These Winter days

We decided to go for a drive a few days ago, and at the last minute before heading out the door, I decided to grab my camera. I'm so glad I did.

The weather has been very nice here for the last week, and before that, we had a huge snow storm. The whole landscape is blanketed with a thick coat of crisp white snow. And depending on the days, most trees are either holding snow, or are covered in beautiful white frost.

During our drive, we came across this quaint little farm that I felt really attracted to.

This picture above is one of my favourite from that day.

I just love winter days like these. Where everything in nature is so beautiful and still, it calms your mind and makes every pair of sock, blanket and hot drink feel like the coziest thing in the world.

Wishing you..

From my family to yours, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas! May this holiday season be filled with love, joy, peace and happiness.

I'll be back in this space soon!

Last minute gift: Maple Cinnamon Trail Mix

Even as a kid, I was all about making gifts from the heart. I'd make crafty things, centre pieces and decorative baskets (I had my own craft room growing up, thanks to my mom :), and I also remember one Christmas, baking and baking, to make a special package for a family friend. I was about 12 or 13 years old, and I did all these different batches of cookies and squares by myself while my parents were still at work a few days before Christmas.

My love of making things in the kitchen and sharing from the heart is something I really hope to pass on to my children.

The other day, I decided to make a batch of Maple Cinnamon Trail Mix for a couple of my friends. First, it's delicious, healthy and since I didn't know exactly what day I would see them, it's a great choice because it keeps well.

Not to mention it looks so pretty in a jar with a ribbon. So if you have some last minute gifts to make, this is a great one I thought I'd share with you. Call it a gift from me to you ;)

Maple Cinnamon Trail Mix

2 Tbsp coconut oil

1/2 cup pecans, halved

1/2 cup almonds

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup Medjool dates, chopped

In a skillet, melt the coconut oil on medium heat. Add pecans, almonds and pumpkin seeds. Cook 3 minutes, stirring regularly. Add maple syrup and cinnamon to skillet and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes. Toss in coconut and stir well. Remove from heat and add in the cranberries and chopped dates. Put in a bowl and let cool, then store in air tight jars or containers.

Decorate your jars and enjoy giving from the heart!

Linking to:

Icebox ginger cookies

3 days until Christmas... are you ready? Well, in case you are still doing some last minute baking, I thought I would share this recipe. Don't they look good? Wish you could smell them :)

I was looking for a ginger cookie recipe a while back and decided to go through my cookbooks. I found one that was in a random book, and surprisingly, it was vegan! (I'm not vegan, but but I like to make as many of our foods as vegan as possible). But I still had to tweak the recipe, as it was so high in fat, and calls for sugar (my son cannot eat refined sugar). I made them a few times now, and we just love them, and have been getting lots of compliments from other people as well, so I thought they were worthy to blog about :)

Ashton helping me make a double batch of ginger cookies to share with his classmates and parents at his Christmas concert.

Ice Box Ginger Cookies

2/3 cup vegan margarine

1/3 cup applesauce

2/3 cup molasses

1/4 cup agave nectar

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ginger

2 tsp baking soda

Mix the margarine, applesauce and agave together; add molasses and cream together. In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together, then add to the molasses mixture and mix well. Take about half the dough and put on a plastic wrap, shape into a log, then wrap with the plastic. Repeat with other half of the dough. Place in fridge for a couple of hours or over night. Cut into slices and cook at 350F for about 15-20 minutes (depending on oven).

They are so easy to make, but are big on flavour!

I hope you will like them as well!

Fun in the snow

We've been having quite the winter here already. The season has been very generous with snow so far. And the kids have been using every opportunity to play in it. Even if it's just on the way to the car. I found it easier to slow down our rhythm during the summer than I do now for some reason... perhaps it's because it's so cold now, that I just want to hurry in when we are out. But kids are so great at reminding us to relax and slow down, aren't they!

This is just to show you how much snow we have so far... It goes up to my knees in some places.

What goes up...

...must come down!

Hope your enjoying every moment of life and nature, where ever in the world you may be!

And Happy Winter Solstice!

Candy cane reindeers

It's officially crunch time! 5 days before Christmas already! Where has time gone?

I was planning on writing some posts through December to share some Christmas crafts and baking, but it would have been impossible for me to do that, since I'm only getting around to do them now. Better late than never I guess :)

Tomorrow, is Ashton's last day of kindergarden before the Christmas school vacation, so the kids and I made some candy cane reindeers this morning, to give to his classmates.

It's so simple and the kids loved doing this! You will need (for each reindeer):

2 candy canes, 1 brown pipe cleaner, clear tape, white school glue, googly eyes, and a small pompom (red would be better, but I could only find white ones, as the red had sold out).

And you'll also need your little helpers for this one ;)

I just used clear tape to stick both candy canes together, seperating the "antlers". Then I wrapped a pipe cleaner over the tape and tucked the ends back in, so no one will poke themselves. (I did this part, since my kids found it too tricky).

Then they just glued the eyes and nose.

I decided later today, to add some small squares of cardstock written Merry Christmas on one side, and my son's name on the other, so his classmate will know who it's from. To attach the small tags, I just punched a hole in the corner of the tag, untucked one of the pipecleaner's end to put it through, and then tucked it back in. So the tags are now attached to the reindeers and are secure.

I still wish I could have found red pompoms so our little reindeers would have been a bunch of Rudolph's, but I'm still happy with how they turned out. I think the kids will like them, and most importantly, my kids had a great time creating something to give away.

And that's what the spirit of Christmas is all about!

Gingerbread house work of art...

Every week, I try to take the kids to our weekly playgroup in our town. The kids can play or do some crafts, but they are only rarely ever go to the craft table when we get there for some reason. But last week, they were immediately drawn to it... who wouldn't? It was filled with bowls of candy, icing and mini (child size) gingerbread houses!

I had not done that since I was a child myself I don't think! Since it was quiet and there was more gingerbread houses than kids that day, I got to sit down with my kids and decorate my own along side them. It was SO MUCH fun! Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of them since I didn't have my camera with me. And taking them home while the icing was still soft would not have been wise. So I am unable to share our creations with you.

But while I still have gingerbread houses on my mind, I thought I would share with you this amazing one I stumbled upon on the blogsphere...

Isn't it a work of art?!

It's from Torie Jayne and you can find more pictures of her Winter Woodland Gingerbread house HERE.

And she's got another amazing Woodland gingerbread birdhouse you can see HERE.

I've never thought of gingerbread houses as anything other than a Christmas craft/treat that is decorated with different candy. Who knew it could be so beautiful and intricate. How about you, do you decorate gingerbread houses during the holidays?

{this moment}

Dancing up a storm :)

{this moment} - (inspired by Soule Mama) A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

My Creative Space: hanging Christmas star

In between taking my son to and from school, going to our weekly play group, running errands, having play dates with friends and doing all the other mommy and house stuff, I've been making an effort to spend more time crafting lately.

I stumbled upon a tutorial from The Magic Onions to make this paper hanging Christmas star and It was so fun to make! Though I did not have the right glue, which I suspect made it that much more difficult to get it to stay together, but nonetheless, still fun and it looks so great!

You can find the tutorial HERE.

I also have in the works a scarf that I'm making for a friend for Christmas. She asked for one after seeing my purple one (which is finished by the way, I just didn't take a picture of it yet). And I also decided to attempt making a knitted blanket for a dear friend who just had a baby girl last week... I'll let you know how that turns out when I'm further ahead :) And that's just the knitting projects! My crafting to do list is getting bigger and bigger lately, but that's one "to do" list I don't mind ;)

Have a crafty weekend!

A new look

You may have noticed I've been playing with the background on the blog quite a bit lately. That would be because I was never quite satisfied with what I came up with. I just couldn't find what I was looking for, and that could be because I didn't know what that was until I found it!

It's beautiful, it's festive, it's soft and calming, it's creative, it's, well, everything I was hoping for. It makes me want to sit down at the table and create something as beautiful with my hands as what I see in the background. It makes me want to enjoy my family life and celebrate that much more. It makes me want to cook all day and have a bunch of friends over. It makes me want to craft with my kids... you get the idea. I guess it's true when they say an image is worth a thousand words.

I hope you like it as much as I do!

Have a creative and happy day!