Hi there! Happy Wednesday! With Christmas put away, I have been having some fun with some new creative projects. Earlier this week, I made these Valentine Heart Napkin Rings. I actually started out looking to buy a few Valentine-ish red napkin rings, but I couldn’t find any. And the few that I did find, I was unwilling to pay the price of $4 each. That led to a trip to the local Dollarama. And that trip brought about this idea for my blog. I saw so many cute things at the store… my mind just exploded with ideas. So as Read More »
2012 Project: 25 Cupcakes
I haven’t made cupcakes in forever. I make cookies, muffins and scones on a very regular basis, but I cannot remember the last time I made cupcakes. I love all of the fabulous cupcakes I see around blogland and in magazines. As I got thinking about some of my goals and challenges for 2012, I thought I should add cupcakes to the list as a baking challenge. I thought about making a different cupcake recipe every week…for a total of 52 cupcakes. But then I worried that 52 cupcakes might be a little too much…plus who is going to eat Read More »
Winter Decor
My kids have been home on Christmas vacation this week, so when I am not busy with them, I have been putting away Christmas and freshening up vignettes around the house and front door. Just replacing the reds & greens with greenery and pine cones… Very simple…but I love playing with my house! I could not put Mr. Owl away….I just love him too much! I adore books in any room,..in any home. Some of the new decor books I got for Christmas… Beautiful bright sunshine in the middle of the day…. I hope you all have had a wonderful Read More »
12 Easy Organizing Projects for January…
Happy New Year! I hope you had wonderful holiday. I know I did! We had a very low key vacation here with just my little family and we had lots of relaxation and rest. But now it’s time to get back to ‘normal’. I love Christmas, but it’s always nice to get the house back to ‘rights’ in January and reclaim regular meals and sleep schedules. Although I seem organized, my house is always in a state of flex….things are organized for a period, and then I have to go back and perform a ‘maintenance check-up’ on all my systems to make sure Read More »
Wishing You A Beautiful Christmas!….
I want to wish everyone a lovely Christmas from our house to yours! I hope you find laughter, rest, and peace in your heart. I especially want to thank all of my readers…You are ALL so special to me and I want to thank you for your time and attention and comments. They mean the world to me and they make blogging a fun and rewarding hobby! *** These are my 2 sweeties in our Christmas Card photo this year. They started Christmas vacation from school yesterday. I am so happy to have them home every day! This afternoon we are Read More »
The Gift of A Special Book at Christmas
I have always loved children’s literature. The stories revealed through words and combined with illustrations…the beauty of the rhythm of the words as they are read to bright little faces… I love all of it. When my first child, Hunter, was born, I already had a library of children’s books waiting for her. I read to both my babies as young infants and story time at our house was a concrete bedtime ritual every night for years. It was important to me for each child to have a bookcase in their bedroom filled with things that were interesting to them. I wanted my Read More »
Our Christmas Eve Dinner….Lobster Rolls…
I don’t know if it’s the Maritime blood in me or whether it’s my affinity for all seafood, but I am serving my family ‘Lobster Rolls’ for Christmas Eve dinner. My mother started this tradition years ago in our little family and it works perfectly because it is yummy, easy and a good pre-cursor to the onslaught of turkey in the days that follow. The traditional lobster roll is lobster meat mixed with mayo and a little diced celery served in a hot dog bun. However, while in Florida last March, I learned that there is a ‘Connecticut’ version where Read More »
Gingerbread Softies
With all of the Christmas baking I did for Christmas Cookie Week in November, you would think I would be tired of cookies…..but here’s the thing…I NEVER get tired of cookies. There is nothing better than a cookie and a glass of cold milk. I have been on the search for a terrific ginger cookies recipe. I found this recipe online, so I got busy in the kitchen to give it a whirl. It turned out great….and the best part…..it made 7 dozen cookies! Perfect for sharing! And here is my 1 mantra for cookie making: 1-If you are Read More »
Our Red & White Tree…
Our tree is finally up & decorated…and this was no small feat! It was really hard to find an evening where everyone was home so we could do this together as a family. The children have hockey or skating almost every night of the week….so scheduling something is a little tricky. This year, for the first time ever, we are having a red & white tree. {We have had variations of a blue tree for years.} We love it as a fresh change. And it didn’t become a ‘Dr. Seuss Who-ville Tree’ as planned. The director, Hunter, decide she liked Read More »
10 Homemade Gift Ideas For Friends & Neighbours…
Hi there! With just a few short weeks ’til Christmas, I thought I would do a roundup of all the projects I have made in my very own kitchen to share with you. I seldom buy gifts for friends and neighbours as I usually make something from the kitchen to share. I love homemade and I am always so touched when I receive a homemade gift. I have forever been inspired by my Mother, Sandra…and her family. My mother, to me, outdoes Martha Stewart any day of the week! {And she does not have a boatload of assistants, or professionals to Read More »
A Gift Idea for the Tween & Teen Crowd…
Each year, my kids have a few long time friends that they exchange Christmas gifts with. And as my kids get older, so do their friends of course. As all of the kids have hit the tween/teen stage…gift-giving has become trickier as.picture books, toys and clothes are certainly out of the question. And although we do ‘gift cards’ often for birthdays and such, at Christmas we like to give a real hands-on fun-to-look-at gift. But what to get? Recently I noticed my 15 year old daughter has been invited to a few sweet 16 parties and she kept asking for me to take her to Starbucks to pick up a Read More »
Welcome To Our Holiday Home…
Hello dear friends! I would like to welcome you to our holiday home! We are dressed up in our best party dress! We have sprinkled festive touches here, there and everywhere. At the front door… Our little front entry table… The Christmas mantel… Our small living room all cosy & festive… A Christmas vignette in the corner… The coffee table looking colourful & bright… The ‘Hot Chocolate Bar’ ready for children with cold noses & toes… The yummy add-ins ready to go… The sweet treats ready for sharing.. The dining room ready for laughter & merry-making… Tasty gifts ready for giving… and Read More »
A Christmas Collage…
Behold the Christmas Collage. It was a super easy project to do. I used scrapbook paper and a free printable that can be found here. I simply cut scrapbook paper to fit each frame and then popped the papers into the frames of the existing ‘family wall’ in the living room. {I stored the family pictures behind the scapbook paper. Easy.} And now there is a wall of Christmas in our living room. It works perfectly with the modern touche of red & green that are this year’s colour scheme. This project would work well in any room in your Read More »
Our Christmas Mantel 2011…
For the first time ever, we are decorating in red and green and white this year. Yes we are! Not the classic red & green, but a bit more of a modern red & green. It’s was my daughter Hunter who wanted a red & green christmas this year. Last year, when we were undecorating, she asked if we could have more of ‘Dr. Seuss Whoville’ look next Christmas. And when I asked her what her interpretation of a ‘Whoville’ christmas was, she said, ‘Candy, red & green’. So, red & green it is! We have decorated in blue Read More »
A Hot Chocolate Bar for the Kiddos…
I decided to do something entirely different with the top of this cabinet this holiday season. Instead of decorating this surface for Christmas, I thought the kids might appreciate a ‘Hot Chocolate’ bar for the winter. They both love hot chocolate during our cold winters….especially before and after school. This is such a simple project to create….I just grabbed some mason jars, made a few labels at avery.com, and filled the jars with hot chocolate, marshmallows, and mini candy canes. I used a dollar store table cloth that I cut to size to fit the top of the table top for easy Read More »
A Girlfriends’ Christmas Luncheon…
“The object of a dinner is not to eat and drink, but to join in the merrymaking.“ -Lin YutangMerrymaking happened here yesterday. Yesterday I finally did something that has been on my Christmas list for a few years, but never seemed to work out for one reason or another…. I hosted a Girlfriends’ Christmas Luncheon. I invited 6 girlfriends for a festive lunch at my home and we had so much fun! I enjoyed every aspect of the luncheon….from setting the table, to planning the menu, to the uproarious laughing that we shared together! I was determined to decorate using Read More »
Gourmet Oatmeal Cookie Mix In A Jar…
I want to thank everyone for coming along with Grace and I this week for “Christmas Cookie Week”. It has been so fun sharing all of these cookies with you! I want to bring you the final recipe which can be used as gifts in a jar, or as a big mix you can keep in your fridge to bake as the need arrives. *Gourmet Oatmeal Cookies In A Jar* This recipe comes from the Canadian Living Christmas Book, which came out around the time I got married and it is one of my Christmas books! So here goes: In one Read More »
Christmas Oreo Pops
Of all the cookies I have made this week, this cookie was easy, fun and ended up looking so cute! Yes…I know…it’s a bit of a cheater…..cause I didn’t actually make it…I just coated it in stuff and sprinkled it with stuff, and packaged it up tres cute. So I hope the cuteness factor makes up for the cheater factor! *Christmas Oreo Pops* Let me walk you through this easy process. You will need: oreo cookies white chocolate melting wafers crushed candy canes lollipop sticks lollipop bags {I purchased the melting wafers, lollipop sticks and lollipop bags at Michaels Read More »
Christmas Cookies In Pringles Cans
I have seen lots of pringles containers decorated over the years, but I have never tried one myself. I was surpised at how easy it was. Look what I made in 10 minutes. It is such a great container for cookies as the container protects them from breakage. We are planning to give these to teachers for Christmas gifts with cookies and a starbucks gift card tucked inside. And here’s a tip if you would like to try this project for yourself…from my years of scrapbooking I have learned that polka dots & stripes always look fantastic together…which is Read More »
Christmas Cookie Week: Chocolate Dream Cookies
So, as part of cookie week, I think that it’s time for a little chocolate, don’t you? Hello *Chocolate Dream Cookie* You are so good and smell heavenly. You are Santa’s favourite cookie! You are a chocolate lovely with holiday M&M’s mixed in! Here is the recipe to make your own: 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup baking cocoa 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teapsoon salt 1 cup packed brown sugar 3/4 cup white sugar 1 cup butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs 1pkg. holiday M&M’s Directions: Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Read More »
Christmas Cookie Week: Reindeer Cookies
This is my favourite cookie to make with kids or for kids at Christmas. *The Reindeer Cookie* I originally saw this idea in a magazine years ago, however the original cookie recipe wasn’t very tasty, so I use the simple sugar cookie recipe that mixes up in 10 minutes that I shared yesterday. {You can find it here.} The dough is shaped in triangles to give the shape of a reindeer face. For these cookies, you will need: -small pretzels for the antlers -red candies for the nose {I have used these over the years-m&m candies, small jelly beans, hot tamales candies cut in half} -brown Read More »
Chinese Take Out Container Cookie Gift
As part of Cookie week, we are going to be sharing some fun packaging ideas. Beautiful packaging can elevate the most humble gift into something very special. For the sugar cookies I chose to package and present them in this chinese take out container. I found this Christmas themed container at Micheals. It dresses the cookies up to gourmet status, don’t you think? I love the litte peek-a-boo window where you can see what is inside. And when packaging… don’t forget those little important details like ribbon and tags. They are like candles on the birthday cake….they make it special! And Read More »
Easy Sugar Cookies
Welcome to Christmas Cookie Week 2011! This week my friend Grace at Sense & Simplicity and I hope to inspire you to get some Christmas baking done before the busy-ness of December starts. I am going to showcase easy cookies that can be made in 1 hour…and recipes that anyone can tackle. And remember it’s just me and my little blue mixer in my little kitchen! *** The first cookie I want to share with you is one of my favourites…the humble *SUGAR COOKIE* This cookie is so perfect… it can be mixed up in 10 minutes and because it is Read More »
Announcing ‘Christmas Cookie Week’….
I am so excited for Monday to come as Grace from ‘Sense & Simplicity’ and I are co-hosting a week of Christmas cooking baking and sharing! Every day next week, starting on Monday, November 21, we will be sharing a cookie recipe with you! We are hoping to inspire to you to start your Christmas baking and to also try out a few new recipes! We also want to share some pretty cookie packaging! Join us on Monday and share in the fun!
Homemade Strawberry Butter
This is one of my all-time favorite strawberry treats! It is my mother’s recipe and she has been making it for years. Strawberry Butter. It tastes absolutely divine on fresh biscuits….nothing compares! This year I have decided to share this wonderful butter with my friends for Christmas. You will be happy to know that this is another very do-able project…you can make it and package it in under an hour! It takes 3 simple ingredients: 1 cup of butter. 1 cup of strawberry jam. {I used homemade freezer strawberry jam that I made in Nova Scotia this summer. Yes. I Read More »
Homemade Peppermint Foot Soak
I have been busy with Christmas this week…having lots of fun creating homemade gifts! I have a number of projects that I want to share with you in the coming weeks. I have an important rule though. I want to share with you projects that only take about an hour of your time…because we are all busy people, right? I like projects that are completely do-able in a reasonable amount of time….so an hour is my rule of thumb. The first project I tackled this week… *Peppermint Foot Soak* This is a great gift for friends, teachers, book club members and Read More »
Organizing For Christmas 101…
Here in Canada, we celebrated Thanksgiving in October, and with Halloween come & gone, and Remembrance Day observed on November 11, we can now focus on getting ready for Christmas. Last November, I wrote this post on how I am a formerly ‘late to the Christmas party’ person. I used to leave things to the last minute and chronically under-estimate the time it would take to do things….so therefore, I was not enjoying Christmas at all. I found I was tired and stressed out. I began to think that perhaps there was a better way to ‘do’ Christmas. And there is. And Read More »
Little Athletes, Big Leaders…
Imagine never having played a particular sport until age 20. And then working hard and mastering skills so that over the course of the next decade and a half, you’ve progressed enough to play in the professional league of your sport AND win a couple of Grey Cup championships, along with being named a league all-star player…not once, but 3 times? It really is an incredible story. *** This is the story of my fellow Acadia University graduate Bruce Beaton. Bruce and I both started Acadia University in 1986, and over the course of my studies there, or rather, my social life there, I had the Read More »
Thank You Style At Home Magazine!!
About a week and a half ago, I was thrilled to be contacted by the web editor of Style At Home Magazine, Elaine Song, asking if I would like to contribute to an upcoming web article on Halloween Tricks & Treats. One of my submissions appeared on their website last Thursday. I was so, so happy about this little feather in my cap! Please go here to see the article. *** I want to let everyone know that my blogging schedule for October got sidetracked for other commitments. My parents visited for about 10 days at Thanksgiving and I wanted Read More »
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
This recipe is for my dear cousin Stephenie. She visited a few weeks ago and I sent her home with a batch of these muffins. She has asked for the recipe and I am happy to share it. They are our family’s favourite muffins….I have been making this recipe for almost 20 years. It’s an easy recipe to make…you can mix it up with a bowl and spoon in 10 mintues! That’s it! And they are the yummiest muffins…so moist and good..you can eat them for dessert! Great for a lunch box. Or breakfast. Or 2 am in the morning. {But Read More »
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