Cleaning up 35 years of magazining is painful.

So, obviously, is saying goodbye to the fabulous Production Department trio we’ve* had the opportunity to be, back in the  golden days of yore** when we worked together to create a magazine.

So when Melissa stopped by last night, Mel and I stopped our cleaning and sighing, threw a CD (one I had found in a pile of old review submissions), Totally ’80s for Kids, into the computer, cranked up the volume, and danced our saddened hearts out.

P.S. For the record, I am not a fan of ’80s pop, but I have to admit it’s hard to beat for the post-apocalyptic office dance party. Thank you, Kool and the Gang.#

*Managing Editor Melissa Chianta, Staff Photographer/Ad Production Manger Melyssa Holik, and I

**i.e. as recently as the March-April issue, but the uncertainty of the future makes the charmed past seem so long ago

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The following is a guest post by Mothering’s Melissa Holik

As Laura and I were prepping for the “Green Clean” photo shoot, we sat down—as we usually do for these shoots—and made a shopping list of all the products from the article and how they might look together:

“Vinegar, that’s clear. Baking soda, white. We need some color. . . . OK . . . . flowers, maybe bright yellows and oranges? Gloves, can we can get some in green? Reusable dryer ball . . . uh . . . wait, what?”

Laura had never heard of such a thing. I had often eyed these reusable dryer balls in the stores, but I’d resisted getting them because I despise plastic. I tried in vain to describe the ones I’d seen: “Well, they’re like these pink and blue spiky balls of plastic . . . I don’t think they’re going to look so good with the rest of the colors.” Before making the final call, Laura wanted a visual. So, we did what we always do: Google it!

Our Google image search returned many shots of the blue spiky balls, but further down in the results were images of beautiful, soft, natural-looking balls. Intrigued, we clicked on one to find out more. That’s when we found out about the world of wool dryer balls. It’s difficult to convey just how excited I was about this discovery. (I know, I should get out more.) A natural and beautiful alternative to the plastic balls?!? And even better. . . something I could make?

The internet had a couple of different tutorials on how to make them. I was pumped. We added yarn to the shopping list, and I spent a Sunday afternoon happily assembling about a dozen of these balls in colors to coordinate with the rest of the photo shoot.  Here’s what I did:

Materials:
100% wool yarn
herbs (optional)
small crochet hook
old panty hose
non-wool string or yarn (small quantity)

1. Loop the yarn around 2 fingers. Loop it around several times.

2. Slide it off your fingers and grasp the loops firmly on one side. Here’s where you can add herbs if you like. I tried adding lavender and roses, and had kind of limited luck with it. It’s tricky but possible to accomplish,even with something as small and loose as lavender buds. Still, it’s a temporary scent, and you can always leave it out.

3. Pinch the loops and start wrapping yarn crosswise to make a stick shape. Fold the stick into a U shape and keep wrapping. It should be starting to look like a ball.

4. Keep wrapping the yarn around and around, turning the ball as you go to get even coverage all the way around.

5. When the ball is the size you’d like, use the crochet hook to pull the ends into the ball.

6. Place the balls in a cut-off old pair of panty hose and tie it off with the non-wool string.

7. Place the panty-hose-wrapped balls into the washing machine without other laundry and wash in HOT water. This will “felt” the balls and make them fuzzy.

Here’s where I ran in to some trouble. I’ve never felted anything before, so this part was new to me. According to the felting info I found online, sometimes you have to repeat the hot water wash several times. I felt like I was doing this FOREVER. I found one article that said adding baking soda would help, and it seemed to, a bit. But after a half dozen washings they still seemed sadly un-fuzzy. My partner suggested that I may have tied them too tightly in the hose, so I washed them a few more times outside the hose since they were already holding their shape pretty well. This tactic also seemed to help, a bit, but they still weren’t as fuzzy as I would like. I put them in the dryer, hoping they’d fuzz up some more in there. Which brings me to step 8. . .

8. Take them out of the hose and put them in the dryer to continue the felting process.

After several dryer cycles, I still would have liked them to be fuzzier, but I gave up and decided they were “good enough.”

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And there you have it! If you’re a knitter or crocheter, this would be a great project to use up little bits and pieces from your stash, so long as you only use 100% wool. If you don’t have scraps of yarn, you can buy wool and make them in any color you like. I still have the ones from the photo shoot, and they’re a cheerful spot of color in my otherwise fairly bleak laundry cupboard! —Melyssa Holik

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Photos taken by Melyssa Holik, Mothering‘s intrepid investigator on the DIY scene

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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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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

(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

Nothing says LOVE

(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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And. . . we’re off!

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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So, 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

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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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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(Haikus created by Melissa, Mel and me, with help from of the very fun Haikube set Peggy gave us)

A Vision for My Future

hero inside I
travel after grand fortune
happy wind woman

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dreaming glorious
a gorgeous light on my eyes
touches lofty ground

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#@&*#!! hellbent moonlight
it’s clamor which shines our heart
the riches bust wild

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As you might guess, some days in our office are more technically productive. Others are merely rich.

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