Blowing Dandelion Seeds/ Fuse Beads & Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

The dandelion seeds are plentiful!  We snagged a few along the way to the bus stop yesterday and did what came natural, blew them away.  

There is something magical about watching the seeds float away looking like tiny umbrellas.

Pick, blow them away, and find another one.  No wonder we have so many dandelion plants growing everywhere!  It's sort of a childhood right of passage, though.

We got out the fuse beads.  It's been a while because this project takes a long time.  The kids have to be able to work diligently for at least half an hour to complete a fuse bead project.  I thought these girls might be able to handle it. 

The idea is to create a scene using the colored beads.  The beads have to be touching each other in order for them to fuse correctly. 

It's pretty labor intensive.  If the table gets bumped, the whole project could bump with it, ruining all of the hard work.  They were very careful!  

When they were satisfied with the amount of beads they had placed onto the boards, I carefully brought the boards to the kitchen.  The clothing iron was ready.  Just place some parchment paper (wax paper will work) over the top of the beads and iron until they are fused together.  It only takes a couple of minutes per side.

See how they look a little bit melted together?  Time to flip it over to iron the other side.

Flip, remove the board, cover with parchment paper and iron.

Now the creations are permanently fused.  They are hot at first, so set it aside to cool before giving it to the kids. 

I felt like baking a pie for Adam.  We didn't have rhubarb, so we hopped into the van for a 5 minute grocery store trip.  The kids like to go, no matter where.  We call it an adventure.

I got the recipe from my mother-in-law, and it's one of my favorites.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Above is the recipe that I like to use for pie crust.  I like it because it's thin and flaky. 

You will need:

1 1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

2 cups sliced or chopped rhubarb

2 cups strawberries, sliced 

2 tbsp butter

*Mix the sugar and flour together.  Set aside.

*Slice strawberries and rhubarb, mix together.  

*Pour half of the fruit into the pie crusted plate

*Pour half of the sugar flour mixture over berries

*Repeat until berries and flour mixture are all added.

Dot with butter, cover with pie dough.

Slit top crust, sprinkle with sugar.  Cover the edge of the pie crust with tinfoil and bake at 425 degrees for 35 minutes.  Remove tinfoil, bake for 15 minutes more.  Enjoy!

I love pie cold, right out of the fridge.  This one pairs well with vanilla ice cream when it's still warm.

♥♥♥Happy Wednesday!♥♥♥