Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Be My Valentine in 2009


Highlights from our Valentine events.

For the past three years (since having Noah) I can never seem to get my act together around the holidays to design and send out Christmas cards, so instead, I send Valentine cards. I justify this by convincing myself that maybe everyone likes to receive a card in February to brighten the sometimes gray days of winter. Maybe that's a stretch. Sadly, I usually find myself hard-pressed to even get the Valentine's out! You can see this year's version below.


Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

Noah making homemade playdough (see recipe below) for his friend Lizzie's Valentine gift.
The final product:
Valentine card, playdough 'cupcake' and homemade heart & butterfly crayons.
The playdough 'cupcake' would be great party favors for a birthday party too!

The Friday before Valentine's day, Noah's good friend Lizzie came over for our own little party. They made and decorated cupcakes. It was so fun to see the two of them make cupcakes together. They really enjoyed putting the cupcake papers in the pans. That was a nice quite job for each of them. Then a moment later...they were arguing over who was going to use the hand mixer first.

"My turn!"

"No, MY turn!"

"No, My turrrrrn!"

Eventually, Noah was convinced Lizzie should go first because she was our guest. :o )
Lizzie with her decorated cupcake - and her taste test.


Noah with his finished product. His taste test was a litte messier than Lizzie's.
What a great day. Thank you Katie, Lizzie and Mary for coming over!

Recipe for Homemade Playdough
(courtesy of my aunt Jeannie Diesel - thanks Jeannie!)
1 c. flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
(a powder found in the spice aisle of the grocery)
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. water
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
food coloring
Cook all ingredients over medium heat until mixture forms a ball - about 4 mins.
Remove dough from pan and let cool.
Squeeze dough until completely mixed and smooth.
Make impression in dough and drop food coloring in.
Use gloves or put dough in baggies to knead color so you don't stain your hands.
Knead until color is uniform and to your liking.
Store dough in air-tight container. Refridgerator is best, but it gets a little wet.
Have fun!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like Noah and Lizzie had a great time making, and eating, their cupcakes. I love the 'playdough cupcakes' - and the idea of using them as a party favor is genius!!! Lizzie's Valetine card is toooo cute... you're such a talented artist, Tonya! Happy belated Valentines Day to you, Jon, Noah, and Millie!

The Blissfully Happy Housewife said...

Looks like fun!! I LOVE your playdoh cupcake!!! How did you make it? Did you just shape playdoh that way or is there a trick to it? You are so creative...I'm so impressed!!!!

Jamie

Tonya said...

Jamie,
I'm glad you liked the idea!
Sorry, I should have described it a little better...here goes:

I rolled the playdough into a ball and put it in a single serving applesauce container (I save these and reuse them for everything! You could also paint them or glue a pretty foil cupcake paper on the outside if you had more time - I just thought of that) I wrapped the top with a little piece of plastic wrap and tied it with a ribbon to keep it air tight so the dough wouldn't dry out. For the little heart at the top, I poked a toothpick into the top of the cupcake left a about a 1/4in sticking out of the top. I then made a little heart out of the dough and put it on top of the toothpick to hold it into place. If you did this for a bday party, you could easily use a little candle instead.
I hope that makes sense!