Chocolate Orange Shortbread

Hi all!  Though I am longing for spring, winter is still rearing its head here in my little part of Canada.  However, yesterday we took advantage of the slightly warmer temperatures and headed out to a conservation area not far from our home.  We live on an escarpment so much of the area is rocky and hilly.However,  the place we visited has tons of huge crevices in these rocks.  Cool to look at, and exciting to crawl into !!

The kids (and hubby!) were nervous at first, but in the end, they were very glad to have gone on this "adventure."  We climbed down snow-covered  ladders, jumped over cracks and the kids threw snowballs into the rushing rivers.  So much fun - and the perfect way to spend a lovely winter day. 

After returning home, I let my daughter choose any recipe out of my favourite cookie cookbook she wanted.  

Her choice - Chocolate Chip Orange Shortbread.

Cookies:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 tbsp grated orange peel

1  3/4 all purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

3/4 cup miniature chocolate chips

Glaze:

1/2 chocolate chips

1 tsp shortening

1.  Blend sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.

2.  Stir in orange peel.

3. Add in flour and cornstarch; mix well.

4. Stir in 3/4 cup of chocolate chips.

5. Divide dough into 4 evenly-sized balls.  Spread each ball out on cookie using fingers or a rolling pin.  

 6.  Bake 375 degrees for 16 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden brown. 

7.  As soon as they are removed from the oven, cut the circular cookie into slices (like you would a pie!) using a knife or pizza cutter.  

8.  Once the wedges are cool, melt the chocolate and shortening together and dip the wide edges of the cookies into the chocolate.  Let the chocolate set and ENJOY!!

Wishing you  a warm and cozy last few days of February.

Bring on March - BRING ON SPRING!!

Hugs,

B.

Crocheted Granny Stripe Blanket

Happy weekend everyone!! So glad to see you popped by today! 

Hubby and I just had a good laugh looking at my blog "Visitor Stats."  Yesterday I had 598 people stop by the blog - today only NINE!!

I guess it's a slow day in blogland!

Maybe my regular visitors have been too busy making Brownies in a Mug like we did today.  Mmm....Lovely little lady REALLY enjoyed hers - especially with the dollop of whip cream on top!

Before I go any farther in this post, I want to point out the new button at the top, right-hand side of the blog page.

  

YES - I've joined the Instagram brigade.  

It's taking a bit of time to build up my photo roll, but I'm working on it. : )  And I'm also trying to follow as many of my favourite bloggers as I can, too.  

Now for a project I have worked on since Christmas and  is FINALLY done!

When Michaels had all of its yarn on sale right after Christmas, my daughter and I spent a  bit of time choosing the right combination of worsted weight yarn to make a large afghan for our family room.

I am so pleased with our colour choices!  

And they came together so beautifully using Lucy's Granny Stripe pattern.  

At first I wasn't happy with the fact that all of my rich, dark colours were together and my pastels were side by side.  Now that it is done, I like the way it looks.  

My youngest son, Camden, was particularly excited about the creation of this blanket.  He ADORES anything knit or crocheted.  In fact, he chooses to wear hand-knit sweaters to school  almost every day because if feels like he is "wearing a blanket and it is cozy!" (Those are his words, not mine!)

At this point, the afghan was only a 2 feet wide, but that didn't stop him  from wrapping  it around himself while he caught some CBeebies on the ipad.  

I struggled for a long time  about the border.  After the pink row, I could not figure out which colour to do next. I tried each colour until I found yellow worked the best.  Then  came green and red. Now, I really enjoy the crisp-ness of these colours.   

And there she is---lounging comfortably on our family room sofa.  

Hubby admits that he wasn't so sure about this project from the beginning - "Pink and red together--- and in the family room?"

But now he's all over it - or rather, I usually find it all over him!

  Not an evening goes by that he isn't curled up under it watching his favourite shows or reading his chosen books.

And tonight - it was the thread that held three-fifths of my family together  while they watched another edition of "Hockey Night in Canada."

And really- that's why I spent 6 weeks making it.  Not only was it a joy to make but it also brings cozi-ness  to our home during these cold winter months.  

Much love and warmth to you and yours,

Bronwyn

A Tumbler Quilt for a Baby Boy

I ADORE Pinterest! It is the perfect place for me to hang out- recipes, craft ideas, decor projects and fun for the kids!!  

While perusing good old Pinterest, I pinned several of these "Tumbler" quilts in hopes that one day I would give one a try.  

A few months back, I gave it a try and made this Tumbler Table Runner. It still graces my dining room table and it makes my heart skip each time I see it.  

I recently purchased a charm pack of orange, turquoise and yellow prints perfect for a little boy. I usually make things covered in roses and in pastel shades-- so this was a large departure for me. 

And here it is!  I didn't have enough 5"x 5" squares to make tumbler rows for the whole quilt top so I mixed in a few rows of some matching mini-prints.  

The car and road sign prints are few and far between on the quilt top, but on the back......

...they aren't quite as subtle.  : )

I like how this quilt or floor play-mat can be used with either side facing up.  Both are colourful and eye-catching.  

My boys are 4 and 8 now, so no need for this play-mat to stay around here.  Luckily I have several (younger!) girlfriends who are destined to have babies in the next few months.  I am sure a few of these bundles of joy will be of the "blue" kind and this quilt will find a new home soon.  

Just a quick note - to say thank-you for all of your kind comments lately.  Each and every one makes me smile.  

I really love sharing my crafting, baking and decor exploits here- and to have such a captive audience makes it even more exciting!

Hugs to all,

B.  

Kids' Bathroom REVEAL !!

It`s done!! It`s done !! 

It has to be done because there isn`t any more room for anything else!!

I`ve painted, decoupaged and sewn everything I can and now it`s time to step back and enjoy the finished space!

Here is the kids` bathroom early last fall when I grew tired of the orange accents :

Let the makeover begin!!

Back in October I began by Stencilling the largest wall in the room.  

This was a big and frustrating job, but I LOVE how it turned out!!

Shortly after that, I exchanged the  silver, builder-grade cabinet knobs for these funky polka-dot ones.  

Hubby took out the boring "boob-light" fixture and replaced it with this  vintage light which I paid $2.50 for at the Habitat for Humanity resale store.  

I made this ``Bathroom Pixie`` to keep watch over the kids and to make sure they were flossing and brushing carefully!

I filled the wall space above our Pixie with this 3D paper star art.

I made this Paper Mosaic Art as a tutorial for a guest post at Pocket Full of Pink. It went perfectly into this bathroom space.  

To fill the space above the toilet I created these Bathroom Reminder Signs to make sure the kids started each day with cleanliness and happiness.

To jazz up the plain white shower curtain, I added some pennants.

Nope.  I couldn't leave the step stool alone either.  Here is how I added the text and swirl.

To finish up, I re-hung these adorable pictures of my three kids as babies enjoying the tub. 

"You are my Sunshine" greets the kids every morning, too.  I grabbed this at a discount decor store.

Where do the kids put their "bathroom reading?"  In a freshly re-painted magazine rack hung on the wall near the throne.  

And here it is.   Complete.  

RED and AQUA all over.  

Looking at the after pictures I see I may have gone a little overboard.  Hmmm...

But the kids disagree.  They think it is perfect.  

And it's them I did it for, right?  

Shower Curtain Pennants

Hi there blog readers!!

I promise - this is the last project I will share with you from my kids' bathroom makeover.  : )

(No really - it is.)

The plain white waffle weave shower curtain was looking mighty boring so I decided the cutest way to jazz it up was to add some colourful pennants across the middle.  

 I chose some fabrics from my ever-growing fabric stash and started cutting, stitching and ironing.  

After I had decided what order they were going to hang,

 I pinned them to the curtain.

I love the ribbon I found on sale at Michaels.   

"Keep Calm and Carry On" has been my motto lately.  

I love the ZING of colour these pennants have added to the plain white curtain. 

 And it wasn't hard to do.  Love those kind of projects!!

Yep.  The kids love it, too!

Speaking of the kids, we took them bowling the other day in celebration of a big anniversary.  It was exactly 2 years ago that my oldest son, Bryn, had life-altering surgery to remove a fist-sized tumour from his brain. 

An hour at the lanes was the perfect way to build up an appetite before we headed to McDonalds for burgers and fries.  All by request of my healthy, 8-year-old boy!!

Hugs to all ,

B.