Friday 30 March 2012

Easter Egg Printing with Potatoes... So Cool !!


Potato Printing is a tried and true way of making stunning designs that are individual, fun and easy to do. Here is a great idea for Easter Cards, to try out with your children or grandchildren for Easter

Don't you just love the wonderful colours and bold designs!
It comes from Becca Swanson and she says
"It's a tradition in our house for the kids to make cards for their cousins and grandparents for every holiday. And with Easter right around the corner, this is the perfect time to get a head start on making your own custom Easter cards. No matter the age of your kids, any child can participate in this easy, fun craft, made with a simple potato print technique. Here's how to get started:


Required craft materials:


- small or medium-sized potato
- paper towel
- knife
- acrylic paint
- any color(s) and white
- card stock in pastel colors
- plate
- glue
- scissors
- permanent markers - thick and thin-tipped


How to potato print your Easter cards:


1. Select a smooth potato and cut in half across the middle, ending up with two flat oval ends. Blot the potato halves against a paper towel to dry the ends.


2. Pour a few areas of white paint onto your plate, then add a drop of a single different color into each white area. When blended, these will become pastel colors.


3. Dip the flat end of your potato into a pastel color, then print the oval onto your card stock. With your help, even toddlers can help in this stage of the craft. Mix, match, and blend colors and continue stamping. Each oval print will become an Easter egg on your Easter cards. Arrange and overlap two, three, or any number of eggs on each piece of cardstock, then let dry.


4. When the paint has dried, use your permanent markers to draw designs and patterns on each Easter egg - try drawing stripes, spirals, dots, wavy lines and zig-zags. Patterns look more intricate and complex when you draw using both thick and thin-tipped markers. Use black for a neat look, or try using colored markers for extra color.


5. Next, cut out the eggs as a group, or in a neat square or rectangle. Glue the prints onto the front of another piece of folded cardstock to add a decorative cover to your Easter cards. Next, simply write your holiday message on the inside, and your cute, custom Easter cards are finished.


Still inspired? Try more potato prints to create matching envelopes to go with your cards. Or, for a dash of sparkle, add a bit of glitter or sequins to your Easter eggs.

Wednesday 28 March 2012

Easter "Eggs" (This one's fun!)



Well Easter is on it's way, and quicker than you think!  How do these Easter "Eggs" look to you?  Pretty yum and a lot of fun, I 'd say! Take a look at the recipe below from the Idaho Potato Commission






Easter Egg Idaho® Potatoes


Yield: Serves 8

Ingredients



  • 8 small Idaho® potatoes (about 4 - 5 ounces)
  • Shortening (optional)
  • 1/2 cup light dairy sour cream or plain yogurt
  • 2 ounces Gouda cheese, shredded (1/2 cup)
  • 2 tablespoons snipped fresh chives
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 - 2 tablespoons milk (optional)
  • 2 hard cooked eggs, peeled and coarsely chopped
  • Fresh chives, cut to desired length



Directions



  1. Preheat oven to 425°F.  Scrub potatoes with a brush; pat dry. Prick potatoes in 2 or 3 places with a fork. (If desired, for softer skins, rub potatoes with shortening or wrap in foil to “steam”.)   
  2. Place potatoes in a shallow baking pan. Bake potatoes, uncovered, for 40 to 50 or until tender. Remove from oven; cool slightly for easier handling.
  3. Cut a thin crosswise slice off both ends of each baked potato. Carefully scoop pulp from each potato leaving a 3/4 inch shell. Add pulp to bowl; set shells aside.
  4. Mash the potato pulp. Stir in sour cream or yogurt, cheese, snipped chives, mustard, salt, and pepper. (If necessary, add 1 to 2 tablespoons milk to achieve desired consistency.) Stir in hard-cooked eggs. Carefully spoon potato mixture into shells. Stand the potato "eggs" upright in a 2 quart rectangular or square baking dish.
  5. Bake potatoes, uncovered, in  425°F oven for about 20 minutes or until heated through and tops are set.   Garnish with fresh chives (or other fresh herbs).



Estimated Nutritional Analysis per Serving:
185 cal., 5 g total fat (2 g sat. fat), 64 mg chol., 266 mg sodium, 29 g carbo., 1 g fiber, 7 g pro. Daily Values: 5% vit. A, 29% vit. C, 7% calcium, 10% iron.


I'll certainly be giving them a go when the family are around, and if you try them, let me know what you think.    I plan to show you some more Easter Potato ideas in the coming week.  Keep checking in!

Tuesday 27 March 2012

Banner & Bunting on their first outing to Made In Dorrigo markets!


Don't they look great?!!  I am really happy with the result and I got some good comments on the day as well.  I think the calico and hessian works really well for the potato jewellery. And you can see that we were blessed with the most wonderful weather.



Visitors and locals alike were having a good day out.  Food stalls did a roaring trade and the ladies next to me selling cakes were all sold out by mid morning!  I had a good day, and quite a few people had seen the articles in the newspapers and heard my radio interview, so they were interested to see what potato jewellery is all about!  I had a hoarse voice by the end of the session!


This is a piece of jewellery I call Belle of the Ball, which I had for sale on the day.


But the best thing for me was the lovely note sent with the banner from my daughter:)

Friday 23 March 2012

Banner takes shape!

To continue on from yesterday, I will show you the steps of the banner. 

My daughter printed off some letters to read POTATO JEWELLERY,and laid them out to decide on the design.
Next she ( and helpful hubby)  cut the letters out of hessian and sewed them on to a calico sheet we had.


Quite a tiresome and fiddly job I think, lucky s-i-l was around to keep 18 month old amused while this was going on!
The final layout is semi circular and really effective!


Tomorrow I will be taking my banner and bunting for their first outing to the Made in Dorrigo day!  
Will show you the final result on Sunday, if I am not too exhausted after a busy day!!





Thursday 22 March 2012

Banner and Bunting - I didn't have to go hunting!

That's right!  My banner and bunting where dreamt up and executed by my beautiful daughter ( with a bit of hands on help from sil -that's short for wonderful son-in-law!).  I didn't have to do a thing!

I would like to share some of the photos of the progress ( which I asked them to take)




They started with the bunting made from Hessian, or sometimes called Burlap.  We decided this was very appropriate because my jewellery is made from potatoes, and so the link with spud bags was perfect.

Tomorrow I will show you the progress with the Banner!

World Water Day Today

We have our own pump from a bore for our water supply.  Sometimes, because it is getting on a bit in years, it coughs and splutters with an air blockage.  Well this morning I turned on the tap for a nice cup of tea and the tap shuddered and before I could escape it had splurted  and sprayed water all over me.  Well, you should have heard the bleepable words that came out!!
But once I cooled down a bit, I thought about the mention on the radio this morning that it is  UN World Water Day.   Millions of people in the world don't have a water supply  like I do.  What was I worried about?  A bit of a splutter?  Time to take stock and be grateful I think:)




And by the way, potatoes are made up of 80% water. 
Thought you'd like to know that!

Monday 19 March 2012

Interview on ABC local Radio!



Well what a nerve racking and exciting time I have been having today!!  An interview about my Potato Jewellery with Katya Quigley just now on ABC Mid North Coast local radio .  I have been fretting about it all weekend, and then in the end it came and went so quickly and I am now thinking about all the things I didn't manage to say.
I blurted out about Made In Dorrigo Street Markets at the very end.  And I feel bad because the organisers are the reason that I was on the radio in the first place.  Anyway, take a look at my previous post about them, on 13th March  and also hop on to their face book page to see what's going on.  It is going to be a great market, and the shopkeepers are having specials as well.
So look forward to seeing you there!
Also the madeit people where I sell my jewellery online have been good about contacting me about enquiries from the ABC people, so I would like to thank them too, and suggest you follow my made it buttons at the top right of my blog.
Well , that just about does it!  Time to catch up on what I should be doing and coming down to earth........
Earth Apple Jewellery perhaps!!


Here is a link toKatya's blog where there is an audio of my interview:
I heart spuds - ABC New South Wales - Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)


Saturday 17 March 2012

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Top o'the Mornin' Dew !
I took this photo a couple of mornings ago, dew on the rose bush.  I was pretty happy with it.  Take a look at a few more things I have found to help celebrate St Patrick's Day with you today!

Well this is a fine photo of Sydney Opera House on St. Patrick's Day 2010 which I found on Wikipedia, from Mike Young
I have gone green with a few others too, from Pinterest that I would like to share with you and to wish all you Irish out there, a wonderful day! This one is from Flickr , *julia








Delightful aren't they?



These two are my own froggy friends!  The baby on the left nestled in the petals of my soft pink rose.  The big boy on the right was snoozing on the door mat one morning when I went outside to welcome the new day!



good enough to eat!


Well that one may have looked good  enough to eat...
...but this one certainly is!!

It is delicious Colcannon Chowder

from the US Potato Board.  Click on the link and give it a try.


And absolutely scrummy Irish Potato Bread!
So enjoy everyone! And have a very happy St Patrick's Day!









Tuesday 13 March 2012

Made In Dorrigo


Dorrigo is hosting a great event on March 24th 2012.  A street market with good things of every description, all either hand made, produced or manufactured in the great little town of Dorrigo, on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Made-in-Dorrigo-street-market/334079866631809

Helen Macdonald and her Eco Sense toys
photo via made in dorrigo facebook page
                                                                  
Happy Marketeers! 2011
Photo via Bellingen Shire Courier Sun

This second event promises to be even better than the first one in December 2011.  I am looking forward to having a stall alongside my knitting friend Diane, in front of Dorrigo Home Furnishers. Diane is a compulsive knitter and cannot sit down without needles in her hands!

Beautiful Misty Dorrigo
Here is a link to a write up in the local paper which I am (needless to say!) very excited (blogging/bragging) about!

http://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.au/story/2012/03/12/put-your-pearls-and-potatoes/


If you are in the area, or even if you are in the country, we would love to see you here!!

Wednesday 7 March 2012

My Granny's Birthday


When a child is born, so are grandmothers.  ~Judith Levy


Today would have been my Granny's birthday.  Pretty special things, Grannies, aren't they?  I loved mine so much, both of them.  They brought richness and caring and love to my young life, and to my later life. Now I am a grandmother, and life takes on new meaning.
I am sure you all have memories of , and thoughts about ,your grand mothers.  Believe me, I would just love to hear them.
Looking forward more than I can say, to your comments:) Jane
Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild.  ~Welsh Proverb