Making Personalized Gifts

I joined the Christmas in the Country Gift Exchange again this year which I shared earlier, but I wanted to show you how to make your own Glass Etched items for gifts this year.  Here is the mug that I got from Jent of From My Front Porch.

What I didn't tell you in my post about her gift was that I made etched glasses for my recipient, too!  I told Jent that great minds think alike.  Here is how I made mine.

 

Start with a smooth glass.  Believe it or not, some of the dollar stores have a great selection of glasses that can be used.  I found mine at Dollar Tree for just a buck!

You will have to make a sticker of the outline you want.  I made mine using the vinyl cutter at the Fab Lab ICC.  I think Jent used contact paper and an exacto knife to cut hers out (I have done this and it is tedious work.  If you have a Cricut Explore, like my friend Melinda, it would work great to cut out your picture as well.  Apply the sticker to your glass.  If you have a tapered glass like mine, you will have to cut a corner, so there are no air bubbles under your sticker.  I did use some painters tape to protect my glass as I made my stickers pretty close together.

The glass etching.  

I have used this bottle of Glass Etching Cream for several years and lots of projects.  If you are doing small projects like glasses, it will last you a long time.  I found it at Hobby Lobby.

It is hard to get a picture of this, but apply the cream pretty heavy with a brush.  I also wear gloves and make sure everything is covered.  The cream is a pretty strong acid, so please be careful.  Now, you wait 5 minutes for the cream to do its etching magic.  You can also use an abrasive blaster to do this, but for at home use the cream is much more readily available unless your Fab Lab has a blaster.

Hold the glass under running water to remove the etching cream.  I use the mudroom sink and I make sure I use LOTS of water. While the image is wet, it is hard to see how well it is etched...

But when it is dry, you can see your image wonderfully.  If you don't get a piece as etched as you want, you can always reapply the cream and try again.

 

I took the inside of the stickers from all the glasses I made for Christmas and made Christmas ornaments, so they got a 2 for 1 gift.  This is the tractor ornament I made for Brandi of Lipstick and Tractors.  My youngest liked the glasses so much that I had to make him some of his own.

The cow ornaments for our tree that my oldest absolutely adored.

 

Here is my word of caution for you.  I made these for one of the trucking firms that busted their rear ends for us during harvest.  If it had not been for them, we might have still been harvesting at Christmas.  When I thought I could cut out their logo (it is a husband and wife that drive the trucks), I wasn't thinking about every little letter I was going to have to punch out after it was cut.  I also didn't have a really good picture, so making the cutting lines was pretty intense as well.  They didn't turn out exactly like I wanted, but I think they liked them just the same.

These glasses where square sided and MUCH easier to apply the stickers to instead of the tapered glasses.

Do you have a family member with a unique name?  We have used contact paper and scrapbooking stickers to make one of a kind gifts for cousins with unique names.  They were loved by all of them boys and girls alike who can never find personalized items in the store.

What else should I try to make?  Have you ever made etched glass items?  What would you make next?

-A Kansas Farm Mom

Ronald McDonald House

There are days when I hear about others stories and I think I should try to help in some way and then there are days when I know what I need to do. 

I have never met Val the voice behind Wag'N Tales, but I totally admire her in so many ways.  If you follow me on Facebook, you may have seen me share her post The Life of George...an Update.  If you haven't read it, you really should.  I did get in trouble for not giving a tissue warning, so have a box handy.  If you are like me and have a hard time keeping perspective on what is really important this will do it for you.

I think we all struggle during the holidays to remember what is really important.  We spend so much time looking for that perfect gift that we forget that this life is only part of the journey.

While sorting cattle and reflecting on George's thoughts, I came up with a group that I would like you to remember this holiday season and well all year long...the families that stay in the Ronald McDonald Houses over the holidays.  The children spending time in the hospital over the holidays didn't do anything to deserve a stay in the hospital, What kind of joy or stress relief you could bring to someone in a very low place in their life?

I have 2 amazing friends that continue to give back to the Ronald McDonald Houses each year.  They wrap presents to be given to the families, they cook meals, one family I know spends every Christmas Eve cooking, hosting and delivering gifts after the families go to bed.  I spoke with one of them recently and asked what would be appreciated at the houses.  I know lots of people like to buy toys at the holidays, but what is really needed.

• Men's gloves and hats.  She said dad's are often overlooked in the donations. 
• Card games 
• Men's and women's lounge pants
• Toiletries.  One of my friends ALWAYS picks up all the toiletries in a hotel room.  They are a great size to put in a basket until a family can get settled.  Things like:  shampoo, conditioner, body wash, combs, brushes, razors, shaving cream, deodorant, bars of soap and toothbrushes! (travel sizes are the most useful)
• Individual snacks for grab and go like granola bars, bags of chips, trail mix, because let's face it...if you have a sick child in the hospital the last place you want to hang out is away from them.
• Individual freezer meals.  If I had a sick child, I don't know that I would feel like eating much, but something quick and easy would be much appreciated.
• Individual boxes of cereals
• Gift cards for restaurants both fast food and family style
• Gift cards for Gas, Target, Walmart
• Phone Cards  I have a friend who works for Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City who recommended this a few years ago.  We all think we have lots of minutes on our cell phone plans until we are away from home and everyone wants to know what is going on.

My oldest son's club at school is currently collecting pop tabs to send to Ronald McDonald Houses.  The tabs are sold for recycling to buy things that aren't donated to the houses. 

 

What charities does your family remember at the holidays?  Do you remember them around the year or just at the holidays?

 

-A Kansas Farm Mom

 

Fab Lab A Fabulous Gift Idea

I found Santa's workshop right here in southeast Kansas!  I need to say that I am torn on whether to share this opportunity with you or not.  I mean if you all are as excited about it as my son and I are, I could be waiting in line to do my projects, but I do like to share what our area has to offer.

 

Have you ever been to a Fab Lab? 

My youngest son got to visit the one at Independence Community College and came home so excited about it last week. After looking at the map, I had to check it out myself and a membership is now on my Christmas wish list.  (I really hope Santa reads this and gives the membership to our family a little early, so we can make some Christmas presents.)

Have you ever been looking through Pinterest thinking that would be a great project...if only I had the right equipment? 

A fab lab might just have everything you need to make some of the best Christmas gifts ever! Here are a few of the things I saw at our local fab lab. And if you don't live in southeast Kansas, don't worry there are 125 Fablabs around the world!

They have big equipment like a CNC router. For those of you that don't know what CNC means, basically it means that you can tell a computer what shape you want to cut out and it will do it all for you.

There is also a CNC plasma cutter that will cut metal into shapes that are programmed into it.  How cool is this?  Need a sign for your mailbox, gates, stalls, or a yardsign to let everyone know who your favorite team is?  I need to start a list with all of my ideas.  

Have you ever seen a project with vinyl letters or vinyl shapes and wish you had a fancy cutter that you could cut it out on? They have one and they have the vinyl that you can purchase to use as well.

If you don't have a computer at home or need help getting a file into the correct format for the machine you want to use, they have computer workstation setup for members to use.  They were very helpful and are working hard to make sure there are free online programs that you can use to design your projects at home and then bring them to the lab on a flash drive.  In the back, you can see 42 inch plotter that will print photographic quality images that I am super excited about.  Oh, the projects I have in mind and the savings from all of those large matted prints I wanted.

They have an abrasive blaster, which can be used to remove old paint and rust on small projects.  The lab managers are going to try to use it with the vinyl cutouts to etch glass.

The laser etching machine was just mesmerizing for my boys. I was shown this plate that had the ICC pirate mascot etched onto it from a simple PDF file.  It can etch any flat surface, but a curve or angle will not work.

We also watched as members of the Fab Lab made ornament after ornament from a PDF file as well. I can see so many fun things we could do with this.  That is simply a slice of wood with the design etched on it.  I couldn't sleep the other morning just dreaming of things to do with this machine!

I don't know that all Fab Labs have a kiln, but ours does thanks to a generous donation from a community member. Now I can try that Pinterest project in which I needed a kiln.

I am NOT going to act like I understand the electronic equipment on this workstation, but I bet I have some techie friends that would love to try it out.

 

The items I had the most hard time wrapping my head around are the 3D printers and 3D scanner. As we walked in the door, my boys were asked to help load the printer to print a project for a biology student. They were more than happy to jump right in and see how things really work!

 I had heard about the Fab Lab after one of my friends shared that her niece had a hand made for her. This young girl was born without fingers and the hand made at the Fab Lab allows her to grip things she never has been able to before. I knew about the Fab Lab, but I had no idea as a family we could join as members and be able to use the equipment.

There are several options for membership depending on whether you want to be able to reserve a machine when you get there or not. They do ask you to sign a membership application and they accept checks and credit cards for payment of your membership.

Year long individual memberships range in price from $100 to $225.  A family membership is $180 and includes 2 adults and up to 5 named children living at home (Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult member).  An individual membership allows you to use the lab machinery at will outside of Premium Member reservations up to one hour per machine per session. The premium membership allows you to be able to reserve the use of lab machinery up to 3 hours per machine per day.

I think a membership to a Fab Lab would make one of the most awesome Christmas gifts for a family.  It introduces kids to technology that will probably be commonplace by the time they graduate from high school and encourages them to really "Imagine, Design, and Create."

The boys and I are working on making a list of the projects we need to make.  If you want to know more about the Fab Lab ICC, I encourage you to follow them on Facebook.

 What else would you like to know about the Fab Lab?  Have you ever been to one yourself?  What should be my first project? 

-A Kansas Farm Mom

Thank You Nebraska Wheatie!

When my friend Laurie from Country Linked said she was helping co-host of Christmas in the Country Blogger & friends gift exchange, I first thought oh how fun and then I thought about everything going on in our lives and wondered if I had time to look for yet another gift.  I am so glad I did take time to put together a gift, but I will admit that the gift I sent was NOTHING like the gift I received from Tracy of Nebraska Wheatie.

My youngest loves this cute little snowman that Tracy made herself from burlap.  If fits right into my country decor and will probably hang out on the kitchen counter after the Christmas decorations are packed away.

 What girl doesn't love  chocolate?  These Chocolate Meltaways are made in Nebraska and are awesome.  Yes, I still have some, because my boys haven't figured out they are chocolate yet.  ;) 

The really fun thing about them is that you can select your flavor.  The bag gives you the key to the wrapper code.  This is much better than the big box of chocolate with a "map" of what flavor is where.  I highly recommend these chocolates!

 Everyone that I know that works outside in the winter battles dry cracked hands.  This hand cream is one of the best I have found and I may very well be placing an order with Tammy's Soap Shack to get the whole family through the rest of this winter.

 Oh, Tracy knows me so well!  Yes!  A Cookbook was just the ticket for a great gift for me especially one full of quick and easy meal prep.  I have a lot of new recipes to try out.  When it was icy last week, we tried several and were not disappointed.

 I LOVE this egg.  I have no idea how they made it (I am trying to figure it out).  I hope Tracy will share with us where or how it was made.  The picture does not do it justice.

 The crowning piece of my gift was a photo taken my Tracy.  If you know how our fall has been with our family and how a farmers life changes constantly, then you know this is perfect.  It hangs in my kitchen where I can see it everyday. 

Thank you to Country Linked and This Unchartered Rhoade for hosting and I look forward to next year.  In fact, I am going to keep a list of locally made products just for this project.  Be sure to check out the other participants in the Christmas in the Country exchange.  And don't forget to check out the Nebraska Wheatie blog and learn all about a Custom Harvester family from Nebraska.

-A Kansas Farm Mom

Our Elf is Lazy

I really try not to rant on here, but the elves have taken over Facebook and Pinterest and I have had enough!  If you are one of those parents that stays up all hours of the night doing Elf activities, you might want to stop reading right now and click to another page.

I have a confession to make.  I am one of those parents that bought an Elf on the Shelf when they first came out…Only because the store had them for 75% off after Christmas (I am guessing they weren’t supposed to go on sale).

We have one in our house.  He does not run the house.  He does not TP our tree.  He does not use markers on the pictures of the kids.  He does not make snow angels in flour on my cabinets.

He simply flies back to the North Pole every night and finds a new place to land most days.  Some days he likes the place he is sitting and he stays there another day…or two.  OOPS!

My boys don’t expect him to do things while they sleep except go to the North Pole and report to Santa, just like the book that came with him says.

Seriously, will someone please explain to me WHY parents feel the need to intentionally trash their house and say it was this doll?  Why do they feel the need to make their children feel the world revolves around them?

My youngest is simply amazed that he has moved overnight.  It is a fun game the 2 of them have before he goes to school.  He is even keeping score.  By the way, Elfie stayed in the same spot for 3 days before he was found.  I see no need in making this “fun little tradition” anything more than that…a cute little game.

I will NOT be like some of my friends who are up at 2 am helping the elf decorate a gingerbread house.  I will not be sneaking into my kids rooms to set up some display that the elf did.  Really?!  It is the holidays.  I am busy enough the way it is.  Not only do I work hard to bake bread and pecan rolls for the neighbors.  I have Christmas cards to send out and presents to buy and wrap.  I still have a full time job of taking care of cattle in this cold weather.  The last thing I need to do at 2 am is undecorate my tree and blame it on a stuffed doll.  I do good to remember to move the little guy once a day and that is only because I set an alarm on my cell phone to remind me at 9:30 every night and even then I forget.

Sorry if you see me as some kind of party pooper in the Elf adventures, but do we really need elf antics to help us celebrate Christmas?  Last time I checked there was no elf in the Nativity scene.

-A Kansas Farm Mom

Recycled Christmas Ornaments for Kids to Make

I am a huge believer in repurposing items around the house and farm.  My husband has rolled his eyes given me the look like I have lost my mind more than once when I have told him my ideas.  As I was getting out my Christmas decorations after Thanksgiving, I thought maybe others might want to see some of my favorite repurposed decorations.

A few years back, I found this idea (I think on Family Fun).  I spray painted puzzle pieces green and cut cardboard in the shape of wreaths and trees.  The kids glued the pieces on and used glitter glue to decorate.  My boys are not into bling, so I am sure a girl would make a prettier ornament.  It's a great way to use those puzzle that are missing pieces that every house seems to have.

 As a believer in the 4-H program developing public speakers, I have had the privilege of judging talks for many years in different counties.  One of my favorite items I saw made one year was a Christmas tree made from an old bed spring.  I passed the idea onto another 4-H member who made me this tree in return.  Of course, if you aren't into cowboy items, you could decorate to suit your tastes.

 My favorite decorations are the button trees that I have made grandmother's buttons.  We started with a 12 inch tree that isn't overly bushy.  Actually, the super bushy trees get too full.  We hot glued the buttons on the tip of each branch and then stuffed the tree with this gold glittered baby's breath like floral.

 If you are lucky when you are sorting through the buttons, you can find buttons that look like a star like I did here...

 and here.  Well, actually I think this was one of her broaches, but I still like it. 

I am looking for ideas for the boys to make this year.  Do you have any suggestions?  Please leave them in the comments.

-A Kansas Farm Mom

'Twas the Morning Before Christmas

"Twas the morning before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring...not even MOM!!!

Where was she?!  Shouldn't she be wrapping asked the youngest son?!
Shouldn't she be baking and singing Christmas songs worried the oldest son?!

The weatherman says there's going to be cold weather and possibly snow,

Grain is a source of extra energy for the cows.  Keeping warm on cold days takes lots of extra energy.

so the Kansas Farm Mom and her farmer hubby were out unwrapping hay bales for their girls to keep their tummies full and their bodies warm.

Taking the net wrap off a bale wearing a stocking hat that my Grandma made me before she died. :)

The kids will understand if not everything gets wrapped or baked (even the Cinnamon Roll Muffins).  The cows come first on this ranch.

White Christmas' usually aren't welcome in this part of the land.
Snow makes more chores and leaves less time to spend with the family on Christ's Birthday.

The continuing drought reminds us all that each drop of moisture from the heaven
 is a gift from God.  We thank him for each flake he sends us tomorrow on Christmas mornin'.

Merry Christmas everyone!!


P.S.  If you are new to my blog, follow me on Facebook or follow the link at the top to be notified each time I have a new post.

-A Kansas Farm Mom

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W4DW-2 Cheese Wheat Bread

While everyone else is baking Christmas cookies and candies, I like to take a different approach to holiday baking.  I prefer to give the gift of home baked bread.  I found this recipe several years ago when helping a neighbor look for recipes for the 4-H fair.  It is another one of those recipes from the Kansas Wheat Commission and I love the fact that I can use my bread machine to mix the dough.  I have helped 3 different girls learn how to make this for 2 different county fairs and they all have received purple ribbons on this bread.

I always put the liquid ingredients in my bread machine first.  So to begin, add the following to the pan of your bread machine: low-fat milk, low-fat cottage cheese,(the recipe says seived, but I usually just dump the cottage cheese in), butter, honey, and 1 egg.  The recipe also says you should warm the milk, butter and cottage cheese.  If you warm it, put it in a pan on the stove and use a thermometer.  Getting liquids too warm can kill your yeast and if they are too cold the yeast won't grow as well it should.

I add all the dry ingredients on top of the liquids.  I try to put the yeast right in the top of the pile, so I know it won't get stuck on the sides of the pan or in one corner.  Start the bread machine on the DOUGH cycle.  My machine takes about an hour and a half to run that cycle.

If we are making bread for the fair, I have the girls weigh the dough balls to make sure they are the same size and will produce a very balanced looking braid.

If you have never braided bread before, don't be intimidated as it is really quite easy.  I have taught 3 teenage girls to braid 6 strands at once.  First, start by pinch your ends together.

Take the first strand on your right.  Carry it over the next 2 strands and pass it under the 3rd strand and over the top of the last 2 and lay it on the left side.  We like to talk to ourselves and say "over 2 under 1 over 2."

Just keeping passing the strands from one side to the other in this manner until you get to the end of the loaf.

I like to tell the girls to braid until there is nothing left to move over...clear down to the last half inch.  Pinch the ends together  a little, so all your hard work doesn't come unraveled.

Tuck the ends where you pinched the strands together under the loaf, so you can't see them.  Place the dough on a baking sheet, cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place until double in size, usually about 20 minutes.

While the bread is rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  When you are ready to put it in the oven, beat the other egg in a bowl and brush the loaf all over with the egg.  The egg will give it a nice shine and will adhere the sesame seeds to the bread.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.  You will need to make a tent out of aluminum foil to place over your braid for the last 15 minutes or it will get too brown.  We don't get too fancy, we just try to push it around the loaf, so the ends are open a little.

When I make this for gifts, I make 2-3 stranded braids which are much more manageable for a small family or an elderly couple than a huge 6 stranded braid.  I also don't have to tent the smaller braids with aluminum foil.

The girls that have made this bread all LOVE it.  One of them says it is the only bread she will eat without butter...it is that GOOD!

Two Cheese Wheat Bread

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons low-fat milk       1 T vital wheat gluten*

½ cup low-fat cottage cheese, sieved            1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons butter                                       1 teaspoon salt           

2 tablespoons honey                                       1 teaspoon dried dill weed

1 egg, beaten                                                  ½ teaspoon onion powder

1 cup whole wheat flour                                 ½ garlic powder

2 cups bread flour                                           1 package quick-rising yeast 

  

1 egg                                                               Sesame seeds

Warm milk, cottage cheese and butter to 80⁰F. Place ingredients in bread machine in order listed. Select DOUGH cycle. Do not use the delay timer. Check dough after 5 minutes. If it is too dry add 1 teaspoon of water; if it is too sticky, add 1 teaspoon of flour at a time. Remove the dough from machine; divide into 6 equal pieces.  Cover; let rest 10 minutes.

Shape into a six stranded braid. Roll each piece into a rope approx. 14 inches long. Pinch together the six ropes together at one end, with tips facing you. Braid the bread by placing the first one over the next two and under the fourth then over the last two and keep repeating this until it is completely braided. Pinch together the ends and tuck under ends and pinch to seal. Cover let rise until doubled. Brush with beaten egg; sprinkle on sesame seeds. Bake in preheated 350⁰F oven 25-30 minutes. Tent braid with foil for the last 15 minutes.

Makes 1 large braid, 24 servings

Nutritional Analysis: One Slice provides approx. 97 calories, 4 g protein, 14 g carbohydrates, 3 g fat (1 g saturated), 24 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, 29 mcg folate, 1 mg iron, 151 mg sodium.

-A Kansas Farm Mom 

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