More Winter Fun Outdoors
We took some time off to get some hiking and snowshoeing in before the winter ended (and because it felt like a great time to unwind from not-so-fun-stuff from everyday life).
We packed up a few essentials like warm thermals, hot tea, snacks and extra socks for the cold Northern winter and headed out to Algonquin Park (see map here).
Our first day there was absolutely beautiful. The sun was out, the weather was warm (by Canadian winter standards) and our trail was easy to handle.
Beautiful sunny day.
Inukshuk made of ice and snow.
Snowshoeing Trail
Much better to snowshoe than walk through the deep snow.
Slippery bridge over a river.
Peace in nature.
Feeding the adorable chickadees.
I left some seeds behind as we moved along.
Part of a fallen tree we had to crawl under.
Love the ice.
Bridge at the end of a trail.
The second day….could have been nicer but it was lovely snowfall nonetheless.
Bad weather and moose warnings.
Love the rock colours.
Can’t wait for summer!
Tracks
Beautiful sunset.
What do you enjoy doing during winter as a way to unwind from a hectic life? Comment below and share!
10 Craft Bloggers that You Should Know
There are a lot of bloggers all over the World Wide Web, but there are a certain group of craft bloggers that you should known. Each blogger have their own styles and crafts that you might want to try. Here are 10 craft bloggers that every crafter should know.
Miss Kopy Kat is an arts and crafts blog by Miss Kitty, a mother and grandmother. She loves starting new craft projects but tends to spend a long time to finish even one. She created the blog so she can be pressured to finish her projects. Her blog focuses on crafts and decorations that are inexpensive copies of store-bought ornaments. One of her amazing projects is the Open Frame with Chicken Wire, restyled from an old frame. She used some inexpensive frames from a home improvement store and changed the frame’s color to suit her home. She then bought some chicken wire, and with the help of her husband, she nailed the chicken wire across the opening of the frame. Once it’s done, you can use the frame to hang pictures or postcards and other ornaments on your wall.
Nifty Thrifty Things is a blog by Vanessa, a graphic designer based in Germany. She usually writes blogs about crafts and recipes, decorations and for gifts. Just like her blog’s name, almost all of her crafts are easy, thrifty and cute. Just like her popular nifty thrifty iPad sleeve that she made out of felt and a doily. The best part of the project is the fact that it only cost her $2.50. Cut the felt according to the size of your tablet/iPad, and sew the corners together. Just leave a small space for the flap. Sew on some ornaments (she used another doily) and velcro, and you have yourself a nifty thrifty Tablet/iPad sleeve.
How Does She is a blog made for women, by women. It features recipes, crafts and tips on running a household and raising a family. The blog is founded by Missy, Shelley and Alison, and together with some other female contributors, they give out ideas and tips to all the females out there. One of their amazing projects is the DIY chevron lamp made out of paint and dull lampshades. It is the perfect way to add color to your old lampshades. If you don’t have old lampshades, you can easily buy one in any thrift or antique store. It doesn’t matter how drab or dull they look, because you can glam them up with the help of paint and masking tape.
Zakka Life
Zakka Life is a crafts, recipes and life blog. Most of the posts in this blog are put under different categories. The blog also features Japanese crafts like origami, and uses Japanese materials like washi tape and mizuhiki. Zakka Life has a tutorial on how to make mizuhiki (paper cord) bracelet. Just by twisting the cord, you can have cute bracelets in different colors. Likewise, the blog can teach you how to make phone covers with washi tape. Just buy some plain inexpensive phone covers and decorate them with washi tape for unique and colorful phone covers.
Rebecca’s DIY is a craft blog in Swedish. Despite the language, you can surely follow her tutorials just by looking at the pictures. The blog features cute and easy to make crafts like felt animals, felt hair clips and Christmas ornaments. If you can’t be bothered to try the crafts yourselves, you can always buy items from her Etsy shop.
All Things Paper is a paper craft blog. Here you can find different ways to use and decorate with paper. The blog also promotes recycling and using eco-friendly materials. It features a tutorial on how to make a Christmas tree and ornaments out of paper quills. It sure takes a lot of time to roll and shape the paper strips but you’ll surely enjoy it. You can also find tutorials on how to make note pads and note books from this website.
A blog by Jessica Hill, a self-proclaimed unbalanced crafter, Mad in Crafts features several DIY, crafts, recipes and writing tips for everyone. She uses all kinds of materials, usually recycling and upcycling old things to make them new. In one of her crafts, she used old tea wrappers and made an amazing ombre tea wreath out of these wrappers. She even made snow globe soap dispensers that are perfect as Christmas giveaways!
Bored and Crafty is a blog by Meream, a crafter from the Philippines. She specializes in sewing and crafts from random items like Popsicle sticks, coffee filters and doilies. She loves to make bags and sells them at her store. Some of her amazing crafts are reversible scalloped skirts, a Popsicle chandelier and a mini coffee maker made out of Styrofoam and stickers.
Tea Rose Home is a craft blog by Sachiko that features tutorials and other tips for crafters and artists from all over the world. Sachiko usually uses old items and recycles/upcycles them to make new amazing stuff. One of her best tutorials is the sewing kit made from an old eyeglasses/sunglasses case and her shoe makeover. Just like other craft bloggers, you can also buy her items from her Etsy shop.
Older and Wisor is a sewing and crafts blog where you’ll get to see fun and unique ideas for decorating and making your home beautiful. Most of the tutorials in the blog use old materials and scraps, transformed into beautiful items. For Christmas, she featured different ways to wrap presents using old boxes and reusable shopping bags with letters and twine.
There are many more craft bloggers on the Internet. The trick is to look for the blogs that suit your lifestyle and your preferences. Have fun and enjoy crafting!
Do you know of any awesome crafters that should be in the spotlight? Let me know who they are so I can share with everyone!
Recipe: Cooked Cinnamon Apples
As I mentioned in my post yesterday, here is the perfect combination for cinnamon muffins…..cooked cinnamon apples!
Ingredients:
4 medium cooking apples (peeled and cubed)
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1-2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
Optional: dash of nutmeg
Procedure:
- Cook apples over medium heat for 1 minute then reduce heat to low.
- Add sugar and cinnamon.
- Cook for approximately 5 minutes over low heat stirring often.
- Serve hot with cakes, muffins, ice cream, yogurt or even plain oatmeal.
Let me know how the recipe works for you! If you have any photos, please send them over so I can feature you on the site.
Recipe: Cinnamon Muffins
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup shortening
¾ cane sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter
2-3 tablespoons cinnamon powder
Temperature: 375°F
Time: 15-20 minutes
Procedure:
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Mix all of the dry ingredients (minus the sugar) in one bowl.
- Add shortening and butter to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly with hands until it looks semi-coarse.
- Whisk the milk, eggs and sugar in another bowl.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until evenly moist.
- Pour batter into a medium cake pan or a small cake pan and 6 muffin cups.
- Bake for approximately 15 minutes and remove when skewer comes out clean.
- Serve with cooked cinnamon apples and enjoy!
Check back tomorrow for the cooked cinnamon apple recipe. It’s easy and delicious!
Banana Pistachio Cake
As promised, here is the banana pistachio cake recipe. It’s lovely, moist and subtle in flavour *^_^*
Ingredients:
3 medium ripe bananas
1 egg
1½ cups flour
½-¾ cup sugar (depending on your preferred sweetness level)
1 cup roughly chopped pistachios (save a sprinkle for the end)
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½-¾ cup butter or vegetable shortening
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 325ºF.
In a small bowl, mix together the egg, shortening and sugar.
In a large bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients minus the pistachios.
Combine the wet ingredients into the dry mixture.
Add chopped pistachios and mix until evenly distributed.
In a greased pan, pour the batter and even it out with a spatula.
Sprinkle remaining chopped pistachio.
Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean.
Enjoy!
