Food! If You Give a Mom a Cookie...

She'll probably eat four more!

The Book - If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

Did you know this was first published in 1985? I can't believe I somehow missed this book as a kid, but I am so glad I discovered it for my own children. The first and the best of the "If You Give" books, it was an instant hit with Little Page. She was only two when we first read it. We had just reached the able-to-turn-a-page-without-tearing-it-to-pieces stage and this book was the perfect length. It has just enough words on each page and the story is engaging enough to hold the attention of very young children (or antsy preschoolers).

In case you missed this book even longer than I did, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie follows a little boy who tries to keep up with his dictatorial and capricious mouse's every whim. Any parent of a toddler can relate!

The Craft - Felt Cookies


I've been seeing felt food pop up all over the blogosphere and I thought to myself, "Self, I could do that!" As usual I bit off a little more than I could chew. It took me two full hours to create those three little cookies. Much of that time was spent trying to remember what Mrs. Dyche from seventh grade home-ec said about sewing a blanket-stitch. If you actually know how to sew, you could probably whip these up in no time. For inspiration, I searched Etsy.

What you'll need:

• varying shades of brown, white, and tan felt
• embroidery thread
• thread and needle

Cut matching circles out of the felt for the two halves of cookie. For icing, cut a smaller circle in a wavy pattern. For chocolate chips, cut small uneven circles. Sew the chocolate chips onto the cookie circle with small x's. Sew the icing onto the cookie circle with colored embroidery thread, using small random stitches to mimic sprinkles. Once I finally figured out how, I used a blanket stitch to sew the cookie circles together, adding a bit of stuffing before closing it up.

Now my little mouse can bake her own cookies... if we only had a glass of milk!

If you like what you see, please consider following me!