Itty Bitty Pieces of Paper

Hello lovelies.  Who let me sign up for all these craft shows! I was over at my dear friend Juanettes the other day enjoying a leisurely cup of tea and long overdue chat, when she said something to me about how soon the craft show was.  Well somehow I had lost track of the month of September.  It seems like it had just begun and the 21st seemed an eternity away. Well I have to tell you sister, I am working my butt off now.  My poor cricut is going into convulsions as I have it whizzing out borders and flourishes by the stack full.  I have piles of half finished projects perched precariously on every nearly flat surface.  Lord help me if my husband wanders down here and sees the mess.  I am so excited about taking this first step towards getting my business out there.  I don't expect to make any money my first show but just being there is such a thrill.  So I think all this panicky butterfly in the stomach feeling is doing me good.  It is pushing me to achieve my goal of being a  independent craft professional.

Check out my mess.

Purex plus Oxi - The laundry is done

Hello Ladies;

I brought all the laundry home from the trailer so that I would have an ample supply to give Purex with Oxi a fair trial.  My children's contribution to the project included multiple beach towels, swimsuits, s'more encrusted t shirts and muddy shorts.  It was good that my husband decided to show his support as well contributing piles of socks, sweaty shirts and jean shorts.  My family is always happy to pitch in with my projects. Let's see if they are so helpful when the socks need to be paired up.

Personally I was raised with the big orange box of laundry detergent. My Mom used it, my Grandma used it and when I setup my own house guess what I automatically stocked it with.  Even when laundry detergents changed and everything seemed to come in liquid form I still reached for the orange bottle.  That was until I noticed that my foster children were having reactions to the laundry detergent.  We had to switch to an all natural cleaner which became increasingly difficult to afford on one income.  One of the first things that I checked when I opened the bottle was to see if it had a strong perfumey smell.  I knew if it did my review would have to stop right there as both my youngest son and I have asthma and can't handle the strong heavy scents.  Purex with Oxi actually had a lovely light scent that reminds me more of a body wash or shampoo then a detergent.  I poured the blue syrupy detergent into the soap dispenser only to realize in horror that I had not checked to make sure it was HE. I grabbed the bottle and was overjoyed to see the little disclaimer in the corner of the bottle stating that it was safe for all machines including HE. I found my son's orange shorts determined to use them as the test of the detergents effectiveness at removing stains. Then the phone rang.  After hanging up the phone I rushed to the basement to get the load started....oh yah and threw in the shorts.....great.....so much for my before and after shots.  Well I guess at this point it is a matter of trust. I assure you they were thoroughly disgusting.
When the timer went off on the dryer I flew down the stairs to retrieve the results.  I have to say I was impressed.  The shorts actually look really good.  There are three small spots that you can barely see that my son has identified for me as grease from a bicycle chain so the fact that it came 95% out really pleases me.  There was no heavy soap smell left on the clothes and the entire load seemed free of spots (except as I said the 3 spots on kidlet's shorts).
I think that I will switch detergents.  I will give it a three month screening to see if anyone has any skin reactions and if there are any issues and I will do a follow up post. Purex plus Oxi liquid detergent is supposed to be hypoallergenic so I am hopeful.  If you would like to try Purex plus Oxi liquid detergent for yourself please feel free to enter my giveaway for one of four free bottles . Hurry the giveaway is over next week!

* Purex provided me with a sample of Purex plus Oxi detergent in exchange for a product review. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own.

More Lovely Scrapbook Paper to Ooogle Over

Hello Ladies;
My husband and I had our first daytime date in the last 10 years today. The bigger kidlets were at school and my little munchkin was at preschool so Hubby and I had a the chance to go out to a grown up restaurant  and to shop without trying to stay in the centre of the aisles so little hands did not remove the shelf contents onto the floor. I forgot what it was like to just wander a store with no time constraints. To make matters better he took me to Michael's where they had all their paper collections on sale 47% off.  Needless to say I had to grab two. I purchased The Primrose Stack and The Preppy Princess stack  (DCWV)and I can hardly wait to crack these babies open and start creating. I will be sure to post pictures of what I make. I am thinking that they will make lovely mini albums. If you have used these stacks please send me a link so I can see your projects.

So simple a child could do it!

Hello all.  I just had to share some cute pictures of Monkey making Mrs. MacRae's Marevelous Muffins yesterday.  They turned out just perfect.  I did notice that there were far fewer chocolate chips in the actual muffins than in the cup I had measured with. Go figure.  In case you missed the recipe you can find it right here
Mrs. MacRae's Marvelous Muffins

Grandma Hick's Creamy Maple Candy

It makes me feel very connected to my grandmother when I make this recipe every Christmas.  She used to make it and give it out to neighbours and friends over the holidays as well.  My Grandma passed away when I was only 3 but I still have such vivid memories of her.  The way her cold cream smelled and her thick lipstick.  I like knowing that I am keeping her tradition alive.  What traditions are you passing on?  Who did they come from? Challenge yourself to dig up an old family recipe this week and enjoy the trip down memory lane.


Grandma Hick's Creamy Maple Candy
4 Cups Brown Sugar
1 Cup Cereal Cream
3 tbs butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of baking soda

Cook sugar, cream and butter to a soft ball.  Do not scrape the sides of your pot during cooking.  Once heated add a pinch of baking soda and the vanilla.  Beat on high speed until spoon leaves a mark in the mixture.  Pour into lined baking pan. Try to resist sampling until it is cooled...just kidding it is so yummy when it is warm why wait.

Gooey Cheesy Goodness

Ok, let's face it I am no health nut. In fact I am not even close.  I admire those of you that can relish the flavour of fruit and vegetable faire but its just not me.  I am the comfort food type girl (as witnessed by my rapidly increasing skirt size.  I think it comes down to you just have to know who you are and who you are not.  I repeat, I am not a health nut.  So that being said I want to share with you one of the most fatty, non-healthy recipes I possess.  It was given to me from a man I used to work with, though I am suspecting perhaps his wife made it and he just arrived with it and accepted the compliments.   This was his potluck hit at every social event we attended.  I finally got the recipe from him just before he transferred to a new position where he was not longer going to be attending the same potlucks as me.  He passed away a couple years ago and I think he would be ok with my sharing it with just my closest friends like you:)  Please enjoy this oh so yummy dish but remember if you are attending the same potlucks as me....bring another dish as this is my all time favourite.

Ted's Tasty 4 Cheese Shells

Mrs McRae's Marvelous Muffins

Here is a link to my friends amazing banana muffin recipe.  It is so easy and so good you just have to try it.

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