So, the Kid crafty craft of the week was Homemade Crayons. We had a ton of crayons just calling out to be stripped nudie and boiled alive! This is a very kid friendly craft. It involves ripping paper and breaking things. Any person even slightly affiliated with the kid community will tell you that those two things are way up on the list of good fun.

Gather the following:

Crayons
any colors-different brands may melt at different rates-some not at all
Candy or muffin mold
you may want to use this only for this so buy a cheapy one at Target in the dollar section- that's where I got mine.
Baking sheet
you will place the mold on this- it will keep the mold stable because, hot wax+skin=Yeeouch!
Small children
preferrably your own, bribe them with the delights of crafting.

Do the following:

1) set oven to 350 degrees
2) strip all of the paper off of crayons- you can also leave it on and fish it out once the wax has melted but, not my favorite method.
3) break crayons into small chunks- kids LOVE this part, by far the most fun step
4) place bits of crayons in mold. Any more than 3 colors in each little cup and you may end up with muddy colored crayons
5) place mold on baking sheet and put in oven for 15 minutes or so. Different crayons melt at different times and sometimes not at all(usually the metallic colors or certain cheap brands seem to have trouble).
6) once crayons are liquid you can take the mold out of the oven- leave them in the mold and let cool for approximately 45 minutes on the counter. Or pop those suckers in the freezer and have crayons 10 minutes later- you can guess which way we went with this;)

COMMON SENSE:

Do NOT let children handle hot wax! A responsible adult should take care of the oven part.

I am back in the land of the living. After a week of sick kids and all of the laundry, sanitizing and sleeplessness that comes with that. I am back in action and have a veritable fount of ideas for the blog. I am sure it is the same with you that when it rains it pours. Two weeks ago I nearly had to set fire to myself to get anyone to check out my etsy shops. This week we are on the front page twice and had some items featured in a Storque article! What the Hell!? I am thrilled. But, as it goes too, I think we have officially shot our wad- that was our 15 minutes! We will probably be dusting the cobwebs away this time next week :) Thanks to http://www.littlepapoose.etsy.com/ for featuring both hubby and myself in her treasury! You doll!

As I type, the most ridiculously wonderful scent is wafting through my house. A perfect sunday scent. Fresh baking banana bread that makes me check it's progress much too soon in hopes that it may have warp baked so that I can slather it in butter and have my way with it..um, I mean eat it. Why all of the recipes and what's with the cooking and such..? Well, with the economic downturn we are trying (makes it sound like we have a choice huh) to be REALLY careful with our income. Because we are down to one.

Yep, that's right. I gave Starbucks the boot. After 12 years I had had enough. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the people that were in my store and had some incredible fun but, when a company is going tits up it becomes sinking ship scenario with upper management. They will claw and drown anyone else to save themselves. So, I left before I become completely embittered.

If you have ever had to leave a job that, good or bad was always your safety net, you know that even if you have good reason to go, it is still a huge decision and carries a lot of baggage with it. I am thrilled to be home with our boys and am trying to prepare for the challenges that present themselves to us now. Anyhoo, back to what I was originally rambling about. We are watching every penny so, I am cooking EVERYTHING at home. I am trying to keep as organic, low sugar, all around healthy as I can. The recipe I am gonna lay on you now is none of those things :) That is why it is ridiculously good!

SUNSHINE'S BANANA BREAD (yeah, that's my mom's name)

2 & 1/2 cup flour

1 & 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 & 2/3 cup sugar
1 & 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

mix above ingredients together then add:

2/3 Cup butter or margerine

1/3 cup milk

3-5 mashed bananas (recipe is very forgiving so however many is up to you, I used three for this batch)

beat two minutes then add:

3 eggs
1/3 cup milk

beat again 2 minutes then pour into two greased loaf pans or greased/ lined muffin pan. Bake 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes for loaf and 23-28 minutes for muffins. May take a bit longer depending on how many bananas you've used. VOILA! You are now eating my mom's banana bread just like I have since I can remember.

Extra Tips:

• Don't throw away those black bananas!! They are full of sweet sugary banana goodness. As long as there is no mold on them they are perfect for making bread. You can use fresh ripe bananas but, in my opinion this always tastes better with overripe ones.
• The more bananas you use the denser the bread will be and it will take a bit longer to bake- up to hour. The bread should be a nice deep brown color when it is done. Make sure that a toothpick comes out clean from the middle of the loaf. With muffins, when they spring bake under your touch they are ready (usually dark golden).
• You can add nuts to the batter or anything else for that matter- try adding chocolate chips!
• Enjoy with ungodly amounts of butter! Or au naturale, it is great either way. Great for breakfast or warmed up with some ice cream for dessert (read as: anytime).