Catching Up on Crafts

For the past few months I've been feeling like there isn't much time for crafting. Sure, I've been able to do a short craft here or there for the blog but nothing to substantial. Over the weekend I finally got a chance to sit down and work on some projects I had bookmarked. It felt really good to just sew and make this seat-belt cover. I think I was going through a crafting withdrawal or something because when I finished this, it was like crafting euphoria. I was so pleased with it that I wanted to sew some more, and more, and more!

I found the tutorial for this seat belt cover on AfricanKeli. It's a really easy sewing project and can be made in about an hour or two. Well, provided there are no distractions, you know how that goes. ;)

Summer Fun

Photo via Creative Uses for Tchotchkes

As summer break approaches, I find myself asking, how will I keep the kids busy? Yes, we have activities planned like swimming and tennis lessons but there's still a lot of free time to fill. To combat the boredom, I'll be taking ideas from a few of the sites below. I hope you will find the list helpful too:

Alpha Mom - Check the "Family Fun" section to keep you and you're little ones busy.

Crafty Crow - Craft site targeted towards kid crafts. This is one of my favorites.

Make & Takes - Kid projects often with a focus on child learning/development.

Skip To My Lou - Cindy is hosting a Craft Camp on her site for the month of June. Every day she's posting a new project to do with the kids.

Have a favorite site you like to visit for ides? Please share.

Kid Craft: Father's Day Card

With Father's Day closely approaching (June 20th), it's time to start thinking about gifts. This year I'm having the kids give Dad these cute Fan Foam Finger inspired cards. What I like about this project is it allows children to be creative, hence the yellow fingernails. Kids can color it with dad's favorite team colors, draw pictures or write something. Clip Art Below.
I created this faux foam finger in Illustator. To use, just right click, copy, save and paste into Word or another program. Adjust to desired size and print. Now just cut out and color.

*This card is not supposed to open up. It' more like a post card style.

*Other option, trace and paint this image onto craft foam. I found that fine tip painter's markers work best.

Fabric Covered Tape Measure

I've been wanting to make a fabric covered tape measure for some time now and finally got the chance to do so over the weekend. I had planned on sharing a tutorial on how to sew a cover but I found a better tutorial on A Spoonful of Sugar. Her directions are very detailed and clear so I'm going to send you over there instead. It's a lovely site, I'm sure you'll like it.

Poppy Lane also has a felt covered tape measure tutorial. The method is a little different but the results are just as cute.

Now, what to do for my promised craft project of the week. Any suggestions?

Caramel Bacon Popcorn Recipe

A couple weeks ago my husband brought back some caramel bacon popcorn from Seattle and it was good. So good in fact that I wanted to recreate it. I've always been one of those people that likes a sweet and salty food combination. For example. one of my favorite things to eat is a honey baked ham with fruit chutney. I can eat that alone for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Seriously, I'm not even exaggerating, I will eat leftover ham for every meal until there's none left. But I digress, back to the popcorn recipe. I'm really pleased with how the popcorn came out. It's not as good as the popcorn from Seattle, but it's close. Recipe below.

Caramel Bacon Popcorn

15 cups of popped popcorn - 2/3 cup of kernels will make about 15 cups
8 slices of bacon - if you really want the bacon flavor to be strong, perhaps 10 slices
1/2 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cook bacon as normal till crisp. Chop up fine (refer to picture above). Set aside.

Making popcorn: If you've never tried making it on the stove, it's very easy to do. Add a couple of tablespoons of oil in a large pot on medium heat. Add one kernel, cover pot with lid. When you hear that kernel pop, add one third cup of kernels, place lid back on. Shake pot while kernels cook. When the popping starts to die down, turn off heat. Continue to shake the pot and keep the lid on for about 30 seconds. Repeat process. Spread popcorn out on two baking sheets lined with tinfoil. If you don't want to use tinfoil, I recommend spraying the baking sheets with oil first.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

In a medium sized pot melt butter. Add brown sugar, corn syrup, salt and mix together. Bring to a boil and stir constantly. Boil for four minutes without mixing. Turn off heat and add baking soda, vanilla, and bacon. Mix all together.

Drizzle mixture all over popcorn and mix well. Work quickly before the mixture hardens too much. Don't worry if the popcorn isn't completely covered with mixture. You'll be able to fix this when it's in the oven.

Place both baking sheets with popcorn in oven. Bake for one hour stirring every 15 minutes. Watch the caramel to make sure it doesn't get too dark, it burns quickly. Take out of oven an let cool. Done. You may find that it doesn't need to be in the oven for a full hour.