Today I spent a little time out in the garden harvesting seeds.  I love my snapdragons, and love that although they are an annual, they self seed.  I have a whole array of colours that come up year after year all by themselves, all over my little vegetable patch.  This year I decided to save some of the seed from the white ones in particular, and sow them in my white garden next spring.  My mom and I both decided a few years ago, to devote a small garden area to strictly white plants.  It’s always fun to garden with someone and be able to swap plants and seeds.  I have to say the white garden has become my favourite, and next year hopefully, we’ll add some tall white snap dragons to the mix.

Some of the snaps are still blooming, so it was really easy to identify that they were white.  Below the bloom, further down the stem you can see the brown seed pods.  It was a cold day so I picked them off the stem and collected them in a container to empty inside.  I threw in one bloom, so I wouldn’t mix up our seeds inside.  To get to the actual seed, you simply shake the seed pod, and the tiny seeds fall out of the holes in the top.

I also collected some mini and regular size zinnia seeds.  You collect the brown spent and dry flowers into a container, and simply remove the petals, and break up the rest of the flower to reveal the seeds.

The last flower seeds I collected were some cream marigolds, which are in the white garden.  They are still blooming in the cool air, and I think they look like big white pom poms.  In the same way as the zinnias, you collect the spent dry flower, remove the dried up petals, and crumble the flower get the seeds.

I wanted to give my mom some of the seeds I collected in her Christmas stocking.  Gardeners love a little gift like this when winter is all around, it reminds us spring will come again soon.  I  decided to make some cute envelops to store the seeds in.  It’s best to use paper to store seeds, since if there is any moisture in a sealed container, or plastic bag the seeds can mould.  Also, always collect your seeds on a dry day, and if they seem damp still at all, lay them out on a paper towel to dry for a few days, before packaging them up to store until spring.  I found a little envelope template here.  I cut out the pattern and traced it onto plain brown paper to make the little envelopes.

After gluing them together I added the plant names and sketches to the envelopes, put the seeds in and sealed them up.

They looked so pretty all lined up.  I bundled up one set for my mom for Christmas, with a little twine and a quick gift tag.  I hope they grow!

I’ve shared this post at Blue Cricket Design, Ponytails and Fish Scales, Tidy Mom, No. 505 Main, Some What Simple, The Shabby Nest, Tatertots and Jello and Under the Table and Dreaming.  I also joined the Pretty Packages Party at The Blackberry Vine.

I’m excited about a new regular feature here called “Dollar Store DIY”  where I go to the dollar store and find something to make-over into something even greater.  I love the Dollar Store, in fact my husband jokes with me that I should own shares in it!  I am frugal by nature, and love a bargain.  The Dollar Store has come a long way in the last few years, and I buy tons of craft and party supplies there.  I love going in with the feeling that I can have anything I want in the whole store.  I know some people lament that Dollarama has increased from strictly one dollar items, to now include $1.25,  $1.50, and $2.00 items, but I think it’s really increased their selection.  You know you have a Dollar Store addiction when you go to the US for a little cross border shopping and you’re most excited about visiting their Dollar Stores, and Target’s one dollar section!

Let the fun begin.  The first item I bought for some DIY was a re-usable bag.  I have been carrying my books and supplies to my mom’s group lately in a re-useable grocery bag –okay but nothing special.  When I saw this cute burlap one, for $2 at Dollarama, I saw the opportunity for a cute and easy project.  It already looked pretty great, but with the flower pin attached, it’s even greater! 

I was inspired by Jen at Tatertots and Jello, one of my favourite blogs, and her flower creations.  I really liked the idea of making them into a pin, so you could remove it and wear it with something else, or make several in different colours and change the look of the bag. 

I made my flowers out of old wool felted sweaters.  I love working with them, and since we are heading into winter, I think they seem a little more seasonal than the cotton flowers.

I decided to work with turquoise.  I had a striped one, which meant I could work with two colours from the same sweater.  The first flower I made was from the edge of the sleeve.  I simply rolled it to form a flower and put a few stitches in it to hold it.

The larger flowers are made my starting out with a circle, and cutting it into a spiral.

Then you simply roll it into a flower shape, and secure it with a few stitches from the back.

I made two flowers this way, one light blue, and one striped, and then put it with the smaller flower.  I also added three loops of some cotton ribbon.  I glue gunned all of these to a smaller piece of the felted wool to create a back, and stitched on a pin to create the flower brooch. 

This is the finished pin.

And here is the completed bag, all dressed up and ready to go!

The bag cost $2, I already had the pins, and the sweater, which were from the thrift store, so it was a great Dollar Store DIY for $2.

This post is linked to Under the Table and Dreaming, Funky Junk Interiors and Tatertots and Jello.  I also entered the Iron Crafter at Fireflies and Jellybeans, check out all their neat recycled sweater crafts.

In our family we traditionally celebrate Thanksgiving on Sunday at my mom’s , so that leaves Monday as a relaxing day at home, complete with leftovers sent home with us.  Monday morning this year, we all enjoyed a relaxed time and a big wonderful breakfast.  I had picked up some recipes from the egg booth at the fair, and this one for pumpkin spice waffles caught my eye.  They certainly were delicious, even the kids liked them, and I think they may need to become part of our Thanksgiving tradition.  For my American friends who have yet to celebrate Thanksgiving, you might want to give this one a try.

Pumpkin Spice Waffles

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 1 ½ cups milk
• ¾ cup canned pumpkin purée
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• cooking Spray
• 1/3 cup toasted pecans, chopped
• whip cream
• maple syrup

Method

1.  Preheat waffle iron.

2.  Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg and baking soda in a large bowl; mix well and set aside.

3.  Whisk together eggs, milk, pumpkin purée and butter in another large bowl.

4.  Stir in flour mixture until a slightly lumpy batter forms.

5.  Spray waffle iron with cooking spray; add batter and cook until waffles are set and golden brown, about 2 minutes.

6.  Toast pecans in a dry frying pan on a medium heat, watch carefully so they don’t burn.  Chop.  Serve waffles sprinkled with chopped pecans, whip cream and drizzled with real maple syrup.

Tip
If you do not have a waffle iron you can use the batter to make pancakes.

When I was looking up the recipe here, I noticed it was in the dessert category, rather than breakfast.  Perhaps that’s why we all loved it so much!   Try it with your own family this weekend.

This post is linked up at Blue Cricket Design , Tatertots and Jello, Under the Table and Dreaming, Funky Junk Interiors, and Some What Simple.

In the summer I went to the Christie Antiques Show, a great antique fair held twice a year in Dundas, Ontario.  It has over 300 dealers, and my friend Allana and I had a great time.  We saw some great stuff that day, but I was on the hunt for an old brass chandelier that I could re-do for my daughter Maddie’s room.  I didn’t want to spend too much, and had a pretty good idea of what I was looking for.  Something not to big, and not to small, with some real glass crystals.  Even the new pink chandeliers at Home Depot are over a $100, so I figured anything less than that was fine, but you know I always love a bargain.  After looking for hours and not seeing one old brass chandelier, we stumbled upon this one.

We got it for $50, not bad at all.

When I got it home, I removed all the crystals, glass, and the white electrical covers.

Then it was time to start spray painting.  I strung it up to the swing set in the backyard, and started applying many light coats.

I thought it looked better right away.  After a couple coats, it was time to add the pink accents on the small flowers.  I bought the same spray paint, to ensure that the sheen would match.  Since I couldn’t spray it, and risk getting it everywhere, I sprayed a small amount into an old container and applied a few coats with a small brush.

After it was all dry, I added all the crystal, and glass back on.  My husband hung it up in Maddie’s room, and it truly looks fit for a princess.

One night over dinner Maddie said to me, “Mommy, I love my new light, thank you so much”, and when your three year old says that to you, you feel pretty good.

May we enjoy many, many tea parties beneath it’s glow, because life truly is a party, with a princess chandelier in your bedroom!

Check out how we made the mobile and re-decorated her room with a birdie theme here.

I’m linked up at Just Something I Whipped Up, Made By You Monday, Blue Cricket Design,  Somewhat Simple, Beyond the Picket Fence, Tatertots and Jello, Under the Table and Dreaming, Funky Junk Interiors and Take A Look Tuesday.

It’s been a very busy week working on our church’s 10th Anniversary Weekend.  What a wonderful time it has been!  Saturday night we had a wonderful celebratory banquet, and I was in charge of the dessert table.  The church’s logo colours are yellow and blue, so we went with yellow as the theme colour of the banquet and the dessert table.  We had over 20 different sweet choices, and everything was so tasty!

The show stopper was the large wooden cake stands.  I was inspired on-line by a few clever brides who had hand-made their cake plates, in order to achieve a custom look.  Check out our inspiration here and here.  Yellow can be a tricky colour to find, so custom making our cake plates was a great solution.  We often think making them ourselves will be a cheaper alternative, but it’s quite expensive to buy all the supplies.  We were able to make six, giving us the high impact we desired, through the generous help of Ajax Home Depot.  My friend Dave put them all together for us.  After this event, we’ll be able to re-paint them white, and get lots of use out of them for other events.

Featured on the yellow cake plates, were five different varieties of cupcakes, and cake pops.  We had vanilla and chocolate cupcakes, with yellow frosting and topped with our custom cupcake picks.  We also had coconut, with cream cheese frosting, banana with caramel butter cream, and “24 carrot” cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, and garnished with real gold flakes!

The cake pops were a favourite.

Along with all the cupcakes there were several kinds of cookies.  We were inspired by Made in Brooklyn, who featured some similar cookies on her blog.  We decided to use round rather than square.

There were a few other kinds of cookies; shortbread and rice crispy squares drizzled with yellow chocolate.  Also on the buffet were lemon squares and mini lemon meringue tarts.  People were puckered up for them!

Another favourite with everyone was the individual banana parfaits.  We used shot glasses, and the sweetest little spoons, we layered banana pudding, banana, caramel sauce and whip cream, yum!

We also had homemade fudge, mini pineapple upside down cakes, butterscotch bars, mini cheesecakes, and butter tarts.  It was an amazing feast, for the eyes, as well as the tummy!

Along with all these home baked goods, we also included some candy.  In keeping with our yellow theme, we had jelly beans, caramels, and rock candy.

We also included some treat cones, made out of yellow scrap book and wrapping paper, and filled with a mixture of caramel corn and vanilla clop hopers.

To carry on the yellow theme, I made simple orchid centerpieces for all the tables, they looked beautiful with the candle light.  Another fun detail was small bags of yellow candyfloss which we placed in the souvenir mugs as a party favour. 

It was a beautiful evening of celebrating with friends that feel like family.  I had an army of bakers to help me pull this one off, special thanks to Heather, Bev, Lucia, Maureen, Miya and Renate.  I am so pleased with the results.  Sometimes life truly is a party! 

This post is linked up to Tatertots and Jello, Under the Table and Dreaming, I Heart Naptime, Somewhat Simple and Blue Cricket Design.