Toddler Art

Thought I would share some of R's art- We used these for grandparent gifts and hubby got one too. R used watercolors on canvas. She enjoyed the splattering part the most :)

Cakes in a jar and cranberry vodka

Today was a busy day-besides the typical taking care of baby and cleaning, I got started on more Christmas gifts.

The first was cranberry vodka. I thought about cranberry liquer but decided on just the flavored vodka-same idea just no sugar.

MY RECIPE for Cranberry Vodka:

1 liter of vodka-don't go for the cheapo stuff

1 bag of cranberries-chopped

peel of 1 lemon-grated

peel of 1 orange-grated

Dump together in a sterilized glass container with lid and let steep for at least 2 weeks

Shake every day

When ready to bottle, strain solids and rebottle in glass container.

I plan on using 2 yard sale find glass containers w/ stoppers-originally from Pier 1 and possibly an old blue wine bottle if needed.

I also just got through making Cakes in a Jar. This idea seems way weird to me. You bake a cake, any cake in a canning jar and seal it. Sounds simple though. I used this recipe-  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Nut-Cake/Detail.aspx since I had lots of yucky looking bananas hanging around in the freezer. I used 1/2 pint (8 oz) Jars and filled them approximately 1/2 full.

If these work, I'll probably try a pound cake of some kind next. A brown sugar one sounds good but most of the recipes I have come across call for shortening. I refuse to use shortening.

I actually hear a few pops..the jars are sealing :)

Head wreath/fairy crown

I made little R a fairy crown last night in a little over an hour-including MANY interruptions. I wasn't completely pleased with the results but it wasn't bad for my first try. I used white floral wire, white floral tape, various tiny flowers and 4 bead picks. I still need to add ribbons to the back-possibly with a few beads kept on with knots.
I think it will add a nice touch to her fairy wand and tutu I am working on for Christmas.
I've made these before for costumnes but always used ivy type greenery for a base-never just wire. For a little girl, I think I like these are much better. A big greenery based one might look a bit out of place on a toddler. Pictures to come.