Missing These Two

Strawberry Jam

I can't believe how long it's been since I have posted on this blog.  Life has gotten crazy and something needed to give.  I guess it was better that it was this than my sweet kids.  I really have missed being creative and look forward to making room for it in my life again.

 

 

It's been a few years since I have canned strawberry jam.  I have a small freezer so I prefer to can it and keep it on the shelf than take up room in my freezer.  We took our kids to their Grandparents in Bridgewater and together we went strawberry picking.  Really that's the best part.  I love that the kids are old enough now that when they get tired of helping us they can run the strawberry field and find their grandfather.

 

 

I don't have a special recipe that I use, I use liquid Certo and use the recipe included in the box.  It's so delicious.  It's really quick to make once you get started and I love that it's home made.  This year Coconuts wanted to help me do it.  I can't believe she's old enough to be doing this stuff with me.  I love it. 

 

 

Um delish!

 

 

The longest part is probably skimming all the bubbles off the top after you cook it.

 

I shared a few with some friends.  Really what's better than homemade jam from a friend.  Not much really.

We ended the day with an outdoor BBQ under the big maple tree.  Really life doesn't get much better than that.

Made by Me Mondays - Fishy Birthday Party

Her Birthday was back in January, so I'm a little late in posting this but I still can't believe my oldest child is nine.  As the years go by the distance between them feels shorter and shorter.  Coconuts wanted a Fishy Birthday Party.  So here is what I came up with for her.

For her cake she wanted some different colors inside of it so I just picked three colors of the fishies and colored the cake batter that way.  I just clumped the batter in each cake pan until they all had the same amount.  I didn't mix it together I just let it be.  It kind of looks camo.  That really would be fun to do for buddy boys birthday a camo party.  I'll have to remember that.

I just used the fishes and then added the little saying from Dr. Seuss one fish, two fish, and that was the kids take home from the party.

The best part of any Birthday celebration is the friends you have to share it with, and coconuts has some of the sweetest friends and I think they all had a great time.  They gathered all the teddy bears in the house and threw them over the banister onto Dad who was standing in the landing unsuspecting (wink, wink), they giggled and they got along really well (oh and they may have had too much cake, candy, pop and chips) but there is no photographic proof of that.

Happy Birthday Coconuts, I love you very much and sure hope you had a fun birthday.

Facelift

Hey my blog was in desperate need of a face lift.  It's kind of like when you've lived in the same space at home for a while and you switch the furniture around.  It feels refreshing, fun and re motivates you.  Am I the only one who feels that way?

I came across Jessica's blog North Carolina Grown and noticed that she had done several other blog makeovers and was really impressed with her skill as well as her creativity.  I was sold!

What do you think about it?  I think it looks much cleaner, fresher and I love the new simplicity of it.  I am sooo loving the new look here.  It has given me a little boost in my creative life as well. 

I have also created a new facebook page for this blog so click on the link over on the side bar and like my facebook page.

Easter weekend is coming, hoping you are planning lots of bunnies and chocolaty things to keep you busy.  My kids are looking forward to two Easter egg huts.  I'm just looking forward to being with them.

Happy Easter everyone.

Made by Me Mondays - Repurposed Leather Makeup Pouches

I wanted to make as many of my Christmas presents last year as I could.  I saw a friend of mine making leather pouches, bags, laptop cases etc out of old leather jackets and other leather items.  I really wanted to try my hand at it as well.

I went to Frenchies, one of our local thrift shops, and started digging for leather items.  I found a black leather men's coat and started with that.  Then I hit up my friends for their old colored leather purses to add some pizazz to the make up pouches

I made these for two of my niece's that live close by, Bella and Duck.  I added some lip gloss and girly stuff to them.  I think they appreciate the handmade stuff as much as I do they are pretty crafty creatures themselves.

I love that this old nasty coat didn't end up in a landfill somewhere but has been given a second lease on life.

Made by Me Mondays - PJ Pants

Alright so I made these for Christmas presents this year.  I made all the nephews and my son PJ pants for Christmas this year.  My good friend Sharon indulged me and help me with these.  She has the magic equipment that makes doing these so much easier.  Thanks for sharing your serger with me.  Really I need to invest in one soon.  I'll add it to the ever growing list of gadgets I'd love to have someday.

I put really cute buttons on the front so the kids could tell the front from the back.  They were fun to make and I think we sewed five pairs in one hour.  Quick project.

Made by me Mondays -Over the Shoulder Tote for Ducky

My niece got this fabric and pattern from her grandmother last year for Christmas.  She had come over and was planning on having me show her how to make it and help her make it.  Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to do it together and she asked me to hang onto it and to sew it for her.  I had it for a few months leading up to Christmas past but I just didn't have a minute to sew it. 

 I was off between Christmas and New Years and we were headed over there boxing day to spend some time together.  So that morning I decided to see if I could pull it off before it was go time.  It took me only about 3 hours max to sew this tote with the pattern that she had.  Coconuts is modeling it for me.  I think I may try to make her one as well.  Isn't it a darling bag

 This button is an old one I ripped off some clothing I was disposing of.  Does any one else keep old buttons from things before they throw them away?  I love doing that.

Here is a better side shot of the tote.  The fabric choice that her grand mother picked really is adorable.  Next time Ducky we'll do some more sewing together.

Papier Thursday - Valentines Day Treats

Happy Valentines Day! 

I hope you all get to spend the day with the people you love.

I've wanted to make these valentines for the kids to take to school for a while.  For Coconuts I needed only about 5 shots and I had one I could use.  But Buddy Boys is my little prankster and so he kept making silly faces and this is the best of the twenty or so pictures I took of him.  He's going to start school next year, I hope his teacher loves a little wise crack cause he's on his way.

I sure do love my kids a whole bunch, aren't they sweet! 

Being a working mother I sometimes feel like my kids miss out on all the fun things that stay at home mothers get to do, so I try when I can to do these little extras for them.  I put this all together in the fridge the night before and I set it out for my family before I was out the door this morning at seven am.  They called me to let me know they loved it. 

Happy Valentines Y'all!

Gratitude Sunday - Garden Fresh

One of my most favourite things to do is to drive down to the Valley in NS when the leaves are changing all sorts of reds, yellows and orange and go apple picking.    We are blessed here to have this beautiful valley with all sorts of locally grown produce. 

We have a favourite orchard that we go and do our picking at each year.  It's become a family tradition and the kids really love going.  This year it had been raining that morning so when the kids picked the apples off the tree they would get a little rain water shake off the tree on them.  They loved it.

I love this tree it's got to be over a hundred years old.  Coconuts looks so little under it.

I sure wish we had some smell-o-blogging button that you could push here while I transferred the smell of this bakery onto you.  We purchased some fresh rolls and a to die for pumpkin pie.  This is the real reason I love it all.  We travel over one and a half hours just for this little gem of a bakery.

Of course they have a little farmers market as well where you can take home all the perfect ingredients for a good old Turkey Dinner.  We took this trip on Canadian Thanksgiving Day and it was perfect.  So today I am grateful that I have the capacity to drive and get my family fresh, wholesome food to eat, and for this glorious place that I live. 

Your turn, leave me a comment and tell me what your grateful for.

Gratitude Sunday - Cousins

When I was a little girl, I grew up in Montreal.  My mother came from a family of six children.  So one would naturally assume that I grew up with a ton of cousins around.  The reality is other than my mother having three children.  One of her brothers had one.  As a child I always wondered what it would be like to grow up with all kinds of cousins around.  Heck more than one anyway.

I love that I know get to live it through the eyes of my children and their cousins.  It really  is a beautiful thing to watch.  Our family is really close and I love this sweet boy as much as I love my own children.  As you can see Coconuts feels the same about him as I do. 

So today I an grateful for these two.  They are cousins but they love and look out for each other like siblings.  They want to spend time together and look forward to the times they get to hang out again next.  I love you both very much. 

Alright, your turn, now you leave me a note and tell me what your thankful for today!