roasted pumpkin seeds

While watching The Man and Smootch carve the jack o lantern today, I remembered doing the same with a friend a couple years back whom, I was shocked to learn, had absolutely no idea that roasting the seeds were the best part of the whole pumpkin carving experience. Apparently she had reached the age of 30 something, carved dozens of pumpkins, and never once ate a seed. Did not even know they were edible! Now I know all of you know how great pumpkin seeds are, but just in case there is a single person out there unknowingly being deprived of roasted pumpkin seed goodness, here is what to do:

Cut the top off the pumpkin and scoop out all the stringey goop and seeds. Separate the seeds from the goop and rinse. Dry the seeds as best as you can on a tea towel. Put the seeds on a cookie sheet and mix just a tiny bit of oil or sunflower oil with them. Roast seeds in 350 degree oven, turning occasionally, for about 10-15 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Sprinkle seeds with a bit of salt and any seasoning you desire (nutritional yeast flakes, chili powder, seasoning salt, etc.) Let seeds cool a minute.

Some people shell the seeds while eating them, like sunflower seeds, but I like to crunch the the seed whole. Bon appetit!

Crayon Liberation or How To Get Your Creative Groove Back

I have been spending a lot of time lately thinking about creativity. I think about what it is exactly, why it is important, how to we encourage it in ourselves and in children. Not too long ago, the ability to think and act creatively was not thought of as important. Today, child care professionals tell us that creative development in children is as important as their intellectual, social, and physical growth. Governments say that creative thinking and problem solving is more important skill than specialized abilities or even academic education. I also see a surprising number of posts over on the boards at Craftster that draw parallels between being creative and having good mental health – usually along the lines of, ‘I clawed my way out of depression by crafting’.

Speaking personally, I would go insane if I could not be creative. No lie, no exaggeration. Being creative is my life’s work and it exists in everything I do (mostly because I refuse to do anything that does not involve at least a little bit of creativity – see my many, many jobs that I worked for only a few weeks, or even a few days. Hell, when I was 16, I was a button pusher at McDonald’s for only five hours before I jumped off that train. My next job was chosen based on who would still hire me if I dyed my hair blue. Which was a record store, btw, where the boss encouraged me to do so since unnatural hair colour somehow confers customer trust in the sales personnel. Go figure.)

Anyhoo. My point is that creativity is important. And fun. And good for your mental health. But what if you do not feel like you have it? Okay, hands up, who here feels like they are not very creative or know people who are convinced that they are not talented at creative things. That they just do not have it in them. To make a very long story quite short, I think some people feel that they are not creative because they had their confidence in their own natural creativity squelched as a child.

How many of us have had our grade school artwork deemed inferior because we put colour outside of the lines, or used colours not specified by convention (a purple shamrock, anyone?), drew their own picture disregarding a photo copied illustration, or – my own personal burning humiliation of grade two – had crayon strokes going in all different directions rather than at a uniform 45 degree slant on my taupe (or brown, if we were feeling frisky) mushrooms?

Now, as an adult, I am keenly and vocally against labelling the creative works of children right or wrong. Because of this I keep in mind at all the squishing and breaking of my own creative expression over my young years, and I am especially conscious of the messages I now deliver to children about their creative endeavors. Especially with these wee creators in my home and under my care. My dearest wish for my children is that above all in life that they be creative because I believe it is a cornerstone for many other values I hope to impart, including the ability to find their own joy. Sometimes I do well. I love my four year old daughter’s expressions and find she is most happy when her art and crafts have been made unadulterated by her mother’s guidance or opinion.

Sometimes I goof. Sometimes my awareness of the ghost of my second grade teacher slips and I unconsciously start to treat my daughter’s creativity as something that could be done wrong or right. In examining my own hang ups I have discovered, to my great shame and horror, I am quite anal and anti-creative when it comes to crayons. Hello, my name is Vegbee, and I am a crayon tyrant

Here’s my crayon neurosis: When my daughter was a year and a bit and first introduced to crayons she would make a few marks with it on paper and then sit down and with great care and obvious satisfaction, peel the paper off of every crayon in reach. At first I was pretty okay with it, the peeling was refining her fine motor skills and it would keep her usefully occupied at the doctor’s office for a surprising amount of time. I took to carrying a couple of virgin, fully clothed crayons in my bag at all times. Gradually she began to do more with the crayons on paper. Sure, the crayon would rub off on her hands because the there was no paper to hang on to, but, whatever, as long as the kid is happy so am I.

At some point in her second or third year, as a holiday present, Smootch received a box of fresh, good quality crayons as a present, along with several colouring books. I think the sight of all those pristine crayons flipped some switch in my head. I got weird about it. I got… domineering All of our old crayons were delegated to my own craft stash for later crayon melting projects and Smootch was to use the new crayons exclusively. She was not allowed to peel the new crayons. Any peeled crayons got tossed in the bin. Horribly, this state of affairs continued for over a year until Smootch had hardly an interest in using crayons at all, except to use in colouring books where the pointy end on the crayon was a benefit when trying to stay within the lines. She was trying to stay within the lines! Crayons had been elevated from a tool of creativity to a tool of oppression, an instrument of conformity. I’m so ashamed!

Watching Smootch colour one night it suddenly dawned on me what a knob I was being. I was teaching my daughter to repress her natural curiosity and creativity to satisfy some misinformed adult idea of what a crayon was for and how it should be used. The exact opposite of what I believed. At the root of it, though, was my own early childhood training and my failure to stay alert to avoid repeating a cycle of creativity killing conformity.

Since then I have backed away from my crazy crayon rules, but I still think about it a lot and even sometimes have to look away when children use crayons. It has been bothering me that I still harbour unwanted beliefs about there being proper and improper ways to use crayons so I decided to hold a great crayon liberation for myself to help free up this peculiar crayon blockage I seem to have.

My great crayon liberation began with a couple of sheets of paper, some pretty new crayons, and my daughter and I at the kitchen table. The first task we had was to snap those pretty crayons in two. You should of seen my daughter’s face when I told her to break a crayon. She did it though - quickly, I think, to get a chance before I changed my mind - and with great glee. My own crayon snapping was very deliberate, and incredibly satisfying. A few more snapped crayons and we moved onto the next step of liberation. Much to my daughter’s delight, we peeled crayons. Next, we made marks on the paper by banging, smushing, rubbing them on their sides, drumming, and any other method we could think of. Dipping a crayon in water makes particularly bold marks, while freezing them makes them paler. When my six-month-old son woke up from his nap, he had his first crayon sensory experience. Smootch discovered that if you bit a crayon, some will become lodged in your molars and you can dig it out with your fingernail and create a nice soft, shaded look on the paper. After that I considered my daughter fully liberated from crayon repression, and I think I am getting there. I may need a few more crayon drumming sessions to make sure the liberation takes. Smootch is an excellent mentor.Are you wondering what this post is doing on my tutorial site, and not over on my other blog where I like to blather on in an unpurposeful manner? It is here mainly because my crayon liberation exercise was helpful for shaking me out of a creative rut and got me thinking about all the different ways I could use materials that I take for granted as having just one or two purposes. And it was fun. Try it.

I also would like to open up a discussion about what we have all learnt about being creative as children and whether that has helped or hindered us in later life. I think creativity is one of those under appreciated skills that we possess to some degree or another, but feeds into so many different areas of our lives. We will never go wrong to believe ourselves creative people, while to deny it can be harmful. Please, if you feel like sharing, leave a comment about your own creative liberations and repressions – I would love to read about your experiences and maybe learn more about what can be done to encourage the youngest generation of creatives.

scary paper plate crabs

Here's one to do with the wee ones for Halloween decorations. I can not really justify why exactly crabs are Halloween-esque, except for the ones little Smootch and her father put together are, frankly, a little freaky:
These pie plate crabs are a favorite with Smootch. She has made a few of them now, experimenting with different mediums and personalities. Here is one that she has decorating her room:
To get your own scary crabs, you need a one paper plate per crab, construction paper or a stiffer paper like water colour paper, paints/markers/crayons, scissors and glue stick.

The paper plate is to be the main part of the body. Decorate in any way you like. Paper plates tolerate water colours quite well, so if you are not particular that may be a good place to start.

Have the wee one shape the edges of the crab with scissors, if desired.

Take your construction or water colour paper and decorate, paint and fill with colour. Once paper is dry, fold right sides together (the pretty side) and on the wrong sides draw 4 crab legs (or so) and a pincher claw. Cut out the legs and claw, with paper folded, to make a total of 8 legs and 2 claws. Or so.

Glue the claws onto the backside of the plate so they come out crab-like. Generally the eyes can be cut from the scraps to stick up from between the two claws, or a face can be drawn on by the wee one if they desire (Smootch likes to make a little crabby smile somewhere on the plate, without reference to position of the eyes). If you are feeling like you need to take your little aquadic spook show on the road, put two holes in the plate in the approximate position of your eyes and attach a popsicle stick on the bottom to hold up for a mask.

Smootch would like me to mention at this point that bandaids are great ways to heal crabs when they are attacked by cats. Note the damage to her Pop-Eye crab (so named because one of the eyes was 'popped out' by a lion from Africa - if you have a 4 year old you'll know how wonderfully bizarre their reasoning can be):Definitely do not forget to place a sign warning people of attack crabs on the premise.

Viola, you have an invasion (or infestation) of freaky crabs. Happy Halloween!

(and for all you people who have been reading this giggling naughtly, I have actually been flirting with the idea of costuming myself as a victim of a crab attack, but since my night will be spent with bunch of under fives and potentially my mother in law I think I just shouldn't go there :D)

how to make a happy kitty

1. Acquire deep bottom basket about a cat's length long
2. Put a fuzzy toliet lid cover in bottom of basket and arrange invitingly
3. Place basket in a sunlit window
4. Wait by basket with camera until kitty discovers the basket
5. Take picture of the kitty smile

baby hat

A simple dimple project for an old tee shirt or a scrap of fleece to help keep the littlest ones warm this autumn. Any material with a bit of stretch will do.

First, take two measurements of baby's head: from the top of baby's head to behind his ear (measurement A) and around the head at the widest part (divide this number by 4 for measurment B).

For those interested, my little guy is just about wearing US size 9-12 month. His measurement A is 6 5/8" and his measurement B is 4 1/4".

Use your two measurements to create three pattern pieces.

On a sheet of paper, draw a vertical line the length of measurement A. Then, create an 'L' shape with measurement B. Use a rounded line as in the illustration to finish the triangle. This will be your touque piece. The earflaps are approximated to the baby's ear size. I used a 'L' shape with 1 1/2" each side, then finished it again with a rounded line to make a triangle. (I suspect these measurements will have to be altered only slightly for babies smaller or larger.)

For the brim, measurement B forms the bottom part of a rectangle that is approximatley 3 1/2" wide.

All three pieces are cut on a fold. We haven't factored in seam allowances yet, so add them before you cut. Cut 2 of the brim, cut 2 of the touque, and cut 4 ear flaps. If you would like to cut a couple of long strips to use as ties under the earflaps, do so now too. I just cut a length of material about 8" long and 1/2" wide since I was using non fraying material and didn't think I needed to enclose the raw edges. If you like, cut a wider strip and do a double fold and stitch up the sides if you prefer. You can also cut very thin strips of material and braid them together, use bias tape or ribbon, add pom poms to the end, or leave the straps off entirely. You are, after all, your own boss.

Before you start sewing, find yourself a rounded needle (for knits and fleece) for your sewing machine to make your life much, much easier. If you still encounter a lot of stretching while you stitch, try one of your knit stitches on your sewing machine (see your manual), they can save you a bit of a headache too. If you are using a serger, turn your differencial feed up.

Sew your touque pieces right sides together. With right sides still together, align the seams and stitch as indicated in the illustration:This gives it a nice rounded top.

Position two earflaps right sides together with the tie sandwiched inbetween, raw edges aligned in the middle of the rounded bottom. Stitch around rounded portions. Repeat for other earflap.

Sew the two rectangles, right sides together, along the short ends (not measurement B sides) to make a tube.Open the earflaps right sides out. Align the raw edges of the earflap with the raw edge of the midpoint of the seam on the wrong side of the touque. Machine baste the earflap to the touque. Repeat for other earflap on other side of touque.

Fold brim tube in half, right sides together, with raw edges aligned. Align the raw edges of the brim against the raw edges of the wrong side of the touque, with the earflaps sandwiched inbetween. Stitch the brim to the touque. Turn hat inside out, with brim to outside and turned up to conceal seam. Strap hat on baby, strap baby on you, and go for a walk to check out the amazing fall foliage :)

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welcome baby brother mobile

My little Smootch is very much a craft fiend. In four short years, she's gone through enough glue sticks, ribbon, construction paper, and felt pens to fill a dump truck. She could write her name in glitter glue before she could ride a tricycle. She could use scissors before she could brush her own teeth.

Smootch's other great love is her baby brother. As much as she mauls him, boinks his head, and accidently bends his wrist into impossible positions when she trys to hug him (love hurts), the little guy is always smiling up at her. They've already formed a power bloc against me.

Flipping through a book the other day, I spotted a very simple handmade mobile for a baby that I thought would be a great way for Smootch to combine her two loves, and get in some tying practice while she's at it (shoe laces are her arch enemy right now). Since I hardly ever get time to do any big people crafts lately, I thought I would share this one with you to do with a wee person for a baby. I think it is a lovely way for a big brother or sister to welcome a new baby to the family. This mobile is very simple, but eye catching and interesting for baby. The wee one can do as much or as little as pleases her. For this craft, my daughter practiced tying, measuring lengths, using the scissors to cut bias tape, unwinding/winding the bias tape on cardboard holders and then pinning the bias tape in place (prevents unravelling). While we worked, we also talked about what her baby brother likes to look at and do, and how it feels to create something for someone else (good - in case you are wondering :D)

To begin, gather up your young person and some supplies: colourful ribbon (or bias tape as I've used here), household string, scissors, and a paper plate.
Punch about 6 holes at equal intervals around the edge of the paper plate. Cut a length of string about 30" long. Tie one end of the string to a hole in the paper plate's edge. Make a loop in the other end of the string. Cut a length of ribbon about 8" long. Tie the ribbon to the end loop, in a bow or just a simple knot.
Repeat for all the holes in the paper plate.

To hang, push a hole through the middle of the plate and push the end of the string through. Tie a knot to stop the string from pulling out. Hang from ceiling with tack or tape. Enjoy watching baby dance along when you give the mobile a gentle spin.
I do a lot of these little crafts with Smootch. Would you like more crafting with kids ideas?