Let Them Eat Cake!

  Today, I'm dreaming of birthday cakes. Why, you ask? Well, today is my 35th birthday. Each year, my mom & I share a birthday celebration since our birthdays are only a week apart. Some years we order a cake from a bakery. Some years my mom will bake one & some years I bake one. The celebration will be later this week, but this year I've offered to bring the cake, so I've been hunting around for some yummy inspiration.

  Here are some beauties I've found. As usual, Pinterest took the cake (so to speak)!

Blueberry Cheesecake

Red Velvet Cheesecake

Lemon Curd Layer Cake

Neapolitan Cake

And now for the chocolatey options...

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Cake

Heaven & Hell Cake (Layers of angel food cake, devil's food cake, & peanut butter mousse)

Cappuccino Fudge Cheesecake

Godiva Dream Cheesecake

Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte

And now for the pièce de résistance...

Isn't this gorgeous?! I will not attempt to make this, but I wanted to share this beauty with you. 

(For those of you who don't know, I'm a huge fan of Paris, France & all things Eiffel Tower-ish.)

All these cakes look so delicious, I'm having a hard time choosing which one to make. 

What say you? What would be your first choice?

I'm feeling very blessed today. I am surrounded by wonderful friends & my precious family. 

I have so much to be thankful for.

Life is good.

Enjoy your day!

Some Recipes To Try

  Again today I'm veering away from the Christmas theme that I've been in for the past several weeks. (Which makes no sense since it's actually December now, but hey, I'll go with it.)

  How many of you eat supper together with you family? I hope most of you do. It's such a precious time to spend together. It's often the time that we laugh the most, the kids open up & talk about their day, we tell stories from our lives, & teach lessons. Just last night, I got to tell my kids a Bible story that they had never heard before. I don't think I'm that great of a story teller, but they were transfixed. In telling the story, I also was able to teach the moral of the story: trusting in God's leading. It's amazing what happens at the dinner table. May I suggest that you try to make it a regular occurrence in your home? You won't be sorry.

  On the subject of supper, I have some recipes that I've tried recently that I would like to share with you. They are all simple & delicious. You may want to add one of these to your meal plan soon.

Pepperoni Pizza Pasta

Via Taste Of Home

 Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwich

Via Time To Cook!

 Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia

Via Rachael Ray

 Couscous with Kalamata Olives, Pine Nuts, & Feta Cheese

Via For The Love Of Cooking

  I give all of these recipes 2 thumbs up! Go ahead, give 'em a try!

Enjoy your weekend!

Baby Cards

  Well, today I'm taking a break from my Christmas posts to share some baby cards I made recently. 

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I love cute owls. 

Because of that, this first one is my favourite.

Do you have a favourite?

Enjoy your day!

Light Bulb Snowmen

  Today, I'm sharing another craft of Christmas past. I cannot take credit for this idea, but I did help make these. Several years ago, my sister-in-love & mom-in-love saw or heard about this idea & decided to give it a try. Well, I would say that they very successfully pulled the idea off.

  The idea is to up-cycle used lightbulbs & make them into cute ornaments for your Christmas tree.

Here are the supplies used:

• Light bulbs
• FolkArt Clearcote Acrylic Sealer *See note below*
• White paint
• Felt
• Pom-poms in different sizes
• Googly eyes
• Twine
• Pipe cleaners
• Mini teddy bears
• Letter beads
• Thread
• Hot Glue

**Update: To view my step-by-step tutorial with step-by-step photos, click HERE.**

They started by painting the light bulbs ahead of time. ** Update: my sister in law told me I missed a step. "You need to add that we sprayed the lightbulbs before painting them...with FolkArt Clearcote Acrylic Sealer otherwise the paint just peels off." Thanks so much, Jodi!! **

Then, the fun began. This is where I came to help.

• Cut strips of felt for the hats (or toques as we call them here in Canada) as well as the mittens. 
• Attach twine to the hats & make a loop to hang the ornament
• Add eyes
• Add pom-poms for earmuffs, noses, & buttons. (You can also add them to the tips of the hat, as I did in the second picture on the blue hat)
• Add a pipe cleaner around the base of the hat as in the second picture, if desired.
• Attach mittens to twine & glue in place (leave some room loose at the front of the mitten for the next step)
• Make them personal by adding a name or sentiment with the letter beads. String them onto some thread & glue the ends under the ends of the mittens.

Here's our little snowman/woman family:

  If you'd be interested in a more in-depth tutorial, leave me a comment & let me know. If there's interest, I can certainly whip up another one of these with some photo directions. Pictures would certainly help with the hat portion of the instructions as that can be hard to explain. 

  We bought a mini white Christmas tree for our family room this year. The kid's decorations (including these) & my nutcracker decorations grace its branches. We're lovin' it!

Enjoy your day!

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The Artsy Girl

Christmas Fudge

  Christmas is the season of sweets. Cookies, cakes, pies, candies... and Fudge! 

  For as long as I can remember, I've loved fudge. I remember visiting The Fudgery in Banff, Alberta every summer & being able to choose my very own piece of sweet, gooey fudge from their vast selection of flavours. Another great part of the fudge shop was the big window they had in the front of their shop. You could stand outside & watch them make batch after batch of their amazing creations. 

  Several years ago, I found this super easy fudge recipe. It's a very versatile recipe - you can add whatever extras you want! Dried fruit, nuts, marshmallows, peanut butter, cookie pieces, candies... Let your imagination run wild! My kids love the marshmallow version so that's usually what I make.

Basic Chocolate Fudge

Makes about 2 lbs.

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

dash of salt

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 Tbsp melted butter (if adding extras)

Over low heat, melt chips with sweetened condensed milk & salt. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla (and butter, if using). Fold in extras if desired. Spread evenly into wax paper lined 8 or 9 inch square pan. Chill 2 hours or until firm. Turn fudge onto cutting board, peel off paper & cut into squares. Store covered in refrigerator. Also freezes well.

Extras:

If you're putting in any extras, add 2 Tbsp melted butter to fudge mixture. Then fold in 2 cups of marshmallows, nuts, candies, cookie pieces, dried fruit, etc.

~~~

Enjoy your fudge creations!

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