A Bird in the Hand....

...is not worth 2 in the bush in my opinion...

This poor little robin knocked himself senseless after crashing into one of the windows. I went out to find him flat on his back & looking all around in a daze. I had to pick him up because the neighbor's cat had noticed the bird laying there & was stalking it. After a few minutes the poor robin shook it off & flew from my hand up into the nearest tree...seemingly unharmed.

I took a picture of it to show the kids & they wanted to hold a bird too, but I told them it wasn't 'that kind of bird' ...& wild birds are happiest up in the trees where they belong.

:o)

Awesome Chocolate Cake Recipe... secret ingredient: zucchini! (not kidding)

I have one of those husbands who doesn't like to eat anything 'weird'... which includes fruit suspended within jello... and most vegetables. Unfortunately he's not setting a good example for my kids...my son is just like his daddy...and balks at eating anything new. My little girl is more adventerous...and will usually eat anything she sees me eating...so there's hope for her.

It's already harvest time here for many great vegetables... and I have 2 big fat zucchinis in the kitchen waiting to become chocolate cake! You're probably thinking, ewwww...gross! Zucchini in chocolate cake? Are you serious?
Let me say what I tell my son... try it...you'll probably like it! The chocolate overpowers any traces of zucchini flavor & the zucchini seems to hold in the moisture to keep the cake from drying out! I'm serious! It IS yummy!


Here is the recipe if you dare to try it for yourself! (when I make it later today, I will post an updated photo of what it looks like...and will let you know what my husband thought of it!)

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

preheat oven to 325

Ingredients:
1/2 c butter or margarine
1/2 c oil
1 1/3c sugar
2 eggs
1/3 c coccoa
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini

Nuts & chocolate chips optional.

Mix all together ...blend well for about 2 minutes... pour into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan.
Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips & chopped nuts if desired.

Bake for app. 40 min...until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Enjoy!

*UPDATE* ...yep, the hubs realized there was a vegetable inside after just one bite... oh well, all the more cake for me! I think it's swell...and so do the kids!

isewcute resin jewelry has been featured...

I'm tickled to share that some of my spooky handmade resin jewelry has been spotted on a couple of blogs this past week!

First it's never too early for Halloween! ...My son would agree that it's good to have a little Halloween all year round! Creepy Queen Magazine has featured my 'Laughing Jack Says Boo' necklace in a blog post about fun DIY Indie handmade Halloween items! It's a great collection & fun to check it out! Read the article here.





Next is another wonderful feature, this time over at the Etsy Lounge, exposing my green poison skull earrings! The sweet Etsyan who featured me, ArtsyPicks, explained that the lounge is a bit like a permanent treasury from which visitors can link directly to your etsy shop. Is that neat or what?

I love creating treasuries...and always have a poster sketch ready to go, but this blog is like a permanent treasury gallery!


It seems like this is definitely the time of year to start getting those creepy little gems out there! I'm amazed to be featured in 2 places at once!

Keep checking back at my etsy shop this week if you're looking for some cute spooky Halloween resin jewelry, because I have tons of new Halloween & everyday creepy/spooky items to list & will be adding them to the shop all week long!



;o)

Birthday Party UPDATE... was the best fun ever!

The birthday girl was so suprised by her personal kitty photo necklace! She squealed, "Oooh! It's MY kitty in there!"
My heart was so happy it nearly burst from her reaction!
She showed it proudly to everyone & they were all asking me how I made it! I think I may be teaching a local resin class soon!

It was a rock n roll theme birthday party!!! The kids had music & crazy dancing... fun with bubbles & awesome goodie bags with rock n roll star shaped glasses!

There was a Piñata too! ...one of the best parts of the party! Here is a photo of the aftermath!

Each kid got a whack... nobody got hurt, and everyone went home with oodles of candy & plastic trinkets... real treasure!!!

We ate cookies, cake, ice cream & had punch to drink....so much sugar!

The kids played outside with the birthday girl for awhile after the party was over... a good thing to use up some of the energy from their sugar-high!

When we got home, my little girl passed out on the couch almost immediately...& my son refused to take a nap...although I think he needed one pretty badly!

We saw the birthday girl the next day & she was proudly wearing her kitty necklace...so I took a quick photo to share!

Nothing beats having one of my creations loved this much...it's what keeps me crafting...to know I've made something really special to someone!

Zucchini... a couple of sweet recipes by isewcute!

We were lucky enough to be given some fresh vegetables from a friend's garden today!

I immediately thought of making zucchini bread...a childhood favorite of mine. My little one was fascinated by the big green vegetables... & she called them 'big pickles' until I corrected her.

Today I baked 2 loaves of this sweet zucchini bread & I thought I'd share the recipe with you all! It's wicked good...& you can make it with or without the nuts to suit your taste!

Zucchini Bread Recipe

3 beaten eggs

2 c. white sugar

3 c. flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. soda

2 cups of finely grated zucchini

1/2 c. walnuts chopped (optional)

mix together dry ingredients in a big bowl

then add egg & fold in zucchini.

Put into 2 well greased & floured loaf pans.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about an hour.

Makes 2 loaves.

Note: Zucchini bread freezes well. :o)

If you'd like to try making some fabulous zucchini muffins, my mom swears these are yummy...but I haven't tried them myself yet. I might save the other zucchini I have for those & I'm sure I could get the kids to eat them...they love any kind of muffin! They're healthier than the bread...using less sugar & adding wheat germ!

Zucchini Muffin Recipe

2 c. flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. oil

1 egg beaten

1/2 c. light brown sugar

3/4 c. wheat germ

1 c. of finely grated zucchini

Mix all dry ingredients together in one large bowl

...& combine all wet ingredients in a small bowl.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry in the big bowl,

then fold in the zucchini.

Fill muffin cups about 3/4 of the way up.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20-25 min. until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

If you try either of these recipes, I'd love to hear about your results!

:o)

*oh, and babygirl is wearing a sweet rollerskate shirt by the fabulous shop 'PrettyMe'...on etsy.

Going to a Birthday Party!!!

My kiddos are at the age where they're beginning to be invited to birthday parties of their friends. This is an exciting time for them...and a little different from our family parties & gatherings.

The dilema I've come up against is the present! I had no idea that accepting an invitation to fun n games & cake would bring about stress for me due to not knowing what to take as a gift! How much should I spend is the least of my worries... because I have no idea what toys or games the birthday child already has...not to mention the fear of someone else showing up with the exact same gift as us! How awful would a child feel if their gift wasn't the only special one of a kind item they thought it would be?


My solution for this is to either make something myself...or buy something handmade for them! I decided to make something personal for the birthday girl! She's quite the girly-girl and loves anything pink, sparkly, rainbows, & kittens! During one of our play dates, I took a cute photo of her kitty, Tigger. Inspiration struck me like lightning & this is what I came up with!





I hope she loves it! My kiddos are so excited to give it to her that my girl isn't even sad about giving away one of mama's 'sparklies'! I'm thinking it might be a good idea to offer personalizable pendants with custom photos in my etsy shop. Custom orders are my favorite to work on...so I might just do it!

:o)

I'll report back on what the birthday girl thinks of her new gift after her party this afternoon!