Easy Easter Peep Cake

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Easy Peep Cake
Easy Peep Cake

Here it is: My Easter Peep Cake! Sweet, very simple, inspired by others on Pinterest.   I baked a banana cake from scratch, which tasted ok.  I made the cake part about a week early to save some time for other food prep the day before Easter.  I pulled out the frozen cake layers from the freezer the day before Easter to thaw. Homemade cream cheese frosting was whipped up three days before Easter, and the cake was frosted Easter morning.  I used nearly two boxes of green bunny Peeps and three Cadbury milk chocolate mini eggs for a little decoration.

There really is a difference between a homemade and a box mix cake.  My homemade cake was a much denser cake and I think that effected the flavor as well.  You can use a box mix and a can of frosting if you wish.  I went with the homemade cake because I felt like making something with bananas for my husband.  Anyway, I like Peeps and I enjoyed making this cake.

Tomorrow, I am attending a spring craft fair, Spring Fair to Remember in West Bend, WI.  I have had a booth at these shows a few times.  I am excited to see both what and who is new and how the seasoned craft fair vendors are doing.  I always keep an eye out for both crafting ideas and booth set up and display ideas as well.  I am not planning on participating in a craft fair anytime soon, but it never hurts to have a few ideas handy for later.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Missie

Tootle Needs Some Tape

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Tootle Needs Taping
Tootle Needs Taping
TootleTaped (Small)
Tootle Taped

Our little one loves a good book.  She has a small library to choose from.  Roughly 90% of her bookshelf holds tough board books that can take a good beating from a 15 month old.  The other 10% are normal weighted paper that I monitor closely.  Regardless, if it is board book or paper, she shows no discrimination when it comes to pealing off a piece of a cover, a corner of a page or flap hiding a pink elephant.  Every few days I get out my packing tape and work my giggleFritz magic! 😉

I am not angry that I have to mend these books.  I have always taken good care of the books in my possession.  I have taught the same to my oldest daughter and will teach our new little one when she is old enough.   I like working with the paper anyway, and I am not fond of throwing away any book.  I am actually just glad that we are using these books and “loving” the crap out of them so much, that they need some maintenance once in a while.

In other news, my tomato plants I planted last week, are up!  They peaked their heads out of the soil on Monday.  Also, I planted some marigolds last Saturday and those popped up this morning.  I was surprised by the marigolds.  That is only 4-5 days they needed to sprout.  I am very proud of the start of my little garden.  I can’t wait to have a garden on the land that I live on.  It has always been a plot on someone else’s land and I would have to drive over to maintain/water/weed/pick.  For the first time I will be able to walk outside my back door and putz around in my garden!!

Tomatoes popped up!
Tomatoes popped up!

So, I am off to do great things!  I have a few things in the works I am hoping to finish up and share with you soon.

Have a great day!

Missie

 

giggleFritz Garden 2015

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Garden Seeds and Upcycled Plant Markers
Garden Seeds and Upcycled Plant Markers

Hello, All!  We are slowly thawing out here in Wisconsin.  It will be a number of weeks until we can get outside and plant our gardens, but this is the time for starting seeds.  That is just what I did on Monday.  I dug out my soil-less soil and seed starting flats and planted 12 each of bell peppers, tomatoes and cherry tomatoes while the little one was taking her nap.  When she woke up, I still had not finished my project, so she got all excited and started pointing and yelling at the weird “stuff” on the kitchen floor.  I really wanted to be done before she woke up, but starting seeds is one of those jobs that I always thinks takes less time than it really does.  I had considered letting my Helper help with this project, but I opted to wait another year.

I am hosting Easter brunch for my family this year.  I am dead set on making a peep-themed Easter cake.  I am perfectly fine with making a cake, frosting it and slapping on gobs of Peeps.  But I thought maybe I would head over to Pinterest and see what other ideas are out there.  Once again, Pinterest did not disappoint.  Once again, I was overwhelmed with tons of colorful, beautiful (and some not so beautiful) photos of inspiration.  I started a “Peep Cake” board and hope I will add my own cake soon.  So, heads up for an out-of-this-world Easter Peep cake picture sometime after April 5!

Good luck with all of your own Easter/Garden/Spring plans! 😀

Missie

 

Time for a giggleFritz Website Makeover

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My Timekeepers
My Timekeepers

This year Daylight Savings has really been a drag! I don’t remember in previous years when recovering from the time change was so difficult. It has wreaked havoc on our little one’s sleep schedule as well. She is 16 months old now and has been sleeping through the night for a few months. But, for the last four days she has woken up 2-3 times each night, and going to bed and waking up in the morning are still way off of normal times. Which is why this time change is such a drag on me, I guess.

My web site is looking a bit different, right? It’s actually looking much different and I love my website makeover! More simple and clean, reflective of the changes that have had to be made both in my new life as a stay-at-home-mom, and in my business. I’ve had to simplify and let go of some things, but not my sense of humor or creativity. I hope that will still show up in my writing.

I must go now and do some important mothering…
Stop back soon for a short story, a creative update, or whatever I can share of my day with you.
Have a super Thursday!
Missie

Baking Day

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Early today I decided it had to be a baking day.  Actually, yesterday was supposed to be baking day, but that didn’t work out.  Since tomorrow is grocery shopping day and we have basically nothing left to put into my husband’s lunch and no snacks for baby and me, today HAD to be baking day!

Two Loaves of Bread, One Pizza Crust and One Batch of Cookies
Two Loaves of Bread, One Pizza Crust and One Batch of Cookies
Pot of Chili!!
Pot of Chili!!

I started chocolate chip cookies around 9am and finished those around 11am.  Then, with toys strewn about the kitchen and my helper needing some attention, we had to have lunch.  When lunch was finished, diaper was changed, book was read, and baby was asleep, the bread dough was kneaded.  Next, the pizza dough was kneaded.  And after bread and pizza crust were baked and cooling down, chili was started on the stove for dinner.  Not too bad of a day: one batch of chocolate cookies made, two loaves of bread and one pizza crust baked and put in the freezer.  And many, many books read and breaks taken to distract my helper. ;D

Who says I don’t make anything anymore?  I am always being creative!

Creative update:

Since my last post I took my cross stitch project out once, but I didn’t work on it.  I was too cold and tired and coming down with a little cold.  This is a L-O-N-G, COLD winter! Anyway, I have much work to do on my lighthouse.  No new socktopus guys either.

Have a nice day, and keep warm!

Missie

February 18, 2015

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I am getting a whole lot of NOTHING done today!  I thought I would just drop in and share my progress on my lighthouse.  Looky here! 🙂

My stitches corresponding to the chart
My stitches corresponding to the chart
IMG_2475 (Small)
A closeup of my stitches

I had forgotten how time-consuming a few stitches of cross-stitch can be.  This is a good project for teaching me patience.  I also do much thinking when I am stitching.

I have been getting that sewing itch lately.  I have been thinking: SOCKTOPUS!

We’ll see!

Have a wonderful day, and keep warm!

Missie

February 13, 2015

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This morning we got our grocery shopping done early, and by early I mean we were home before 11AM.  I HATE grocery shopping.  I always try to get it done before the weekend so i don’t have to waste my valuable free time at the grocery store.  By the time we hit the checkout at the second (and last) store the baby was whining on the outside and I was groaning on the inside.

While we were at the store I was taking in all the Valentine hints and decorations placed in the aisles.  Of course my little girl was just tickled about the scores of balloons bobbing and swaying in the deli section.  When we got to the checkout area we were just smacked with pure Valentine’s Day merchandise: chocolate, cards, candy, buckets of flowers, and I mean FLOWERS everywhere!  I am by no means any sort of romantic and I don’t care one way or another about Valentine’s Day, but this display was beautiful and it smelled like spring!  In the dead of winter when the high for the day is supposed to reach 17, it was actually very nice to get out to the grocery store and smell flowers today.  I would have really liked to snap a picture to share with you, but my hands were tied up with baby hands.

Creative Update:

I am not working on giggleFritz and Company as a business right now.  Having a baby and being a Stay At Home Mom has taken most of my time, energy, and motivation to create.  I have been slowly getting back into crafting and making things, but nothing is for sale in the shop right now.  I have been experimenting with paper crafts and book making and I am working on a counted cross stitch piece.

 

LHbook (Small)
Booklet of lighthouse counted cross stitch patterns

 

This is the pattern I am working on.
This is the pattern I am working on.

I have always loved lighthouses, and I bought this booklet years ago.  I started one of the patterns and never finished it.  I decided to start over and I have been working on this project for the last few weeks.  I usually do a few rows at night when I am watching television with my husband.

I am off to do mommy things now, and I am looking forward to a wonderful (and chilly!) Valentine’s weekend!

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Missie

 

Merry Christmas 2014!!

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I have to tell you a quick story that made me chuckle last night.

Last night was Christmas Eve, and in between my husband’s family’s Christmas party and my family’s Christmas party, we stopped at home.  The baby needed a nap (we ALL needed a nap) and I had to throw the next round of meatballs in the oven.  I also had to heat up the little cocktail wieners and get them in some BBQ sauce for my older daughter.  It’s a food tradition that we have the BBQ cocktail wieners every Christmas.  I was getting the food ready when I remembered I hadn’t bought a bottle of BBQ sauce for the wieners.  I wasn’t too worried, because I thought we had two bottles of partially used sauce from making BBQ pulled chicken.  I went to the refrigerator to see what I had and I was amazed at what I found: five (5) bottles of leftover BBQ sauce were in the door shelves of our refrigerator! Yay, I had enough sauce! But, what the heck??!! That is what happens in my kitchen now that there is curious little baby roaming around: not enough time to notice what is all going on.

Anyway, today is Christmas and that is wonderful!  We will be eating and drinking in celebration of the birth of our Savior.  Have a Merry Christmas, whatever you are doing today!

Missie

5 Bottles of BBQ Sauce!
5 Bottles of BBQ Sauce!