Back on, I hope....

As many of you know I have been having a horrible time with keeping a computer that works. I am now on my "new" laptop and hopefully will be able to start blogging here once a week. That is my goal I have created for this blog.

To start things off, since this blog has always been about the Bryceroni (aka the Buddha Bear) and my other works of art, I need to show off a few of them from the end of the. Of course I seem to have only captured them on my "dumb phone" camera (hey at least it takes pics, I know - lol)  So I really apologize for the lack of quality in them. But you can get the idea of what I have done. I really wish I had more pics to share, but after reviewing the camera pics, I remembered it was MIA for most of December.

The hubby's hours were cut at the beginning of December, which put a major damper on getting things for the family for Christmas and Yule. Luckily last  year I had purchased some things after Christmas for both moms, my sister, his dad and a few things for Bryceroni and his younger cousin. When I got to thinking about things, I knew I needed to at least make sure the children (Buddha Bear, his "brother bear" and his 2 cousins; Baby Girl and "E") were taken care of. Because while I am very all about family around the holidays, I really feel the main efforts of your energy need to be focused on the children. I knew there was nothing I was going to be able to purchase for anyone else, but I needed to still have presents for the older cousin "E" (she is 3yo) and Brother Bear.

I knew that E was of the "let's play dress-up", and one thing I know I will not have the pleasure of is dress making for my daughter, I have 2 nieces I can do that for though. I made E three pillowcase dresses. I searched through the linen closet and could not find any spare pillowcases that we could part with for various reasons. So I scrounged through the little bit of fabric that I have - at some point in time I thought I could be a seamstress I guess. So I made her three dresses; yellow with blue trim, cranberry paisley with brown trim, and a kelly green dress with white trim and a belt. Unfortunately I only remembered to take pictures of 2 of them....

For some crazy reason the dresses were not enough for me though. I had to make a doll. I really could not make a doll for one niece and not the other - not that either of them would know what the other would have. But my conscience would not let me be if I didn't so these are the dolls I made for Baby Girl and E. The doll in the green dress with a yellow head cover is the first of the 2. She went to Baby Girl, so I made sure everything was sewn down - she did just turn 1yo. The second doll is for E, because she was older I was comfortable with sewing a tiara to the top of her head without any worries. I also made her dress like I had made the pillowcase dresses.

Buddha Bear was also "making" presents - his first art project was for Moogie (my mom). He did well for a little while without eating any of the paint - but he did eventually succumb to the temptation and tasted the red and the green paint. I sealed the tree for him after it dried. I really wish the lighting was better on this. This was all done with a paint brush, on his own. I am so proud of him =)

The other presents that were made I will post about on my other blog http://chargeofadomesticgoddess.blogspot.com/, because they are about FOOD -

But before I go I have one more present to post. This is what I made for Baby Girl's first birthday in January. Little Wooden People. They are made out of wooden spools and beads. Buddha Bear was very unhappy they were not for him. So I will have to go and get more wooden beads and see how many spools I have left. I really like the ones I used because there were so many shapes and sizes.

A lazy wednesday morning...

Yes it is! Well, I have all ready made lunch and breakfast for TB, and the Buddha Bear is almost finished with his yummy pumpkin pancakes. I started a new blog the other day to spotlight just my cooking. That is over here at chargeofadomesticgoddess.blogspot.com/

I will continue to bring pics of my art over here and little silly ramblings. Here is my latest cards for a Yule swap in December. Yes I know Halloween is not even here yet, but I wanted to make sure I get these made, because honestly this time of the year is much more fun if you spend it with family.

The voodoo dolls are ready, though I have yet to receive any form anyone. Oh well. It's sad really, but I cannot be upset with people. You do what you do.

So much for a lazy day - the Buddha Bear is pulling things down form the shelves and demanding my attention. Maybe another time.

The Pumpkin Pancakes

The other day I said I was going to make Pumpkin Pancakes. I had found the recipe on one of the blogs I read "$5 Dinners" She always has some neat little recipe I want to try. So I decided since the Buddha Bear and I do love pancakes. I would give them a try. If nothing else I really did love the idea of making pancakes from scratch - well using canned pumpkin, but other than that - no pre-made mix or anything was used in the making of these pancakes. (She did have a copy of a recipe using a mix).

These are a little heavier that normal, because I did use some graham wheat flour in them as well. They are not really sweet, so it's safe to pour maple syrup on them. I have a bit of FF whipped cream on top. I honestly did not taste the pumpkin, I would probably add more, because it may be over powered by the graham wheat. It did however have more or a gingerbread taste to me. I was able to make 11 four inch pancakes. They were about a half inch thick as well. The last one of the bunch I decided to add a few bits of butterscotch chips. These added a bit of caramelized crunch to the pancake and I did not need any syrup for them. However, it did change the flavor more. I think the next batch I will increase the pumpkin and maybe add some golden raisins, finely chopped pecans, and the butterscotch again. I like to have syrup-less pancakes, because they are easier in a packed breakfast.

What do you Feed a Buddha Bear?

Sometimes I really do lack imagination when it comes to making a meal. Take this lunch to the left, for an example. We have a strawberry pbj, corn puff a's a banana cookie and some apple sauce. I wanted to do something different for his sandwich, so I used an apple cutter to cut out the funny looking shapes. One thing I found with trying to cut out shapes into pbj's is the jelly ALWAYS squirts out and the bread likes to tear. Well I decided to try something new. I flattened the bread with a rolling pin. The good thing about that is now the pb will not tear the bread when you spread it, and you can use less of the pb and j. The only problem I had with using the apple cutter is the outer handle is all plastic. So really the outside of the slicing blades is 1/4 inch thick plastic - it doesn't cut through bread. I really want to get an all metal cutter - so I may ask Santa for one in my stocking =) I had to correct the smooshing the edge did with a little trimming. These pieces though are perfect size for the Buddha Bear to eat though, since he likes to cram as much as possible into his mouth at once while he is eating. That would not be an issue except for the fact he has only his front 4 teeth. So even though he eats pretty much everything we eat, I do have to watch some stuff.

Contest for some chocolate noms

Yes that's what I said - I am rolling through my blogs this morning before I start making some nummy Pumkin Pancakes, when I found this bento contest on one of the blogs I read "Not Exactly Bento".

Let me say that Bento and Chocolate is a wonderous combo! 2 giveaways, 1 with a snazzy 2 tiered bento and the other with JUST CHOCOLATE!!!! I can so think of tons of recipes to use them in too.

Hot Mama Chili - can't go wrong with coffee, chocolate, beer and meat!!!!

Twice Frosted Brownies - and yes all from scratch!

Death By Chocolate - Kahlua and Chocolate and toffee, need I say more!

I am sure more will come to me while I am off doing other things.

Anyways - check it out here.... http://notexactlybento.com/?p=2065

I will try and post some new ATCs here today - so much to do today, now where do I begin.... oh yeah, the pancakes =)