I am so thrilled with how she turned out! Lots of spunk and sass with a butterfly tattoo on her bum and a heart tattoo on her ear! To see more photos and read more about Choco visit the 5 Orange Potatoes etsy shop. Hope to see you there. SOLD!

We did some paper dyeing on Friday using coffee and tea. I love to dye paper. I’m planning to try with many different plants this Spring to acheive many different colors of paper- berries, dandelions, and cabbage are next on the list to try.

Araina brought me the first bouquet of the year.

Outdoor tea parties were a big thing over the weekend!

We’ve been trying to ID this black chrysalis Fauna found while climbing our Scarlet Maple. We think it’s some sort of moth pupa.

I finally got a little creative on Sunday after a week of not sewing.  See the little tree house in the pic below? I’m going to make bigger ones using sweaters and felt for the Hootenannies to live in.

Here’s a winky-eyed bunny I’ve been working on for the past couple of days, she must have a little something in her eye! I still need to add her arms and a tail.

On a side note, with all the bickering and politics going on right now I have to leave with this message from Araina-

If only it were that simple!

“That’s all.”

Crafting- this marsupial monster mama had a baby! The baby loves to be carried in her mama’s pocket and go everywhere with her.
* Marsupial monster was made for Araina and will be put into her Spring basket this weekend.

Now for the cooking- I love cooking for my friends when they visit, here’s what I made to share today-

HUMMUS (recipe from here)
-Sooooo tasty and simple to make!

1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas)
juice of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove
1/3 cup chopped parsley
pinch or two of salt
2-4 tbs. good quality extra virgin olive oil

Put all of the ingredients, except the olive oil,  in a food processor. Pulse and slowly add olive oil until you get the consistency you prefer. I only used about 2 tbs. olive oil, I like it a little on the dryer side.

CHEESE CRACKERS (adapted from here)
If you are a fan of baked cheese……RUN to your kitchen right now and bake these! They are so delicious and I can’t stop making them! These are the reason I could never be vegan!

1 1/2c. sharp cheddar cheese- the sharper the better
4 tbs unsalted butter
3/4 cup flour
1/2 t salt
1 tbs half and half
2-4 pinches of cayenne powder, depending on how spicy you want them

In a food processor, add the cheese, flour, and salt. Cut the butter into 4 pieces and add to ingredients. Pulse ingredients until you get coarse crumbs. Add the half and half and process until the dough forms into a ball. This takes about 10 seconds. I didn’t think a ball was even possible with such a little amount of liquid, but trust me it is. Form the dough into a log, wrap in parchment, and chill in the refrigerator for an hour up to a day (or freezer for 20 minutes).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough into desired thickness. Cut into squares or use small cutters to form fun shapes. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.   Bake for 10-14 minutes until golden.

And of course you get 4 little girls together (and a cutie patootie 2yo brother) and there’s lots of playing going on! Playing in the ditch water was a highlight of the day; don’t let the short sleeves fool you, the water was COLD and the high today was in the upper 50’s! Maili and Fauna didn’t seem to notice though, they were splashing around and loved getting soaked. See the cute hair clips in Fauna’s hair? The  owl was made by Fauna and Veda (Maili’s sister) and a little purple monster was made by Veda. Fauna wears them proudly!

HA! Araina refused to go into that cold water,  she preferred to teeter on the edge!

Another great day planned for tomorrow…..a St. Patrick’s Day party! Toodles!

Here is  Mr. Love-

and Mrs. Love-

Hope to see you there!

I also have to share these little mice darlings that we received in the mail today from Jessica! After many “oohs” and “ahhs” the little ladies ran to set up their new little friends a special reading place…..”Shhh, quiet while the mice are reading in the library.”

Her little needle felted lovelies would fit so nicely into little eggs for hunting. Visit her Etsy shop to see more more little lovelies. Thank you Jessica!

And thanks to all who put up with my insecurities about posting shop updates.