Christmas Cheer for the Bathroom!

I've always wanted a Christmas shower curtain. Don't ask me why! Maybe because the bathroom always gets skipped in the Christmas decorating, and changing the shower curtain is the only way to make it more festive. The only place I've ever seen them is in Jysk and I could never bring myself to buy one. When I asked my husband what he thought of the whole idea he said something like "I really don't see the point". Regardless, this year I was determined to get one. I found some online that I really liked, but wasn't prepared to pay $70! That is when it struck me - I would make my own!

On a trip to Fabricland I found some panels in the bargain bin that were perfect, picked out some fabric for the borders and then proceeded to the cutting tables where I waited and waited and waited and considered just leaving but really didn't want to give up after I was so close to having my shower curtain. People really need to learn fabric-buying etiquette. I did finally get my fabric cut, and headed home. A little measuring, some cutting, about an hour of sewing and my curtain was done! All I could find for eyelets were actual curtain sized ones, so that is what I used, but it turned out great! The bathroom is now the only room in the house decorated for Christmas!

Our bathroom is a little small, so it is hard to get a good picture, but you get the idea! Now I'm inspired to make one for every season!!

A Stocking for Anthony!

I've been working on Anthony's Christmas stocking for about a year and yesterday I finally finished it! I actually had a very productive weekend - finished another project and started a couple more. I'm going to have to make the most of my time if I'm going to get everything done before Christmas!

The Last Penny

Since this is the last year the penny will be minted my Dad decided it would be a great idea to make a giant penny cake and take it to the coin show in Regina. He wanted me to use the biggest cake pan I have, which is 18 inches. It doesn't even fit in my oven. I had to go over to the in-laws. My husband was around to give me a hand this time; which was great because we had to paint on copper glitter dust with tiny paintbrushes. It took a while. There was copper dust everywhere. The end result was pretty good - it looked like a penny!

Dad also got me to make a silver dollar cake for one of the guys at the coin show. He visited during the summer and gave us all a silver dollar, so this was thank you cake. He also climbed Castle Butte, which is quite a feat for a older gentleman! I tried to pick the easiest silver dollar to duplicate, although they all are quite detailed.

Dad was quite happy with the two cake and carefully loaded them up (along with a picture window and 10 gallons of honey) while making jokes about being caught with counterfeit money! I talked to him after they got home and the cakes were a hit. Everyone really enjoyed them and thought it was a great idea!

Seth was quite disappointed that he didn't get a piece of the penny cake, so I told him he could make is own cake and paint it with the copper glitter dust. That cheered him right up. As soon as Grandpa left Seth was busy decorating his cake.

I helped him spell the names right, but he did the rest. Not to shabby for his first attempt!

Little Misses!

One of my good friends had a baby girl a couple of months back, and so I decided I was going to make her a blanket. After some consideration I decided to make a large rag blanket. It didn't very long, just a few evening. Even snipping the seams went quick since I bought spring loaded scissors! What a great invention.

The top...

and the back...

and up close!

I also bought Mr. Men flannel a while ago that I'll have to make that into something. It was just too cute to pass up!

200 Cupcakes

On Saturday one of my husband's very good friends was married. My husband was best man, and I was asked to make the cupcakes, so between the two of us there was a lot going on! Luckily the in-laws took the boys so I didn't have to worry about them snitching!

The task of making 200 marble cupcakes with cream cheese frosting seemed daunting. I've never done that many cupcakes before. It took hours, but most of the time I was waiting on the oven since I could only bake one pan at a time. If I ever build a house it is definitely going to have 2 ovens!

The decorating started off a little rough - turns out you can't beat the cream cheese too much if you want it to stay on a cupcake! I got the second batch right, thank goodness! I got these boxes from work. They were perfect for transporting. 23 to a box, 9 boxes, 2 trips!

They looked pretty good and everyone enjoyed them. Hard work, but well worth the time put in.

One More Quilt Completed!

I am happy to say that I have finally finished Anthony's Mickey Mouse quilt! It took me longer to quilt then I thought it would. I had a really good start on it in the spring, but then summer happened and it sat untouched for a couple of months. But it is done now, and just in time for the cold weather. I forgot how my basement looked with out quilting frames taking up all the room!

And, on his bed... please notice the amazing bunk beds!

This up coming week is all about cupcakes, and then Anthony's Christmas stocking takes priority.

And on a completely unrelated topic -- Tomorrow is the start of Pumpkin Pie Blizzard month! Which reminds me, I need to cook those pumpkins for pumpkin pie!

Our Summer Projects

We had quite the list of project to complete this summer, and thanks to two of my brothers, the major ones can now be cross off! It started out with building bunk beds for our boys. I thought I had a good picture but I don't, so you will just have to believe me when I say they are amazing! My bro drew up plans and within 24 hours - minus the staining - they were done! Complete with stairs at the end. The boys love them.

Then in preparation for what became Project #3 we had to tear down our old shed and build another one in a different location. Believe it or not, it was the shingling that took the most time - because my brothers left that up to us! It took us a couple weeks to get at it; they would have had it done in 10 minutes!

Moving on to Project #3 - a play structure for the boys. A ship. Quite ambitious, I agree, but it was made possible by my brothers who were more then willing to help build it. Barely even a challenge for them since they started building forts as soon as they were old enough to swing a hammer. Their forts consisted of multiple rooms, sky-walks, underground tunnels and trap doors. No lack of imagination there!! We started building the ship a few weeks ago, and put the last coat of stain on last week. Just need to add glass for the port holes and my brothers want to add a trap door. It turned out great! My boys love it! We got the pattern from Creative Homeowers - Ultimate Guide to Kid's Play Structures and Tree Houses.