Iron Craft #21-Where we come from

Growing up I always told people I was Polish, Germany, Swedish and French. What a mixture. My mom's mom was Swedish and her dad was the German- or so they always told us. My dad would be the Polish and French. There was always a strong connection to Sweden in our home. My grandmother decorated with lots of Swedish stuff and would tell me stories about the Tomte'. We celebrated Christmas Eve every year with Swedish meatballs, lefse and pickled herring ( not my favorite at all).

My husband is also Swedish and German. His dad's mother, Tora was first generation American leaving Stockholm to come to the United States where she met her husband, Fred. Andy grew up in Door County, WI an area in northeastern Wisconsin settled by Swedes and Norwegians.

The Things in front of Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant with goats on the roof

From knowing him and spending time up there I grew to love all things Swedish. I love Swedish and Scandinavian architecture, the textiles, housewares and so much more. When thinking about this week's project the first thing that came to mind would be to make a pair of these Swedish Mittens or a pair of these mittens. But knowing my time constraints this week I knew that there was no way I would be able to knit a pair... I am still working on a pair of plain mittens from last winter.

The more I thought about it and what I associate with where I'm from the more I realized that food is something we make to "honor" our heritage. From my German side we make sauerkraut and spareribs, which my cousin, Kathy has written about here.

From the Swedish side we make our traditional Christmas eve meal and each year the boys and I make cookies together. Not just any cookie, but Pepparkokar. We use my husband's grandmother's recipe. We set aside a day each year and make them. The house is usually decorated in Swedish Christmas decorations, we listen to carols and we make cookies. It is a time that we get to share with them a part of their history. So, for the boys and my "craft" we decided to make some cookies.





Swedish Pepparkokar
from Tora Kordon

3 cups sifted flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cloves
1 Cup butter (1/2 #)
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1Tablespoon dark corn syrup
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon warm water

Sift flour once, measure, add spices and sift again. Cream butter and sugar until mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the corn syrup and egg. Add the soda which has been dissolved in the warm water. Add flour/spice mixture and mix well. Chill in the refrigerator 2 1/2- 3 hours. Roll very thin on a lightly floured board and cut with cookie cutter.

Bake at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes or until done.
* the key with the cookies is to get them really thin. And then dip them in some milk and enjoy.

Grandma also made a craft for this week's challenge. She too, associates where she is from with Sweden. She made this folded paper heart in traditional Swedish colors.


The cookies are a favorite in our house-they are loved both baked and raw. This is usually what happens when I turn my back....

I'm just hoping there are some cookies left when their dad gets home next week.

Iron Craft #20- To a T

Wow! It is hard to believe that we are 20 weeks into Iron Craft. I did not think I would make it past week one.

This week the challenge was to do something with a T-shirt. There is no shortage of t-shirts in this house and since we have made a few already for Iron Craft Thing 2 and I decided to do a little twist on the project. It was also perfect timing for a project that Thing 1 was doing for school. He belongs to the Anime Club at school and they all made t-shirts to wear this week for the last day of the club.



Thing 2 and I were talking about the theme and what he wanted to make. He came up with the idea of taking a favorite t-shirt he had outgrown and make it into a pillow. He is a bit of a pillow hog as he has at least 5 on his bed currently. He cut the sleeves off the shirt and then he sewed up the sleeves, collar and the bottom and stuffed it. He is getting pretty good at sewing which is fun to see.



He is planning on using it as a neck pillow for road trips in the car.

Every summer the Things come with me to work to attend one of my day camps. Each day they haul a lunch, sunblock, a water bottle and a book. I get tired of looking for all the stuff each day so I thought I would take one of the old t-shirts we had from camp and make it into a tote bag. This project could not have been easier. I just cut off the sleeves, the collar and then sewed up the bottom and squared it off. Instant bag. These would also make great good grocery bags.


Until next week and hopefully we won't be finishing our project late on Tuesday night again. We seem to be getting busier and busier around here.

Iron Craft #19- Spring Challenge

This week on Iron Craft is the quarterly challenge- spring. My mom sent along a great representation of what spring is to her. Grandma says:" Spring to me is symbolized by eggs which are a sign of rebirth and new life. This shadow box was purchased at a dollar store that I filled with straw grass and small speckled eggs--with a small ceramic bird it says "Spring" to me! "



Those of us here in Minnesota found this week a challenge on it's own and did not finish our project. Thing 2 and I had a project planned but playing outside and baseball with his friends was much for inviting for him. That's ok... there is next week.

Iron Craft #18-Flowers

This week for the Iron Craft challenge we were given the theme flowers. What a great theme for this time of year. Typically flowers are starting to show themselves everywhere in my gardens by this time but no so this year. Everything is weeks behind but I am working on my list for the upcoming flower sale with the hopes of flowers coming soon.

This week Grandma was back with us. She submitted 2 projects for this weeks theme. Three if you include this gorgeous Easter lily that bloomed just in time for this week.

Grandma's first project is a stitched card that she made using a pattern from stitchingcards.com.

Her other project is a dogwood branch in bloom that was seen on Martha Stewart video. She found a branch outside and made these white flowers to put on it.

Thing 2 and I had discussed what he was going to do this week and had decided on painting a flower pot for a plant. Every summer he always has his own little grouping of flowers. I had gone out to run an errand the other night when he called and said he was bored and wanted to get ready to paint when I got home. Well, so much for waiting. When I got home this is what I found. He presented this cute pot to me as an early Mother's Day present. I love it.

I think the best part is that he did the whole thing from start to finish on his own.

I had seen this pillow the other day that I really wanted to try making. After looking at it some more, I decided it was like the petals on a flower and I decided that was my project for the week. Thing 2 is in full baseball mode and when looking at JoAnn's I saw this cute material and my baseball themed pillow was started.

I have to admit that it is not totally done, that is what happens when you try and finish it after baseball late at night. I did run into a problem with the side... but once I figured out the diameter of my circle I was on track and then I ran out of stuffing but for the sake of a photo I temporarily put the button on. I love how this turned out and so does Thing 2.

Until next week.....

Iron Craft #17- Royal Wedding

This week for Iron Craft the challenge was Royal Wedding...what, you didn't hear there is wedding this week? You would have to be under a rock to not know about "the wedding" on Friday. Thing 1 is concerned that no one will remember his birthday on Saturday because everyone is focused on Will and Kate.

We did our crafting this week at Kathy's house while enjoying a great Easter dinner.

Being boys and not really caring about weddings (though both have asked to get up at 3 am to watch) we went the easy route with the Things. They will be wearing their new shirts with pride on Friday supporting those on the other side of the pond.

I decided on a Royal Wedding survival kit. In order to watch the event live I will need to be up really early. I decided I needed something to set my tea cup on....

So now all I have to do is set the alarm and get up.

This is what happens moments after the Things pretend to like each other....

Wrestle mania!!!

Until next week.....

Iron Craft #16 - Cha-ching!!!

This week on Iron Craft it is all about money. That word makes me think of Pink Floyd's song Money and the cha-ching sound. We had fun this week with this theme- lots of different projects going on here.

I had to work on Saturday so the Things spent part of the day with Kathy and Matt ( I am lucky to live 9 blocks away and that they are nice enough to help out when I need it!!!) Thing 1 loves the book The Encyclopedia of Immaturity, Vol 1. Among the many things it has that make boys laugh it shows you how to make a ring out of money so...Thing 1 made a little Rupee Bling for his pinky.

Thing 2 worked with Kathy to make a paper mache piggy bank.

We came home with both of them to be decorated. Not to be left out, Thing 1 decorated the other one.

Thing 1's is on the left and Thing 2's is on the right.

My mom made a great card that could be used to hold money. I guess it is not my birthday card since that is not my name on it....

But, the child who has a birthday next week is standing next to me as I work on this and sees his name wondering if Grandma is giving away a birthday secret. (He says he can't believe Grandma would spend the time on making the card and not send it) He says the money does not need to be in it- he just wants the card.

I was excited for this week's theme. I have been wanting to make a little coin/money pouch for awhile. There are many times I just want something to hold a few cards, my driver's license and my phone. I used the pattern found here -I tried to add a pocket on the outside but as my son would say-"epic failure" . I chose some springy fabric as we cannot seem to leave winter behind. I love my new pouch!!!

Looking forward to seeing what next week's challenge brings.... the one thing I really hope is we have some warm weather!!!

Until next week...

Iron Craft #15-Bunny or chick???

It use to be that one sign of spring was the Peeps showing up in the stores around Easter time. Now they have peeps for almost all the major holidays. You can even get them covered in chocolate. I wonder if they still have the sugar coating on them or not. This week for the Iron Craft challenge we were tasked with doing something with Peeps. Peeps was the material.

Thing 1 knew right away what he was going to do- set up a scene with Peeps. So he got to work- all 4 packages of peeps were opened and sugar galore was sent all over the living room. I walked in and saw his work... Attack of the Peeps!!! ( I secretly think he just wanted to eat them as I know there were peeps missing between photo shoots)

My project was rather simple- use a model of the Empire State Building that Thing 1 made and create- Peep Kong

Grandma, who is a regular now decided to make a nice spring center piece with her Peeps. Truth be told- I buy my mom Peeps at each holiday as they are a favorite of hers-she eats them but only after being opened and getting a little hard. I love the arrangement she has put together.

Thing 2 was excited to make something that is a favorite around here this time of year....S'mores. What kid ( and most adults) doesn't like marshmallow, chocolate and graham crackers. However, when I went for the chocolate bars there were none to be found- not saying who but I know a couple of Things that might be guilty. Since we were using Peeps, why not use chocolate chip cookies for the outside. We even included who I guess could be called Thing 3, Lucas' buddy Charlie.

The only one not to make an appearance yet is my husband, the Big Cheese. I challenged him to come up with something this week. Not a lot of time or places to find Peeps or marshmallows in Saudi Arabia but he did send a photo of a couple of camels in a pickup truck. Is it dinner or a pet?

Maybe one of these weeks when he gets back he will join us for a challenge. My other goal is to get grandma to use her "real" camera and not her iPhone....got to get here to branch out on the technology.

Until next week.....