Tiny Tasties

photo credit: Bakers Royale

I'm super proud of both of my parents. They have been working hard for the past few months to lose weight and both of them look fabulous!! More important than how they look is how they feel and they are both feeling fantastic!

It certainly isn't easy to lose weight and anyone who has tried knows how important it is to indulge every now and then in order to avoid an all out binge on a really crappy day. Someone (and for the life of me I can't remember who) linked to these super sweet treats which led to the recipe for the cute and delicious looking Banana Split Bites pictured above and a new-to-me awesomely yummy blog Bakers Royale.

I haven't taken the time to figure out how many points each would be (my parents are using the Weight Watchers point system) but I think that it would be minimal and even less if I substitute frozen yogurt for the ice cream. I remember my mom ordering banana splits from Dairy Queen when I was little and although I haven't seen her eat one in years I have a feeling she would share a couple of these with me if I made them. I'm looking forward to giving this sweet little treat a test run once the weather warms up again.

There are a pile of recipes that make me go "YUM!" over at Bakers Royale but of course the most yum inducing for me involves a chocolate peanut butter combo.

image source: Bakers Royale

Frozen Reese Peanut Butter Pie: I am holding back tears of joy while thinking about the yum factor. Oreo cookie crumb crust?! Seriously. Genius. Naomi mentions that you can make four mini cakes or one large one. Of course the mini cakes would mean less waste. Hahahahahaaha! Who am I kidding?? Waste? I could scarf back this cake all on my lonesome and I'm sure I could find a few people to share it with if I decide to skip the terrible greedy girl bellyache.

Check out Bakers Royale and leave a comment linking to your favourite find if you feel the urge to share!

Inspiration

I've been tossing around the idea of making a book for the Rockstar and then Prudent Baby linked to this FABULOUS creation by Megan of mousehouse.

image source (mousehouse)

I can only imagine how much little Amelie adores her book, I could sit and stare at the pictures for ages and the sweet bits in the photographs don't have any personal meaning to me. I'm stashing this idea away for future use (a perfect gift for the wee man once he gets to a stage where eating and ripping paper isn't a high priority).

image source (mousehouse)

I love when I find a fantastic idea for a new project and it's even better when a fabulous blog is added to my regular reads because of it. Thanks, Prudent Baby!

Until my book eating boy is out of the paper shredding stage I think it's safest to stick with fabric and board books. I've been hunting for a site where I can order a custom board book and I found three decent options: My Custom Story, Custom Board Books and Hullabaloo Stories. Custom Board Books would be my first choice but unfortunately they are currently closed and there's no hint of when the shop will be reopening. I think My Custom Story is the best available option right now. The reviews are all good except for one minor detail: the words MY CUSTOM STORY are printed in big bold black ink along the spine of the book. I figure if this bugs me as much as it does others I can fix it with a little tlc.

The other option is for me to make my own book from scratch. I think I might try this first and if it's a total disaster I'll go ahead and order a custom book online. Have you ever heard of Bare Books?? Awesome site with inexpensive blank books available for purchase. Less than $2.00 for a blank 5" x 5" or 8" x 8" board book! There are great options for older kids as well: check out the blank comic books. Who knows when I'll get this project started, I'm hoping sooner than later though so stay tuned!

Boys Boys Boys!!

image source

Anyone who sews or crafts and has boys in their world will know that finding tutorials and projects for cute boy bits online isn't the easiest thing to do. There are zillions of adorable sparkly, ruffly, sweet girlie bits to be found but not so many awesome boy goods. This is where Celebrate the Boy swoops in and comes to the rescue. Last year over at Made there was a month featuring BOYS: loads of tutorials, giveaways and links relating to fantabulous things for mini men. Click here to see the archives and find lots of fab tutorials.

The only thing better than Celebrate the Boy's well laid out archives would be a second round of celebrating, don't you think? Well lucky us! Dana from Made and Rae from Made by Rae
are preparing for round two of Celebrate the Boy. I can't wait for February 15th to arrive so we see what they have in store for us!

31 Days

Not shot manually but a recent fav of our Rockstar

I've been planning to get to know my Digital SLR better since we purchased it six years ago. It's ridiculous really. Instead of taking the time to play with the manual settings I've taken the easy route time and time again: set the dial to automatic and snap snap snap. I've been happy with my photographs most of the time but I know I can take them to the next level by using the manual settings. So why haven't I done so? Good question. I don't have an answer to it but I will share my snapshot background with you.

In high school I took two photography courses and fell in love with the challenge of taking a perfect (for me) photo. I spent hours in the darkroom at school developing film and my parents being the amazing people they are set up a darkroom in the basement for me. I applied to attend college to become a professional photographer, was accepted and then the night before my acceptance was due I changed my mind. I don't regret the decision one little bit: I wasn't entirely convinced that photography was what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing and I wasn't ready to move away from home just yet (needed another year). Eventually I came to the realization that spending time behind a camera photographing people and things was a perfect hobby for me but wouldn't make me happy in the grand scheme of things, I needed to work with and care for children to feel fulfilled.

Unfortunately after I made the decision not to pursue photography professionally I sort of set it aside for a number of years. I always had a simple point and shoot camera in my backpack in my early 20s and took a zillion shots of friends and family but rarely did I take the time to compose an excellent shot. In the last few years I've spent a little more time shooting random bits, landscapes etc but more often than not I catch myself thinking *I wish I had my camera with me*. Now that the Rockstar is here I'm pulling the camera out almost daily and trying to take it with us when we head out and about. I'm in the habit of wearing the camera so now I need to get back into the habit of using the manual settings.

It hit me this morning that it has been nearly 15 years since I took that the advanced (high school) photography course so I really shouldn't beat myself up for not remembering the details, of course I learned on an old school SLR but let's not go there, I'm dating myself. Side note: the fact that I am able to use the words "dating myself" is a little bit depressing. Rather than dwelling on what I don't remember and don't know I've decided now is the time to start from square one to relearn how to use manual settings and refresh my composition skills as well.

While searching for something completely unrelated (moments after making the decision to stop talking about it and to start learning to use the camera properly) I found this 31 Days to a Better Photo Series over at life with my 3 boybarians. This series is going to deliver the kick in the ass I need to get started.

Expect some upcoming posts focusing on my mission to improve my photographs! Hopefully I'll have some cool pics to share with you.

Buy One Superhero Get One Free

Photo from Sewing in No Mans Land

Kian's still too little to fully appreciate the awesomeness of this tutorial but one day he will. Whipping up a superhero cape is a pretty simple task but Kelly from Sewing In No Mans Land took it up a notch by creating a two-in-one reversible cape: brilliant!

Kids on the brain

There are so many well written tutorials out there for kick ass bits for kids. Here are a few I've tagged lately with the hope of whipping up sometime soon.

photo snagged from I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar

I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar is such a fantastic blog. I visit daily now to get my fix. One of her recent tutorials that I'm dying to make for the Rockstar is for the Upcycled Boy Hat seen above. Ear flaps are just too cute and I can totally see the Rockstar in a mini version. I think a trip to Value Village is in order - I need to snag some t-shirts to shred.

photo borrowed from homemadebyjill.blogspot.com

ADORABLE baby jean skirt from Homemade by Jill (love love love this blog) featured on a new for me blog Kojo Designs which is run by two very creative sisters. Too bad Mike won't let me put a skirt on the Rockstar: no sense of adventure. Kim, I'm sending girl vibes your way so that I have an excuse to make one of these teeny tiny skirts.

photo borrowed from Living with Punks

I was hunting for a tutorial for floor cushions and came across another fabulous blog that I have added to my list of places to visit often. Living with Punks: awesome blog with fantabulous tutorials. This kid size floor cushion has been added to my ever growing list of things to make: might whip up a couple for Christmas presents and am definitely going to make a few larger sized cushions for the deck.

photo borrowed from Thimble

Maybe I'm behind the times but I didn't know that wannabe chalkboard fabric existed! If you're out of the loop too yes it is fabric you can draw on with chalk. Genius! Love this little travel roll-up chalk mat found on Thimble. Such a simple project. Hmm, a potential Christmas gift for a couple little ladies I know.

Blog Love

I dare you to visit Mila's Daydreams and not crack a smile. I'm betting you'll also giggle while you're there. Brilliant!

New Goodies

I stumbled across one new blog (new to me) which led me to another and of course that led me to another which... well you get where I'm going with this.

Here are a few of my new fab bloggy finds:

Lovelorn Unicorn
No sneak peaks - just pop over and see the loveliness for yourselves!

Yes and Yes

Ninainvorm

Desire to Inspire


Do you have any new favs?! Please do share.

Super Big Thank!

I really like receiving mail (excluding bills) but I LOVE opening the mail box to find a package addressed to yours truly even more!

Lucky me won the recent giveaway that took place at Pattern & Perspective!! Look how sweetly my goodies were wrapped.

I now know firsthand what fabulous quality MOO cards are and I'll definitely be ordering my biz cards from the site in the future. These little courtesy cards are awesome and if you're nice to me you might end up with one... if you're not you still may because some simply say "YOU...." so I can fill in the blank with whatever nasty thing I want to.

Oh and the CD - some lovely folky bits, a fab addition to the package! Thanks SO very much!!

This One's for Suz!

Before you watch the video below you have to read this post by the fabulous Suzanne Broughton of Alive in Wonderland. I spotted this video over at Gin & Gossip today and immediately thought of Suz. A fabulous little film that makes me crave Converse.

Photolicious

Another fabulous new-for-me blog that I'm lovin': Color Me Katie. She creates the best photo ops, like these thought bubbles stuck on the streets of NYC.