Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Chevron Ribbon Card

When's the last time you had a birthday party for yourself? Why do we just reserve them for the kids only?
I'm thinking that adults have far too few birthday parties. Shouldn't we celebrate each other's lives & achievements as well? 
I say yes! 

If I was to throw myself a birthday party, I think I would have a chevron theme like this chevron ribbon card.




It's full of my favourite things... all my favourite colours, resin flowers, crochet flowers, & of course CHEVRON!



Products used:
  • Cardstock - Michael's
  • Chevron ribbon - American Crafts
  • Resin flowers - Michael's
  • Crochet flowers - Michael's
  • Happy birthday sticker - American Crafts
  • Corner punch - EK Success

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Monday, July 29, 2013

Rhubarb Muffins with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Topping


Rhubarb is something that grows strong in the garden all spring & summer long.
In fact, it's the first perennial up in the spring & one of the last things to fade in the fall. 
I get so much from my four plants, I usually use it all to make jam in the fall.

This summer, I wanted to challenge myself to use some of the vast quantities of rhubarb that I get from the garden & make some other recipes with it. 

This is the first one that I made this summer & let me tell you. Go. Make. These. Muffins.

The sweetness of the sugar cinnamon topping paired with the sourness of the rhubarb is such a wonderful combination!






Rhubarb Muffins with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Topping
makes 12 muffins

Muffins:
1/2 cup sour cream (low fat or fat-free works too!)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 1/3 cup flour
1 cup diced rhubarb
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Topping:
1/4 brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. melted butter

To make the muffins: 

Preheat oven to 350ยบ F.

Blend together sour cream, oil & egg. Set aside. In another bowl, stir remaining ingredients together & combine with sour cream mixture. Mix just until moistened. Fill muffins cups 2/3 full. 

To make topping:
Combine all ingredients & spoon onto each muffin. Bake for 25-30 minutes.




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Friday, July 26, 2013

Insta-Friday #27


Hey! It's another Insta-Friday!

We started last weekend by taking a trip to Emerald Lake, Saskatchewan. 

As soon as we got there, we set up camp & went for a walk down to the lake just in time to catch the sunset.



The beauty of going to "the" lake - almost any lake in Saskatchewan, I dare say is the character of the cabins surrounding it. There were a lot of old school touches & plastic patio lanterns. These mossy steps let up to one such cabin. I love it!




Well, we may be roughing it, but we can at least do it in style, right? 
A plastic tablecloth in a fun pattern - from the grocery store, no less - & a little bouquet of wild flowers in a makeshift water bottle vase added a little touch of class to our tenting site.

Audrey asked if she could go for a little walk nearby our site & she came back with the flowers. 
How sweet!




Our Saturday was a little on the cool side, but warm enough that the kids wanted to go swimming for a bit in the lake & they spent a LOT of time at the playground. Vast quantities of bacon & s'mores we're consumed over that 2 day period.




We were about 5 minutes from arriving at the lake & I realized that I had forgotten to pack Audrey's bathing suit - Aaaaah!

She was a great sport & just wore her leggings & a t-shirt in the water with no complaints.




Okay, Saturday night. This is where the weekend takes a turn for the worse. As I wrote on Instagram...

"So our camping trip didn't exactly end the way we wanted it to: last night there was a very loud storm that kept us up almost all night. I got *maybe* 2 hours of sleep. No one was sleeping & we didn't feel like spending the day in the rain, so as soon as it was light enough - 5:00 a.m. - we packed up camp & hightailed it home. James was starting to nod off, so we stopped at this cute vintage diner so I could take over the driving. Sadly the diner wasn't open yet = no coffee. But hey, I got this photo. Half an hour later, a round of coffee (juice for the kids) & muffins were had & I managed to stay awake enough to get us home. The car is unpacked, I'm showered & no longer feel like a greasy, stinky hippy, the first load of laundry is in & I'm going to bed! The end."

When we go camping, I insist that there be a place for me to take a shower. I must shower everyday. On Saturday morning, James made a remark about me not being able to make it for one day without a shower, so of course I felt like I had to prove him wrong. I did it, but I felt downright nasty by nightfall. 
Hence the shower comment above. I no longer feel the need to prove that I can do it. Being clean is much better.

I've got to go back to that diner when they're open - it looked so cool. They even had an antique shop! 




After recovering from our less-than-perfect-but-okay weekend, we got back into the routine of summer, which for me & the kids meant another week of swimming lessons & having fun outside.

This scrunchy little nose gets me every time!




We got our first real harvest of the summer from the garden this week. Lots of fresh lettuce & peas with a few carrots & cherry tomatoes thrown in.




Spending 10 mornings at the pool made me realize that I really, REALLY like blue skies & water. It can be a pool, a lake, the ocean. It refreshes me without even having to go in.
It reminds me of Psalm 23: He leads me beside the still waters...
I can really relate to that. That King David sure knew what he was talking about.




I got a bit of creative time in this week by whittling away at a card order. 




My latest thrift store makeover: the yellow chalkboard now has a place of honour with some of my milk glass in the front entryway.




Almost done with this round of swimming lessons. The other day, Parker's class started learning how to dive. It was mostly a lesson in trying not to belly flop. Funny stuff.




I'm still on my road to getting healthy - I've had a pretty good week except for the camping eats on the weekend that were less than ideal health food. I've managed to work out 3 times this week & I am making better food choices. This was lunch on Thursday.




This photo is actually from the weekend at the lake, but I just posted it yesterday. 

Beauty really is in the little things. There are little pockets of it everywhere. 
You just have to keep your eyes open.



Keep your eyes open for the beauty around you today.


Here's to another great week! 

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Thursday, July 25, 2013

Easy Robot Card

Need a birthday card for a special birthday boy? 

I've got something fun & simple for you!



1) Start with some kraft cardstock, cut to card sizing
2) Mat with a plaid patterned paper
3) Cut out a robot from patterned paper & mount with foam dots
4) Apply a sentiment sticker

Done!




Supplies used:
  • Kraft cardstock - Michael's
  • Patterned paper - Cosmo Cricket (Plaid) & Kaisercraft (Robot)
  • Sentiment sticker - Karen Foster Designs

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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Thrifty Yellow Chalkboard





Several weeks ago, I shared with you the day I gathered all my spray painting projects & got them all done at once. 




I didn't quite finish this project that day because I wanted to paint the inside with some chalkboard paint. Well, I've finished it at last & given it a place of honour in our front entry. 




The frame was from a trip to the thrifty earlier this spring. It started out being ugly brown faux wood. 
I think it's actually plastic. 



A few coats of yellow spray paint - Krylon Bright Idea - and painting glass with chalkboard paint & it has a new lease on life! 


I also tried my hand at a little chalkboard art/doodle. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! 





What are some of the summer projects you're working on?

Thanks for reading. If you like what you see here on Silver Boxes, I'd love it if you would become a follower on Google Friend Connect, subscribe by email (sign up on the right sidebar), 
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