The Nature of Things

We had a small group of children join us for our Nature of Things Camp...it was a beautiful day so we spent the bulk of it outside...we painted birdhouses...

Then we headed inside to make some Hot Rocks! We kept things simple but this is the basic idea here.

I loved watching the kids discover hand-stitching! They did such a great job creating their butterfly nets! I found this tutorial here.

One of the most popular activities of the day was painting plant stakes (aka paint stir sticks!) I took the time to paint one myself...it was so fun!

We ended our day with Nature Books (with a ziplock bag inserted) along with pinecone bird feeders.

Another fun, rewarding day here at Creative Bug HQ!

Enjoy!

Heather

A horse is a horse, of course!

It seems like ages ago that this party was booked by the birthday girl's mother! We met at our Grand Re-opening and the invitations went out before school finished...and now here it is the end of July. I am not really sure what happened to the rest of the month!

As I am sure you have guessed from the above photo, we did shrink art...

We also made soap...it's tricky to get photos of everything!

Then, the highlight of the party, if I do say so myself, were these super-adorable horse cupcakes! They were so fun to make and no 2 turned out the same!

Happy Birthday! I sure hope you had a wonderful day!

Enjoy!

Heather

Creative Cooks!

I can't believe how much time has gotten away from me! I meant to blog this before we left for vacation and here I am just posting it now! Things have been busy around here!

We started our day off by preparing ourselves...first our aprons...

First we stenciled them then we got out the potato stamps (one of my favourite tools!)

We decorated chef's hats, prepared our recipe books and copied out the first recipe then finally set to the real work! Tzatziki for dipping!

'

We also made black bean dip so that we would have options to dip the chips in! And here they are making their chips...each of the chefs made their own batch with their chosen seasonings on them!

Next up Pastry Tarts! Pastry is not one of my strong points but these girls held it together and did a great job!

We cheated a little here and used instant pudding to fill our pastry cups (I am not Wonder Woman and we had a timeline to work with!)

Finally! A box to transpost some of their goodies home, they also decorated matching chip bags for their salty snacks!

One group of Creative Cooks!

The girls were kind enough to bake up a special batch of chips for me to bring home...it was such a great day!

Enjoy!

Heather

Neapolitan Muffins!

It's been awhile that some of you have been asking me to share recipes...

1.5c Sliced Strawberries

1/3c Sugar

1 3/4c All-Purpose Flour

2tsp Baking Powder

1/2tsp Baking Soda

1/2tsp Salt (I never use salt but you might want to add it!)

1 Egg

1/2c Sour Cream

1/2c Milk

1/4c Unsalted Butter, Melted

1tsp Vanilla Extract

3/4c Chocolate Chips

1Tbsp Turbinado Sugar

Mash Strawberries and 1/3c Sugar. Let stand 15mins (this makes them all nice and juicy!)

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, soda and salt (if using)!

In a medium bowl (I know, it's a lot of bowls!) whisk together egg, sour cream, milk, butter and vanilla until well-blended.

Take a look at your strawberries...don't they look yummy?

Now add the strawberries to the milk mixture...with the juice, of course!

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Gently fold in chocolate chips.

Divide between 12 muffin tins (greased or lined) and sprinkle with Turbinado Sugar (because this adds beauty and a lovely crunch!)

Look how sparkly they are! And yummy too...if you like that sort of thing that is!

Enjoy!

Heather

We were picking cherries...

The whole way to the farm we rode to (yes, we rode our bikes as part of this adventure) I was singing a modified Great Big Sea song. It's how I felt. Then we arrived at the farm (to which I had never been before) and saw this...how much more authentic could it get?

I cannot express to you how much I love this moment. I pretty much captured Simon's daily life. "Hey Guys! Wait up!"

The trees were stunning, simply beautiful and the cherries were plentiful.

We stopped at one basket...I'm not even sure what I am going to do with them! Simon wasn't happy about stopping though! He loved it out there!

And no one, but no one could put those cherries in the bag from the basket except for Simon!

What an adventure we had!

Enjoy!

Heather

Summer Survival!

I had so much fun planning this camp and I think the kids had just as much fun being a part of it!

We did all sorts of activities that might help the kids get through there summer...including some boredom busters! First up? Pillow cases! My kids (the older 2) are spending a week at residential camp this year along with our usual family get-aways! Now they have a pillow case they can bring along that will make them happy!

Next we decorated our tins...these tins were later filled with a Magnetic Memory Game, Magnetic Tic Tac Toe, Summer Journals and Gel Pens! We will be adding a deck of cards to the tins our kids brought home!

Next up, these were an a-MAZE-ing hit! We recycled old CD cases, employed some Bend-a-roos, some clay and we had custom mazes for everyone! These alone were a huge hit with the kids! They kept pulling them out throughout the day, trading and even adjusting their mazes!

You all know I am a softie when it comes to treats...so we rolled with the punches and got to work on an afternoon snack for everyone...

It's important to always leave them wanting S'More and today we did! We made S'mores in a jar! Omigosh! They were so fun and the kids just loved them!!!

We finished the day with some beading and string games...

Can you believe Simon strung a necklace all himself? Incredible!

Well, I hope the kids all had as much fun as I did! Don't forget next week is Creative Cooks! Come join in on the fun in the kitchen!

Enjoy!

Heather

What a Ham-burger!

This is birthday season around here...it gets a little crazy. In fact, our littlest one shares a birthday with my Step-Father. We celebrated my step-father's birthday on the weekend so I baked him a cake he's not likely to forget for awhile!

The meat patty is a brownie...I love how much it looks like an actual burger!

Who doesn't want a fully loaded burger??? The dressings were fun and fairly simple to make with the right tools (a pizza cutter, sharp knife and a series of circular cutters).

I kept the cake on the small side, 6", but what it lacked in girth it made up for in height! We fed 10 people with this cake and there were leftovers!!!

I hope he had a great birthday!

Enjoy!

Heather

Brownie Points

I have been running even later than usual this year...I don't know what happened to June but it was over so quickly! I was baking some treats to bring to our wonderful teachers and crossing guard on the last day of school...when I came up with a plan (finally!)

I had just taken these Brownies out of the oven when I thought...'is it too late to ask for Brownie Points?' Then I carried on with my day...went for a bike ride, hung out with Simon and got back to Brownies. Of course the second batch of Brownies weren't done in time to add to the first however, I stuck with my theme...

I made these cards on my Mac (so easy!), printed them and inside said 'Is it too late to ask for Brownie points) and attached were my plates full of brownies. Whew! We made it just in time for the end of the day (just!)

Both kids absolutely loved their teachers this year...Sarah is really coming out of her shell. And developing a sense of humour! It is delightful!

Sean is adjusting to the rigours of school...I hope Simon has the same teacher for grade 1...she is delightful!

Have a great summer everyone!

Enjoy!

Heather

Believe it or not...

I am not superwoman, I DO sleep and no, there are not enough hours in the day for any of us! I know some of you wonder how it is that I manage to do what I do with 3 children (1 at home full-time)...you are not the only ones...sometimes I wonder too! Then there are days like this...

Days when this sweet little face plays quietly alongside me while I work (and even days when he naps!)

But that wasn't the case when I was working on this cake...

This cake was a donation from Creative Bug to benefit a young boy and his family. You can learn more about this young man and his determination here.

I understand that the school was able to raise more than $3,000 through various efforts.

God Speed Isaac.

Heather

The Pot of Gold

After the Art Party we had here...that same little girl had another celebration at home with her family. Her mother and I quickly decided on a design and I suggested something a little extra special...

Our youngest Creative Being took these photos (just a few weeks short of 3) when I asked him to get my camera out of my purse, he took it upon himself to do the photography work!

Those 6 bowls were the cake batter...which we then turned into this...

After it was all torted, layered and sculpted it then became this...

I can't tell you how happy it made me to put this cake together...and I don't know a little girl who would have loved it more...(except maybe my own!)

Happy Birthday Olivia!

Enjoy!

Heather

PS I hope you are successful in your plans to return next year because it was a lot of fun having you here! ;)