Shapes for the Birds

I have been making birdfood wreaths all summer, and recently decided to get the kids involved.  It is an easy five minute recipe with things that I usually have on hand, and the kids can get involved by pressing them into cookie cutters to make shapes.  Here is what you will need:

4 cups wild bird food
1/2 cup warm tap water
3 TB light corn syrup
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
3/4 cup flour
nonstick cooking spray
Wire whisk, large bowl, large wooden spoon
*If making a wreath, a bundt pan
*If making shapes, about 10-12 cookie cutters, and three disposable drinking straws, wax paper, and twine to hang them later.

First, in a large mixing bowl, whisk together the tap water and gelatin until the gelatin is roughly dissolved.  It doesn't have to be perfect, and will not dissolve into a "clear" state- that is ok.  Then whisk in corn syrup and flour.  It will be sort of like a thick glue consistency.  If you would like to make a wreath, spray the nonstick spray into a bundt pan, making sure to evenly coat the whole surface.  If you are making shapes, spray the inside surfaces of all of the cookie cutters.  Drop the four cups of birdfood into the gluey mixture and stir with the wooden spoon.  Make sure to really mix all the components through well- you will notice that all of the birdseed will look sticky when it is ready- no un-sticky seeds here!
Next, if you are making a wreath- easy peasy- pour the mixture into the (sprayed) bundt pan and press it down firmly.  If you are doing shapes as I had my kiddos do, lay two sheets of wax paper down on your surface (ours was the countertop).  Lay out your cookie cutters, and spoon large chunks of the birdfood glop into the shapes.  I sprayed the back sides of some spoons and let them press away.  They could also use their hands, but my oldest hates to get dirty (I know, totally weird) and also it sticks to anything not sprayed.  Try to fill up the cutters so that when they are all pressed, the top of the mixture is even and flat with the top of the cutters.
Once they are full and pressed down, cut the drinking straws into fourths, and insert them into the mold wherever you might want to place the hole to hang them.  No need to remove them at this point, just press them in, all the way to the bottom. 

Let these sit overnight.  In the morning push them out of the forms and onto a paper towel to dry further for a few more hours.  Also push the straw all the way through and then back out to create the hole to hang them. 

Once they are really hard, you are done.  String and hang!  A fun activity for the kids, and then they love to watch them get eaten.  On our example, I strung three together, but you can also hang them individually.  If doing a wreath, use a wide ribbon or strip of fabric to tie it up.

Homemade Baby Wipes/Makeup Removers

After spending tons of money on baby wipe refills in our local store, I decided to give the homemade baby wipes recipes a try.  Searching online I found many recipes and after some experimentation, have narrowed it down to a good recipe, not to toot my own horn.  Here is what I found that worked for me. 
Of course, when it comes to my babies, I had to keep sensitive skin in mind.  So the baby soap I used was one that we have tried and never had a reaction to.  Also, most recipes I have found call for baby oil, but since the slightest touch of baby oil on my own skin yields hives by the pound, I have never even used it on the kiddos, and steered way clear of the junk, opting instead for coconut oil, a natural and safe alternative that has many skin benefits. Off we go, then!
You will need coconut oil, baby wash, a  large sharp non-serrated knife, a roll of select-a-size paper towel, a large cutting board, water, a blender, and a waterproof easy seal container (you will see the one I used below, it worked out great.

Holding the roll of paper towel firmly on the cutting board, use the knife to cut the roll in half.  Be careful!  Also I might mention here that online it is suggested to use only Bounty paper towel, because all other kinds will fall apart.  I have found though that the quality of Target store brand select-a-size paper towels has been fantastic as well, not deteriorating at all, even after I had a batch stored for a week before using them.  So, in the interest of saving some dough, Target works well!

Zap one and a half teaspoons coconut oil in the micro for a couple seconds just until it is in liquid form, and drop that into the blender.  Add in one and a half teaspoons baby wash.  Finally to this mixture add two cups room temperature water.  Pulse this mixture three times- just enough to incorporate everything together evenly, but not enough to froth it. 
Place one half of the paper towel into your container, cut side down. 

Pour the mixture over the top of the paper towel, and seal the container.  Allow to stand for 30 minutes, or until the towel is soaked through. 

Open the container and pull the core out of the towel. 
Pull up the center towel and off you go!  These wipes can be used for baby bottoms or are a wonderful quick way to remove makeup in the evening before bed.

Pop-Up Shopping Bags

I have seen a few posts in blogs on how to better store those pesky shopping bags that you save from all the big bix stores.  Especially when they give you 47 bags when you have somehow only purchased 16 items.  One of the posts that caught my eye was one on how to roll your bags so that you can put them in a container and pull them out kinda like wipes, so that the next one pops up.  This is brilliant to me as I currently store them wadded up in a ginormous plastic bag hanging in a pantry- very unsightly and cumbersome.  Here is what happened on my kitchen floor after revealing the giant bag to my 2 year old.

A little brainstorming later, and here is what was born- pop up shopping bags, with recycled containers.  Here is what you will need.

• A plethora of plastic shopping bags.
• A coffee can and lid (or similar container as you will see in un momento.)
• a utility knife
• a ruler or object with a flat side (I used what was within reach- the backside of a lettuce knife)
• a flat surface to work on- a countertop or table will work just fine
• some time- the bags are a little time consuming, but the end product is a cool payoff

And away we go.

Step one:  Wash out the coffee can, remove the label, and make sure it is dry.  Moisture in the end product of this would not be good.

Step Two: Using a utility knife, carefully cut an X shape into the center on the top of the lid. (Works best if you put it back on the can.) :)  You're probably shooting for about an inch and a half cut.  And yes, I have American flag nails.  It is Independence Day after all.

Step three: OPTIONAL- Bling it out mod-podgy and red glitter gluey.

Step four:  Here is where the time factor comes in.  I sat down at the coffee table and watched Spiderman (3 to be specific) while doing this part.  Take each bag, smooth it out, check it for holes (unless you don't care about that- in my case I do because one of the uses for these reused bags in our family is housing dooked diapers when away from home, and the last thing I want there is leaking, olfactory or otherwise.) 

So flatten each bag, and fold it in half as illustrated below.

Step five: Once you have your bags flattened and folded, you will begin the rolling. Lay the first bag handles toward you. Turn the handles to the side on this one as it will be your center bag in the roll and you will begin the pull with it. 

Lay the handles of the next bag on this one, lining up the opening edge of the next bag with the bottom of this one. The key to all of this is to keep the air out of the bags. A tiny bit is ok, but more than that and you are in trouble. I had a little trick that helped. I used the backside of a lettuce knife (you can really use any flat edge) and pulled the air out of the bag toward me. Then roll the first bag- being careful that it isn't too tight. Once I got over the handles of the next bag, I used the flat edge to pull the air out of the next bag, and so on. My best advice is to figure out the system that works best for you. My experience was that once I got it going, it went quickly. I kept rolling the bags until I had a size of roll a little smaller than the coffee can. Please note that the pictures above and below were taken on two different bag rolls. In one, the handles were on one side, and then switched for the other. It doesn't matter which way you start, but keep all your bag handles on the same side of each roll.

Step six:  Drop the roll into the coffee can and smash the bags down a bit if necessary- it won't hurt anything.  Poke the handles you stuck up in the beginning through the slits cut in the lid and then place the lid on the can.  Ta- daaaa you now have a bag dispenser to better store your bags.  I also did this with an empty yogurt container for the car.  I had enough bags left for two other big rolls (I have been saving them for a while), so I cut a couple bags that had holes in them and tied them around the rolls, so that I can just plunk them into the containers when and if they are ever empty.  For reference's sake, I think I fit about 50 bags in the coffee can, about 30 in the yogurt container and two other rolls, each.  Ok, so let me know if you have questions, and happy dispensing! 

* Also, after some experimenting, the first few bags are pretty tight and you will have to be careful pulling them- just something to keep in mind.

Window Onions!

Just an update, "planted" 6/25 and on 7/4 they look like this!  Success!



Tip- if you get the onion-y smell dump the water and replace it.