Mini Mug Gingerbread Houses

How cute is this idea???? I'm loving the Mini Gingerbread Houses that perch on the side of your mug. YUM! Some people are so creative. Gotta love it!

Ni-xox-

It's the Most Wonderful Time of Year!

My favorite time of the year is by FAR Christmas time. I love love love the holidays. Since I was a kid, I would literally start thinking about Christmas in August. I adore the feelings that come along with the holidays. The warmth of the lights, the glow of the tree, the smell of cookies in the oven, and all the glittery presents under the tree. I even love the rush of people at the stores. Till this day, I really enjoy buying gifts. I love trying to be creative (unless there is a list...well there's only so much creativity I can have). I especially love seeing the surprised faces when everyone opens their gifts. Don't get me wrong, I love receiving gifts too, but there's just something about giving that makes me happy. When I was a kid, I used to love going through "Consumers" catalogue (anyone remember that???) and circling what I thought would be nice to buy for my parents, my grandparents, etc. My brother and I would always split the cost (I mean, we were kids, we didn't have a whole lot of money of our own). I remember one year, we bought both my grandmother's a bottle of perfume. I believe one was called Poison and the other I don't remember. Poison?? Really? I wouldn't wear something with that name! LOL! The funny part is that this year when I went to Portugal, I noticed that my grandma still had the bottle. Hilarious. No surprise that it was still full. hehe! How embarassing! Anyways! All this to say...YAY for the Holidays!

This year I'm finding it a little hard to get into the spirit. First of all, its been like 16 degrees outside and sunny (except these last two days where it's rainy). Its HOT for this time of year. I need some snow. It did snow last week for a day, but with 16 degree weather, the snow is all gone. My Christmas spirit is slowly coming though. We brought our tree out (yes, fake tree...I have allergies and pine would make it a very sneezy Christmas for me). We put the lights on so far, decorations to come soon. I still need to decorate my mantel too. I have some lights on it but it's nowhere near done. I'll post some pictures when it's all done.

Well, thanks for reading my little Christmas rant. I love the Holidays and hope you do too. If the holidays become a stressful task, then why bother. Enjoy yourself and be happy. Some people are sick in the hospital and wish they could be shopping in the madness. So enjoy the Holidays and the madness and be grateful for all your blessings! 'Tis the season!

With Love,
Ni-xox-

Happy Holiday PhotoShoot

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Photography by: Me
Location: My bedroom
Purpose: Holiday Cards

Ni-xox-

To Christmas List or Not?

Every year on my husband's side we all have to provide a Christmas list. At first I thought it was annoying and totally not original. But after years of not knowing what to buy everyone I think it's a great idea. At least this way, you dont really have to think and think and in the end buy someone another neck tie that they dont need, or a movie they already have. I think the list idea is good in the way that you end up getting things that are actually useful to you. Also, the list isnt strict in the way that you HAVE to buy something from it. It could just be inspirational so that you know in what direction to go. It has proved to be very useful.

On my side, I've tried to start to impliment the list idea. So far we just use a list for my brother and his family and my three cousins. My mom sometimes uses our lists for stocking stuffers.

This year, on my hubby's side, we decided to do a gift exchange for the adults. Anyone under 18 still gets a present from everyone, but anyone older has picked a name and only needs to buy one person a gift. In the envelope with the names, we attached our lists. We'll see how it goes. Because we only have one gift to buy, we have upped the budget a little. In the end, buying one gift instead of 14 is much better math in my mind and my bank account!!!

Do you think Christmas Lists are a good idea?

Ni-xox-

Canada Post Sucks!

So lately I've been having a lot of trouble with the postal system. I think everyone that works for them is incompetent....at least in the past few months. First I keep getting someone else's mail. Ok, so the number of our addresses are the same but not the same street. But really, cant these people read? Then lately both me and hubby had placed an order on amazon. A couple of days later we both received an email saying that our orders were shipped and delivered.We never got them so we had to email amazon to reship. I'm sure the post delivered the orders to the wrong house and the people who received them were not nice and kept the boxes.




NOW, just to add to my aggravation, I had mailed out three packages of pictures to family in Portugal. I actually went to the post office and had them weighed and everything. The person at the post office put what I thought was the appropriate postage on each package....yeah really? Shouldn't this be their job? Isnt it a no brainer. Just weigh the package, check the destination and add postage. Well guess what? I received 2 out of the 3 packages back in the mail saying that it was insufficient postage...and not by a dollar or anything...by $5.00!! Really? Now I'm just waiting for the 3rd package to come back so I can resend! GGGRRR!! I really cannot stand Canada Post right now. I think they hire idiots. *sigh* And that's it for my ranting.




Ni-xox-

Glam Skull Centerpiece Tutorial

Here's what you'll need for this project:
Skull
Silver dish (mine was a plastic one from the dollar store)
Clear Glue
Paint Brush
Silver Paint
A small dish
Silver Glitter (mine was more or a dark grey)
Silver candelabra
Glue gun
Black tinsel garland (Or a black feather boa...couldn't find one for cheap)

First, paint the skull silver. Let dry. Then paint the skull with the clear glue and pour the glitter all over, covering the surface completely. Let dry (preferably overnight).

Heat up your glue gun. Glue the silver plate to the candelabra.

Glue the glittered skull in the center of the silver plate. Then glue the black tinsel garland around the skull (the garland may be too long, just trim off what you don't need). You can embellish with silver spiders if you like.

 

Sorry for the crappy picture, my camera sucks!


And there you have it. A very glittery, very glamorous centerpiece for your table of goodies this Halloween!
Hope you try making these easy DIY projects. I encourage you to embellish and add your own signature look. Enjoy!

Ni-xox

Easy Elegant Halloween Candle Holder Tutorial

I've really been into DIY lately. Unfortunately, with a baby, it's not always easy to make time. What I've learned is to DIY slowly. Don't expect to sit there for hours and craft or bake. Little bits at a time and you can achieve a lot more and make it look great. Here is one of my latest DIY that I created for the Halloween party we're throwing this weekend. Enjoy!



This is what you'll need for this project. (Oh and thin and wide black ribbon which I forgot to add to this pic)

First, heat up your glue gun. Measure a piece of your web ribbon so that it fits around your vase and overlaps a very little bit. Run a bead of hot glue down one half of the vase and stick your web ribbon around the vase.

Do the same with the top half of you vase. If the ribbon 's width isn't exactly half the length of the vase or is longer, don't worry. The ribbon can overlap or be short a little bit as we will hide the seam later. My ribbon happened to be exactly the size of the vase by coincidence. If I would have tried to make it that way, it would have never worked. You know how it is!

Here's where the hiding the seam comes in. Take a length of wide black ribbon that fits round the vase. On the seam side of the vase (I mean the seam going up and down), run a small bead of hot glue and glue your black ribbon around the vase to hide the gap or overlap between the web ribbon.

Then glue a piece of silver ribbon over the wide black ribbon for embellishment. Don't forget to always put the glue on the seam side of the vase so that all the glue lines are on the same side.
After gluing the silver ribbon, glue a thin black ribbon on top and bottom of the vase to finish the edges. Again, always gluing on the seam side of the vase. All your glue should be lined up in the back so that you can turn the vase around and hide all your glue lines. (I know I keep repeating myself, but it'll end up a nicer end product)

And voila!! Just add a small candle in the vase and you have yourself a beautiful addition to your Halloween decorations. Stay tuned for my Glittered skull centerpiece tutorial.

Ni-xox-

Styling!!

Ni-xox-

Hat!

Ni-xox-

What? Do I have something on my face?

Ni-xox-

Convent in Mafra

Mafra is a city 15 minutes away from Ericiera. It has a really beautiful Palace. The palace, which also served as a Franciscan monastery, was built during the reign of King John V (1707-1750), in consequence of a vow made by the king in 1711, who promised to build a convent if his wife, the Queen Mary Anne of Austria, gave him descendants. The birth of his first daughter, the princess Barbara of Braganza, made the king initiate the construction of the palace. It is a really beautiful place to visit. There isn't much to say about it that I can think of. One thing to note however, is the massive library. It is sooooooooo beautiful. If you've ever seen the Disney cartoon of Beauty and Beast, it looks like the library the Beast gives Belle. No joke. I have never seen a library so big and beautiful. An interesting fact that I didn't know about this library until this time I visited, is that the reason the books are so well preserved is that bats live in the library. I know that sounds strange, but the little bugs that eat the pages of books which therefore would ruin them, are eaten by the bats that live there. Nobody knows how the bats came to be, but there they are. A true blessing to the library, keeping it preserved and beautiful. The only time the bats can be seen is when they hold concerts in the grand hall of the library. The vibrations make them come our of hiding and fly around the ceiling. That must be a site to see.
Another fact I didn't know, is that the library is still used today. By appointment only of course and under supervision. Also, not to ruin the old pages with the oil of our hands, gloves must be worn. How much would you love to skim through that old library!!  Ok, so basically, in case you didn't notice, the library was my favorite part of the visit!

Library.....awesome isnt it!?!?

Ni-xox-

Boca do Inferno (Hell's Mouth)



On the right of the picture you can see the opening to the cavern.

 A very popular tourist attraction in Portugal is a place called Boca do Inferno, in english Hell's Mouth. It is a site near the city of Cascais (another very popular place that I'll talk about later). Basically its a big cavern in a rock off the coast of the ocean. In the winter when the tides are rough, this cavern fills up with water from the waves. Its a really big cavern, therefore very impressive to see. Unfortunately, because the ocean is so vigorous in the winter, it is forbidden to get close enough to see the cavern fill with water. Many people have crossed over the barriers and didnt live to see the cavern or anything else for that matter. Many other people have also died crossing the barriers, but for different reasons. They died trying to save those other people who broke the rules and got caught in the violence of the ocean.
So, in the summer people go visit the empty cavern. Its still impressive because its big...but I'm sure it would be crazy to see filling up! Not that i'm willing to risk my life! The view is also really beautiful from there. The only thing is that it's always very windy. I've visited this place many times in my life and everytime I think it's more beautiful than the last.



Below is the cavern. If you look closely to the left, you can see the opening of the cavern to the ocean.

Ni-xox-

More Ericeira!

During our stay in Ericeira, we did some visiting. One place I've always wanted to visit (and apparently I already had visited when I was a kid) is the Mouinho. Basically its just a really big windmill that we always pass while driving. All I knew about it was that it had a shop there with all handcrafted typical Portuguese ceramics. I want to go check it out. Little did I know, there was much more to see.
It was a whole recreated village. With life sized mannequins and everything. The man who created this village had a passion for this. He turned his passion into something truly fabulous. We walked through the village enjoying every little house. It was equipped with everything from the shoe maker, seamstress, school, etc....to a fort in the back and a functional bakery where you can go taste some fresh bread with Portuguese sausage baked in! YUM! It truly was this man's passion because you do not have to pay anything to visit. There even was a miniature village. Very cute! It really was something nice to see and I'm glad I finally got to see it.

Miniature Village

Average Household

Yummy!

Fort

Ni-xox-

Brush those 2 Pearlie Whites!

I decided that it was time that my little man learn how to brush his teeth, even though he only has two. I figured never too early to start. Turns out he loves it. I dont use toothpaste or anything. Just water!

Ni-xox

Toi et Moi Centre de Maternite

My good friend Mommy J invited me, baby and our friend LilV to come join her and her friend at a new maternity center. So we went to check it out. It's a very nice place for mothers and mothers to be to hang out, have a coffee and let the kids play together. The also offer many other things like Osteopath, massage, etc. You can even go there for blood tests. Anyways, its a very nice and clean place. Wednesdays between 9:30am-11:00am you can go and hang out in their living room and have a coffee or hot chocolate while the kids play. They wont kick you out either if you're there longer.

So come check it out! http://www.toietmoicentredematernite.com/

Here are some pictures of the kids playing!

Ni-xox-



Baby's First Birthday Party!

Two weeks later I'm finally posting baby's first birthday party. It was on Saturday, September 17. The day before, mom and I made the cake. It took us allllll day. It was a double chocolate cake, with chocolate ganache filling, topped with vanilla butter cream and homemade vanilla fondant. Yum right?? I decided to go with a jungle theme for the whole party. This summer in Portugal while we were doing some groceries, I spotted the whole collection of Jungle Junction toys. They don't seem to have them here in Canada, so naturally I was excited and bought everything. Then I thought of the brilliant (at least I thought so), of using the toys on the birthday cake. And that's how this theme was born. So without further adue, here is our beautiful masterpiece. So excited and proud about it!

I also made a batch of vanilla cupcakes with a butter cream frosting. I really wanted baby to make a mess with his cake, but fondant isn't really messy. So I figured the green frosting on the cupcakes should do the job! I found these cute cupcake liners and toppers to go with my theme.

As for the food, I made a big lasagna, pulled pork sandwiches (which were a big hit....I love me slow cooker!), chicken from the Portuguese place, spinach/feta quesedillas, Quinoa Salad, Green Salad, potatoes, pizza and some other little side dishes. Everything was delicious. Not too many leftovers....awesome!

All day I was trying to get a good picture of me and the birthday boy. This is the best we got. Eh!

Here he is having fun at his party and we had't even had cake or opened presents yet!

The birthday boy and his Uncle Joe (althought he looks more interested in the monkey).

I'm really happy at how all the decorations turned out. It was a realy jungle in here. I ordered balloons of monkeys and giraffes. I had an inflatable monkey hanging off the chandelier. Lots of green and orange streamers everywhere and lots of balloons. It was really festive.

Not so successful on trying to get a picture of the birthday boy in his party hat. Actually forget being successful on the picture, we werent even successful on getting the hat on! LOL!

And now for the moment you've all been waiting for! Cake time!!! YUM! I wasnt sure what he would do. The last couple of first birthdays I've been to, the kids werent interested in the cake. I really wanted baby to smush it all in his face. And guess what....HE DID!! YAY! I actually still found some frosting on his highchair yesterday!

Of course the first picture I go to take of the birthday boy and daddy was beautiful! LOL! How about mommy... :o( LOL!

There were some older kids at the party, so we decided to have a pinata for them. It was fun. They loved it! Of course, why wouldnt they? Swinging a broom stick around, trying to hit a colorful snake and then the best part, the candy and toys that fall out! Awesome! Baby didnt really enjoy himself at this point....a little scared of the noise.

In the end, I finally got a pretty nice picture with hubby and Mr. Birthday Boy! My little family!

Present time! Baby got lots of nice toys. Of course at the time he was more interested in the tissue paper and bags that the gifts came in. Thats kids for you!

I guess he really liked the next gift....he went to sit right on it!! LOL!

All in all, the party was a great success. A very memorable first birthday party for my first baby!

Mommy Loves you!

I guess he had fun at his party. Here he is the next day! POOPED!

   Ni aka Mommy -xox-