Best Birthday Gift Ever

Today I've got a different type of recipe for you -- and there are several variations you can try, so feel free to mix it up all you like. Oh, and one warning: the ingredients take FOREVER to find (ahem, make), but they're worth the effort. Seriously.

Want a cheese sandwich? Start with some bread...cheese, of course...a piece of lettuce...maybe two...a tomato (if you're into that sort of thing)...then top it off with another fluffy slice....

Just serve with a carrot or two and you've got an awesome lunch. Yum!

Or you could just pull a Dorky Daddy and have a salad for lunch. (He'd have two salads for dinner...then more salad for dessert. Seriously.) Personally, I'd switch out the tomato for strawberries.

Speaking of strawberries...grab a few for a snack! (Pardon the water spots.)

Oh, you're in the mood for breakfast? We've got that covered, too. Eggs and toast, perhaps?

So, this was my "big present" for the monkey's birthday. It doesn't look like much, but I've worked on them every night for a month or two...so...yeah. Just the hours alone make them pretty valuable. And the fact that he and his cousin started playing with them immediately (and that they're, apparently, a cat toy, as well), which makes all the time worth it. Big time. :-)

I'm hoping to make a pizza or more breakfast items for Christmas. They're not hard to make, just time intensive. Whip stitch...whip stitch...whip stitch.... Yep, there's your tutorial. That's all you need. Cut out the shapes (I free-handed) from felt, whip stitch the edges until you die, then stuff with filling...or fill with stuffing, whatevs. Rinse and repeat. The cheese was just a cut-out of orangey-yellow felt; that one was super easy and made up for how time-intensive the rest were. ;-)

Depending on where we live at that point, we'll also try to work on a kitchen area for Hadman to house all of his spoons, spatulas, and pots the utensils and pots he's stolen from me and for further pretend play. He's in love with them, so I'm super happy that these turned out so well and were well-received. (By the way, he's mixed them with the food toys he already owns -- the ones with the smiley faces -- below...and a stuffed turkey. Which makes sense. Maybe.)

Oh, and for anyone wondering, I'm working on a quick birthday rundown post for this week, too. We hope you had as awesome a weekend as we did!