Yarn Dolls

My children and I had fun with this craft recently.

I got the idea from a website called The Craft Train: LINK

We made a whole bunch of yarn dolls. 

We made girl dolls and boy dolls. 

We made mama dolls and papa dolls. 

We made tiny baby dolls. 

We made tall dolls and short dolls and skinny dolls and thick dolls. 

We made whole families! 

This activity kept us busy for hours! Then we had fun staging photos with our yarn dolls.

Here's how you can make your own yarn dolls:

Wrap yarn around a book or stiff piece of cardboard. The taller the board the taller your doll will be. Wrap yarn until you have the desired thickness. 

You will have created a loop of yarn.

Cut the loop at one end. Now you will have a bundle of yarn string all the same length.

Twist the bundle at the center and bend it in half at the twist. This is called a bite. Use another piece of yarn to tie the bite in place, forming the dolls head.

Separate the tassel into three portions; two for the arms and 1 for the body.

Braid the arms, tie the ends with extra yarn, and trim them to the right length. The tighter the braid the more it will hold it's shape when maneuvered.

Use extra strands of yarn to tie around the body, making a waist and hips.

Trim the ends to even up the skirt and give it a finished look.

If you are making a boy doll divide the skirt into two legs, and braid the legs, tying off with extra lengths of yarn.

I hope you have as much fun with this project as we did!

Grandma Nancy's Peanut Butter Cookies

This recipe comes from my paternal grandmother. I made it past my 19th birthday without ever having tasted her peanut butter cookies. Grandma Nancy was never the type of grandma to make cookies with the grandchildren. She loved being outdoors! She took me fishing and let ride with her when she mowed. I have a lot of good memories of splitting and loading fire wood with her. I didn't know that she ever made cookies, but apparently, when my Dad was little she did bake cookies. 

This has been my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe ever since the first time I tried them. I would have never thought adding cinnamon to peanut butter cookies would be good, but it is delicious! (I have never tried the orange zest version.)

Peanut Butter Cookies

2 1/2 cups Flour

1 tsp. Salt

2 tsp. Cinnamon (or Orange Zest)

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 cup Butter, Softened

1 cup Peanut Butter

1 cup Sugar

1 cup Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

2 tsp. Vanilla Flavoring

Set oven to 350° F. 

Sift together flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda. 

Combine in mixing bowl: butter, peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. Cream for 2 minutes. 

Add dry ingredients. Blend well.

Roll into small balls. Place on cookie sheet. Flatten, criss cross, with a fork.

Bake 8-10 minutes.

 I added some of these dark chocolate chips from Aldi to a batch of peanut butter cookies. They make a great addition. With chocolate and peanut butter you can't go wrong! :)