Valentine's Traditions

Do you have any Valentine traditions?

Growing up my Mom always made heart shape shortbread cookies with pink frosting.  Every single year we made these cookies and they're always delicious so it seemed only natural that I would carry this on once I left home.  I haven't been as consistent and I always make sugar cookies instead of shortbread but for the most part I've made us heart shape cookies with pink icing.

This year I had a realization though... every year I dread making said cookies and I put it off longer and longer, I didn't even make them last year.  Why am I forcing myself to follow a tradition I don't even enjoy.  So I've decided no more cookies.  We may not eat the same thing every Valentine's Day but I will always make something delicious.  I planned on making cupcakes this year but in the end settled on this, which is in my fridge now.  I'm thinking it's a decision I will not be regretting.

Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie Trifle


Let me break it down for you, starting from the bottom.  A layer of cut up brownies, a peanut butter/cream cheese mixture, chocolate pudding (I used chocolate mousse), whipped cream, and chopped up mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  Repeat.  Drool.

I did make one small change to the peanut butter layer of the trifle.   I make this Peanut Butter Toblerone cheesecake and every time I make it I realize it's the best thing I've ever eaten.  I've never made it for anyone that didn't love it so instead of their peanut butter layer I used the cheesecake (minus the Toblerone) for mine, it's a small change though, their's was very similar.

Also there is no way mine is as pretty.  The only clear dish I have is huge and I wanted a 3 family size so mine is much smaller and I definitely skipped the piped on whipped cream but it will be equally as delicious.

Are you eating anything delicious today?

Boy's Baby Booties

I have three more pairs cut out and waiting to be sewn together but I thought I'd show you what I finished, so cute for a little man hey?

 Linking To Monday - C.R.A.F.T., Making The World Cuter, Polly Want a Crafter, Simpsonized Crafts, Sugar Bee Crafts, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The Girl Creative   Tuesday - All Things Related, Creative Itch, Domestically Speaking, It's Sew for You,  Ladybug Blessings, Sassy Sites, Today's Creative Blog, This & That, Topsy Turvy    Wednesday - Blue Cricket Design, Me and My Bucket   Thursday - A Glimpse Inside,  House of Hepworth, It's Sew Stinkin Cute, Lemon Tree Creations,  Somewhat Simple, The Train to Crazy, What Allie's Making Now   Friday - Creation Corner, Finding Fabulous, Tatertots & Jello, The CrEaTiVe CraTe

Girl's Baby Booties

I discovered this great pattern from Make It and Love It back when Catie was too old to wear them.  I loved them but just couldn't justify buying them when I had no reason to make them.  Then not too long ago she had a sale, both the boy and girl shoes were on sale for $3 and I figured this was the perfect opportunity so I bought them both.  I still can't make them for Catie but I do have two nieces/nephews on the way so if nothing else they'll make a great gift.

I've sort of been addicted to these little shoes, they're a quick sewing project with a real quick payoff.  The combinations and embellishments are endless and they use up scraps.  The pattern lets you make larger sizes as well but I stuck to the 0-3 months and the 3-6 months, after that I wanted Catie to wear real shoes.

On a separate note I'd just like to complain for a minute... I've never known a house that gets more terrible light than mine.  I tried to take these outside to photograph and they blew away so I brought them in and took some crummy shots, it's the best I could do.

I have some cute boy shoes to show you as well but we'll do that another day.

Linking To Monday - C.R.A.F.T., Making The World Cuter, Polly Want a Crafter, Simpsonized Crafts, Sugar Bee Crafts, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The Girl Creative   Tuesday - All Things Related, Creative Itch, Domestically Speaking, It's Sew for You,  Ladybug Blessings, Sassy Sites, Today's Creative Blog, This & That, Topsy Turvy    Wednesday - Blue Cricket Design, Me and My Bucket   Thursday - A Glimpse Inside,  House of Hepworth, It's Sew Stinkin Cute, Lemon Tree Creations,  Somewhat Simple, The Train to Crazy, What Allie's Making Now   Friday - Creation Corner, Finding Fabulous, Tatertots & Jello, The CrEaTiVe CraTe

What Catie Wore Wednesday? #66

I know, I've been missing.  I haven't been doing much including taking pictures of Catie.  I have two really horrible photos to share with you today to prove how tough she can be.

At least you can see her face in this photo.

She has my mitten on her foot and she was wearing her funny toque, too bad she wouldn't let Brad catch of picture of it, plus she wasn't wearing pants, only underwear so maybe the hiding was for the best.

Two really bad photos, an apartment with terrible light... I could promise to do better but I'm pretty sure I won't follow through on that promise.

Bathtub Vinyl

Check it out, an actual blog post.  Don't expect this to be a trend though, as much as I wish this was the first of many posts sadly it's just the only for a while.  I can't shake this creative funk.

You can tell blogging has been light around here because it's been over two weeks since Christmas and I still haven't mentioned here that I got an incredible gift this year.  My sister-in-law organized with everyone to get me my very own Silhouette.  I know I haven't shown any evidence on the blog here but I'm so thrilled with this present.  I have a list of projects in my head waiting to be made but they all involve gathering supplies and it's super cold out.  I did come across one today on Pinterest that I thought was cute and took no time to put together.

I put this on the bathtub in our guest bathroom, the one that Catie uses and although these photos make it look crooked it really is on straight (I think).

It was exciting to cut my very first vinyl, the opportunities are endless if I would just go out and get some darn supplies.

What Catie Wore Wednesday #65

Better late than not at all right?

Playing in the hallway

Playing Peek a Boo on the couch with Daddy

For Christmas we got Catie some Elmo toothpaste and a new toothbrush and we can't believe how much she loves the thing.  She wants to brush her teeth many times a day which would be awesome if it weren't so annoying.  At least they're getting brushed though.  You can see her shirt is really wet, that comes from the spitting part, she's not so good at hitting the sink.

Those are all the photos I took this week but I thought I'd throw in a bonus.  Every year my sister in law gives us a CD of all the photos she's taken over the year, they're old but cute so I thought I'd pull out a few to share today.

Love the round cheeks

Look at how short her hair is

This was on our trip to Calaway Park, moments later she started crying because Gwen insisted on holding her hand and Catie didn't like it.  It was very sad to see her go around and around while sobbing.

I think this was on her birthday in September

Eating cake and ice cream, who needs a spoon?

And lastly a photo from the annual caroling party

Pinterest Food Roundup

Thanks to Pinterest we've been eating some especially delicious foods lately and I thought it was time to share a list of food I've been making .

We'll start with the Autumn Chopped Salad

I actually made a salad very similar to this before I saw the pin but they made a couple changes I was intrigued by.  My salad was crisp lettuce, toasted pecans, craisens, Parmesan, feta cheese and a little poppy seed dressing to finish it off.  They skipped the Parmesan but they added pears, bacon and a splash of balsamic vinaigrette.   Now the bacon I thought was unnecessary but the pears and vinaigrette were both salad changing and definitely made it into the usual recipe.  This makes a delicious dinner and would be great at a potluck.

Jalapeno Poppers
Who doesn't love jalapeno poppers?

I'm not super wild about the store bought ones though, something about the breading.  These looked so yummy I thought I'd try them and they did not disappoint, I'd make them again in a heartbeat.  You simply take Pillsbury crescent rolls, cut each one in half and then put a blob of cream cheese, a chunk of a jalapeno and top with a bit of cooked bacon.  Fold them up and bake.  I made one change that I recommend though, these poppers only cook for 10 to 15 minutes which to me meant I was going to have crunchy jalapenos and sure enough someone mentioned that in the comments.  Before I cut up my peppers I threw them in the oven to bake until they were slightly tender.  Also, again both Brad and I thought the bacon was in the way here.  We didn't like the texture of it and I would skip it next time.  Now that's two recipes in a row where I've nixed the bacon so let me just mention that I do really love bacon I just don't think it's needs to be thrown into just anything.

Skinny Baked Potato Soup

This isn't actually a recipe that I made but a friend of mine did and it was awesome.  It uses a whole head of cauliflower to make it a little better for you and I loved it.

Braided Spaghetti Bread

This recipe was actually emailed to me, I didn't find it on Pinterest but of course it's there.  It was so good it deserves two pictures.  You take bread dough and roll it out like you would cinnamon rolls, spread it with garlic olive oil (or butter).  In the centre lay some spaghetti in sauce, top with mozzarella cheese and braid it up.  This was awesome.  Garlic bread and spaghetti together, so good.  Make it tonight.

Better than Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana

Everyone loves the Olive Garden right?  What's not to love so most of you have probably had their Zuppa Toscana soup.  It's a soup with potatoes, sausage and kale among other things.

I'll be the first to admit that this soup is not good for you but it was so amazing we couldn't stop raving about it.  I served it with crusty baguette and don't you dare skip the bread, it was the best part.  Now as much as we loved this soup I would make some changes next time, it had far too much sausage, I'd use half the amount and add extra potatoes.  Also, I could have used more kale so I'll make those changes next time as there will certainly be a next time.

Kung Pao Ramen Noodles

I watched this movie not that long ago called Ramen Girl, now don't rush out and watch it because it really wasn't very good but the entire movie is about the process of making ramen which made me crave it something fierce.  I did a quick Pinterest search and found a bunch of yummy looking variations and this was the one I started with.  It was awesome and easy.

White Chicken Enchiladas

For Christmas dinner this year my Mother in law made white enchiladas and I loved them and wanted more and then I came across this recipe which I loved since it doesn't include any cream of anything soup.  I do think her amounts are a little off though, there's no way her recipe called for enough cheese, I think I doubled it and I didn't fill nearly as many tortillas as she said too.  Also I discovered that I hate leftover enchiladas so next time I'd make a teeny tiny pan of these.  They were awesome the first night though.

Chicken Broccoli Supreme

Here's another no cream of anything soup. It can be tough to find casseroles that don't use a can of nasty stuff but this is a good one.  Now not good for you at all as it's topped with buttered Ritz crackers but it's super yummy and pretty.

Cheesy Bacon Pull Apart Bread

While I was down at my sister's house we went to a potluck so I made this and it was delicious and gone quickly.  Just don't make mistake, make sure your rolls don't thaw too much before you use them.  Mine was much more difficult to make than it should have been.

Pizza Bites

Oh how I love these.  A tiny ball of dough with two slices of pepperoni and a square of mozzarella tucked inside.  You stick them in a pie plate and serve with yummy sauce for dipping, so delicious.

Buffalo Chicken Bites

One last recipe and these I actually haven't tried yet, they're on the menu for dinner tonight and I have high hopes.


So there you have it a handful of tried and tested really delicious meals.  You should incorporate some into your week.  I don't know where you live but today where I live it's a perfect day for Zuppa Toscana.

2012 Resolutions

I wasn't going to make any this year, I just felt like I couldn't be bothered but a couple seemed to come up on their own so here they are...

1. Brad and I watch too much tv.  It's what we do together and really, there are so many better things we could be doing so one night a week (probably Monday), we'll turn off the TV for the evening.  We love to play games so it'll be fun to do that again and I look forward to finding other ways to enjoy each others company.
2. We live on a pretty tight budget and we've been doing okay but Christmas always puts you over.  We didn't go crazy but we want to tighten back up and get back on track so for the next two weeks we've vowed to not spend money on anything unnecessary.  This does mean that the couple of crafts I had on the go will have to be put on hold meaning you'll get some wordy posts and not crafts posts for a bit.
3. Come up with more activities for Catie to do and spend less time watching movies.  We've fallen into some bad habits but today was much better, I made play dough and then we made brownies together.
4. There's a weight related goal here too but I'm not ready to talk about it yet, that'll come later.

So that's it, nothing major just little goals but I think they're good.

I hope you've made some good goals and are having a great start to your new year.

What Catie Wore Wednesday #64

New tights from Grandma

Catie often has horsie rides with Daddy and today it was Daddy's turn.  She even reared up and neighed just like Daddy does.

These cans were part of her Christmas present and she loves to stack them.  Today she invented a new game with Daddy.

We went to a play place with Bryn the other day and they loved the bouncy house

This really crummy horse merry go round cost $2.00!  We lucked out and walked past it while two other girls had actually payed for it so we threw her on quick.  She loved it.

10 Favourite Posts of 2011

I thought I'd do the standard blog post re-capping my 10 favourite projects from last year.  I've ranked them 1-10, 1 being the project I'm the happiest with.

Number 10

Sweater to Sweater Dress

This dress was so quick to make and turned out so great.

Number 9

Damask High Chair Re-Cover

This high chair was really difficult.  I used vinyl which meant no pins and the piping was big and really stiff.  I was sure I'd never work on another one but all it took to love this project was finishing.  It looked so much better than the origianl.

Number 8

High Chair Re-Cover Take 2

This time I didn't use the vinyl and there wasn't any large piping so this project was surprisingly quick and awesome.

Number 7

Quiet Book

I made a lot of different pages, a bunch of scripture ones and Catie uses them every single Sunday.  A ton of work but worth it.

Number 6

Faux Chenille Blanket Take 2

The rich colours mixed with the super soft flannel on the back made me want to cuddle up with this myself.  It looked perfect in the bassinet.

Number 5

Faux Chenille Blanket

My first chenille blanket and I was hooked.  I've made two others since but this one is still my favourite.  I'd love to make more I just need people to have babies so I can have a reason to make more.

Number 4

Re-Covered Bassinet

This was a huge project that used a ridiculous amount of fabric and was far more expensive than I expected but it was a huge transformation and even though I cursed making all those stupid pleats they turned out exactly how I wanted them to.

Number 3

Men's Shirt to Baby Blanket

I'm sad to tell you that this blanket is still sitting in my closet.  There haven't been any cute little babies born that needed this blanket.  The minky is so soft and the t-shirt material is well worn, part of me wishes I had my own baby boy to wrap him in.

Number 2

Jewelery Holder

My second most popular post ever.  17,000 page views prove that I'm not the only one that needed an easy way to hang earrings and necklaces.

Number 1 

Make-up Magnet Board

I think it's pretty obvious that this is the most successful project I've ever done.  With almost 320,000 page views this project has made me a little famous in this online community and almost a year later I still love using mine every morning.  I'm pretty sure if shipping weren't so ridiculous I could make a full time business selling these.