NYE Ponderings

I went to church last Sunday. Now normally I am not a regular churchgoer, but we were at my in laws and they attend regularly so we decided to go with them. The pastor said a few things that I have been thinking about since then. He was talking about the new year, that instead of making a resolution, that we should be making a new years commitment. He challenged the congregation to work on four different things in the upcoming year, and two of those really stuck with me. He talked about giving up grudges and practicing forgiveness. Now anyone that knows me well knows that I can carry one hell of a grudge.....I have been known to be mad for years. It's not a nice fault to admit, but it is true. I have experienced so much this year and looking at how fast my daughter is growing I realize that life is too short and goes much too fast to waste time carrying grudges.

So this is my Commitment for 2010......
To give up all my grudges
To forgive all the people whom I carried grudges against
To practice forgiveness
To realize that I too have faults and not hold others against them
To forgive myself for my faults

This Weeks Menu

Here is my meal plan for the week. The money in my grocery jar for the week was $92.31, and I spent $72.45.

Monday- We were out of town

Tuesday- Pulled BBQ Beef with buns and Lava cakes with raspberry sauce

Wednesday- Perogies and Smokies

Thursday-- We are going out of town for NYE, but I am taking a cheese ball to the party

Friday- Chicken fajitas

Saturday- Slowcooker Chili with buns and the test run of my baby's baptism cake

Tips for the New Year

I love it when I can find a another use for common everyday things. It makes me feel so thrifty and smart, not to mention that recycling is good for the environment! So without further ado, I give to you a list of 50 ways to reuse an old item, courtesy of MSN.com Lifestyle Section...

50 All Time Best Uses for Old Things

1. Re purpose an old frame for a vanity tray that's pretty as a picture. Place a piece of colored paper or fabric inside as a finishing touch.

2. A Twister game mat makes a spot-on tablecloth for a child's birthday party: Sticky spills and icing wash right off.

3. A toothbrush's bristles lift away stray threads of silk from fresh ears of corn quickly and efficiently.

4. At a party, stash ice in a colander set on top of a bucket or a bowl. Water will drain out, and guests will get only the solid stuff.

5. Make no-mess pancakes with the help of a ketchup bottle: Pour in batter, then squeeze out precise portions.

6. Stop searching high and low for hair clips and elastics: Store them tidily on an empty TP tube.

7. Pick up interesting cardboard coasters at restaurants and bars you visit along your travels. Punch a hole near the edge, thread some ribbon through, and voilà: homemade gift tag

8. Chalk is a moisture absorber: Tie up a few pieces in cheesecloth and store them with your good silver to slow any tarnishing.

9. Vegetable oil will put a shine on leather shoes. Use a damp cloth to remove any dirt, then run a soft cloth with a drop of oil over the surface to (literally) add polish.

10. Tuck a few needles, pins, and thread into a matchbox for an instant sewing kit.

11. Transform a six-pack holder into a condiment tote that's ideal for summer picnics.

12. Have an old cassette case hanging around? (Oh, you know you do.) Coil iPod earphones and tuck them in to keep wires uncrossed.

13. One of readers' all-time-favorite ideas: the LifeSaver as birthday-candle holder. (Candies in the original rolls provide the best fit―LifeSavers sold in big bags are larger and don't work as well.)

14. Forget unruly plastic bags that seemingly regenerate under your sink. An empty tissue box keeps them neatly corralled and ready for use.

15. A giveaway shower cap becomes the perfect wrapper for shoes when traveling, preventing them from dirtying clothes packed in your suitcase.

16. Brand anything as yours―books, binders, Tupperware, a stapler―with a return-address sticker.
17. A clever way to keep straight whose drink is whose: Mark each glass with removable window decals.

18. A hard plastic soap case is the perfect size to protect a camera stashed in a carry-on bag.

19. Put off-duty winter mittens to work as protection for summer shades.

20. A supermarket bag, tightly secured with a rubber band, will keep a brush (or roller) moist for a day or two in between painting sessions: the end of dried-out bristles.

21. No more worries of camisoles and sundresses slipping off hangers when you wrap the ends with rubber bands.

22. A binder clip serves as a key chain/money holder you can clamp to your waistband for a purse-free morning walk.

23. Pretty ribbon revives an old lamp shade. Apply a thin layer of glue and press on each piece of ribbon, matching the ends neatly.

24. Save a countertop with an old mouse pad turned trivet. (Make sure it has a nonplastic coating.)

25. No more oops! moments when painting, if you cover doorknobs and hardware with aluminum foil.

26. That straightening iron works on more than rambunctious hair: Use it to press between buttons, where a regular iron won't fit.

27. Gardeners can go easy on their jeans with homemade knee pads. A couple of plastic bags tied on keep them grime-free.

28. When traveling, eliminate clunky bottles for nonprescription meds from your purse by popping the pills into a contact-lens case.

29. Who says a towel rack has to be the dedicated realm of, well, towels? Mounted over the kitchen sink, it can also hold a collection of cleansers.

30. A clear hair elastic binds blooms together for a better arrangement in a wide-mouth vase. Stretch the elastic around the stems, then let the flowers fall naturally.

31. Rubber bands give little fingers a better grip on a chilly or slippery glass.

32. Why pack with Styrofoam peanuts when you can pack with popcorn (plain and air-popped). No air popper? Be sure to cover the item with a plastic bag.

33. An unused glasses case makes a convenient storage spot for beauty items on the go.

34. The cardboard tube from a spent roll of toilet tissue is a wonderfully simple tool for keeping extension cords tangle-free

35. Warehouse your shoes in an empty wine-bottle carton wrapped in pretty paper

36. A lemon works to remove tough food stains from a plastic or light-colored wood cutting board. Squeeze on the juice of one half, rub it in, and let sit for 20 minutes before rinsing.

37. Avoid batter splatters and flour dustings on a cookbook by wrapping a plastic bag around everything but the page you're using.

38. Slide bobby pins onto a hem to hold pleats in place as you iron them.

39. Stick a sparkler in Play-Doh, then light it up. The container protects hands from flying sparks, preventing burns.

40. Change dirty water in a flower vase by using a turkey baster to suction up the liquid without disturbing your arrangement. Add fresh water directly from the tap.

41. Silence cabinet doors that slam with cork sliced into thin disks and glued onto the inside corners

42. Give Easter eggs a year-round use (and save on resealable bags) by filling them with snacks like crackers or Cheerios.

43. Cut down on the amount of potting soil needed by crumpling plastic bags to fill the bottom of a deep pot (just be sure that you don't cover the drainage hole, if there is one).

44. Organize bills―arranged in the order in which they need to be paid off―in an unused napkin holder.

45. A paint chip strip makes a dandy place card: Cut off a length of two colors, then fold.

46. Bridge the gap between too-short stems and too-deep vase by sliding on trimmed clear plastic straws

47. Shower-curtain hooks provide sturdy storage for heavier items, like purses

48. Liberally apply cooking spray to both sides of a plastic or metal shovel before clearing away snow, and ice will slide right off instead of building up.

49. Attach a magnet to the inside of a metal medicine cabinet, and you can promptly pluck tweezers (or nail clippers) when needed.

50. Give cocktails extra pop with lollies in complementary colors subbed in for stirrers

Hint of the Week!

Today, while browsing through my Betty Crocker Cookie Cookbook, I found a really great tip for any kind of rolled cookie dough, it's to make your dough keep it's shape during refridgeration.

Roll out your dough into a log using either waxed paper or saran wrap.
Cut a cardboard tube lengthwise
Pop your rolled dough into the tube

It prevents the bottom of your roll from flattening, and prevents you from having to roll it over and over to keep the shape!

I tried this today on a batch of gingersnaps and it works so good!

Happy Baking!

Christmas Ponderings

As Christmas approaches and the end of the 2009 is closing in, I have been thinking about the past year. We have been so lucky and so blessed, that I have alot to be thankful for this year. So without further ado.........

What I Am Thankful For in 2009

1. My beautiful daughter, born on Sept 11
2. Celebrating two wonderful years of marriage with my husband
3. That I can take a whole year off work to be with my baby and still get paid
4. New friends
5. My first nephew
   
6. That we have an amazing health care system that allows you to get the care that you need without worrying about cost
7. Being able to buy my first car
8. Discovering new abilities and passions
9. Having enough so that I able to give to less fortunate
   
10. The health and happiness of my whole family

This Weeks Meals

Here's the update on my attempt to living on a budget. This week I got the flyer from Sobeys and planned my meals for the week around what was on sale. My meal plan for Dec 14- Dec 19 is.....

Monday: Veggie Quesadillas

Tuesday: Fish and Chips

Wednesday: Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Thursday: Out of town

Friday: Minute Steak with Baked Potatoes and Peaches and Cream Corn

Saturday: My Hubby's Christmas Party

So as you can see, I didn't have to cook two days this week. As I said in an earlier post, my grocery jar has $92.31 for the week and I only had to spend $42.27! So that means a little extra to put back into savings! I have decided that all the money that I manage to save from the grocery jar I am going to save to buy the stand mixer that I have wanted desperately for the longest time ever!

I am off to a good start, lets see if I can keep it going!!!!!

I have been getting alot of good frugal tips from another blog that I follow Frugally Yours. This girl has tons of great ideas for living on less, so go check it out!

Holiday Recipe Exchange

I am all set for Christmas! All the presents are bought and wrapped and all my decorations are hung with care, but the biggest accomplishment is having all my baking done! This year I decided to scale back and bit so I didn't make some of my usual treats, but I also tried some new recipes. Some are definatly going into my rotation, but some were dismal failures. The treats that I made this year were:

Rolo Cookies
Black Bottom Cupcakes
Caramel Pecan Clusters
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Drops
Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
Caramel Truffles
Toffee Marshmallows

My favorite treat out of all of them is by far the Rolo Cookie, so I am going to share the recipe with you.

Rolo Cookies

1 cup margarine (softened)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
7 packages Rolo

Combine all ingredients and mix dough. Place rolo in the middle of a piece of dough and roll into a ball. (I use my Pampered Chef small cookie dropper and push the rolo into the middle of it then roll it into a ball in my hands, it creates the perfect size) Roll the cookie in white sugar until coated. Bake in a 375 oven for 7 minutes. Leave on the pan for 2 minutes before removing to cooling rack.


What is your favorite holiday treat? Email me the recipe jacylynvancuren@yahoo.ca (also add the name of your blog if you have one) and I will put them all in a big post and link your recipe to your blog. Of course you don't need to have a blog to share a recipe!

Calling All Decorators

I know that there are people who read this blog since my hit counter seems to get going up at a quick rate, so I hope that someone out there knows a thing or two about cake decorating.
Where can I get good tasting premade fondant???? does anyone know? So far all I have found is the Wilton stuff, but I hear it tastes terrible. I want to use fondant pieces to decorate a cake for my daughters baptism. The cake itself will be buttercream frosted, so there won't be that much fondant on it, but I still want it to taste good. Also, does anyone have a good tested and true crusting buttercream recipe?

Can anybody help me?

Old Fashioned Goodness!

I found this awesome blog the other day it's called Mennonite Girls Can Cook, and boy oh boy can these girls ever cook! There are tons of recipes on there, and tons of traditional dishes. Pop over and check it out!

Crossing The Money Line

Normally I have nothing to do with the finances in our family. My hubby is a finance major and works for a bank while I whip out a calculator to figure out what 9 times 8 is (it's 72) so needless to say that all the financial responsibly falls to him. However I have decided to wade into these murky waters and put us on a budget! I would love to say it's to save money and live simpler, but alas my intentions are not that pure, but vain in nature. We are getting fat, a fact that can be attributed to our habit of eating out 5 nights a week. So I figure if we are on a budget then I will not have the money to go out, or buy fancy food for decadent home cooked meals, ergo I will become one skinny bitch! Well, that last part is wishful thinking, but I would love to fix some of the aftermath of pregnancy.

Since I love the show Till Debt Do Us Part, I decided to give the "Magic Jars" a try. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the show, financial expert Gail Vaz-Oxlade helps couples get out of debt. One of her methods is the magic jars. They force you to live on cash only and keep track of your purchases so that you can see where your money is going. So I headed over to her site and used the interactive budget spreadsheet to figure out how much each jar gets each week and here is what I got.....

Transportation- $62.31
Food- $92.31
Entertainment- $23.08
Clothing and Gifts- $23.08
Everything Else- $32.31

Which adds up to a weekly total of $233.09. Now people who have seen the show might be shocked at how much money are in the jars compared to the people on the show, but the difference is that we have no debt, hence more disposable income.

More information about the magic jars can be found here
http://www.gailvazoxlade.com/articles/budgeting/magic_jars.html

Also, after inspiration from Nikki on her blog (The Wonderful World of Nikki) I have decided to plan my meals for the week. I have found her posting hers has given me some great ideas so I will also post mine. So for the rest of this week.....

Wednesday- Chicken Quesadillas

Thursday- Pizza Loaf

Friday- Chicken Noodle Soup

Saturday- Taco Salad


I know, the meals don't sound that healthy but seeing as how Ronald Macdonald cooks for me 3 times a week I figured I better wean my body off slowly.

Breakfasty Goodness

So I actually paid the $10.00 for one of those Taste of Home recipe magazines that they sell in the grocery store checkout line. One recipe caught my eye so I tried it the other day when I had overnight guests. It turned out delish! I really liked that it could be made the night before, it saved me so much time in the morning and my guests had a yummy breakfast that they thought I slaved over! It would be a great dish for Christmas morning.

French Toast Casserole

1 loaf French bread, cut into 1 inch cubes (approx 10 cups)
8 Eggs
3 cups Milk
4 teaspoons Sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

Topping:
2 tablespoons Butter or Margarine
3 tablespoons Sugar
2 teaspoons ground Cinnamon

Place bread cubes in a greased 13X9 baking dish. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt (if desired). Pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Dot with butter. Combine the sugar and cinnamon, sprinkle mixture over the top.

Cover and bake at 350 or 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 Min's. Serve with maple syrup.

Blogging Out Of Boredom

Hubby and Brother In Law have hijacked the tv to play video games and I am soooooo bored. I really shouldn't be bored, I have a huge pile of dishes to do and my house is trashed, but alas I am lazy and bored. This weekend I hosted my 3rd Annual Christmas Dinner Party. You would think that I would be sick of hosting parties after the baby shower and grey cup getogether, but I really love to throw a good shindig and apparently I now have a reputation to uphold! I decided to do an appetizers, cocktails, dinner and dessert format again this year. The menu for the appetizers were stuffed mushrooms, mini quiche, a cheese ball, a shrimp ring, spankopita and veggie quesadillas. Every year I create a new drink for the cocktail. I wanted something easy and freezie this time around so I made a slush that I call Cuban Crazy Punch. It was a huge hit! For dinner I served garlic and pepper roast, yellow potatoes, dream salad, fresh buns and a lettuce/spinach salad that I concoted myself. This was all topped off by two big trays of my christmas baking. We all had such a great time visiting, hanging out and eating! And of course, what is a dinner party without a little Rockband after!

I would love to show you all the pictures of the night, but hubby took the batteries out of my camera to power his guitar for rockband. By time I found out, the guitar was already in a death grip in his bands.....needless to say I was not getting my batteries back anytime soon!

OMG, It's Raining Babies!!!!!

AKA a Baby Shower!!!!!! This past Saturday I hosted a baby shower for a good friend of mine who will be having her baby in a month. Everyone had a great time! We played a few games, ate some food and then opened some presents! They don't know what gender the baby will be, so I chose a red, orange and yellow theme. It was inspiration from some pretty ribbon I had bought a few days ago. I didn't want to go the streamers and balloons route for decorating, so I made some Martha Stewart tissue paper pom poms and decorated the living room with them. This pic does not do these things justice, they really add such a fun festive look to the room.


I also made a clothesline banner to hang over the buffet using stencil, cardstock, ribbon and other scrapbooking supplies.



I love love love decorating with fresh flowers, but bouquets can get really expensive. So I tried my hand at making my own flower arrangment. I bought three bunches of flowers and just started playing with them. I think it turned out pretty good and for $20.00 it's way cheaper than having a professional arrange them, plus it turned out to be a HUGE arrangement. I prolly could have got away with only 2 bunches of flowers.



I didn't have too much in the way of decorations, my house is very tiny and if I would have started packing in every decoration I could think of, there would have been no room for the guests!

On the menu was taco dip, two different kinds of mini quiche, a fruit tray, four different kinds of cupcakes and sparkling cider. One of the grandma's to be also kindly brought a container full of her very delicious truffles.

So Much Blogging, So Little Time

What a week! To start off....I FINALLY FINISHED THE BASEMENT PROJECT!!!!! Yes, you read that right. After months of procrastination and laziness I finally got off my behind and finished converting the basement from a black hole of junk to a functional crafting area. I got everything set up and moved in and boy it feels good. It's really nice to be able to grab whatever supply that I need and not have to go searching for wherever I stored it. Now I will be able to get cracking on my baby crafts. I have a few new crafty ideas up my sleeve and will be running my finished products past my mommy (and mommy to be!) friends. If they give the thumbs up, I will be one step closer to doing something that I have wanted to do for a long time!

In other news, the baby shower that I have been planning was held this weekend. It was such a success! A good time was had by all and all my little projects turned out awesome! That's all I am going to say here...the shower needs a post all to itself!

On Sunday I hosted a little Grey Cup get together. We cheered on the green and white and indulged in food that was more than just a little bad for us. On the menu was loaded nachos, hot wings, taco dip, fruit, and plenty of rye and coke! To top it all off I made my famous homemade ice cream cake. And here is my Rider rant.......In my opinion the riders won. The A'ls got soooooo lucky, there was no skill involved in their win whatsoever. If they had played better than us and we lost then no hard feelings, they deserved it. But it wasn't skill, it was luck! And for that matter, I wouldn't be too proud of the win if I were them....the Al's were losers for 59 mins and 59 seconds and lucky for 1 second. It was a hard hard loss, but I still love the Riders!!!!

On a sadder note, last friday we lost our mini australian shepard dog Roxie to an accident. Somebody opened the gate to our yard and let our dogs out. Before we could find her, Roxie was hit by a car and killed instantly. We are all very upset, especially our other dog who no longer has a companion. So if you have a dog that you love go and give it a hug and be thankful that you have the time with them. RIP Roxie 2007-2009

So now I am looking ahead in the week to our 3rd Annual Christmas Party. It's going to be a busy week getting ready for it, but I have gotten a reputation for my parties and I have to keep it up! Hubby pulled my Christmas decorations out of the basement for me and I am going to put up my tree. But now I am off to make my shopping list for the party food!

Motherhood Requirement #1

Today I experienced my first very public meltdown. About 30 mins into my grocery shopping, my baby woke up from her nap in a foul mood and threw a fit of epic proportions! I didn't even know how to deal with it since this is so out of her character. She is normally such a happy and easygoing baby, but this was a true blue hissy fit! She started crying on the top of her lungs and eventually worked her way up to screaming. I swear, everyone in the whole store could hear us. I was debating leaving my cart and just walking out of the store, but I had produce and deli meat in there...not something that they could just put back. I ended up just taking what I had and going thru the checkout, but of course there had to be a huge line! Everyone was staring at us, it was so embarrassing. The worst part of it was all the dirty looks that I was getting were from other moms! It was very suprising since I would have thought that out of all the people there, other women with young children would understand the most! I was starting to get really flustered, holding a screaming baby in one arm and trying to unload my cart onto the belt with my other, all the while feeling the judgement of those mean people when a very kind women stepped up from the back of the line and helped me unload my cart, that is when I finally cracked. I was so embarassed and frustrated and the woman helping me was being so nice that I starting crying myself. Finally I got out of the store, where at least my baby's crying wouldn't bother people as much. The whole experience just ruined my whole day and the worst part is that I was only about 1/2 way thru my list before this all happened, and most of that is food for the baby shower that I am throwing this weekend. Luckily my hubby is amazing and is picking up the rest of my groceries for me on his way home from work. I still have alot to do, so hopefully the rest of the night gets alot better!

A Shiny New Look

Last night my husband had taken the tv hostage to watch Heros (yawn) and I was super bored so I decided to update my ugly blog. I know, I know....I am obsessed with pink. But I thought, what is more diva-ish than pink! So what do you guys think?

Suprise.....I'm Still Around!!!!

Wow, long time no see hey! Not much new to report. My time has basically been spent with my little girl while she got better and then dealing with the aftermath of my whole household being sick. By that I mean dealing with the mountain of dishes and piles of laundry that I neglected when I was feeling crummy. Other than that I haven't really done anything exciting. Good news on the basement cleanup project tho. I posted a bunch of junk that was cluttering up the basement on Kijiji and it all sold! So I got rid of a bunch of crap and got $70.00 to boot, not bad. The next day my hubby loaded up all the cardboard boxes for me and I took them out to the cardboard recycling bins (where I received a lecture from an old man who was obviously very concerned about the recycling area about not flattening all my boxes!) thus clearing out even more space. So now I am in the last stages of getting the basement put together and hopefully I will have my sewing area soon! However that might take a back seat for a couple weeks since I am hosting a baby shower for a friend of mine this weekend. My life this week is getting ready for the shower, it's going to be fabulous!!!!!! I can't reveal what I have planned since the recipient of the shower is one of my two followers, but rest assured that I will be posting pictures.

Since I love to plan parties so much, I am also having my third annual Christmas Dinner Party next weekend. Doing two big parties one weekend after another will be prolly end up being a bit much but hey, I thrive on chaos! We will be having 7 guests for sure this year and hopefully two more! But I will post more about the Christmas party next week.

I am going to warn all my readers now, 99% of my posts in the next month will be about Christmas, I am addicted to the holiday! I just love everything about it, all the parties and food and presents and decorations!

Also, a little P.S. to anyone out there reading my blog.....if you like it, maybe you could become a follower! Mull it over........;)

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

So I am finally back at it after a week from hell! Last friday, my husband tested positive for H1N1, so in an attempt at infection control he was banished to the basement to ride it out. Unfortunatly, despite my best efforts, my baby also caught it. Needless to say, it is a very dangerous illness for a young child to have. My little girl ended up admitted to the hospital in the isolation ward. She was in there for 3 days, 3 of the worst days of my life! We were very lucky that she pulled through it ok, there were other babies there that were not faring as well, it was incrediably sad. I really have to give a shout out tho to all the nurses and doctors who took fabulous care of my little girl (and of a nervous and scared first time mom) they were so nice and compassionate and so very good at their jobs.
So now we are all back home, no more worse for wear. My baby is back to smiling and my husband is almost all better and will be heading back to work soon. I luckily didn't catch H1N1, but I did get a nasty cold which is now a sinus infection. But I am thankful because it could be alot worse! I got lots of stuff to catch up on, the never ending basement cleanup project and I am hosting a baby shower in a few weeks! Gotta get my butt in gear, which is why I should be doing something instead of blogging!

Nothing Happening

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, to be honest....I have had absolutly nothing to blog about for the past few days. Really, my life is that boring. Since my little baby is too young to get a H1N1 vaccination I have been avoiding public places, which leaves me with alot of time alone at home. Hence the reason for the lack of material for posting. Hopefully I will be alot more interesting in the coming days!

I Am So Bad At Titles!

As promised, how to make a pretty flower headband..........

For this little project you will need:

yarn, a crochet hook (or knitting needles), silk flowers, rhinestones, and a hot glue gun.


First thing first, make the headband. I chose to crochet mine, but you can also knit one too. If you can't do either of these thing, then a headband from the dollarstore will work just as well.


Next step is to make the flower. Pull the flower off the stem and pull all the layers apart. This will be really easy because the plastic center will pull off. You can use just one flower, or pull apart 2 or 3 different flower to mix and match colors.


Put a bead of glue on the bottom layer, then add another layer on top of it. Keep repeating this until you have the desired color pattern and size.


To finish off the flower, glue a rhinestone (or several) into the center of the flower.


Now here you can do one of two things. You can glue the flower onto a little hair clip and then clip the flower to the band, but I don't like to do that since the metal can push up against the babies little head. I just go ahead and put a generous amount of hot glue on the band and glue the flower right onto the band. I find that it holds really good.


Here's are a few of the ones that I have made so far........

And of course, on my cute little model....


Similar headbands run anywhere between $14.00 and $20.00 American on Etsy. If you add exchange, duty and shipping that could easily cost $30.00! I bought all the supplies at WalMart or Dollarama for a total of $10.00 and I have enough to do around 10 headbands!

Happy Crafting!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to all my readers...or rather reader, since I have a strong suspicion that only one other person reads this blog! As I am writing this snow is falling. I love how every year people grumble and groan and act all suprised that it snows on Halloween. It has snowed on every Halloween I can ever remember.....every.....single.....one! Come on people, it's not like it's a big suprise!

So I have this obsession with making themed treats for holidays and giving them out at work. However, since I am on maternity leave, I am taking them to hubby's work to hand out. This year I satisfied my obsession with Dirt Cupcakes!


They are ridiculously easy to make, and are such a cute little treat for Halloween. I hope that everyone likes them. And for the record, yes I am aware that there is gaps in the piping of the icing. I intentionally did it for a deconstructed look, trust me they look very cool in real life!


I'll leave you with a little piece of Halloween cuteness!

I Am One Crafty Biotch

I saw the cutest little baby in the mall the other day with a little knitted headband with a big flower attached, I know it sounds stupid but it looks absolutly adorable! I had to have one for my little girl, so off I went to Etsy.com. Unfortuatly, I had a hard time getting my husband as excited about it as I was. Let's just say he was less than impressed that I wanted to pay $14.00 american plus S&H for a little headband. I started to see it his way, after paying the exchange rate, duty, and the shipping and handling to Canada, that little headband would prolly cost around $30.00!!!!! So I started thinking, I know how to crochet and I'm sure that they would not be hard to make myself. I dug out all my old crafting supplies and got busy. I was suprised that it only took me about and hour and a half to make! I'm pretty happy with how it came out, for my first try. The only bad part is that I overestimated the size of my baby's head and made it too big. The flower that I used was a pink daisy, but it's also way to big for my little girl. I am currently working on a second attempt with a smaller headband and flower.

If anyone else want's to give this a try, I will post pictures and instructions of what I did.

And of course, some pics of my efforts on my cute little model!!!

Poutine Poisoning

Yes, you did read the title right....I was poisoned by a poutine, or to be more exact, the bad cheese on the poutine. Hence the reason I did not post anything new last night, but then again I have a feeling that I am the only one reading these posts anyway! So needless to say, due to my extremely upset stomach yesterday I did not tackle my basement, but I did manage to feel good enough to go shopping! I ventured out to the fabric store to scour the bargain corner for some fabric for the new pillows for my couch. I ended up finding the perfect cloth, but found out that I was a very bad mother in the process. After finding the more perfect shades of green and red, I was so excited that I hurried to the cutting table with the aformentioned bolts. It wasn't until the lady was cutting my fabric that I remembered that I left my daughter in her stroller back in the bargain corner! It was only about 5 feet away and it was less than 3 mins before I realized it, but I still felt terrible. To tell the truth, when I got into my car I cried because I felt so bad about it.

On the way back home, I thought that I would swing into the WalMart to see if I could find a slipcover for my 2nd couch in the living room (which is now delightfully must free thanks to 2 cans of lysol and a carton of baking soda) I ended up finding a camel colored slipcover for only $29.00! Unfourtunatly, it ended up taking me 15 mins to pay for my find. The price kept scanning wrong and they had to get about 5 different people to verify it. Once everything was sorted out I paid for my purchases and headed out, only to be chased down by the cashier. She let me know that I had left all my bags sitting at the register.....I looked down shamefully into my empty cart and then went to get my stuff.

I blame it all on the poutine poisoning

I Want Fabric!!!!

Another cool site is doing a giveaway. The prize is some very pretty and funky fabric, go check it out!

http://everydaybeautiful.typepad.com/everyday_beautiful/2009/10/oldies-but-goodies-fabric-giveaway.html

More Blogs

Here is another blog I like to read...it's written by another mom in my area. She has lots of yummy recipes on it, be sure to check out the Oreo Truffles. I made them the the other day and they are AMAZING!

http://nicolebergman.blogspot.com/

Shameless Promotion

Check out my sister in law's Etsy store. She is a very talented photographer and does beautiful digital designs for wedding invitations, save the dates, thank yous, holiday cards and photo mats.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5046876

The Couch Saga

Today was day two of the great basement cleanup. Today was also the day when I realized that there was twice as much work down there are I thought there was. I had decided I wanted to move the couch from the basement into the living room to provide more seating. However, once I got the couch upstairs I found out that it was very musty smelling. So I was off to google the ways to get that smell out. The first thing I tried was febreeze, pfft.....what a waste of time, it didn't even touch the smell. Then I seen on the internet that people have had success with a vinegar and water mixture, so I sprayed it on and went off to bed to let the solution do it's magic. I woke up this morning and soon discovered that my couch (along with my kitchen) now smelled like musty vinegar! So it was off to walmart to see what cleaning products it could offer. I got quite the funny look from the cashier while she was ringing up my purchase of 3 cans of Lysol at 9 am! So Hubby and I hauled the old bugger outside and I gave that old couch a dousing in Lysol then let it sit outside all day to air out. The couch is now sitting in the living room and I would measure the success of my treatment at about 90%, it still has a little musty smell if you were to lay your nose right on the fabric and take a big whiff, but it does not give off an obvious scent anymore. Later this week when I get my Norwex order, I am looking forward to using the odour eliminator on it...I hear it works miracles!

Now on to getting rid of the musty smell in the basement. Tonight I have plotted my plan of attack and tomorrow I will wage a unholy war on mildew! I have assembled my arsenal of bleach, lysol, baking powder and carpet cleaner all topped off with my newly purchased calcium carbonate dehumidifier pouch. Of course, since I am a horrible procrasinator, most of this will probably not get done and I will spend my day watching Judge Judy and going shopping.

A Weeks Worth of Thoughts

I'm back home after spending a week at my parents. Last Monday I packed up baby and made the 5 hour drive to spend some time down in my hometown. It....Was.....HEAVEN!!!! Everyone loves taking care of the baby, it makes my life soooooo much easier. When she fussed or needed to be fed, my mom or dad would be doing it before I could even make it downstairs. The help was such a nice change.

While I was down at Mom and Dad's, my little sister and I hosted a Norwex party, and did we ever clean up! We were really lucky to have enough sales to get a bunch of hostess gifts, which is awesome because their products are little too pricey for us right now, with our reduced income while I'm on mat leave. If you have never heard of Norwex (http://www.norwex.ca/) before it's a company that sells chemical free cleaning and personal care products. It's good for someone like me who is allergic to everything and can't stand the smell of all the chemicals that are used for cleaning.

So on Saturday, when I was making the (boring) 5 hour drive back to my house, I came up with my latest project......cleaning up the basement. For the last 3 years, the basement has been collecting clutter and getting worse and worse. Hubby has been after me for the last few months to get rid of all the stuff down there, but I just couldn't part with it. So we woke up bright and early today and loaded all the stuff into the SUV before I lost my resolve. I have to admit, while driving down to the Value Village to donate all of my things, I started to feel a little anxious and almost asked hubby to turn around. However, now that everything is gone I feel like a huge weight has been lifted! There is so much room in the basement now that I have decided to set up my long desired sewing area. Sewing is the one domestic skill that I would like to improve. And it would be nice to move all my sewing/craft paraphenalia out of my closet and give it a permanant home.

The Beginning of the Diary

So this is the beginning. To be honest, I never would have thought that I would have a blog....I hadn't even read a blog until recently. But as I was laying in bed last night I was thinking of how much my life has changed and suddenly the idea popped into my head, why not a blog!?
For my whole life I have either been in school or working, but all that changed this September when I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. I have now become a stay at home mother and full time housewife....for the next year at least. I was looking forward to my year of maternity leave as a nice change from the working world, almost thinking of it as a vacation.....how wrong I was! I never realized how much work there is to do around the house when you are here all the time. Before Baby, in the era of free time and disposable income, Hubby and I rarely spent alot of time at home. Needless to say this has been a big change.

Another realization that I have come to is how incredibly bad I am at this whole housewife thing. Now don't get me wrong I can do lots of domestic type stuff, but I am afraid that it's a "Jack Of All Trades, Master of None" situations. So here I am, blogging my way through the ups and downs of trying to adjust to my new life!