Lovely and easy crafts for kids

My friend Nancy sent me this link.
She got it from her friend Alison.
And now I'm sharing it with you.

http://madebyjoel.blogspot.com/

So simple, so beautiful and so fun!
Next time you're tempted to hit Toys R Us, back away from the car, and click here instead.

Or drive to Portland. There appears to be some kind of weird creativity-inducing bacteria in the water there.

A raw deal

Tuesday has become Sushi Day in my world. It all started with my BFF Irene, who works part-time, and always takes Tuesdays off. During my mat leave we would regularly meet at Bimi (at Grant and Kenaston, next to Stella's) for their 1/2 price sushi deal. It worked well, especially because they've got a tatami area that's comfy for kids. I could plop Baby Cheaperthan on a blanket or in her Bumbo and she'd happily hang out while we gorged ourselves on ngiri.

A few weeks ago Bimi launched an even better promotion - an all-you-can-eat sushi lunch for $15! You can order whatever you like from a huge menu including hot apps and fancy maki. Today I went with two gourmand friends and we stuffed ourselves with agedashi tofu, shrimp and scallop tempura, two caterpillar rolls, a rainbow roll, a dragon eye roll, a tiger roll and a pizza sushi. Must admit there was some belt-loosening happening towards the end of the meal. The rule at Bimi is that you have to pay full price for whatever food is left on your plate. It requires a certain amount of prescience (or restraint?) to order just the right amount of food. A word of advice: three appetizers and six huge deep-fried maki is more than enough for three people, even if one of them has a hollow leg.

If you want to try a simpler and quicker sushi lunch, check out Dae Gill on Madison. They offer an $8 takeout lunch special - two maki plus a drink or miso soup. Their sashimi is also pretty cheap, and comes in generous portions.

Sushi joints are busting out all over Winnipeg right now. What's your favorite sushi spot?

Give it up for Giveaway Weekend

It's way too cold and grey for gardening. Might as well spend some time cleaning out the basement and sorting stuff for Giveaway Weekend #2. That's right, on May 15 and 16 you are once again encouraged to dump your junk at the curb so that your neighbors can openly judge you. Kidding! Actually, I love Giveaway Weekend. Last time I cleared out several unwieldy bookshelves and four large boxes of tea lights which I realized I would never ever use. Everything got magicked away as if by elves driving minivans. You might want to keep your kids' bikes and wagons well within your property line though. I know at least one person who lost a tricycle last Giveaway Weekend. People are only supposed to take stuff on the curb marked "free" but a few takers clearly got overzealous.

If you have exceptionally useful junk, you might want to think about donating it to Centre Flavie Laurent. It's a charity founded by the Grey Nuns which distributes donated furniture, household items and clothing to people in need. Though it's been around for a while, I first heard of it recently, thanks to CBC News host Janet Stewart. She wrote a nice note about it on Facebook, of all places.

First birthday fever

I promised myself I would not go overboard for Baby Cheaperthan's first birthday. I firmly believe that it is crazy to pour a ton of time, money and energy into a party for a kid who will remember exactly none of it. My plan was to invite our closest family to brunch at McNally Robinson. But then I thought, "It's a special occasion, we should invite the aunts and uncles and cousins." And then I thought, "We should invite our playdate friends who've made this such a great year." And then I thought, "I'll do a come-and-go cupcake party, how hard can that be?" And then I had a guest list of fifty, and I was officially infected with First Birthday Fever.

One sign that you have First Birthday Fever: you are tempted to do everything by hand. For one insane moment I did consider hand-making invitations. Luckily I thought better of it, and went instead to Kodak Gallery to order custom photo cards. Very cute, and if you pick them up at a local retailer (in my case, Best Buy) then you don't have to pay shipping.

I was also tempted to make a piñata shaped like a cupcake. Especially when I saw samples at All Things Cupcake online. But again reason prevailed, and the piñata idea was abandoned.

Good thing too. Turned out I needed some spare time for making actual cupcakes. Originally I was going to order them, but they're kinda pricey when you're ordering enough for fifty hungry guests. At Sweet Impressions on Tache and at the Cupcake Corner on Stradbook, custom cupcakes are $3 each. High Tea Bakery (a personal favorite) sells them for $2 each, or $23/dozen.

Once I decided I was going to make the cupcakes, all I had to do was learn how. Luckily I had my friend Sarah's Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, and a YouTube tutorial on how to ice a cupcake at my fingertips. Let me tell you, Helen Shroyer is my hero. At 1:30 a.m., I iced my last cupcake. I was covered in food coloring and my hands were aching but I was pretty pleased with the result (the display stand on loan from MAWA is a helpful touch).



Let me tell you, if you are going to ice cupcakes until the wee hours, it does help if you have a team of people taking care of other small party details like, say, food and party wear. Luckily a few people had my back. Grannie, Lola and Auntie E. set up a buffet feast and Auntie R. contributed the cutest cupcake dress in the world (a Small Potatoes creation). Most importantly of course Baby Cheaperthan had a great day (with no nap-deprived meltdowns, yay!). I know she won't remember it, but I definitely will. Thank goodness we have a year to relax until Birthday #2.