Handmade Card Swap Part 3

Well, we have now received all 10 of our handmade card swaps and they are all lovely.  It is soooo nice to have a mantelpiece full of homemade cards.  In fact, this year we haven't even put up any non-homemade cards cos they spoil the effect ;-).  It was good to read about other families and their Christmas traditions, including those in the States, Australia, Canada, South Africa and some Scots living in France.  We will also steal some ideas for next year's cards of course![gallery columns="4"]

Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Cake

Lots of people have asked me for this recipe so here it is:



Ingredients

390g gluten free plain flour

440g brown sugar

6 tbsp cocoa powder

2tsps baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

500ml sweetened soya milk

185ml sunflower oil

2 tbsp cider vinegar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1.  Grease 23cm round deep cake tin, line base.  Preheat oven to 180C/ 350F/Gas Mk 4

2. Mix together all the dry ingredients.  When well mixed, mix in the wet ingredients and beat until there are no lumps

3.  Cook for about 40 mins until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.

4.  When it's cool, make whatever fancy icing you want for the top or cheat, like I do, and use dairy free chocolate spread!

ENJOY!

Let me know if you make it and you like it, and feel free to share any fancy icing recipes that you make to go on the top :-)

Ancient Egypt Project

The last month or two, we have been "doing" Ancient Egypt.  We have:

• made a potato mummy - we cut a vaguely human shape out of a slice of potato, covered it with a mixture of bicarbonate of soda and salt and left for two weeks in a sealed container.  The potato shrinks and blackens and goes a bit yucky.  You can then wrap it in bandages and voila you have your mummy.  If you were really brave you might try this with a chicken :-).  My recommendation would be to use a pretty big potato cos it is surprising how much it shrinks!
  
  [caption id="attachment_126" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Potato Mummy - Before"][/caption]
  
  [caption id="attachment_127" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Potato Mummy - After"][/caption]
  
  
  

• made reed boats from bendy straws

• made and played a game of Senet, making a board from rigid cardboard and counters out of air drying clay

• learned how the Egyptians prepared bodies for mummifcation by playing this game on the BBC History site


• played lots of games of Tutan Loot 'Em (a fabulous board game made by Orchard Toys)


• made Pharoah's crowns

• coloured in lots of Egyptian pictures


• painted a life sized (well, Waif sized!) Ancient Egyptian man

• 

Handmade Card Swap Part 2

Here's some more cards the boys have made.  We should have enough for the handmade card swap and some of the family too.

We cut out candle shapes from different coloured paper then made the flames using some gummed paper I discovered lurking in our box of papers.  I think they came out really well - a bit funkier than your average Christmas card :-)

 

Book Sharing Monday - I Dreamt I Was a Dinosaur

This is a gorgeous book.  Not only does it tell a very readable tale of a boy who dreamt he was a dinosaur, written in a rhythmically repetitive way (perfect for a bedtime story) but the illustrations are totally beautiful.  They are all embroidered with felt, sequins, buttons etc so are an absolute joy to look at, especially for stitchy mums and dads and their offspring!  We *heart* Barefoot Books.

Handmade Card Swap

This year, we have decided to join in with the Handmade Card Swap over at Kids Craft Weekly.  The idea is that the boys make 10 Christmas cards which we send off to 10 other kids and we should get 10 cards in return.  Today has been windy and wintry, so it seemed as good a time as any to get started.  My fabric scrap bag is overflowing, so donated some to make some collage Christmas trees.  They started out quite tasteful and minimalist... but then out came the glitter :-)

Upcycling a School Uniform

I am thrilled to report that Gman has made his first project on the sewing machine!  He made a beanbag using a scrap of fabric rescued from an old school polo shirt.  As you can see he is very proud and rightly so :-)  Will have him making Morsbags before you know it!

[caption id="attachment_89" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Gman shows off his beanbag!"][/caption]

Family Drawing Time

Inspired by my latest library book, The Creative Family, we have decided to start having a weekly Family Drawing Time, after dinner on a Sunday.  The idea is that the whole family sit down together to do a drawing and each week we will have a different "theme".  Gman made the first week's choice, which was Monsters.

I must admit, drawing has never been my "thing" as you will probably see from the drawing I did, lol.  However, I really want the family to have some creative time together and see that it's all about doing your best, having a try and seeing how it turns out.  We will keep the pictures together in a folder and look back and see how much we improve over time - at least that's the idea!

Both boys really enjoyed the session, and so did Mummy and Daddy :-).  Here are the pictures we drew:

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="Gman's monsters"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Waif's monsters"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="Dad's monster"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Mum's monster"][/caption]

Waif has chosen next week's theme - Flowers - watch this space!

More Cotton Bud Art

Inspired by the cotton bud skeleton we made a week or two ago, we decided to have a go at making a cotton bud firework picture and it came out pretty well.

First of all, we cut the cotton buds into different sizes (they ping everywhere and you will be finding them in strange places for days).  Next we set out three pots of water and added food dye and glitter (we only had yellow, red and green dyes but I think blue would work well) and then dipped the cotton buds into these, setting them out on paper plates to dry overnight.

[gallery]

The next morning we took a large sheet of black contstruction paper and started sticking them into firework shapes.  To help Waif work out the direction, we drew a dot in the middle of each one.  Once they were all stuck, we painted strips of glue around and sprinkled generous amounts of glitter around.  The results are pretty striking!

Edible Education

This week, we have mostly been cooking (and eating :-))

Both boys helped make our family's famous lentil soup recipe.  Granny was quite impressed when she came round and saw the production line going - Waif peeling carrots, me chopping them into strips then Gman dicing them!  This soup is dead easy to make, very healthy, gluten and dairy free, vegetarian and really, really delicious.  Here's the recipe:



Easy Lentil Soup (serves 4-6)


150g lentils

1 onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and diced

2 tins chopped tomatoes

1.2 litres vegetable stock

1 tbsp cumin powder

1 tsp garam masala

Chuck it all in a massive pan, bring it to the boil, then cook until the lentils are cooked and the carrots are as soft as you like them (about 30-40 minutes depending on how finely you dice the carrots).




Waif was also keen to help with the roasted vegetables for dinner and spent some time carefully arranging them in the roasting tin until they were "just right".  He then insisted on taking a photograph so here they are:



Granny also brought us round some fantastic looking cooking apples from the market.  There were only 2, but they were pretty massive so probably about a pound in weight, maybe even more.  Fancying a change from the usual apple crumble, we made this pudding and it went down a treat:



Gluten Free Casein Free Almond Apple Pudding

1lb cooking apples, stewed in a little caster sugar

2oz golden caster sugar

2oz dairy free margarine

2oz ground almonds

1 egg, beaten

1. Cream the butter and sugar together, then beat in the ground almonds.


2. Beat the egg into the almond mixture.


3. Place the stewed apples into an ovenproof dish.


4. Spoon the almond mixture over the top of the apples.


5. Bake at Gas Mark 4/350F/180C for about 25-35 mins until the top is lightly set and golden.

Book Sharing Monday - Walking Through the Jungle

This is a lovely book.  Waif would borrow it from the library until he had renewed it the maximum number of times, take it back, then a couple of weeks later he would choose it again!  So we were thrilled to go to the monthly book sale one day and find that it was for sale for the princely sum of 20p.  Woohoo!!

The story is written in a repetitive, rhythmic style with a different animal "chasing after me" each page.  This makes it easy for your child to join in, even if they aren't reading yet.  And it's fun to try and remember which animal comes on the next page.



The illustrations are beautiful and colourful.  Oh - and there's a happy ending, because all the animals come together at the end to sit down for a meal.



I thoroughly recommend this book for your 2-5 year olds.

Home Ed Anniversary

It's a year today since Gman left school - a whole year of home educating - and what a year it's been!

We've learned all sorts between us, made some fabulous new friends and generally had a ball.  Sure, there have been moments of doubt and frustration but overall, it's been the best decision we ever made.  I only wish we had done it earlier.

Home Ed Rocks!

Cotton Bud Skeleton

A rainy day today and the boys settled down to watch Mister Maker this morning.  They were both keen to make the cotton bud skeleton featured on today's show, and here it is, in progress and complete:

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="240" caption="Waif does some rib sticking"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="240" caption="Gman putting together the pelvis"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="180" caption="The boys are pleased with their skeleton"][/caption]

If  you are trying this at home, watch out for cotton buds pinging round the room when you are cutting them!  Waif was particularly pleased when one cotton bud tip ended up caught in a spider's web (ooh, does that give away my lack of housewifely skills?!) and wondered if the spider would be pleased and try to eat it!

For full instructions, you can watch the Mister Maker episode on iPlayer here.

Star Wars Come Dancing

Gman has been working on an interesting new Lego concept, integrating two of his latest interests - Star Wars and Strictly Come Dancing!  He has built a dance studio complete with set of four judges (who include a Storm Trooper and Ewok amongst their numbers) and couples dancing include Princess Leia with Han Solo (of course).  He is planning a series of animations around this.  Here's a still from the first one he has photographed:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="First couple await comments from the judges"][/caption]

Blogger v Wordpress

Well, I gave Blogger a try...but I prefer Wordpress so here I am with my blog posts safely imported from Blogger.  I like the fact that I can put my pictures where I want them, I can see who is visiting the blog from where and I just generally find it much easier to use.  Only thing is, I don't know how to get buttons down the sidebar - can anyone help with that?

Blogger versus Wordpress

Well, I've tried out this blog on Blogger, but have to say I prefer Wordpress. It's not as pretty but it's easier to use (I can easily place pictures where I want them!) and I like the stats...so I've moved the blog here:

http://homedible.wordpress.com/

Please visit :-)

More Autumn Leaves

Waif's enthusiasm for furnishing the autumn table knows no bounds! He has coloured in a beautiful little "My Autumn Book" printed from the Crayola website (coloured so neatly, I accused his Dad of having coloured it!) and we had a go at making paper bag autumn leaves from this tutorial. Both boys enjoyed splodging the paint onto the flattened paper bag, but also particularly enjoyed swirling the paint colours together, which is how ours have ended up with considerably more red in the mix than Creative Kismet's! As predicted, the boys did lose some enthusiasm when it came to painstakingly cutting autumn leaf shapes out of the ensuing pretty coloured bag so that was left to Mummy ;-). Rather than make a garland, Waif has stuck our leaves all around the fireplace and they look rather nice, although he has presented them rather more uniformly than I might have liked (all of one shape on the left side, another shape at the top, other shape on the right!) Where did he get such an orderly mind?!

More Autumn Leaves

Waif's enthusiasm for furnishing the autumn table knows no bounds! He has coloured in a beautiful little "My Autumn Book" printed from the Crayola website (coloured so neatly, I accused his Dad of having coloured it!) and we had a go at making paper bag autumn leaves from this tutorial. Both boys enjoyed splodging the paint onto the flattened paper bag, but also particularly enjoyed swirling the paint colours together, which is how ours have ended up with considerably more red in the mix than Creative Kismet's! As predicted, the boys did lose some enthusiasm when it came to painstakingly cutting autumn leaf shapes out of the ensuing pretty coloured bag so that was left to Mummy ;-). Rather than make a garland, Waif has stuck our leaves all around the fireplace and they look rather nice, although he has presented them rather more uniformly than I might have liked (all of one shape on the left side, another shape at the top, other shape on the right!) Where did he get such an orderly mind?!

Seasonal Table

This last week has involved lots of craft projects for the seasonal table. Waif has been particularly enthusiastic about this. "What can we make for the autumn table now, mummy?" being the refrain of the week!

Here's a snapshot of the table in progress. We have woollen apples (instructions here), an autumn-themed magic wand, a kitchen roll tube autumn tree, painted stencil autumn leaves, a tissue-paper paper plate apple and various items collected on nature walks.

As well as these, this morning we have made an autumn leaf sun catcher to hang in the window. Waif laid the leaves on a sheet of sticky back plastic, added red and gold glitter, then we pressed another sheet of the plastic on top. This is hanging in the window by an orange ribbon and looks lovely when the sun shines through.

Seasonal Table

This last week has involved lots of craft projects for the seasonal table. Waif has been particularly enthusiastic about this. "What can we make for the autumn table now, mummy?" being the refrain of the week!

Here's a snapshot of the table in progress. We have woollen apples (instructions here), an autumn-themed magic wand, a kitchen roll tube autumn tree, painted stencil autumn leaves, a tissue-paper paper plate apple and various items collected on nature walks.

As well as these, this morning we have made an autumn leaf sun catcher to hang in the window. Waif laid the leaves on a sheet of sticky back plastic, added red and gold glitter, then we pressed another sheet of the plastic on top. This is hanging in the window by an orange ribbon and looks lovely when the sun shines through.

Book Sharing Monday - King Rollo's Autumn

Thought this was a wonderfully seasonal book to share (and another David McKee classic!)

You can read the text of the book here.

Our favourite line of the book is the observation from King Rollo that "Trees are funny. They take off their clothes, just when people are putting on more".

We also have the spring, summer and winter books and will probably be sharing these in future posts!

Book Sharing Monday - King Rollo's Autumn

Thought this was a wonderfully seasonal book to share (and another David McKee classic!)

You can read the text of the book here.

Our favourite line of the book is the observation from King Rollo that "Trees are funny. They take off their clothes, just when people are putting on more".

We also have the spring, summer and winter books and will probably be sharing these in future posts!

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

Well, a birthday wouldn't be complete without a chocolate cake would it?!

Gluten Free Chocolate Sandwich Cake

60z margarine
6oz caster sugar
couple of drops of vanilla essence
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
6oz gluten free plain flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
3 tablespoons rice milk
chocolate spread to stick it all together

1. Preheat oven to 170C. Grease and line two 8" sandwich tins.
2. Cream together the margarine, sugar and vanilla.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the rest of the ingredients.
4. Divide between tins, bake for approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

We make this cake quite a bit, as it's easy to remember the ingredients (6oz of everything - 666!), it takes minutes to whip up, and it tastes pretty good. Normally, we just sandwich it together with chocolate spread in the middle, then dust the top with icing sugar but for a special occasion and extra gooey-ness, we put the chocolate spread on the top and the middle. Yumyum. I particularly recommend Plamil's chocolate orange spread for this!

I think you could make this with ordinary wheat flour, but you wouldn't need the rice milk.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

Well, a birthday wouldn't be complete without a chocolate cake would it?!

Gluten Free Chocolate Sandwich Cake

60z margarine
6oz caster sugar
couple of drops of vanilla essence
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
6oz gluten free plain flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
3 tablespoons rice milk
chocolate spread to stick it all together

1. Preheat oven to 170C. Grease and line two 8" sandwich tins.
2. Cream together the margarine, sugar and vanilla.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the rest of the ingredients.
4. Divide between tins, bake for approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

We make this cake quite a bit, as it's easy to remember the ingredients (6oz of everything - 666!), it takes minutes to whip up, and it tastes pretty good. Normally, we just sandwich it together with chocolate spread in the middle, then dust the top with icing sugar but for a special occasion and extra gooey-ness, we put the chocolate spread on the top and the middle. Yumyum. I particularly recommend Plamil's chocolate orange spread for this!

I think you could make this with ordinary wheat flour, but you wouldn't need the rice milk.