Craft for Kids - Bricolages pour enfants

I have said that many times on my blog. But I have two children. Rosalie 5 year old and Eloise 2 year old. They are probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I am a stay at home mom. As a matter of fact, when did I start to call my self a “stay at home mom”? I mean “officially” and without blinking when asked “What do you do for living?”

I have a MBA, I am very goal driven and never thought I’d put a stop on the career path I had. I was absolutely sure I’d just have my kids and keep on working. I specialise in product marketing. You can not really work part time in that field and if you stop, you loose the edge. So I was going to keep working. I wanted to keep the edge.

Then you realise that you have 2 little ones that need you. They are "reel" and you love them. You want the best for them. You have the option to consider taking a break from work.
And so many things go through your mind :
-Do I need to keep the edge?
-Who will drive them to preschool & danse classes?
-Who will teach them to eat properly, to be polite, to count, to sing, to write, to be confident, to share, to love… ?

How can you achieve all of that if you are out of the house 50 hours a week and all you really do is get them out of bed and put them back to bed?
You have to hire somebody you trust that will take care of them. I couldn’t do it. I mean I could probably have found somebody, but I wanted to be THAT somebody.

Then you make the decision to stay at home. But for a year or so, you kind of deny that “new situation”. You call yourself “an ex-Marketing Director”. When asked what you do for living you answer : “I used to be in marketing”.

One day, you assume it. You answer the impossible answer : “I am a stay at home mom”. It hurts a bit the first time and then as time goes by, you start to like it. You feel like is has become a reel “position”.

I now proudly answer that I am a stay at home mom. I can spend time with my kids. I see them growing up. And I know exactly how much broccoli they eat (and don’t eat!) It makes me feel good to be the one guiding them. My MBA is not lost (like some of my university collegues might think) Staying at home with the kids, gave me lots of ideas on starting a small business. One of them actually made it from fiction to reality.

I started www.surpriseinthemail.com
a few years ago.

So there I am leading a successful small business. Surprise in the Mail is an excellent gift idea for kids. It will provide your kids with hours of fun. It will teach them various skills and will get them excited everytime they receive that bright envelope in the mail. And as a mom when you ask yourself : “how do I keep them busy today?” Just get the craft out and enjoy the time while they are crafting.

The company is growing, improving and very challenging. On the family side, it allows me to spend time with my girls as I can decide of my own schedule. They even help me with some tasks, which makes it a common goal that we share. Rosalie use to know every new subscribers by their name. She can’t anymore as we have too many, but she still really enjoy selecting the craft and holding the focus groups with me. On the personal side, it allows me to develop new skills and to keep my e-marketing knowledge up to date. It gives me an accomplishment other than the kids. Which, I believe, is necessary for a stay at home mom.

You might want to know what I answer now when asked what I do for living? Simply: "I am a stay at home mom, there’s my business card!"

Isabelle Larose
Mom of 2 girls, Rosalie & Eloise
Owner and founder of www.surpriseinthemail.com

Libellés : WAHM

Whatever the weather where you live, you can set your kids to snowflake snipping and make our one-of-a-kind Kirigami. They're almost too pretty to eat -- but too delicious not to!

Ingredients:

10 flour tortillas (fajita size) (whole wheat of white)
1 tea spoon vegetable oil (spray oil works well too)
1 cup of chocolate chips (brown or colored ones)
½ cup of icing sugar
Edible sprinkles (colors of your choice!)



Instructions:

1. Heat the oven to 350°.
2. Fold each tortilla into quarters and then snip out shapes with clean scissors as if to make a paper snowflake; add a few decorative cuts but maintain some structural integrity (if your tortillas are stiff, soften them in the microwave for a few seconds).
3. A few at a time, place the snowflakes on a lightly greased baking sheet (with vegetable oil) and bake 5 to 7 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.
4. Remove the snowflakes from the oven, immediately dot each one with about a dozen evenly spaced chocolate chips, then return the flakes to the oven briefly to melt the chips.
5. Once the chips begin to melt, transfer the snowflakes to a cooling rack and use a butter knife to spread the chips a bit. Add some sprinkles onto the melted chocolate.
6. Pop the iced snowflakes in the fridge for 5 or 10 minutes to harden the chocolate, then put the icing sugar in a sieve and shake an even layer across them.
7. Serve on dark-colored plates.
8. Enjoy and eat!

Libellés : Recipe

What you need:
-4 cups of flour
-1 1/2 cups of salt
-1 1/2 cups of water

What you do:
1.Mix the salt and flour in a bowl.
2.Add water gradually to form a ball.
3.Knead (pound, roll and pull) until it no longer falls apart.
4.Do your project and allow it to dry at room temperature for approximately 2 days (more for larger or thicker projects).
5-Paint

Store any unused clay in a sealed bag in the fridge. Allow it to warm to room temperature before you use it again. I use this recipe for many different craft's project. You can roll it out and use a cookie cutter to cut out trees, bells or stars for Christmas, bunnies for Easter, hearts for Valentine. When the shape is dry, the children can paint them and use them for tree ornaments, necklaces, card decorations. Always paint when dry.

Libellés : craft idea

Here a few things I thought I could share.

ARGO DO-IT YOURSELF CLAY THAT'S SAFE FOR KIDS
2 cups baking soda
1 cup Argo Corn Starch
1 1/4 cups water
Mix cornstarch and baking soda, add water, mix. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Thicken to consistency of mashed potatoes. Form clay into desired shapes, let dry for 36 hours, color with paint or felt-tip marker, and coat with shellac or clear nail polish.

JELLO AQUARIUM RECIPE
Ingredients
1 pk Jello Berry BLUE jelly powder
1 c Boiling water
2 c Ice cubes
gummy fish Directions:
Dissolve jelly powder in boiling water. Add ice cubes, stirring until jelly thickens, about 3-5 minutes. Remove any unmelted ice. Spoon jelly into to clear sided bowls. Poke 3 or 4 gummy fish into each dish of slightly thickened jelly. Refrigerate 30 minute to set. Serve with 1-1/2 hours.
Yield: 6 servings

PAPIER MACHE
Dry laundry starch for cold water
Mix the starch and water in equal amounts. Stir completely. Let stand. This will thicken. Tear newspaper or tissue paper into strips. Dip these strips into mixture. Shape over a balloon or into a mask shape, figures, animals, etc. Let dry 3 days or so, depending on thickness. Paint with acrylic paints.

HOMEMADE PLAY DOUGH
Ingredients
1 c Flour
1/2 c Salt
2 tb Cooking oil
2 tb Cream of tartar
1 c Water with desired color of food coloring
From: Healthy Meals and More
Cook the above mixture over medium heat stirring until stiff. Cool and knead out lumps. Store in airtight container.

Isabelle Larose
www.surpriseinthemail.com
A gift that keeps on giving.

Libellés : Craft Ideas - Food

When my young girl turned 4, we organised a mega birthday party for her. 20 kids total. We rented a mega play zone, ordered lots of pizza and she received lots of toys. Lots of plastic toys. Lots of Dora stuff, sponge bob, and alike. So cheap, but so expensive... You know what I mean.

Then, of course, we were invited to 20 birthday parties... I promised myself not to buy those plastiquy, cheesy toys... (some of the ones she received are still in the box) At the same time as I was looking for original gifts, my 4 year old received a letter from grandma. It was full of stickers and connect the dots and coloring pages and stuff to build. She was so excited... Even more excited then when she received all the gifts at her birthday. So I got the idea to start www.surpriseinthemail.com

I started Surprise in the Mail by giving 6 month subscription to all the kids parties I was going to. I created the concept I was looking for, but couldn't find. Something that lasts and that teaches skills and create excitements for months to come. Not Dora, not Franklin, not Caillou, not Sponge Bob. No. It is an original craft in a colorful envelope showing up every month in the mail. A personalised letter. How exciting for a young kid. It scores big points every time it is given away.

All the moms told me it was the best gift ever and they started giving this as well to all the birthday parties they had to attend. I then had to get my act together and put the concept on-line and organise it a bit. I spent many years of my life trying to think of a business to start, building plans, studying markets and financial analysis etc... And in a flash, I had this idea that took off almost instantanly without a plan and without market analysis... But it works and kids like it. Moms too. Aunties and grandmas across Canada are sending me thank you notes after getting some feed back from their grandkids...

One of them told me: This is a gift that keeps on giving. So I started to use this as my promo line.

Isabelle Larose
Founder of Surprise in the Mail

Libellés : Birthday's Idea

Did you know there was a special tradition in France, in New Orleans and in Quebec that is called “La fête des rois” or “Three Kings Day”?

This tradition is celebrated the 1st Sunday of each New Year. (January 7th this year) The celebration is "La Fête des Rois" (Three Kings Day) and includes a King or Queen and a special cake. Yes you heard it: a special cake. So there, you have it, great for kids! The tradition of serving this cake can be traced back to the 14th century. A small bean, coin or porcelain “fève” is baked inside the cake and whoever receives the little favor is then crowned King/Queen for the day. Tradition also dictates that the cake be cut into as many slices as there are people present, plus 1 extra. The extra piece is called “part du pauvre” (poor man's piece) and it is given to the first person who stops at the home. Who will become king or queen for the day at your house? Make a crown and bake a galette and have a little fun with the family. There’s a traditional receipe, but you can bake your favorite cake if you’d like!


Recipe “Galette des Rois”
Ingredients:
· 1/4 cup almond paste
· 1/4 cup sugar
· 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softenend
· pinch of salt
· 2 eggs
· 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
· 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
· 2 Tablespoons flour
· 1 package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed according to package directions
· 1 dried bean (kidney beans work well)
· 2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Buttered large baking sheet (not dark metal).
1. In a food processor, purée the almond paste, sugar, butter and pinch of salt until smooth.
2. Add 1 egg, vanilla and almond extracts and purée.
3. Add the flour and pulse to mix it in.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one sheet of the puff pastry into an 11-1/2 inch square.
5. Invert an 11-inch pie plate onto the square and cut out a round shape by tracing the outline of the pie plate with the tip of a paring knife.
6. Brush the flour from both sides of the round and place it on the buttered baking sheet. Put in the refrigerator to chill.
7. Repeat the procedure with the second square of puff pastry, but leave it on the floured work surface.
8. Beat the remaining egg and brush some of it on top of the second round. Score decoratively all over the top using the tip of a paring knife and make several small slits.
9. Remove the first sheet from the refrigerator and brush some of the egg in a 1-inch border around the edge. Mound the almond cream in the center, spreading slightly.
10. Bury the bean in the almond cream. Place the scored round on top and press the edges together.
11. Bake the galette in the lower third of the oven for 13 to 15 minutes, until puffed and golden. Remove from oven and dust with the confectioners' sugar.
12. Place oven rack in the upper third of the oven and return galette to cook for an additional 12 to 15 minutes or until the edge is a deep golden brown.
Let cool.
Make sure everybody knows about the bean!

Have fun!

Isabelle Larose
www.surpriseinthemail.com
A gift that keeps on giving.

Libellés : Recipe