Crafty Goodness

Yesterday my daughters and I

gathered around the table
with a whole bunch of craft 'stuff'

'Stuff' that would soon be made
into pretty things.

I let them glue
and color
and stick stickers
and tie
and bend pipe cleaners
and color
and pom-pom
and thread beads
until their little hearts were content.

After they had lost interest
(which, to my surprise,
was much earlier than I had anticipated!)
I started creating these
turquoise Christmas trees.

How festive!

Close up.

They are a pretty decoration in our living room now.
I used foam cones, wrapped yarn around them,
applied green & red buttons with the glue gun,
and created a pipe cleaner star and
used pom-poms to top the other 2 trees.
It was my first time working with yarn. FUN!

Then we made some clips.
We were hoping to give them away as
little gifts this Christmas, but I used the
wrong kind of glue and
the buttons pop off very easily :(
Sigh. Better luck next time.

Madelyn's 3rd birthday is coming up
later this month
and I got started on some birthday invites.
I hope you can tell that those are owls ;)
I was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest (here)
But I made my own version of it.
Madelyn was pleased as punch!

Lots of fun was had,
lots of messes were made,
and can't wait to be more intentional
about craft times in the future!

Fall Baking

My mom-in-law finished canning a batch of pumpkin yesterday and she had 1 1/2 cups left over. She lovingly shared that 1 1/2 cups of fresh pumpkin-y goodness with me and this afternoon I did some baking. There is just nothing like baking with fresh pumpkin...SO YUMMY! I'd love to share the recipe I used (I found it here) I doubled the recipe and it made about 50 mini muffins.

Pumpkin Spice Mini Muffins

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice (I omitted this)

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 of a medium sized banana, mashed

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup canned plain pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

1/2 cup skim milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices in a large bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together mashed banana, vegetable oil, brown sugar, vanilla extract, pumpkin and skim milk until blended well.

3. Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Do not overmix. Spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick spray and fill the cups to the top. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

4. When muffins are cool enough to handle, dip the tops in the melted butter, then roll in cinnamon sugar.

To me, these tasted an awful like those mini-donuts
that you can buy at festivals & carnivals!
And, because they are 'mini' you can eat
2 or 3 (or 4!) and not feel guilty ;)

Rating: 10/10
A complete (and delicious) success!
~~~~~~~~~
PS - I found the Candy Corn prop in photo #1 on the front page of Etsy one day. I couldn't resist them! Click HERE to enjoy them yourself!!

How Button Flower Hats Came To Be

Today was the perfect morning.
It looked cold outside,
so my daughters & I cozy-ied up
with some paper, glue & buttons.
What a big mess it made.
But their doors now have
their names on them :)
And the bigger the mess,
the more the fun, right?!

Suddenly I had an idea.
So I spent all afternoon making
the first of their kind...

...introducing Ready-to-Ship
Button Flower Hats!

I just listed them in my Etsy Shop,
and I hope you like them!

Bread Maker Bread

Part of my birthday gift from my husband was a bread maker! I've always wanted one! :) I finally got a chance to try it out this afternoon. I always buy whole wheat bread, and 'white' bread is non-existent in our house, but I wanted to start with something 'easy', and so I used the white bread recipe found in the booklet that came with the machine. It turned out SO good!!

My daughters LOVED it! I put a thin layer of Saskatoon Jam on for them (we picked the berries earlier this summer and made homemade jam, mmm) and they each feasted on the fresh bread for their snack before bed. Get this...my daughters NEVER eat their crusts. But this evening one of them said this "I'm going to save my crust for the last part because it's the best!" and "mmmmm I love the crust Mom". My jaw dropped to the floor! So...here is the recipe I used. I'm excited to try many other 'healthier' recipes, but this was a good start!

Bread Maker White Bread

2 cups Water (80 - 90 degrees)
4 tbsp Butter or Margarine, cut into pieces
2 1/4 tsp Salt
4 tbsp Dry Milk Powder
1 tbsp Sugar
5 1/2 cups White Flour
1 1/4 tsp Instant Yeast

1. Measure ingredients into bread pan, in the order listed.
2.Insert bread pan securely into unit; close lid.
3. Select "White" setting & appropriate loaf size (3lbs) and desired color (light, medium, dark)
4. Press Start button.
5. Once bread is done, use pot holders to remove the pan from the unit. Carefully remove bread and turn right side up.
6. Allow bread to cool on wire rack until ready to serve (at least 20 minutes)
7. Enjoy!!

Two Favorites

I am LOVING the asphalt hat color for this fall.
SO sweet!
And looks great for boys OR girls.
Recently I have done a 'medium' pink name
and a black name on these hats
and I think both of them are my new favorites :)
You can get your own HERE
along with many other creations,
100% Calorie Free.

Pinterest Project

I was inspired by a something I saw on Pinterest and transformed an old ugly frame into a fun chalkboard. I forgot to take 'before' pictures (ARGH!) but trust me, it was old & ugly.

This was my first attempt at using spray paint, and it was trickier than I thought it would be! I quickly realized that 2 thin coats are better than 1 thick coat and so I tried to be patient while I waited for the paint to dry.





I also gave these cute little owls a quick spray, as they were in need of a facelift (oops, AGAIN forgot to take 'before' pics!

After the paint was dry, I took some sandpaper
and gave the frame some character.

Then I prettied it up with some of my handmade flowers.

I don't know if chalkboard paint is really meant for glass (does anyone know?) but after 3 coats I had a fairly smooth surface of black. Perhaps I didn't use the right brush...I just used one of those cheap foamy brushes and the paint didn't seem to go on very well.

But, in the end I was happy with the finished product :) It was exactly what I had in mind. Today was my daughters 1st day of Grade 1. I want her to write her name and the grade she is going into each year, and it will be fun to see how her hand writing changes! And...here are a few more pictures that I snapped this morning. Enjoy!





Hailey Mercedez.
All ready for Grade 1!










I am thrilled that my daughters like owls :)
Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

Showing her sisters what's in her lunch kit!

My oldest daughter & I. It will sure be a change not having her around all day. While some other Mom may be wiping their tears or trying to hide their watery eyes, today I am happy. Happy that my daughter gets to experience another year of learning. Happy that she is healthy enough to enjoy life at school. Happy that she loves learning! Happy that we have such a good school for her to attend. Just plain happy.
I love you Hailey!

Birthday Sale!!

It's my 29th birthday tomorrow
(Sept 4th!) and to celebrate,
I am putting two of my favorite knot hats
ON SALE for 29% off!

For this first hat,

seen here modeled by the sweet Clara,
you choose the hat color,
heart color and
the color for the name!
For more info, see Etsy listing HERE.

And, the second hat ON SALE
for 29% off is seen here,
modeled by handsome little Silas!
You choose the hat color, name,
and thread color for the name.
Check out all 11 hat colors HERE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These are the lowest prices
these hats have EVER been!
Tell your friends! :)
This sale will only be up
until midnight on Sept.4th!

Madelyn's Room

Madelyn's room is a pretty shade of purple,
Sarah Richardson's 'dusk' to be exact
(remember this, I ♥ Sarah Richardson?!)
and the ceiling is 'oyster',
from that same palette.

I love special, personal touches
and the quilt on her bed is just that.
It was lovingly made by Grammy Jo.
I think it keeps the room fun,
while the chandelier adds class.

Her pillow case shows
another personal touch :)
along with a handmade doll.

Here is Madda looking out her window.
I think she forgot that she had one,
as I have had the black out curtains
closed for weeks now.
(hey, they helped her sleep past 6:30am
on the bright sunny summer mornings!)

There's a little peek of the window.

And, a close-up of the curtains.
Yep, you may recognize
that fabric as I sometimes
use the scraps in
my Cotton Cupcake shoppe (as in here or maybe here)

And here's a peek into
Ms.Madelyn's spacious closet.
So much space for so many little clothes!

I have lots of plans for her bare walls,
but 6 little framed owls do reside
on one of the walls.
I found some cheap decals at Kohl's
and stuck them in Ikea frames.
I love the clean & crisp look
of the white frames and how
the owls are bursting with color.
I'm glad she likes owls
just like her Momma!
She even wants an owl birthday party
when she turns 3 in November! YAY!

Pink Sweet Pea

See this hat?

(Modeled by the
sweet Jadyn!)

This is what happens when someone
likes the sweet pea hat,
but thinks she would like it even more
if it were in shades of pink!
If you have a custom order or special request,
I'll all ears! cottoncupcake@gmail.com

Bedroom

After this tour of my entrance,
some people have been asking
to see more of my house.
Here is a sneak peek of the master bedroom.
(unfortunately the chair wasn't quite right
for the space and I had to return it)
I have lots of ideas for our bedroom,
as it's still quite bare.
But hopefully the ideas I have will
come to life in the next few months!

What's For Supper?

(image from www.melskitchencafe.com)

Just made these for supper.
Oh.My.Goodness.Yum.
Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps
is what this dish is called,
and I added guacamole
& a little sour cream to the side.
Thanks once again to pinterest for
the brilliant food idea.

My Workspace

We moved into our new house

almost 5 months ago.
Along with our new house,
came a new workshop!


I just hung this
yellow clock today,
so I figured it was time
for some pictures.

This window is one of 4 that brings such
beautiful natural light.
My new workshop is a far cry from the
dimly-lit basement that I used to work out of.
I am still pinching myself,
hoping that this is for real :)

As a house warming gift,
a few of my
sweet friends
gifted me with
this awesome sign!
I love it!!
And it's handy, too.






Did you notice the paper on the clip on the above pic said "hang chalkboard"? That was taken back in June. Here's the hanging chalkboard. It feels good to accomplish things on of the 'to-do' list :)

I purchased this neat
little organizer at Michaels.
The plain white backing just
wasn't cutting it for me,
so I added a fabric piece to the back.
I forgot to take 'before & after' pics,
but trust me -- much better!

My lovely business cards,
thanks to the lovely Kathy
at The Modern Polkadot.

Here is my packaging station.
It doesn't always look this neat & tidy,
but I found a sign that said:
"Creativity is Messy, and I am very creative"
HA! Love that!

A few of my 300+
spools of thread :)
I heart color.

Window ledge,
with a valuable reminder.

Buttons,
lovingly sorted
by my daughter
Hailey :)

Next up,
making these jars even prettier
by adding some ribbon to the lids.
That's a winter project though :)