burn, reflect, dispel
darkness be gone; circles drawn,
rings, orbits of light
orbit
by Angie Quantrell
Welcome to Happy Hump Day Haiku Challenge: orbit. Enjoy mid-week frivolities by sharing a haiku poem. Happy day!
Category Archives: Homemade
Annual Gingerbread House Decorating
The grands are getting older, and therefore much more able to decorate gingerbread houses. For the older two, decorating is the goal instead of consuming vast amounts of sugar from the icing and candy. The younger three, well, sugar is the main goal.
Nana got smart this year and combined gingerbread house decor with Thanksgiving Dinner and Smashing of the Pumpkins. Once December hits, the schedule goes from zero to 100 mph and Christmas festivities cut into my attempts to gather all 5 for my Nana tradition. This seemed the best bet. Plus, a good meal was had, so some sugar was counter-balanced with turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy.
Before and after shots of grands and houses.
Tips for Your Gingerbread House Decorating:
*Gingerbread kits can be found in all variety of sizes, configurations, and number of homes included. Coupons and sales abound in a variety of stores. I found one set with 5 homes. Done. 5 grands equals 5 homes. Though I think some parents wanted to participate. Maybe next year I will need 2 sets.
*Hot glue houses together. This saves tons of time and keeps the houses steady for little hands. And who really eats gingerbread houses anyway?
*Cover cardboard with foil and tape to secure. Hot glue houses to foil. These bases provide plenty of room for landscaping and home decor.
*Purchase cake decorating pieces like our Christmas lights and snowmen. The grands loved adding them to their houses.
*Use tub frosting. The royal icing is soooo stiff, only the oldest 3 could manage to add it to their houses with the tube included in the kit. Soft frosting is just fine for adhering candy.
*Give each child his/her own plate with treats, decorations, a plastic knife, and a glob of icing. If they lick the knife (safe to lick, plastic!), it’s their own germs they eat.
*Limit sugar consumption by making sure home decorators have first eaten a meal. Divvy up candy between all involved decorators, thereby spreading the (sugar) wealth.
*Take lots of photos! Who knows what will happen once the houses go to their respective homes!
*Have fun! Messes are expected, so don’t worry about the small stuff. Everything washes off with a wash cloth.
Merry Christmas and Happy Traditions to You! Happy Gingerbread House Decorating!
Smashing Pumpkins (2nd Annual)
The pumpkins were frozen solid, as was our turkey, on Thanksgiving Day. This made for an invigorating hunt for fresh turkey to cook for the main event. It also made for challenging smashing of the pumpkins.
Overall, smashing pumpkins this year was a bust. 😉 Only 2 large carving pumpkins were hollow enough to smash when tossed. One rotten butternut succumbed to smashing by foot. All other squash, regardless of variety, bounced upon re-entry to gravity-meets-earth. Add to this recipe of disappointment, drenching buckets of rain descended on this, the 2nd Annual Smashing Pumpkins event. Rain and icy cold temperatures. Bah-humbug.
Still, there is hope. The next warm day (will there be one before spring?), more attempts will be made to roll, toss, and smash the pumpkin stash. In hopes that next summer, the pumpkin fairy will deliver bounties of new beauties.
Until next Thanksgiving Day, have a wonderful winter, dreaming of sugar pie pumpkins and dancing jack-ô-lanterns.
Toasty warm wishes to you!
Sewing in an RV
The RV life. Let’s just agree that certain jobs, chores, and hobbies require flexibility, working in tiny spaces, and unimaginable chaos.
For instance, for my birthday I thought I’d sew my new flannel nightgown. I used to wear flannel nightgowns all the time, compliments of my mommy. I loved those gowns and wore them to rags. Once I could sew, I made a nightshirt version of nightgown, easy to sew, roomy, comfy. And I wore those to rags. I haven’t had a flannel nightgown for at least a decade, as menopause negated any desire for cozy pajamas.
But now, sensing the end is in sight (of hot flashes and general always-hot flashes), I found a very cute woodland animal flannel when shopping for my soon-to-be-born nephew and decided I needed a matching (to his quilt) flannel nightshirt.
The fun begins when one makes the choice to sew. In an RV. Steps for me included:
-clear the table (dining room, office, rec room, living room)
-clear counters for work space
-wash the fabric (next door in the Quantrell community laundry room)
-dig out the sewing machine, mini ironing board, iron, tub of sewing supplies (stored beneath the bed)
-set up sewing machine and accoutrements on table
-use TV tray for extra work space
-postpone any plans for cooking, relaxing, or doing any other sort of work until completion of project
Of course, this is just setting up. As I worked on my new jammies, I had to creatively fight my foot around the table leg to work the foot pedal. I had to iron carefully, as the top of the board plus the iron totaled more than available space before hitting the stove hood. The table is not wide enough to contain all the fabric, so slippage from the table made me use all hands to control, hold fabric, and press controls. Putting in snaps required a trip to the shop for a hammer and working on the floor with the wooden cutting board. I only broke one snap and put one on backwards. Haha! Besides ironing something that was not supposed to be ironed (thereby melting it to the iron), everything went pretty smoothly.
The news is not all dire. In such a tiny space, the TV and Hallmark Channel are a mere 5 feet away. Normally, I’d be watching my Seahawks, but since they won Thursday night, they had the day off. So Christmas frivolity and cozy romance played as background to my stitching adventures. The kitchen is at my back, so snacks and drinks are literally within arms’ reach. Benefits are to be had when living in an RV.
Et voila! New jammies!
Takeaway: You can do anything you want in an RV. Just know creativity, perseverance, and patience are key.
What challenging hobbies (chores, tasks, work) have you done in an RV or small space? Not in an RV? What fun hobbies to you enjoy?
Happy Hump Day Haiku Challenge: frost
delicate layers
frozen silk, icicle strands
spider roost hoar frost
frost
by Angie Quantrell
I LOVE hoar frost! Magical frozen icing drapes every day scenes with cold lace. I also realize hoar frost drops the temperatures to triple cold. But take pictures, I will, frozen fingers or not.
How about you? Write a haiku about cold weather and share with us. Happy Hump Day!
Fun Friday: Have My Cake, Will Eat It Too!
My mama gave me my birthday cake yesterday. Now it’s up to me to bake it and eat it.
This family joke began years ago when my elegantly aging sweet mama just couldn’t get the energy to bake my baby brother a cake. So I told her she should just give him a cake mix box and the frozen strawberries (strawberry shortcake) and let him make it himself.
That’s become the norm for many birthday occasions, and it’s perfect for me. And we laugh and enjoy the shared memories and fun. Stress is taken from my mama, she doesn’t have to worry about baking a cake, and she can just love on us as only mamas can.
Do you have any funny family traditions? Share in the comment section. Thanks! Have a wonderful day!
Toddler Tuesday: Pumpkin Spice Play Dough
Fall and pumpkin season are my absolute favorites! So the other day when I had the urge to provide a fun activity for my two youngest grands (2 and 3 years-old), it was time to knead up a batch of orange, pumpkin spice play dough. This recipe is my old standby, perfect for adapting to any season.
Pumpkin Spice Play Dough
In a large heat-proof bowl, mix:
3 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 T. oil (baby oil is nice, but vegetable oil is fine, too)
1 T. powdered alum
1 T. pumpkin spice powder
Boil 3 cups of water. Before measuring boiling water, add orange food coloring to measuring cup. Add water. Quickly pour 3 cups boiling water over ingredients in bowl. Use a wooden spoon to stir until dough cools slightly.
Immediately dump dough onto table. It’s hot, but for best results, knead while hot. It will cool off fast enough. It may be sticky while hot, but will knead together nice and smooth. I sprinkled a little bit more of the pumpkin spice on the dough as I kneaded. It smelled so good!
As soon as the dough is well-mixed and cool enough to be safe for young hands, it’s time to play. I have a tub of different play dough tools and toys. I’m not exaggerating when I say my two toddlers were occupied for over 30 minutes. It would have been longer, but we had to leave to get big brother.
Store cooled play dough in a covered play dough container. I love the Costco cottage cheese containers best.
You’re welcome. 😉
Monday Moments: It’s Not a Mistake that the Word “Attitude” is a Part of “Gratitude”
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
– William Arthur Ward
I am guilty of wrapping presents and not giving them.
My mind is a busy place. I often have thoughts of love, gratitude, appreciation, and joy towards others, but my mouth forgets to open to let those words out! My mind might feel it, but others need to hear it.
November’s theme seems to be thankfulness. Gratitude. Appreciation. So let’s do it, speak words (text, email) of thankfulness, gratitude, and appreciation.
To you, I am so very thankful for you! I appreciate you as readers and followers of this blog, your comments on posts, our shared life adventures. Thank you!
I am grateful for a kind rejection letter I just received. The answer was still no, but a kind no is better than no answer or an ugly no.
I am grateful for my honey, best friend, co-conspirator in life. So thankful.
I am grateful for our practice in living in a tiny home. RV living is tiny living. We have just the perfect layout and features needed to keep us cozy, sheltered, and productive.
I am grateful for my health. Both of us are blessed. Thanks to God Almighty!
I am grateful for my family and friends. Life is richer, deeper, more better. 🙂 Life without you would be washed out and flat. I like the colorful 3D life with you.
It’s not a mistake that the word “attitude” is a part of “gratitude.” Adopt an attitude of gratitude and speak words of gratitude today.
Fun Friday Cereal Necklace
What craft can you make and eat at the same time?
Circle cereal necklaces!
Materials: yarn, tape, circle cereal, scissors
1. Cut a generous length of yarn that will fit easily over heads.
2. About 4 inches from end, thread and tie a piece of cereal in place to keep cereal loops from falling off the end. On the opposite end, form a needle by tightly wrapping tape around the yarn and cutting off the tip at an angle.
Tip: For really young crafters, I love to tape the end of the yarn to the table. This keeps the necklace from falling off the table and helps them know which end to use.
3. Fill a bowl with circle cereal loops. Show how to thread cereal on the necklace, pushing it down to the knotted cereal. Let crafters add as many cereal loops as they want. I always tell them they get to eat the broken ones!
4. Tie the ends together and trim off the ends. Ready to wear! Snack on the go.
For older crafters, use colored cereal circles and challenge them to create a pattern as they make necklaces.
SAFETY: ALWAYS remove necklaces before sleeping or playing on playground equipment.
Happy Hump Day Haiku Challenge: 31 October
autumn’s pumpkin king!
here today, cooked tomorrow;
commence with slaughter
by Angie Quantrell
good-bye 31 of October, hello 1 November!
Besides pumpkin delicacies, what are you looking forward to in November? We’d love to read your haiku! Or just your comment. But you could write your comment in 5-7-5 syllable format! That would be fun. 😉 Also, it would be haiku.
Love, Laughter, and Life 