Autumn

Autumn has definitly arrived... During daytime the temperature is still nice, but at night it gets chilly.
We also spotted the first toadstool in our garden. Peter was very interested and he had a hard time not to touch it as you can see on this picture. So I will try my new recipy for pumkin pie, as it is the weather for it.

Lucy arrived

Look who arrived here in Schilde. I think Lucy likes it between the other dolls that live in my house. Thank you very much Rebecca. She is lovely and I love the fabrics, they will come to good use.
In the meanwhile I have been crocheting more cupcakes and cookies, as you can see. I came across this lovely toy cakestand at Hema , a dutch store with great stuff.
Today I have finished a small quilt for another swap, will send that out next monday from Holland (cheaper in postage) and now I will have to start with my idea for the cupecake swap.
Oh, and i finished teh binding on Ruben´s quilt, will make a picture of that as well.

Recipy quiche

I saw that someone asked for the recipy for the quiche, no problem. But I will be honest, there is not a real recipy that I use. I just cut up leak, don´t ask me how much. I don´t know, I buy them in a bundle and that is what I cut up. Fry some cut up onions and add the leak and fry until cooked, add some diced ham or bacon and put aside.

Then I take a pre-prepared piece of (Is it called ...) puff dough (I buy it in the store), I know... very bad, but I think it is too much work for a working mum, but if you know how to make it, make it fresh, that will be even tastier.

Once the dough is in the spring mold, I add some bread crums to soak any moisture, then you add the leak mixture (make sure that you drain excess fluids...).

then I make a mixture of 250 ml cream , 6 eggs, 250 g cheese and herbs, add whatever you fancy, I add salt, pepper, nutmeg, and paprikapowder, but that is whatever you like. I pour this over the leak and make sure that it mixes well in the whole quiche. I don´t put the cheese on top, because it didn´t work out for me, so know I add it in the cream mixture and it spreads in the whole quiche.

Back it in the oven on 180 degrees for about 40 to 45 minutes. That is it, hope this works out for you.

But while I was looking for what a mold was called, I came across these, aren´t they wonderful? I just looked for a pumpkin pie recipy on the web, because I bought some pumpkin on the market. These would make lovely decorations. Too bad Williams Sonoma doesn´t ship to Europe, they look fantastic. If I would go to the States I would have to bring a very big wallet...

Flea Market

I have been looking for a small table with chair to place in nic´s room where we could place some reading books.
This morning on a local flea market I found this lovely worn school table with matching chairs. The prize was OK, did even manage to get 5 euros off, and I just love it. I will sand it and give it a new coating. can´t wait to get started on it. This is what I had in mind for months.

A day in the life of...

The boys wanted to help in the kitchen, so we made this leak and ham quiche, which hubby loves.
And this little 'bugs'cakes. The boys helped out great, Nic didn´t want to go on after a while, but Peter stayed until everything went into the oven.

And for those who are wondering what Ruben looks like, see for yourselfs. He has grown quite a bit, so he isn´t the little baby anymore. OOOOH, they grow up so fast, I hear my mum say it. Sometimes I wonder what my grandparents would have thought of their great grandchildren. Only Nic has known my grand pa and grandma on father´s side, but I wonder if he will remember them later in life. We do have pictures of them together, so that is special.

Swap list

Hi ladies,

you had to wait a bit but I was planting hedera in my garden next to the fence. So I have just finished planting 150 plants and I am preparing diner, nasi goreng, an easy indonesian dish.

So this is the swap list for the cupcake swap.

Esther <-> Susan
Katy <-> Laurie
Becky <-> Sherry
Missy <-> Anna
Leah <-> Beth
Megan <-> Allie
Margy <-> Catherine + Sara

I will send all the info in a mail to each of you personally. In the mean time, I have sent all the mails. If you have not received an email from me tonight with the info on your swap partner, please let me know. I am a bit tired from working in the garden, not used to, LOL.
Please can you let me know when you have send your package to your swap partner, preferrably with a picture. I will post all the pics on Flickr. If you have a question, just ask your swap partner, please also do this is you will be sending out late.
Start crafting ladies...
Something went wrong and I forgot to include Sara, so I will swap with her as well as Catherine. Sorry Sara.

Cupcake swap - Last call

Aren´t these cupcakes fab? They are for sale on etsy.

So, this is a last call for the cupcake swap. I will close the list tomorrow 12.00 am local time.
At the moment I have the following participants, if you sent me an email and you are not on this list, please let me know.

Katy
Becky
Missy
Laurie (I don´t have an blog addy)
Sherry
Esther
Catherine
Beth
Leah
Susan
Megan
Allie
Margy

Gifts

I won this lovely needle cushion from Shappy-Roses cottage. It has a nice place on my sewing table and will be put to good use.
I also got word from my two giveaway winners: Meecrafty & Miaou. They both got their present for entering a comment to my 150th post. Thank you very much girls.
At the moment I am finishing the binding of Ruben´s quilt and I also received my fabrics from the Fat Quarter Shop. They are for Peter´s 'Cars' quilt, so I can start with that one as well.
But first I have a appointment with the dentist today. nothing serious, just a check-up.

Lucky Lucy

Look what I have won! This is Lucy and she will be moving from Utah to Belgium. She was generously given by Becky. I hope she will like Belgium, but I know that she will love our Belgian chocolates.

Pirate cookie cutter - update

I saw this cookie cutter on a UK website, but it is out of stock. Does anybody know were I can buy one of these without rediculous shipping costs. Found a website in the states and they asked 32 dollars shipping costs, a bit steep for an order of 6 dollars... Or maybe someone is willing to send me one in exchange for something from Belgium, that is also a possibility. I have found a dutch webshop called De leukste TaartenShop that sells the cookie cutter and I have ordered it together with some icing and stuff to try and make 'spiderman' cupcakes for my eldest son.

I envy all you Americans that you can buy all those lovely cake moults and cupcake decorations.
Luckily, I managed two times to get a Williams Sonoma cake moult out of the States. The DH of a lady I work with brought them with him when he was in the States on a business trip. Imagine him when he asked for a train shaped cake moult... But I am very thankful that he wanted to do this for me, since the moults are quite heavy, so shipping is expensive.
So now my sons have the coolest cakes in school.

Painting the house

First off all, I will end the sign up for the cupcake swap on Friday September 19th. The send out date will be October 27th. Iwill contact all the participants again about this information once I assign swap partners.
This is what we have been doing this morning. After Nic came back from swimming class, he joined my dad and me in painting the outside of the house. Since the kids have a play house in the garden, I let them paint their own house. This is Nic painting the house.
Me painting the doors that lead to the pond where three turtels live.
My dad painting the windows of the guestroom.
Peter painting the 'legs' of the play house.
At the moment the weather turned so we are all indoors again and the boys are playing with their playmobil, so I will start finishing that binding of Ruben´s quilt.

Play food

I made this playfood for a friend´s daycare center. I once made a couple of eggs and the kids played with them so much, they are completely torn, so I made some different items this time. Hope the kids will like them.

On the cupcake swap, swappers are starting to sign up, so that is a very good thing, I am thrilled. I think I have replied to everybody who asked me to, if not, please let me know. I am already starting to think what I will make, so that is a good thing, it will keep me busy. Once I start working again, I won´t have so much time to craft.

Today will be a craft day, I just finished painting with peter, Nic is at school, Ruben is asleep. And I will now continue to finish the binding of Ruben´s second quilt, the dutch themed quilt. My dad is almost finished with the cupboards for Ruben´s nursery which are inspired by old dutch houses, so I have to finish the quilt. So much to do, so little time...

At home Kinderen

The new Ariadne - Athome kinderen is available in Holland. It is a great magazine with all sorts of goodies for kids and a lot of home make ideas. I place some sneak previews.
I love the cupboard in the above picture, it is made by a dutch artist. Isn´t it wonderful?
Since I love this magazine, it appears twice a year, I will give a copy to my cupcake swap partner. OK, the magazine is in Dutch and so are the patterns, but I will assist if you need translation.

Present

This present was made by the children of Nic´s kindergarden class. It contained a bib for Ruben. I am really proud of all the children that worked together to make this nice little cardboard suitcase. Thank you very much.

Blog Button?

Does anyone know how to make a blog button? i would like to make one for the cupcake swap, but I have no idea how to make one. Help...

Cupcake swap

I would like to organize a cupcake swap. Are you interested in joining, please contact me at denheijer00(at)yahoo(dot)com.

The swap will consist of something handmade and/or bought and the theme is cupcakes. The cupcake you see is crocheted by myself and I think is quite sweet. This maybe an inspiration.

So, please let me know if you want to join, I will allow one month to make something, I think that will be enough, if not, let me know. At the moment we will have a send date at the end of October. I will let you know when I assign you a swap partner, but it will be no sooner than the end of October.Please provide your name and address and likes/dislikes (e.g. colour) and your blog-addy.

Once I have the swap partners I will give you all the information and the due date. Spread the word around on your own blog, the more swappers the merrier.

If you feel you can´t make the commitment, please do not enter.

An apple a day...

I made this happy apple of a kit I bought from Sewing stars.
I think it worked out pretty well, the apple loofs great and is a happy camper between the other granny smits. Fun kit with a nice pattern and enough fabric to make a green and a red apple.