Where Has Summer Gone

Wow has our Summer gone by fast! Some of my most memorable moments this year would be going to the Beach where we had a wonderful visit with family, attending the farmers markets, watching my antique roses bloom and my number one.... sleeping in! I find this a big luxury when you have a busy household including a mix of pets, children and a spouse with crazy work hours!
How I will miss these easy Summer mornings when lunches don't have to be made, children aren't off to school and how can I forget all the homework. There is just something about all of us being together that I really love. I know most parents are sooo ready for kiddos to be at school again and I have my moments. It is mostly so I can get back to working in my studio on a regular schedule. I really try to wind business down a bit so we can enjoy the slower pace of life during the Summer. I have a few crazy hectic moments but we really try and get out to parks or even in our own neighborhood for family fun.

Recently I have been trying to work on my diet going from Vegetarian to mostly Vegan and giving up my morning espresso. It hasn't been easy cutting out dairy. That has always been the hardest to give up for me. I truly had a love affair with cheese and breaking up isn't easy....
I have been having fun experimenting with Vegan baking using up all those fresh berries from the farmers markets.

We have had a pretty nice year for our own little garden, we currently grow in four raised beds and we have plenty of tomatoes this year! I have been making salsa like it is my job lately which thankfully is Vegan so I can munch on!
I would love to hear from anyone with some creamy Vegan recipes that won't send me running back to my ex-cheese!

When the kiddos do head back to school next week I have a whole list of things to do like paint my bedroom ( which hopefully will be a redo blog post), get on a workout schedule daily and do a little cleaning around my websites www.silverspoonscraps.etsy.com & www.silverspoonscraps.com

Enjoy the rest of your Summer days and hold those Summer memories close to your heart.

Favorite things, new goodies in the shop

I know I have been a bad little blogger, ignoring my blog for some time. I promise to do better. Like many of you I am a busy mom plus my shop keeps me busy. I often feel like my life is either all about the day to day home life or the other extreme of barely getting to peak my head out of my studio. I have balanced a bit better with summer. I have made sure to spend extra time with the kiddos and run my shop at about half speed. It is has been nice.
One thing the kiddos have enjoyed is a weekly trip to the library and while I usually don't have time to read novels I did make my way to the cook book section where I found my new favorite book.
                ARTISTAN BREAD IN FIVE MINUTES A DAY
Just want to be clear I am in no way affiliated with this book or am I being paid to write about it just an honest real find at the library! I love to bake and usually it goes towards the sweet side but as we are eating healthier these days, mostly vegetarian I find myself looking for items that are preservative free, corn syrup free and real ingrediants. I couldn't belive that most popular breads have corn syrup in their ingrediant list! I don't have a bread machine and really thought making bread by hand would be too time consuming for someone like me. When I saw the title five minutes a day I thought I have five minutes a day (sometimes..).
I don't want to give it all away but the authors Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois have simplified it for busy folks like us! You mix up a batch of the basic yeast bread and it keeps for about two weeks in the fridge- not that it will last that long once you try your first loaf! Needless to say the kiddos have enjoyed having fresh baked bread around and I have to say wow does it make your house smell good! Hubby loves it but reminds me how we were suppose to be watching our carbs. Today I started some with sprouted flour so we will see how the healthier version taste! Wish I had a photo to share of the bread but it gets eaten pretty quickly around here between the kids and dog circuling the counter top.
Between baking, farmers markets and tending to the flowers I have added some new goodies to my shop. I have been keeping my etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/silverspoonscraps pretty stocked with new paper straws and baking cups. Love the new baking cups! They also work well as favor cups, nut cups and just portion cups for treats! They look so cute paired with the party hats and I love how they add to the whole vintage vibe of a party. I have shared a few pics so enjoy! Make good use of this summer, take some time to yourself recharge and bake some bread!

Custom Marie Antoinette Party

What a week! Just finished up an entire party for the sweetest customer who adores all things French. She wanted a frilly, girly Marie Antoinette part for her darling daughter who is turning 3. She decided on soft blues, pink, white and grey. I added in touches of sparkle and whimsy, I hope she loves it.

The items she chose were of course a party hat for the Birthday girl, guest hats 4 for boys, 4 for girls- so I had to be sure to tone down the girly for them! She also requested cupcake picks which I found some great graphics for along with centerpiece picks, two banners one to say Happy Birthday and one "Let them Eat Cake". I also whipped up a bonus let them eat cake sign that she can use for her door or as a wall decoration. What a way to let know guest up front what's in store!

I am currently working on some crowns for the big Race for the cure coming up in Washington D.C. in June for the Susan G. Coleman foundation. Last year I made crowns for the top fundraisers- those who brought in $10,000 or more. They have asked me for my help again this year so that is what will be working on in the coming days.

I have also been busy in my garden, this year we decided to do raised beds and follow the square foot gardening book so I am excited to see how that turns out and can't wait to taste the results. The kiddos like getting involved too. Maybe I will be able to get them to eat some new veggies since they helped grow them. Will take some pics of those raised beds later, would love to hear from anyone who does them.

Miss Priya turns 4 with a vintage ballerina party!

Jaden helping his sister with her cake!

Blowing out the candles

Miss Priya

Cupcakes piped with same giant star tip.

View of the table, the kiddos loved eating the bracelets!

cake frosted with my icing piped with a giant star cupcake tip

All the kiddos !

What a month January has been, Jaden starting school, clearing out all the Christmas decorations, catching up on holiday orders and my baby girl turning 4! Priya decided a few months back that she wanted a ballerina party and I wasn't complaining! I had tons of little ballerinas for the store so this would be easy! I had to find her the perfect outfit though, she is quite the princess so I found the most adorable pettiskirt and top set with oodles of pink, baby blue chiffon ruffles.

Due to the nasty weather we had the party was just a few neighbors and visiting holiday company but we had a blast anyway. I found the cutest cupcake tablecloth to bring the party together. I baked a cake and cupcakes, whipped up some pretty pink frosting. For the adults I made lasagna, salad and breadsticks. I think the table turned out cute all dressed up in pink. I do hope her love of pink continues, as of now she is completely in love with all shades of pink and anything girly.

You may notice there is no special party hat in the pictures, everyone ask of course where's her hat? Priya decided she wanted to wear her tiara instead of a hat to match her "tutu" told you she was a bit of a diva! I was ok though, it was her special day and there will be plenty of parties where I whip up a party hat! Everyone had a great day despite the weather, what can be wrong when you have pink cupcakes oh and lasagna?

I hope everyone has survived the holidays and moving on for spring! I do hate to see the decorations go, the house seems naked. Not to worry, Valentines are out and holding their own but nothing beats a Christmas tree! I love hearing from all of you, with comments or emails.

Christmas Goodies

I love this time of year, you can smell hope and cookies in the air. Anywhere with family and friends is the perfect place to be. I took some time over the weekend to invite a few of my kiddos neighborhood friends over to make faux gingerbread houses with graham crackers! This is a fun activity and with kids you can't go wrong with icing, cookies, candy. I started by gluing together some boxes I had, tweaking them a bit to form a house shape. From there you gather up graham crackers to be used as the gingerbread, icing for glue and any candy you can find to decorate with. I also whipped up some simple punch and sugar cookies for them to snack on, house building can be exhausting! Everyone had fun, even the hubs got in on a little houe making and whipped up one with the kids. After all the candy was either on the houses or in their bellies it was time to call it a day and I made a few projects of my own.

I started working on a Christmas wreath made from ooodles of white tulle and dug in my vintage Christmas stash to find goodies like mercury ornaments in pink, silver, glitter bells and I couldn't resist adding in tons of vintage millinery leaves in various shades of pinks! To top off the wreath I took an old Sweetheart doll and whipped her up an oufit from vintage shimmer tulle, gave her some pink feather wings and I was in love! I do have her on the site to purchase though it will be hard to let her go! I love being knee deep in holiday projects from glitter to baking nothing makes me feel more warm inside than sharing and crafting alongside my children. More holiday goodies to come! I am thinking Christmas giveaway........

Fall is Here!

The sweetest witch you will ever meet! How bad can you be on a pink broom?

New Scrapbook Cover for my Vintage Halloween 6 x 6 scrapbook, a few peeks at all the goodies
you will find inside!

Embrace your inner witch with the "Witchy" Hat perfect for wearing to your fall parties or to use as a centerpiece on your fall table.

New charm with a gothic, grungy edge! I loved working with the altered doll head and vintage black lace.

A dainty, lady like witch!

Pumpkin Princess hat, just right for the Jr. witch or as a decoration.

Fall is finally here and I have been enjoying working in a darker tones, I love living in my pink world but this time of year you get to be a little edgy! I don't usually get to work with altered doll parts, or so much black. It is fun letting my creative juices go into a different direction and create new items like the Halloween inspired soldered charms. I usually work with vintage baby, children's themes and the occassional wedding. My house has been getting spruced up this week as well. I took down my cheery banner with polka dots, pink and mint and in its place went up a banner in true Halloween fashion. I created one with orange and white polka dot paper, vintage sheet music and black strung up on vintage black seam binding in the classic triangle shape. My breakfast nook even got new curtains! I picked up some orange and white polka dot fabric and hung up in my five windows then topped them off with black, orange crepe paper fringe. Our table was treated to a white lace runner atop black fabric and added some vintage Halloween party hats, and nut cups. Just as soon as I started admiring it and feeling accomplished my son reminded that Christmas will soon be here and wanted to know when I would start decorating for that! I am just going to enjoy the season and creating my new goodies! I hope you enjoy the picture of little Priya being a witch! We had to laugh with the pink broom and all! It is fitting for her, such a girly girl!

If you are interested in any of the pictured items they can be purchased on my website

www.silverspoonscraps.com

Thank you for reading, have a wonderful fall season!