Saving packing paper for later projects

I spent a little time today rolling packing paper that came in a package. I am imagining all the future projects I can use this paper for.

We can decorate it for wrapping paper.
Potato print on it
Conventional stamp on it
Fish or leaf print on it
Fold it into giant airplanes
Plain old draw or print on it
Make forts with it
The list goes on…
Here’s to the wonders of creative play.

cheezy playdate pretzel

It seems like we have been having unending play dates. My son is on number 4 for this week. And it’s only Wednesday. He also enjoys epic play dates. Today’s is scheduled from 3:30 to 8, plus we had some much welcome drop in’s. Ever since I read Kingsolver’s local food book, I have wanted to try making pizza from scratch. But my son requested play date pretzels. So I did both. But I added cheese to the pretzels for extra protein and lowered the baking heat so the cheese wouldn’t burn. I think these would be really good dipped in the pizza sauce.

Materials:
1 cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 ¾ cups sifted organic whole wheat pastry flour
2 tablespoon soft butter
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup shredded cheese
Parchment paper

Directions:
In large bowl combine water, yeast and sugar
Let sit until dissolved
Add 1 ½ cup flour, butter and salt
Mix until combined
Add cheese
Stir in remaining flour
Kneed until dough loses stickiness
Add more flour if necessary
Transfer to greased bowl and let rise until at least 2 time size (at lease ½ hour)
Punch down and divide into 12 pieces.
Arrange into pleasing shapes
Place parchment paper on baking sheets
Place pretzels on parchment paper
Let rise until 2 times size (sometimes I skip this depending on how hungry they are)
Preheat oven to 425
Bake until crispy and browned, about 8-10 minutes.
Cool a few minute and serve.
Keep leftovers in airtight container for up to 1 week.

More recycled stuffed animals

I haven’t had time to do much this week. Don’t really know where the week went. But poof it’s gone. So here are some stuffed animals I made to keep my piggy company. The little owl is super easy.
Here’s hoping for a more creative week next week.

Recycled sweater pot holder

I whipped these up yesterday after burning my hands yet again with my 5 year old cotton pot holders. They are super easy and pretty sophisticated. I was going to appliqué some cute fabric on them, but ran out of time. You may have seen me stitching them together at the playground…












Don’t think any heat will make it through 2 layers of felted wool.


Materials:
Felted sweaters – old favorite or thrift store
Wool yarn
Tapestry needle

Directions:
Cut 2 - 8” squares or circles of felted wool.
Place wrong sides together and blanket stitch together.
Crotchet stitched the loop and secured by wrapping yarn through.

Meadowbrook Pond

This week was Mid-winter break for my son’s school, so I didn’t have time to do anything creative… But here is a fun worksheet I just made for his class field trip. So if you are ever in the Meadowbrook pond area, check it out.
Meadowbrook Pond is located on 35th Avenue NE, between NE 107th and 110th Streets, across from the Meadowbrook Community Center.
It is a flood control and water quality project in the heart of northeast Seattle. This new park-like facility is built on the site of the former Lake City Sewage Treatment Plant, and was completed in March 1998 by Seattle Public Utilities.

Recycled sweater pig

I saw something similar on another blog. I really wanted to make one. I spent hours looking for a pattern and finally decided to try making one myself.

I also want to try lengthening the nose and widening the ears to make an elephant.

Go to Two kitties to see how close I came.

It’s great, like a small pillow made from a felted recycled sweater.

Materials:
Felted sweater
Batting
Sewing machine
Matching thread
Had sewing needle

Directions:
Cut out pattern
Sew ears and tail first
Fold ear lengthwise and stitch across raw edge
Attach ears to body through small holes
Sew body together
Leave nose open
Turn right side out
Stuff through the nose
Be sure to disperse batting nicely
Hand stitch nostril detail
Hand stitch nose onto body

Recycled shipping paper fort

I received a package in the mail the other day. My son ran over to open it. He usually swipes the bags of air and jumps on them to pop them. But this time there was 6 ft or so of brown paper crumpled up. His eyes lit up and he grabbed the tape dispenser and went to work.

Materials:
6 ft or so of packing paper
Plenty of tape
Creativity

Directions:
Tape paper together until it looks right!

When asked, my son first says it is a boat, then a fort, hideout, bag, or a place to keep candy. Wow and he thought it all up himself.