CultureCottage

Swedish Tutorials from "The Pickled Herring"

2011-10-27T08:59:00.001-07:00

I found this REALLY cute blog called The Pickled Herring and I am so glad I did! My dad's side of the family is Swedish and we ALWAYS have pickled herring at Christmas! The Pickled Herring showcases many Scandinavian crafts!

Here are a few crafts from this blog that you should really check out!

Below is a picture of a little Nisse ornament. A Nisse ornament was supposed to be a mythical farm helper. Please check out this step by step tutorial! Here

Another fantastic tutorial from " The pickled Herring" . Its called " Swedish egg coffee"

Since I love all things Swedish and I LOVE coffee. I am defentally going to try this sometime! Please read about how to make Swedish egg coffee Here

The Worlds most amazing foods!

2011-10-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

I came across this article, and thought it was neat! Not only do I love learning about other cultures, but I am defiantly a foodie! My husband and I had a blast reading this article. Some of the items on the list we had never heard of before! ( We might need to attempt some of these)

This article is a list of the Worlds 50 most amazing foods! I love how each country is listed with each food, along with a description of the dish.

Worlds 50-most delicious foods!!!

Worldly Wednesday!

2011-10-19T06:28:00.000-07:00

I am having some issues setting up my linky party for this blog. I still would like to share your ideas. If you do have some Cultural ideas to share, I would Love to feature you!

Please click above on " Submit Idea" to share your cultural idea!!

Thanks,

Kristen

Make an Octoberfest hat!

2011-10-05T07:03:00.000-07:00

Its time to celebrate Octoberfest!!! I happen to live in Eastern Iowa, where there is a HUGE population of Germans. Almost every town in the area has some sort of Octoberfest celebration!

This is a fun craft for kids who might attend a Octoberfest with their parents, or who just want to learn about German culture.

This was an easy project. I used a Large piece of green craft foam, but you can use green paper or green felt as well. I made a " newspaper hat" and hot glued a "feather" in as well.

Japanese Paper Crafts

2011-08-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

Japanese Origami

Origami is the Japanese art of folding paper. The goal of
this art is to fold paper into an object.

I made this Origami paper lantern. I just used white computer paper and cut it down into a square. I found these instructions online on how to fold a paper lantern. These lanterns are fun to make if you want to decorate for an outdoor party. If you look online, there are several other fun items you can make, using Japanese origami.

Japanese Fan

Fans are apart of traditional Japanese costume

I made this fan using a coffee filter. I used a coffee filter because I wanted to water color some of the designs on. I decorated this fan with cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms mark the coming of spring in Japan. I used craft foam to make the cherry blossoms, water coloring the cherry blossoms on would also look nice.

Hope you like, and Happy Crafting!

Swiss Activities!

2011-08-07T13:25:00.000-07:00

Switzerland is a land locked European Country and is known for being neutral in both World Wars. Here are some fun activities to help us learn about Switzerland's culture

Swiss Army Knife

The Swiss Army knife is from Switzerland! The Swiss army knife is a multi tool pocket knife that originated in Switzerland in 1897, ( Wickipedia) Generally, a Swiss army knife has a knife and a variety of other tools. These tools might include a can opener, scissors, a nail file, or a screw driver. Swiss Army knives are shipped all over the world. Please see my other blog, Make the best of Everything, where I blogged about a Knife safety activity and how to make a homemade Swiss Army knife.

Swiss Cheese

Swiss Cheese is actually the name for cheese that is called " Swiss Emmental" in Switzerland. This cheese is a yellow, medium hard cheese that is known for having holes! These holes were first thought to be an imperfection, but now the holes ( or also called eyes) are just a characteristic of the cheese.

Above, I made a slice of Swiss cheese using craft foam. This is an easy craft for a child. They can use the finished product as play food.

Also try making a recipe using Swiss cheese!

Swiss Watches and Clocks

The Swiss Watch and Clock industry first appeared in Geneva Switzerland in the 16th century, and Switzerland is still known for their high Quality Watches and clocks.

Here are a few "Watch" crafts you can have your kids do!

Here is a craft I did with my Girl Scouts, back when I was a leader. we used craft foam and sharpies to make these " Swiss Watch Swaps"

Also, just in the last week, I saw this neat Watch craft on Oneprettything.com. How creative is this! Please go to Red Ted's art blog to see instructions on how to make these cute watches!

I actually visited Geneva, Switzerland for a weekend in 2006.

Here is a picture of me in front of the United Nations.

Make a Dala Horse!

2011-07-31T16:04:00.000-07:00

Make a Dala Horse!

I found this amazing blog that is all about Christmas! This adorable Swedish Dala Horse is made by Pam at Gingerbreadsnowflakes. Please visit her blog! She has fun Christmas ideas that involve other cultures as well!

The Dala horse is the national symbol of Sweden! Dala horses have been around for hundreds of years. During long winters, wood cutters would spend hours carving toys for children. The Dala horse became the most popular wooden toy in Sweden, and eventually the Dala horse became a national symbol.

I also tried to make a " kid friendly" version of the Dala horse using craft foam and hot glue.

Portuguese crafts

2011-07-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

Portuguese Crafts that help us learn!

American Soccer or " Futbol" is a very popular sport in Portugal, and throughout the world. When I was a scout leader, we made these to celebrate the world cup. These are cute soccer jerseys that represent Portugal. I used Craft foam, a sharpie and miniature close pins to make these. "Futbol" is very popular throughout the world, it would be fun to make these with other countries colors as well.

Here is a cute " fishing" craft that kids can do to learn about Portugal! The Fishing industry is a VERY important part of the Portuguese economy!

I made this fishing craft using Craft foam, a craft stick, beads, and some sting! I got it all to glue together using a hot glue gun!

Scrumptious French recipes

2011-07-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

French Recipes

France is known for their rich, sophisticated, decedent cuisine. France is known for using rich ingredients, in pastries and sauces. Concetta, from Concetta's cafe Made some beautiful recipes to share! These crepes look amazing! ( once I attempted crepes and they turned out more like egg pancakes) LOL

Please visit to see her crepe recipe!

Also check out this gorgeous French coconut pie, that was also made at Concetta's cafe !! The French are certainly known for their desserts and these would be great recipes to try with your family!

Costa Rican produce lesson

2011-07-11T17:40:00.000-07:00

Make a Costa Rican fresh produce stand!

In 2009, my husband and I took a trip to Costa Rica. What a beautiful country! Pretty much anywhere you looked, the landscape was beautiful. As we drove along the side of the road, there were fruit stands everywhere with the most amazing fruit for sale! We stopped several times to pick up a mango, or a pineapple, and the fruit was fabulous!

I thought up this activity, back when I wanted to teach my scouts about my trip. We made a Costa Rican fruit stand! This was a very easy craft.

1) For the actual stand, we but an angel food hair pasta box in half and covered it with construction paper.

2) We glued craft sticks with a hot glue gun to the stand to make the top. and craft sticks to the bottom so it would stand up.

3) we used " scraps" of craft foam, beads, pipe cleaners and whatever we had to make the fruit!

On our fruit stand we made mangos, pinapple, tomatos, lemons, bananas, limes and coconuts. Then we learned how to say them all in spanish! ( they speak spanish in Costa Rica)

Here are pictures of the real fruit stands in Costa rica!

Craft using Pakistani henna designs!

2011-07-10T18:55:00.000-07:00

I received a link from Khadija at Creative Mind. Which is a very fun creative blog that you should check out! Khadija sent this to me all the way from Pakistan! ( isn't the Internet a great way to connect with people all over the world?)

Khadija created a craft using Henna designs on a paper lantern.

Henna dye is actually derived from a flowering plant, and is traditionally used as kind of a temporary tattoo. Henna has been used to decorate young women's skin in different parts of the world since the bronze age. Henna was regarded as having blessings and was applied for luck, joy and beauty.

The Henna bridal fashion in Pakistan is very complex and the designs are very elaborate. There is great artistic potential for Henna! ( as you can see above when you see this beautiful lampshade)

Please check out the Henna designs at Creative Mind. I am sure her designs will inspire you to make one of these lampshades, or to get some Henna ideas for something you might come up with!

Nigerian Chin Chin

2011-07-08T05:44:00.000-07:00

Nigerian "Chin Chin" is a snack that is popular in Nigeria and West Africa. It is a sweet, hard fried dough that has been cut into little pieces. This is a common food that is sold in Nigeria by street vendors, and often seen at weddings and other gatherings!!

I decided to make my own Nigerian Chin Chin!

Mix together:

2 cups of flour

2/3 stick of butter

1 egg

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup water

1/2 cup of milk

4 tablespoons of sugar

Knead the dough and cut into little squares, like the ones above.

Fry in Canola oil ( I suppose other oils can be used. but I always choose the healthiest) until they are brown.

Let drain on paper towels.

Toss with Cinnamon and sugar and Nutmeg!

My co workers REALLY enjoyed these. This is a very easy snack!!

Celebrate Canada!

2011-07-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

Canada Day was last week. ( July 1st). Since I am always looking at new crafts in the blogging world, I did happen to come across some pretty neat crafts around the web.

First I found these adorable Canada Flag Magnets @ http://www.ourbigearth.com/. If you have ever seen a Canadian flag, you know that there is a red maple leaf on the flag. These magnets are a cute and a very easy craft for children!

Next, I found this great flag activity for kids at Almost Unschoolers. She had her kids sift through magazines to cut out pieces for a Canadian Flag. I thought this was SUCH a creative idea!!!

Last, I found these REALLY tasty looking Maple Syrup caramel-popcorn @ http://inatinykitchen.blogspot.com/. Canada is the largest producer of maple syrup in the world. Try making this tasty looking recipe with your kids as an activity to learn about Canada!

Make a Lego Flag!

2011-07-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

Make a Danish Lego Flag!

Lego's are a very popular toy all over the world! What many of people don't know is that Lego's come from Denmark!

Lego group was founded in Denmark in 1932 and started producing the plastic blocks we know in 1940.

The word Lego comes from the Danish phrase " Leg godt" which means " play well". The name could also be interpreted as " I put together" and " I assemble" in Latin. though this would be a somewhat forced application of the general sense " I collect; I gather; I learn, ( Wikipedia)

I assembled this Lego flag with help from my nephews. We had a great time doing it! It would be fun to try and assemble other flags as well!

Make a traditional Armenian headpiece!

2011-06-28T17:33:00.000-07:00

Armenia is a nation state that is formally apart of the Soviet Union, that has an extremely rich historic cultural heritage. Armenia is not always a country that kids learn about in school. I think it is important to learn about all countries.

According to Wikipedia, The dress of the Armenians have long been complicated by a rich cultural history, that goes back thousands of years. Traditional Armenian dresses are made of wool, cotton and silk that was imported from china.

I found this picture below of a girl who is dressed in a traditional Armenian costume. I came up with a craft off of this picture that would be fun for girls to learn about Armenia. ( besides watching Keeping up with the Kardashians......THAT is not learning about Armenian culture!) This was a very easy craft. the materials that I used were tule, craft foam, craft pearls, and my trusty hot glue gun.

Armenians today, don't dress like this every day. The usually dress similar to how we dress in the United States. They will get in traditional Armenian costumes when they have festivals that celebrate their culture.

These are photographs of the front and the back of the Armenian headpiece. I tied a hair tie around the tule, and then superglued the hair tie to the headpiece.....If i would do it over again, I might tuck the tule behind the back of the piece.

Peruvian crafts

2011-06-28T05:42:00.000-07:00

Make Peruvian Beads!

Making clay beads is a traditional folk art in Peru. I made this craft easy. I used Crayola air dry clay. This way, the kids will make less of a mess. I molded the beads around a pencil and left it to dry overnight.

THE NEXT DAY, I painted these beads with paint and a sharpie. I made sure to google " Peruvian beads" to get some inspiration on designs that are actually used in Peru. I think they turned out nice!

The Cockade of Peru

The "Cockade of Peru" is the popular and unofficial national symbol of the Peru constitution and is often worn as a badge during independance day celebrations. It is defined as a " knot of ribbons with distinctive colors"

I made my " Cockade of Peru" using craft sticks and Red and white paper. ( I happened to have only red tissue paper and white poster board.....it worked) :)

Mexican themed snacks

2011-06-24T10:39:00.000-07:00

Here are a few " Mexican themed" snacks that I remember seeing on the web during the Cinco de Mayo season. These are all great ideas to do with your kids ALL year round as a fun cultural lesson, not just for Cinco de Mayo.

Here is a SUPER cute Mexican themed lunch made by Jill at Kitchen Fun with my 3 sons. She made a sombrero, which is a Mexican themed hat, and Maracas, which is a instrument used in Mexico!

Next, I found these AMAZING looking tortilla chips made by Tricia at How Sweet it is. I REALLY thought this would be a neat activity to do with kids, when they want to learn about Mexican culture. They can taste something authentic, and learn to make something fantastic from scratch!

Please submit your ideas, and it can be for any country!

Russian nesting doll

2011-06-23T19:39:00.000-07:00

This Russian nesting doll was SOOO easy. Well okay, I guess it doesn't actually " Nest" but its still a fun toy for a child and is REALLY easy to make. If you are teaching children about Russia, you can just draw the outline for the doll , and let the kids color the doll.

I made this Russian Nesting doll by purchasing an egg at the craft store, and I simply decorated it with Colored Sharpies. Generally, a nesting doll consists of many dolls, that nest within each other. This type of doll/toy became popular in Russia in 1890.

United States Crafts

2011-06-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

With the 4th of July right around the corner, I have seen MANY great crafts that represent the United States! I wanted these awesome bloggers to be recognized.

First, I came across this SUPER cute ticket flag made by Leanne at Organize and Decorate Everything. Isn't it true that carnival tickets represent summer culture in the United States?

Next, I found this adorable kid friendly United States flag craft at A pumpkin and a princess. I thought this was a REALLY fun way to get kids of all ages involved in learning about The United States! You can always include some History of the American flag with this project to add some more education.

Play Sushi

2011-06-22T10:01:00.000-07:00

This is officially the first installment on the Culture Cottage blog. I have been managing Culturecottage.com for sometime now. I created this website long before I discovered the blogging world. I realized that this site would do better as a blog, it can reach more people.

Above I have made Japanese " Play Sushi" out of household items. This is REALLY easy. you do not need to know how to sew,and your kids will enjoy it just as much!

Sushi is considered to be a Japanese delicacy. It started out as a Japanese fast food, and became a favorite of the cultured in Japan.

Read about the history of Sushi here

Supplies: Cotton balls, Colored Craft foam, Card stock ( for the Plate) and Green paint ( for the side of wasabi)

Directions: Start by cutting out black craft foam into strips. Roll the Cotton balls in the craft foam. and use more craft foam scraps for the sushi filling. Hold all these items together with a hot glue gun ( you can use other glue, but I think a hot glue gun will work best)

While you make your play sushi, Teach your child how eat with chopsticks!

Click here to learn how to eat with Chop sticks!

This is a easy way to make play food for your kids and teaches them about Japanese Culture!