Tinker Bell Print Cake

This cake was also fun to make I did the inside of the cake multi coloured. This was for a friends little girl. This cake is my first time using an edible print.

The cake is vanilla with vanilla butter cream and a fully edible print.

Fire Fighter Cake

I really had a lot of fun making this cake. It was my first time making grass and it was soooo much fun. I kind of winged it with this cake, but it turned out awesome.

The mom who ordered said it looked awesome. There are both edible and non-edible items on it for decorations.

This cake is chocolate cake with chocolate icing on the inside and then vanilla butter cream on the outside. The road is made out of fondant. 

Product opinion: ShedMonster

WOW is what I have to say about this product. I normally use a "furminator", one of my personal dogs hate and one of my foster dogs hate, I am guessing it is because of the sharp edges. I was wondering around the grooming section of Petsmart when I seen this product the said it was a de-shedding tool with no sharp edges. I decided I would give it a try and see how it worked. I talked to a groomer friend of mine and she said any of the ones she has tried with the rounded edges never work as well. She also said if it worked to let her know and she would try it out. I can't wait to tell her about it and let her test it out!!

I gave it a try tonight, Ace my personal dog who HATES the furminator to the point he will shake, sat and loved being brushed with this one, even wanted more when I stopped. Bossco who hates being brushed in general didn't try and hide as much.

It worked awesome, in my opinion it works better then the furminator. I will never use mine again I will only use the ShedMonster.

I use my furminator everyday with my dogs and it never seems to get much out. I did 10 mins per dog with this one and this is what I got: 

Jake: Double coated rotti/st.Bearnard

Casi: Double coated GSD/Akita

Ace: Double coated Akita/Husky

Bossco: Double coated Akita/GSD

Recipe from Pinterest: Easy ham and potato bake

I made a huge 10lbs ham on Sunday for dinner and ended up with so many left overs. Tuesday night I made my normally ham casserole. I decided I wanted to try something different so I typed ham bake into Pinterest and looked for something that I had all the ingredients for.
This recipe is super easy and it was really good. Next time I will add veggies right into the bake!
I did not make the topping because I didn't have any bread crumbs at the time.

One child loved it the other one ate it but hes not a fan of cheese so he didn't really like it.

Potato Ham Bake
12 servings

2 cans cream of chicken soup
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1 bag (32 ounces) frozen cubed hash browns, thawed
for topping
4 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup breadcrumbs

In a large bowl combine first four ingredients; mix well. Stir in ham and potatoes. Spread in a greased 9x13" baking dish. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over casserole. Bake uncovered at 350° degrees for 1 hour or until potatoes are tender.

This is going to now be one of my go to ham left over recipes. I hope your family enjoys it as much as we did.

http://pinterest.com/pin/24347654207964942/ 

Beyond bows: Soother straps!

I decided to try my hand at soother straps as an item to sell within the bow business. At first I figured I would try material and see how it turned out. I didn't really like the look of the ones made with material I thought they were too big and bulky looking. Disappointed I decided to take a break and make a couple of bows. Digging through my millions of ribbon I come across "boyish" ribbon, looking at it I started to wonder what on earth I would do with this boys do not wear ribbons, as I tell nephew every day. Then it comes to me, what if I tried to use the ribbon instead of the material. I picked a few "boyish" ribbons and some girly ones and tried my hand at turning them into soother straps they turned out awesome!

They are a simple design I have a heavy duty clip at one end to clip to the babies clothes and then Velcro at the other end to look around the hand of the soother.

These are the ones I have made so far and I think they are super cute I can't wait to make more.

Suspended coffees; Another reason to be proud of Sarnia

Another reason to be proud of the community I live in. Awhile ago a post went around on facebook that said this:

This story will warm you better than a coffee in a cold winter day:
"We enter a little coffeehouse with a friend of mine and give our order. While we're approaching our table two people come in and they go to the counter -
'Five coffees, please. Two of them for us and three suspended'
They pay for their order, take the two and leave. I ask my friend:
'What are those 'suspended' coffees ?'
'Wait for it and you will see'
Some more people enter. Two girls ask for one coffee each, pay and go. The next order was for seven coffees and it was made by three lawyers - three for them and four 'suspended'. While I still wonder what's the deal with those 'suspended' coffees I enjoy the sunny weather and the beautiful view towards the square in front of the café. Suddenly a man dressed in shabby clothes who looks like a beggar comes in through the door and kindly asks
'Do you have a suspended coffee ?'
It's simple - people pay in advance for a coffee meant for someone who can not afford a warm beverage. The tradition with the suspended coffees started in Naples, but it has spread all over the world and in some places you can order not only a suspended coffee, but also a sandwich or a whole meal."

 

 

 

A group that I am a member of started to call around to the coffee shops in our town to if they would start doing this. With no so great success in the start of her calling she finally reached a small business called "Thanks A Latte" who said that they were going to start offering the suspended coffees! This is wonderful news and just shows that within in our city even with all the horrible things happening lately the good shines through.

 

"If you are interested in helping a local business help others Thanks A Latte Coffee on Cameron St is where to go. This past Saturday they started doing suspended items :D"

 

Here is their facebook page 

 

 

Sarnia Fish Hatchery

In Sarnia we have this fish hatchery that the kids love going to. It is right under the bluewater bridge so the view is awesome anyway. They sell fish food for .25 out of little candy machines, so the kids can fed the fish. No matter how many times we take them there they always are excited to go, the fish are huge this time of year. They offer open houses, fishing derbies usually right after they release the fish into the river and all kinds of different family friendly activities throughout the year.

It's amazing what you can find in the community to do with children that will also teach them something.
Can't wait until its warmer so we can walk along the river as well!

http://www.bluewateranglers.com/