Mocha Cinnamon Salt Dough Ornaments

Confession time: I am a complete control freak about crafting with my kids. I don't care how big of a mess they make...so long as they don't mess up mine. Sigh. It's horrible, I know. I'm the mom. They have to learn. Who really cares?!?

I'm working on it. Really. This fall when we were carving pumpkins I kept getting twitchy each time Jane reached her sharpie over to try and put a scribble on my pumpkin. It was ridiculous. I eventually gave myself a lesson in letting go and let her draw on my carved pumpkin. All over it's face.

Then I had a beer.


Last week Jane and I made some salt dough ornaments. I admit to purposefully waiting until Jimmy was taking his nap to roll them out and paint them. Hey, I let them help mix it all up with me. (And what a mess of baking supplies that was!)

I changed the recipe up a bit though because salt dough is stinky. So I added some chocolate and some cinnamon and some coffee. When you bake these puppies your house will reek of lovely yummy baked goods.



Disclaimer: Do not try to eat these salted cinnamon mocha dough ornaments after you have baked them. They will break your teeth. And taste like crap. Better then plain old salt dough ornaments, but still, like crap.



Salted Cinnamon Mocha Dough Ornaments:

1 cup flour (use what you have, AP, wheat, etc. I used bread flour.)
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp coffee (use the leftovers at the bottom of the pot. Or water.)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Mix all your ingredients together. Get fancy. Break out the stand mixer. Use a spatula to make sure all dry ingredients get incorporated. Mix for a few minutes until dough is smooth. Resist the urge to pop a bit into your mouth. These are the best diet cookies!

Roll out dough 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out your favorite holiday shapes (skull and crossbones are Christmas-y, no?) Once you get all your ornaments cut out and on baking sheets, take a drinking straw and poke a hole in the top of each ornament. If you want to stitch up an ornament like the stars, poke more holes.

Bake ornaments at 200 degrees for three to five hours. Yeah, hours. You want to bake this puppies until there is no moisture left in them and they are completely hardened. Don't sweat it tough because for three to five hours your house will smell like heaven. Seriously. My husband came home from work during this step and got all excited thinking I had baked something for dessert.



After your salted cinnamon mocha dough ornaments cool completely it's time to decorate! Any acrylic paint will work on your ornaments. Acrylic paint is good because it will dry fast. Children have little patience. (Okay, fine. Me too.) I painted mine with gesso which is white acrylic paint with a polymer added. It's intent is to prime canvases for artwork, but it works fantastic for these. I like it because it is very opaque. And Jane's monstrous glops of it dry out fairly quickly. You can find it at and crafting or art stores.

Once your paint is dried, paint or spray your salted cinnamon mocha dough ornaments with a clear coat. Make sure to cover all surfaces. You want to seal the ornament from getting any moisture in it. After Christmas store your ornaments in a cool dry place.


Thread yarn, embroidery floss or ribbon through the holes in the ornaments and you're done! Hang on the tree or even use as fancy schmancy gift tags. Jane is still super excited about them on our tree. I think salted cinnamon mocha dough ornaments will be an annual tradition in our house.

Enjoy!

Best Felt Russian Stacking Doll Ornaments

Everything I do I must make more complicated. I decided to make these little Russian doll ornaments to add into a Christmas gift for a friend. Then I thought, hey, I should make them into a blog post. Then I thought, hey, I should make a tutorial for these ornaments. Then I decided to get super crazy and thought I should make a pdf pattern to share with you all. I like to make it easy for you and do all the work. Or I have control issues.

So, without further ado, I present:

Step 1: Print out the Matryoshka Ornament Pattern below. It should fill one sheet of printer paper.
Matryoshka Doll Ornaments Pattern

Step 2: Cut out each pattern piece in felt of your choice. Cut two of each main body piece. I found it easiest to keep each doll's patterns and felt together in a ziplock bag until it was time to sew. Mostly to keep Jimmy from mixing them all up.


Step 3: Stack hair and face piece and stitch onto one body piece. I used a basic running stitch, but you can get super fancy here. Or even use a sewing machine. Heck, you can make these ornaments without sewing at all. Just glue them. Hot glue, Elmer's glue, Arlene's glue. Sky's the limit.

Step 4:Stitch dress piece and kerchief tie piece to the same body piece. I added a lazy daisy stitch with a french knot center. You could stitch a heart. Or a button. Or embroider a name. Again, go ahead and run with it.


Step 5: Stitch on a face: two french knots and a curved stitch. I think I will make a man one next with a mustache.


Step 6: Align the front body piece (the one you stitched all the parts to) with the back piece. Starting at the lower left hand corner stitch up the left side, around the head and back down to the lower right corner. Make sure you add a loop of ribbon so your ornament can hang. I cut my ribbon to 7 inches to make a nice big loop. Little kids can struggle with these things.


Once you stitch your way back to the right corner, stuff your doll ornament. I used Pellon Perfect Loft which I must say is just lovely to use. It's light and fluffy and easy to stuff. I have also stuffed little guys like this with felt scraps too. It all depends on how finicky you want to get about it. Stitch the remaining bottom edge closed.

Admire your handiwork.


Happy Holidays, ya'll.

Winter Wonderland Collection

If you have little ones to sew for this holiday season then you should consider getting yourself a copy of the Winter Wonderland Collection of sewing patterns by the ladies at Pattern Anthology.


The collection is everything from hats and capes to a blazer and party dress and all sorts of garments in between. It's everything you need for your little ones to take you through the holiday seasons. The pattern collection will have you dreaming of crisp cool air, warm holiday baking, sparkling lights, and cozy evenings with family.



For Jimmy, I sewed him up a Johnny B. Good Hoodie (it also comes with a hood collar option) and a Trapper Hat (which also has a pilot style hat option too.) The Trapper hat sews together so quickly and easily. I'm in love. I would recommend sizing it up if you are going to use a fluffy lining fabric, like minkie, fleece or fake fur. Jimmy loves his Trapper hat. I see many versions of these to come.

The Johnny B. Good hoodie shirt is an adorable retro style shirt. I just love my little man in a collared shirt. This pattern makes it super easy to make too, with less pattern pieces than a normal collared shirt pattern. But I've got to tell you my favorite part about this pattern is that it includes instructions on how to upcycle a men's dress shirt into one for your little dude! I used one of my husband's old shirts that he had gotten a stain on, then added the contrasting front and back yokes. The pattern has pieces to make your own cuff plackets, but I just used the ones on my husband's shirt sleeves. So much easier than sewing a dress shirt from scrap, and you get to have nice shirting fabric for your boys without paying an arm and a leg.



Jane looked through the Winter Wonderland Collection and chose the Juliet Capelet. All of a sudden she has decide she is big enough to be deciding what I will make for her. I sense trouble. We decided on the rounded hood option with no ruffle. I lined the hood and capelet with creme minkie for extra warmth. To make this piece more cape than capelet, I cut the neck of the pattern at her true size, but cut the bottom hem at a size larger. The toggle closures are from Joann's. I think they finish the look off nicely and bonus points that they are kid "I can do it myself" friendly.



The Winter Wonderland Collection is a good deal because you're getting a bundle of patterns that you can use for years. The sizes span from 18 months on up to 8 years. The patterns are great styles than can be easily remixed to reflect whatever look you (or your opinionated kids) are going for. Plus, you're getting the patterns for 25% thank retail once they have been bundled. You can even snatch up a Mini Bundle of just the girls or boys patterns.

The Winter Wonderland Collection is only available for a limited time and you only have two days left! Do not delay. You can have adorable outfits for your kiddos for each holiday through the cold weather season. And that means no ugly polar bear dork sweaters have to be worn.

Click the image below to be taken to be taken to the Winter Wonderland Collection site.


Disclosure: I received a copy of the Winter Wonderland Collection in exchange for my making something to share with you all. All opinions and ideas my own. End of story.

May the 4th be with you.

Princess Leia: Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.

[Pause]  [Look left.]   [Look right.]  [Leia turns off R2D2.]




Team Dorsey is celebrating Star Wars Day today. Let's be honest; it's a great excuse for the kids to wear their homemade costumes aside from Halloween. (We really need more costuming holidays.) Plus, this year Jane is old enough to tell people "May the fourth be with you."

This year Jimmy perfectly fits into last year's R2D2 costume. Jane's costume I whipped up this morning and the light sabers I made from the pool noodle that kept Jane from rolling out of bed. (Another vote for Mom of the Year. I know.)






I realize I have committed a foul and given light sabers to two characters who should not have them. To be honest, I was always pissed as a kid that Leia wasn't a secret Jedi. That is just a bunch of sexist bullshit on George Lucas' part. Plus, I suppose if she had her brains, her slave bikini and a light saber, Leia would have just defeated the damn Empire herself.


She's a natural with a light saber.



The best part of the photo shoot was that my kids have never had light sabers before. I had to pose them and show them how to hold them crossed so it looked like they were battling. After I got a few good shots I told them they could hit each other with them. Hit each other with light sabers? It was on.









I'm super stoked that the baby Yoda hat I crocheted for Jimmy is still making the rounds with my nephews and Link is rocking it with full Start Wars pride!




Yoda: Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you?

So have yourselves a great Star Wars Day and May the Fourth be with you.


(She's got a bit of the dark side in her, too!)

After years of making everyone else costumes, I've realized I *still* don't even have a Star Wars t-shirt to wear today. Sigh. And hey, I'm taking my final anatomy lab practical this morning. I'm hoping The Force is with me, too.

[End Scene.]

Be the good

I try to be a good person. It is one of my parenting goals to teach my children to be good people. The shootings at the Sandy Hook Elementary school have shook me. More so than any other violent event to date. I don't know if it is because I am now a parent, but every time I look into Jane's innocent face I weep for those sweet angels and their families. Losing my children is my worst fear. I want to take action. I can not stop the crazies of the world. The only way I know to combat hate is with love. (This is not true, since I am a terrific fighter, but showing love seems to be the only way to have an effect on hate and keep me out of jail.) It is not easy to show love in the face of hate. But know that anger thrown in the face of anger only breeds war. (Or sends me to jail.)

If you have young children like I do, I am certain you have days where bedtime seems too far away. A few weeks ago my husband and I had reached our limits well before dinner was over. I ordered everyone to get their effing shoes and coats on and get in the damn car. We spent the next hour or so parking in front of our neighbors homes to ogle their holiday lights. Jane squealed with delight at each candy cane and cartoon character. Jimmy for once was silent in awe.

As we tucked our passed out little bugs into bed that night, it occurred to me that we ought to thank our neighbors. This was not our first, or last trip out to stalk their decorations. I wanted them to know that their efforts were not only appreciated, but helped put Team Dorsey into a much more merry mood. So this is what we did:

I shrunk our awesome Christmas card drawing that Rachael of imagine gnats made for us and printed them out onto card stock. On each one I hand wrote a thank you note. Because I think a hand written note kind of makes it more personal.

We spent ten dollars at the dollar store on chocolates and put them all into snack sized zip lock bags so they would stay dry. On the evening of the twenty-third we went cruised the neighborhoods again; my husband and I running from the car like jackasses to leave our secret treats on porches.

Next month I am participating in an online auction of handmade items and craft/sewing supplies. The auction will take place January 14-18. 100% of funds raised will be donated to Newtown Parent Connection (http://www.newtownparentconnection.org/), where all funds will go directly to those affected by the shooting in Newton. If you have anything that you could donate to this cause, I would love for you to be a part of this as well. Please visit Rachael or Kelley to sign up.

Here is a sneak peak at my donations:

I hope all of your Holidays were merry and bright. And I expect to see you at teh auction! I'll post the link as soon as it is available.

Salted Cinnamon Mocha Dough Ornaments

Confession time: I am a complete control freak about crafting with my kids. I don't care how big of a mess they make...so long as they don't mess up mine. Sigh. It's horrible, I know. I'm the mom. They have to learn. Who really cares?!?

I'm working on it. Really. This fall when we were carving pumpkins I kept getting twitchy each time Jane reached her sharpie over to try and put a scribble on my pumpkin. It was ridiculous. I eventually gave myself a lesson in letting go and let her draw on my carved pumpkin. All over it's face.

Then I had a beer.


Last week Jane and I made some salt dough ornaments. I admit to purposefully waiting until Jimmy was taking his nap to roll them out and paint them. Hey, I let them help mix it all up with me. (And what a mess of baking supplies that was!)

I changed the recipe up a bit though because salt dough is stinky. So I added some chocolate and some cinnamon and some coffee. When you bake these puppies your house will reek of lovely yummy baked goods.



Disclaimer: Do not try to eat these salted cinnamon mocha dough ornaments after you have baked them. They will break your teeth. And taste like crap. Better then plain old salt dough ornaments, but still, like crap.



Salted Cinnamon Mocha Dough Ornaments:

1 cup flour (use what you have, AP, wheat, etc. I used bread flour.)
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp coffee (use the leftovers at the bottom of the pot. Or water.)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Mix all your ingredients together. Get fancy. Break out the stand mixer. Use a spatula to make sure all dry ingredients get incorporated. Mix for a few minutes until dough is smooth. Resist the urge to pop a bit into your mouth. These are the best diet cookies!

Roll out dough 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out your favorite holiday shapes (skull and crossbones are Christmas-y, no?) Once you get all your ornaments cut out and on baking sheets, take a drinking straw and poke a hole in the top of each ornament. If you want to stitch up an ornament like the stars, poke more holes.

Bake ornaments at 200 degrees for three to five hours. Yeah, hours. You want to bake this puppies until there is no moisture left in them and they are completely hardened. Don't sweat it tough because for three to five hours your house will smell like heaven. Seriously. My husband came home from work during this step and got all excited thinking I had baked something for dessert.



After your salted cinnamon mocha dough ornaments cool completely it's time to decorate! Any acrylic paint will work on your ornaments. Acrylic paint is good because it will dry fast. Children have little patience. (Okay, fine. Me too.) I painted mine with gesso which is white acrylic paint with a polymer added. It's intent is to prime canvases for artwork, but it works fantastic for these. I like it because it is very opaque. And Jane's monstrous glops of it dry out fairly quickly. You can find it at and crafting or art stores.

Once your paint is dried, paint or spray your salted cinnamon mocha dough ornaments with a clear coat. Make sure to cover all surfaces. You want to seal the ornament from getting any moisture in it. After Christmas store your ornaments in a cool dry place.


Thread yarn, embroidery floss or ribbon through the holes in the ornaments and you're done! Hang on the tree or even use as fancy schmancy gift tags. Jane is still super excited about them on our tree. I think salted cinnamon mocha dough ornaments will be an annual tradition in our house.

Enjoy! And if you make some salted cinnamon mocha dough ornaments, please post a picture of them in the Made with Moxie Flickr group. Happy Holidays!