Mama.Papa.Bubba. -
Menu
Skip to content
  • SHOP
  • preemie
  • baby
  • play
  • craft
  • learn
  • cook
  • DIY
  • kuwait
  • vancouver
  • contact
  • about

Tag Archives: traditions

Baba’s Homemade Perogies

3 / 3 / 163 / 14 / 16

Each summer growing up, my brother and I would spend a good chunk of time at my Baba’s house a few hours away from our hometown.  Our visits were filled with things kids’ dreams are made of – exploring, gardening, painting, fort building, teepee making, and cooking – and one of the things I most looked forward to each summer was making homemade perogies!  There’s really nothing not to like about them…  Doughy little pockets filled with potatoes and cheese and served with butter and sour cream?  Yes please!  Plus they’re fun to make too.

So with Baba currently visiting us on her way through to Singapore for a cruise {lucky duck!}, we just had to make perogies.  After all, who better for Miss G to learn from than the perogy master herself?!  {Seriously, I’m guessing that my Baba has made tens of thousands of perogies in her lifetime – the woman could probably make them in her sleep!}

And the fact that Miss G got to experience making perogies with my Baba just as I did as a little girl?  That makes my heart very happy.

Here’s a peek at the process {and Baba’s go-to recipe}…

IMG 4798

First the dough…

Read More

1 Comment

Continuing Our Yearly Tradition

9 / 20 / 1311 / 12 / 13

A Handprint Canvas  our yearly tradition | Mama Papa Bubba

I’m all about special little traditions.  Half birthday traditions, Christmas ornament making traditions, Valentine’s Day traditions…  They just make me happy.  One of the ones I love most is is the handprint canvas Gracen and I make each year together.

IMG 1335

 When I first decided to start it just before Miss G’s first birthday, I picked up 5 small square canvases thinking that would last me forever and now we’re more than halfway through our stash.  Hard to believe.    

IMG 1339

As always, Grae picked out the colour combination.

IMG 1832

It’s crazy {and exciting and sad and overwhelming} to see how much this little hand grows each year (see last year’s print here).

IMG 1974

Here’s this year’s masterpiece. Sadly, this one will stand alone here in Kuwait until another birthday rolls around, but one day in the future, she’ll have a collection of handprints, each one slightly larger than the last, displayed on her bedroom wall for all of us admire.

Check out last year’s handprint canvas post too!

 

For more fun not found on the blog, join us on Facebook or follow us on Instagram.

3 Comments

Two and a Half.

2 / 24 / 139 / 22 / 13

Today my baby girl is officially two and a half.

One of the little traditions we started when Gracen was born was the celebration of her half birthday.  Because well, why not really?  That extra ‘half’ is a big deal when your age is still in the single digits.  It’s nothing fancy… Just a fun day with “cupcakes” after dinner. This year was extra special as it fell on a weekend which meant Papa got to join in on the fun.

It started with Miss G waking up to a doorway full of balloons, ended with chocolate coconut banana muffins topped with freshly whipped cream and candles, and had muffin making, playing in the rain, an awesome presentation of The Cat in the Hat, and a sushi dinner sprinkled throughout the middle.

Balloon Doorway

IMG 5933

IMG 5936

IMG 5942

IMG 5946

Oh, and there was this…  A bath filled with bubbles, balloons, and a shrieky jumpy excited girl.

Happy half birthday, my love.

♥

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here. 

2 Comments

Our 3rd Annual Valentine’s Tea

2 / 15 / 139 / 22 / 13

IMG 5583

A little tradition we started back when Gracen was just 5 months old and we were living in Kuwait is an annual Valentine’s tea.  Today we hosted our third celebration with a bunch of Grae’s good buddies, some awesome mamas, delicious treats, and some messy fun.  The sun was shining, us mamas got to sneak in conversations in between chasing toddlers, and the kiddos played happily.

Here are some snapshots from our morning…

IMG 5589

Tea.

IMG 5545

Heart-shaped pretzels made especially for us by SweetSalt.

IMG 5544

Banana berry muffins {adapted from this recipe}.

IMG 5542

Mmmm… Fruit.

IMG 5543

Strawberry crispy hearts.

IMG 5584

Hearts.

IMG 5585

Treats for the mamas.

IMG 5598

Tea for toddlers.

IMG 5580

Berry-scented play dough.

IMG 5548

Hard at play.

IMG 5550

Water bead fun.

IMG 5567

Aftermath.

IMG 5569

Crafting.

IMG 5560

A happy girl post-party.

Kind of crazy that we’ve had two teas here in Vancouver and next year we’ll be back to where it all started, but I’m looking forward to it.

Take a peek at last year’s tea here.

♥

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here. 

3 Comments

Valentine’s Day {2013}

2 / 14 / 139 / 22 / 13

IMG 5513

With a Valentine’s party earlier this week, and our annual Valentine’s tea happening tomorrow, when Miss G asked to have a special day at home today instead of attending our Valentine’s celebration at Strong Start, I was more than happy to oblige.  It was a day of cooking together and doing special activities, topped off with a few hand-picked gifts for each of us at the end of the day.

Here is our day in photos…

IMG 5480

Little breakfast helper.

IMG 5483

A breakfast full of hearts.

IMG 5486

A special drink.

IMG 5490

Jello play dough experiment.

IMG 5500

Play time.

IMG 5509

A special project for Papa.

IMG 5511

“Love soup”.

IMG 5523

Proud.

IMG 5525

Papa’s pizza topping.

IMG 5526

Heart-shaped bacon warrants a regular rectangular pizza.

IMG 5527

Regular roasted veggies means the pizza needs to be heart-shaped.

IMG 5531

Finishing off the day with a few little gifts. A beautiful picture frame and some David’s Tea goodies for Papa, Fauberg macarons for Mama, and a handmade purse, a new book, and some scented stickers for Miss G.

 

Check out last year’s Valentine’s Day with my little lady here.

♥

For fun extras, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here. 

2 Comments

A Yearly Tradition: Handcrafted Christmas Ornaments

11 / 27 / 129 / 22 / 13

I know I’ve said it before, but becoming a mama has given me an overwhelming urge to create special traditions with our little family of three.  Things that we look forward to each year…  Memories Gracen will hold onto for a lifetime.  The holidays are extra special when looked at through the eyes of your child, aren’t they?

Looking back on my own childhood, the holidays were filled with special traditions I still remember vividly now as an adult.  Trudging through the snow out at Imperial Oil (where my Dad worked) in the freezing cold and selecting the perfect tree to cut down and take home…  Having a special evening dedicated to decorating the tree together…  Visiting ALL of my grandparents’ houses over the course of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day… Staying up as late as we wanted on Christmas Eve with our cousins…  It all seemed so magical. The thing is, the times I remember most have nothing to do with wish lists, Santa visits, or presents received.  All of the memories that stick out in my mind are about doing things as a family…  Just us spending time together.

And that’s my hope for Gracen when it comes to the holidays…  That she’ll come to cherish the time we spent doing things together more that any of the material indulgence that inevitably comes with Christmas.

Handcrafted Christmas Ornaments

This past weekend, we carried on a tradition that we began last year… An afternoon filled with holiday music and handcrafted ornaments. The hope is that one day we’ll have a giant tree filled with beautifully mismatched homemade ornaments that mean more to us than store bought ones ever could.

Here are this year’s additions…

IMG 2800

First up are some very simple, but very beautiful beaded candy cane ornaments.

IMG 2798

To make these, we used sparkly pipe cleaners cut in half and colourful iridescent pony beads Miss G selected at the store herself.

IMG 2790

To get started, I simply folded over one end of the pipe cleaner to create a little nub to hold the beads on, and Grae began adding beads.

IMG 2791

The wonderful thing about making these ornaments is that little ones get to sneak in a ton of fine motor skill practice while making them.

IMG 2793

Once the pipe cleaner is nearly full, just flip over the open end to create a nub on the opposite side.

IMG 2801

Then gently bend your beaded pipe cleaner to form a candy cane shape. (This is the one that Gracen made – start to finish – by herself).

IMG 2813

Next, we did a remake of an ornament we made last year… A glass bulb decorated with a family of thumbprint reindeer. To make this one, select a solid-coloured glass bulb (one with a matte finish will photograph much better – duh!), then cover your thumb with a thick layer of brown crafter’s acrylic.

IMG 2818

Carefully press your thumb onto the glass ball.

IMG 2826

Hang your ball somewhere or carefully set it on a small cup and allow it to dry completely.

IMG 2845

Once dry, use red crafter’s acrylic to add noses and a black paint pen or Sharpie to add eyes and antlers. Easy peasy!

IMG 2828

The last batch of ornaments we made were out of cinnamon dough (2 cups of applesauce, 3 cups of cinnamon, 2 tablespoons of nutmeg, and 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla mixed like mad by hand ).  With these ones, we used extra cinnamon to prevent sticking, assorted cookie cutters, stamps, straws to create ribbon holes, a rolling pin, and parchment paper.

IMG 2835

This dough was quite tough and much easier to work with than last weekend’s baking soda clay.

IMG 2836

It could easily be rolled, handled, and stamped without sticking at all, which was nice.

IMG 2834

On the downside, handprints and thumbprints were out of the question.  The dough just simply didn’t have enough give to it.

IMG 2839

Once we’d filled our baking sheet, we popped the ornaments into the oven on the lowest setting and let them stay in there for several hours, flipping them once and a while.

IMG 2870

I wish I could somehow bottle the smell of our house while they baked and share it with you all here… It was divine.

IMG 2876

Before going to bed, I turned off the oven and let the ornaments sit in there overnight, just like I did with the baking soda clay ones.

IMG 2873

When we awoke, they were fully dry and hard as a rock, but still smelled delicious.  (These are a few of the ones G made all by herself).  We added small loops of baker’s twine, and voila – they’re ready for hanging.

IMG 2867

And how sweet is this little initial bunting Bradley made for Gracen?

Now we just have to get a tree so that we’ll have somewhere to hang all of these beautiful new ornaments.

♥

Banner 600x240

I am so thrilled to be sharing this family tradition as a part of ‘12 Days of Christmas Traditions with Vancouver’s Top Mommy Bloggers‘.  If you haven’t already, please pop over to JulieNowell.com to read her post about carrying out traditions in a new home, and be sure to pop over to The Write Mama tomorrow to read all about Lori’s Christmas Village tradition.  Enjoy!
12 Comments

Baking Soda Clay Ornaments

11 / 20 / 1211 / 5 / 13

My personal rule?  All things Christmas wait until December 1st.  Well, besides crafting or purchasing the odd little gift here and thereI guess…

This year though, I’ve broken my own rule. I’m not sure how it happened, but we were looking for a fun afternoon activity and somehow I ended up whipping up a batch of baking soda clay without giving any thought to the fact that it’s still November. Oops…  It’s okay, though.  We started the tradition of making special handcrafted ornaments together as a family last year, and I already have {more than a} few new types in mind for this year, so we’ll just call this our practice round…

Baking Soda Clay Christmas Ornaments

I’ve always been a fan of salt dough ornaments.  The dough is easy and inexpensive to make, it’s really easy to work with, and you can shape and mould it almost any way you like.  The only downside to salt dough, however, is that it loses some of its appeal when it dries out.  Last year we made several different salt dough ornaments, and though they are special because they are handmade, they did crack / puff up / brown a little bit during the drying process.  So when I started seeing baking soda clay pop up all over Pinterest just after Christmas last year, I knew we’d have to baking soda clay ornaments a shot during our next round.

IMG 2463

The dough itself is very easy to make.  It involves just three ingredients (baking soda, cornstarch, and water) and a little heat, and before you know it, it’s done.  I followed this recipe almost exactly, but added about a tablespoon more cornstarch.  The result is this amazingly soft, smooth, bright white dough that feels silky in your hands.

UPDATE:  The recipe link we used for this project no longer exists…  Here is a similar baking soda clay recipe. 

IMG 2464

Once the dough was made and was cooling, I collected a few things from around the house to use to create shapes.  Cookie cutters were the obvious first choice, but mason jar lids, the rims of glasses, and butter knives all work well for the job too.

IMG 2466

Next, I gathered some materials to make impressions in the dough.  After a visit raiding Gracen’s stamp collection and nature shelf, this is what I had.

IMG 2467

I also got out a rolling pin, some kitchen scissors (for freehand shapes), some straw pieces (for creating holes to tie twine through), and some extra corn starch to prevent the dough from sticking to everything.

IMG 2473

IMG 2479

We got started by giving Gracen a chunk of the dough to just play with and explore at first, but of course she requested a cookie cutter and stamp and was right down to business.  That’s just her style.

IMG 2480

Now anywhere you read about baking soda dough, the instructions will clearly advise to leave the dough sit until completely cool, but we were too impatient for that.  As a result, our dough was still a tad bit warm and sticky, which made it a little bit tricky to work with.  My advice? Wait until it’s completely cool.  Lesson learned.

IMG 2481

What we found worked really well, even with our warm sticky dough, was using the bottom of a flat dish or glass to flatten the dough, rather than using the rolling pin.  The rolling pin was just too sticky for our dough, but the dish bottoms worked perfectly.

IMG 2483

IMG 2489

IMG 2492

As far as making the impressions went, we found that lightly dusting the stamp or object with cornstarch first, then pressing it into the dough and removing it slowly turned out great results.

IMG 2494

The same technique worked best with the cookie cutters too – dust cookie cutter with cornstarch, then push the dough out of the cookie cutter gently and slowly.

IMG 2503

When we’d used up every last bit of dough, I popped the ornaments onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and put it into a just-warm oven to dry out.  We left them in there for several hours, flipping them every now and again, and before going to bed, I turned off the heat and left them sit in oven overnight.

IMG 2507

IMG 2525

The next day, we got out our paintbrushes and acrylic paints, and painted away.

IMG 2524

These are some of my very favourite ornaments that Grae made.  She pressed the dough, cut the shapes, and decorated them all by herself.

IMG 2515

This little reindeer family was made by making 3 small balls, flattening them down with the bottom of a cornstarched bowl, and then pressing our thumbs into the middles.  I cheated a little bit and used a Sharpie for the antlers and names, because well, we all know how they would have turned out had I used paint…

IMG 2522This heart ornament also started as a flattened ball, and then I used a cookie cutter to push just part of the way through to the dough to make the heart shape.

Once our paint was dry, we added some string to hang them from.  Ribbon or jute would be pretty, but I have a thing for baker’s twine currently, so we went with that.  Here are some of our finished ornaments…

IMG 2534

IMG 2538

IMG 2542

IMG 2546

Aren’t they pretty?

IMG 2562

And because our yearly ornament making tradition is bound to leave us with heaps of special, handcrafted tree decorations one day, we added the year onto each.

♥

Though we didn’t do it this time around, giving the ornaments a light coat of Mod Podge or spray-on sealant make protect them and help them last longer.

39 Comments

Handprint Canvas: A Yearly Tradition

8 / 28 / 129 / 22 / 13

Today Miss G and I continued on a little birthday tradition we started last year when she turned one – painting a handprint canvas together.  This year was even more fun than last because Grae was really able to get into it and participate in the process.

 

IMG 8985

After picking out our colour combination, we gave the canvas a few coats of pink paint, letting it dry in between each one.

IMG 8986

Then, once it  was completely dry, I brushed a thin coat of teal on Grae’s hand and together we carefully stamped in the middle of the canvas.

IMG 8988

With the project finished almost as quickly as it was started, Grae wanted to continue painting, so on she went…

IMG 8994

As she worked on her own project, I sketched out a number two on the canvas’ corner…

IMG 8995

Then carefully outlined it and filled it in with a paint pen.

IMG 8997

Tada!  A very simple art project that forever saves those little handprints I always have such a hard time wiping away from our mirrors and windows.

IMG 8998

And here it is next to last year’s.  Pretty amazing / heartbreaking to see the difference 12 months makes…

♥

16 Comments

find us here

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Email

looking for something?

want our posts to your inbox?

popular posts

  • Homemade Air-Dry Modelling Clay {aka baking soda clay}
    Homemade Air-Dry Modelling Clay {aka baking soda clay}
  • Make Ten {an easy card game for kids}
    Make Ten {an easy card game for kids}
  • Baby Play Dough
    Baby Play Dough
  • Cookie Cutter Bird Seed Feeders {A Toddler-Friendly Method}
    Cookie Cutter Bird Seed Feeders {A Toddler-Friendly Method}
  • Tape Pull Fine Motor Activity
    Tape Pull Fine Motor Activity
  • Footprint Butterfly Flower Pot
    Footprint Butterfly Flower Pot
  • The BEST Scented No Cook Play Dough
    The BEST Scented No Cook Play Dough
  • Tummy Time Painting
    Tummy Time Painting
  • Morning Routine Flip Chart
    Morning Routine Flip Chart
  • Chunky Monkey Frozen Yogurt Bites
    Chunky Monkey Frozen Yogurt Bites

archives

Site made with ♥ by Angie Makes
Angie Makes Feminine WordPress Themes