Missie Krissie giveaway.

I stumbled upon this giveaway from Missie Krissie jewelry designs through the Flickr group I made it myself. The picture had a link to the blog which was having a giveaway. My favourite kind of post.

I do love the idea though. I am a fan of all things shiny and recycled so this just seems to be a match made in heaven.



The pictures although creative in their garden-esque appearance are kind of busy. But this close up of the spoon caught my eye. Also there is this one which gives you a great idea of the utter practicality and sheer prettiness of the piece.



You can view some of her jewelery pieces here at her online shop but I could not find a listing for the trees. Hopefully I win one *grin* but if not I would love to purchase one. She has a blogger located here and her flickr set for the trees is here.

Indoor Pool!

We went to Tara and Sidney's house for a play date today. Sidney got a bigger kiddie pool and the kids loved it. The last twenty minutes or so Wednesday was outside of the pool just pouring water from one container to another and was really enjoying herself. So, when we got home I thought I would continue the water play with a tub on the floor in the living room. (It is just not the same in the real tub for Wednesday, I am not sure why.) But instead of playing *with* the water she insisted on playing *in* the water.












The aftermath.

I have had some mamas say I was brave to allow water in the living room but it didn't occur to me to do it otherwise. The kitchen is a galley kitchen and not very conducive to fun on the floor and the living room is hardwood (parquet) so I thought it would be hunky dory. It was and I can't wait to do it again. :)

Beer + Cupcakes = All Awesome

The thing I love most about baking before the smells and tastes and satisfaction is the giving and sharing. That is what I love most about baking, sharing my creations. No recipe is small enough to keep to yourself and so your family and friends all get a piece of tasty goodness. Yesterday I baked for my brother-in-law's 38th birthday. I made Stout Cupcakes from Martha Stewart's Cupcake book.
Funnily enough, it was my brother-in-law who gave me this book for my birthday last month so it only seems fitting that he receive the first batch of baked awesomeness.



And awesomeness they were. They tasted very much like gingerbread without the ginger due to the molasses and spices. They were incredibly moist and tasty and not to big or too sweet. The glaze is made from beer and icing sugar and adds that perfect bit of 'oomph'. They were so good.

Because these were not iced or piped with anything fancy, I printed up some little flags from marthastewart.com and I also photocopied a couple templates from the cookbook. They were the perfect touch. (It really is a wonderful book. Full of gorgeous photos and delectable recipes.)