The Birthday Fairy

Ok, so this has nothing to do with a recipe, but this is a fun tradition that I grew up with. When I was a child birthdays were HUGE in my family. Not expensive huge, but tradition huge. We got to pick our very own birthday breakfast. I usually picked donuts or Marshmallow Mateys since those were considered something for special occasions.

We also got to pick our birthday dinner. Like we are talking the whole menu. I loved to pick chicken roll-ups and fruit pizza. My parents made the day feel so special and birthdays were something we were so excited about. I remember getting just as excited for birthdays as I did for Christmas. I loved being together with family.

My favorite birthday tradition was the Birthday Fairy. The night before our birthday we would leave out our favorite pair of shoes. We would go to bed and the Birthday Fairy would magically come and leave quarters for every year plus one to grow on. Even though it wasn't a secret of how many quarters would end up in our shoe, I loved to sit and count them. I would put them in my Piggy Bank and save them for something special.

Kynli, Braxton (my awesome BIL) and I all have birthdays in March.
It is so fun!

March is a big month for birthdays in our family. My daughter turned three and this is the first year she has really understood the concept of the birthday fairy. She was so proud to pick out her shoes and was tickled with delight to see the quarters in the morning. She asked me if the Birthday could leave dimes next year instead. :) I love the sweet innocence of children and how the simplest things are so fun. I love carrying on this tradition in my own family.

The thing I'm realizing now that I'm older is that traditions don't have to be extravagant. It's just about doing the little things that make big memories for your family. I came from a family of simple means, we never went on big vacations and holidays were monetarily simple. I have so many wonderful memories from my childhood and all of them revolve around family, celebrating and tradition.

I hope I can give and create memories like these for my family. And there is just something so special about carrying these traditions with my kids. And you are never too old for a visit from the Birthday Fairy. :)

Salt Dough

Salt Dough Shapes
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So this isn't necessarily an edible recipe (although you could eat it, but it wouldn't taste good), but it's something fun from my childhood and definitely a fun activity to do with children. It's definitely domestic!

My mom use to make salt dough for us growing up. We would roll it out and cut it into shapes or form it into things. We would bake it and then paint to our heart's desire. It was one of my favorite things. I loved to make homemade ornaments, paint them and give the out as Christmas gifts.

I wanted to carry on this tradition for my children. My daughter loves when we make Salt Dough. This dough is so versatile. You can make a batch and use different colors of food coloring or you can leave it white. This last time we made it, we wanted to leave it white so that my daughter could paint it. If you don't want to bake and paint them, you can make different colors and play with it like Play Dough. Just make sure you leave it in an airtight container or plastic bag in between uses. I've noticed that when I leave dough in a plastic bag that it gets a little soggy. Just remove and add a little bit of flour and knead until dough goes back to regular consistency. This recipe also makes A LOT of dough. Depending on what we want to do with it, I usually make a half batch. If you want to make several different colors of dough, do a whole batch.

Last month, as a surprise for our anniversary, my parents helped my oldest make some ornaments. They rolled the dough out, cut them out into shapes and baked them. After baking and cooling, they let her color on them with markers and put a picture of each of my children on them and then sealed them with some Mod Podge with glitter. They gave them to us as an anniversary gift from our kids. They were such treasures. It will most definitely be a yearly tradition we do so that we have annual pictures of our family on our Christmas tree.


Here's what you need:

-1 C fine salt (I just use regular table salt)
-3 C white flour
-1 1/2 C water

1. Preheat oven to lowest temperature (170 degrees on my oven). Combine salt and flour into a mixing bowl. Stir to combine.

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2. Stir until mixture forms a ball. If you want colored dough add a few drops of food coloring at this point. Remove ball from bowl and knead for a couple minutes until ingredients (and coloring) are thoroughly incorporated.

Salt Dough
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3. Roll out dough to about 1/8 in. thick. Use cookie cutters, pizza or pastry cutter to make shapes. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. If you want to make ornaments, take a straw and poke a whole in the dough so that you can hang it. Once all your shapes are on the baking sheet, bake on the lowest temperature overnight or for 4-6 hrs. After 4 hrs, feel and see of the dough feels soft. If so, continue baking. Once they look more white and hard to the touch, remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

She loved rolling out the dough!
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Kids love this stuff!
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4. Once cooled, you can paint them, use markers, glitter, etc. to decorate them. If you want to put a picture on them, do that now. Seal the ornament with a thin coat of Mod Podge. Allow to dry completely. Use baking twine, yarn, hemp cord or whatever you have on-hand to use for hanging. You can also string several shapes together to make a cute banner to hang for the holidays. We also like making bugs, snakes, etc. to decorate. Just use your creativity and imagination.

Here's the printable recipe.

Enjoy and Happy Baking!