Chilly afternoon and London Fogs

I bless the day that Arlene first introduced me to a London Fog taste experience.

The frothy yummy sweetness of it all!

Since Zach got a frother in his stocking, I decided to make a Homemade London Fog.

Homemade London Fog Tea Latte
1/2 mug of  steeped (strong) Earl Grey Tea
1/2 cup Light Cream, warmed
  1-1/2 Tbsp. Vanilla Syrup

Use one Earl Grey tea bag per cup.

Place tea bag into mug and add 1/2 mug of water.

Next add the vanilla syrup and stir.

Finally, froth warmed light cream; pour over tea.

Sit back and enjoy a favourite book or 

take in the beauty of your ever so lovely Christmas tree.

Sweetness

These Tetley Tea cans work perfectly to stash individual helpings of Cracker Jacks for anyone you wish to share a little Christmas sweetness with.

Home-made Cracker Jacks
1 cup butter
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup molasses
1 Tbsp. vinegar
2 cups brown sugar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup peanuts
2 microwave popcorn bags

Pop the 2 bags of popcorn in the microwave and place in large bowl. Set aside
In medium pot, boil butter, corn syrup, vinegar and brown sugar for 5 minutes. Remove from stove and add baking soda, vanilla and peanuts. Pour over popcorn and stir.

Bake in 250 F degree oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool before serving or storing in Tetley Tea cans to retain freshness. Add some sparkly star garlands and gift tags and voilà ~ a special little gift to share with friends and family.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas cheer

From our house to yours ...


Thank you for reading my blog throughout the year,


and leaving comments along the way ~


I treasure your friendship.


Wishing a happy Christmas season, shared with those you love ~
and a new year filled with joy and contentment.


God bless us, everyone!

2nd Hand Christmas Shopping

Redeeming stuff from 2nd hand stores is one of my favourite things to do. I love it when I find something that someone else thought was worthless, and then bring it home where it will be used, loved and appreciated.

Then there is this wooden ornament. I found it while volunteering at the ReUse Centre last winter, in the bottom of a donation box. There I was sorting donations, and as I was just finishing up a box, I reached down and picked this heart up that said "Merry Christmas" on it. I was stunned! The reason I was so surprised by it, was that I had made it in the 1990s, and either given it away or sold it in a craft show, and here it was. I knew it was my work, but I turned it over anyway to see if it had my signature on the back, which it did. I decided it was destiny that I should take the heart home for my Christmas tree.

I bought this "TV Blanket" at Goodwill last week. It is a lovely patchwork mini quilt (47"x47") with an ultra soft backing. This gem, I imagine was handmade by somebodys grandmother or great-grandmother. It still had a strip of masking tape with a handwritten "Genevieve" on it when I purchased it for $6.99. I image that it was crafted by a granny who thought it would keep her sweet little grandchild warm while watching a favourite cartoon or some such thing. Unfortunately, it likely didn't "match" something so it was thrown into the giveaway pile. Lucky for me. This blanket is perfect for sitting on my chair, sipping tea on a cold winter's night or watching a favourite DVD. This is my Christmas gift to myself ;)

Finally these items, were also great finds at Goodwill. I can't reveal too much about them because I plan to use them as Christmas gifts. Let's just say that Santa loves brand new handcrafted items that appear on the shelves at these charity shops!

Bubble Gum Boots

Our weatherman tells us that today we can enjoy the balmy high temperature of -21 degrees Celsius and over the weekend it even gets "better".

I decided it was high time to buy a pair of good winter boots. Our friend just broke his wrist falling on his steps, so I figured it may be a good idea to start getting "sensible" about this winter thing. I haven't worn boots in years and years and years. It was an interesting adventure shopping for a pair. Most women's boots are either high heeled, have absolutely no traction or both. I finally found a cute little pair of PINK boots in the children's section of an outlet store, and they were 50% off! So I have a uber-cozy pair of pink boots which Arlene has dubbed Bubble Gum Boots.

So I'm ready for the nasty weather this weekend (at least to -32 degrees Celsius). Winter in Alberta ~ so much for global warming, eh?

Maud Lewis ~ inspiration for Class 6

Our last class for Art in the Lyceum
featured the art of Canadian folk artist,
Maud Lewis.



We used cereal boxes to create our paintings in tribute to Maud's nack for painting on every and anything. Cats were a popular theme for many of our painters.





Just look at the beautiful work!



Here is a photo with all the
paintings produced in our last class...




(Maud Lewis, 1903-1970)

Ted Harrison ~ culture and colour

In Class 5, we learned about
Canadian (and living!) artist,
Ted Harrison.


Harrison has always enjoyed painting his surroundings
and the environment around him.

In his early career,
Harrison used a sombre palette.
Later on, however, inspired by



the Canadian landscape around him,
he started painting in
bright colours with bold, but simple lines.



In this class, students were asked to bring photos
of their homes.



Everyone enjoyed creating a colourful representation of their homes. I heard some were even planning on framing their masterpieces!



Homework for this class is to create another drawing of a famous Canadian landmark in Harrison-like style ~ can't wait to see what everyone creates!

Art in Lyceum ~ Class 4 ... finally

The flu got in the way of our classes last week, so we resumed them today. Today's featured artist was Andy Warhol.

Here is some of the masterpieces the class produced ...

We used markers


to produce bold and bright line work.

What looks simple to the casual onlooker is actually very difficult to reproduce.



And, here is some in class work and homework
from our Chagall class two weeks ago







What an imaginative bunch of artists we have in our group, eh?


Next week we will be learning about Canadian artist, Ted Harrison.

Class Two: Painting with Scissors

In this class, we learned about Henri Matisse in the second class of the Art in the Lyceum. We tried to emulate his cut out technique.

I'm loving the dynamic of these art classes.

We have young adults creating art alongside of their parents.


We laugh ...


We cry ...


But mostly we laugh.



Not afraid of making mistakes, we simply create for the joy of it
and enjoy each other's creative talents










and awesome company ...
and Jazz Hands!


Who knows what might happen next week.
A zebra may be involved!

Art classes

Art in the Lyceum is underway! Yesterday marked our first class at the Edmonton Lyceum. The class focus was on Vincent Van Gogh and it seemed to be enjoyed by one and all. Although only a couple people who attended admitted that they were artists, the results of everyone's work seems to suggest otherwise. Don't you agree ...?





Being the meanie, I assigned homework. Everyone is to complete a self portrait for next week. It'll be fun to see the results!




The Edmonton Lyceum is a community of learning with members of all ages and phases, promoting the recognition of each individual's innate genius.


Take another look at the class at ART DE ME.