Felt Log with 'Carved' Initials. Awe!

Here is a sweet little felt project you can do for your special someone.  How about a dandy little felt log, complete with some 'carved' initials.  Gah... it's just so darn cute!

Ready?  Let's go!

Get some craft felt.  For this project, I used an entire 9 x 13 sheet of brown felt, about half of a cream one and just a bit / scraps of the red and green felt.

Load up your sewing machine with off white thread.  Stitch some detail onto the felt, so it looks like the grain of the bark on a tree.  Looking back, I wish I had sewn on more then I did in this picture.  So you might want yours to be a little closer together then mine.  There is no right or wrong here.

Cut out a heart shape from the red felt.  Mine was about 2.5 inches. Stitch it using the sewing machine to the side you want to be the 'back' or 'inside' of the log once you are done.

On the front side, cut away the brown felt to expose the heart.  Think of it like a reverse applique.  Careful not to cut the heart!  Eee, that would be tragic!

Stitch on some initials!  I used embroidery thread because I had some, but white cotton string, thin yarn, or just some thick thread would do the trick too.  You just want it to stand out.

With the right side facing in, stitch your log closed along the long side, leaving the ends of the log open.

Using your cream coloured felt, cut two circles out.  Mine were about 4.5 inches in diameter.  Don't worry if they end up a little big, you can trim it later. 

Using brown thread, sew a spiral on each circle.

Pin the circles onto the end.  If the circle is too big, just leave some overhang and you can trim it off after you've sewn it.  Sew on both ends of the log, but be sure to leave at least 2 inches unstitched on the bottom end.

Turn it right side out through the opening and stuff the log.  I used plastic shopping bags.  Why not, right?  Use a slip stitch to close the opening.

Finally, trim off any little threads and you are done!

I decided to add a twig and a couple leaves to finish it off.  And yes, the initials are that of myself and my husband.  Awe..... ;)

A birch tree inspired one would be fabulous, wouldn't it?  Maybe that will have to be next!

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Simply Lover-ly Scones

I'm not much into Valentines day and the overload of pink and red decor, traditions, blah, blah.  But... I did want to make something that could be translated into a Valentines day treat for all of you.  Simple, pretty, scones you can make any time of year!  I made them pink just for all of you *wink*.

Ingredients

3 1/4 cups of all purpose flour, plus a little for dusting
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
4 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp white sugar
1 cup of milk, plus a little extra for brushing the tops
Food colouring (optional, as desired)

 1.  Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.

 2.  Using your fingers, rub in the butter until the mixture starts to resemble bread crumbs.  Add in the sugar.

 3.  Measure out the milk.  If you want to add colour to your scones, put the food colouring into the milk.

 4.  Turn out the flour mixture onto a lightly floured surface.  Make a well in the centre and poor in the milk a little at a time.  Fold the flour over into the milk and keep doing so until the dough comes together.  Try not to over work the dough.

 5.  Flatten out the dough to about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thickness. 

6.  Cut out using a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter or glass (whatever you have on hand) and place onto a baking sheet. 

Bake for 10 - 12 minutes in a preheated 425F oven or until tops start to get golden.

Cool on a wire rack, or serve warm with butter or preserves with a cup of your favourite tea.

If you really want to go for broke, you could drizzle with a little icing sugar frosting, or top with fresh fruit and whipped cream.  Oh yum!

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Tickle Trunk Photo Shoot

Recently, I had an awesome play date with some Momma friends of mine and their babes.  The theme?  Old fashioned, tickle trunk photo shoot!  I set up a snack table with coffee and tea for the adults, juice, and a snack-bar of cheerios, cookies, goldfish, raisins and berries for the little ones.  I wish I had gotten a picture of the snack bar!

It was a lot of fun!  I only bought a few props for the shoot, everything else was stuff from around the house.  The props I did buy, were either second hand or dollarstore items and maybe totalled $10.  The bench was from the front entry of my home, the backdrops were bed sheets, typewriter and radio I had laying around, table and chair from Foster's play area.  There were no 'meltdowns', the babes were all smiles and completely tuckered out by the end!

One of the best things about this play date?  Everyone ended up with some fun photo's of their little ones (if I do say so myself).  Another 'best' thing about the play date?  The out-take pictures!

One of my favourite pictures is the top right corner... notice the shirtless blond boy hitting the background and squealing?  Yep... he's mine!  The picture on the bottom left?  We were trying to wrangle them all for a group shot.  HA!  Like that was going to happen!

Finish the photo shoot party off with a little goodie bag for the kiddies and call it a wrap.  I will definitely do this again.  Plans are already turning in my head for a summertime event!  Any thoughts on a summertime theme?  I would love to hear your ideas!
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Reminiscing about Foster's Adventures

I was thinking today about all the fun I had last year at this time, taking adventure photos of my little guy Foster (now 15 months old).  Some of you may have seen my adventure posts from last year.  Foster went on over 75 adventures!  I really loved doing the scene pictures and sometimes I feel sad that there haven't been any more.  He is constantly on the go now so there is no way I could get him to stay still for a scene picture now.  Maybe when he's a little older and understands what 'stay still' means... lol.  Maybe....

Well here is a couple from the past.  *Sniff*... he's gotten so big since I took these!

Ah... what a great little model he was!  Sigh...I think I'm going to go snuggle my little guy now lol.... have a wonderful day all!
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Sour Apple Microwave Lollies

Are you intimidated by hard candy making?  Using a standard household microwave, these sweet little lollies are a cinch to make.  No candy thermometer needed!

Fancy up that Basic Cupcake!

Cupcakes.  Sweet little handfuls of utter goodness.  They are enough to settle the sweet tooth in us without eating a quarter of a cake!  Let's face it though, we don't all have time to make our cupcakes from scratch... or the icing.  Boxed cake, container frosting... they quickly become your plain old generic cupcake.  Here is a quick way to bump your cupcakes from plain and boring to something a little extra special.  We are going to 'fill' those cupcakes!

First, bake up some boxed cake mix into some lovely little cupcakes as per box directions (use whatever mix you like).  I used 'confetti' cake mix.  So far, pretty generic looking.

Here is the fun part!  Get some sort of medicine dropper (any parent with small children are likely to have one of these hanging around), and fill it up with your favourite kind of jam or jelly.  I'm using raspberry jam.  You could also use something like Nutella if you've make chocolate cupcakes.

Inject the jam into the centre of the cupcake.  I got a good tablespoon's worth in there.  If your cupcakes are dense, you might not get quite as much in them.

Only a tiny whole in the top as evidence.  Nobody will ever know once they have been frosted until they take a bite!

Nothing fancy here.  I used container frosting in plain vanilla.  I tinted mine pink with food colouring I had on hand.  Here is a tip... if you whip the container frosting with your mixer, it will expand in volume and become a lot lighter and will stretch further!  I decided to pipe my icing, hence why it's in a bag.  I just cut the corner off the bag and went to town.  No need for fancy bits and such.  If you're not into the whole piping thing, you can frost them with a spatula or knife too.  If you do pipe the icing, chill it a little bit in the fridge first.  It will be easier to work with.

Ta-da!  Pretty little cupcake!  I know, the sweet pink teacup is awesome isn't it?!  Courtesy of my Mother.  She found it at a thrift store and gifted it to me this past Christmas. :)  But I'm sure you're more curious about what the cupcake looks like on the inside, right?

Fantastic is what it looks like!  I think I completely lucked out with how perfect this one cut open lol.  You couldn't even see where I poked into the cupcake to put the jam in.  It also tasted wonderful and was husband and toddler approved!

Enjoy taking those cupcakes to the next level.  I'd love to hear some of your ideas for flavour combinations!

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Pick Your Plum Giveaway Winner!

Hooray for giveaways!  I'm happy to announce the winner of the PYP giveaway by random draw is, Kiri Lahey!  Kiri will get $25 worth of goodies from Pick Your Plum!  Congrats! 

Thanks to everyone who took the time to enter!  I am hopeful there will be many more giveaways in the future!