Our Leprechaun Trap Cake

The kids and I had a great time making this Leprechaun Trap Cake from Not Martha!

Our cake! <3

Our measured quantities of colored dough in sandwich baggies for easy piping into the pan.

When we cut off the top of the cake (which ends up being the bottom), we saw that the purple and white didn't "make the cut" (heh...little joke there), as well as some of the blue. At this point I was sort of wondering how the inside would look and if we had totally messed up the rainbow.

Mmmmm rainbows...

I made my mom's easy icing for the crumb coat and an almost-as-easy cream cheese frosting with stuff we had on hand (cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar...and lots of green food coloring of course).

I used Wilton tip 233 to make the "grass". Boy were my hands tired.

Adding the grass over the crumb coat.

Our trap door over the hole.

Sign by Miss S.

The finished product, complete with pretzel ladder and gold coin bait.

While their dad and I were making dinner and they were playing in their room, a leprechaun apparently snuck into the kitchen, stole the gold coin, and narrowly escaped before we saw him; his little golden shoe was stuck between two of the sticks on the trap door! We also found footprints in the frosting!

The girls had a good time searching all over the kitchen for evidence of the leprechaun, and Miss S said she was going to take the little shoe to her crime lab.

One of the best parts for me was when we cut the cake and WOOHOO the rainbow was there!! We were all very excited. 

Not a great photo, but yayayay do you see that rainbow??

What a fun cake to make! Thanks to Not Martha for a super awesome idea. Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

Make Our Own Conversation Hearts? Ok, We'll Try It.

When I saw this pin on Pinterest: Homemade Conversation Hearts, I thought "Oh wow what I cute idea! The kids and I can make these!" NEVER AGAIN. The recipe itself is fine and the outcome is indeed very cute, but HOLY COW these were a lot more involved than we expected.

At first I thought it wasn't so bad. It started getting sort of frustrating when the flavorings and food coloring kept making the dough too sticky and we had to keep adding more and more powdered sugar. On the third of the four colors I was getting a little irked, but it was ok; the kids were being good sports and helping tremendously. It took three of us in latex gloves to accomplish this:

Hey, it's still pretty fun at this point!

One person for holding and kneading the dough (me), one for adding the coloring and flavors (Miss G), and one for adding the additional powdered sugar and also keeping the other colors from drying out (Miss S). Once we got the dough appropriately flavored and colored, then came the rolling out, cutting out, and placing on the parchment paper. The easy part! <--(I thought)

Miss G transferring some of the cut hearts to the parchment paper.

Ooh, pretty.

Candy lace

This recipe makes A LOT of candy hearts. And after you cut, push out each heart as it sticks inside the tiny cutter, transfer to the parchment paper, and cry out with your fist in the air to St. Valentine, you might find yourself feeling the same as I did while making these. 

These are almost all of the hearts that we got decorated. We were pretty much done.
Please direct your attention to the two obviously child-made ones. 

Perhaps you are looking for a zen-master trial for yourself...may I recommend making homemade conversation hearts? To be fair, I really have to hand it to Diamonds for Dessert. I think it's amazing that she created AND decorated all of hers. Even using a little stamp and everything. That's hardcore! Candy making is a delicate art and she is a candy artist. 

Also I might add that at this point we were on our second day of snow days + I was sick, so maybe my tolerance level was low for such time consuming and detailed tasks. 

Regardless, I'm glad that we tried these and (pretty much) completed them. So every heart doesn't have a message; it's really ok. We will put these out for our smorgastarta feast tonight. 

Now I'm off to make a sandwich cake with Husband and the Little Ladies. He has drawn up a design for the top of the cake of a wizard vs. dragon duel in a forest. Extreme!

retreat

I woke up today and everything looks as if it shrank overnight.  All of my plants, that were open and basking in the "warmth" of the past two days are now shriveled and shivering.  My sensitive plant does, indeed, shiver.  He also gets mad when I move him around, turns a few leaves yellow and drops them in defiance.  The entire plant crew is looking scared and reserved today and no doubt the drop in temperature from a "balmy" 40 degrees to a painfully oppressive 5 degrees (windchill -8!) is the culprit.

Kind of fitting though, all of the shrinking and retreating inward, less than two full days before the new year.  I plan to do the same.  It's been a really long time since I've attended any kind of New Year's Eve festivities and I'm ok with that.  I've had my share of the sparkles and noisemakers, the champagne and countdowns.  I've staged early countdowns for kids that shouldn't be up too late and I've let a few actually stay up until midnight.  

This year, I'm all about ease.  I have to work on New Year's Eve and busy days at work usually mean I have an evening of recharging on my couch ahead of me.  I have this crazy idea to set my intention for the coming year by where I choose to focus the evening before.  Of course I want fun and parties and loved ones and midnight kisses for the coming year but I also want peace and quiet.  I want to be warm and rested.  I want to snuggle my family and have down-time.  

I also want to be prepared.

So tomorrow night, with pen & paper in hand, I'm going to curl up in the corner of my couch.  Feet tucked under the cushion, wrapped up in the coziest blanket I can find, I'm going to ring in the new year and let the ideas flow into my ideas journal where they will patiently wait for their chances to shine in 2014.

and I'll probably fall asleep before midnight.  ;)

St. Nicholas Day

Do you celebrate St. Nicholas Day? I never had even heard of it until last year when my children came home from school on December 6th upset because they were the only kids who didn't wake up to a shoe or stocking filled with treats from the saint. 

Apparently St. Nicks Day is much more popular here in Wisconsin than in my native New England. It makes sense, it's a German holiday and this is a predominantly German region. Interestingly, this is our first year doing a Waldorf inspired homeschool and St.Nicholas day is also celebrated amongst many Waldorf families.

This year I was not going to be without a plan on the eve of December 5th. 

St. Nicholas was a real person, who really helped other people. The day isn't about gobs of presents, rather a few treats and maybe a trinket. 

I found some sweet hollow chocolates from Germany for the older 2 boys, and since the baby can't have candy I made him a small set of clothespin dolls with knit hats and scarves. 

After stockings were opened, we had a nice discussion of things we could do to help others. We planned a meal for a family with a child in the hospital and the boys made a plan to shovel for our widowed neighbor. 3 snowstorms in and they have kept their commitment :)

I think St. Nicholas day is becoming one of my favorite traditions of the holiday season. 

How do you celebrate St. Nicks day? If you haven't before will you next season? 

This website has some excellent info, history, and ideas for celebrating!

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/st-nicholas-day/   

Happy Holidays!!!

How's It Going?

Holiday preparations underway? Pretty busy? I hear ya. Yesterday I finished up Miss S and Miss G's Christmas presents (finally!) and I'm still working on a few more presents. Not to mention, the day after tomorrow we are having another feast - our annual Sweet Swap (Now with Bonus Potluck-Style Feast)! People bring enough of a homemade treat to share and at the end of the night everyone goes home with an array of sweets. You might have guessed we were having another feast if you've been following along at All Tomorrow's (Dinner) Parties!

In the last week we had Husband's graduation from university (that means a big party), kids' holiday and end of semester school events, holiday preparation, and we all had fun making and decorating cookies. If you haven't seen this, it's worth a look...we had a bunch of fun doing this to our cookies! So gorgeous and fun. Awesome Cookie Decorating Method from The Kitchn. Yes, it's as excellent as it looks.

We used my mom's simple icing recipe for the base and then colored icing for the embellishments.

Annaliese's Mom's Icing Recipe (Ready? It's Complicated)

1. Pour some powdered sugar in a bowl.
2. Add some drops of vanilla extract.
3. Add a little milk.
4. Mix until it's icing.
    4a. Too runny? Add a little more powdered sugar until it's right.
    4b. Too dry? Add a little more milk til it's right.
    4c. Too un-vanilla-y? Add a few more drops of vanilla.
5. Voila! Add food coloring, if you so choose.

I learned this recipe when I was, oh I don't know, three years old maybe. It's actually really good, and the factor of ease makes it quite delightful. I like the way it hardens on the cookie and everything looks smooth and beautiful.

The girls' main presents are a fox doll and a cat doll. They both have been asking for these for months and it's been difficult to keep it a surprise, but there's only less than a week to go now! Yay! Here are (Yet Unnamed) the Cat and Carrot the Fox, with masks, jackets, bows, and purses:

What do you think? Husband thinks the kids are going to flip out when they see them. I can't wait! ^_^

Twas a week before Christmas and all through the house...

A BIG MESS.

Every year I tell myself that I'm going to get all of my crafting done early and enjoy the week before Christmas with movies, zoo lights, Christkindlmarket but NO! NO! NO! Santabecky is busy again this year.

Tonight I'm forcing my darling boy to listen to Christmas music on pandora while I package up another set of candles for wholesale (anyone local to the west burbs o' Chicago, I'll tell ya where to find them).  Finishing up the last of the etsy orders, smiling all the way.  Every minute I spend preparing packages and wrapping up my creations is a moment of true joy for me, it really is.

when you run out of proper branded labels...

...you improvise.

my favorite scent of all time

Only 4 more orders to go!  What are YOU working on right now?

Early Un-Resolutions

I'm terrible with New Year's Resolutions.  List-making, in general, is difficult for me and usually causes more anxiety than motivation.  This year I decided to do something a little different.

First off, I'm starting early; waaaaaay before winter solstice, even.
Second, I'm listing things I'm going to do MORE of, instead of ways I need to improve myself.  My usual lists include things about losing weight, cleaning the house, etc... how I'm not doing enough and insisting that MORE DISCIPLINE is the answer.  More discipline is never the answer for an indigo like me, that's for sure.

So here it is, my Un-Resolutions for December 2013-December 2014:

1.  I'm going to keep myself thoroughly hydrated and well-rested.  If something is off and I'm not feeling 100%, my first line of rebalancing is to drink water and take a nap!

2.  I'm going to keep my body energized and active, at least once a day.  Going for a walk, dancing in the kitchen, doing a cartwheel in the parking lot after work... whatever it takes.  This is the only body I get and if I can wake it up at least once a day, I think it will do wonders for my energy and mood.

3.  Keep a sabbath.  Doesn't matter which day, but at least one day a week is for family, for recharging and to ENJOY.  As it stands right now, I have one reason or another to be out the door by 745 EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. of the week.  My Sundays will free up in January so that's a major step in the right direction.

4.  My 20 minutes "in house".  I do so much better throughout the day if I've had 20 minutes to myself in the morning or 20 minutes to myself before bed the previous night.  Often I meditate, but I've noticed that since I'm out of practice, I'm only up to 11 minutes before I lose focus.  Something to work on in the months ahead, for sure.  I get my best creative ideas in the silence, too, so... win-win.

5.  Smile pretty!  I've noticed that in my attempts to cram every little task into my already draining schedule not only do I fail miserably at accomplishing even half of what needs to be done, but I also look pretty haggard doing it.  If I have to fall and make mistakes, I can at least look cute on the way down!  I'm not a huge makeup girl but I am DETERMINED to figure out the cat eye.  I'm aiming to be "selfie-ready" at least half the week, any week... and really, if we aren't selfie-ready, are we really ready at all?? ;)

6.  RENEGADE.  This is an actual goal goal that I'm slipping in at the end.  This holiday season, I've had a bigger demand for my handmade creations than I've ever seen and it has my inner artist beaming.  I did an art festival this past fall and I was totally bit by the craft fair bug.  I'd like to expand and do more of what I love, which is creating!  My ultimate goal is to be ready to vend at Renegade Craft Fair (which runs twice in Chicago in the fall and closer to Christmas).  It's a big goal to aim for but I feel that it will make me make a conscious effort to create and offer my goods both online and in local fairs throughout the year, and one major goal for the year is about all I am ready for.


Thinking about resolutions yet?  Ready to make un-resolutions with me?  Coincidentally, tomorrow's full moon is in Gemini which reminds us to revamp our "wish-lists" and focus on what we really want from the days ahead.

So, come on and Un-resolve with me in the comments below or if you blog about your own un-resolutions, list the link below so we can cheer you on!

Homemade Gifts - Do You Do Them?

Our family has decided to make the majority of the presents we give this year for the holidays. We would like to contribute to consumerism as little as possible and give people something special that we created ourselves. We're thinking of making baked goods, spice blends, and sewn items (to name a few). 

The spice blend idea is a pretty fun one that my culinary-genius Husband thought up. I got the recipes to share with you all! We used large jars to do the mixing, after which we will put in smaller jars for the presents. 

Herbs de Provence

2 parts dried savory

1 part dried basil

1 part dried oregano

1/2 part dried mint

1/2 part dried rosemary

1/2 part dried fennel

1/2 part salt

1 part dried lavender 

Put together and mix or shake!

Husband's (Not Exactly 5) 5 Spice Blend

7 or 8 anise pods

2 tsp dried fennel

1 tbsp Szechuan peppercorns

1 tbsp cloves

2 3" cinnamon sticks

1 tbsp ground allspice

Toast in pan over med-high heat until fragrant, then grind and add:

1/2 tbsp ground white pepper

1/2 tbsp Himalayan sea salt 

Check out this (hilarious + epic) slow-mo video of the toasting process, starring The Man Himself, my mister :

Are you making homemade gifts this year? I would love to hear your ideas, too! ^_^

Snow Day! - a pictorial essay

We had a winter storm, which I'm sure by northern standards was not that bad (so my husband says), but the upside of this is that the kids were out of school and Husband was out of work! Last night we played Settlers of Catan Seafarers and drank tea and hot chocolate while eating popcorn. Today we slept in and had a fun play day! 

Lulu Claus & the beginning of the ice + snow

The new hangout

Snow fun

The view from my workshop (ho ho ho)

Miss G made a huge heart that says "I LOVE MOM" <3

Our new Frosty Fern - it looks fake! So cool.

O Christmas Tree

I turned that into this!

We put up our tree and other decorations, too. Our house looks so bright and cheery! 

Also, I purchased this: Baby Deer Cookie Cutter and these: Pine Tree Cupcake Picks
I can't wait to use these for winter festivities! And how adorable would a woodland birthday party be in the future for one of the kids?! 

I hope everyone is staying warm! 

On minimalism and holiday giving.

I'm still working on my closet folks. 

Purging. Is. Hard. 

It's not really getting rid of stuff that's hard, it's the fear of getting rid of too much. However will I survive if I get rid of too many shirts? (Duh, I'll wash the ones I have). 

We are surrounded by this fear of not having enough things to get by. Or not having enough space. Or going without things that are considered a societal norm. 

When our third son was born we kept hearing that it was minivan time. Sure a minivan might make car trips a little easier or more comfortable but 10 months later we are still making the Civic work. 

We haven't hooked up our dryer since we moved, because I don't consider it necessary. Sure, most of the population considers it a need but I'm happy with some good ol' sunshine. (Yep, even in November).

My point here is not that minivans or dryers are bad, because they aren't! My point is that it's okay to think outside the box when it it comes to weighing "needs". I've decided that I don't need 10 long sleeve t-shirts, a dryer, or a minivan ( I'm pretty psyched to rock out a station wagon when we do decide to upgrade).

When it comes time for holiday gifting my husband and I of course put a lot of thought and effort into making it special for our boys, and in years past we've worried that maybe they wouldn't have enough presents to open under the tree. But where is that line between not enough and enough, who draws that line? 

Maybe you've heard of the " want, need, wear, read" movement when it comes to gifting? If you haven't it's quite simple. You give one gift from each category per person. We've adopted this in our family and it suits us. Each boy this year will get a pair of cozy winter pajamas for the "wear" category. For "read" a special book, I haven't picked them for sure yet but I'm leaning towards some lovely winter stories. "Want" is a work in progress, and "need", well need can be a tough one. As parents we tend to provide anything our children need right away. I've found the best way to think about "need" is to consider what they may need for the winter season. This year I'm knitting them each a hat and mitten set, something they will definitely need for the Wisconsin winter but it will be special since it's mama-made. 

The other nice side effect of this little gifting motto is that we are not stretching our budget to buy a lot of quantity. Quantity inevitably ends up crumpled in a corner or shoved under a bed and that's just no fun for anybody. Since we aren't stressed about getting lots of gifts for our kids we can focus on getting quality gifts for them. 

That's a comment I hear often, the desire to buy quality items but not necessarily be able to afford them. We can't spend gobs of money either but by limiting the amount we purchase we can buy better quality items. Side note: this desire can also be used as motivation to learn a new craft or skill. 

So as we enter the season of gifting take some time to reflect on the true needs in your life. Consider where you feel comfortable drawing the line on enough. Really contemplate what gifts will be meaningful to give to your loved ones. Make a plan to buy quality over quantity, and perhaps make some gifts yourself (if you don't have the time to learn a new craft then choose to support a local crafter). 

And remember, it's about time with loved ones not stuff anyways :)

A Way to Warm Up the Season

Those who know me know that I'm not too keen on cold weather. I like outdoor living. I like not being cold. I even like being in New Orleans in the summer. I wish I loved cold weather as much as Eryn! I'm trying. <--I say this every year around this time.

Here is me, unimpressed with the cold weather in Prague
(Seriously, though, Prague is awesome.)

One thing I do love about the mid to late fall and winter, however, is the abundance of festivities. Not only do we have Thanksgiving and the holidays in December, but for our family it also means Husband's birthday and our wedding anniversary! Once January is here, we have several family birthdays and then of course Valentine's Day in February (rrrrromantic). 

I will admit that I get pretty excited about the holidays in November and December and their various decorations, feasts, and lights, etc., but when New Year's is over I tend to start feeling kind of bleak and have to fight off depression until I see buds on the trees and green foliage again. This is something I've always struggled with, so it's nothing new. That doesn't mean it doesn't really, really suck. 

I had a spur of the moment idea today, which I shared with Husband and he agreed to with glee. My proposal: a series of feasts for our family and friends throughout the late fall and winter. He is the major chef in our house, but I've been doing a little more cooking lately and we have had a lot of fun preparing food together. It isn't unusual for us to have friends over to eat with our family. Sometimes it's a weekly thing (what is the saying - "friends are family you get to choose"?).

This will be different. More festive. Something that makes me happy in December, for example, are the holiday lights, shiny and glittery decorations, happy music. Basically I am a total sap for the holidays. Likewise, I want our feasts to be a little more fancy than usual. Pretty table settings? Sure. Napkin rings? Why not. Place cards? Maybe. Hell, I may even do actual invitations (don't hold me to that). Just something fun and cheery to spread a little happiness to the ones we care about and at the same time keep my own mood up during the coldest time of the year.

Sound fun? I have quite a few ideas and I will keep you all posted. I might even show you a few little crafts or things we are preparing for our parties! I've made a special Pinterest board just for that reason: All Tomorrow's (Dinner) Parties. I'll be adding stuff all throughout the following months, so follow along and even try it yourself if you'd like! I would love to hear your ideas for your dinner parties as well. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you are up to!