Batman Cupcakes

Each year my workplace does a charitable campaign where we raise money for charities of our choice.  As part of our annual staff meeting we were going to be auctioning off items and all proceeds would go to the campaign.  I agreed to make cupcakes with fondant toppers for the occasion of your choice.  Lucas was having a superhero Birthday party and wanted batman toppers.  I like that he wanted some pink ones for the girls coming to his party.

Hope you had a fantastic Birthday Lucas and that you enjoyed your cupcakes.



Retro Totes

I promised my "Duck" that I would make a tote with her quite some time ago.  We finally had the chance to get together and get them done.  Isn't she a beautiful girl!  I love this kid!  I previously made a version of this tote here.  I got the tutorial for this tote from Homemade by Jill.

We took the totes up a notch this time and added a pocket inside for her ipod, which she takes with her everywhere.  We also added her name on a home made tag to the inside.  I think that is my favourite part of this tote.  We used a piece of scrap fabric and freyed the edge by hand and then used bubble fabric paint to write her name on it.  I think it's a really fun touch.

This bottom one is the tote I made for myself.  I needed an updated version of this bag as I use it to bring my lunch to work in.

So what do you think?  I think that the best part of this whole thing was making them with my Duck!

Salsa

This has to be one of my favourite activities of this harvest time of year.  Getting together with my "Salsa Queens" and making a batch of this liquid gold as we like to call it.  I think I have become a salsa snob now because of how fresh and tasty this stuff is I refuse to eat any other kinds.

This is the job that I tend to end up doing.  Blanching and peeling the skins off the tomatoes.  I love  how they just slip off after 30 seconds in warm water.

The jars get put into the oven at about 220 degrees to sterilize them.  Of course they go in clean.

The tomatoes waiting for the big plunge.

Here is all the yummy goodness put together in one dish.  Note the Cilantro is the key ingredient and what makes this dish fantastic.

It then needs to be brought to a boil and then you can it.

My favourite part of  this event is when we make daiquiris and sip on them waiting for the jars to hit the canner and be processed.  Oh and maybe the bowl that we devour with some chips that never even make it to a jar.  Oh wait maybe it's hanging out with my favourite girls, Meaghan and Monica who are my partners in crime.  Yes that is my favourite part.

Fresh From the Garden

Look what came out of our garden and our friends garden too!  A serious dose of tomatoes.  I've canned some salsa with them.  Can't wait to show you that process.  I love home made salsa!

Organizational Godess

Sometimes in life you need to get out your white flag and wave it around and just give in.  Give in to the fact that you just can't do it all on your own.  When this happens you hope that you've got some of your best friends lingering around ready to take that white flag and kick it into high gear with you.  This was the case for my craft/computer room.  This room was rebelling and somehow it got so out of control it looked like a bomb went off.  Thanks Meaghan your one of the best friends a girl could ask for and you've got mad organizational skills to boot.

I can't believe I'm going to really show you this.  It sort of feels like I'm letting you peek into the sacred drawer that holds my undies.  Well here we go.  This room has all the hand me down furniture in it, but it's also where I do our business books and craft.  It got so out of hand I've been avoiding it.  I haven't wanted to do much of anything in there and frankly this needed to end. 

Computer Desk Before

OK so that black shelf was one of the worst parts of this room for me.  It held a ton of crap we didn't really use but wasn't sure quite what to do with.  Let's be honest sometimes you just can't see past your own junk either so you stop trying.  This is why having someone else who's objective there with you makes this process way better and way quicker.  It took us four hours to do this.  It would have taken me four days if I had to tackle it alone.  Don't you love those cute green baskets!

Computer Desk After

Kids Craft Table / Filling Cabinet Before

My kids love to craft especially my daughter, she's a crafter in the making and I love it.  But this space just wasn't functioning for them either.  They didn't have any storage for any of their supplies.  They aren't allowed to use my good stuff so I have all sorts of things for them to be able to express their creativity I just didn't have it stored properly for them.  Now they have all sorts of storage.  I took my daughter down early this morning to show her and she was super excited to see it.  She loves that her space is organized just like Mommy's

Kids Craft Table After

Filling Area After

The main reason I couldn't face this place.  Let's be honest do you want to look at that mess when your wanting to be creative and make fun stuff?  Now you can see why I was avoiding it too.  Look at how nasty that black shelf looked.  Seriously it exploded with junk.

Craft Table Before

Now look at how fantastic it looks.  And that shelf looks really lovely now.  I'm planning on spending my friday night at that chair right there.  I have a card order to fill!

Craft Table After

Thanks Meaghan, I so appreciate our friendship and am really thankful that my life is enriched by wonderful friends like you who stick around and care about me enough to get down and dirty with me!!  I'm so looking forward to getting creative in this space again.

Flower Hair Clips

Well apparently I took the summer off from blogging.  Did you miss me?  I have lots of projects to share so here's hoping that I'm back with a vengeance.  I've had this project on the go for quite some time now.  Meaning I bought the fabric and then let it collect dust for several months (six maybe but who's counting).  I finally got around to digging out my needle, thread and glue gun. 

Coconuts was rather excited about these.  They were her after school surprise today.  As you can imagine she liked the one with the pink flower and yellow button the best.  I knew she would.

I'm thinking there may be more of these to come.  I have other idea's for them besides hair clips for my girl.

Make it Do!

Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.  I remember this saying from elementry school.  This was long before recycling really took off, it was more about the money saving aspects of it all.  (Did I just date myself).

Anyways we've recently built our home and have a ton of work to do on the landscaping.  This wheel barrow is definitely a necessary tool in our landscaping adventures.  We couldn't do a whole lot with out it.  As you can imagine we need tons of tools and equipment which we have been trying to acquire over time to do the job right.  So the big question when this handy dandy wheel barrow was sent our way was do we invest a little TLC and give it a face lift or let it go and get a new one.  The rust was starting to take hold.

I took a quick trip to the hardware store, priced out a wheel barrow (way more than I wanted to spend) and checked out the spray paint (on sale that day for $4 a can) can you guess which option I chose?  Let it be known here that I loved the colour of our wheel barrow and wanted to keep it the same but the outdoor spray paint that was on sale limited my options.  That and it's my hubby's barrow so he got to choose the colour.



This project is so easy.  Just wash out the old stuck on dirt and let it dry.  I used grocery bags and taped off the handles and then went at it with the spray paint in no particular order.  One can pretty much did the job.

 So what do you think.  Not bad for a $4 fix, eh!

Heart Patch

Does anyone else out there mend their kids clothes.  My girl is growing like mad the last few years she starts out the year in one size pants and finishes it the next size up.  I got these jogging pants for her last Christmas. 

 I got them a bit big so they would last her the year.  They were her newest, cleanest best fitting pair.  But low and behold she trips and takes out a nice little chunk of her pants.  Really honey couldn't you have done that to the high water ones that don't fit you?  Other than the hole they were really comfy pants for her.

I decided to make a little patch for the hole.  I printed off a heart in word as a template and cut it out of felt.  I added a little button to make it cute and then sewed it on with some thread

Voila we have a cute patch on her pants.

Being Featured

My blog is being featured over at the Tattered Tag as the the blog on the block.  Go check out her blog it's fantastic.

Women's Health Handout

I was asked to make a handout for the Women's Health activity we are having at church this week.  It's all about taking time out for your self, pampering yourself and nurturing your spirit.  So what do you do when your asked to make a handout?  Well you get your besties to get on board with you and they comply.  I love that time with my friends just chatting, thanks Liz and Monica for coming to my rescue, I really needed the help and sure do appreciate your friendships!

We decided to keep these handouts simple.  Monica had a bunch of tags already cut out so we simply embellished them.  There are three handouts to choose from.  Two scented bath salts, Lavender and Mandarin Lime (that one is fantastic) and we have an oatmeal bath soak for those with sensitive skin.

These are a fun little gift and could be given as a hostess gift too, or just because.  I know I would love one of these anytime.  Now go do something just for you!

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads out there, but especially to my Father in Law Merlin and my Husband Kent.  My kids are pretty darn lucky to have these two special men in their lives that think the world of them and make them feel like they are the most special little kids in the world. 

My husband loves Dad's Root beer, I usually only buy one at a time but for Fathers Day a case was in order.  Now I'm off to make these, Daddy's Day request!

Photo taken by HMF photography

Happy Fathers Day!



Girly Cupcakes for the Spa Party

The cupcakes are ready for Coconut's spa party in the morning.  I think I may actually like working with fondant more when it's for cupcakes, than trying to battle a cake.  That and I'm think I'm starting to get the hang of it a bit better.

I took the day off work today to get ready for her party, when coconuts got home from school she was so excited to see these toppers for her cupcakes.  Hope her little girly friends enjoy them.

Heavenly Strawberry Roll

I love my Kraft What's Cooking magazine.  I found this recipe and had to try it, it was light and fluffy and delicious.  My kids swallowed it whole and wanted seconds.  Don't you just love summer, strawberries, sunshine and sitting on the deck enjoying a piece of this.

I sure did!