R2D2 Jello Madness! Stained Glass Jello Mold.

 

          My baby has just had his 5th birthday party, during which he requested an R2D2 cake, and rainbow jello. I thought convincing him to have chocolate cupcakes and an R2D2 jello mold would be totally awesome, and make life easier for me...

...but of course it's never quite the way is it? The day before B's big party (WAY big... 15 hyper children crammed into my house during a snow day, it was epic hyperness!) was spent cleaning (pointless really) baking cupcakes (why did I not save that for last!) and packing goody bags (CANDY!!!). I had been planning out jiggly jello R2D2 in my mind for ages and felt prepared. I pictured the cake pan, and layering the colors in the same way I would do for my rainbow jello molds, first the white, which would flow into the cake pan impressions just where it is supposed to. Perhaps I would have to scrape out some stray jelly as it firmed up, and then I would layer in the blue while I have a cuppa tea and watch some TV. I figured it was an easy project I could save for the very end of the night. The crushing realization that cake pans are NOT like jello molds didn't hit me until 10pm, when I had finally pulled my vintage Star Wars pan out of the closet and saw that the design actually is impressed from the outside of the pan to the interior. This makes it easier to frost a finished cake I am sure... but not for pouring in jello.
          Alright then.... it's late... but there is no need to panic. I remembered a "broken glass" technique I had seen on The Food Librarian and figured I could translate that into "stained glass" to color in the R2 design. (I will admit, that I did just try to make one big blobby white driod and call it a night... it was creepy, ghostly and sad. I had dive all in!) Here's how I did it... and you can too!

           *Mix and set up in your fridge the colors you will need for your design. (You're going to need to leave one package unmixed... the finial back round color if you will, to "glue" it all together.)

            *To make white jello, you'll just need a pack of plain gelatin, which you will mix as instructed on the packaging and add to a small amount of a "cream". Some people use sour cream, yogurt, cool whip or coconut milk. I used condensed milk which I flavoured with vanilla. (Not a hit with every child I am afraid... I might try cool whip next time.) To get darker shades of the same color you can add food or frosting coloring.

           *Once your jello is firm (or, if you're up at midnight still trying to figure this whole process out... firm ENOUGH.) flip it onto a cutting board and carve out your pattern shapes and position them in your mold.

           * After you're happy with your design mix your last packages of jello according to the instructions and carefully pour it over your pieced creation. You may have a few lighter pieces float about on you. If you cannot push them down with a utensil don't worry, after you pop it into the fridge you can come back in 5-8.5 minutes and as the jello has slightly firmed up you'll be able to put those in their place. Let your whole creation set up overnight.

            *Getting my jelly droid out of his mold was a little stressful. You're going to want yours to be around room temperature, otherwise it is going to be stuck tight! Make sure you pull it out of the fridge with plenty of time before serving, if you're impatient and have to run the pan under hot water you're just going to melt it a bit.

              

            After staying up all night I had not thought to make a nice platter for my poor droid, and he ended up flipped onto a cookie sheet... squished into the corner. Once he was on there, there was NO shifting the 5 pound jello behemoth he had become. Looking back, he's really pretty excellent for a pre-party late night first time rush job, but I am pretty sure this "stained glass" jello technique is something I could master after another try or two. I do have a Rainbow Brite cake pan that just may need to be dusted off and put to the test.

            Is this craziness something you might try? (The things we do for our kids right?) What's the most insane thing you've found yourself doing the night before a party? I'd say carving jello defiantly takes the cake for me! <3 -Kendra



Holiday Mail for Heros... not just for Christmas!

Paper Jump, a New Year's Tradition.

    The growth and evolution of a family tradition is an amazing thing isn't it? Our family has a special little tradition, born Romyn's first Christmas, which has blossomed into a full blown New Year's Day event which we call... PAPER JUMP!
    Now, due to my extremely unorganized digital photo collection (Hrm, maybe I should resolve to sort that out this year.) I cannot share with you our first paper photo session, when on Christmas Day I shoved a screaming six month old Romyn into a pile of wrapping paper, hoping for an adorable keepsake photo. I vaguely remember him eating some paper.... maybe? And I can't tell you that we've taken pictures every year, because the Christmas my husband was deployed, and when I was 9 months pregnant with B, and sick with the flu, I'm pretty sure I didn't. But I can tell you, that somehow, over the years, just wanting to get a cute photo of my boys with all their Christmas wrapping paper, has turned into our favorite family tradition....  and last year it even earned itself a name.

    PAPER JUMP!

    So, here's how it goes, on Christmas day, the boys like to crumple up all their gift wrap, and toss it into a bin for points, which I then push out of the way for a few days. (My husband and I used to do this before we had kids when I would save wrapping to pack up all our holiday decor. Seeing it again next Christmas always made me happy.) Since our boys are so busy playing with new toys, it's alright to leave this very tempting box of paper forgotten for a bit, while I pack away all our festive chachkies and clean house for the new year. Our boys are too little to stay up on New Year's Eve, so they look forward to celebrating  by "playing in the paper" first thing on New Year's Day.

 

      This year, New Year's Day was gloomy, and my boys were not feeling it. (Little did I know, we were fixing to ring in 2013 with a bit of a stomach bug.) So Paper Jump 2013 was not the spectacular event I expected it to be, but the boys had a good time anyway. After a short "swim" through the paper, Baelin decided he'd rather lie down, and Romyn tried to make the most of it, collecting his favorite papers and trims, and gluing himself together a creation. Romyn suggested next year we keep all the packaging and plastic bits from toys  so he can make something a little more substantial. Well, I guess we might have something new to look forward to during Paper Jump 2014.

 

 Happy New Year from My Family to Yours! <3 -Kendra

 

   
   

Homemade ornaments, and other Holiday craftiness and happenings...

           Every year since I can remember my parents presented my brother and I with a new ornament when we put up our Christmas tree. It's something I have continued with my boys since their first Christmas, carefully selecting ornaments that celebrate their past year. For 2012 we decided to commemorate the boy's introductions to either Harry Potter, Star Wars, or Star Trek, (Yes, my future daughter in laws are going to loooooove me, I know.) and usually Hallmark has exactly what I want... but this time... they let me down. Actually, after talking to my boys, I discovered Hallmark had made exactly what they wanted, a few seasons ago...  and I started stalking Golden Snitch and Star Trek Tribble ornaments on Ebay. I wasted a lot of time being out bid before I spotted this Golden Snitch Ornament on Pinterest. (Smacks head, of course I'll just make my own.)
             My version uses air dry clay, wire wings wrapped in mod-podged vellum, and gold leaf. I still need to go over it with a gold pen, as my son is a stickler for details and would like it to be perfect. I'll do that later though... after more cookies.
              My youngest changed his mind about the tribble, deciding he'd rather have an Angry Bird ornament instead. He convinced me he has had such a magical time playing Angry Birds, he certainly deserved an ornament celebrating his Piggy-smashing achievements. This is how his turned out.

                   And here is a little more of what I've been up to this month so far...

       We adopted a kitten! B and I often visit the cats at PetSmart and last week this little guy was there.... the spitting image of B's lovey, "Big Grey Cat". He even had the same green collar, it was was meant to be! (I'm still telling myself this after cleaning the litter box for a week, and finding my curtains and couch ripped.) Really Comet is great with the boys, and an adorable, snugly, naughty cat. His most favorite activities are to rip down my holiday garland, race our little dog, and sleep on my back.         

             We also made some Christmas gifts, sugar cookies for our neighbors and teachers,wreaths for the Aunties, and my boys made a ton of clay figurines.... which I accidentally, and promptly smashed. I felt awful, but R and B took it fairly well. A clay time do over is on the agenda for this week.

          My oldest has really been in the spirit this holiday season. He made "Holiday Thankful" cards for everyone who waited on us at dinner the other night, donated from his piggy banks to every salvation army bin we've passed, and collected lots of goods for his school's giving tree. I'm pretty proud of his generosity.

          And of course  our shelf elf, Fred Carrot Treeskirt, has been busy spying on our boys in creatively exhausting ways.

           There is still lots of fun to be had this month, gingerbread houses, hot coco and holiday movies, sleeping in, I can't wait for winter break to start!

           I hope you've got lots of fun to look forward to as well! -Kendra

Happy Turkey Day!

Romyn's Turkey.

GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE!

                We're all off to spend the day stuffing our face's at my parents house. We'll play some cards and Nintendo , jiggle some rainbow jello and act fat and lazy. Hope all of you have an amazing day with the ones you love!

                 <3- Kendra

I promise to talk some more about rainbow jello after the holiday.



Graffiti Fun with Crayola Window Crayons. (A review.)

           Once upon a time it was gloomy outside, so Daddy bought some Crayola Window Crayons. Then Mommy hid them away because she thought "I am NOT going to clean up that mess!" and she forgot all about them.
           Once upon a different time it was gloomy again, and the boys were crazy, and Mommy was trying to keep calm when she came across the Crayola Window Crayons... she cursed her husband and her own weakness as she gave them to her boys and steered them to the windows. Amazingly, she then enjoyed an entire cuppa coffee before she realized her happy boys were spreading rainbow colored finger prints all over the house. (Messy.)
            The next day it was sunny... but the boys were thrilled to be back at the windows again anyway.

 

               Years ago I used Crayola's Window Markers for a project and was not thrilled with the results. The colors weren't bright, and passersby could not see my adorable snowflakes from the street. (Sad.) These crayon versions are LOUD bright, and went on very smoothly. The downside is that the boys managed to get color all over their hands, which traveled onto the windowsills and walls. A Mr. Clean Magic Eraser was the only way to get everything tidy again. Cleaning the window was not easy either, you can see a portion that was "cleaned" around the top of the door in the purple framed picture, it took me three tries with Windex, elbow grease, and paper towels to scrub it all off. (In fact the paned windows are still colored, because I dread the detail work I know is going to be involved. First the glass, then the trim...I shudder.)

               The truth though... I expect art to be messy. Glitter, glue, snipping paper, and what-not, it's always a disaster afterwards. The day and a half of peace I had, finding letters written to me on the windows, stick figure kitty shadows dancing around on the floor, and little boys who can't stop bragging about their creations is worth half a bottle of window cleaner any day.

              We give window crayons two smudgy rainbow thumbs up. I hope your day is arty too! -Kendra

Tribbles and Red Shirts...Halloween 2012

          What do you know? Star Trek won out over Mario this year. HURRAY! The boys were very pleased with their costumes, thrilled that Gramps surprised them with shinny "real" badges and communicators, and extra happy with the Tribbles  I ordered from Think Geek. These little guys vibrate around the floor and make "tribblie" noises when you pat them... or throw them at your brother. (Oh... I'm sorry... "Fluffball" was just trying to get away from the Klingons I'm told.)
          The best part of having Tribbles in the family is watching Romyn geek out when people ask him about his ".....uh, what have you got there?" and that totally awkward moment when he informs them that "...it's so crazy because they are borned pregnant!"
          Mommy just waves her hand dismissively and says "Eh... you know...Trekkie stuff." I love my little nerds!
          Hope you're all having a great weekend! Today the boys and I finished the 2nd Harry Potter book, and saw Wreck it Ralph, which was good, but I especially loved the intro short "Paperman". (LOVED.) We think you should all check it out. -Kendra