EtsyKids

EtsyKids Design Challenge: It's time to Vote!

Posted Tuesday, November 22, 2011

It's time to vote for your favorite item! Voting will be open through midnight EST, November 27th. This month, EtsyKids members were challenged to create an exciting new item based on a theme "Yes! There is a Santa Claus.". We received a bunch of fantastic entries from some talented people. Each participant was assigned a unique random number. Please note your favorite from the list below and place your vote. You can also view each entry in detail by clicking on links provided at the bottom of this post or HERE.

(If you can't view the voting poll above, please follow HERE to vote.)

Gobble Gobble - quick Turkey Treat

Reposted with permission from TinyStitches

Sugar cookies (homemade* or store bought), chocolate frosting, candy corns, mini chocolate chips, and mini red M&M’s … simple, cute, and perfect for a little treat for little hands to decorate and share with the neighbors!

SUGAR COOKIES*
2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening (Crisco)
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
3 cups flour

Cream sugar and shortening; beat in eggs; add milk and vanilla.
Mix baking powder, soda and salt into 1 cup flour. Add to sugar/shortening/milk mixture, mix well. Add remaining flour and mix well (dough may be very stiff)
Chill dough thoroughly. (5 minutes in the freezer if you are in a pinch)
Roll 1/4” thick on well-floured board (or between 2 pieces of waxed paper), and cut with your favorite cookie cutters. For practically round cookies, use a cookie scoop to dollop dough onto a cookie sheet 2-3 inches apart. Smash balls down with the bottom of a glass and reshape if necessary with fingers.
Place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375°F until edges start to turn golden brown… about 8-10 minutes. Remove promptly from baking sheet.

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Need some cookies with staying power? Here are some great options that will help yield hours of imaginative play from little ones.

Plain Animal Crackers, wool felt by northwoodstoys

Sugar Cookie and Icing Bag Set by RedDirtKids

Toddler Apron with Cookies by babybysam

Felt Cookie Baking Set by lindaskraftykreations

Butternut Squash “Nuffins”

Posted Sunday, November 20, 2011

Shared by Anne of Greenchild Creations

Over at Greenchild Creations, we follow the paleo (or caveman) diet for my son’s dietary needs. This means we are grain free, dairy free, legume free, and nightshade free. While the diet consists of wonderful fresh whole foods, it can be difficult during holiday gatherings where tempting pies, cakes, cookies, and breads abound.

This is a recipe I created that works perfectly with holiday meals – or anytime! Let me introduce you to what I call the “Nuffin”. I must warn you, they are not only delicious and nutritious, but highly addicting!

Butternut Squash “Nuffins”
3/4 c. ground almonds
1/4 c. coconut flour
1/8 c. chopped mixed nuts – I like to use pecans, walnuts, and almonds
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1/4 c. suet, rendered
1/4 c. maple syrup, 100% pure
1/2 c. butternut squash, cooked

Washed raw sugar (turbinado sugar) Mix dry ingredients except raw sugar, set aside. Add wet ingredients and stir thoroughly, adding the freshly rendered suet last. Spoon into a greased muffin tin and sprinkle a little washed raw sugar on top. Makes approximately 12 “nuffins”.

Some notes: ·

Ground almonds - you can buy almond meal, or you can save a little money and buy sliced almonds and grind them yourself in a coffee grinder·
Baking powder - to keep in with the spirit of paleo, I use an arrowroot based baking powder as commercial blends may contain cornstarch, potato starch, or sodium aluminum sulfate·

Suet - I like to render mine as needed, but you can buy already rendered (tallow). To render, cut off a chunk of suet and melt over low heat in a small pan. Then pour off what you need. A substitute of another fat/oil for the suet is not recommended; it is what gives the best full satisfying flavor. Our dog thinks the leftover cracklin’s are delicious, LOL!!

As tasty as these are, they will not last long! Don’t eat them all at once though - nuts can have a laxative effect if consumed in large enough quantities.

Thanks for letting me share!
Anne Hoelz
Greenchild Creations

Thanksgiving Keepsake

Posted Saturday, November 19, 2011

Reprinted with permission from TinyStitches

Years ago when my kindergartner was a a wee babe, we made this Thanksgiving keepsake for the grandma's and great-grandma's as an expression of love and gratitude for each of them. Each of the children's hands got covered in paint to create these fun Thanksgiving turkeys. Five years later, they marvel and how much their hands have changed.

With families gathering across the United States next week. This little activity is quick and simple and will yield a sweet product that will freeze a little slice of time for all who participate.

You'll need a tea towel, acrylic craft paint, a few paint brushes, ribbons/trims of your choosing.

Generously, but carefully, paint your child’s hand with the intended paint colors – seriously, cheap acrylic craft paint works wonderfully, and it survives LOTS of washings, honest. Work quickly as a thin layer of paint dries quickly and you'll be painting the palm and thumb brown, and each finger a different paint color. Make sure the paint is still wet before you gently, but firmly, press their hand down on the lower third of a white tea towel. Don’t jostle or wiggle, or the turkey will smudge. Consider how many turkey’s you’ll do so you space them appropriately across the towel … how cute would it be to do a towel with all the cousins Thanksgiving morning while they wait for the meal? For little, little ones, stick with a brown turkey and let the older kids add color with their hand print turkey’s.

Using colored permanent markers — Sharpies work wonderfully! — draw the eyes, legs, beak and gobbler on your special turkeys. Be sure to also label each hand print with the child’s name and along the hem in the corner, add “Happy Thanksgiving” and the year.

Sew coordinating ribbons and trims below the turkeys. I use white thread in my bobbin and invisible thread in the top so I can quickly and easily sew different colored trims on without having to change threads, and the back stays neat and polished too. [Consider doing this step first if you'll be traveling and gifting this to your hostess.]

Set paint with a hot iron and pressing cloth. Launder normally.

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Here are some other custom keepsake offerings you might enjoy as well.

Tooth Fairy Pillow, with chart by looploft

Hand and Footprint plaque by handprintlady

Personalized Child's Heirloom Art by ChoochMagooz

5x7 Custom Fabric Silhouette for framing by BabyDobbins

Kid-Friendly Recipe: Pumpkin Bread

Posted Friday, November 18, 2011

Hi! Cori of Peace, Baby! Batiks here. As soon as fall hits, I am ready to bake. My tastes tend toward cookies (whose doesn’t?!?) and sweet breads. This pumpkin bread is one of my favorites. I’m going to bake another batch before Thanksgiving.

I always buy at least one baking pumpkin each fall. And, like I said in my butternut squash soup post recently, I rarely peel raw winter squashes. Rather, I bake them. Cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and bake for 30-60 (or more) minutes at 350 degrees. Let the pumpkin cool long enough, and you should be able to lift the shell off the pulp. If not, it’s really easy to scoop it out with a spoon. I freeze it in 1 cup portions so it’s ready for recipes.

If that’s not your cup of tea, plain canned pumpkin also works in this recipe. I think this recipe is nearly perfect; the next time I make it, though, I might add chocolate chips because in my opinion, everything is better with chocolate! It makes two loaves. They freeze great, or if your friends are like mine, they wouldn’t mind if you shared a loaf with them.

Want to get your kids involved? Give them a wooden spoon and a baggie of walnuts and set them to chopping! Mine had a great time “bamming” the nuts.

Pumpkin Bread
(Source: A Taste of the North Country by Wendy Harrington)
Yield: Two loaves

2c mashed pumpkin
3 1/2c flour
2t baking soda
1/2t salt
1t cinnamon
1t nutmeg
3c sugar
1c vegetable oil
4 eggs
2/3c water
1c chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease two 9x5-inch loaf pans.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Add the pumpkin, oil, eggs, and water, mixing until well blended. Fold in nuts (and/or chocolate chips!), and divide the batter evenly between the two pans.

Bake for 1 hour, until the bread tests clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes; then let cool completely on wire racks.

EtsyKids Design Challenge for November: Yes! there is a Santa Claus.

image via Flickr - opening presents

"Yes! there is a Santa Claus." is our challenge for November, picked by our last month's winner thomaspark. We will feature an abundance of holiday fashion, Santa motifs, invitations, greeting cards, seasonal decor, and favors. All hand made by our talented team members.

EtsyKids members will have until November 19th to submit their entries, and voting will be open to everybody from Monday, November 21st to Sunday, November 27th. So, be sure to come back to the EtsyKids blog for a new post on the 21st to see all of the entries and VOTE! In the meantime, please click here to get a sneak peek at some exciting entries so far!

Interview Series

Posted Thursday, November 17, 2011

Our interview with Joyfully Sewn Designs will be the last one for 2011, we hope to resume this series in early 2012.

Introducing Joyfully Sewn Designs!

Today we introduce you to Sarah from Joyfully Sewn Designs

what motivated you to start your shop?

I first started doing custom sewing right after I graduated from high school 12 years ago, but I didn't get started in the world of online selling until the Fall of 2009. Local business had slowed enough for the first time since I started for me to think about possibly trying to sell online. I had a couple friends with Etsy shops, so I thought I would give it a try too, and I'm so glad I did. :)

what is the story behind your shop name?

Coming up with a shop name was a challenge! It seemed that every name I tried was already taken. I had thought about doing Sarah Elizabeth Designs, but someone else already had that name. I had to get creative then and come up with more unique names. After several attempts I settled with Joyfully Sewn Designs. I love what I do, and I wanted that reflected in my shop name.

do you have a favorite Etsy Shop (non-child related)?

There are way to many wonderful Etsy shops to pick a favorite!! I'd love to be able to purchase from many, many shops! ONE of my favorites though is The Country Sign Shop. We've just been looking for a few more signs like this to put up in our home!

what surprised you most about having your own online shop?

When I first started my shop, I had no idea what I was doing or how much work it would involve! It's a whole new world trying to sell your products online! I think one of the things that surprised me most was the concept of having to actually raise my prices so that people would be confident enough to buy! Instead of looking for the cheapest possible price, many online customers looking for handmade items view the price as a gauge of the quality of the work!

what do you find most challenging about being an Etsy seller?

Learning SEO, how to promote myself and my work, and trying to learn to market my products have definitely been some of the biggest challenges!

what's your personal philosophy behind your shop / products?

I first started my business after seeing what a need there was for modest feminine girls clothing. The Lord has given me talents, and I want to use those to the best of my ability to serve those around me in a way to honor Him. If I can be a blessing to others with my sewing and bring joy to them, I feel that I've been successful.

how would someone (other then you) describe you?

That's a hard one! I don't know... Probably quiet and maybe even shy. Loves to be with children. Sorry, I'm no good at coming up with what people would say about me. :)

what music do you have on while you are creating?

Classical music is what I have on the most often. I LOVE listening to WCPE a listener supported station out of North Carolina. You can find it online at www.theclassicalstation.org

what do you do when you aren't working?

I love to spend time with my family and friends. I'm the main cook and baker in our family, and I enjoy doing both of those things. I love to read, and I have fun entering all kinds of blog giveaways. I love to be with children too.

anything else you'd like to tell us or share?

I've been so blessed by all the help and support I've been given since I first started my shop! If you're just starting out, one of the best things you can do is connect with other sellers, ask questions, and learn from then. It's not easy to sell online, but hard work and patience do pay off!

Special Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Today the special holiday shopping guide went live on etsykids.com!!
This special addition to our autumn shopping guide features 52 lovely handmade items from our team members, all prefect gift ideas for this holiday season!

We have Christmas stuff