DIY // 10 days of Blessings jar

Today I realized that there are only 10 more days until Christmas! But I also realized that I still haven't made myself a countdown until Christmas. So today I decided to instead of make a calender or something, I made this 10 days of Blessings jar. The idea is that everyday for 10 days until Christmas I write down one blessing on one piece of paper, and place it in the jar. I also write down how many more days there are left until Christmas on the lid. All I used for this project was 1 mason jar (including lid), some chalkboard paint, chalk,  a paintbrush, a hair dryer (optional), and 10 pieces of paper. I think if I do this again next year, I'd probably start it on Dec. 1st, but hopefully you guys try it! Please tell me if you do :)

 

 

 

 

Life Lately....

Life lately has been really busy, with the Christmas party being yesterday (we ended up having 26 kids) and small group following. But the craziness isn't over yet, because as I've said before, we're still planning more parties and my grandparents are coming to live with us next week. So in the midst of all this,  I was able to grab my camera and take some shots. Here are the photos from life lately....

                                                              - Katie and Bethany -

                                           - my first Christmas ornament  (check out that bokeh!) -

                                                - the thin layer of snow covering the ground -

 - Amy and our friend Sierra -

 

                                                 - my new oxfords! Thank you so much Brooke :) -

- Hot apple cider -

 

- yummy cookies! ( I ate one for you Winnie ) -

 

- Katie and her friend Bronson -

 

Have a great Saturday people!

 

xoxox Emma-lee

Last Day to Enter!

Today is the last day to enter the Starbucks Giveaway! Make sure you go check it out :) All you have to do is follow.

xoxox
Emma-lee

Candy Cane Dipper Recipe

 
    Last night we were all up late preparing for our cookie exchange, and one of the fun baking projects I made were these cute little candy cane dippers. They were super easy to prepare, and they taste delicious! So here are the simple instructions on how to make them:

Supplies -
about 30 large marshmallows
2 Tbsp. Coconut oil
1 cup of coloured sprinkles
about 30 candy canes (miniature or original)
1 cup of semisweet milk chocolate chips
1 litre of boiling water
crockpot
parchment paper
jar (with large opening)
small bowl

First pour the boiling water into crockpot, and turn heat level to high. Fill the jar with the chocolate chips, and place in the crockpot upright. Put the lid on the crockpot until the chocolate melts, and while you're waiting, unwrap candy canes and poke each one into a marshmallow.

 Lay out some parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and pour the sprinkles into a bowl. Once you've got all of the candy canes ready, start dipping the tops of the marshmallows into the melted chocolate. Then roll the marshmallows in sprinkles, and place on parchment paper.

Continue doing this with each one, until you're done. Then put the entire cookie sheet into the fridge for approx. 30 minutes, until the chocolate hardens.

Now you're done! Enjoy dipping these cute treats into your hot chocolate, or just eating them plain. They taste yummy either way :)

Happy Weekend!

Emma-lee

Awkward // Awesome Thursday

 

Awkward:

Waiting for your father for a half hour at the place where he said he would meet you. He never did end up coming.// Realizing you talk to yourself when grocery shopping // Being starred at by a creepy old lady. // Singing along to the radio at the top of your lungs, and you're like...I really don't care. // Trying to solve a quick math problem on the spot, and 14 years of education leaves you. // The radio randomly going off in the middle of the night. I actually thought I was dreaming...but no, it was real. // Not knowing enough geography.

 

Awesome:

12 more days until Christmas!!!! // Having 50 followers :) // Setting up our Christmas tree. // planning a super special surprise romantic dinner for my parent's anniversary. // Cookie exchange tomorrow. // making schedules. // Surprising people // Dreaming you're swimming in an ocean of candy canes and marshmallows. // Sleepovers with little sisters. // Finding 20 dollars! // Looking through bins of old stuff. // Waking up late.

 

With love,

Emma-lee

 

 

12.12.12

 

Aw...it's the last repetitive date ever! so sad :( Wow, it seems like just yesterday, it was 11.11.11. Time really does fly by!  But, we got the tree up. Finally! And we are preparing for a week of parties, and cleaning, and craziness. On Friday we're having our entire homeschool group over for a cookie exchange. That's right people, 32 kids, under the age of 15. It's going to Chaos! Next week is my parent's anniversary, and we are planning a very romantic day for them. Shhh! don't tell! We are also hosting another party for our small group sometime this week. And my grandparents are coming to live with us very soon. So yes, I've been very busy. But, we are hopefully going to be getting unlimited high-speed Internet this week! and I'm pretty excited. I know this post is just a lot of randomness, and I'm sorry. But I promise I will have a real post for you very soon! oh, and don't forget to enter in my Starbucks giveaway! only two more days to enter :)

Bye!

Emma-lee

The Matter of a Camera // Guest post by Gemma

Today I'd like to introduce a very amazing blogger, who will be guest posting.  She is super duper talented in practically everything, and she wrote this fantastic post just for you guys. Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Gemma!

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Hi folks, I am gemma from submarines and sewing machines. And I'm going to tell you something about the differences between cameras, but first I'll introduce myself. I'm 16 years old and live in the Netherlands. I am a photographer crafter and blogger

so the matter of camera,

I started photographing with a point and shoot, half a year ago I bought my own DSLR and I love it, even though It has some disadvantages too.

Its really big par example. This is the ting where I'm going to tell you about, the pros and cons on DSLR, point and shoot and your phone's camera.

DSLR

pro:

your photos are sharp and high quality

it's expandable, I mean that you can buy gadgets like filters or other lenses

many possibility's, like shutter speed control

con:

its big, expensive, and you  can't easily take it with you

point and shoot

Pro

quite sharp photos,

small, it fits in your pocket.

Con
it's not expandable and still a bit prisy

Phone
pro
always with you, and photo edit applications, like instagram or pixlr-o-matic
con
many unsharp photos or general bad quality

* for the photos I used a sony alpha 300 DSLR camra, a Canon ixus 230 HS point and shoot and a LG GD510 phone




I am not trying to say it's impossible to take great pictures with your phone. there are many great pictures taken with cellphones, you can see them at instragram or other sites. Here is an example of nice pictures I made with my point and shoot.


an other advantage that you have with compact cameras (a.k.a. point and shoot) is that you can come really close to your subject, like a few millimeters. To get the same shot with a dslr (digital single lens reflex camera) you'll have to zoom in, because you can only focus at a distance of 30 centimeters (distance difference per lens). Dslr's have a great background blur, when with you phone or point and shoot the background is still a bit sharp.



well I can talk a lot more about photograpy but I'll leave it to this for today, I hope you learned something from it. 

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Thank you so much Gemma! If anyone else would be interested in guest posting just visit the "guest posting" section at the top of this page. Hope you all enjoyed!

~Emma-lee

Awkward // Awesome Thursday

      Awkward:
Sitting in the same place for 4 hours at a time, surrounded with stuff // Waking up with swollen eyes // Trying to start a conversation with someone you haven't seen in a long time // Counting 10 saws, 5 scythes, and 3 random blade things hanging from the ceiling of Cracker Barell. YIKES! // Enduring incredibly cold weather conditions. // Snowpants. // Trying to work the camera with gloves on. // Having 4 different people bring up how I used to (like when I was six) chew paper like it was gum, in one day. // Trying to communicate your order at a restaurant to someone who doesn't know English. // Being threatened by a random 5 yr. old. // Being waaaay too happy. // and Acting like a choking person at a CPR course.

     Awesome:
Wrapping Presents. // Going out to the back yard to cut down a Christmas tree for my room. // Seeing my Best Friend very soon! // Organizing presents. // Making Presents. // Christmas in only 24 days! // Listening to Christmas music. // Getting 50 followers! // Discovering all the stuff I forgot about while I was away. // Wearing hats, and cozy clothes. // The wood stove. // Surprises! // Crafting like crazy. // Being back at home. // Knowing CPR // Meeting up with old friends. // Getting money in the mail. // My brother. // and socks.

Hope you all have a wonderful Weekend! and I will post again soon :)

Emma-lee

From Sunshine to Snowpants

So the past few days have just been super crazy. We're talking about 35 hours of driving (at least), First Aid / CPR course, and trying to entertain 12 kids on a 24 hour basis. Lesson: Never underestimate the word crazy, when it comes from me. And with all the hustle and bustle, I managed to squeeze in a quick post (how this is possible, I do not no). So here is a list of all the fun and not so fun activities that have managed to govern my life for the last week or so.

- One -
We drove home from Florida! Yippee :) It was long, it was torturous, and I'd like to say it was worth it but It was so super freezing today, that I think I'm going to have to wait on the joyful part. It took roughly 35-40 hours, with a few stops, to make it here. And boy, was I in for a wake-up call (hence the title). Wednesday morning we woke up at 6:00 for a homeschool trip to Lang Pioneer Village, which I would much rather have skipped, and the weather decided to take advantage of my weak immunity for the cold. Brrrr.. So anywho, this is literally the first time I've actually stopped, since last Friday.

- Two -
We took a first aid / CPR course yesterday. It was very educational, and I now know how to save your life if you start choking, or stop breathing. 30 compressions, 2 breaths, 30 compressions, 2 breaths, and so on. I am now certified, and that is a good thing. I would definitely consider signing up for a similar course.

- Three -
Friends. Okay, I'm not blaming my friends for my busyness or anything. Because this part was fun busyness. We stopped a couple of times to visit with friends along the way, and it certainly made the trip seem a lot more do-able and fun. So that was all good, and hopefully I will be able to get together with some of my Peterborough friends soon.

Well, hopefully amidst all of the busyness, we can get the tree up and start wrapping presents and baking cookies. I'm already pretty much in the Christmas mood, and I can't wait to get my room all festive looking. So there you have it, the reason I have been slacking off in the blogging department. Here are some photos from life lately.

 

Bye For Now!

Emma-lee

PS: Don't forget to enter yourself in this Starbucks giveaway that ends in 8 days!

On the Road Again...

Well, guys. We're on the road again! Living off of the free McDonald's Wifi, and the dollar menu, for a couple of days. We left Florida Saturday morning, and we should arrive at our friend's house late tonight. It's pouring rain, and I think we're in West Virginia. So this is just a small update on what I've been up to. It was sad leaving Marco Island, but now that we're going through the more colder states, I realize how much I value being able to wear a toque and sweater. The drive has gone pretty smoothly though, so far. There have been lots of washroom breaks, but that's what you get when a family of 8 takes a road trip. We did also have a really nice dinner in Georgia last night with some friends. We went to Cracker Barrel (always a tradition when we come down), and a nice Nativity scene tour thing. It was a ton of Fun! and it made the drive down a little more doable. Anyway, I'm excited to get back home and see my friends again, and set up the Christmas Tree. So let's pray that the 5 hours left will go well, and hopefully I will get back to posting as soon as possible.

Bye for now!

Emma-lee

PS: Don't forget to enter yourself in this giveaway! it ends in 12 days.