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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Hallowe'en

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Happy Hallowe'en everyone! Although this is not my favourite holiday of the year, I always dream about the amazing pumpkin I am going to carve for the trick-or-treaters. And then the 31st arrives and alas no carved pumpkin. We do have a couple small pumpkins on our porch, so I might yet carve them before the evening. But someday I would love to have such a bright and festive display as the one above!

Do you know where the concept of carving pumpkins came from? Well I suppose there are many variations, like the one you can find on the Wikipedia page. But one of my favourite stories is based on Celtic Mythology, click here and scroll down to the story of the jack-o-lantern. No matter which story you prefer it seems it all started with turnips. Can you imagine carving a turnip! And I thought my pumpkins were a lot of work!!

I hope you're having a wonderful Hallowe'en and find a way to stay dry while out and about this evening!
xox

Monday, October 29, 2012

Quick Play-time Toy or Birthday Gift!

Recently my nephew turned 4 (holy cow, where does the time go!). And I wanted to make him something simple for his birthday. So I decided on play-dough. I quickly found a recipe online that seemed easy enough, and ended up with two large balls of play-dough; orange, his favourite colour, and blue, his younger sister's favourite colour.


The Recipe I used is as follows, which I found on Mommy Footprint.

Play Dough Recipe:
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup water
food coloring

Combine flour, salt, cream of tartar and oil in a saucepan. Add water and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 3 – 5 minutes. Dough will become difficult to stir and form a “clump”.  Remove from stove and knead for 5 minutes, add food coloring during kneading process. Store in an air-tight plastic container. I gifted it in a large Mason Jar, which I would assume would also work for storage.

This was a super simple recipe to follow, and I will definitely be re-visiting it when Pip is a little bit older. Actually I'm kinda itching to make some right now, nothing better than squishing play-dough between your fingers!

xox



Sunday, October 28, 2012

I did it again...

Where did October go? I had so much planned for the blog this month, but none of it has turned out quite the way I expected. But that is ok, I have been working hard on other fronts, and we were without internet for a week or so, which would have made blogging very difficult!

I have been working hard to get Knotted Tree ready for the holidays, trying to add some additions that would help make a print a great gift! And if you remember, a long ways back, I signed up for a craft show to take place in early December. And guess what? It is almost November! So needless to say I have been buckling down to get my creations ready for the show!

Now back on the blog front, if we turn back almost a year to last December... I had a Christmas Cookie Countdown and I have to say, that was a pretty popular event. So this year I plan to repeat the countdown, except with a few changes. Each of the three weeks before Christmas will have a different theme: cookies, squares, cakes and loaves. All good gifts to give at Christmas! And, each Friday I will hold a link-up where you can share posted recipes that you've tried or your favourites that you would like to share! But, as I said last year, I can't bake all these recipes alone, so I am looking to you to share some delicious recipes with my readers here on Newfoundlander at Heart. If you are interested in helping me out by sharing a recipe or hosting a link-up, simply fill out the form.

I hope everyone's October has been wonderful! And don't worry, I will be back (soon this time) with a few posts that I have half completed in my drafts list.

xox

Sunday, October 14, 2012

And then life happened...

So I've been a little MIA lately, sorry for the quiet! Things have been busy, Pip changed up his schedule and is now sleeping longer during naps, and getting up less at night. You would think that would give me more time for the blog but somehow so many other things have taken precedence. You know, sleeping, baking, crafting, cleaning, visiting, making play-dough (more on that tomorrow).
And of course kisses and snuggles with this adorable little monkey! I have to admit, every time I think I am getting ahead in the time department I find one million other things to fill it up. But each of those one million things is so worth it.

After all life is for living, and I think we're doing that just fine!

xox

Friday, October 5, 2012

Fall in the Shop

In light of the pretty colours outside, and the current season I thought I would add some seasonal photos to the shop. Here are a few peaks:
 

They aren't all in the shop yet, but these and others should be by tomorrow. And because we are in the height of my favourite season please use the code AUTUMN20 for 20% off any and all prints!

xox

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Guest Post: Apple Cinnamon Doughnuts with Brynn

When Margot approached me to do a guest post for her September blog party, I decided it was the perfect occasion to try my hand at doughnut-making. I have always wanted to try baking my own doughnuts, but had never before had the motivation or the courage. I chose this apple cider doughnut recipe from Smitten Kitchen for its detailed instructions, as well as its promise for spicy, fall-inspired deliciousness. I recruited three of my girlfriends for their baking expertise and moral support and together we found the doughnut-making process super simple and quite fun! The end result was a stack of irresistibly good, golden brown pieces of cakey heaven. Now that I think of it, maybe the process was too simple...
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Alright now that seems like a great excuse to make a mess in the kitchen! Visit Brynn at her blog This Lovely Life.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Still Going Strong


So I know it is officially no longer September, but the blog party is still happening. I wanted it to stretch a little longer into fall, so there will be a few more September/Fall themed posts this week and it will officially wrap up on Saturday October 6th!

The Giveaways are officially over, but that doesn't mean there aren't other fun things coming up! You can still link-up your fall themed posts here, and be sure to visit some others and see what their favourite things about fall are.

Also, in light of the colourful fall season I am going to be adding new fall shop listings! Some of them will only be here for a limited time, so be sure to check them out :)

I hope you're enjoying to warm fall weather so far, because we all know what comes next!

xox