day 303: bermuda style

before air travel, bernuda was only reserved for holidays by the rich and famous who went by luxurious cruise liners
print courtesy of the scuttlerfish

day 303 and we are going bermuda style on p365 today, thanks in no small way, to my sweet, sweet blogging friend jen.  we are starting out with some kite making, an easter tradition in bermuda.  good friday is the day children in bermuda fly kites and send their prays and wishes skywards on their kite.  my peeps and their friends are making kites to fly this afternoon, while the p365 part of the day will entail making bermuda codfish cakes to go with our sherry peppers sauce sent over from jen.  i found this bermudian recipe on pinterest from everyone's an original and pinned it to my recipe must do's board.

the peeps mum and dad are very lucky jen sent them this handy dandy kite making book so all the guess work has been taken out of this undertaking, thank goodness!

the kite making center

polly and her kite :)

to go with our fish cakes, we are having fish chowder, ginger beer, fresh salad, and of course bermuda's most famous sauce sherry peppers.  after plenty of research this seems to be a good start for bermudian cuisine!

bermuda's famous sauce :)

bermudian style fish cakes with sherry peppers sauce, REALLY GOOD :)

outcome:  such a cool day, we had the best time with the peeps friends and their families.  the big boys took on the kite making with the peeps while the mums got to relax inside with hot beverages :) the peeps really seemed to like their finished kites.  the only downer was the LACK OF WIND!  yes, again no wind today so the peeps and their kites never got to take off, however they are beautifully decorated easter style, complete with wishes and thanks to jen and luis.  the fish cakes were ALL gone in a big hurry at dinner time, they are really TASTY!  great recipe and something that's relatively easy to make and so delicious.

one day we hope to get over to jen in bermuda to catch up with her and luis in person ... lucky it's not as it used to be and only a holiday for the rich and famous otherwise steve and i would never get to experience the pink sands in person :oD  in the meantime, i must thank  jen  from the bottom of my heart for all the goodies she sent, it was truly incredible and made our easter monday the best i can remember.  my thanks also to the website everyone's an original for their recipe that added to our bermudian dinner :)

day 236: 17 day diet

the 17 day diet began today :)

day 236 and the good food of christmas and summer has caught up with me :(  we have had a great summer eating, swimming, relaxing, holidaying, and eating, and now we are bursting out of our clothes!  i make light but it's something i feel horrible.  it's time to lose some weight and try something new doing it.  my whimsy board is where i pin all the things i am not sure how to categorise and the 17 day diet is one of those :)

i was given a book to read by a dear friend and also went to the website to investigate the 17 day diet.  coming home from our camping holiday and starting fresh for the year seemed like a good idea.  the diet has been put together by dr. mike moreno and features a lot of protein, probiotics, and plenty of vegetables.  it doesn't include weighing things (except for me!), counting anything, or making lots of soups ... all things i am not good at.  in 17 days you are supposed to lose between 10-15 lbs (4-5 kgs) so we shall see.

the book with all you need to know

today i stepped on the scales, keeled over with fright, got angry at myself, and then started the diet with gusto. so today's creation is all about making something, it just happens that i am planning on making myself a lot small ;)

you drink a LOT of green tea on this diet

tonights dinner, it was really filling

outcome: we will know in 17 days but day 1 has been a triumph.  i think with all the water i have drunk it has kept me full all day.  the food was surprisingly satisfying and i figured for 17 days this diet is definitely worth trying.  for my own personal motivation i am going to put a little weight tracker down the bottom of each post daily for the 17 days and after 17 days we will see whether this diet has worked ... this was a hard post to write because it's something very personal to me and more than a little embarrassing, but i figured if i have success with it, it might be worth sharing with those who would like to lose weight ... and if it doesn't work, we can at least scratch this one off the list of diets to try :)

day 218: p365 creations take to the road so pinterest came through with some car games!

we are ready to hit the road!

day 218 and we are off to hatepe (just south of taupo) today to stay with family for the weekend, so pinterest creations 365 will also hit the road and be done while we are down there :)  unfortunately the ability to post from there might be a little hard as the cell coverage is terrible!  we shall see, my banana s'mores and peanut butter m&m cookies for making saturday and sunday may have to be posted when we return on sunday ....  on the plus side at least i have printed the recipes so i can continue with my making and baking while we are away!

as we are taking to the raod, the peeps need some entertainment for the 4 hour car ride so the trusty travel packs i made on day 54 for air travel will also be used to store all their goodies in for car travel!  REALLY love these travel packs i made as they have proved so useful over and over again for travel and storing everything in one tidy place.

 i wanted some new printables to put in their packs so for today's creation i searched pinterest for travel games and found these awesome car games from the whimsical fig.  they are pinned to my whimsy board on pinterest.  such a gorgeous blog and the games are ideal for the car.  i printed them out at A5 size so they fitted perfectly into the packs ....

the new printables

travel packs with their new printables

outcome:  peeps are super excited to see new printables (the old ones also from a pinterest search have been well used!) in their packs and as for whether they entertain, we shall have to see after the 4 hour car ride ... wish me luck!

my sincere thanks to the whimsical fig for providing some very cool printables for car travel.  love that they are the old fashioned games that never go out of favour!

day seventy two: chocolate lego minifig's

the chocolate in the ice tray worked well but not the m&ms!

day seventy two and it's time for some more lego fun!  my sister and i went shopping this morning to haji lane where we found a gorgeous shop called threadbare and squirrel.  it has the most beautifully designed clothing, locally designed bags, and awesome bits and pieces! we also happened upon this lego necklace i had pinned to my whimsy board which i adore!  we are ALL lego lovers and this made me so happy.  my sister bought the ring with flowers and we felt like kids in a candy store where all your dreams come true!



our lego finds :)

that inspired me to carry on with the lego theme of the day and make some chocolate lego minifig's using the ice tray to adorn the top of the kids ice cream for dessert :)  this idea is pinned to my party ideas board and is inspired by justJENN's recipe website, she uses hers on top of cupcakes and they look SO cool!



the ingredients!

we decided to try and jazz them up a bit by adding a mini m&m to the lego minifig tummy :) apart from that all you need is the lego ice tray and some melted chocolate, and a cold fridge!



the lego minifig's with their m&m tummy's

outcome: not loving the m&ms but the rest of it is really cool an i would just stick with the chocolate for next time! simple is best, and am loving the fact that it worked awesomely well in the ice tray ... this is definitely something i will be using at ben's lego birthday party :)

my thanks to justJENN's for such a cool, simple, and totally doable idea ... it made us all smile and that makes it a winner with me :)

day sixty seven: a tea party for the peeps, a triple treat of inspired creations

a triple pinterest creation day :)

day sixty seven and its raining in singapore today :( so its time for some indoor entertainment in the form of a tea party :)  my sister and i went out and picked up provisions for making three pinterest goodies: chocolate dipped cherries (pinned to my recipe must do's board) inspiration from the simple girl at home blog ; chocolate and sprinkle rimmed glasses (pinned to my recipe must do's board) inspired from the hey gorgeous blog; and edible tea cups (pinned to my whimsy board) inspired by the ones found on the disney family website.



cherry dipping!

chocolate dipped cherries:  nice and easy, melt chocolate and dip in ... and for some extra tea party excitment dip the wet chocolate into sprinkles!



then add sprinkles!

dipped cherries outcome: these were the adult favourites for our tea party ... the sweetness of the chocolate and cherry worked really well with the crunchy sprinkles ... FANTASTIC combination for everyone :)

sincere thanks go to a simple girl at home for her inspiration to give this a go, i have always done strawberries this way but never cherries and they were absolutely delicious!



ready to dip the glasses!

chocolate and sprinkle rimmed glasses:  i also used shot glasses for the kids and simply dipped the glass rims in chocolate and then rolled them in sprinkles. we then put them in the freezer to harden and instead of milkshakes, filled them with ice cream!



rimming the glasses with sprinkles :)

rimmed glasses outcome: the kids thought these were awesome ... its that little bit extra that always seems to wow the kids ... i guess like everybody, they know when somebody has gone to that extra effort for them and what i have noticed with my pinterest creating is that extra effort is SO worth it!  something i need to remember for the future because everybody loves to feel special :)

many thanks to hey gorgeous for this awesome idea, the milkshakes i am definitely going to do for another day because the directions and photos are mouth watering, just like the rest of her fantastic blog! 

ready to construct tea cups!

edible tea cups:  these were made using ice cream cones, gummy rings for handles, and some dundee shortbread cookies ... and then we filled them with singapore lollies :) 

the finished tea cup :)

edible tea cups outcome:  watch your childrens faces when you serve these up to them, THIS is tea party heaven!  they are so cool to make, take little time and are perfect for a treat, whether its a party or you just want to do something special for your peeps.  the kids felt so special when they sat down to our tea party and that made my day ... their faces and the excitment was priceless :)

my thanks to the disney family website for such a cool idea, something i never would have thought to do, but will definitely do many times in the future ... heaps of other wonderful ideas and printables on this site, if you haven't been and you have kids, take a peek.



the cake stand .. finally filled with goodies :)

a BIG, BIG thanks to my sister who helped with the creations for today, it's so fun when you do things like this with the people you love, for the people you love :) and it was also she who went and searched for cupcakes for the new cake stand ... thank you sis, love ya :)

the happy party goers :)

day seven: mini bunting birthday card double deal

my finished banner card

day seven and this sees us through our first of fifty two weeks of creating ... yeehaa me! today's little gem was repinned from the pinterest gallery onto my paper crafts board and is from the lovely blog how about orange.  it is a super cute  birthday card using the very popular bunting banners.

every good paper craft project begins with goodies!

this was super fun to make and the instructions on the how about orange blog are visual and really easy to follow. i didn't have any "nice" twine so i used a slim ribbon instead and i really like the look of my finished product.  i also used foam squares to pop out my happy and birthday circles to keep the 3d thing going :)  rather than plain card, i used a patterned card (i wouldn't do this with paper, really needs to be done with 160gsm card and over).

back

i here you asked what's the double deal bit ... well, i also used a second find from pinterest today a free downloadable from kind over matter blog, which i have also repinned onto my paper crafts board.  this blog is super awesome, she is an amazing graphic designer and has heaps of free printables as well as a great shop.  i used her banner printable 'happiness is homemade' on the back of this card rather than a "handmade by ...." stamp. i printed it out at 1/16 its original size, matted it and straped it on!

outcome: definitely a card i would make again and again ... with time.  its not a quick and easy, more a 30 minute job, but the effort is worth it in my opinion as i love the 3d nature of it

a very big thanks to such wonderful designers, firstly to jessica from how about orange, she has stunning stuff ranging from diy tips and tricks to fantastic graphic designs, well worth the look!  and a big shout out also goes to amanda at kind over matter who has the most amazing printables, so beautifully presented, many are free, and you can find something for every occasion.  so thank you to both of you for the wonderful creations you give up :)

photo fun day two: shoes

photo fun challenge day 2: your favourite pair of shoes
these are mine, the perfect mummy shoes for everyday (you can tell by the wear and tear can't you!) - flat, black, and oh so comfy!

day six: thirty days of photo fun

the mini album for the photos :)

day five has dawned and it is time for another p365 challenge.  today's challenge was repinned from the pinterest gallery onto my whimsy board and is from the delightful blog a feathered nest.  i've seen lots of these floating around pinterest, but the pretty graphic design of this one captured my heart!

the modified list for an nz winter!

the original challenge was for the first of june and is from the states so included summer photo's for a couple of the days ... so that it would work for me here and, given this challenge started 15 days ago, i figured i may as well try some of my own graphic design and make my own with the changes required for it being winter in new zealand ...  ok here is todays photo: self portrait ... my favourite, not!

photo for day one of the challenge

Then it occurred to me, what am i to do with 30 photos .... well what does any scrapbooker do with photos for a mini project, she makes a mini book to house them and that's exactly what i did.  its a little 6 x 5 album with mdf cover plates my sweet husband made for me.  i am using bo bunny's gypsy collection of paper with embellies from a number of makers ... all of these things are available at my favourite scrapbook store, scrapbook.com :)

goodies to play with, including some of the flowers i made
on day 4 of my p365 challenge :)

so for the next 30 days, not only will you be given a new creation from pinterest, you will also see the daily photo and its little page in the mini album ... you know ... because i don't have enough to do ;)  however,this won't be a master class in scrapbooking by any stretch!

outcome: if this were any other day, i would NEVER take a photo of myself, and that's what i am loving about this challenge i have set myself, i am totally going to places i would never have gone before ... figuratively speaking :) today i took a photo of myself and whipped up a small, very simple mini album, for me that's awesome and therefore, so is day six of the p365 challenge.

thank you goes to a feathered nest blog for providing a wonderful idea and jumping off point for this creative challenge, i really look forward to completing it over the coming month :)

... the carrots are still coming, but not till saturday! tomorrow we will delve into card making!