April Showers Springboard Creative Powers!

Posted by Kristina | 0 comments

For many of us, “April showers bring May flowers” is our happy mantra, keeping us motivated and putting a spring (groan) into our steps. Here, the sun shines far too intermittently for my personal liking, and the winds still carry that bitter chill that sends us back inside more often than we would like. So, to help you out of your “will summer never come?” doldrums, try some indoor ideas on for size.  I have a feeling they might be just what the doctor ordered (unless you are ordering something tropical!).

Raffia Napking Rings

To make some really nifty raffia napkin rings (and, yes, I believe that *is* a tongue twister), you will need:

• a cardboard tube, either from the inside of an empty toilet paper or paper towel tube
• different colours of raffia (yarn or embroidery floss will also work)
• a pencil, some scissors and something circular to trace around that is the desired size.

Begin wrapping the raffia (or yarn etc) over the cardboard tube that you have cut to size (perhaps two inches in height is a good guide); overlapping the strands of raffia so they cover the cardboard very quickly. Whenever you run out of raffia, simply add a new strand by knotting the two together (old piece and new piece), making sure the knot is hidden on the inside of the tube, not on the outside where people can see it easily. Keep on wrapping raffia until the whole of your napkin ring tube is covered and no cardboard is showing. Weave any loose ends so they do not run the risk of coming unravelled.

Now comes the fun part!

Take a different colour of raffia, or yarn or embroidery floss, and make a design with it, either by braiding it and gluing it onto the outside of your napkin ring, or weaving it (using a needle) over and under the raffia you wound around the tube.

Use your own creative ideas for making your napkin rings unique.  You can use comic strips and glue (letting the glue dry between applications allows you to still see any images but creates a shiny finish), buttons, beads and ribbons… Let your imagination run free!

Bird Feeder

Now is also the perfect time to either purchase or make a bird feeder. I know my brother told me just the other day how he decided to start feeding the birds earlier than usual this year, and he feels he has not only attracted some different sorts of birds, like finches and nuthatches as well as the usual blue jays, but he also seems to think the squirrels are paying less attention to the food. One can always hope!

I love the classic bird feeder out of a used (and empty … must specify for my kids!) milk or juice carton. All you need to do is attach some string to the top, in order to hang it from a tree or secure post, and cut a hole for the birds to take the feed from. We have hot-glued a twig on to the bottom section of the feeder in the past for a perch, just underneath the opening we cut for the food. If you do this, make sure that you are generous with the hot glue. We have also found that birds seem to enjoy a feeder that isn’t able to blow around a ton in the wind, so try to choose a semi sheltered spot for hanging, but one you can still watch the wildlife from.

Cool Treats

One last idea for today is to make some cool treats, saying goodbye to the ice and snow and thinking ahead to balmy days spent under the sun.

Coconut Ice

Image from www.bbcgoodfood.com

 
You need 2 ¼ cups of white sugar, 2 ½ cups of desiccated coconut, a saucepan, waxed paper, 1 cup of milk, red food colouring (if desired) and a 9×13 pan

1. lightly grease a 9×13 pan then line with waxed paper

2. put sugar and milk in the saucepan. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for about 3 minutes.

3. remove the saucepan from the stove, adding the coconut, stirring constantly. If you choose to add food colouring, add a drop at a time, until you obtain the shade of pink you like.

4. pour the mixture onto the 9×13 pan and leave it to cool.

5. when it has both cooled and set, cut it into squares or bars and store in an airtight container.

Peppermint Creams

Photo by Ben Dearnley

 
You need 1 ¾ of icing sugar (powdered sugar), 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract, 1 egg white, a large bowl for beating egg, smaller bowl for sifting sugar, wire rack for cooling/drying

1. Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl

2. Beat the egg white until stiff then add the sugar. Add the peppermint extract and mix until a stiff paste is formed

3. Sprinkle your counter with some icing sugar and roll out the paste until it is about ¼ inch thick

4. Make or cut into circles (using a cookie cutter if desired) and place on a wire tray until firm, may take over night.

 

Kristina Campbell is a happily married wife in her eighth year of homeschooling the flybytheseatofyourpants method. So far her two boys seem intelligible and relatively unscathed. She also mentors with Setting Captives Free and in her spare time loves to scrapbook, paint, make linoprints and write novel study guides. In your spare time, you should check out her blog OnFire in PNG.