Monday 29 October 2012

Halloween Traditions

For the last couple of years I have taken Kyler to the pumpkin patch and took pictures with him amongst the pumpkins.
Kyler at 5 months old



Kyler at 1.5 years old

Well this year we were able to go to the pumpkin patch with all the daycare kids in tow but weren't able to take pictures of just Deagan and Kyler in the patch. So this year we got a little creative and took picture with the pumpkins we had picked out at the patch. I think Kyler's was the best choice.






A word of caution though, sometimes when  carving pumpkins you may find more in the pumpkin than just guts :D




Once done carving you will also find that Jack-O-Lanterns come in all different shapes and sizes.



So even though we didn't get to take pictures of the boys at the pumpkin patch I think we did a good job of bringing the patch to us. Hope all of you have a happy and safe Halloween.

Thanks for reading, 

Sunday 28 October 2012

Pumpkin Carving





Cross another item off the Autumn Bucket List....We were able to get our pumpkins carved. Brendan carved a character from one of his computer games and Kyler decided he wanted Mickey Mouse so I carved a Mickey for Kyler. We were also able to get our costumes done too but you will have to sit and wait on the edge of your seats for those.
Thanks for reading :D

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Cinnamon Buns Anyone?

Part of the fall baking I wanted to complete was cinnamon buns from scratch. They turned out fabulous and I'm not going to lie I ate two at my first sitting :S. If you are a Cinnamon bun lover these are definitely worth giving a try.

Ingredients:
Dough
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 5 cups flour
  • 1 package instant yeast
  • 4 eggs

Filling

  • 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cinnamon
Directions:
Filling
  1. Mix all ingredients together.
Assembly
  1. In a small pot gently warm the milk along with 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, the vanilla and the salt. Don’t bring to a simmer, warm just enough to melt the butter. Meanwhile measure half the flour into the bowl of a stand mixer along with the yeast. Add the warm melted milk butter mixture to the flour, beat with a paddle attachment until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth before proceeding. Switch to a dough hook and add the remaining flour. Knead until a soft dough forms that is no longer sticky to the touch, about five minutes. Rest the dough in a warm place, covered in a lightly oiled bowl until it doubles in size, about one to two hours.
  2. Knock the dough down and let rest for a few minutes. Meanwhile thoroughly mix together the room temperature butter with 1 cup of brown sugar and the cinnamon. Flour your work surface, the dough, your hands and a rolling pin. Roll out the dough into a long rectangle shape, about 18x12-inches. Evenly spread the cinnamon butter over the top of the dough leaving an inch or two uncovered along one long edge. This will help a seal form. Roll tightly into a long cigar shape from the covered long edge to the uncovered long edge. Brush the outside of the log with oil or melted butter.
  3. Slice the dough log into 12 or 16 sections. Turn each on its side and position evenly in an appropriately sized lightly oiled baking pan. Rest, uncovered, until the dough doubles in size again and the rolls swell into each other.
  4. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 350 F. When the dough is ready, bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
Icing:
  • 1 8oz. package of plain cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup butter (softened)
  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  1. Cream together cream cheese and butter until smooth, add vanilla and then slowly mix in icing sugar 
  2. If you are making the icing while the cinnamon buns are cooking, when finished place icing in the fridge until cinnamon buns are ready to be frosted
  3. When cinnamon buns are finished baking let the cool for about 5-10min so that they are still warm and spread cream cheese icing over the top.
Thanks for Viewing :D

Tuesday 16 October 2012

Autumn Bucket List


I have decided to do the Autumn Bucket List created by Marie and her blog. Even though life is really hectic right now with a move coming up, at the end of the month, there are a few things I wanted to do and I figured this would be easy enough to do amidst all the packing and boxes.  I am a huge fan of Halloween and usually decorate the house completely for fall/Halloween including painting some kind of mural on our window (I do this for Christmas too and it will be done then :D). I just recently posted one of my favorite decor items, the holiday fabric wreath. I love more crafty style decor items and so I thought is was great for this list. While I am going to do this list I wanted to add my own bucket list items to it.

This fall we would like to....
~ Go to the pumpkin patch/corn maze
~ Go on a Hay ride
~ Pull out all our warm clothing
~ Get some family photos done
~ Complete our costumes for Halloween (a secret till Halloween gets closer)
~ Carve pumpkins
~ Do some fall baking
~ Make some stew (enough to freeze some as well)
~ Make some fall crafts with the boys

 These are photos we took while visiting the pumpkin patch with the daycare kids..we still want to go as just a family. Three two year olds' in a maze was quite the crazy adventure.
Thanks For Reading :D

Monday 15 October 2012

Fabric Holiday Wreath

With becoming a mom, I have rediscovered my crafty side, and after remembering doing this craft when I 10 years old I thought I would give it another shot. Initially when I learned how to make these it was as a Christmas craft but I figured it could be done for any season or occasion. This craft is super easy and costs very little to make.
All you'll need is......
1- Wire clothes hanger
1 meter of assorted cotton fabric (specific to your occasion, I picked oranges)
A pair of pinking sheers or regular scissors (pinking sheers make the fabric look nicer)
OPTIONAL
Hot glue gun
Seasonal decorations

1.) First thing you want to do bend the triangular part of the coat hanger into a circle as this will create the ridged part of your wreath.

2.) Cut all your fabric into strips approximately 6" long and 1" wide (these do not have to be exact)
this is where having the pinking sheers is nice as they will look a little nicer and keep the edges from fraying too much

3.) Next your going to tie the fabric onto the coat hanger following whatever pattern you have decided on for your fabric (I went from yellow to dark orange repeating)
             Just a simple not in the center of the fabric will hold just fine
       Continue this step until you have filled in the entire hanger  (for a fuller wreath push the fabric knots towards the first piece that was tied on in order to bunch the fabric up more)

4.) Once you have tied enough fabric on (approx. 200 strips) your going to fluff up the wreath by pulling on the knot ends so that they are not all laying in one direction.

5.)  At this point your wreath is finished and you can leave it like this or you can add seasonal decoration to it. I have added wooden letters painted in a dark brown to mine which spell out fall, however you can add what ever you would like (the one I made in fourth grade was for Christmas and has a Santa and some Christmas bobbles on it).



6.) your final step if to figure out how to hang it. I like to bend the hanger part so that you can hook it over a door you may also want to cut the top hanger part off and just hang it from the indent at the top of the Hanger

So there you have it a fabric holiday wreath that you can make for any occasion. Hope you enjoy

I also wanted to say that this is my favorite way to decorate my house. I love the hand made crafty projects around the house. My other favorite thing is to do murals on our Livingroom window (however we are moving and I couldn't do it this year for Halloween)
Thanks For Reading :D

Sunday 7 October 2012

MAMA FIRETRUCK!!!!

So Kyler is crazy about Firetrucks he has firetruck pj's, firetruck pillow, fireman's hat, firetruck shaped ball pit, firetruck books, and about 20 different firetrucks toys. Any time he hears a siren he shouts at us exclaiming, "FIRETRUCK" and when he is starting to get tired or upset he sits with Dada on the computer and watches 30min Firetruck Parades. Well after coming to the realization that my cousin is a firefighter with one of our local volunteer departments we asked if we could arrange for Kyler to go see the firetrucks. Last weekend we took a trip to the fire hall and you would have thought it was Christmas. He ran from one firetruck to another asking to be put in the drivers seat so he could drive. Then my cousin brought our his fire gear and let Kyler try it on, now Kyler is running around saying he's going to be a firefighter. This trip totally made his day, week, month, and probably year :D