I thought during this post I would lead you in a little tour around our house this Christmas. I like to change it up year to year so it’s nice to have photos to look back on and see my style evolve. This will most likely be our last Christmas in this house which makes these photos even more special. I have loved this little house but I am so excited for our future. So excited at the thought of renovating what we affectionately call “The River House”, so excited to have some land (shhhh……don’t tell my animal-hater husband but I think there will be some extra animals in our future. That’s what you get for marrying a farm-girl-vet-tech!), and so excited to expand my garden.
Despite the small size of this house I still somehow manage to cram a lot of Christmas decorations into every little corner, every little nook, every possible spot I can. The last couple of years I have leaned more towards red for all of my decorating. I think red is so festive, and looks great against the neutral backdrop of the interior of our home.
The tree
My mom has this perfect tree. All of her decorations are gold. Her lights on the tree are clear. It looks beautiful and perfect. I have dreams of having a tree like that some day. But I have a husband who likes lots of color and an 8 year old who brings home decorations from school. So for now we have an eclectic tree. I have managed to keep it to mostly silver and red with lots of homemade decorations thrown in for a personal touch. When we have more space I am hoping for multiple trees in the house, all different themes and colours.
The ambience
Pay no attention to my poor sick 8 year old in the background! The flu has been nasty this year!
I have read lots of articles recently about how bad scented candles are for you but I haven’t been able to give them up yet. I LOVE a good scented candle. Bath and Body Works is my jam and when their candles go on sale I stock up. This last 3 wick candle that I bought has only lasted me 3 days. Perks of being home! For me, scent sets the scene for everything. I have seasonal scents for the entire year, and I can’t burn a fruity candle at Christmas time, it just feels wrong. If I’m not going to be home for the day, or in and out, I will turn one or two of my Scentsy warmers on. At this time of year I am all about Simply Vanilla, Sugar Cookie, or Very Snowy Spruce. I know there are some people out there that can’t tolerate scents (my sister in law being one of them) but for me, it’s everything.
The goodies
I always try and keep some things in the house for when unexpected guests stop by (and they are ALWAYS welcome!). This year I have a hot chocolate station set up and I have some goodies in the microwave (my mom always used the microwave as a large baking storage container so I do it too, people think I’m strange but it works!) and I always try and keep some cookie dough in the freezer so I can quickly whip up a batch of cookies. Along with some cute festive mugs I think this hot chocolate area is adorable! It will definitely be a repeat next Christmas!
The tour
I’m just going to post some random photos from around our home and share with you what our holiday house looks like! Hope you enjoy!
Our hot chocolate station all set up and ready for visitors!Davids Tea’s 24 Days of Tea is by far my favorite Christmas decoration at the moment, it may not be the prettiest thing we have out but it’s the one that gives me the gift of a cup of tea every morning, so that makes it the best one!
Maddie’s advent calendar filled with Shopkins has been a huge hit this year!Even the bathroom vanity is getting in on the Christmas action! (The Santa bell doesn’t really fit in here but he didn’t have anywhere else to go, so he’s hanging here!)I made this a few years ago to hang the Christmas cards that we receive on and I love it!I always have seasonal pillows, it’s one of the easiest ways to change up the living room. That hardest part is finding somewhere to store them for the rest of the year!Last year I made these giant tags to hang on our front door instead of a traditional wreath and I love them! So fun and so unique!We even have Christmas dishes!
And you can always count on Snowflake to make a mess! She’s always around here somewhere!
I like to consider myself the Queen of Christmas. Christmas is my jam. Every year I think I couldn’t possibly get any more “into” it but every year I do. For me, it’s all consuming. But in a good way.
I used to put the tree up and decorate on the last weekend of November, then it was the week before that, then the weekend before, and this year, the tree went up November 19th. It gets earlier and earlier every year. And I’m ok with that, thankfully so is my family. Rex also loves Christmas, he doesn’t get super into the indoor decorating and rarely helps us with the tree, but the outdoor lights are where he shines (pun intended). If I didn’t know better I would swear he was part Clark Griswold when it comes to decorating the house and yard. The more lights, the more colour, the better. I’m pretty sure one of these years our house will actually be visible from space.
So as the self-appointed Queen of Christmas I thought I should share some tips for making the season easier! Most of the tips I am going to share with you are what I do, there are a few that I don’t but they are great tips anyway.
Wrapping paper:
My first tip is to give each member of your family their own colour or style of wrapping paper. We have 3 children between us; 2 adult children (21 and 23) and an 8 year old. The adult children both have spouses which means there are 7 of us that have presents under the tree. And 7 of us that still get a stocking to open on Christmas. I mean, seriously, I would give up the “big” presents before I would give up the stockings. It’s my favorite part. I always wrap everything that goes in the stockings. My mom always did, and I will never stop doing it. Half of the fun of Christmas is the actual unwrapping part. Which means I have a lot of wrapping to do in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and a LOT of little wrapped presents. So I make it easier on myself and give everyone their own wrapping paper. I never need to label anything and when the kids come over they have no idea who’s gifts are who’s until I hand them their stockings. I feel like it makes it more fun. I also like to try to pick wrapping paper that fits their personalities a bit. This year some of them aren’t even Christmas themed. This year we have Dr. Seuss, Minnie Mouse, Frosty the Snowman, Frozen, Unicorns, a red Ho Ho Ho one and a white with red snowflakes.
Stock Up:
Stock up during the year on basics when they go on sale. For instance, Bath and Body Works easily makes my Top 10 list for favorite stores to shop. They always have wicked deals on if you’re not looking for something specific. This last week when I was there the hand soaps were 5 for $25 or 10 for $35. Clearly I needed 10 (insert my husbands eye roll here…). They make fantastic stocking stuffers and who doesn’t love a great smelling foaming hand soap??? Good thing none of my kids read this blog or they would know they’re all getting hand soap in their stockings! You’re welcome. It’s times like this that I feel like Oprah; You get a hand soap, You get a hand soap, You get a hand soap, Everyone gets a hand soap!! Stores like this are also good for stocking up on body washes and lotions, 3 wick candles (which are my FAVORITE!), and hand sanitizers. All of which are really really good at filling stockings relatively inexpensively. Plus it’s another one of those gifts were everyone gets the same thing but they’re all different smells and they can trade if they want to! Those kind of gifts are the best ones. A few years ago we bought packages of Hot Wheels cars for everyone. I think there were 20 cars in each package and the kids spent a good hour trading cars back and forth with each other until they were satisfied with their “garage”. So fun to watch!
Sticky Situation:
Next up are my tape tips. I’m not super fussy about brand, to me, tape is tape. If it comes off the dispenser easily and sticks 2 pieces of paper together, I’m good. That being said, a few years back I stumbled across the Scotch brand Pop Up tape dispenser. O. M. G. That thing is a life changer. It has a little elastic band thing on the back so it sits on your hand and it dispenses these perfect little pieces of tape. Only problem this year is I didn’t realize I was out of refills until this morning and there is no one nearby that sells them. So Amazon to the rescue once again. But they won’t be here for a week. So I’m stuck going old school. Wrapping presents requires the full use of both hands so unless you have an elf to cut pieces of tape for you as you need them you should probably just prepare ahead and line the edge of your work surface with precut pieces. I find this the easiest way when I’m wrapping by myself (which is honestly how I prefer it. Nobody to judge my bad singing…)
My little tape army! Having a cup of coffee nearby at all times helps a lot too!
Playing Fair:
I like to make sure that all of the kids have the same number of presents to open and that they are all even when it comes to $$ spent on them. My parents did a great job of doing that when we were growing up and it’s something I feel very strongly about. We don’t love any one of our children more than another, so we always do our best to make it fair. That being said, we have such fabulous children, I don’t think any of them would even notice, let alone say anything, if something wasn’t totally even. Because I wrap so early and I have such a terrible memory, I often forget what each of the shiny little packages are so I keep a little notebook next to me when I’m wrapping and write down everything that I have wrapped for each child. It’s easy to see who I still need to pick up a thing or two for and it’s easy for me to figure out what package is what if I need to. The real trick here is keeping it somewhere that prying little eyes can’t see it, luckily only 1 of our children still lives at home so I can pretty much hide it anywhere higher than 5ft and she can’t reach it.
Budgeting:
If you’re on a tight budget (seriously though? Are there people who don’t have to watch every $?) one of the best tips I saw was to stash some money away each month through the year. $50 a month gives you $600 in December to spend on xmas presents. If you can’t be trusted not to dip into it, purchase a gift card each month and use them to buy presents (or give the gift cards). Prepaid Visa cards are accepted pretty much everywhere, even online, so it makes it a whole lot easier to buy presents when you can space it out over the year. It just requires a little forethought. This is one of the those tips that I see and I think “Wow that’s a great idea, I’m totally going to do this”. Then don’t. But seriously. This year I am going to do this.
We can’t all be Martha Stewart:
I feel like I have mentioned before how much I love Martha Stewart. Love might not be the appropriate word. Idolize seems more adequate. There is nothing that woman can’t do. Have you ever watched Martha and Snoop Doggs cooking show? It’s gold. Pure gold. I try to channel that woman every single day of my life. She inspires me to garnish every meal, find home decor in my back yard, and always keep my insider trading information to myself. But seriously. I can’t tell you how many times I have been called Martha Stewart in my 36 years on this planet. Honestly, I get called it a lot. It’s one of my favorite nicknames. But when it comes to wrapping stocking stuffers I no longer feel the need to “Martha” them up. Yep, I just used her name as a verb. I used to fret about how each little item was wrapped but I don’t anymore. Not once in the last 36 years has anyone ever commented on my wrapping skills, good or bad. So why am I stressing about it? Nobody notices if the corners aren’t folded exactly right. Nobody. Once you realize that and accept it, it feels very freeing. Like a huge weight has been lifted from your shoulders. Or is that just me taking this whole Christmas thing too seriously?
This is one of those less-Martha-Stewart-type wrap jobs and do I care? Not even a little bit!
Somehow this turned into a really long post. Sorry about that. In case you haven’t realized it yet, I love to ramble, especially when I’m talking about something near and dear to my heart. As it’s only November 28th, I’m sure I will have a whole lot more tips about Christmas for you so this will probably turn into a 2 part mini series.
Look at how cute they look when they’re wrapped and together. And I know who they all belong to! And I also know that Martha Stewart was NOT here.
Before I post I’ll leave you with some quick tips that require no explanation:
-buy Christmas cards after December 25th for the following year when they are dirt cheap. Stash them with your xmas decorations
– same with decorations. I rarely buy full price decor, I just wait till it’s on clearance and use it the following year
-keep cookie dough in the freezer, or even baked cookies usually freeze well in case of unexpected company
-be sure to be well stocked for coffees, teas, and hot cocoas during this season of visitors
-don’t throw scraps of paper away, you never know when you need a small piece to wrap a Chapstick
-remember: it’s thoughtful to wrap a toothbrush and put it in a stocking, it’s a dirtbag move to wrap a toothbrush and put it under the tree
I’ve always had a taste for food and drink that tasted like flowers. I was born in England and lived there until I was 9 years old. One of my favourite things from the store was a Turkish Delight; a rose flavoured jelly wrapped in chocolate. Even now, just thinking about it, makes my mouth water. It was also (and continues to be) my dad’s favourite. He has now figured out that he can order them by the case from Amazon, so look out world!
I’ve also mentioned a few times that I am the queen of doing things the difficult way.
Which is why, when I read an article about rosehip jelly I thought it was perfect for me! It’s time consuming, difficult (not really), and not the norm so I was sold!
I started by “harvesting” (see what a fancy term I used for “picking”) the rosehips from my cousin, Allana’s, rose bushes. She had these amazing large, deep purple rosehips I hadn’t seen anywhere before and I thought they would lend a beautiful colour to the jelly. We harvested what we thought was about 2lbs of hips and I took them home and got to work.
I read a few recipes and how-to’s on the line (shout out to my fellow Internship fans!) and decided that this was the one I would attempt.
I gave them a good clean and cut of the straggly bits before measuring out 2 quarts (about 8 cups) into a large stockpot. I added 6 cups of water and set them to boil. After they started to boil I turned the heat down and just let them do their thing while I made dinner.
After about an hour I checked them with a fork and when they were soft enough to mash I smashed them all up with my potato masher.
The I set a colander over a large bowl and lined it with 4 layers of cheesecloth before dumping the pots contents in. Then I just let is drip for about an hour while we ate dinner and chatted with our company (stepdaughter again, damn, I must be a good cook 😉 ).
Now I’m going to confess something…..
Other than helping my mother in law with our wedding jam, this was my first canning experience. And I am seriously super proud of myself and super motivated to can all of the things!!!
At this point in the recipe I followed it to a tee, which is something I don’t often do, but I was terrified I was going to do something wrong! I ended up with 6 full jars and 1 partial jar which I didn’t seal, we will just eat that one first. I had borrowed my mom’s canner but didn’t end up using it. My mother in law has been canning for years and she says she doesn’t use one so I thought I would brave it and just make sure the jars and lids were hot, fill them will the hot liquid and pop those lids on quickly. I am happy to report that those beautiful deep pink jars of jelly all started to pop one right after the other.
I don’t know how many of you can, but I think that a jar popping is probably one of the most satisfying sounds on earth!
The only problem is…..before the night was out, most of these jars were spoken for…..guess I had better get harvesting again! All of the wild roses on the road sides are just loaded with rosehips this year so that should keep me busy for a while!!
My stepdaughter and her boyfriend invite themselves for supper on average about once a week. I LOVE it. I love to see them. I love that they feel comfortable enough to just invite themselves over. I love to cook for other people.
BUT I HATE figuring out what to make most of the time.
They were here last night for supper and as they were leaving I said “Next time you invite yourselves for dinner can you at least tell me what to make?”. So Austin said “Enchiladas.”
“Well,” I said, “that’s easy. Consider it done.” To which he replied “Excellent. We’ll be here tomorrow!”
So we got them 2 nights in a row this week!
I also can’t ever just do things the easy way, I always feel the need to outdo myself, to one-up myself, to make yesterdays Kelly just feel a little bit bad about how mainstream she was. Which means I couldn’t make just one kind of enchilada sauce. NOOOOOO. I had to make 3! (Ok, so that’s a bit of a lie…..I only made 2……I bought the 3rd one, but SHHHHHHH nobody needs to know that except you and me!)
I have made the red sauce mulitiple times. It’s delicious, it’s the traditional enchilada sauce (I think!? I’m no enchilada expert!). And the white sauce? It’s rich and creamy with a great Chile flavour. I’ve also made it several times! They are both really easy and I would recommend either one.
Or both!
To make my enchiladas I use a smear of sour cream on a flour tortilla, top that with a spoonful of black beans, a spoonful of corn (straight from the can!), a scoop of cubed cooked chicken breast (usually cheat and buy a rotisserie chicken!) and a sprinkle of grated cheese. Then I roll them up and place them seam side down in a baking dish.
After I make up the sauces (recipe for red sauce found here, or white sauce found here) I spoon them over the top and sprinkle it with cheese before baking in a 425 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.
We have breakfast for supper probably once every 2 weeks. My husband and daughter think it’s because they love it so much. The reality is, it’s easy. And fast. And delicious. AND they love it so much.
But tonight was different. We had a day in the neighbouring “big city” and had shopped until we dropped (or until the $$$ ran out) and the last thing I wanted to do when we walked through the door was make a big elaborate dinner. I had planned on making a simple stir fry. It’s another one of my go-to’s when I can’t think of anything else to make but I really didn’t want stir fry so eggs it was.
But we had no bread for toast, so eggs on toast was out. As was French toast. I dislike pancakes (unless we’re talking Pumpkin Spice pancakes then I’m a happy camper!). We had no bacon (we NEVER have bacon). What the heck was I going to make with eggs?? Then it occurred to me that I have never made eggs baked in tomato sauce for Rex.
What?!?!?
We’ve been together almost 6 years and I haven’t made it for him. What the heck? Seriously?
This HAS to be remedied.
I don’t know why it’s been so long since I’ve made it. It’s freaking delicious!
I started by heating up some olive oil in one of my cast iron enamel pans and cooked up about 3 garlic cloves, then added a can of diced tomatoes, a can of whole tomatoes, some basil, and some salt and pepper. Seriously, that’s it. I cooked all of that down for 20-25 minutes until the tomatoes broke down and the sauce started to thicken then I sprinkled in some parmesan cheese and gently cracked eggs into the sauce and put it into a preheated 450 degree oven for 13 minutes.
While it was in the oven I cut up a beautiful rustic crusty loaf of bread and set it all out on the table. I have taken to just serving it in the dish I cook it in (less dishes and I love the rustic-ness it adds to the meal), and I gotta say, it just looks so beautiful!
We’ve been trying hard not to spend so much money on groceries, and this supper is a cheap one! Canned tomatoes are on sale at the moment for $1 each and I paid $3.99 for the loaf of bread.
My 8 year old LOVED it (she says I’ve never made it for her, either. Damn, I have been slacking…), my husband was a happy man, and all 3 of us ended up with clean plates!
The sauce is amazing, and demands a hearty rustic crusty bread to soak it all up! I always top mine with a drizzle of olive oil, my husband topped his with Parmesan cheese, and our daughter ate it as is. It’s delicious any way you choose to eat it!
Like many, I have had a fantasy Pinterest wedding board for years. I think I started my wedding board 5 years ago, which means we were only about 6 months into our relationship. It’s not that I started planning our wedding then, it’s just that there are so many great ideas on Pinterest it’s important to save them when you see them. You never know when you might need them in the future.
I was under the impression that I wouldn’t marry again (my previous marriage was short and not particularly pleasant at times so I just didn’t feel the need to do that again). Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t that I wanted to be alone. Just that I thought I would be happy to live together without the need for that piece of paper. But then things got serious between Rex and I and the thoughts of what our wedding would look like started to creep into my head.
I mean, after all, I am a girl, it’s only natural.
Before I had even met Rex I used to always say to people that everyone that got married before the invention of Pinterest should get a do-over. Fast forward to today, about a month after the wedding and I can safely say it was a Pinterest-perfect wedding. As many of you know, I am a do-it-yourself kinda gal. So of course, I am diy-ed as much as I could. I had saved a pin with sheet music rolled into a cone filled with flower petals. I loved the idea but as we had a flower and lace thing going on, I decided I would use paper doilies.
Dollar store paper doilies and dried flower petals! So cheap and easy to come by!
I am thrilled with how they turned out, I think they are the perfect vintage, garden-party, old English addition to our special day. I don’t know if it’s a tradition in Canada, but in England (where I am from) throwing confetti at the bride and groom is essential. It’s not a proper wedding until you’re digging confetti out of your dress all night. In place of traditional confetti (which we have found difficult to find in Canada) I opted to use dried flower petals. They are beautiful, and they smell good!!
It’s an extremely easy craft and they were one of my favorite elements of our wedding!
Simply roll up a paper doily (I used the 6.5″ size round ones and some 6.5″ square ones), and glue the edge with a hot glue gun.
Aren’t these flower petals beautiful? I love them!
And fill with dried petals. I had bought 3 shoe boxes full of dried flower petals cheaply on a Facebook page, and I started drying and saving all of the flower petals from flowers I had bought to jazz up the kitchen, and I didn’t end up even using 1 full box but I’m sure I’ll find a use for the remaining 2 boxes!!
We purchased this Franks beverage crate at an antique store in Arizona during one of our trips down there and it used to live on our kitchen counter with mason jars in that used to hold our utensils but it made the perfect display crate for these confetti cones.
Today isn’t particularly special. It’s just a Thursday. Its nobody’s birthday. There’s nothing written on the calendar (which by itself seems somewhat special).
It’s just Thursday.
But it feels different.
Better.
It’s the first Thursday of summer break for Maddie. And this is the first time I haven’t been working during summer break. We are busy all of the time, in fact, I think I’m busier now then I was when I was working, but it’s different. There’s no real schedule to our busyness. I’ve been working hard in the yard and house getting ready to put it up for sale. I’ve been helping my in-laws with their house renos. I’ve been helping my cousin get ready for her wedding. But none of that requires a timed schedule.
And I am loving it.
Right now it is 24 degrees, the sky is partly cloudy, but those happy, wispy, summery clouds that you just know mean its a beautiful day. I am sitting at the park, it’s farmers market day so this place is bustling.
And it’s amazing.
The grass is covered in blankets and towels and families. The spray park is filled with kids who don’t care that they don’t know each other, they’re just happy to be playing together. There is a gentleman playing his guitar and singing behind me. There are vendors selling jams, breads, cookies, honey, vegetables, fruits, crafts, the crunchiest most delicious crackers ever, organic home raised meats, baby bunnies, pretty much anything you could ever imagine.
We came down here to meet my cousin for lunch and to wander the market. While we were here Maddie ran into one of her best friends who was playing in the spray park and she begged me to stay. We already had lunch plans so we couldn’t but I told her we would talk about it later (which, to be perfectly honest, is usually what I say when I’m hoping she’ll forget!).
Normally I would have things I NEEDED to do. Things that required us to be away from this amazing park. Things that would leave Maddie playing by herself. But this time I didn’t. Out of habit, I started to say “not today” and then she asked me “why not?”.
And I didn’t have an answer.
Why was I saying no? Our house is clean (not that that is as important as putting a smile on my beautiful daughters face), my cousin didn’t need any help today, I’m not needed at my in-laws house until tomorrow. Why couldn’t we spend the afternoon at the park?
So we ate lunch. We went home and she changed into her bathing suit, I grabbed my computer (thank you MacBook, knew you were a wise investment!) and my big comfy fold-up chair and headed back to the park.
Best decision I have made in a long time.
While I type this I can hear my daughters infectious laughter. She has the kind of laugh that makes everyone around her laugh too. She’s out-going, hyper, creative, enthusiastic about everything, and extremely loud at times, but she rarely has a bad day and she is NEVER in a bad mood. She’s the kind of kid who lights up every room she walks into, usually because she has to be the centre of attention and she is honestly the funniest person I know. She’s 8 now, and the last 8 years have flown by. She’ll be a teenager before I know whats happening so I’m trying to soak in all of these moments. Maddie has never met a person she didn’t like and we always joke that she is just like her grandfather – there is no such thing as a stranger, just a friend they haven’t met yet. Which means that every single kid in the spray park, whether they are 2 or 15, is her friend and playmate. She never discriminates against age, sex, or colour. If you’re willing to play with her, you’re her friend. The world could learn some things from her.
And as I look around me, at the families lounging in the grass, at the vendors selling their wares, at my amazing daughter I feel so grateful for my life.
I am so grateful to my incredible husband (still feels weird saying that!) who works so hard so that I can be home with Maddie until I decide what I want to do with my life. I am so grateful to live in such a beautiful place that still feels like a safe place to raise our daughter. I am so grateful to have 3 beautiful children (2 of them are adults I don’t see nearly often enough!).
I am just grateful.
And happy.
I LOVE macarons! Delicate, sweet, available in any imaginable flavour, and without a doubt, the most beautiful treat in the history of existence!
I have a huge sweet tooth and generally like anything that even resembles sugar. I’m not much of a baker though. I’ve always been the type of person that marches to the beat of my own drum. Not much for rules. Always challenging the norm. You know the type.
The people closest to me (sorry Rex) have their hands full with me some days. If there is a difficult way to do the simplest task, that’s the way I’ll do it.
Every time.
Which is why I don’t bake. You can’t just wing it. You have to measure everything out in precise proportions. And that’s just not what I’m about.
But I am also the type of individual that thrives on a challenge. So about a year ago, I decided it was time to embark on the ultimate challenge – making macarons.
Now I’ve read lots and lots of blog posts about making these delectable little beauties and all of them said that they weren’t for the faint of heart. And I just took that as a personal challenge. “Challenge accepted” has been my personal mantra since I first heard those words from Barney Stinson’s mouth. (And if you need to ask me who Barney Stinson is, we can no longer be friends……just kidding….well, sort of….)
My first attempt at making macarons was actually pretty successful. I even went as far as to grind whole almonds into almond flour first. I no longer do this. I just purchase already ground almond flour, cause I’m lazy like that. I made some berry flavored ones, and then I made some chocolate orange ones. Both were delicious. BUT. My kitchen looked suspiciously like an atomic bomb went off. I swear I used every bowl in my kitchen, and I have A LOT of bowls. I’m getting it down to a fine art now, so it’s only about 50% of the items in my kitchen that need to be washed between batches.
Now, I’m neck deep in this wedding planning and prepping things and I got the bright idea to have macarons. Another one of my personality flaws – once I get something in my head, there’s no going back. If that means I don’t sleep for a week, well, that’s just too damn bad. If it’s in my head, it’s happening. No matter what it takes. See what a peach I am to live with?
Did y’all know I was getting married? Well, I am. SOON! June 3rd to be exact. That’s why I haven’t been posting for a while, I’ve been crafting and planning up a storm. When we get back from our honeymoon you guys are going to be so sick of me. I have so many projects to post about that I made for the wedding, but I was waiting to post them until I got some beautiful professional pictures at the wedding. You just wait, it’s going to be legen-wait for it-dary. See what I started?!
Alright, alright, enough of that, back to the task at hand.
Pretty good for a non-baker, huh? I’m also pretty happy with my photography skills (I know I have a LONG way to go, but I’ve come a long way already!)
Today, I tried 3 different recipes. The first batch I made were the lemon ones found HERE. They turned out so well I will definitely be adding this recipe to my repeat list. They are cute little yellow bundles of sugar. I filled them with lemon curd instead of the lemon buttercream in the recipe but other than that I followed it to the letter. See, I can do it when I want to.
Next I made THESE vanilla bean macarons. I was so excited to make these, I love real vanilla beans but they’re so expensive I only use them for special occasions. It doesn’t get much more special than your wedding day so it seemed an appropriate time to break these bad boys out. And then they were a total flop. I’m talking all-melded-together-to-form-one-macaron. And then they fell. Everything about them was a fail. I’m sure it’s not a problem with the recipe, I’m sure it was entirely user error but I’m struggling to find the will to try this one again. Maybe I’ll just add vanilla beans to a recipe I know I can handle.
The last batch I made today was just a basic French macaron recipe (found HERE). I made this twice, once for the berry ones (that I filled with Orchard Berry jam) and once for the salted caramel ones (that I filled with Dulce Le Leche and a sprinkle of sea salt). Both batches worked out well, although the berry ones I had incorrectly read the recipe and used 2 egg whites instead of 3. I noticed after I had mixed them with the dry ingredients and it was a dry mix. I whipped up another egg white and added it and thought I would see what happened. They turned out but they are EXTREMELY fragile. As in, I broke every single one putting them together. But I’m using them anyway. Don’t judge me!
I still have planned to make some cookies and cream ones (recipe HERE) this evening after the oven is finished with our dinner (stuffed peppers, and they smell amazing!) so I’ll let you know how it goes!
I’ve read a few posts about storing macarons and several people have had good success with freezing them after they are filled so i’m giving it a shot. Because I had to make them more than a week in advance (my schedule is pretty hectic for the next 10 days as you can imagine!) I am opting to freeze them. I am hoping that when I take them out of the freezer in 10 days they are just as beautiful as they are today.
And if they’re not.
Nobody needs to know they existed.
You won’t tell anyone, right?
All in all, I think it was a pretty successful day in the kitchen! I’m pleased with my happy little box of beautiful, dainty confections.
Signs are one of my favorite things to make. No two are ever alike, and it’s a place to really let me personality and mood shine. I have made dozens of signs for customers but, honestly, I don’t think there is a single one hung up anywhere in my house.
It’s not that I don’t love all of them, it’s just, at the moment, I have very little wall space in our house. I’m talking VERY little. There is a 6′ space on our dining room wall, and a 6′ space on our living room wall above our tv.
That’s it.
Above our TV I have hanging these 3 arrows that I made a few years back and I love the accent they bring to our living space. When it’s dark outside and our living room or kitchen lights are on, you can see these 3 arrows from the road. We live smack dab in the middle of town and our living space is on the 2nd storey of a 2 storey house so this is all you can really see from the road, and I don’t know why, but I like that people walking by can see this little piece of art.
In my dining room we have our coffee bar set up on a sideboard I also made a few years ago. I LOVE this space, it’s the first area to get redecorated every season. This giant clock hangs on our deck during the summer months, but during the winter I bring it indoors and decorate with it in here. It’s been really beautiful outside lately, and the forecast looks promising for the foreseeable future but I am hesitant to send it back out there. I just love it in this spot. That being said, I really liked it hanging on our deck as well so we’ll see what I decide. I just know if I take it back outside I will need something here to replace it. But I guess that means I get to go SHOPPING!!
Anyway, that paragraph got away from me. It was supposed to explain why I don’t have any signs hanging on the only available wall space. The clock takes up all of the space so I have no need for a sign, but if/when that baby goes back outside I will have to make a sign to hang there. Something about coffee….
Ohh, sidenote, Rex is putting together a coffee bar for his contractors at the store and he’s recruited me to make a sign for the wall that reads, “First I drink the coffee, then I build the things”. I’m looking forward to it, it will most likely be the sign I use for my next tutorial so stay tuned!
I don’t have any tutorials or details on any of these signs as these are ones from my pre-blogging, pre-instragram, pre-attention-seeking days but I PROMISE I will post some in the not too distant future. Please feel free to comment or message me if you have any questions!
My mini-me just turned 8 and she loves to have treats to take to school to celebrate with her friends. In the past I have done the cupcake thing, but let me tell you, it’s exhausting. I feel the need to outdo myself every year and even though I am no longer working outside of the home, I don’t have the time or energy to compete with myself in the kitchen!
So this year I thought I would try something new.
It was so nice to be able to take them to her class and her be proud to hand them out and still have my sanity. Cupcakes always end up leaving a mess all over the classroom and the kids, so not only was this quick and easy to prepare, it was mess free and easy cleanup for the teacher!
I had originally planned on using golden graham cereal, or small graham cookies shaped like rabbits, but the Animal crackers were on sale so they won!
I mixed the Animal Crackers with a package of Smarties, and half of a bag of miniature marshmallows and then packaged them into snack sized Ziploc bags.
I printed off some quick and easy Avery labels to add to the front of the bags. The labels really needed something to jazz them up but our internet was down for a few days (TORTURE!) so I couldn’t download any cute pictures, but the kids don’t notice anyway!
Easy Peasy!
And the kids LOVED them! (As did the teacher! That’s my number 1 recommendation when making treats to take to class, DON’T FORGET THE TEACHER! They love treats and I can’t think of a single person who deserves a treat in the middle of the school day more!)
And the leftover sauce?
Above our TV I have hanging these 3 arrows that I made a few years back and I love the accent they bring to our living space. When it’s dark outside and our living room or kitchen lights are on, you can see these 3 arrows from the road. We live smack dab in the middle of town and our living space is on the 2nd storey of a 2 storey house so this is all you can really see from the road, and I don’t know why, but I like that people walking by can see this little piece of art.
first area to get redecorated every season. This giant clock hangs on our deck during the summer months, but during the winter I bring it indoors and decorate with it in here. It’s been really beautiful outside lately, and the forecast looks promising for the foreseeable future but I am hesitant to send it back out there. I just love it in this spot. That being said, I really liked it hanging on our deck as well so we’ll see what I decide. I just know if I take it back outside I will need something here to replace it. But I guess that means I get to go SHOPPING!!
I had originally planned on using golden graham cereal, or small graham cookies shaped like rabbits, but the Animal crackers were on sale so they won!
