With autumn fast approaching, we decided to prepare a beautiful watercolor paper-wrapped glass jar lantern to shed some warm light on our family suppers. As the season progresses, some of these dinners will be had in our new back room, full of windows, when it’s dark outside. This is a beautiful art activity for a wee one.

First she painted a watercolor, trying to fill up most of the white space.

Here’s the finished painting. This was 8 1/2 x 11 sized watercolor paper. We left the painting to dry,

Next, using a brush, we covered it in oil (we used olive as that’s all we had around) until it was saturated. We left that to dry too.

Then we put a candle at the bottom of a big Mason jar, and measured the bottom of the jar,

We wanted to make a series of cuts that were approximately as wide as the jar and as high.

Here’s what we did.

Then we folded the bottom in like a fan, layering some glue in between the layers, and glued along the overlapping side, securing the whole lantern with a few rubber bands for drying.

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I know, I know – it’s unfair to put “fudge” in the title and then show you potato painting. But they are both foods, I guess, and we made them on the same day, and they both were incredibly (did I say incredibly?) fun.

So before I tackle the potatoes, I’ll show you the fudge.

It’s raw, devoid of any processed sugar and unbelievable. Oh, and simple. 4 ingredients, 1 bowl, and you keep in the fridge. Perhaps with a teaspoon tucked right on the plate for little nibbles. Or big ones.

Recipe for Amazing Raw Fudge

In a bowl, mix 1/2 cup of virgin coconut oil (ours was already at room temperature as it was a hot day, but you can always warm yours in the oven for a bit if you need to soften it), 1/2 cup of maple syrup (I suppose you might use brown rice syrup or honey if maple syrup is unavailable but I haven’t tried it with either of those) and 1/2 cup of cocoa powder (we use Green and Black’s). And 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

Mix well and pour out onto a dish or plate, keeping it about 1″ thick.

If it lasts you more than a day, I’ll be impressed.

So for the potato stamping, I took 1 potato and cut it into slices, then used the end of my knife to carve some basic shapes.

And then I used my (old, old school) grapefruit spoon, the same one I used growing up, and it was even easier than a knife.

We used non toxic Tempra paints – lovely and thick, and some watercolor paper.

And when she wanted to change colors, I just sliced off a bit and we had a brand new, clean potato surface.

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