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!

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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!