Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Chevron Ribbon Card

When's the last time you had a birthday party for yourself? Why do we just reserve them for the kids only?
I'm thinking that adults have far too few birthday parties. Shouldn't we celebrate each other's lives & achievements as well? 
I say yes! 

If I was to throw myself a birthday party, I think I would have a chevron theme like this chevron ribbon card.




It's full of my favourite things... all my favourite colours, resin flowers, crochet flowers, & of course CHEVRON!



Products used:
  • Cardstock - Michael's
  • Chevron ribbon - American Crafts
  • Resin flowers - Michael's
  • Crochet flowers - Michael's
  • Happy birthday sticker - American Crafts
  • Corner punch - EK Success

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Monday, July 29, 2013

Rhubarb Muffins with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Topping


Rhubarb is something that grows strong in the garden all spring & summer long.
In fact, it's the first perennial up in the spring & one of the last things to fade in the fall. 
I get so much from my four plants, I usually use it all to make jam in the fall.

This summer, I wanted to challenge myself to use some of the vast quantities of rhubarb that I get from the garden & make some other recipes with it. 

This is the first one that I made this summer & let me tell you. Go. Make. These. Muffins.

The sweetness of the sugar cinnamon topping paired with the sourness of the rhubarb is such a wonderful combination!






Rhubarb Muffins with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Topping
makes 12 muffins

Muffins:
1/2 cup sour cream (low fat or fat-free works too!)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 1/3 cup flour
1 cup diced rhubarb
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Topping:
1/4 brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. melted butter

To make the muffins: 

Preheat oven to 350ยบ F.

Blend together sour cream, oil & egg. Set aside. In another bowl, stir remaining ingredients together & combine with sour cream mixture. Mix just until moistened. Fill muffins cups 2/3 full. 

To make topping:
Combine all ingredients & spoon onto each muffin. Bake for 25-30 minutes.




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Friday, July 26, 2013

Insta-Friday #27


Hey! It's another Insta-Friday!

We started last weekend by taking a trip to Emerald Lake, Saskatchewan. 

As soon as we got there, we set up camp & went for a walk down to the lake just in time to catch the sunset.



The beauty of going to "the" lake - almost any lake in Saskatchewan, I dare say is the character of the cabins surrounding it. There were a lot of old school touches & plastic patio lanterns. These mossy steps let up to one such cabin. I love it!




Well, we may be roughing it, but we can at least do it in style, right? 
A plastic tablecloth in a fun pattern - from the grocery store, no less - & a little bouquet of wild flowers in a makeshift water bottle vase added a little touch of class to our tenting site.

Audrey asked if she could go for a little walk nearby our site & she came back with the flowers. 
How sweet!




Our Saturday was a little on the cool side, but warm enough that the kids wanted to go swimming for a bit in the lake & they spent a LOT of time at the playground. Vast quantities of bacon & s'mores we're consumed over that 2 day period.




We were about 5 minutes from arriving at the lake & I realized that I had forgotten to pack Audrey's bathing suit - Aaaaah!

She was a great sport & just wore her leggings & a t-shirt in the water with no complaints.




Okay, Saturday night. This is where the weekend takes a turn for the worse. As I wrote on Instagram...

"So our camping trip didn't exactly end the way we wanted it to: last night there was a very loud storm that kept us up almost all night. I got *maybe* 2 hours of sleep. No one was sleeping & we didn't feel like spending the day in the rain, so as soon as it was light enough - 5:00 a.m. - we packed up camp & hightailed it home. James was starting to nod off, so we stopped at this cute vintage diner so I could take over the driving. Sadly the diner wasn't open yet = no coffee. But hey, I got this photo. Half an hour later, a round of coffee (juice for the kids) & muffins were had & I managed to stay awake enough to get us home. The car is unpacked, I'm showered & no longer feel like a greasy, stinky hippy, the first load of laundry is in & I'm going to bed! The end."

When we go camping, I insist that there be a place for me to take a shower. I must shower everyday. On Saturday morning, James made a remark about me not being able to make it for one day without a shower, so of course I felt like I had to prove him wrong. I did it, but I felt downright nasty by nightfall. 
Hence the shower comment above. I no longer feel the need to prove that I can do it. Being clean is much better.

I've got to go back to that diner when they're open - it looked so cool. They even had an antique shop! 




After recovering from our less-than-perfect-but-okay weekend, we got back into the routine of summer, which for me & the kids meant another week of swimming lessons & having fun outside.

This scrunchy little nose gets me every time!




We got our first real harvest of the summer from the garden this week. Lots of fresh lettuce & peas with a few carrots & cherry tomatoes thrown in.




Spending 10 mornings at the pool made me realize that I really, REALLY like blue skies & water. It can be a pool, a lake, the ocean. It refreshes me without even having to go in.
It reminds me of Psalm 23: He leads me beside the still waters...
I can really relate to that. That King David sure knew what he was talking about.




I got a bit of creative time in this week by whittling away at a card order. 




My latest thrift store makeover: the yellow chalkboard now has a place of honour with some of my milk glass in the front entryway.




Almost done with this round of swimming lessons. The other day, Parker's class started learning how to dive. It was mostly a lesson in trying not to belly flop. Funny stuff.




I'm still on my road to getting healthy - I've had a pretty good week except for the camping eats on the weekend that were less than ideal health food. I've managed to work out 3 times this week & I am making better food choices. This was lunch on Thursday.




This photo is actually from the weekend at the lake, but I just posted it yesterday. 

Beauty really is in the little things. There are little pockets of it everywhere. 
You just have to keep your eyes open.



Keep your eyes open for the beauty around you today.


Here's to another great week! 

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Enjoy your day!





Thursday, July 25, 2013

Easy Robot Card

Need a birthday card for a special birthday boy? 

I've got something fun & simple for you!



1) Start with some kraft cardstock, cut to card sizing
2) Mat with a plaid patterned paper
3) Cut out a robot from patterned paper & mount with foam dots
4) Apply a sentiment sticker

Done!




Supplies used:
  • Kraft cardstock - Michael's
  • Patterned paper - Cosmo Cricket (Plaid) & Kaisercraft (Robot)
  • Sentiment sticker - Karen Foster Designs

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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Thrifty Yellow Chalkboard





Several weeks ago, I shared with you the day I gathered all my spray painting projects & got them all done at once. 




I didn't quite finish this project that day because I wanted to paint the inside with some chalkboard paint. Well, I've finished it at last & given it a place of honour in our front entry. 




The frame was from a trip to the thrifty earlier this spring. It started out being ugly brown faux wood. 
I think it's actually plastic. 



A few coats of yellow spray paint - Krylon Bright Idea - and painting glass with chalkboard paint & it has a new lease on life! 


I also tried my hand at a little chalkboard art/doodle. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! 





What are some of the summer projects you're working on?

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Monday, July 22, 2013

Peanut Butter Cup Trifle

I just can't seem to get enough of trifles!

Have you noticed??

They're just such a perfect summer dessert - 
they're so fast & no baking or cooking is required if you buy a pre made cake. 
Or brownies in this case!




I made this trifle in place of a birthday cake for my husband's birthday barbecue a couple weeks ago. 
It was a huge hit!

Layers of chocolate custard, rich fudge brownies, & of course, Reece's peanut butter cups come together to make a sweet success.




Peanut Butter Cup Trifle {Print Recipe}
serves 10-12

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cup cold water
1 package chocolate pudding mix
2 cups whipping cream, whipped, but not sweetened (you could use Cool Whip too)
1 - 8x8" pan of brownies (pre made or try this recipe if you want to make your own), cut into bite sized pieces
36 regular sized Reece's Peanut Butter Cups, chopped **See note below**


Combine sweetened condensed milk & water. Stir in pudding mix. Chill for 20 minutes. Fold in the whipped cream. 

Put about a cup of the pudding mix into the bottom of a trifle bowl. Start layering: Pudding, brownie, peanut butter cups. Repeat. Top it all off with some more peanut butter cups, because that's just awesome.

Refrigerate until you're ready to serve it.

**Instead of buying a bunch of regular candy bar packages of the peanut butter cups, I found little flats of 12 individually packaged "snack packs". Three of those babies ($2 each at Wal-Mart!) & this ingredient is taken care of!



Check out my other trifle creations by clicking on the titles below:






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Friday, July 19, 2013

Insta-Friday #26

Wow, it's Friday already! And first off, I have a question for you all: 

I just made up our next week's menu plan & was wondering... Is menu planning something that you do? If not, would it be something you would like some help with? Would you enjoy seeing a weekly menu plan on the blog with links to recipes?? I'm interested in your thoughts!

And now... welcome to another Insta-Friday! 
I filled you in on last weekend's festivities earlier this week & you can check out that post HERE.

Oh, and before we begin, you will see that I'm in serious like with the Rhonna Designs App
If you are an Instagramer, GO. BUY. IT. 
I think I like it because, for me, it's like creating a little scrapbook layout for every photo you use. 

After the big birthday barbecue on Saturday, Sunday was a quieter day. After church & my weekly Sunday afternoon nap, I got in some much needed creative time. Working on a card order was like therapy. Loveliness!



Monday morning brought us the first morning of a two week session of summer swimming lessons for the kids. I love the turquoise of the pool. It's such a refreshing sight every morning.




On Tuesday morning we had another beautiful morning at the pool...




After the kid's swim, we headed over to the gorgeously treed park across from the street from the pool. This is what a park should look like. The people who live near this park are so blessed to have such a lovely view! 




This park had an old school playground, complete with an old metal slide. 
Do you remember wearing shorts on these old slides when it was hot outside? Burnt legs!




"Awesomer" has long been a favourite word of mine & I use it often. So when I saw that Rhonna had used it in her app, it sure made me smile!




A big highlight of my day on Tuesday was the grand opening of our first two Target stores in Saskatoon! I have to say that I was really impressed! It was almost everything I had hoped for. 
Note to Target Canada: We need a scrapbook/craft isle! (I just took a moment to comment on their Facebook page before I forgot.) ;) The prices are a bit higher than Target U.S.A., but I expected that, since Canadian prices are always higher. I'm seriously looking forward to stalking the clearance sections in a few weeks. I'll be a regular, for sure!!!




My first trip to Target resulted in one purchase: a new shower curtain! And a chevron/hexagon shower curtain to boot. The greens match our green bathroom walls so perfectly! I had wanted to paint the bathroom for awhile now, but this shower curtain has breathed new life into this room & I love it again!




This week, I've really been working on getting exercise into each day. For too long I've been letting the days go by & thinking that things would magically come together "tomorrow". 
It was always tomorrow.

I'm getting real with myself & making physical activity a priority in my schedule. 
"If not now, When?" is my motto for this summer. 
I've even included it each day in my daily iPhone to-do list. 

I'm not letting the days slip by anymore before I make something of them!




Enjoying the Psalms...




On Thursday afternoon, we were planning to go to the pool with friends, but it was pouring rain. 
Plan B: Despicable Me 2 with friends. It was so cute & we all really enjoyed it. 
The songs at the end were my favourite. Laugh out loud funny!




When we got home from the movie, the sun had come out & it was hot & muggy.
We dug out some balloons from birthday parties gone by & made some water balloons! 
The kids got wet & I managed to stay out of the line of fire long enough to get some photos.



It's been a great summer week for us. I hope it has been for you too!

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Enjoy your day!





Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Tag Birthday Card

Hi everyone!

I hope your week is going well & you're enjoying your summer.
The kids started swimming lessons earlier this week, so we've been spending the morning at the pool everyday & will be until the end of next week. The weather has been beautiful & I'm enjoying the sun while I watch them swim.

Today's card was created with a variety of patterned papers from My Mind's Eye. I really like purchasing the 6x6 pads - they're perfect for card making! The patterns are a bit smaller & when I can find them at Winners & Homesense, the price cannot be beat!

I started by using strips of paper that had a simple notch cut into the bottom.



I used the alphabet stickers for a sentiment &
 added a bit more detail with some brads & baker's twine.



A trendy, colorful birthday card!

Products used:


  • Cardstock - Michael's 
  • Patterned Papers - My Mind's Eye
  • Foam Letters - American Crafts
  • Mini Letters - Making Memories
  • Brads - American crafts (Large) & Basic Grey (Small)
  • Baker's Twine - My Mind's Eye

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Enjoy your day!



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