Easter Baskets

I posted about Christmas yesterday... Today, I thought I'd post about the current holiday :) Carter has used his daddy's old Easter basket the past 2 years, but this year I knew I was going to have to get either one or both of the boys new baskets. I didn't want one to have a sentimental basket and the other a new "meaningless" one, so I decided to get them matching new baskets. For some reason, I love Easter baskets. I know that they aren't the reason for the season, but they are fun! The ones you see in the picture below are from PotteryBarn.com. Nobody does holidays like Pottery Barn...I love that store! 

Unfortunately, Pottery Barn - in all of it's beauty - is not affordable. Those Easter baskets - though they are are beautiful - cost $60!!!!!!!! That's right...I checked. So then I had to come up with another plan.

I found this basket at Target for $15.

I would have preferred $5, but I have come to find that a real wooden basket is going to cost a little bit of money. I didn't have the time to look all over creation for a great deal on baskets. These were the right size and shape, so I got 2. I consider it an investment into the future - this is the basket they will use from now on - it's big enough to be their "forever" Easter basket. I cut up the lining (purple and lace do not fly in this house), and made my own lining pattern.

I already had an "Eastery" gingham fabric, so I worked on them during naptime, and this was my final product.

Not bad for $35 cheaper per basket!!! Now all we need is some hidden Easter eggs :)

Carter's Blog Book

I FINALLY finished it / proofed it / and ordered it - Carter's Blog Book!!! It's all the monthly posts that I wrote from Carter's point of view during his first year of life along with his birth story. It was my last and final "baby thing" that I wanted to do for Carter before Miles comes. I want to be able to focus on "baby things" for Miles knowing that Carter's are all finished. Here's a picture of the cover. I used the iPhoto program on my Mac to create it.

I cannot wait to hold it in my hands and flip through it!!! 

I hear my big boy waking up in his big boy room. Gotta go :-)

The Curse of the Amish

Have you ever received one of these from a person who hates you friend?

Well, I got one from my Bible study leader about two weeks ago. I was so excited!!! I followed all the directions and, at the end of a 10 day process, I ended up with 2 DELICIOUS loaves of bread cakes and 4 starters (3 to give away to people I hate friends, and 1 to keep for myself). It turns out to be more like coffee cake or pound cake than "bread" which was fine with me and Kevin - we loved it!!!

My problem was that I couldn't find people who wanted to take the starters off my hands, so I kept 3 of them - thinking that I would just use the extra starter and bake a few extra loaves and freeze them for the future and/or gifts. Well, I guess I didn't really do the math in my head because on baking day, much to my horror surprise, I figured out that, in order to use up these starters, I could bake 18 loaves of bread or 9 bundt cakes!!!!!!!!!! Kevin laughed at me, told me that I wasn't a bakery, and gave me permission to throw some away if necessary. Well, I HATE throwing away perfectly good starter, so I found a neighbor who took 1 ready-to-bake starter off my hands - that subtracted 6 loaves/3 bundt cakes. Whew....progress. I found 2 more friends who said they would like to try from day 1 which got rid of part of 1 more bundt. I BAKED 5 BUNDT CAKES, and I only had to throw away about 1/2 cup of starter!!!!

(You can make chocolate, vanilla, or banana versions....this is one chocolate and one vanilla.)

Now do you see where I was going with my title? Yeah, this thing they call Amish Friendship Bread can take over your life like a curse if you're not careful! Luckily, I figured out (through a helpful website) that I could freeze the starter and give myself a much needed break. I'm not sure if when I'll be baking more bread, but for now it's safe and sound in my freezer.

And we have 5 bundt cakes to eat in the mean time...

MY SUGGESTION: I figured out that 1 starter turns into 5.5 cups of starter at the end of the 10 days. My suggestion (if you do not have enough baking friends or have already given starter away to all your baking friends) is to save 1 cup of starter for yourself each time - this leaves you with 4.5 cups. The directions want you to give away 3 cups to 3 friends and then use 1.5 cups of starter to bake. INSTEAD, I just baked the recipe 3 times with the 4.5 cups. I found that you can make 1 bundt cake or 2 loaves each time. This means that you'll have up to 3 bundt cakes or 6 loaves of bread (or any other mixture). Then I would suggest taking a break and sticking your starter in the freezer for next time! The "cakes" freeze well, so you can freeze them or give them away! I have found that people respond to being given a cake much better than they respond to a starter!

Up We Go!

Kevin had enough materials left over when he made the Toy Storage unit for our playroom to make us some stools for the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms.

We got the plans here - Anna White | Build a Vintage Step Stool

We LOVE our stools! I love them because I don't have to hold Carter to wash his hands anymore. He loves them because he can now fill my sinks with toys and cans of chili... He also loves looking in the mirror at himself, brushing his teeth, combing his hair, helping me with laundry and cooking.

Thanks for the stools, Daddy!