Brace Yourself - Homemade Suspenders

Haven't posted in a couple weeks; I really wanted my next post to be a sewing post, but I've been struggling to finish the project I wanted to show. It is a skirt for Violet, which I am almost done with, but for a few last buttons and buttonholes.

In the meantime, I thought I would show the suspenders I made to hold the skirt up. I have been working on and off on a pair of high waisted pants for myself, to be held up with braces, and Violet had the idea that she would like a skirt with suspenders to wear with the white shirt I made her last December. I'm hoping I can finish the skirt before she grows out of the shirt!

A pile of English Muffins

Last weekend I had mixed up a batch of 70% hydration french bread type dough with 1000g of flour, and Violet had asked if we could make english muffins. So we used some of the dough to make muffins for breakfast on Sunday, and they were such a hit that instead of making baguettes we turned the rest of the batch info muffins Sunday afternoon. All in we made about 30 muffins, which had disappeared by Wednesday. The kids are really, really into them, and are begging to eat them for every meal. I don't know how long this will last, but we resolved to make even more english muffins this weekend.

Making english muffins is pretty easy, at least the way I do it. Basically you make up rolls, then cook them on both sides in a pan and finish off in the oven if needed. It ends up being more work than turning the same dough into fewer but bigger loaves, but not tremendously so.

Kite making with paper and bamboo skewers

Becky thought up the idea of kite making as a fun activity for the kids to do with some friends at a scheduled meetup, so I began researching kites that can be made quickly and cheaply with kid friendly materials.