New Logo!

I have to give a BIG Thank-You to Gwynn of Gwynn Wasson Designs for designing my new logo and avatar! I have worked with Gwynn on several projects and she is amazing! Her blog is great too! She does beautiful custom work and also has an etsy store with pre-made items as well.  Go check her out and have a Happy Monday!

Everybody loves a freebie on a Friday!!

Are you ready for Valentines day? If your anything like me then your still finding miscellaneous Christmas decorations around your house! How does this stuff keep appearing?  Well, incase you are on the ball and your already prepping, I thought it would be great to round-up and post some of the cutest free printables that are being offered out there by some of my favorite bloggers! 

This Keep Calm sign can be downloaded for free at: lollyjaneboutique

These Techy i-Phone candy valentines can be found at: Living Locurto

These adorbael valentines are a real HOOT at: Pepto Girl

These great classroom valentines can be found at: Bunny Cakes
She also has some great ideas of what to attach them to!

These super cute girly-french valentines can be downloaded at : The Black Apple

These are all so cute! I can't decide which ones I will be using. Can you?

Creative Parenting Wednesday-Positive Reinforcement

We all have skills.  Some skills we use everyday for our jobs, hobbies, survival.  Some skills are so automatic we don't even recognize them as skills.  Some we have to reach hard for when the time comes but are dang proud when we use them and "pull it off".  If your a mother, a teacher, a grandparent, an aunt/uncle, caregiver of any child you can check off another whole skills box when it comes to kids.  You don't have to have birthed them to aquire these "skills", but you do have to be around them...constantly. So comes my "A-ha" moment of 2011.  I was laying in bed pondering why as a Teacher of 6 years (5 of them in 5th grade), with a degree in child development...can I control a whole room of children for 6 hours a day, but I am struggling on a daily basis with my (just 1) four year old's behavior??? I mean this seems ludacris to me.  
Really, any mother has had a day when they all of the sudden find themselves trying to argue or logically explain something to their child, and you realize why am I doing this? Why are they not listening? It's exhausting.  Sure, there are the time-outs, the loss of priviledges, the temper tantrums (on both parts). If you are a stay at home mom, this is like groundhogs day...it's neverending.  You have 2 good hours and then 2 bad, 2 more good, 1 bad. What can you do?? You can bribe...sometimes it works, you can threaten...but be prepared to act, these kiddos are smart and know that even if one time you cave in and don't leave the park like you said, they have won!  
All of these things are decent suggestions, but they were not cutting it for me.  I want the behavior to change, the whinning to stop, the day free of threats and time-outs....don't you?  
Ok, so back to me laying in bed at 2 am when "A-ha" I realize what I need to do.  If I can control 30 kids in a classroom for 6 hours a day, those are skills.  I need to approach my lovely 4 year old just as I would a whole class of students- with Positve Reinforcement!  I don't threaten my students, or put them in time out,  they don't loose priviledges in my classroom....why? Because I am constantly flooding them with oppertunities to succeed.  In my classroom I will sometimes have 4 or 5 different positive reinforcement strategies going at once.  Of course, part of my skills is being able to create and make, and recognize those moments.  I realized I had taken a break from teaching, but not from children....I know silly right, you think I would have figured that out sooner!    I would like to introduce to you the first step I have taken in creative parenting in our household........It's amazing, it's so simple, it's actually working......
here it is:

Teachers sometimes call this the "caught being good jar" or "reward jar".  We usually use marbles in a classroom, when the jar is full the class gets a party or something they have decided is a "worthy" reward,  keyword being "they". No amount of positive reinforcement system will work in a classroom or in your home if the kids don't buy into it.  They have to want it, earn it, strive for it! 

Being limited on funds, and taking into the fact I also have a crawling 10 month old I wasn't to keen on marbles being around, but I did have the gumball machine leftover from Luxy's carnival birthday and a little glass jar at home.  She doesn't eat gum, she doesn't like it and she is too young still, but what she does LOVE is taking the gumball out of the machine.  Ding, Ding, Ding, I found something she loves to do, and asks to do quite often since her party, I have her hooked already! Here is how the caught being good jar works:

**Everytime your child does something positive or good you immediately reward them and say: " Wow, I love, or really like how you did that and make sure to state the behavior. For example, I would say this:

"Wow Luxy, I really like how you cleaned up that puzzle when you were done with it, go put a gumball in the jar!"  

This may happen 10-15 times a day!!! It can happen as much as you want.  The key is everytime they do a behavior or act that you want them to continue doing you "catch" them and reward that behavior.  When you introduce this new "game" to them , discuss with your child what types of things they would want when the jar is full.  For us, my daughter wants to either go to the Zoo, Out to dinner at her favorite restaurant, or Disneyland.  All of which are do-able for us.  Make sure your end reward is do-able for your family.  You may need to be creative..it doesn't take much to make a four year old happy.  Also make sure not to do the reward until jar is full.  So if you eat out a lot, this would not be a good reward.  Until our gumball jar is full our family is not participating in the possible reward activites.  

Most importantly is to stay CONSISTANT!! This above everything will determine if you are successful.  You can not go gung-ho on gumballs the first 3 days and then no gumballs the whole next week.  Sure there will be times when you are out of the house but you can still notice the behavior and say when we get home you get 3 gumballs for your good chocies while we were out today. Trust me you may forget, but your child will not!  

Do you have any creative parenting tips?  Please email them to me at Sugarfootdesigns@gmail.com for the chance to be featured on "Creative Parenting Wednesdays"! 

This post is linked to : "it works for me Wednesday"

Dot Topiary Tutorial

  Back in November I threw a Carnival Party for my daughter's 4th birthday.  It was such fun, and I promised a tutorial on my Dot Topiary's I created for the dessert table.  Although it seems silly to have a tutorial on such a simple and inexpensive project! You could create any kind of candy topiary using these same supplies and steps outlined below! I thought a Valentines one done with the candy conversation hearts would be adorable! In fact I may just have to make one for my fireplace mantel.  
I started my project and forgot to take pictures of the steps until I was already half way into it, but you will get the gist.
Step 1:  You will need to spray paint the Styrofoam balls the color of your choice, because you will inevitably have gaps between the candy, and it looks better to see a color than the white, unless white goes with your theme.  After you spray paint the balls, and they have dried you will need to insert the dowel into one end, do NOT push to hard or you will go all the way through.  You just want to go half way.

Step 2: Insert dowel into flower foam, or a bigger block of Styrofoam to hold in upright position.  This flower foam block can be molded or concealed by a vase or box, pretty much anything you want. I chose to put mine into plastic popcorn containers I had purchased at Target.


Step 3: Now that you have the ball secured to the stick and in an upright position you can start gluing on your candy.  I used a hot glue gun, and the candy melted a bit, which actually helped it adhere to the Styrofoam. Make sure to use enough glue and to put the candy in clusters instead of working in a row. See below...
think of a flower with petals and a center. This type of pattern will make sure to give you that 3d effect.

Step 4: let dry and then place on your table!!! Or wherever you want the decoration.  Remember this is not edible and to warn guests ahead of time, or move out of reach of small children.

Here is my finished product:

 I actually filled the bottom part of the popcorn box with packets of smarties to cover up the flower foam, you could pretty much use anything you want.  Here is a picture of it on my carnival dessert table:

I would love to see pictures of your creative Topiarys! If you have parties or crafts you would like to share with SugarFoot readers I am now taking submission. Please email me at: sugarfootdesigns@gmail.com with 5-10 pictures and a brief description of the project or party!


Material List
-Styrofoam Balls ( can be purchased at Michael's or Dollar store)
-Spray Paint
-Wooden Dowels ( bought mine at Michael's, they were already white in color and came 4 to a pack)
-Circular flower foam ( Michael's or Dollar Store)
-Candy of choice ( I used 3 boxes of Dots for 2 Topiarys)
-Glue Gun

This post is linked up to Tidymom's "I'm Lovin' it Fridays" bloghop!  It's the best linky party in town, so come join in on the fun!

C'est la Vie Brioche Rolls!

Over Christmas I decided to try my hand at these really yummy Brioche rolls.  I have to admit that the process took some time, but the result was extraordinary, delicious fluffy dinner rolls.  The best part is that they are a lighter version than the actual ones you would get in France, but taste just as good! This recipe calls for them to be baked in muffin tins, and I decided they would be super cute in mini muffin tins as well, so I did both.

After an overnight rise in the refrigerator you let the dough come to room temp and separate into small balls and then place into greased muffin tins, you then let them rise again.

 After the last rise they should look somewhat like above, I did not roll into perfect balls because I love the look and texture of twisted brioche rolls.  Pop them in the oven and bake, then brush with melted butter when you take out of the oven.  This dough would also make a good cinnamon roll! I am trying that next.

You can even freeze your leftover ones, they go great with homemade soup for the winter months..

 Brioche Rolls

{adapted from Cooking Light, December 2010 issue}

Ingredients

• 1  package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1/3  cup  warm 1% low-fat milk (100° to 110°)
• 15.75  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 3 1/2 cups)
• 1/3  cup  sugar
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 4  large eggs, lightly beaten
• 8 1/2  tablespoons  unsalted butter, softened and divided
• Cooking spray
• 1  tablespoon  water
• 1  large egg white

Preparation

1. Dissolve yeast in warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; let stand 5 minutes. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add flour, sugar, salt, and eggs to milk mixture; beat with a stand mixer at low speed until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl with spatula as needed. Remove paddle attachment; insert dough hook. Mix dough at low speed 5 minutes or until soft and elastic and dough just begins to pull away from sides of bowl. Cut 6 1/2 tablespoons butter into large cubes; add half of butter to dough, mixing at medium speed to blend. Add remaining half of butter to dough; mix at medium speed until incorporated. Mix dough on medium speed 4 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; form into a ball. Return dough to bowl; cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

2. Uncover dough; let stand 90 minutes or until dough is at room temperature. Divide dough into 4 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), cut dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 1 1/2-inch ball. Repeat procedure with remaining 3 dough portions to make 24 rolls total. Place rolls in muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size.

3. Preheat oven to 350°.

4. Combine 1 tablespoon water and egg white; stir with a whisk. Gently brush rolls with egg mixture. Bake at 350° for 14 minutes or until golden. Place pans on wire racks. Place remaining butter in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave at HIGH 20 seconds or until butter melts. Brush butter onto rolls.

Check out the Cooking Light link above for great tips when making these rolls! 

Enjoy,