MMMmmm…

As promised today is cupcake day! O don’t you wish you lived in my spare bedroom? So tonight we went to my sister in laws “in laws” house. (Was that confusing?) They always have big Sunday family dinners. Which I think is adorable with such a big family. And I’m addicted to her rolls. They are to die for, and then you feel like your dying after you regret eating that second not needed one. Anyways there was a cupcake request.

I split the flavors down the middle. Most requested, “Death by Chocolate” a cupcake truly for its own name. Chocolate cake with nutella buttercream with chocolate sprinkles and drizzled in milk chocolate. To die for. Then I thought I would experiment with the other half. ehhhhh not so good.

Apparently the Skor bar did not like being baked. Instead it decided to explode everywhere. But I do not give up. They may not have looked so pretty but they still tasted dang good! So I went ahead with my “Skor a piece of Heaven” cupcakes. Because they were heavenly. And if your going to die from chocolate with the others you might as well get to heaven with these babies. Chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream, crushed Skor bar, drizzled in caramel first and then lightly with milk chocolate. They also had skor baked into them but you couldn’t tell as they just melted and sunk to the bottom and make the tops warp in a not attractive way. But its not about the look its about the taste!

And just when I thought my mayhem of the day was over. My mixer decided it had had enough of frosting making. In fast it tore itself in two. And would not for the life of me go back together. But lucky me because I have a hubby who can figure out anything! We got that pin back in and the mixer in one piece again! O and then the lock didn’t work. Seriously it was not my best day. I now know of my pins and screws and hidden parts of that machine than I thought possible. But have no fear Brandon was here! And did not give up till that thing was brand new again! He saved the cupcake day!

So once we had that up and running again we were back on track. A little crushing of the S bar’s, some melting chocolate and lots of piped tops and there was some beautiful temptations in my little kitchen. I’m not a chocolate fan but those “Death by Chocolates” are one of my favorites. And the “Skor a piece of Heaven” were a close second today. MMM they were an ooey gooey goodness mess. Plus everyone thoroughly enjoyed each bite of either cupcake. And that’s all I care about!

Sweet dreams! (If your dreaming of these!)

Life as it is.

So Ive been bad at posting lately. That’s a big combo with a bunch of stuff. I meant to share a Banana Bread recipe with you. I bought the banana’s. Brandon bought fresh ones and I bought the discount already on their way out banana’s. His are worse than mine already! Mine have not changed at all, thus no Banana Bread recipe for you yet. Soon though I swear.

Then I did actually do some baking. But of all things didn’t take any pictures. Wow that is a rare occurrence. Since if you know me I take pictures of the dogs every time they move. Everything I cook or bake. And every time I can sneak a picture of Brandon without him getting mad. So sorry nothing to blog about those red velvet and cream cheese cupcakes. Though I really think I cracked the code on cinnabon frosting with the new cream cheese recipe! haha. Not a good thing.

Then there was some family stuff. Some happy news and a lot of sad news. And then more sad news. And it never seemed to end. Which is always hard when you are so far away from your family. I cant reach out and do the simplest thing to help. Just a hug. But I got to talk to my sister and my mom and dad today. Lots of laughing and love shared in those calls so I know everything is going to be just fine. Still doesn’t change that I miss and love you though.

So thats it. Normally I am better at excuses but thats all the lame ones today! And hopefully you can look forward to better stuff this week. I’ll be sharing cupcakes tomorrow. And recipes for mac and cheese lasagna. Because anything with kraft dinner in it is amazing. Hopefully some Banana Bread! Those dang things better change soon. And maybe if your lucky even some scrapbooking.

Until then its just another night with my hubby, the dogs, slippers and popcorn!

My Mom is My Hero & Happy Birthday

Every kid is asked at some point in grade school to write about their hero. And most choose mom or dad. I was not a chooser. So I’m pretty sure I wrote about my aunt? But I do have a book that I wrote in at a young age. All my wildest dreams. I remember reading that I thought I was going to be a hair dresser/ phone girl. Apparently I wanted to be both my parents at once. But now Ive turned out to be neither. And maybe that’s for the best. I mean we would have never discovered my amazing cupcake skills if not!

But I wanted to share some stories today. (And pictures because what better ways to share memories for a picture-holic like me.) Being that it is a special birthday. I bet you cant guess who’s. She is not just my mom. (My dad is going to hate this) she is my best friend. (Don’t worry dad you are too. But today is not your day.) I can talk to her about anything. We can laugh about nothing. We can cry at the same song on the radio. We can spend an hour on the phone and not realize its gone by so fast. I’m lucky enough that she visits me as much as she does. Sometimes I think I see her more than some people that live in the same city, let alone country. And I cherish that. The main thing is I love her and nothing can replace her.

My mom is not much taller than me and being that little automatically makes you cute. Plus she has her fair share of blond moments. I could remember more I wasn’t also blond myself. My favorite would be the doughnut ride. But that’s an inside joke and it wouldn’t be anymore if I told you. There is also the Disney coffee, and the sausage. I hope those made you laugh out loud mom. Because I love your laugh. And even more I love your laugh lines. It shows you’ve had an amazing life. And that should be nothing to hide.

My mom is also the one who inspired my love of creativity. Scrapbooking to photography. Home decor to shopping. She is very good at inspiring you to make anything your own. Now half the things in my house are handmade and I wouldn’t want it any other way. But she inspired so much more. Reading, and if you didn’t know I’m the crazy person who sometimes gets so into a book I need to read it all in one sitting. No matter how late it gets. Cheerleading, yup my mom was the one who let me reach those dreams of flying. Sometimes I wish she had pushed just a little harder that last year. I sure do miss it.And of course just being loving person in general. What goes around comes around. That’s what she always said. And she didn’t think it meant the mean things others did would come around to them eventually. She meant if you are a wonderful person wonderful things will happen to you. Yes she did have a lot of sayings. It was like she was a phrase book in high school. “whats meant to be will be,” “a minute on the lips, forever on the hips,” haha she’s not cruel just honest. And there was a million others. And we can laugh about some. And others I know she was telling the truth. She was helping me through every “horrific” high school break up and celebrating every time I was on top of the world.

And though its hard to be apart. I know our relationship never suffers. It grows stronger with each day. Because she is my mom. She will always be there for me. And I will always be there for her. So on this one day a year. I wanted to share how much she means to me. I love you more. Happy Birthday Mom.

Unwritten rules

This sentence is going to make my dad happy. In life you need rules. There I said it, Im no longer the teenager breaking all of them. Of course there is the general ones, wear your seat belt, don’t swim after eating, never give info over the Internet. But those are standard and sometimes standard is boring. So in my life I have some unwritten rules too.

Rule #1

Always, ALWAYS stop and buy lemonade from the kids on the corner.

Every time I see that pitcher of lemonade I have to stop. They are usually so happy and especially nervous. Sometimes I don’t get enough money back. Sometimes I get too much and have to help them out. Some are good like the kid in the next block who seems so be a weekly stand lately haha. And of course I’ve had some where I cant wait to get around the corner to spit it back out. But most importantly its about a good old tradition. I can still remember hanging outside my friend Justine’s house to sell lemonade on a rare summer day in Calgary. And then ripping down to the 7-11 to spend out earnings on penny candy. Nothing replaces childhood happiness so if I can help in any way, especially when its as easy as a dollar of lemonade, who can say no. O this rule applies to girl guide cookies as well!

Rule #2

The shopping cart always gets returned.

I’m not sure why this has always been a rule. Could be because the Safeway near us made you pay a quarter for each cart. As a kid rounding up a couple was an easy bag of penny candy in my hands. (have you noticed I did, maybe still do anything to get my hand on candy?) Anyways it bothers me to no end when people cant walk the ten steps to put their cart back. So when I’m taking mine back I usually grab a couple extras. Brandon even got in the swing of things today when he rounded up a stray one that people were literally driving around to avoid. When did people get so lazy?

Rule #3

Always celebrate with cake!

Anniversary, Birthdays, Christmas, V-day, Mothers day, April fools day, Saturday, Tuesday. Celebrate the big and the little days with cake. Because not everyone will always be there for you, but cake and icing will. Ok but these friends aren’t the nicest to your waist line so maybe don’t celebrate every day with them.

Rule#4

And this is the most important.

Always tell the people you love that you love them.

Nothing is certain in this life. So if you have the chance tell those special people how much you care about them. It may sound cheesy but I try to end every phone call with an I love you. Emails, letters, sometimes even texts. Love is the most important thing in the world so share it. You never know when you wont be able to anymore.

And between all those boring rules and your own unwritten rules. Try to have fun. Live your life. Love yourself.

Have a Happy Monday!

O Hey Remember Me?

I wouldnt blame you if you didnt. But hey life sometimes is more important than a computer. I know, I know, crazy right! So anyways life was a little crazy, my parents were in town, and it was Valentines Day and blogging got away from me!

But Im back! (and hopefully your excited about that) No crafts or fun stuff to share with you guys today. Just some highlights from the last week. But I have some recipes to share and some upcoming projects in the coming days! Yay.

So Vday was pretty calm. Since we normally celebrate a week after. So I was not expecting anything and completely missed my surprise. A set of plates I had mentioned I like too much 2 weeks ago. My mom just casually says “these are sure nice plates, when did you get them?” haha apparently that same minute. Such a sweetie I have. The funny part was that the location he went to was out of the small plates so he wrote that sweet note from my fridge grocery pad list. Again too cute! So for our low key night in I got to make my heart pasta and serve it on my new plates!

And since they dont have any grandbabies of their own. We borrowed my sister in law’s little boys. We soon discovered my dad is just a big kid who also enjoys playing pretend picnic’s. And my mom had her hands full of another little monkey! They really love being around those kids. Because they are just a bunch of big kids!

And on our last day together we decided to get out and have some fun family time. I suggested bowling, since I love it. And then for the third time this year discovered I still have not learned how to bowl. Apparently its pretty comical when I hurl that ten pound ball. Brandon imitated it and I have to say Im awesome. So there was lots of laughs, and many more gutter balls. But all around a perfect way to end the trip!

All in all always great to have family visit. And of course it always goes too fast. So until next time. Love you Miss you and counting down the days.

52 Reasons to Love You

This is my unfinished project. But its perfect for a Vday present. All your going to need is a permanent marker/pen, a deck of card, some protective finish spray, and a little bit of imagination. I made mine for my mom for her birthday in a couple weeks. But since she flies through here tonight I needed it ready early. And since I’ve also been cleaning like mad! haha its my mom after all. Since Ive been busy I havent completely put it together but you will get the idea.

A pack of cards has 52 cards, 52 reminders of love. I wrote down one reason in each card why I love my mom. Funny ones, silly ones, real ones, little ones, big ones. A special little reminder someone can carry with them and pull out on a down moment. Its a great way to make a mini album for someone as a gift. I plan on adding some pictures to the back of some of the cards too. Then put them all on a jump ring and tada you have the perfect gift for someone you care about.

Happy Saturday everyone!

Mini Munchies

So Im writing this knowing I wont have time to share a craft with you today. I had a cupcake order this morning. Which was filled at 5am because my neighbor seems to think the louder his truck is the more the people around him will like him. Not such the case so as a warning if you value your life don’t honk your horn again at 5 am!

Rant done, let me show you the cute mini cakes that went out to a middle school teachers meeting today! Vanilla mini cupcakes with school colors red, blue, and white buttercream. Super cute! I am learning to love mini’s above regular cupcakes because they are just two bites of delicious-ness! Vs. me eating ten big ones…

MMM Yum! Aren’t those cute little cupcakes irresistible ! Those 5 left overs are having a stare down with me. I think Im going to win. Or is it lose if I devour them all?

Felt Fortune Cookies

This has been my favorite project of the “14 days of Valentines” Ive been putting it off because I thought it would be a lot of work. Turns out I was half right. They are time consuming. But so worth it! I mean could they be any cuter!

Its a simple assembly line craft. And you can make it even simpler. Grab some felt (it can be any color, I wanted mine to be a realistic color, but I have seen them in pink and red for a valentine theme too.) A marker, some paper, a cute Chinese take out box and your option between hot glue gun or a needle and thread with sew one snaps. To make your circles you can use any item around your house. I choose a wide mug. I would go a wee bigger with mine next time, but its all about experimenting.

After you cut out all your circles, fold them in half. Here you will choose to either glue your two points together, or do what I did and sew on snaps. I wanted to be able to open mine up and when I was looking at these most of them were glued shut. But I figured no sense in that. Although it would have been easier. I just eyeballed mine after folding it in half. One on each side and then brought them together and they make a fortune cookie!

Write down your special secret message on a little piece of paper. Whether it be a little love note or a special 4 word question. Fortune cookies always make people smile, so make some everlasting one. And even better no calories!

Handmade for Him

So as most of these crafts surrounding Valentines Day are themed with pink and hearts they dont scream manly. But you can still make handmade gift for him. Over the years I have made Brandon quite a few from the heart gifts. He doesn’t care to spend money on himself but I like to have a little something wrapped up for special occasions.

The first gift he ever received was definitely a homemade item. I was visiting him and had no extra money as mine was tied up with a “going to make my own in Europe”(that ended little over a month later, but for the better as he came to get me, maybe it was all because of the amazing gift I made him!) So I got creative and told him he couldn’t come into the living room for an hour. We had just watched Fever Pitch, as he is a die hard Red Sox fan. And I knew where my inspiration was taking me. I already had two permanent markers, and I snuck into his bathroom and stole a roll of toilet paper. Yes toilet paper. See in the movie he has an apartment dedicated to everything Red Sox, except his toilet paper. As every true Red Sox fan wants to wipe his behind with the Yankee’s. So I gave him that gift and seeing his smile and surprise was completely worth the time it took. So draw inspiration from something that is special to your other half, even if it is super silly!

My second handmade for him is a little easier. A coupon book. You’ve seen them everywhere in the stores, but isn’t is better to have one customized. You only need some spare paper and a pen. I also suggest stamps and ink to jazz it up a little. From hugs and kisses to more just for him items, like sitting through an entire football game. (sometimes its painful to fulfill those coupons, I didn’t quite realize how long a football game is.) So have fun with this one!

Basically anything from the heart counts. So make something special for your sweetie. Because its not always about us!

Clothes Pin Frames

I recently was shopping, by that I mean looking at all the pretty things I cant afford to buy. I came across this big frame divided with a cork board, white board and a small corner with three clothes pins to hang messages from. I thought it was such a cute idea, I also thought no sense paying for that when I can make my own! I do this often as shopping is the best inspiration. So I found a frame in the clearance section of the same store for 3 dollars, had some more cute paper laying around and got a huge pack of clothes pins for 1.50 at the grocery store. (I have another project with them in mind too)

So as you guessed this is super easy, cheap and cute! This seems to be the theme of the 14 days of Valentines. Which is good or else my hubby might put a stop to how many crafts are being put together! Anyways here it is. Take your frame, remove the glass cut a section of paper to match the size. Put only the paper back in as you wont need the glass anymore. Take your clothes pins now, if you want you can choose to paint yours as I did to match the frame. When they are dry, glue them to the paper. Tada! your done. Seriously. My best advice would be the bigger the frame the better. I also found that vertical vs horizontal is better, you have just a little more room to hang bigger items.

And if you find you love clothes pin displays so much you may want to head down to Michaels dollar isle this week. I found fun giant clothes pin displays in a range of bright colors. I choose black because its for my bedroom but if you have a bright room or a teenager in the house this would be a cheap and unique display to brighten the room. I love mine!

If you don’t feel like making something but still like the clothes pin look, you can swing down to pier one and pick up there display frame. My mom bought one, when when it wouldn’t fit in her suitcase going home I inherited it! Don’t worry I’m a good daughter and when she got home there was a surprise waiting for her, I had my dad pick one up in Canada and it was waiting for her. What I like best about it is leaving little messages for company when they come to stay, as its in my spare room. Like my photo? Its my only one so “Hi Mom!”