Recycled crayons, a Valentine's craft

I've been craving color as the winter drab rolls right on into February. Motivated by the recycled crayon projects I've run across online, I thought the boys would enjoy the process of peeling, breaking, melting, and coloring with their own penguin shaped crayons. With Valentine's Day just a week away the timing was right for us to make a few batches to wrap up with notes of love for their friends.

Our crayon collection was down to the nubbins so we went out and bought a box of new ones. 

The next order of business was to peel all the crayons. I picked at them for a while but Roscoe discovered that teeth work really well. After some trial and error we found that soaking the crayons in a cup of water was the nearly effortless solution, most of the wrappers pulled off triumphantly in one piece.

Next we sorted all the naked crayons into color groups and (the best part) broke them into little pieces.

We used a silicone ice cube tray in the shape of penguins. The boys filled each bird with a small handful of pieces. Then we placed the mold onto a baking sheet and into a 250 degree oven for about 11 minutes.

We kept a close eye on them and when all the little bits were melted we carefully removed the tray and then let them cool for a good ten minutes before transferring them to the fridge for the last five. I recommend waiting until they're cool before popping them out of the mold--I tried to remove the first set when they were still slightly warm and some of them cracked. It also would have been nice to have two molds in order to efficiently alternate baking with cooling.

Now we just need to wrap them up and send them on their way to good friends in time for the big day.

Rice Socks, and Valentines

I've been putting together a "bag of tricks" for my labor support clients to include a wide range of comfort measures from aromatherapy to massage. It's been on my mind to craft homemade rice socks for lower back aches and belly cramps and we were free yesterday afternoon so we decided to get down to it.

The socks we picked out are so February and the other things we grabbed while we were out were Valentine's Day inspired too. I think these rice socks would make sweet valentines for friends and grandparents.  We made a few mini versions from children's tube socks and they were the perfect size for little guys and gals. Maybe a gift tag: "You warm my heart," would be just the thing.

We used four pair of women's tube socks, and three 5lb. bags of white rice. Using a measuring cup, Roscoe and Merritt took turns pouring between 2 and 4 cups of rice into each sock (4 cups filled them to their brim), while I held open the mouth.  Then I secured each sock with a knot.

We made four big rice socks for belly and back, and two smaller rice socks to go around the neck for weighted heat applied to the upper chest. One to two minutes in the microwave and you have a warm, cozy, and festive heat pack. You can freeze them too!

True love, 4-ever

My day was made when I opened my inbox Saturday morning to find the message, "Andy + Jacqueline: Happy Valentine's Day to one of my favorite couples!".

A graphic designer friend of mine, who has over the years shared her talent with us on several occasions, indulged us with a replica print of an inspiration piece she spied online. I wish I had artistic talent and Adobe Illustrator know-how!

I think I love silhouettes almost as much as Jessa does (remember that fun plate we made for Roscoe's grandma?). It brought a smile to my face to hear of her early memory sitting patiently underneath the bright hotness of the living room lamp with her little brother by her side, as her mother carefully traced their shadows.

The gift was such a sweet gesture, and now I'm dying to send her some photos to make a silhouette to celebrate my two boys and the start of their brotherhood. Or of our dog. Or of my pregnant belly. (Wouldn't it be cool to have a 9 month series?)

Jessa, can you hear me?!

Happy St. Valentine's Day, and a recipe for chocolate whipped cream

Valentine's Day 2011 was marked with lots o' crafts, lots o' toddlers, and lots o' love.

Saturday night Andy and I dined at our favorite restaurant in DC. We don't go often, but it is the place we gravitate to when we've got something special to celebrate. The Tuscan Italian menu is amazing, and the prosciutto casalingo coi panserotti (prosciutto and Florentine bread fritters) alone, are well worth the trip--not to mention the tagliatelle fresche con funghi e piselli. We almost died and went to heaven during our three hour meal. And we hit a new parent milestone by staying out past midnight, something we haven't done since Roscoe was born. I even managed to squeeze my finger into my wedding bands for the occasion.

Sunday morning we exchanged cards and gifts with Roscoe, then prepared all the fixin's for ice cream sundaes--the main event for that afternoon's annual Bradley Babies Valentine's Day party. We made hot fudge, vanilla whipped cream, chocolate whipped cream, and strawberry sauce. If you've never made chocolate whipped cream, you must. Here's the recipe:

1 cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

3 tablespoons sugar (use granulated if you want to eat it right away, use powdered if you plan to store it for a while)

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

Mix at medium speed until the cream begins to thicken, then whip it on medium/high speed until the cream reaches the desired consistency. (makes 2 cups)

After all that, it was still only 8:00 in the morning and we were feeling creative so Roscoe painted frames for his Grandma and Tippy.

After nap we were off to celebrate St. Valentine with our favorite toddler valentines. One of the moms brought a craft--more picture frames(!!)--and I was thrilled to finally be the recipient of one of Roscoe's works of art.

After the kids exchanged their valentines, we attempted to catch a group shot and they were downright uncooperative! The outtakes are hilarious, but this is the best shot I captured.

Check out last year's Valentine's Day event, when the kids were just nine months old.

Valentine's Day!

After a sugar filled breakfast that included these, Roscoe opened his gifts!

Let's see...

I got play silks, bubble bath...

a magic wand...

and a toothbrush!?

Baby's First Valentine's Day party

This month's Bradley get together was all about hearts, and pink, and valentines in the form of babies who are looking more and more like little kids than infants.

Three feet of recently accumulated snow has left some neighborhoods impassable, so the party was moved to our place.

Doilies, tissue paper hearts, pink tinsel garlands, and a bouquet of helium balloons with a green gorilla: the decorations were perfect and over the top. We spoiled ourselves with afternoon brunch (fresh lemon mousse, chocolate covered strawberries, and pancetta strata) and a mini valentine exchange.

The mommas caught up on solids, sleep, and family life, while the babies showed off newfound mobility (in our otherwise non baby-proofed home). But in Roscoe's case, since he seems to have little intention of crawling or even scooting anytime soon, he demonstrated a knack for manually bringing his friends closer to him via hair pulling, shirt grabbing, and using an open mouth to explore their faces, hands, and shoes.

While the photo ops were abundant, capturing the kids in action proved to be a challenge:

In light of the recent weather, please excuse the snowmen

pants off!

Will you be his Valentine?

I bought these cool valentine's from Etsy. Cool Mom Picks (one of my all-time favorite blogs) hosted a competition a few weeks back and the 12 winners' designs are included in a printable pdf for just 3.99--every penny goes straight to the Children's Heart Foundation. True love, all around.

I printed the designs on cardstock and colored them, Roscoe added a few crayon strokes and used his feet to "paint" them with watercolors, and we finished them off with some strategically placed glitter.

There couldn't be a better day to pull out the art supplies because IT'S SNOWING again.

While Roscoe did take his art very seriously (at times), in truth their was more crayon chewing, sucking, and throwing than anything else! The Splat Mat was a huge help.

Roscoe's very first art project was a sweet one. Now we're all set for Saturday's Baby's First Valentine's Day party (I'll be sure to post pictures!). A few other special people can look forward to receiving a little art love from Roscoe as well.