Felt Mask

     First, find a paper mask you like. There are lots of options available online. 

     I got this one from http://www.teachervision.fen.com/childrens-book-characters/printable/56520.html 

     Next, get some felt, black organdy (see-through) ribbon, sharpie, scissors, and a glue gun, then follow the pictures below.

      Well, this picture looks a little strange. Glue the organdy ribbon over each eye hole. Add layers until you get a good level of opacity. I used three layers.

     Glue the other layer of felt on top of this.

     Attach elastic or ribbon. I chose to attach some white ribbon using hot glue.

     You can glue some felt on top of this to strengthen it and make it more comfortable on your face.

     Use a sharpie or some fabric paint to draw in the details and complete the look.



The Piano Guys

It occurred to me the other day that I haven't shared any of these songs on here! I found these guys about a year ago on youtube while looking for some good cello music - found it! So many of their arrangements are just beautiful. This is the instrumental version of One Republic. It's one of my favorites of theirs.



To find more videos on their youtube page, go to: www.youtube.com/thepianoguys





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Cheesy Ramen

     Here's a way to change up this classic budget meal staple. My nieces like this better than regular grilled cheese!
     When you open the bag of Ramen noodles, look at the way they are folded - yes, folded. They are folded in half. Break them apart on the fold. If you do this carefully, but firmly, you should end up with half in one hand and half in the other.
     Put some slices of cheese on top and run them through the toaster oven. If you don't have a toaster over, you can use the microwave or put them in the oven on 350 degrees F until the cheese is melted.

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Peach Ice Cream

Peach Ice Cream

Makes 1 gallon

You'll need:
- Ice cream maker
- However much ice and rock salt your ice cream maker requires for making a gallon (4 quarts) of ice cream.

- 2 cans of peaches (packed in fruit juice), drained and chopped
- 1 1/2c. Xylitol* (you may substitute with 1 1/2c. of sugar)
- 1 Tbsp. Lemon juice

- 13.5 oz. Coconut milk, unsweetened (you may substitute with 2% milk for even lower sucrose content)
- 12 oz. Evaporated milk (unsweetened)
- 2c. Whipping cream
- 2c. 2% Milk
- 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. Almond extract
- 1/4 tsp. Table salt

Stir chopped peaches, xylitol, and lemon juice in one bowl then set aside. Stir remaining ingredients in another bowl. Combine all ingredients into one bowl, stir until everything is mixed together thoroughly.

Pour into ice cream maker and follow the maker's instructions for 1 gallon (4 quarts) of ice cream.

This stuff is so delicious! You'll feel noticeably happier after the first bite :-)



*Xylitol is harmful to dogs

tags: low sucrose ice cream, sucrose intolerant recipe, sugar allergy recipe


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Wash Rag Clothesline

Wash Rag Clothesline

If a lot of people share the same bathroom,

you use a clean wash rag everyday, 

or just for decoration!

You could even embroider initials or your

last name on them.

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Which glass did I have...?

Wait...

which glass did I have?

Oh yeah!


I know this is pathetic, but come dinner time, I've plum forgotten which glass I got out for the day. Even if I can remember that today I got out the flowery one, I then have to remember if it's the flowery one on the table or the flowery one by the microwave. Here's a little trick. Assign everyone in your house a different colored rubber band - or at least everyone who has trouble remembering which glass is theirs. Every day, when they get out a clean glass, they can put their rubber band around it so they, and everyone else, know it's theirs...now if I can just remember to use my rubber band ;-P

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Old Door, Functional Photo Display

Old door, functional photo display. Using an old door to display photos attached with miniature clothespins.

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Earring Holder

Earring Holder

Just attach a strip of burlap to the wall (I used two staples to hang it), hang/pierce your earrings through it, and there you have it -- a quick, cute earring holder!

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Mission Trip May 2012

     I haven't posted anything in over three weeks! But, I have a very good reason! I was privileged to go with a mission team to France for a week (May 14-21), and work with two international Baptist churches there! I met amazing people from all over – France (of course), the US, England, Scotland, Ireland, Norway, Nigeria, the Ukraine, Serbia, and Romania!

     We did several events that were open to the community – a ladies dessert fellowship, a get together on the beach with a Bible lesson and singing, we showed the movie Courageous (which I HIGHLY recommend) at both churches – complete with popcorn and sodas. Our team also taught the Sunday school classes and our leader preached at both churches (one has a morning service, the other has an evening service).

     God was so gracious to give us such a wonderful trip, and allow us to be part of the work He is doing across the Atlantic.

     I'll post something for the magazine soon!

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Food Color Folds

Food Color Folds

Fold a piece of paper in half, then unfold it.
Drizzle and drip glue on one inside half of the paper.
Drip drops of food coloring on portions of the glue.
Immediately fold the paper in half again and lightly smooth it while folded.
Unfold the paper and see what you can find in the picture you have made.
The one here looks like a frog with really big feet and wings to me. What do you see?

Copyright © 2012 Joanna Corley & Dabble Magazine, LLC.

Rubber Band Ball

Rubber Band Ball

Cut 1-1/2" strips of fabric.

Tie the ends together.
Begin wrapping them into a ball.
Secure the wrappings with rubber bands.
Continue to add rubber bands going different directions.
The tighter you wrap the fabric, and the more rubber bands you put on, the harder the ball will become.

You can use it for backyard baseball, catch, or a game of bounce and go seek.

Copyright © 2012 Joanna Corley & Dabble Magazine, LLC.

Ultimate Lemonade

Ultimate Lemonade

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. Sugar
3 c. Water
1 1/4 c. Lemon juice

5 c. Ice cubes

Mix the sugar, water, and lemon juice together until the sugar is dissolved.

In a blender, puree 1c. of the above mixture to every 1c. of ice cubes until desired ice chip size is reached.

Pour up what you blend. Blend more as needed, this way the ice chips don't melt while waiting for someone to drink them.

Serves 5. Optional: Try adding a few cubes of watermelon during the blending phase.

Warning: This drink is filled with pure awesomeness; lemons are very acidic and there is also a lot of sugar in here! Therefore, some tummies may enjoy this more than others, so don't drink too much until you are sure how this beverage will affect you. To mellow it a little, try blending in the optional watermelon and maybe a little more ice – or even water.

Copyright © 2012 Joanna Corley & Dabble Magazine, LLC.

Bounce and Go Seek

Bounce and Go Seek

This is a good way to play hide-and-go-seek with kids who can't count yet.
One of the people who is going to hide must throw a ball for the person who is “it” to run and get. The idea is to give everyone enough time to hide before “it” can get to the ball. Everyone hides while the person who is it goes and gets the ball. Then, while still holding onto the ball, "it" starts the search for the hiders. When "it" finds someone who is hiding, he must tag them with the ball (while still holding onto it, not throwing it). This continues until all the people who are hiding are found. You may use a base if you wish.

The first person who was found and tagged is it for the next round – or however you want to go about choosing the next “it”.



Copyright © 2012 Joanna Corley & Dabble Magazine, LLC. www.todabble.com

Mummy Wrappers

Mummy Wrappers

Let your children wrap each other up in cheap toilet paper.
If they wrap each other up so that their legs can move, they can all play a game of Marco Polo in a cleared area of the room. Saying “Ma-a-a-r-co” “Po-o-o-o-lo” the way a mummy might.

Copyright © 2012 Joanna Corley & Dabble Magazine, LLC.

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Pancake Fruit Topping

Pancake Fruit Topping

Bring to a boil:
2 c. Frozen fruit
¼ c. Honey
¼ tsp. Almond extract

Then dissolve:
2 tsp. Corn starch
in:
1 T. Lemon juice

Slowly pour the lemon juice/corn starch mixture into the boiling raspberries as you stir them.
Continue to stir until the mixture begins to thicken.
Remove from heat and allow to sit until it's a little thicker (about 5 min. or so).

You can use the same recipe with canned fruit (16 oz., drained) instead of frozen -- like pitted, water-packed cherries!



Copyright © 2012 Joanna Corley & Dabble Magazine, LLC.

Edible Fun Peanut Butter

Edible Fun - Peanut Butter

Play with your food!

Mix together:
1 c. Creamy peanut butter
1/3 c. Honey
3/4 c. non fat dry milk

You can mold and make objects like you would with playdough, and you can use raisins or chocolate drops for eyes, etc. then eat! Adjust ingredient ratios for desired consistency.



Copyright © 2012 Joanna Corley & Dabble Magazine, LLC. http://www.todabble.com/



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Dragathon

Dragathon

Try giving your kids a couple of beach towels and letting them drag each other around the house (parents are welcome to join in the fun, too). Just have one child sit or lay on one end of the towel while another child bunches up the other end of the towel and uses it as a handle to pull with. Mark out a course, make sure the furniture is out of the way, and let “The Family Dragathon” begin!

Tools:
-Beach towels
-People

Optional Tools:
-Cones to mark out a course
-A helmet and other pads to prevent injury





Note: Riders tend to tumble in the opposite direction they are being pulled, so riding backwards (facing away from the person who is pulling) or laying down may be a good idea.

Photo by Photostock



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Changes

As you may have noticed, I'm making some changes around here! All Dabble Magazine articles will now be in "blogazine" format. Now you will be able to come here, choose a category tab, and select the article you want to read. You can also print the article by clicking on the printer symbol at the top of the article:


Print
Symbol

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Popcorn Ceiling Fix

Popcorn Ceiling Fix

Are you tired of your popcorn ceilings? Tired of all the cobwebs and the little bits of ceiling that come off when you try to clean them? Here are a couple of ways to get rid of popcorn ceilings. Beware, your popcorn (aka. acoustic) ceiling may contain asbestos. Asbestos was used in ceiling products installed as late as the 1980s. Doesn’t that make you love them even more?!

To give your ceilings – and the whole room – a softer, homier feel, just follow these instructions.

You'll need:
-A face mask with air filters that covers your nose and mouth.
-Goggles
-Plastic tarps
-A putty knife or taping knife
-Paint
-Paint roller
-Paint brush

For the first step, cover everything up you don't want to have to vacuum. If you have something like a piano near by make sure you wrap it thoroughly with plastic tarps so the dust can't float into the works.

It's also a good idea to put up “walls” of plastic tarps where there aren't any walls or doors dividing you from a room you aren't going scrape. Otherwise, the dust from scraping travels in the air from room to room quite easily. Scrape the ceiling by using the putty knife or taping knife. Push it away from you with the handle pointing down or slightly away from you, but keep the edge of the blade flat against the ceilling. Do this evenly all around the room until you reach your desired level of texture.

After you are finished scraping, sweep the ceilings with a broom to knock off any loose pieces. Remove the plastic and dispose of the fallen popcorn. Recover everything you don't want paint on. Paint the ceiling with a roller or paint brush. If your popcorn isn't well adhered to the ceiling, it may come off in sheets when you apply the wet paint. Using a paint brush instead of a roller may remedy this. Second option: If you want to completely remove the texture so that you’re down to the sheet rock, spray the ceiling with water before scraping. Push the scraper away from you with the handle pointing toward you and the edge of the blade flat against the ceiling. You can then retexture and paint, or use a primer and paint that works for bare drywall.


Copyright © 2012 Joanna Corley & Dabble Magazine, LLC.

Foam Friends on a Stick

Foam Friends on a Stick

Tools:

-Craft foam sheets

-Markers

-Scissors

-Popcicle sticks

-Cookie cutters

-Craft glue

Optional:

-Hole punch

-Paper

-Cotton balls

-Other decoration

Place the cookie cutter on the foam, trace around the outside, cut the shape out.

Flip the cookie cutter over, trace around the outside, and cut it out as well.

On one of the shapes, put glue in the middle for the stick and around the edges.

Place the popcicle stick in the middle with more glue on top.

Put the other foam piece on top of this, matching up the edges.

Add decoration.

To add fur, pick small clumps off of a cotton ball.

Then put a light coat of glue on the foam, and put the cotton on in a thin layer.
Don't forget to add eyes. If you don't have the right color paper for something, use markers to make your paper the right color.

Copyright © 2012 Joanna Corley & Dabble Magazine, LLC.