Taylor, Author at TaylorMade

Mosaic Corn Art with Kids!

November 16, 2016 By Taylor 3 Comments

Today I have a super fun Thanksgiving craft to share with you guys. I can hardy believe that I am typing the word “Thanksgiving”! It’s still back-to-school time in my head. I guess I need to catch up… and this craft will help :) I found this kids craft for Mosaic Corn Art on the Imperial Sugar website and fell in love! I remember doing something similar when I was little… it’s a little old school and a little modern. If you had everything ready ahead of time this could be something fun to have on the kids table on Thanksgiving Day. Imperial Sugar has a ton of kid crafts and recipes on their site and the best part is they are organized by holiday (look at how many Thanksgiving crafts they have!). We made the Salt Dough Leaves a few years ago and I’m thinking about trying the Glitter Leaf Votive Holders next!

For this craft you need:

-gel food coloring
-popcorn kernels
-white vinegar
-sugar
-flour
-water
-cardstock

My kids loved this project because it was almost three different mini projects in one. First, you make the sugar paste (that will be your glue for the final project).

Mix the following ingredients together in a mixing bowl:

1 cup flour, 3 tablespoons Imperial Granulated Sugar, 1 cup cold water and 1 cup boiling water.

Mix until smooth, bring to room temp, then store in an air-tight container.

Second… time to dye the popcorn kernels, which also happens to be our personal favorite. My kids LOVED doing this for some reason. Actually I did too haha. We used clear plastic cups for this step which I think made it even more fun. Add 1/2 cup water and 1 tbsp white vinegar to some small cups. My two year old measured all the water and my 5 year old got to do the vinegar :)

Next add a few drops of gel food coloring to each cup. They gel is really fun to watch… we had clapping and shrieking! Then add 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels to the cups. Let them sit for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

The next morning I took the kernels out and placed them on a pan to dry, that also takes a few hours.

After they were completely dry I got some cardstock and the kids started planning. I showed them the original Mosaic design that I saw on the Imperial Sugar website but they went rogue haha. I put some sugar paste in a baggie and trimmed the end to make it easier to handle. You could also use a paintbrush to apply the sugar paste.

We had a sun, dots, stripes and an abstract scene. After we finished we had some colorful kernels left over and now I’m thinking about placards for the Thanksgiving Day Table??

Imperial is having a Holiday Baking kit contest so check that out HERE! And be sure to also visit them for so many more Thanksgiving crafts, recipes and even printables! Check them out HERE.

Vampire’s Blood White Hot Chocolate

October 16, 2016 By Taylor Leave a Comment

It’s mid-October… my favorite time of the year. Apparently I’m not the only one. My son was bouncing off the walls a few days ago and I asked him why he was acting so wild… he said he can’t help it because all of this favorite holidays are coming up and he is just so excited :) I don’t blame him. We are getting very festive around here, we decorated the mantle, visited the pumpkin patch and have started watching Halloween Movies! When I came across this recipe for Vampire’s Blood White Hot Chocolate from Imperial Sugar I knew I had to make some! I love to browse Imperial Sugar’s site around the holidays because they have a ton of crafts, printables and recipes that you can make WITH your kids. This one was super fun and easy!

They have the recipe on their site (with exact amounts HERE) but this is pretty much all you need:

Half and Half
Imperial Sugar Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
Vanilla
Whipped Cream
Strawberries
White Chocolate
Red Food collating (optional)
Salt

The Strawberry Syrup is made from strawberries, sugar, water and red food coloring. I added a squeeze of lemon juice because I like to add lemons to everything :)

Then you bring that to a boil and let it simmer for a few minutes, until the strawberries break down. Strain the strawberries out and pour the syrup into an airtight container. This was the kids favorite part! Then they started listing all of the things they would put this on haha!

The White Hot Chocolate is so simple… white chocolate, sugar, vanilla, half and half and a pinch of salt. This took no time at all to melt together, make sure not to let it boil! Once it’s smooth just pour it into your mug!

Top with whipped cream and drizzle with strawberry sauce! This would be the hit of any party! Be sure to check out Imperial Sugar for more recipes and festive ideas. They are also having a giveaway for KitchenAid Stand Mixer so go check it out! Happy Halloween everyone :)

Swan Wings + Hello Ollie Fabrics

October 11, 2016 By Taylor 1 Comment

Hi Guys! Welcome to day 2 of the Hello Ollie Fabrics Blog Tour! I’m so excited to finally share the Swan Wings that I made earlier this year. Last spring Bonnie Christine asked me if I would make something for her booth at Quilt Market for her newest fabric line, Hello Ollie for Art Gallery Fabrics. I was so honored because I am a huge fan of Bonnie’s work… and how cool is it to have a project at Quilt Market?!

Bonnie’s new line is gorgeous and ethereal. Being named after Bonnie’s daughter, Ollie, sweetness is brought to life with dabbling swans, feathered fellows and garden blooms. Bonnie threw out a few ideas and I LOVED the idea of some pretty, girly Swan Wings and thought they would be perfect in Bonnie’s Booth.

I used White Muslin for the base and made two quarter circles by sewing right sides together then sewing alone the side and bottom and left the top open. That made the wing’s base.

I found this really pretty lace and cut it out in a strip and followed the lines in the lace to make it even more feminine… I kind of want this as the trim on a kimono now haha! I added this to the very bottom of the wings.

Then I used all of the gorgeous Hello Ollie fabric to make the feather shape in rows of 2-3 and sewed it on starting at the bottom.

I used metallic silver thread and left it long so it looked natural and raw. I also trued to use the raw edge of the fabric for the inner part of the wings.

Then I added in real white feathers (strategically placing them in blank spots) and hot glued them to the base fabric.

When I got to the top I used metallic gold bias tape to sandwich everything together.

I LOVE how they turned out… I’m not going to lie it was hard to mail these to Bonnie but I knew they would get love at Quilt Market :) Look how amazing the Hello Ollie Booth was! Everything looked perfect!

I had a little fabric and some gold metallic bias tape leftover and made this adorable Naples Dress (pattern found HERE). How cute is the little Hello Ollie tag I added from the selvage?!

Be sure to check out the other talented women in the tour! Yesterday Lindsey, shared an adorable shoulder tablet bag and I know Amanda has something amazing up here sleeve for tomorrow! You can check out the rest of the Hello Ollie Tour HERE on Bonnie’s Blog, Going Home to Roost and you can find the fabric HERE.

Group Fruit Costume for Kids

October 8, 2016 By Taylor 4 Comments

Guess what time it is… GROUP COSTUME TIME!!! Basically my favorite time of the year. And I lucked out and somehow got these three to do a group costume again! Halloween Magic (or bribery :)

I love to make over the top costumes with lots of sewing involved but this year has been super busy and I just wasn’t sure about cranking out three intricate handmade costumes. I came across Primary and fell in love! Primary is a children’s clothing company that was founded by two moms who were having a hard time finding clothing without all of the logos, slogans, and sequins. They carry almost any style in tons of colors and sizes AND they are super affordable… I’m pretty much hooked! I knew they would make the perfect Easy DIY Halloween Costume base. All of the tees, dresses, pants and leggings are from Primary and are linked in the post!

Last year they were bugs so I hinted about the food theme to the kids… they brought up fruit so I ran with it. I always have better luck if they have a part in the choosing. Almost all of the costumes are No-Sew, yay!! I did reinforce a few things with some quick stitches because my kids are wild but this could easily be done with glue, tape or hand sewing. I made them all in less than 30 minutes too! Perfect for the wishy washy child haha.

The Strawberry:
-Red Dress
-Green Leggings
-Green and Mustard Felt (crafting felt sheets from the craft store)

I love this little red dress. All I did for the strawberry was cut out the mustard colored seeds (tear shape) and attached them to the dress. I did use a little sewing here but glue, tape, wonder under… all good options! For the yoke, I simply took a piece of green felt and measured the neckline on the front and back of the dress then cut out the center neck part. Then I cut out the strawberry leaf shape on the outer edge and sewed it around the neckline (again you could use glue here).

The Kiwi:

-Green Tee

-Green Shorts

-Tan Felt (from the yardage section)

-black, light green and white felt

I actually used glue on the Kiwi Costume because the little black seeds are too small for my sewing patience haha. I cut out an irregular white shape for the center then a slightly larger piece in the light green felt. I used hot glue and glued them both directly on the shirt. Then I started on the teeny black seeds. Each one is hot glued on. I had a million glue strands so I used a lint roller when I was done. This boy of mine LOVES capes so I turned the Kiwi “skin” into a cape. I used 1/2 yd of tan felt and this is basically the only place the I used any real sewing. I gathered the top edge and sandwiched it into a rectangle piece that I measured to go around his neck. I sewed that together. Then I used hot glue for the velcro so he can take it on an off. I sewed a small piece of elastic at the bottom edge so it is rounded like a real Kiwi.

The Grapes

-Purple Long Sleeve Tee

-Purple Shorts

-Purple Balloons

-Green Pipe Cleaners

-Small safety pins

I kind of feel silly even writing how to do this one… so simple. It took me and my son about 5 minutes to blow up the balloons but other than that this costume was done in about 60 seconds haha! The key is blowing the balloons to different sizes (and not too big) to make it look more realistic. I used the safety pins and poked them through the end of the balloon and straight onto the shirt. I also added a little green curled pipe cleaner for the stem/vine part. I tried to pin them into a “V” shape too.

One thing that I loved is that the kids kept saying over and over is how comfortable their costumes are. I actually had to force them take them off so they wouldn’t ruin them before halloween! Thanks so much to Primary for providing the base of our Fruits :) Now if only I could get the tiniest model to cooperate everything would be great haha. Happy Halloween!

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