enough of winter

i'm tired of the snow, ice and coldness of winter. so i was inspired today to dig through my buckets of paper and work on a batch of trays that remind me of warmer days. i love these trays and their picket fence look to them. i have 4 green ones and one cream one. the paper i chose....bugs, lemons and florals remind me that warmer days will be here before we know it. ***cream tray sold even before i made it...thanks A!

make a wish

happy, happy birthday!! to my dear friend susan who lives a half a world away. oh how i miss you!

so here is a homemade (to die for) chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting. so yummy!

i ate two...one for you and one for me in celebration of your birthday.

make a wish and have a special day! xoxoxo

kiddie table

i've had this little kiddie table, from Ikea, for about 4 years. i've had lots of ideas swirling around in my head on how to paint it. i finally decided on keeping it simple. my favorite red for the top and black for the legs (because i can never not use black). an alphabet and number paper that i added car, baseball and stars to with rubber stamps fills the center. the apron of the table recieved strips of stripes (say that 3 x's fast!) in black and white. the table also has two chairs that go with it. i'm pondering the idea of painting one chair blue and the other green. hopefully i'll get to them soon and i'll have this little project done. we also have another table and two chairs, identical to this set. who knows how i'll finish it....maybe using the same colors, the red, black, blue and green but mix it up. maybe a red and blue chair with a black and green table....? hmmmm...the possibilities. what do you think? any suggestions out there?

5 year old art

my 5 year old son takes a weekly art class at art in the attic. last month's creation was this piece (shown above). each week he added to it and then when it was done he brought it home. i was so excited when he finally brought it home, i had been hearing about bits and pieces of it. i had no idea what it was really going to look like.....i love it! i like the idea of having my children's art in my home. this piece sits beautifully on the mantle in our family room.

i also love that he is creative on his own. this afternoon he created this cute piece for his friend. it's made out of pipecleaners, a popcycle stick and a cupcake paper. He calls this creation ice cream cupcake art. and he's very proud of it! so proud that he wanted me to list our phone number here "so that if someone would like to buy one" he could make it for them. future entrepreneur?? i think i might be rubbing off on him!

dinner club dessert

YUMMO! our dinner club meets tonight and i'm taking dessert. i wanted something chocolate and simple, since it will be transported to my friends house. i searched online for a really good cake recipe and i found this one the only chocolate cake recipe you'll ever need. the title sounded believeable but i wanted to take a really good dessert, so i tested this recipe last week. it recommends a white frosting, but i wanted chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and used a chocolate cream cheese frosting from the Joy of Cooking cook book. all i can say.....the title to the cake recipe is right! i couldn't believe how yummy this cake is. this is for sure a keeper!

CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
melt: 3 oz. unsweetened chocolate
soften: 3 oz. cream cheese in 1/4 cup milk
add gradually: 4 cups confectioners' sugar & 1/2 teaspoon salt
Combine this mixture with the melted chocolate and beat until smooth.
enjoy! oh you will!

milestone

one of my favorite milestones....the ability to poke a shoe string through the hole of a wood spool. i bought a bag of wood spools years ago at a garage sale. both my boys have loved stringing them. i love the concentrated look on their face trying to get that string into that tiny hole. priceless.