MUG SOMEBODY TODAY!

We made Muffin Stands (aka Mini Cake Stands). Only one thing could have come from that--baking! We didn't exactly bake anything, though, unless you count the delicious enchiladas my daughter fixed for Monday dinner.

What we did was put together mixes for someone else to bake, using a book I'd picked up titled, Mug'Ems--Sweet Things It's a nifty little tome full of recipes for mixes, with printed tags. Assemble the mix, put it in a plastic bag in a mug, cut the tag from the book and attach it, and give it away. Your recipient adds the last few ingredients (usually liquid), and bakes it, right in the mug. Hence the title.


I figure it would be easy enough to come up with your own recipes for this, but I had the book so it made sense to use it. We made Chocolate Blondie Mix, and had so much fun we wanted to make more. Unfortunately, we hadn't brought more baking supplies than we needed for just the one mix, so we were out of luck, with the nearest grocery store about ten miles away.

The lovely thing about this activity/craft was that is was one even our five-year-old could participate in, with her mama's help. Of course, part of the activity was finding the mugs to use. I'd brought some with me, and we found others at the local Goodwill. Even little Meggie picked out two mugs she loved. In the photo, hers is the one with the hearts, her mom's is the plain one, my mom's is the one with the rose pattern, my daughter Sarah's is the one with the caterpillar, and mine is the one with the swirls--each a reflection of our respective personalities.

I love that this is so quick, easy, and inexpensive!

PS HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAR HUSBAND!
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WATER BOTTLE CRAFT

It's not exactly a secret: I hate to throw anything away. I do recycle as much as I can, but see it as just a greener way to discard something. I also have issues with buying water, especially since our water here is so good, but the recent heat, coupled with a two-day long outside show sent me to the store for a case of it. (Hint: Freeze at least half the water you plan to take. It will keep the other bottles cold, and melt as the day goes on, giving you lovely ice water to drink, and/or a cooling bottle to hold against wrists and neck.)

So, there I stood yesterday, with a cluster of empty water bottles on the kitchen counter. What to do? Why, make squids, or dangles, or whatever you want to call them! It's an easy craft for older kids or grown-ups who don't like to make garbage.

You need:


The Materials

• Empty water bottles


• Scissors


• Small things to hang inside the bottle neck


• Wire or string

Begin by making a long, spiral cut the length of the bottle, starting wherever you want. I began my cut just below the bell shape. My water bottle was quite thin and flexible, so to begin the cut, I just kind of squished the side flat. You might have to poke a starter hole in a sturdier bottle.

Here's the path my scissors took:


A Spiral Course

As you can see, the trick is to cut almost all the way around, and then angle your cut down. I pretty much followed the indentations around the bottle itself, including where there was a kind of wave pattern. (I thought it would look cool to "catch the waves", but it didn't actually show, so you can just do a plain spiral.) Go all the way to the bottom of the bottle, but don't cut the bottom off.

When you've finished your spiral, you'll have this:




Do that to three bottles, and nest the neck ends together in a stack, so that the curls hang from three different places.

Now take one of the little items you've gathered--a large bead, a key, a small toy, whatever you like that will fit inside the belled top of the bottle, but not go through the neck. If it has a hole in it, run a string or length of wire through. (I used wire, just because I knew where I had a good stash of different colors. It took about 18" (46 cm).) If there's no hole, just tie it around the piece.

Run the string or wire up through all three bottle necks. Your bright object will add a bit of color, and provide a stopper so you can hang the "squid" up.

When you have the string through the top neck, you can spread it to each side, and screw the top on. It's an option that doesn't affect anything. In fact, without the lid, you have transparency all the way up, which might be even better. But here's what I did:



Up, Through, and Down


Here's are close-ups of my bottles. I used an old Christmas ornament and a big red button.





Take your squid outside and hang it from a tree, or arbor. Or dangle it from something in your room. (I put a single, spiral-cut bottle up for the neighbor's kitten, and she loves it. It's very bouncy. The bottle. Not the kitten. Well, actually, both of them.)