?” “I don’t know. . . . what do you want to do?” “I don’t know; what do you want to do?” . . .

Not really, of course. We’re still working on the March-April issue, so we’re not exactly at a loss for entertainment. But, lately when we’re avoiding work (and not playing Nerf basketball or using our Procrastination Spitball Dart Pad or making up haikus with our nifty Haikube set), we’ve been talking about how much we enjoy our Peggy’s Kitchen shoots* each issue—and how we can bring more of that fun to the Mothering website.

In that spirit, Mel and I have decided to use this blog space as an occasional forum (and showcase, if we’re successful!) for our crafty creative efforts. This month, we’ve come up with some things we think it might be fun to make for Valentine’s Day, and we’ll be blogging about them here.

Stay tuned. . .

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P.S. Thanks to the magic of modern-day technology, I’m able to stop by from the future with links to the projects that we will be doing, er DID:

Bag Some Sweets for your Sweetie

OMG Truffles

Paper Doll Bookmarks (with fabulous hair!)

Love Poetry Magnet Kits

Snow Globes

Fun and Easy Felt Necklaces

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*The ones where we make and shoot the recipes ourselves, with the help of the Mothering staff, then put out all the dishes for a staff tasting and review. Really wonderful staff bonding time over yummy new dishes and lively stories.

Photo: Since I don’t have any shots of Mel and me lying around aimlessly, here’s one from the last Peggy’s Kitchen staff tasting. (I believe that in this photo, staffers were discussing the merits of Managing Editor Melissa Chianta’s choice not to measure out the chocolate chips that went into the wonderfully chocolatey brownies—but to “just throw them all in.”)

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been meaning to post about this for weeks!

February 3rd, 2011

spitball-dartboardThe Procrastination Spitball Dartpad Mel (staffer Melyssa Holik) gave me for Christmas.

Way yonder more excuses and distractions (suggestions run the gamut from “go for a coffee run” to “walk in circles”) than Mel and Melissa (Managing Editor Melissa Chianta) and I need in the office. But, boy, it’s brought us a lot of laughs. And direction, of sorts.

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