 |
Sweet chicken ecstasy- nothing but feathers and dirt when the girls and
James get down and dirty taking dust baths! I felt almost like a Peeping
Thomasina! |
Remember my
homemade flock block? Well, the temperature dipped down last night, so I figured the JIC's (Jerks in The Coop) would be holed up in the coop today. I do NOT want any more boarders in the basement, so last night I made another flock block. This time I had a lovely assistant.
 |
I don't know why the picture is blurry. Hope no one has motion
sickness that views this! |
When making the flock block this time, I didn't add any apple, and I used 3 whole eggs. I think the addition of 2 more eggs helped in holding it together better. I also put all of the recipe into just one loaf pan. It baked at 200* for about an hour, then turned the temp up to 300* for about another 2 hours. I took it out and let it cool on a wrack. I tried to get it out of the pan and learned a valuable lesson: use Crisco or butter to grease the pan, not just canola oil. Last time they came right out of the pans. This time my Darling Hubby got it out of the pan after I had given up. (I just love that man!) the block sat out over night to dry out a little bit more.
 |
Flock block baking right along while our waffles and bacon stay warm
for dinner. Told you I hate to run the oven for just one thing! |
My DH put the block out in the coop this morning. When I checked on the chickees after lunch, only a little corner was pecked at. {sigh} No one looked injured, so that's good.
Earlier this afternoon I took a break from housework
and culinary efforts for the animals to make a Valentine's Day craft. I don't have very many Valentine's decorations because I'm rather fussy. It's been hard to find decorations that go with my country decor and that I'm willing to shell money out for. So I looked on
Tipnut.com's Valentine's Day page for inspiration. While perusing the pages, I thought of my own craft to make that would be cheap and easy to make. Here it is:
 |
| Finished product! Whaddya think? |
It was soooo easy, and only took a little bit of time. What took the longest was getting just the right heart shape for templates. I used scrap paper to make my templates, but you could use a manila folder or card stock. I plan on making more of these in the future. Here is what you need:
 |
| I wasn't sure which buttons to use!! |
2 sheets of felt
4 heart templates in small, medium, large and extra large
hot glue gun
marker for tracing
2 fabric scraps
twine or ribbon
decorative buttons or other doo-dads
scissors (you could use pinking shears for an even fancier look- I was too lazy to dig for mine!)
Here is what to cut: 1 small heart, 2 medium hearts, 2 large hearts and 1 extra large heart
I cut my hearts out free form, but if you want them to all be alike, you could find a template and increase or decrease the size using a scanner and printer. When I went to cut them out, I folded the felt in half and traced the template with a marker.
Then I laid out my hearts and used a glue gun to glue them together. I flipped over the hearts and spaced them out to where I wanted them. Next, I took a length of twine twice as long as I wanted it to be and made a knot at the top to hang this from. Using the glue gun, I attached the twine to all three sets of hearts.
I took the 2 scraps of homespun fabric and tied a single knot in the middle of each. I then glued these between the hearts. After letting the glue cool and dry I flipped everything over. Play time! I took out different buttons and trims to find the perfect look. Here's what I selected for the top and bottom hearts:
 |
| Chickee buttons of course!!!!! I just couldn't resist ;0) |
This would be a really great craft for kids. If younger kiddos are making these, you could use good ol' Elmer's glue, though it would take longer for things to dry. I'm thinking you can do lots of different shapes for the holidays, or even for year round.
Well, I'm one tired and sore Mama with a busy day tomorrow. Have a lovely evening, Friends!
Blessings,
Kelly
