i want these so bad...

i'm pretty sure i have found my favorite curtains ever. they are from urban outfitters. arn't they so georgous??? i love them so much. i may just have to buy them someday. they are exactly what my living room needs. if anyone is going to buy them, throw in a couple panels for me too, after all i did tell you about hem, i deserve it.
and look at these ones. i love them as well, they would be so cute in scarletts room.

seth's quilt

i promised my sister, kyla, i would make her 2 year old, seth, a quilt. well, seth is now almost 3, so you can imagine how happy both kyla and i are that i have finally finished his quilt. here it is.
of all places/people to make a quilt for, a boys bedroom is by far the hardest. it is so hard to find fabrics that are totally "boy" appropriate. there are lots of fabrics that work for baby boys but not so much for a boy over the age of 2. i have turned to solids.

here is a picture of the quilting on the back.

howie has already worn in the quilt for seth. it has been well loved here at our home but i bet it will be even more loved by seth who is currently using his sisters old bedding...which is definitely not boyish.

eat something pretty in PDF!!

we are so excited to announce that you can now buy our book in pdf. for only $10. yup, that's right, you can now have all of your favorite entertaining recipes (uh, i mean our favorite recipes, but i promise they will be yours too!) and be green at the same time! to purchase the pdf version of our book go here. or to purchase the real thing go here.

glee

the. best. show. hands down. i have never loved a tv show the way i do glee. i makes me giddy. i seriously rock out to the music. i am now watching the first 13 episodes for the 3rd time in 4 months. really, that is how good it is. i have never watched a show that i have really cared to watch for a second time...or a third! if you haven't yet watched glee, i highly recommend you watch the first 13 episodes before it resumes in april. i can't wait.

blueberry muffins

last week i tried two top rated blueberry muffin recipes on allrecipes. i wanted to find out which was really the best one.

the first recipe i made was blueberry cream muffins
these were really yummy. as suggested by reviews, i substituted 1/2 of the sugar for brown sugar. i think this made them good. i always think anything with sour cream in it is yummy. it makes things moist and gives it a bit of a tangy flavour. i give these muffins 4/5. i will definitely make them again.

the next recipe i tried was to die for blueberry muffins

the cinnamon sugar topping on these really was to die for. so good. but, as far as the muffins, not the greatest. they were a little dry. the batter was almost more like dough it was so thick. with the topping i would give these 4/5, however, without the topping they were nothing special.

the final verdict:

if you are looking for pure yummyness (not sugar or calorie counting) i would make blueberry cream muffins and use just the topping recipe from to die for blueberry muffins which is:

blueberry crumb topping

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

mix ingredients with a fork (or your hands work great too!) and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
yum.

also, i have to give a HUGE shout out to my sister-in-law abby from sew much ado. her ruby lou doll pattern and a doll are being featured on grosgrain. go here to see the post. you can win a pattern or a doll. what little girl wouldn't want one of these???

the best chocolate cookies ever, really.

well, before i share the best cookies in the whole world with you i am first going to say, HI! i am back! temporarily. i have been taking a much needed break from blogging/computer. it has been so wonderful. not that i don't love blogging and sharing stuff with all of you, i just love to not worry about it. i have been baking and cooking more than i have the last couple of years, working on my new years resolutions (one of them really is to craft less), and finding plenty of time to relax with my kids. it has been fun. i want to keep it this way...for a while anyway. however, i will try to blog a few times a month still, no more of this taking a break for a whole month.

check this out...like 4 days before christmas i FINALLY finished my advent calender. i can't wait to use it next year!

and since christmas, i have been enjoying my new camera lens (Nikkor 1.8) that makes every picture a keeper!

Scarlett has been enjoying her new dolly, her "Ruby Lou Doll" to be exact.

you can make one too with my SIL's new pattern for sale here! isn't she so talented?!


and Howie has been loving his new smartstructs and train set. literally the only toys he has played with for the last 2 weeks.

now for the best chocolate chip cookies. we can all thank martha for these. this is a recipe i tore out of an old magazine last year. i finally tried them this week and they were so great. i have tried 20+ chocolate chip cookie recipes the people claim to be the best, soft and chewiest cookies ever and still never found one i loved this much.

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

7 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature (that is 1/2 cup minus 1 Tbsp)
1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3 Tbsp sour cream

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees. beat butter and sugars on med-high speed until pale and fluffy. beat in egg and vanilla. reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients in two batches alternating with the sour cream and beat just until combined. stir in chocolate chips.

2.use a cookie scoop to drop onto parchment lined baking sheets. bake until centers are set and the bottoms are very slightly brown (do not wait until the sides are brown, that means they are over baked!) i think these cookies are the best when they are completely cooled (i know weird, i usually love them right out of the oven the best)

questions:

i ordered the little tins off of etsy.

bake the cookies until they are done. with every oven this will vary. just don't let them get to brown as stated in the recipe.

ted (AKA someone who was to embarrased just to ask me so they made up a temporary gmail account) "clause" is spelt like that because i am an idiot and if spell check doesn't catch it, then i am doomed. oops, i geuss i will updating that next year...

a handmade christmas and a winner

i have been sew busy the last couple of weeks (pun intended) i have been sewing and crafting like crazy getting ready for christmas. here is what i have been working on:


plenty of little note book covers. using this tutorial.

bedding for a doll bed for scarlett.

an i spy bag. i am still adding stuff to it daily.

howie has been begging for a clipboard, seeing how i use mine everyday. here it is.

wooden letters to hang with ribbon:

i made howie his very own airmiles and credit card...get em started young. all i did was print a picture of a card off of the Internet that i had edited to say his name off of it first. glued it to an old useless card of mine and then finished it with mod podge.

i have also been working on quilts and pajama pants. i think i may just make some homemade dry dip spice jars too.

BTW, the advent calender that i am supposed to be done by now is not done...errrr. it isn't my fault. i will blame the USPS. the tins are not yet here.

and the winner of the cookbook is...

DarrenLaura.R who said

Wa-hoo!

I want to make something pretty!

...and then eat it.

Thanks for your rockin' blog, too, by the way. I have you to thank for my super-cute apron:)

laura, email me your shipping info!

for all you non-winners, hop on over to Eat Something Pretty to purchase a book!

questions:

yes, i used rice in the i spy bag!

i ordered the letters form http://www.wholesalewooodenletters.com/. the shipping to canada is expensive unless you order enough to make it worth it. otherwise it is probably better to ship to the boarder.

you know you want it...

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!

kyla and my cookbook is making it's second appearance! it has a new fresh cover since it's debut last christmas. better yet, it has no spelling mistakes...we hope.
they are available for pick up at my house or at kyla's in taber or you can go here to buy one through paypal! they are twenty dollars each.
also, i am GIVING one away to one of you! all you have to do is comment! good luck!

handmade christmas ornaments!

i am being featured today here! write it down is having the 12 days of handmade christmas ornaments and has been having some awesome bloggers participating! i have a link on the right sidebar so be sure to check it out everyday for a new ornament!

photo overload

so i clearly have not been keeping up lately with the ol' blogging. i'm having a family catch up day. here it goes...

howie has been a very good brother this week. he has taken it upon himself to keep scarlett well fed. here he is feeding her apple sauce. she absolutely refuses to eat if i try to feed her (she wants to feed herself) but check this out...
i told howie to go get his boots on...he NEVER forgets about these two, needless to say, there boots/shoes didn't stay on for long.

aaahhhhhhh! seriously 3 times a day! do you see how she has it perfectly around her eyes? maybe she is practising to become a makeup artist.

who needs an ice rink when you have lego and a hard floor?

pure satisfaction. how could i stop her from that???? (okay, maybe i should have, it is still all over the floor, a week later. you see why i don't have time for blogging?)

big girl...look at her sitting at a little table eating pizza! i can't believe it, she is not a little baby anymore!

here was my attempt at a self timer family picture of our pizza party. (that happens way more often than it should!)

finger puppets

howie and i made these today. we've been going a little puppets crazy around here lately!

christmas decor

i LOVE having christmas decor up. which is why i put mine up 2 1/2 weeks ago:) every morning when the kids and i go downstairs we turn on the tree lights and just sit there for a while. i really don't want it to all end. it feels like christmas is coming way too fast.
here is my wreath that i hung on the window. i saw this in a magazine last year and have been waiting for christmas so i can do it! i love it.

i was really hoping to show you my advent calender this week but it looks like it will be a little lare this year. i have to wait for somthing in the mail so i can finish it. i am so excited...yet so sad that we won't even be able to start it on december 1st! i will have to improvise for the first few days!

paper box tutorial

i am so excited that i am being featured over at bloom! head on over to check out the tutorial i wrote to make these cute little paper boxes. i have used these boxes for cookies, candy, and giving little gifts like magnets. they are so versatile and can be made and embellished so many ways.

nativity puppets!

i made these nativity puppets for us to use this year, as we will be staying home for christmas with just our little family of four. i figured we have more hands than bodies, so now we can still do the nativity. i got the idea from here.

baby Jesus slips right into mary's slash.

all of the wisemen gifts are removable.

here is a pic of the back that slides right on the arm of the wisemen.

christmas binder

i have made a christmas binder for myself to keep myself somewhat organized this season. the 3 parts in it are christmas activities, christmas carols and to prepare you for your gift giving there is a gift planning section. you can print them for yourself!
Gift Ideas
Christmas Carols
Christmas Activities