Gifts I made

 I always enjoyed crocheting. Around the holidays it becomes stressful though. The pressure is on for gift giving and your body engine light is on for rest and unwind. But the doctor said I needed to make time to slow down and meditate and do something I enjoy, so off I went into the quest of doing something I loved but was also useful and productive because my brain cannot simply accept the idea of doing things just for fun.

I started with these lovely Christmas stars to give out to students as they brought me sweet Christmas gifts and literally made tons of them, so I started to use them as gift toppers as well. I wish I could remember where I got the pattern from, but it doesn't look like I saved it, which makes me sad as I want to make more even though I have plenty of them left. they were very well received, but if I had to do make them again, I'd probably double them and sew 2 of them together to give them a sturdier look. They also came out slightly bigger that I'd like.

Then I found this lovely tree potholder pattern, and I just fell in love with the simple both high end look. So here is a picture of a very happy friend that enjoyed her gift very much!

Halfway through making those, I realized I was running out of time and still have a few to make, so I switched to candy canes potholders.

These went way faster, and they were just as enjoyable and really helped me to get in the holiday spirit. I still have a few leftovers as I ended up making way too many as usual.

I love that everything I made was red, green and white, the traditional Christmas colors and made with eco-friendly cotton. Very different from the cupcakes I have been known for years back.

For the stars I went crazy and instead experimented with a lot of different colors and materials because why not?

But don't be fooled, these are not the only things I made and gifted. Some things are still in the making, and some others are still traveling, so I will definitely be posting more.

What about you? Are you a crafter of some kind? What did you make? Care to share? Go ahead and entertain me!

Matcha DNA Certified Organic Matcha Tea review

One of the things I missed about blogging during these weeks at the new job, is writing about all the wonderful product samples that I received over the holidays. 

One of which was the Matcha DNA Certified Organic Matcha Tea.  

Of course, I had to tried immediately but I must confess that is was different from what I expected. 

I thought it was simply another brand of green tea, but I was totally wrong as by infusing the powder of one little bag in a big glass of water gave me a rich and green mix. 

It is an acquired taste for sure and, try as I may, I couldn't bring my self to drink it pure :( 

I still wanted to really try it given that is organic and I'm attracted to anything that are, so I gave it another chance in my daily smoothy, as it suggested in the package and I loved it this way. I thought I'd share my recipe with you in case you would want to try it too.  

Mixed Berry smoothie 

1/2 cup of mixed berries (like blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries) 

2 Tbp of Sugar (I usually omit the sugar tho) 

1/2 of milk 

1 cup of ice 

and 1 ripe banana 

plus a single bag of Matcha DNA Certified Organic Matcha Tea 

 And voila', this is what you end up with!

Granted, it still comes up looking pretty green after being mixed together in the blender, which could be a put off for some people, but I assure you that it tastes as fruit and nothing more! 

I'm really happy to have had the chance to try Matcha DNA Certified Organic Matcha Tea and I hope more people would feel like giving it a try! 

Disclaimer: 

This is a personal blog and I do not receive monetary compensation for any of my product reviews. All reviews represent only the my opinions based on personal use and results.

Happy Saint Patrick day!

 

Did you celebrate? Did you get drunk of green beer and buzz? 

Yeah, neither did I! 

 I guess with kids the word "celebration" has totally another meaning! 

But I did have the pleasure to be included in a wonderful collection that made the front page on Artfire yesterday and the daily email, so enjoy!! 

mint and chocolate by thebeadsofdreams

mint and chocolate

Curated By: thebeadsofdre...

ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts

Sick again!

No matter what I do, it seems that I can't catch a break. 

I go to sleep Friday night looking forward to the long weekend, just to wake up in the morning all swollen and stuffy!!! Another cold! 

Enough is enough already! All my weekend plans fell through, I decided to stop everything and take care of this cold once and for all! 

 One thing that makes me feel better when I have a cold is so drink hot beverages, specially tea and chamomile with a teaspoon of honey......aaahhhh! It's good when I need to go to sleep and I feel either too stuffy or my nose won't stop running.....instant bliss! 

 But during the day I feel restless and I can't stop thinking of things to do, the kids need this and that......what is a mom to do?? 

One thing that I found soothing is eating a good bowl of green or red curry at my favorite Thai restaurant. BUT.....I'm cheap and going to the restaurant every time I have a cold at this pace is really not doable, plus today the restaurant was closed!!! 

So I scoured the local grocery store and found the ingredient to make my own curry!! 

It's pretty easy actually! All you need is this:

  

Coconut milk, green or red curry paste and my secret ingredient, tabasco. 

Lately I seem to prefer green curry, but it's really a phase, I like them both. 

The tabasco, I like it as it gives it a spicy kick and trust me, if you have a cold you want something like this: hot, creamy and spicy.....clears your sinuses right up! 

I have to thank my friend Eva for introducing me to Thai food that by the way is gluten free and way healthier that any other food out there. 

Also, thanks to my friend Aggie that directed me to the appropriate aisle of the grocery store so I could do curry in my own kitchen. 

What I usually do is during the weekend I boil a can of coconut milk, stir in 2 tablespoons of the curry paste, a little bit of tabasco and voila', the curry is made. 

Then throw in whatever left overs I have, usually veggies, pieces of chicken or shrimp, boil some rice and pour it over. 

 But I also tried it over left over spaghetti noodles today and once I sprinkled a spoon of the sauce over my blend boiled tilapia and it was delicious! 

Well, I guess you got the gist, I love this stuff everywhere and wanted to share XO

Merry Christmas to me Part 4

I have started to get some Christmas goodies in the mail from my dear friends, so I thought to start sharing them with you and make you drool! 

This time the package is courtesy of Alisuns that sent me not one but two beautiful and sparkly necklaces. I loved the details and the colors, they remind me of Christmas bubbles, so I'm happily wearing one of them for this holidays. 

Still, I was a little perplex on why she sent me two necklaces and not just one, so I had to ask her when I thanked her and her reasoning was that it was a mother and daughter set!! How delightful! I immediately shared the necklace with my precious daughter Michelle. 

Do you think she liked it?? I know that she LOVED it!!! 

But then again all of Alisuns jewelry is so lovely! I'm also enjoying a pair of snowman earrings that we traded for months ago. See for yourself! 

More cupcakes in the house!

Do you know by know that I have a cupcake fetish, right??? 

And if you didn't, well, where have you been???? 

I've showed you how I decorated my full kitchen with cupcake curtains and table decor over the spring break (READ ABOUT IT HERE). 

Well, I found the cutest little towels to complement the look in hillsidebakery shop. 

 

Don't they look just......SWEET???? 

But what I like about Lisa's work is the care for details and the wonderful resistant stitching. 

Already thinking about the next set for the bathroom......

The ONE Run

Isn't my daughter just darling watching all those runners go?? 

 I promoted this race before and yesterday was finally the day! It was lots of fun but today I totally paid the price of the fatigue. 

Still, it was totally worth it! 

This is me and hubby waiting for the race to start!

But let me tell you, I was tickled from Friday when I picked up my registration packet:

Of course, the packet contained my runner number (47), my personalized shirt that says "My Child is the ONE" and then lots of goodies from local sponsors like a bag from LuluLemons, an Autism Awareness bracelet, a clip holder from Chelco, tooth brush, tooth paste and floss from the local dentist, coupon for spa treatment, a beauty class and a night club coupon, plus free pass for the bowling alley and gift certificates along with soap, shampoo and facial creme samples.....even a pen and a drink holder.....JACK POT! 

My personal contribution was to crochet the medals that went to the winner. 

I created a small puzzle piece and I choose the colors green and blue as they are the colors of the school we were raising money for, the Emerald Coast Autism Center.

This is me running it!!

And this is how I looked after finish the whole 5K.....OMG!

Hubby even took a picture of my coming out of the port-a-potty, but I spare you that one! 

The things I'd do for this little guy!!

Speaking of Earth day.....

.....I don't think I ever showed my new bike. There, let me fix this! 

I bought is last year and was going to organize my garage and take a good picture of it, but who am I kidding??? That's never going to happen! lol 

Look at those details!!!

It brought back a lot of hold memories as I remembered my dad giving a bicycle with a similar silhouette, tho much smaller and it was white and red, when I was a child..... 

But what kind of bike will be without a basket??? For mine I went for something unconventional and handmade by Sewn From The Heart.....with cupcakes of course!!! 

Other then looking pretty, it's a very comfortable bike and I try to use it as much as possible instead of the car, especially for my trips to the post office (a couple of miles from my house).

Happy St. Patrick day!

Have a safe and happy St. Patrick day! Cheers to you with a beer!!

Christmas time....

.....Christmas time, robot unicorn!!!!!!
Don't ask me why, but those are the words my kids have been singing on the tune of Jingle bells FOR WEEKS!!! Drives me crazy and loving it at the same time.

We did decorate the house for Christmas and put up the tree this week end. As you can see, I have 2 excited little puppies

Anyone else want to show me their Christmas tree or decorations?? I'd love to see them!

And if you need a little help, can I tempt you with this??