14 Perfect Gifts for the Teenaged Ballerina

I am sometimes sad that my kids are now both too old for toys, mostly because *I* love American Girl dolls and Hot Wheels and LEGOs, too! I'd still happily sit on the rug and dress up My Little Ponies endlessly, but apparently 13- and 15-year-olds don't do that sort of thing anymore.

Whatever. I'll just wait until they both leave for college and then get all their toys back out and play with them again.

Fortunately, Syd, at least, has hobbies and interests that have taken over the time that she used to spend dressing up her Barbies and taking them on adventures. Premier among these is ballet, and as I'm getting a jump on Christmas shopping/crafting this year, here are some of my favorite ideas for gifts for the teenaged ballerina!

Bobby Pins

It's prosaic, I know, but ballerinas always need lots and lots of bobby pins, they're always losing them, and they never have enough. I promise that if you give a ballerina bobby pins, she'll be really happy! This set of bobby pins is perfect to tuck into a stocking (ahem), and I like that it's got a container so that there's at least a fighting chance that the bobby pins will mostly get put back inside it.

Mostly.

Cover-Up

Syd declares that it's nice to have something to throw over your ballet clothes so that even if you don't change completely into your street clothes, you also don't look like you're just wearing your ballet uniform. Sometimes the kids have a while between classes and it's a hassle to change back and forth, and sometimes after class Syd would rather change at home than at the studio, but she also doesn't want to walk around Kroger's in her leotard if Matt wants to stop for something.

I bought Syd her current ballet cover-up, very similar to this one, in Hawaii, where it was being sold as a bathing suit cover-up, but I've also seen ballerinas wearing stretchy, loose dresses or oversized hoodies as a cover-up. 

Dance Bag

Dancers always need a good dance bag! As they grow in skill, they've got ever more gear to tote around. A good dance bag is definitely on Syd's wish list for Christmas--she's still using the drawstring bag that I made her when she was a Creative Movement kid and just needed a place to keep her tights and leotard between Saturday classes, and now that she's got classes three days and Nutcracker rehearsals two days every week, she definitely does NOT have enough room for her spare leo and tights, street clothes, dance skirt, stretch bands, hair supplies, stage makeup, water bottle, and snack, poor kid.

Syd likes bags that are ballet-centric and that don't broadcast the company's name. Bloch is a really good brand, too, and I like the fact that you can buy this dance bag in two different sizes. For bonus points, add a makeup bag and a separate bag for her hairbrush, because loose hairbrushes tear tights!

Fun Leotards

In some dance schools, there is exactly one leotard, and only exactly one leotard, that is permitted for class. In other dance schools, you can wear whatever you want. Syd's dance school leans toward the former, but isn't quite there. There's definitely one exact leotard--black, halter top--that the girls know they're supposed to wear, but in the average class any black leotard is acceptable, and a lot of the girls really like to change up the boring uniform by wearing black leotards with interesting features or small pops of color.

In-Home Ballet Studio

Matt and I definitely went overboard building this in-home ballet studio for Syd, but it started off simply, with just that PVC pipe ballet barre, and that's a quick, easy, cheap project that comes apart and therefore stores well. To ramp it up, add a single wall mirror. To go beyond what we did, add a stereo and some inspirational posters.

Inside Jokes and Puns

The ballerinas I know love to share little inside jokes and ballet puns with each other--when you're part of something so specialized, part of the fun is taking advantage of the specialized language and enjoying the community of a secret code!

I really want to buy this shirt for Syd especially because she also studies French and so the thought of a French swear on a T-shirt cracks me up, but Syd herself prefers stuff that uses actual ballet terminology to build puns.

Leg Warmers

Ballerinas need to keep their muscles really, really warm, and leg warmers are a great way to do it. Syd really likes the Bodywrappers brand (we buy their tights!), and she likes the fact that these Bodywrappers leg warmers are so long.

Misty Copeland Stuff

All the ballerinas I know are super into Misty Copeland--there are a LOT of Misty Copeland-themed inspirational memes going around the teen ballerina Instagram accounts, I'll just say. I really like the fact that her bio has a young reader's edition, as well as a regular edition for older kids, and there's a picture book about her for the little ones, too!

Notebook

In the past, Syd's ballet teachers have had the kids write out their choreography, or jot down dance terms, etc. It happens often enough that it's handy to have a notebook and pencil in one's dance bag, especially if it's a cute one like this one that also has a cardboard cover, so that when she finds it in the very bottom of the bag under her jazz outfit and last week's leftover snack, it's at least not crumpled beyond recognition.

Performance Souvenirs

The Nutcracker is so far the only really big production that Syd's danced in, but she loves it so much that she always loves getting keepsakes related to it, and I imagine it's much the same with most ballerinas and their favorite productions. I like the idea of this LEGO Nutcracker because it's both a keepsake AND something that she can take apart and store away when it's not on display.

Socks

Are all teen girls super into socks these days, or is it just my teen girl? Well, and her friends, because there are some kids over right now with Syd, and I've definitely seen some novelty socks running past on other feet.

So in my humble opinion, most teen girls these days would be super thrilled about socks, and a ballet kid would be extra super SUPER thrilled about ballet socks like these!

Stretch Bands

Syd's afraid of her studio-issued stretch band because the very first time she used it outside of class, it snapped her in the face and really hurt her! Nevertheless, ballerinas have to use them, so they might as well have some in their favorite colors.

Travel Games

There are a lot of long waits during performance season. It's great for the kids because they get SO much time with their ballerina friends, but also they have to stay somewhat contained and quiet-ish and can't mess up their hair, etc., so the activities that they can do together are limited. Travel games keep them from all just zoning out on their phones, and for some reason--maybe because the waits are so long and the options for entertainment are so limited--the kids tend to LOVE them. Every Nutcracker season that Syd has danced in has been consumed with group addictions to games like Uno and Spot It, quick and easy games that as few or as many people can play as necessary, games that everyone already knows the rules to, games that move fast so you can drop them the second you hear your stage call and still feel like you accomplished something.

Spot It is especially fun, I've gathered, because there are so many different varieties to the sets. If a kid brings in a new set with a different theme, all the kids act as if it's a totally new game and get excited all over again.

Warm-up Booties

Here's another thing that ballerinas always could use another pair of: warm-up booties! These are really useful, because ballerinas have to keep their feet warm and studios in the winter are freezing, but they're also super cute and comfy. I don't know a single dancer who isn't obsessed with these exact warm-up booties.

Do YOU have a dancer who loves something specific, or have you given a ballerina a gift that was a major hit? If so, please tell me about it in the Comments below, because I SUPER want to know about it!

20+ Things to Do with Apples

Did you, as well, just get home from the orchard with two bushels of apples?

Did you look at them, taking over all of your counter space, and wonder if maybe you bought too many?

You did not buy too many. Instead, you just blessed yourself with a month-long adventure in making ALL THE APPLE THINGS!

Here are all of OUR favorite apple things:

1. apple cake. I apparently made this a decade ago and then promptly forgot about it (good thing that I blogged about it, though!), and then made it for only the second time this year. It's DELICIOUS and I'm never going to forget about it ever again.
2. apple cider doughnuts. Syd is still super into doughnuts. I've never been able to bring myself to deep-fry anything, but we'll try any baked doughnut recipe that we encounter. If deep-frying didn't horrify me, though, I'd also be making these apple fritters, because those are MY favorites!
3. apple peel jelly. Our apple peels are the rightful property of our chickens, but maybe your apple peels want to be jelly!
4. apple pie. I don't actually like pie crust, so apple pie with a crumble topping is my favorite!
5. apple print bunting. I really like the simple materials used in this project. Another good option is fabric paint on canvas buntings.
6. applesauce. This is how we make our applesauce, except we don't even put in water--we just peel and core apples, put them in a pot, put the lid on, turn it on low, and show up every now and then to stir. Fruit blends are fun to make from whatever other fruit you've got kicking around the freezer.
7. baked apples with oatmeal. Will, especially, loves these baked apples. I can get leftover oatmeal eaten by baking an apple, warming the leftover oatmeal, and then spooning into the hot apple's core. Don't tell Will she's eating leftovers!
8. bird feeders. We like hanging these bird feeders in front of the playroom window in the autumn and winter. 
9. candy apples. Candy apples are my FAVORITE (or at least they used to be, since I probably haven't had one since I was Syd's age!). This is one of those recipes that I've always wanted to try, but I'm afraid of candy making. As soon as I get brave enough to figure it out, though, the next thing that I'm making is galaxy candy apples!
10. caramel apples. Syd has long been obsessed with caramel apples, and I swear that we've made them a zillion different ways. Decorating them with melted chocolate and candy is the best part!
11. caramel apple monsters. Here's a fun pre-Halloween way to eat caramel apples in a more manageable serving size. Candy eyes are always a bonus!
12. cast iron apple crisp. EVERYTHING tastes better when made in a cast iron pan.
13. cinnamon applesauce quick bread. It's really good!
14. cinnamon dough. Who wouldn't love a delicious-smelling oven-dry clay? This dough uses a ton of cinnamon and applesauce, and makes a sturdy, sweet-smelling clay that we like to use for Christmas ornaments.
15. cinnamon sugar apple blondies. I generally prefer my sweet things to be chocolatey. Unfortunately, Syd doesn't like chocolate--the horror! So apple season is my time to indulge her with all the apple treats that we both like.
16. clove apple pomander. This is a sweet nature craft that goes well with a read-aloud of Little House in the Big Woods. 
17. DIY apple cider vinegar. Think about all the crazy projects we could get into if we only had our own apple orchard!
18. fruit leather. I actually make this with only fruit and spices--you don't need sweetener when you're eating applesauce! You can use homemade applesauce, blended with whatever other fruit purees and spices you prefer.
19. Mummify an apple. Experiment with the Ancient Egyptian method of mummification to figure out how best to preserve your apple for the afterlife.
20. shrunken apple heads. Here's a good beginner carving project for young ones. Dry them or, if you're having a Halloween party, pop them straight in with your punch.

Do YOU have a favorite thing to do with apples? Tell me about it and I'll probably do it--I've still got half a bushel on the kitchen table!

How to Make a Clove Apple Pomander

This is a repost of my original article, which I wrote for Crafting a Green World in 2010. Time flies, and yet Syd still wears leotards more often than not, we still have that same cup and water bottle from the second picture, and we still have a zillion and a half apples hanging out on the kitchen table.

And we might still make clove apples out of some of them!

(Psst! The Amazon links are affiliate ones! If you buy something from Amazon after clicking through an affiliate link it doesn't affect you, but Amazon might pay me half a penny in two months!)

Get your Little House on and make an apple pomander - aka a clove apple - this fall. It smells amazing, and Ma Ingalls will be so proud!

In Little House in the Big Woods, Ma receives an apple pomander from her sister-in-law for Christmas. Laura writes, "Aunt Eliza had brought Ma a large red apple stuck full of cloves. How good it smelled! And it would not spoil, for so many cloves would keep it sound and sweet."

An apple pomander - aka a clove apple - is a wonderful present, because it works exactly the way that Laura Ingalls Wilder describes it: it smells wonderful, it won't rot, and the stem provides the perfect place to tie a serviceable piece of twine or a fancy ribbon to hang your clove apple in a closet or hallway.

To make a clove apple of your own, you will need:

• An apple, free of bruises or cuts, with the stem attached.
• Plenty of whole cloves. I buy my cloves in bulk from a restaurant supply store, but your local co-op natural grocery also stocks them in smaller quantities.
• Bamboo skewer
• Twine or ribbon
• Strong glue

For the clove apple to keep, the cloves must be stuck all over the apple, quite close together. They don't need to be touching each other, but you can't make pretty designs or otherwise leave blank spots on your apple and expect it to last. However, you can make pretty designs with the cloves if you only want the apple for the season- through your spectacular Thanksgiving dinner, perhaps, to then be composted with the other leftovers.

While it's possible to stick the cloves straight into the apple, this can be tiresome and it'll cramp your fingers after a while. Additionally, small children lack the strength in their little finger muscles to pull off this part of what is otherwise an accessible activity for them. Instead, use a bamboo skewer to poke several holes at a time in your apple, then stick the cloves stem-first into those holes. It's easier on your fingers and I think that it makes the work go faster.

If you are creating a design on your apple with cloves, you can first draw the design right onto the apple using a fine-point Sharpie in a light color; as you place the cloves, place them end-to-end to completely obscure the pen marks.

 As soon as you're finished, go ahead and tie your twine or ribbon to the apple's stem. I reinforced my knot with glue, because I don't really need the trouble of a clove apple suddenly bonking itself down onto my head someday.

In opposition to popular usage, we didn't hang our clove apples in our closets; I didn't really want ALL of our clothes to smell like we'd been smoking clove cigarettes. Instead, I hung them in cool, dry nooks all around the house, so that as you walk down the hallway, say, or snuggle on the couch to read bedtime stories, you can suddenly get a whiff of that sweet, comforting, handmade clove perfume.

Every Single Kitschy Stuffed Chicken

Why do I have so many stuffed chickens in my Pumpkin+Bear etsy shop?

Ask a weird question, and you're going to get a weird answer!

When my Girl Scout troop wanted to participate in a craft fair (spoiler alert: I DO NOT recommend this as a troop fundraiser. The kids had fun, but we cleared the minimum amount that we were hoping to, and it was a LOT OF WORK. Like, A LOT OF WORK. Hold a garage sale instead!), Syd made ornaments, Will made fire starters, and I wanted to make something, too.

I wanted something that I could sew with all of the various fabrics that I have on hand.

I wanted something that I could sew in small batches, as the holiday craft fair season is a VERY busy time of year when you've got a kid dancing in the Nutcracker.

I wanted something that I could sew a lot of, because the girls wanted to make a lot of money!

I wanted something not too uniquely to my taste, because, as I learned selling at craft fairs many years ago, the things that make me go "YAAAASSSS!!!!" generally make the average citizen smile nervously and back away while maintaining eye contact in case I make any sudden moves.

While I was thinking about those craft fairs of years past, I remembered the year that the grumpy old ladies set up a table with an umbrella at a craft fair that I'd been selling at for months. They were rude to me, had bad craft fair etiquette in general, and gave me a bad case of sour grapes because people were seriously shoving past my quilts and necklaces and record bowls in order to mob around their little table and buy their...

STUFFED CHICKENS!

Kitschy stuffed chickens sewn from mismatched fabric!

Kitschy stuffed chickens easy to sew in batches!

Kitschy stuffed chickens that, while they're still not exactly to my taste, are now at least in the realm of ironically hanging out in the vicinity of my taste, on account of how many actual, literal chickens I now have and how much I foolishly love them.

Friends, I sewed a lot of chickens. They didn't exactly sell like hotcakes, because apparently rural Indiana is over stuffed chickens and is now super into fence posts or banisters or whatever painted to look like Santa Claus, but that's how it goes with craft fairs--as soon as you make something just kitschy enough to have sold last year, somebody else has figured out something even kitschier to sell this year.

And that's the long answer for why I have so many stuffed chickens in my Pumpkin+Bear etsy shop! The Halloween and Christmas stuffies are already gone, but here are some other fine, feathered, favorites:

This chicken has polka dots. 

You can't buy this chicken, because I'm keeping her for myself. I have officially jumped the shark in my own home, but damn it if she doesn't, indeed, make me smile!

This chicken is made of a vintage blue flowered sheet. It's the absolute last bit of the same vintage sheets that I once sewed my girls and I matching outfits from, because I used to be that cool. 

This chicken is made of mottled grey quilting cotton. 

This chicken is upcycled from brown courderoy that used to be a skirt. The rest of that brown courderoy is part of the couch slipcovers that I'm sewing. 

This is my fancy Independence Day chicken. 

This is my fancy Valentine's Day chicken. 

This chicken is sewn from a beautiful batik print leftover from the fabric that I used to sew my bedroom curtains back in our previous house. I wish it was still being made so that I could sew even more curtains from it for our current house!

This chicken is actually a giant tapestry that hangs in my bedroom right now. This is part of the margins that I trimmed away before I mounted it.

This is my other fancy Independence Day chicken!

This is my other fancy Valentine's Day chicken!

 And here are all the chickens looking at you and judging you for what's in your heart:

Hey. If you've got a secret tip for what might be THE hot kitschy craft of the 2019 holiday season, whisper it into my ear--I'd love to finally be in the know for once!

Homemade Halloween Treats: Sandwich Cookie Critters

Like the marshmallow monster cupcakes, these sandwich cookie critters were both inspired by a Pinterest project (Chips Ahoy! critters!) and made entirely from ingredients I already had on hand.

Well, I cheated a little bit. Matt went shopping for the ingredients to make oatmeal cookies, made them, and then I stole eight of them to make a critter for everyone in the family. But the cream cheese and powdered sugar were leftover from Matt's birthday (birthday carrot cake for the win!), I bought the food coloring to make rainbow cake for my Girl Scout troop's Bridging party, and I'm bound and determined that those candy eyes won't live through yet another Halloween.

Here's the cream cheese frosting recipe that I used.

If only I'd worked in a way to use up some more of our sprinkles, I'd have won on all fronts!

Want to keep up with all our random Halloween crafts and activities and weirdness? Check out my Craft Knife Facebook page, where I post lots of pics of what we're up to and links to what we're into.

Homemade Halloween Treats: Marshmallow Monster Cupcakes

You've probably noticed by now that my favorite thing to do in October is make Halloween treats! Some of them, like the mummy dogs, mummy meatloaf, and vampire margaritas, we make every year, and some of them, like the trick-or-treat cookies, we make once, wipe the sweat off our brows, and tell ourselves to enjoy the heck out of them because we are NEVER MAKING THESE AGAIN OMG.

Seriously, I still wince when I think about making those trick-or-treat cookies.

This October, I've so far been trying to make treats using just the supplies that we already have. So what can you make from cake mix and white candy melts leftover from your Girl Scout troop's Bridging party, marshmallows leftover from the latest campfire night, candy eyes probably leftover from Halloween 2018, and sprinkles that I surely need to use up this year because they've been on our shelves for... a while?

Marshmallow Monster Cupcakes, that's what!

These marshmallow monster cupcakes are loosely based on the Spooky Boo Brownies from the Betty Crocker website, except that the Spooky Boo Brownies look Pinterest perfect and these marshmallow monsters are horrifying and hilarious.

The marshmallow monster cupcakes are made from plain cupcakes turned upside-down and set on a cooling rack over a baking pan. Syd and I put a marshmallow on top of each, then poured melted candy melts over the tops of them. It was SUPPOSED to make the marshmallows look like ghosts, but I think it made them look more like grotesque squid beasts, so we decided to make them look even more monstrous by means of the liberal application of candy eyes and sprinkles:

Fun fact: these little monsters were also DELICIOUS! You could definitely elevate the quality of flavor by using, you know, NOT the cheapest store-brand ingredients like I did, but we loved biting through the crunchy layer of Kroger-brand candy melts into the soft Kroger-brand marshmallow and sweet Kroger-brand cupcake, and these monsters did not last long.

And then Syd and I used up the rest of the candy melts by skewering marshmallows, dipping them in candy melts, and rolling them through the sprinkles. And then I think I jumped on the trampoline for 20 minutes while Syd ran laps around the house with the dog, we were so buzzed on sugar.

Crafty Book Review: The Scented Candle Workshop

You guys! The most frustrating thing about candlemaking is choosing the correct wick size. It's the most frustrating part of the process because so often you DON'T choose the correct wick size--or at least I don't--and then all your work is wasted on a candle that you're embarrassed to show anyone else because it burns so super wonky.

If you're using one of the popular waxes--soy wax is super popular right now, for instance--you can generally find a lot of information about it online, perhaps even enough info to get you started with the correct wick size right off, but I really like beeswax, which is already a tricky wax for candles, and every batch of beeswax is different and burns a little differently.

The only way I knew how to choose the correct wick size was trial and error, as in I'd make the entire candle with a wick, it'd burn and look crappy, and I'd have to remelt it and try again. Big bummer, and not conducive to much candlemaking.

Then a publicist sent me a review copy of The Scented Candle Workshop, and in it is a type of burn test that I've never seen before, and it's actually quick and efficient, totally doable, and waste-free!

Y'all, I set it up immediately:

My favorite thing about this project is that the authors suggest doing the burn test in a disposable aluminum baking pan. We've got just a few of these kicking around in case I ever get it into my head to make some freezer meals (as if!), and I was happy to sacrifice one to the cause.

Here you can see my burn test just getting started:

I set it up with all of my current wick sizes, even the ones that I already happily use for specific candles. I've got the tiny braided cotton wick that I use for my rolled beeswax birthday candles, the larger braided cotton wick that I use for my rolled beeswax taper candles, an ECO-10 wick, ECO-12 wick, ECO-14 wick, and an unlabeled wick that came with a separate candlemaking kit.

The kids helped me keep track of the candles as we went about our school day:

And when their burns were finished, I had an exact depiction of exactly the diameter of burn I could get from each candle wick! When it was cool, I peeled the beeswax away from the aluminum baking pan (it's now unsuitable for food, but can be used for more candlemaking projects) and stored it until I'm ready to make my next candle.

And now that I've written them down, I know exactly what candle wick that I want to use to make a rainbow beeswax candle in a Mason jar:

Now that I've seen this burn test, I think I'm actually going to change the wick size that I've been using for my upcycled vintage Coca-Cola bottle candles, too. It's amazing the knowledge that proper science can bring!

I have two more projects from The Scented Candle Workshop on my list to try, now that I've got all my wicks sorted. Stay tuned for an emergency candle in an Altoid tin and a Mason jar candle scented with my favorite essential oils!

I was given a free copy of The Scented Candle Workshop, because I can't write about a book unless I've spent an afternoon burning beeswax in a pie tin at its direction!