A sweet {but salty} DIY

Saltdough. Probably one of the best things I have discovered since Etsy. Well, not quite. But crafting with salt dough is becoming quite an obsession!

I recently decided to try making some salt dough as a craft project with Stella, and it was a success! She loved making patterns with her fingers in mounds of flour and copying me knead the dough. The mess was relatively manageable and the outcome? A toddler full of smiles and an oven full of sweet little birdies and buttons.



I have been using our salt dough creations to adorn gifts, stick to walls and more recently...to make our babys mobile! It really is a cinch for any mama and babe to try... here's how!

* In a large bowl mix 1 cup of salt and 2 cups of flour
*  gradually stir in one cup of water (lukewarm) until mixture becomes 'doughy'.
* Knead your dough for at least 5 minutes. (The longer you knead, the smoother it will be).
* Place your creations on a lined baking tray and bake at 120 degrees Celsius. Depending on the size, they make take anywhere between 45minutes and two hours in the oven...Remember to keep peeping at them regularly!





And that's it! How simple is that! You can paint your little ornaments once they have cooled or leave them their natural colour. You can even colour them before baking by adding some ingredients from your pantry to the uncooked dough. I used cinnamon, coffee and curry powder to create different shades of latte, brown and mustard.

What crafty projects do you think are manageable with a toddler? Any favourites you'd like to share?
Plenty of love, 

Baby can bake!

Since being bitten by the strange baking bug during this pregnancy, I have adventured a little further from the standard cupcake (This is a really big step for me). I also went out on a limb by deciding to involve Stella in one of my out of character bake sessions. I propped her up to the bench with her highchair and got started on a simple, kid friendly cookie recipe. Her eyes widened with joy as she had her first beater licking experience, and she concentrated hard whilst stirring imaginary ingredients in a bowl with a sneaky mouth full of cornflakes. I neglected to take photos of the actual baking process, I was somewhat distracted and multi-tasking to my limit, however I did catch a few candid shots of Stella licking, mixing and helping.

The messy yet fun bake session resulted in scrumptious little snacks to keep on hand in the pantry (that are far more economical than buying pre-packages biscuits and crackers). We may have had a broken mixing bowl along the way and had a kitchen floor covered in flour, but it was well worth the little extra time and trouble to involve Stella in the fun.

I found this recipe for easy cornflake cookies via an amazing website called The Stay At Home Mum (The secret to living on one wage). I have also downloaded the app for my iPhone to easier access the recipes and cleaning tips at all hours. I highly recommend this recipe as a simple one to start with if you are looking to do some adventuring in the kitchen with your child.

Have you baked with your children before? Was it disastrous or delicious? Worth the extra effort?
Plenty of love,

The Weird and Wonderful

Forget the bold and the beautiful, pregnancy is a tale of The weird and the wonderful!

Pregnancy does strange, strange things to you, and lately I have been a testimony for that truth. It is widely known that I am not skilled in the kitchen and other than to clean it meticulously I avoid that area of the house entirely. I have never had much patience or motivation to create meals and follow recipes, I am just not 'kitchen orientated'. However, pregnancy does weird and wonderful things.

During my first pregnancy I one day found myself in the kitchen baking banana muffins from scratch, it only happened once, but it was scary all the same. This pregnancy, I found myself strangely browsing the baking isles of supermarkets and homeware stores. Before I even realised what was happening I had accumulated a supply of ingredients, bakeware and cake decorating tools, which brings me to now...

I am baking once a week! (Yes, I did say...pregnancy is the tale of the weird and wonderful). I find myself enjoying these baking sessions so very much and I am even dreaming of whats beyond the standard cupcake! I am currently on the look out for a really basic and inspiring cake decorating book and can't help but return to that bakeware section of the store.

Are there any strange habits you developed during pregnancy? perhaps some little nesting quirks that surprised you?

Plenty of love,