November Photo Challenge

After doing last month's photo challenge & enjoying it so much, I went on the search for a challenge for November.

But... I couldn't find one that I really liked, so I made one of my own!

I'll be using Instagram for my photos if you'd like to follow along (Search the name StephRichy on Instagram). You can leave me a comment with your Instagram name & we can do this challenge together! 

I'll also be posting my daily photo on my Facebook page. Come on over!

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), 

or follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. 

And please leave a comment when you do so I know who my new friends are! :)

Let's rock this November!

Check out the great parties I link up to!

October Wrap-Up

  What a whirl wind this month has been! At the beginning of the month, I joined a photo-a-day challenge with some friends. It was so fun! I used my phone camera & I edited with instagram (follow me at stephrichy if you'd like) to make things easy. If you've been following me on Facebook, you've likely already seen some of them.

  Here's this month's photo-a-day recap:

1. Fall
2. Leaves
3. Bubbles
4. Stairs
5. Mirror
6. Straw
7. Water
8. Peek-a-boo
9. Something Purple
10. A Light In The Dark
11. Laughter
12. Candy
13. #13
14. Hallway
15. Pumpkins
16. Something Black
17. A Stranger
18. Stars
19. Doorway
20. Signs
21. I Ate This
22. I Am Here
23. Shoot From The Hip
24. Decorations
25. Makeup
26. Moon
27. Scar
28. Something That Scares Me
29. Panic
30. Broken
31. Spooky

I really enjoyed getting creative & brushing off some of my old photography skills. 

On to November (which I'll be posting about later today)!

Enjoy your day!

Happy Birthday Card {Cake & Party Included}

  What a busy month this has been! My son has started playing basketball which means practices twice a week as well as a game every Saturday. We've had snow for the last week now which adds some extra travel & prep time every time we need to leave the house. I'm also prepping for a craft show next week. October has been busy, but good!

I'm using the very last of my "For The Record" collection from Echo Park. Only bits & pieces left now.

Products used:

• Cardstock - Michaels
• Patterned Paper & stickers - Echo Park
• Brown marker
• Ink - Stampin' Up!
• Embroidery Floss

Thanks for reading, friends!

Enjoy your day!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins - Delicious & Low Fat!

  Confession: I like to bake from scratch. I don't like to use mixes unless I have to. I know, I know. Most of you are likely doing a facepalm thinking, "WHAT?!"  But hey, don't judge. ;)

  It's cheaper in the long run & I like knowing what's going into my food & not having all the "extras" that I can't pronounce. Can I get a witness?

  I have two favourite from-scratch pumpkin muffin recipes & this is one of them! It's low fat, has extra veggies snuck in, & is packed with yummy fall flavour!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

makes 12

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup wheat bran

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. allspice or cloves

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup pureed pumpkin (canned or pureed from your baked fall pumpkins)

1/4 cup shredded carrots

1/2 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup honey

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 375º. Spray muffin tin with non-stick spray & set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients - flour, wheat bran, baking powder, spices, & salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all remaining ingredients - pumpkin, carrots, buttermilk, honey, butter, egg, & vanilla. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture & stir just until moistened. Batter will be thick.

Divide batter among 12 muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in centre of muffin comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan & let cool on a wire rack. 

What are some of your favourite from-scratch baking recipes? I'd love to hear about them!

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), 

or follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. 

And please leave a comment when you do so I know who my new friends are! :)

Enjoy your day!

Check out the great parties I link up to!

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Pass It One Project - And a chance for you to participate!

  Several months ago (I'm so behind on this!), my bloggy friend, Amy from One Artsy Mama asked me if I would like to participate in the "Pass It On Project".  As soon as I heard the details I was on board! 

  Here's how it works:

  The person who invited you to participate (Amy, in my case), sends you two handmade items. One is for you to keep, the other is to give away to a friend.

  Then, you choose two bloggy friends who would like to participate & send them two handmade items, which they will keep (the first item) & give away (the second).

  When that's all done, you blog about it & have a little show & tell about what you got & what you passed on. 

  Amy sent me these adorable fabric bracelets:

I kept the grey one that I'm wearing (and wear a lot!) & gave the turquoise one to my friend, Jennifer. 

For my passing on, I gave Mandy @ This Girl's Life some of these felt pinwheel gift toppers...

As well as throwing in a little bonus - some thanksgiving/fall place cards.

If you're wondering where the second person in the project comes in, that's where I need your help! 

I contacted several other lovely bloggy friends, but none of them were able to participate. :( 

So...

If you are:

1) A blogger

2) Crafty

3) And want to participate

Let me know by email or just leave a comment! I'd love to send you some of these goodies too!!

I'll randomly pick a friend based on the response I got on Friday!

Chalkboard Verse Art

So, chalkboard art is still a huge trend.

After finding this free chalkboard background recently, I was itching to create some "art" with it.

I chose a favourite verse - Proverbs 3:26 from the Message - & went to town.

Here's what I came up with...

So, take this to heart. Don't panic.

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), 

or follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. 

And please leave a comment when you do so I know who my new friends are! :)

Enjoy your day!

Check out the great parties I link up to!

Charging All Your Gear {Together} When You Travel

  Picture this: You are on a trip (maybe a road trip), staying in a hotel. In the morning, you check out & are on the road for hours before you realize you forgot your camera battery, or your iPod, or your child's gaming device, or your cell phone, or your laptop behind in the hotel room because it was charging in the bathroom or on the floor beside the bed?

Nightmare.

  Hopefully, you'll be able to get whatever you left behind back before too long, but it's such a hassle, right? 

  Here's a tip to help you keep all your "chargeables" together in one place. Hopefully, somewhere in plain sight where you won't forget any of it when you leave.

  It's really simple. Pack a power bar.

Plug in the power bar in a obvious spot - somewhere near the door or on the desk, if possible. Then load up all your electronics that need to be charged. 

I've got my camera battery charger, my cell phone, my son's iPod, & our laptop all charging here in one spot!

Viola! Everything together in plain sight & charged when it's time to pack up & leave.

Problem solved.

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), 

or follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. 

And please leave a comment when you do so I know who my new friends are! :)

Enjoy your day!

Check out the great parties I link up to!

Splash Layout {Echo Park}

  I'm almost finished showing you the pages I've done so far from our summer holiday. Which means... I have many more to get to! I will have to put the scrapbooking aside for a bit, though, while I get ready for the craft fair I have a table at in November. 

  These photos were taken in Oceanside, CA in August. After a hot day at Legoland, my mom-in-law, my daughter, & I took a walk down to the beach. It felt so nice to put our feet in the ocean!

Products used:

• Cardstock: American Crafts
• Patterned paper, stickers, tags - Echo Park
• Felt accents - Pebbles
• Badge - American Crafts

Thanks for reading! Have a good one!

Planes, Trains, & Automobiles {Echo Park}

  How was your weekend, friends? Good, I hope! My son started playing basketball on a community team & his first game was this weekend. They ended up losing the game, but they improved as it went on & they show great promise for the future.

  I was also invited to be a part of a craft fair coming up at the beginning of November. I'll be sharing a table with a friend of mine. Because it's getting close to Christmas, I'm now working on some Christmas crafts I can have available for sale at the craft fair. Busy, busy!

  "One Little Baby... Many Happy Hearts". That's the sentiment on the stamp that I wanted to use for these baby cards I made a couple weeks ago. Paired with these plane, train, & car stickers, it just made sense to use it as part of the exhaust & steam. With a little doodling added in, I really love how they turned out!

I'm happy they turned out so cute!

Products used:

• Patterned paper & stickers - Echo Park
• Stamp - Stampin' Up!
• Cardstock - American Crafts

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), 

or follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. 

And please leave a comment when you do so I know who my new friends are! :)

Enjoy your day!

Apple Streusel Muffins {Revisited}

Last week, I had a HUGE surprise! My chai loaf went crazy on Pinterest & exploded in views in just one week! Thank you, everyone! 

I figured after updating the photos on that recipe, it took off, so I should do the same with some others. 

My next update:

These tasty, moist muffins have a crumbly brown sugar topping - so delicious! You can also reduce the fat by using a bit of applesauce, but not sacrifice any of the flavour. Enjoy!

APPLE STREUSEL MUFFINS
makes 12

Topping:
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. butter, softened
1/8 tsp. cinnamon

In small bowl, rub together topping ingredients until crumbly. Set aside.

Muffins:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil (or to reduce the fat, use 1/8 cup unsweetened applesauce & 1/8 cup canola oil)
3/4 cup finely chopped or shredded apple

Mix dry ingredients. Set aside. Mix wet ingredients. Combine both until just moistened. Do not over mix. Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle with topping. Bake in 400º F oven for 15-20 minutes.

Thanks for reading. If you like what you see here on Silver Boxes, I'd love it if you would become a follower, 

subscribe by email (sign up on the right sidebar), or follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. 

And please leave a comment when you do so I know who my new friends are! :)

Enjoy your day!

Check out the great parties I link up to!

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Grateful Card {Happy Thanksgiving!}

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians! 

Products used:

• Cardstock - Stampin' Up!
• Patterned Paper - My Mind's Eye (ledger) & Bo Bunny (polka dot)
• Chipboard leaf - Basic Grey
• Baker's Twine - My Mind's Eye

I'm grateful for each of you. 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, friends.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. 

Give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good. 

His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Psalm 100:4-5

Autumn Decor 2012

October is here & fall is in full swing. We had a beautiful September with lots of warm weather. Things are starting to feel cooler. The wind has picked up the last couple of days, resulting in a lot of fallen leaves... I've been seeing some trees that are already empty. That kind of makes me sad. Fall goes by so fast here in Saskatchewan.

I finally finished my fall decor last week. Since we don't have a mantle, I settle for doing some vignettes around our living room & kitchen.

Let's start in the living room, shall we?

I grouped a bunch of pumpkins together on a felt placemat from the dollar store.

I put some glittered pumpkins in my small lantern with some fake fall leaves.

The whole vignette.

In my large lantern, I placed a battery operated candle that runs on a timer. That way, it goes on automatically in the evening for a few hours.

I also covered some books in brown paper since their colours didn't jive with the whole fall theme I wanted.

I also have my happy fall wreath in the living room which I posted about last week.

In the kitchen, I simply put some fall-looking flowers in with the vignette I have up on time of my cabinets.

What have you done to decorate for fall?

Thanks for reading. If you like what you see here on Silver Boxes, I'd love it if you would become a follower, 

subscribe by email (sign up on the right sidebar), or follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. 

And please leave a comment when you do so I know who my new friends are! :)

Enjoy your day!

Check out the great parties I link up to!

Featured at: