Christmas Baking

I used to go to all the baking exchanges and bake all my families favourites.  And when New Years came along, Id throw it all away!  Well in the spirit on simplifying, now I only bake a few of the yummiest.

Ive had a couple of people ask for recipes this year, so I thought I would share on my blog.  Warning... writing a blog on Christmas baking by no means makes me an expert.  My cookies aren't particularly pretty, but they get gobbled up!

Excuse my hand written recipes.  I think that is more for me than you.  There is something about a hand written recipe.  Svea wrote these out for me years ago.  And my sister texted me pictures of them - no professional photography here!

First, the ones I actually didn't bake this year.... Martha Stewart's Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread cookies are one of my absolute favourite.   I'm not much for gingerbread cookies, but the strong ginger flavour paired with the chocolate chunks are just oh so devine!  You can find the recipe here.  However, not many kids are into the strong ginger flavour, so I end up eating the whole batch myself... and I gotta stop doing that!!

Cranberry Bliss bars are a winner when I have company.  (My family won't eat them - too many ingredients grown in the ground!)  You can get these at Starbucks, although I like my version better.  But again, unless I am having company or gifting these beauties, they have been nixed from my to do list.  They are a little on the labour intensive side.  You can find the recipe here. 

Now on to the ones I made this year:

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies.  My kids can't take these to school so I don't make them regularly.  They look forward to them at Christmas!  If you don't want to try and read my old hand written recipe, you can find the recipe here.

Julie's Rolo Cookies.  I don't think my friend Julie made the recipe, but I got it from her!  You can get the same recipe online here.  I skip rolling them in sugar before I bake them. (Don't tell my kids!)

This recipe has been in my family for a long time.  Myrna's Butter Tarts.  The only Christmas making that my husband eats.  Im not sure how you can be human and not be tempted by the other goodies.  Some people have all the luck!

As you can see, all we need to know is the amounts.  But I will fill you in on the steps... because I love you.

Preheat oven to 350 (my mom made almost everything at 350...  when in doubt it usually works)
Beat 2 eggs and add 1 cup of brown sugar.
A lump of butter is about 2 Tbsp. melted
Add 1 tsp vanilla
I use ready-made unbaked pastry shells.  I add a few raisins to each shell.
Then fill each shell about 2/3 full with the egg/brown sugar mixture.
Bake until bubbly.  This recipe makes about 18.

No Niklasson Christmas would be complete without Nanaimo bars.  My Mom was famous for her Nanaimo bars.  However in the last few years she bought them.  You couldn't buy the ingredients to make them for the price you could buy them for!  My favorite are from Save On Foods.

So there you have it.  I made 3 things this year and bought 1.  And I think it will just be the perfect amount to share some with friends and have enough to keep us company on the cold/dark winter nights here in the mountains. 

One Room Challenge Fall 2017 Final reveal Games Room

FINALLY... The One Room Challenge has come to a close.  Im excited to reveal the full basement games room.  The kids have been down here more and more as it was nearing completion.  Im excited to say that all the planning paid off.  It went from a long, narrow, plain and awkward space to a well laid out room that will get lots of use.

   

Here's a little reminder of what I had to work with:

In researching for this project I didn't find much inspiration for a "games room" or "rec room"... which in my case would be called "wreck room" or "rumpus room" which is probably the most accurate term for my boys in particular!

The room just works well.  This last weekend we kicked the kids upstairs and the adults hung out down there.  






Its important when designing a room to include things that are meaningful to you.  I think Ive done a good job of that here.  A few baskets that I picked up on our trip to Kibaale.  We adore the work that Kuwasha is doing in Uganda with the community centre.  You can read more about it here.

The chair was a tough decision.  I don't love the look of it.  But I just had to sit in it, and I was sold!

There are 2 TVs... a designers nightmare.  My husbands excuse was that when you are playing games you can see sports from every direction!  Priorities!


The ping pong table isn't a designers dream either, but many family and friend championships happen there!  We can move the ping pong table if we want to have a dance party.

I love the special things I included that I found at The Market at Wagner Hills Farm.  Like the blanket ladder, macrame and plant stand.  Its even more special that they are made by my friends who live at Wagner Hills.  Click HERE to read about The Market.





The mantle is my fav!  With the black hexagon tile.. ahhh... I love it!

Actually maybe the bard door is my fav!  Its perfection.

And this light!  I think Ive talked about it in 3 blog posts now.  It was a tough spot for a fixture.  It had to be semi flush and couldn't be breakable.  I really love how it turned out.

Ive been collecting cushions forever.  I love the mix I ended up with.  They really add to the tribal feeling of the room.

Well, this was my first One Room Challenge, and Id love to do it again!  Its not for the faint of heart, mind you.  I may need to take some time to enjoy this room with my family.  And save up for the next room.  I really appreciate you all stopping by and reading about my room transformation.  Design is my love.  Im learning to love blogging, but I have oh so much more to learn.    Please feel free to leave any questions or comments!  If you missed a week you can click on the following links:

WEEK 1   WEEK 2   WEEK 3   WEEK 4   WEEK 5   WEEK 6   

Don't forget to check out everyone else's finished rooms!  Oh my goodness, what a lot of talented people out there.  You can see the list of bloggers here:

Big thanks to Tracey Ayton who took most of the pictures.  What a gem!

Sources:  Contracting:  Fourt Construction.  Barn door & Mantle:  ADM Woodwerks.  Audio/Visual:  Sapphire Sound . Whirl Chair, Stylus Sofas.  Rattan Chairs, IKEA.  Sofa, VanGogh Designs.  Roman blinds fabric, Tonic Living.  Toss Cushions, Homesense, CB2, Magnolia from Pier 1, Tonic Living.  Dining Chairs: Structube.  Ping pong table: Costco

One Room Challenge Fall 2017 Week 6 Games Room

There is nothing like seeing a project to completion.  And this room is no exception!  I am going to sit back and enjoy these pictures for a long time!    Especially since it will never be this perfect again.  It wont be long before pillows, blankets and ping pong balls will be everywhere.  I guess that is what happens when a room is well loved (by animals!).

I have to admit, I had a bit of a head start.  6 weeks for a room that requires different trades etc is quite an accomplishment, and those who do it should be very pleased with themselves.  I thought I would do a partial reveal this week.

My goal was to create a space for my teenagers to hang with their friends.  But truth be told, we are all going to enjoy spending time down here together.

The barn door is one of my favourite pieces.  When photographing this room, Tracey asked what was behind the barn door?  I replied, "everything that is not pretty enough to be in the room!"

The boys have been bouncing off the walls lately!  Then I realized the pop fridge is almost empty!  Gah... like babes in a candy store!

And then there is the perfect rattan light fixture!  As I said in a previous blogpost, it was a DIY!  The baskets came from Wayfair, and the light from Design Lighting.

I think that by displaying the games, the kids will play with them more.  I know that everyone doesn't have the space to display games, but if you do, why not make them part of your accessories!

The art was a last minute decision, and I am so glad I went ahead with it!  I just ordered them from Amazon!  They are by artist Simon Te.

A big thank you to Tracey Ayton who was so kind to jump in last minute and take all these great pictures for me!

  Contracting, Fourt Construction.  Shelves, Grapevine Designs.  Kitchen, IKEA.  Audio/Video, Sapphire Sound.

I can't wait to show you more next week! 

Some of the rooms that are being created during the last six weeks are AMAZING!  Click HERE to check more of them out!

One Room Challenge Fall 2017 Week 5 Games Room

Week 5!  One more week to go.  Its all I can do to keep myself from showing you the whole room!  Things are really starting to come together.

How do you like my #shelfie?  I loooove a well styled shelf.  A few things here I may tweek in the next week.  But for the most part I am loving it.  Bowls for veggies and kale chips...or in my house; candy popcorn and potatoe chips.  Hot chocolate, and my new mugs from Costco!  And of course a selection of my year books!  My kids go to the school I went to, so its always fun to have a look through and see the teachers that are still there or people they know that went to my school, way back when!

Im decorating a basement, but one end of the basement gets lots of natural light.  Here's hoping I can keep these greens alive!

The goal is that we will be playing lots of games here.  So why not display some of the game pieces in fun ways!  Yahtzee anyone?

I gotta keep this jar full of ping pong balls.  I have no idea where they all go?  They are like socks that get lost in the dryer!

Dominoes anyone?

This is an easy DIY with some great and well priced fabric from Fabric.com upholstering the seat of my bar stools.   Dont be afraid to do a simple upholstery project.  Recovering a seat is a piece of cake.  You just need a good staple gun.  These bar stools have a whole new lease on life!

 OK people... I have arguably the best DIY to show you that I have ever done.  I don't do alot of DIY's so maybe that isn't something to brag about.  Anyway, Ive been lamenting over the high prices of rattan pendants.  I mean, come on!  Its sad to say, but a rattan shade would cost manufacturers pennies to have made overseas.  Yet the pendants can be quite costly.  And how many times can one use the SINNERLIG pendant from IKEA?  

Sooooo I made my own!  I, meaning with my husbands help!  I bought these great baskets off of Wayfair.  I saw Joanna Gaines use the same ones in one of her recent projects (I am sooo cool).  These baskets also seem very sturdy.

Design Lighting provided this simple pendant kit

And VOILA!  Isn't it great?  Its also hard to find a rattan pendant that doesn't hang down too low.  This just turned out perfect for what I needed!  Once you see it as part of the room you'll understand.

A last minute splurge was this Whirl Chair from Stylus.   I had it made in this almost black faux suede-ish leather.  I ordered one for a client recently.  When I sat in it, I fell in love!  It is the most comfortable chair ever!  Its like a chair & a half.  Definitely a snuggle chair.  Or a "do what teenagers do best" chair, like Eston is doing here.

Dont forget to check out all the other blogger's progress on their One Room Challenge here.  Next week is going to be so exciting!

Stay tuned.....