sparkle|Sparkles and Sprinkles

Cinnamon Rolls for Dolls

by sparkle | Feb 9, 2023 | Craft Tutorials

Watch our YouTube video to learn how to easily make play food for your dolls, using Model Magic. This type of clay is easy to work with and makes sturdy doll food. Grab our free printable to make a pastry box for your doll treats too! (Our YouTube short will show you how to make the box.)

Supplies:

Model Magic

Paint brush

Jar of water

Watercolors

White acrylic paint

Ground cinnamon

More fun doll ideas…

Doll birthday party

Knit a doll hat

Hand-sewn doll clothes

Note: Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links. Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links. We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

Crêpes {gluten-free}

by sparkle | Feb 2, 2023 | Breakfast Recipes, Lunch and Dinner Recipes, Main Dish Recipes, Snack and Dessert Recipes

These gluten-free light buckwheat crêpes are fun to make and can be enjoyed any time of day. If you do not need to eat gluten-free, regular wheat flour can be substituted for the light buckwheat flour. Crêpes can be filled with a variety of tasty ingredients for a savory main meal or a sweet dessert.

We find inspiration for what to put in our crêpes at home by visiting crêperies. Here are some that we love… Just click on their menus for fun inspiration, from kid-friendly pb&j, to traditional ham and cheese, to unique goat cheese and dates, to decadent ice cream and chocolate sauce…

Clifton Cafe

Fontaine Bistro

The Skinny Pancake

It was at The Skinny Pancake that we first learned of light buckwheat flour. This amazing gluten-free flour is super healthy, and makes the crêpes look like they are made from white wheat flour. Light buckwheat has a mild, sweet flavor (not at all like the strong flavor of regular buckwheat). We get our light buckwheat flour directly from Bouchard Family Farms (there is a significant discount for ordering in bulk). If you just want to try one bag, it can also be ordered through Amazon.

Crêpes can be made at home using a regular non-stick frying pan. We love Greenlife pans. You can also opt for a special crêpe pan with lower sides. Another fun option is an electric crêpe pan that can be dipped into batter (I used to use this in the classroom setting for many years. It works well and makes a very thin crepe.)

Let’s make crêpes!

Gather your ingredients:

6 eggs

3 cups milk of your choice

3/4 cups water

2 cups light buckwheat flour (or wheat flour for non-gluten-free option)

1/2 cup melted butter

(This recipe makes about 18 crêpes.)

Gather your kitchen supplies:

large mixing bowl
1 cup dry measuring cup
4 cup liquid measuring cup
whisk
frying pan or crêpe pan
ladle
spatuala

Measure, mix, pour, flip…

Step 1

Crack 6 eggs into large mixing bowl.

Step 2

Whisk eggs well.

Step 3

Measure 3 cups milk into large liquid measuring cup.

Step 4

Add 3/4 cup water to the milk.

Step 5

Pour milk and water into the whisked eggs. Whisk again.

Step 6

Measure 2 cups light buckwheat flour.

Step 7

Gently pour flour into the milk and egg mixture.

Step 8

Whisk the flour into the egg and milk mixture. Whisk well until there are no clumps of flour.

Step 9

Melt a stick of butter (1/2 cup) in a frying pan over medium heat. (Be sure to turn off the burner once the butter is melted.)

Step 10

Pour the melted butter into the batter.

Step 11

Whisk the batter well.

Step 12

Heat frying pan (or crepe pan) over medium heat. (If needed, add more butter, but the coating from the melted butter should be enough.)

Step 13

Lift the pan above the burner. Pour a ladel full of batter into the pan. Swirl the pan so that the batter fills a complete circle. Place the pan back on the burner.

Step 14

Let the crêpe cook over medium heat for a few minutes, until it looks mostly cooked.

Step 15

Flip the crêpe, using a spatula. (Or by flipping in the air!)

Step 16

Let the crêpe cook for a short time on the second side. (It will not need to cook very long, as it has mostly been cooked on the first side.)

Step 17

Slide the crêpes off the pan and onto a plate as they finish cooking. Then fill them with ingredients of your choice.

Bon Appétit!

Read below for more fun with crêpes…

Did you know that on February 2nd, the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord, people in France love to get together with friends and family to make crêpes? The French call this special day La Chandeleur. With its round shape and golden color, the crêpe is said to symbolize the sunshine… and reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world.

A Fun French song for la Chandeleur

On fait des crêpes à la Chandeleur
Moi, je les aime au sucre et au beurre
On fait des crêpes à la Chandeleur
Quand on fait des crêpes, c’est un bonheur

This can be traslated to:

We make crêpes for la Chandeleur

Me, I love them with sugar and butter

We make crêpes for la Chandeleur

When we make crêpes, it’s a joy

A Cute Video in French – Petit Ours Brun (a sweet French cartoon character) makes crêpes with his papa. They encounter some difficulties at first, but with practice, they make many wonderful crêpes. Don’t lose heart if it is hard to make a crêpe on your first try!

Note: Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links. Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links. We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

French Saint Nicolas Day Shoe

by sparkle | Dec 1, 2022 | Craft Tutorials

Create a cute Saint Nicolas Day shoe with our FREE printable! Saint Nicolas Day takes place each year on December 6th. Especially in France, it is a tradition for children to put their shoes by the door on the evening of December 5th and to wake on December 6th to find a treat that Saint Nicolas brought.

This paper shoes has lines from the traditional French song, “Venez, venez, Saint Nicolas.” “Venez, venez, Saint Nicolas” means “Come, come, Saint Nicholas.” “Je serai toujours sage…” means “I’ll always be good…” The back of the shoes says “Mon soulier” (my shoe), and has a space for the child to write his or her name.

Though using a real shoe might be more traditional, it’s fun to make these paper shoes. Paper shoes are especially helpful in a classroom setting so that the children don’t have to take off their real shoes. Once the shoe is made, it can be filled with a treat… we like to use chocolate coins.

This sweet little song has become a joyful part of the Advent traditions in our home… we think you might like it too! The images in the video help to illustrate the meaning of the words.

To add to your Saint Nicolas Day festivities, we love the book Saint Nicholas: The Story of the real Santa Claus, as well as the CCC animated movie about the life of Saint Nicholas. Last year we added the French book, Je peux t’aider, Saint Nicolas? (Can I help you, Saint Nicolas?) to our collection. (Click on the images below to find our more about these Saint Nicholas stories.)

Ready to make your shoe? Simply click on the image of the shoe cut-out to get the FREE download. Directions to make the shoe are on the printable. All you need is paper, colored pencils, scissors, glue, and ribbon (optional).

Joyeuse Fête de Saint Nicolas!

Looking for another way to get ready for Christmas and learn French?

Try our French Advent Calendar!

Simply download and print at home instantly.

Note: Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links. Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links. We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

Thanksgiving Hymn Garland – to color and create

by sparkle | Nov 10, 2022 | Craft Tutorials

Decorate your home for Thanksgiving with this fun craft the whole family can enjoy making together! You can download our FREE printable, or you can simply let the idea inspire your own creation. And if you would like book recommendations for some cozy Thanksgiving reading time, keep reading for some of our favorites at the end of this post… Cranberry Thanksgiving, Balloons Over Broadway, Fletcher and the Falling Leaves, and The Lion and the Bird.

The banner has pencil sketch style leaf images overlayed with words from the hymn, “For the Beauty of the Earth.”

As the children colored, we realized that this would be a good opportunity to really look closely at fall leaves… there are often many different colors in each leaf.

Our FREE Thanksgiving place cards coordinate nicely with the garland. These are so fun for children to write on and color to make your guests feel welcome! Click on the image to get your FREE place card printable.

If you would like to listen to the song as you create your banner, you might like to try this version by Michelle Swift.

Let’s make a garland…

Print the images on cardstock

Click here to get our FREE printable, and print the images on cardstock. Some of the leaves have words from the hymn. Other images have no words. You can string them together in a pattern you like, using all or only some of the images. Alternatively, you could draw your own leaves and write the words of your choice.

Color the leaves and pumpkins

Color the leaves and pumpkins. You may want to look closely at real leaves from your yard for inspiration. Fall leaves often really have many different colors in each leaf.

Cut out the images.

Some of the leaf shapes are quite detailed. Don’t worry if they are not cut perfectly.

Punch 2 holes in each leaf/pumpkin

Punch 2 holes at the top of each pumpkin/leaf. Punching 2 holes, rather than one, helps the shapes to stay facing forward when they are strung on the garland.

String the images to create the garland

Cut a long piece of twine, ribbon, or yarn. Thread the twine (or ribbon or yarn) through the holes. Consider the order of the hymn. Add in wordless images if you would like to.

Toddler tip...

We found it was helpful to print some extra pages that our toddler could have all to herself. She was quite proud of her own little banner (we love it too)! These Melissa and Doug toddler scissors help make cutting safer.

If you enjoy making this garland, and would like to make one for another holiday (including Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and the 4th of July), you can find other garland printables in our little Etsy shop.

Our favorite books for a cozy fall and Thanksgiving family reading time…

(The book images are Amazon links if you are interested in finding out more about the books.)

Fletcher and the Falling Leaves is a sweet story about a little fox who is so concerned about the leaves that fall from his tree, but then comes to learn of the beauty of the changing seasons. The illustrations are adorable!

With Melissa Sweet’s illustrations, Ballons Over Broadway is a joy to read! The book tells the story of the beginnings of the Thanksgiving Day Parade. We had fun making balloon puppets and having our own little parade after reading this book.

Cranberry Thanksgiving is a classic with some sweet lessons about forgiveness, hospitality, and not judging others from the outside. We first learned about this book years ago when doing a 5 in a Row reading program, and have read it every year since then at Thanksgiving time.

The Lion and the Bird is a beautiful story of friendship and care for others. This book has very few words, and the pictures tell a sweetly slow-paced story. A beautiful book to look at over and over again.

Note: Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links. Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links. We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

French Advent Calendar

by sparkle | Nov 5, 2022 | Craft Tutorials

Join us to learn French Christmas words this Advent season! We have a variety of activities prepared for you to learn Christmas words in French as we wait for Christmas – an Advent calendar, printable mini-books, fun vocabulary practice pages, and audio to hear the words!

We know Advent is a busy time, so everything is simple to use. Just print and learn a French word each day. Have fun!

Our printable Advent calendar is available on Etsy. This calendar features a Christmas tree with spaces for 24 stickers that become the tree’s ornaments. Each space on the tree has a word in French. The printable sticker “ornaments” have adorable images of many Christmas related words.

You can find the Avery sticker sheets here. The printable stickers are sized for 94500 Avery 1″ stickers. If you prefer not to get the stickers, the ornament images can be printed on plain paper, cut out, and glued on the tree. To easily cut perfect circles from paper, you could use this ek 1″ circle punch.

If your family is brand new to French, keep scrolling down. We have recordings of each of the Advent calendar words so that you can easily listen and repeat to learn the words.

We also have several FREE printables to go along with our French Advent calendar!

4 FREE Mini books with all 24 Christmas words found on our Advent calendar. Each book can be printed on one piece of paper and then easily folded into a mini book. Watch our quick video to see how easy this is. (The book with images comes with the Etsy Advent bundle. The free book has only words, and is meant to be illustrated with your own creativity.) To learn the pronunciation of the words, check out the clickable audio files at the bottom of this post.

4 different FREE vocabulary practice activities to practice all of the Christmas words: a tracing page, a word search, a matching page, and an illustration page.

Click on the play button below the images to hear how to say the words in French.

le bébé Jésus

la Sainte Famille: Jésus, Marie, et Joseph

une étable

une étoile

un âne

les trois mages

le père Noël

un cadeau

un traîneau

un renne

un bas de Noël

une cheminée

un bonhomme de neige

la neige

un sapin

une boule de Noël

une couronne de Noël

une canne à sucre

un berger et son agneau

une église

un ange

une bougie

un chocolat chaud

un casse-noisette

Ready to get the Advent Calendar and start learning French for Christmas? Click here.

Joyeux Noël! Merry Christmas!

Would you like to celebrate other holidays French style too? Check out our posts for

Saint Nicholas Day, Santons de Provence, La Chandeleur (February 2), and Saint Valentine’s Day…

Saint Nicholas Day Shoe

French Nativity - Santons de Provence

Crêpes for La Chandeleur

French Valentine Garland

Note: Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links. Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links. We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

Cinnamon Rolls for Dolls

Doll birthday party

Knit a doll hat

Hand-sewn doll clothes

Crêpes {gluten-free}

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

Step 10

Step 11

Step 12

Step 13

Step 14

Step 15

Step 16

Step 17

French Saint Nicolas Day Shoe

Thanksgiving Hymn Garland – to color and create

Print the images on cardstock

Color the leaves and pumpkins

Cut out the images.

Punch 2 holes in each leaf/pumpkin

String the images to create the garland

Toddler tip...

French Advent Calendar

Saint Nicholas Day Shoe

French Nativity - Santons de Provence

Crêpes for La Chandeleur

French Valentine Garland

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