This Old Tree

Here in Southern Ontario, Hurricane Sandy is making her presence known!! Wow, the wind!! We were up half the night, listening to the wind howl all around the house. Last spring we lost a tree from our front yard........not lost exactly we found it..... fallen down and just missing my neighbours house by an actual inch. The tree that fell looked totally healthy, but when it fell, you could see it was all rotten inside. We have another tree, it is HUGE, it, however, does not look healthy anymore.

You can see it here in this photo. It was one of the features we loved when we bought this old house. Watching the kids in the tire swing..........just such a wholesome thing. We are seriously worried about this tree. It is very close to my bedroom, and when the wind howls, I worry it will come crashing in. Thankfully, it did not blow over last night..........but we are all very tired today......having stayed up most of the night, listening to the limbs rake the side of the house. A rather haunting sound............fitting for this time of year.

Great Kindergarden Mom......just sayin'

Oh the fun I had!! For real this time...............this little treat was easy and not stressful at all to make!! The tags were easy....I sort of read the manual and they turned out just fine. Only little bit tricky part is getting those sticky pumpkins into the bags........just be patient.

Rice Krispie Pumpkins

1/3 cup butter
250 g bag of marshmellows
6-7 cups rice krispies
tsp of vanilla
orange food colouring
tootsie rolls
green icing

Melt the butter and the marshmellows. Stir in vanilla and colouring. Stir in Rice Krispies.
Mould them into balls. Place on wax paper. Put in fridge for 15 minutes or so.
Cut up tootsie rolls to be the stems.
Take out of fridge. Use icing blob to adhere the "stem" to the pumpkin. Add the vines and a leaf with your green icing. Ta Da!! Done.
Now just bag and tag and you look like an awesome mom at the kindergarden party!!!

Halloween Hat

My mom whipped up 4 of these tiny hats for Sadie. Two are for halloween and two are for everyday. We went out and about in the "big town" of Listowel today and Sadie was properly "goo-ed" by everyone out there. The Hat was a big hit!! If you want to see how to make it.........just go here. The Quirky Crafting Shmoogle Bean has some cute crocheting on the go over there!!

Skirts, dollies and dresses........OH MY!!

November 7th is creeping up really fast!! That is the last day for taking in items to the store I sell at in Stratford, Ontario. That's right, the last day to be prepared for the Christmas shoppers!! I can't believe it is that close! Todays photos show what I have made in the last 2 days. Sweet paper doll, twirl skirts............Christmas candy, knot dress........ and more vintage dollies!! I make my own tags as well, so have been tea dying them, drying them, stamping them.............almost ready to pin them on to all the items that have been piling up in the "ready" room. You can see all these items....and more.....in my little Etsy shop Here.

Ahhhh..........Nuts!!

A few years back I was into going to Antique Markets. I still do it, but, not as seriously as before. On one of those outings, I found this Nut Meat Chopper. We had one when I was a kid. When we were going to make some yummy sundaes, we would get this out and chop up peanuts to throw on all the ooey gooey sauce.  Yesterday I thought I would make a yummy cinnamon loaf that another blogger had up on her site. It called for chopped pecans.......sounds yummy right? So, got out all the ingredients, started stirring and folding and measuring everything. Time for the nuts............oh the chopper worked, for a bit, then it just fell apart............the front just fell off the thing in mid chop. Nuts spilled all over the counter...........NUTS!
Back to the real old fashioned way...........hand chopping.

Old Black Witch.........spunky friend of mine.

"Bat's!" she would say, "Bats! Crickets? And snakes' knees!" Honestly, how could I not love someone who said such things!! This is one of my all time favourite books from childhood. "My" old black witch was ornery, short, fat, black, dirty, warty and spunky!! All the things I love in a good/bad witch. This book is not just for Halloween, as is has nothing to do with Halloween! It's a cool story of a mother and son, starting up a sweet tearoom, and all the troubles that go along with having an old black witch in the attic. "My" witch soon takes to helping the mom and son with the business.....thus her recipe for blueberry pancakes.....on the back cover of the book.
Enjoy!! If you can find a copy that is!!

Let the Small Town Bidding Begin.....

We used to live in a "big" city. We moved, 2 years ago now, to a quiet, tiny community. We do love it here, although, it is different..........really different. My kids used to attend a school where, I honestly believe, the parents all felt it was a private school. That's what they all acted like anyway..........but it wasn't, it was just a normal public school, although that would come as a huge surprise to many of the parents there. That school had all kinds of fund raisers, although I don't know why, because, rarely, the funds raised went to the school, they were always giving the money raised, away to some charity or another. Strange really. That all being said, some of the fundraisers were huge. Like the fun fair, it was like a huge carnival, massive amounts of money was raised.
New Setting........small town..............school fund raiser. Such a cute school my kids now attend. It's a public school, and no one pretends it isn't. We went to the fun fair last spring. It was very small, there was very little to do..............however, there was an auction of sorts. You know the one where you go around and write your bids on a sheet, and then someone else comes and up bids the item and at a certain time the bidding ends and whoever has the high bid wins the auction. Well I don't think that our new community gets the whole idea of fund raiser. I think that they were playing "Let's Make a Deal"!!!! Anyhow.................Here's how it went:
US: Wow, look at this great auction.........A weekend away in Stratford Ontario at an awesome B&B and       tickets to "The Matchmaker" at the Festival Theatre. Let's Bid.

"The Others": Wow, this looks like fun. A weekend away, let's bid.

US: What the heck??? Someone has upbid "Our" auction. How dare they...............we must up our bid.

The Others: Hey, did they just put in another bid.......................let's make them miserable and up the bid again.

And so it went for 3 hours. We went home for 2 hours (there really was nothing to do at the fun fair).
When we came back, there was 10 minutes left to bid...........and so, we did. Back and forth. Finally, we had had enough of this nonsense! We put in our high bid of $325.00..........That's right, just $325 for this wicked weekend away!!
At the school we used to attend, this would have gone for over $1000.00............why...........because it's a fundraiser!!
Anyhow, we got the weekend away!!! It's been a blast. We have to check out in half an hour now...........boo.........back to reality again.
I may, or may not, share some of our crazy adventures from the past 3 days......tomorrow...........

Sugar......ah Honey, Honey

There is no better candy than Brach's Corn Candy!!! Not just any brand either, it must be Brach's!!! I know what you are thinking............and YES this delectable treat deserves it's own blog post!!
When we were growing up, my mom had a few treats that she "hid" from us...........as in would not share. However, this is one candy she did share! And I will probably always love it. You have no idea how expensive this candy has gotten for me! You see, dear reader, you can no longer purchase this candy in Canada. Yes, you heard me..............Brach's no longer sells Corn Candy in Canada, nor have they for a very long time. What is a girl to do? How will she get her fix? Ebay...........that's how. Several years ago, I took to buying this little treasure off of ebay. The bag itself might have only cost $4 (totally worthy), but, the shipping............to get my precious here..............$12-$18 for 3 bags. Yes, I admit it, I bought it anyway. It was worth the cost to have this sweet treat!! Then I hit another snag.........last year no one was selling it on ebay that would ship it to me. What to do, what to do. In steps my brother. He was in the USA at just the right time last year. Here is how the texting convo went.

Brother:  Hey Sis, Walmart has Brach's corn candy, do you want some?
Me: Corn Candy you say....how much is it? (As if this matters at all)
Brother: Well, they are having a sale, how does fifty cents a bag sound?
Me: ( with no shame) I'll take 10.
Brother: That's what I figured.

A week later,  my corn candy and I were together again. You might be worrying right now, wondering, what lengths I have had to go to to procure this essential product this October. Do not fret, I have a few bags (well 2) left. Corn Candy is fabulous even stale. The only thing better than just eating the corn candy, (otherwise known as witches teeth), is finding the "rare" one in the bag. The one that should not have made it off the assembly line because it was not visually appealing. Oh, those ones taste so good!! I felt you would like to see this years "rare" find..............note picture number 2...............Yes, an all white corn candy.............I was good enough to let my daughter have it, she is 3, and equally addicted to the sweet stuff.  I wish her luck in the future as I have a feeling this will get trickier and trickier to find. If there is a will, there is a way!!

Christmas Candy Bustle Skirt with Peasant Top

Something we rarely had at home, when I was a kid, was candy. Nowadays, in my own home.........we always have some sort of candy around. When I saw this fabric, all I could think of was the treats that my mom bought around Christmas time. They weren't even that good, but, it was sugar, and I was (am) a fan. I absolutely love the bustle on the back of clothing. Watching Sadie swishing around in this style of bustle skirt is most enjoyable!! Hope you like it! You can find it here in my Etsy shop.

Retro Paper Doll Skirt

For the life of me, I have no idea why these photos are sideways, and I can not get them to go the right way. They aren't even sideways in the folder they came from. Oh well, this will just have to do for today.

Yes, I am continuing with my love of all things Paper Doll related.

I've had this lovely fabric for awhile now. I just didn't love it, it was white.

I don't love white as much as off white, beige, that sort of thing. So......

you know what I had to do, don't you? Yes, you are correct, I had to 

tea dye the material. So, that is what I did yesterday, and now today we have

this lovely little retro skirt for Sadie.

You can find it here in my Etsy shop.

Have a lovely Monday!!

Tiny Vintage Dollies

Things are cute when they are small, don't you think? My 3 year old loves her dollies, so this week I made up a batch of little dollies for her. Well, not all for her, most are in my Etsy shop. I loved the last photo that I posted. It's of Sadie, holding her favourite "doll of the day". I love her little hands wrapped around the dolly. I love that her hands do not have knuckles yet, just those cute little dimples that little ones have. I hope you enjoy our collection of little dolls. They can be found here in my Etsy shop. I like that they don't crinkle, jingle, squeak or anything else. They are the perfect kind of toy to take when they have to play quietly, such as church or in their beds at night............no noise when they roll over on it in the night.

Taco Soup

Not an exciting picture ? I agree, but, the soup is fantastic!! Dare I tell you that it all got eaten before the picture could be taken..........ok, I forgot to take the picture.

Taco Soup
1/4 cup margerine                   8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup flour                           2 cups of chopped chicken (pre cooked)
3 cups of chicken broth           1 tsp cumin
1 cup milk                               1 tsp chili powder
1 cup salsa                              salt and pepper

Melt margerine with flour. Put it in crockpot. Slowly whisk in the broth, then the milk. Drop in chunks of the cream cheese. Add all the other ingredients. Simmer on low in your crockpot. So tasty!!! Enjoy!!

Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies

They might not be that great to look at, but, taste them.....go ahead...........do it...........so yummy!!

Recipe:
1 1/4 cup of margerine
2 eggs                                    3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cup white sugar                   1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla                            1/2 tsp salt
2 cup flour                             2 cup Reese's Peanut Butter Chips

Beat the butter and the sugar together, til creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla. Slowly add the flour, cocoa, soda and salt. Stir in chips.
This will be kind of gooey, so you wouldn't want to try and roll it into dough balls. Just plop it on the pan by the teaspoon full.
Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes. Cookies will look puffy when you take them out. Let them sit on the pan and cool for 5 minutes. Take them off the pan and onto a cooling rack. Best served off of a glass cake plate with dome lid. Lid is to slow you down...............this may or may not work. Enjoy!!

I prefer this cookie to be served fresh, as in not day old. So, I usually bake up just half of this recipe and put the other half in the freezer to be used at a later date.

Paper Dolls

Have I mentioned that I love fabric with paper doll images? Well....I really, really do!! When I first started sewing for my daughter, one of the first things I made were the bloomers in the top photo. I loved the colour of the fabric and the images are so adorable. That was 3 years ago.............turns out that the fabric is out of print and I have a tough time finding it! I only have 2 yards of it left, and I look at it often. I should likely frame a piece to save. During the summer my nieces and my 2 of my kids had a fun day doing a photo shoot. The second photo shows 2 of the dresses I make with the paper doll fabric...........love the paper doll apron on my daughter (she is the smaller one). Lastly, is a pair of bloomers. I have a nice amount of this fabric. I am thinking of doing a paper doll set for my little one to play with. I've seen a few out there, I happen to have everything I need to make a set................I really should just do it!
You can find all these clothing items here.
I made a super cute bedding set for Sadie when she moved into her "big girl" bed. It is my favourite set of sheets that she has!
How about you? Do you enjoy paperdoll whimsy?

Nacho Dip

What would a gathering be without a good Nacho Dip???
Sour Cream 500 ml
Cream Cheese 250
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salsa
medium Tomato
green onion
Grated Cheese

Beat the softened cream cheese into the sour cream. Add the chili powder and garlic powder. Spread into your pie pan. Spread a layer of salsa over the base.  Chop up the tomato and onion and put it over the salsa. Great the cheese and spread over the chopped veggies.
Cover and refridgerate until the flavours have blended...........or as long as you are willing to wait!
Grab a bag of nacho chips and dip away!!

This is another thing we are taking to the family reunion tomorrow!!

Fall Favourites.....Candy Apples and Caramel Corn

 Canadian Thanksgiving is on Monday October the 8th! Oddly, we are not actually celebrating Thanksgiving this year.........however, we are having a huge family reunion on Saturday. I think there will be at least 50 people there. This event is potluck..............I am a little concerned about this..............I have to admit, I have been to many of these family potluck events, there is usually a great amount of variety and lots that I like. Sigh...........so far, the things  I've been told  will be there are not sounding so good, not good at all. Let me give you an example.......cooked red cabbage, turnip, pototo dishes, curried pears, cranberry salad, tolmin sweet apples. Hmmmmm, well, I do like pototoes. My brother is actually smoking two turkeys for this event, that should be yummy. So, I have to bring something that my kids and I will eat. Thus the above pictures................Candy apples and caramel corn!!!! Yummy!!! I will also be making yummy cupcakes and sourdough bread. I am sure the other things will be liked by someone..............I'm sure all the kids, and myself, will be devouring what I bring............the sugar!!