Christmas Ornaments!

Man, look at me go!! Two blog posts in a week! I'm on fire! Haha, clearly this is what happens when I'm not in school, I have to fill my time pretending like I have a life when really...I am sitting at home alone with a cup of tea and my computer. Again. SIGH, what a life haha jk!

Anyways, the purpose of this post is, of course, about my lovely Christmas ornaments that I've done up this year. I didn't make them, just bought the little plaster molds and then painted them and put a gloss on. I used to do this every year with my grandma, and have so many homemade ornaments it's ridiculous! Now believe me, the ones I made as a kid were PRETTY attrocious, haha they look hilarious and to be completely honest...I'm not sure these are really all that much better. But there's something so nice about having a bunch of mismatched, homemade, goofy looking ornaments on a Christmas tree. So here are my lovely creations!

Well there you have it! Two Christmas ornaments just begging to be hung on a Christmas tree. Which I will gladly do! Not the prettiest ornaments you'll ever see but I like them because they're homemade, and for me that's an important part of Christmas.

Stay tuned for my next DIY project (and no, I don't mean my wooden chairs that I mentioned once and haven't mentioned since) when I shall be attempting to knit socks....oh dear.

Cheers!
Holly

Kitchen Adventures: Gingersnap Cookies!

Finally another installment of Kitchen Adventures! This one wasn't too daunting, cookies seem basic enough right? Well they are..thank god. The first time I tried to make gingersnap cookies, not only were they hard as rocks but they were burnt on the bottom and somehow I feel like the process was a lot more difficult than the recipe I tried tonight.

Overall the recipe was pretty easy, it was fun to mix it by hand, nothing like getting all gooey when you bake lol! One thing that I don't like about this recipe (which can be easily fixed) is that there isn't a lot of ginger and if you're like me and you LOVE gingery gingersnaps then I would put in extra for sure!! However, the redeeming factor for these cookies is that they're lovely and soft and chewy. Believe me, I've had four already! And they were delicious! SO, by all means give this recipe a try, I think it needs some tweaking before it's worthy of anyones recipe box, but I think with a little extra ginger they might be just perfect!

I got my recipe from Food.com and Katherine from Alberta recieves full credit for this recipe, here's the link if you care to peruse the reviews and ratings, or other recipes of hers: http://www.food.com/recipe/gingersnap-cookies-soft-chewy-98652.

But to make life easier I'll put the recipe below...

Chewy Gingersnap Cookies
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger (add more! lol)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 cup sugar
1 cup margarine or butter
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup sugar on a plate for later

1. Mix the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and cloves well and set aside.
2. In another bowl mix with a beater 1 to 2 minutes the sugar, margarine, egg and molasses.
3. Add the dry ingredients and mix by hand.
4. Take one good size tablespoons of dough (or more to make a bigger cookie) and roll into a ball.
5. Roll the cookies in the sugar on the plate

6. Bake at 350 on an ungreased cookie sheet (air-insulated type is best) for 10-12 mins

I just had to share this!

I'll be honest, this post is going to be short and fairly silly. I was watching the Amazing Race today and for one of their challenges in Copenhagen they had to memorize a short verse on the statue of Hans Christian Anderson and then perform it. As soon as I read what it said I knew I just HAD to do something with it! So why not blog about it?! I did say I was going to post about poetry etc...so I'm going to put it up here for everyone to enjoy. Everytime I say it in my head it gives me that weird fluttery feeling in my chest! So without futher ado, here is the verse:

To move, to breathe, to fly, to float

To gain all while you give

To roam the roads of lands remote:

To travel is to live.

-Hans Christian Anderson

I just find it so powerful! I think maybe because I'm obsessed with travelling and want to do so much of it, even though I can't just yet. Too many other bills and things to do at the moment but as soon as I'm done school I'm jetting off on an adventure of some kind and this verse makes me want to go all the more!! Alrighty, well that was it really, I just really wanted to share that.

Goodnight!

Holly

Christmas Cheer (A bit early I know!)

First let me start by saying that I fail miserably with keeping up with my blog! Somehow between school and work I just can't be bothered to remember to write anything, and on the rare occasions that I do...I have nothing to say. However, today is one of the few days where I actually CAN think of something to say, and it involves Christmas.

Since it's almost December I thought that I would share with you

my Top 10 List of Christmas movies that everyone should make an effort to watch over the holidays. If you're anything like me, you start watching Christmas movies December first and keep watching them right up until Christmas! I don't really have any criteria for how this list is organized other than which one I like slightly better than others lol because really..I like them about the same. So here we go!

1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

2. Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (1964)

3. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

4. Home Alone (1990)
5. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
6. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
7. The Polar Express (2004)
8. The Santa Clause (1994)
9. Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)
10. Frosty the Snowman (1969)

I'm sure that my list is missing quite a few really good Christmas movies but these ones in particular are favourites of mine :) So there you have it, a great starting list of movies to kick off your holidays and get you into the spirit! If you really want to spice up your holiday movie viewing then treat yourself to a delightful outdoor movie during December!! Hosted by the Delta Ocean Pointe Resort and Spa, Starlight Cinema is great fun for friends and family, they screen movies outside the building at dusk, popcorn and hot chocolate are available! Bring some lawn chairs and BUNDLE UP!! It's cold by the ocean at night...

Here's the lineup!!

Dec. 8th - The Grinch (Jim Carrey)

Dec. 9th - The Santa Clause

Dec. 15th - Home Alone

Dec. 16th - A Christmas Carol

Dec. 22nd - Elf

Dec. 23rd - It's a Wonderful Life

(Sorry about the colours haha, I just couldn't resist!!)
<3

My Newest DIY Project!

I am super excited about my new DIY project and I'll tell you why! Firstly, because I've never really done one, secondly, because it's going to turn out wonderfully and lastly, because I'm enjoying doing it and I'm feeling that sense of accomplishment because I'm doing it myself :)

NOW, let me tell you what it is I'm doing! I was talking with my parents the other night about borrowing a chair for my desk. I've just moved out and furniture is a bit sparse at the moment. Well..furniture I own anyways (thank god for roommates!) and my mom mentioned that she saw some cute free chairs out on someones lawn. So my sister and I hopped in the car to go and take a peek! Thankfully they were still there! The chairs themselves are really cute, kind of country looking and still fairly sturdy. So into the car they went! Upon looking at them a little more I realised that I really couldn't bear to see them so beat up, there was scuff marks, and a bad paint job and a bit of normal wear for a chair. I decided that I would sand them down and repaint them before I put them into my house and BAM! New project!! Luckily for me, my dad has a garage full of useful things for me to use to get everything going and he's letting me store my chairs there while I work on them since I have no room at my place.

 


The first picture is just an idea of what the chairs look like (they were both in one piece when i picked them up, but my dad took apart one to get started on!) the second picture is simply proof that I'm ACTUALLY doing it myself haha, I may be a girly girl but it doesn't mean I won't get dirty and dusty!! And the last picture is just a close up of the chairs. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea but I like them and since I'm the one who has to live with them in my house, that's really all that matters. Though hopefully my roommate likes them too...she has yet to see them. So far, I've sanded the center bit of the back of the chair and one seat. Right now I'm working on stripping the paint off of the legs and all the round bits that are too hard to sand. And let me just say that stripping paint has to be one of the most irritating processes ever. I was using a scraper to get it off but I think I may try steel wool the next time around.

UPDATE! When I started writing this entry, I accidentally closed the browser and thought that it was lost and gone forever. But thanks to the wonders of blogspot, it saved itself as a draft! What a crafty system! So here's a bit of an update about my chairs. I have gotten all the paint off of one chair, however I still have a bit of sanding to do on two pieces because I just couldn't get into the grooves very well. Also, steel wool is absolutely the way to go if you're stripping paint!! It made my life infinitely easier! SO, I am almost ready to glue the chair back together and then I'm going to paint it an obnoxious shade of yellow, which I'm really looking forward to haha! Alrighty, that's all the news I have about the chairs for now, but stay tuned as I'll be continually adding pictures and letting you know about my progress. I can't wait to see them finished! : )
 

Oystercatchers

Judging by the title of this post you probably think that I decided to go out and try my hand at catching oysters. This however is not the case. Oysetercatchers is actually a book that I'm reading by Susan Fletcher. It's a sad book overall, but so well written and relateable that it's really quite hard to put down. Anyways, I bring it up because I came across a passage in the book that I just HAD to share. When I read it, my first thought was "that is so true" and so here it is....

"I learnt a lesson, and it's one I don't think you've learnt yourself yet, or will live to, but it's this: we carry on. We have ourselves, and we carry on - in spite of our losses, and mistakes, and women, I think, have more than most. We are good secret-keepers. We can tie weights to our guilt and passions, and hatred, and deceitfulness, and let them sink down, so that you'd never know they existed at all. But we know. I can count all mine...I suppose that all women - even you, aged sixteen; even the happy, married mothering women who think that their choices were easy, and wise - must have their dark places. Lies. They must all look out of a window, once in a while, and imagine them, their other lives."

Just to give you an idea of the context, the main character is talking to her teenage sister who has been in a coma for the past 4 years. As I said, it's not the happiest book. Either way, it's a pageturner (at least for me) and well worth perusing if ever you're in search of a book to read. I've been trying to get as much reading done as possible this summer since I go back to school soon. So far I've managed to read a few vampire novels, one or two romances, a classic and as soon as I finish oystercatchers (for the second time) I think I'm going to try some Charles Dickens! So we'll see how that goes. I've heard it's a tough read, but if I managed to get through Tess of the D'Urbervilles I'm sure I can make it through anything!

**On an unrelated note, be sure to keep checking up on my blog, I've got a pretty excellent kitchen adventure comming soon, as well as a new DIY project (maybe two?), so stay tuned!!**

Holly's Kitchen Adventures: The Perfect Pancakes!!

Have you ever tried to make pancakes and failed miserably? Probably not, because only I could ruin pancakes to the point where they are completely inedible. However, I have now become the master of pancakes and today I'm going to share my delicious recipe with you!! Both my roommate and I could live off of these pancakes, and I make them as often as I can, with tons of different fillings!

This recipe was actually found on the website http://www.allrecipes.com/ and the original recipe can be found here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/pancakes-i/detail.aspx and it's creator deserves all the credit for my success as a pancake master! I used the original recipe and added to it a little bit using comments from other people who have tried it and tweaked it a little to suit their tastes and now I have the most amazing pancake recipe. So here is my(slightly) adapted version of the original recipe:

Prep: 5 min
Cook: 10 min
Ready in: 20 min

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or 1/2 teaspoon if you don't like too much cinnamon)
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or melted butter)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat griddle over medium high heat. (I find that between 4 and 5 works the best)
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Make a well in the center. In a separate bowl beat together egg, milk, oil and vanilla and pour into the dry mixture. Beat until smooth.
3. Pour or scoop the batter onto the hot griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot!

Filling Ideas:
Grated apple
Banana and chocolate chips
Blueberries
Walnuts
Lemon zest and juice

So there you have it! The most amazing pancakes you will ever eat. And believe me if I can cook it, you can too because I am the most inept person in the kitchen. Hence the title "Kitchen Adventures" haha! So, these pancakes have been one of my greatest successes in the kitchen and I hope that you enjoy the recipe (for those of you who try it). I hope the filling ideas give you some inspiration to try your own and if you find something that is absolutely delicious PLEASE come back and share it with everyone!

Happy Breakfasting!

-Holly

This is long overdue!

I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted! I am by far the worst blogger ever, but life just gets completely in the way! I don't remember where I last left off exactly, so let's just start with last summer? I broke up with the BF and have been single ever since, and while it was ridiculously rough at first I am now 100% back to myself and I'm so happy about that! I'm still studying to become a teacher and have done my first practicum (in April) which lasted three weeks. Three glorious, ridiculously busy, crazy weeks! But it was absolutely amazing and I finally feel like I'm doing the right thing with my life. It was a little bit touch and go for a while there. I was never quite sure if I really wanted to be a teacher, if I had done it for the right reasons, but now I know I have.


So I've been thinking about this whole blogging thing and realized that only talking about random things in my life doesn't make for very interesting reading so I think I'm going to alter my style of blogging a little bit and talk about some other stuff too. Things like poetry, yoga, my disaterous experiments in the kitchen and other things of that ilk. So hopefully someone can find some use out of this silly little blog of mine. SO to start things off, here is my current favourite poem:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words

And never stops at all

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm

I've heard it in the chillest land

And on the strangest sea

Yet, never, in extremity

It asked a crumb of me.



                                                     -Emily Dickinson

I've thought quite seriously about having the first stanza of this poem as a tattoo. I think it is such a joyful poem. And I feel like it applies directly to my life. I still haven't decided yet but when I do I'll be sure to mention it. I came across this poem in a book that was given to me by a good friend of mine called The Pocket Daring Book for Girls by Andrea Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz. It is by far one of the most amazing books I have come across in my life! Where was this when I was 15 and needed some guidance and inspiration! It really is a wonderful book however so if you ever come across it, read it! It's a super quick read and it'll make you smile, definitely more than once!

Cheers!!
Holly