Wintery Centerpiece

Just want to show my centerpiece a little love. 

I put this together the other day, not very thought out

 but it has a simpleness to it that I love.

It's blue, and wintery and just lovely.

Plus, I love that it's on a TRAY now that I can move out of the way for dinner instead of completely disassembling it!

But...I'm probably going to paint out the tray. It's a little damaged and needs some love.

What colour would you do?

White?

Black?

Grey?

OTHER?!

Help me please.

In the meantime...here's some pics.

 and I know what you're thinking...

I should have ironed the table runner.

AND...

if you haven't yet...

GO AND ENTER THIS AWESOME GIVEAWAY I'M HOSTING!

You can win this:

Hope everyone's having a wonderful Tuesday.

It's rainy & cold here.

Brrr....

not looking forward to the bus stop pickup.

A Step In Time GIVEAWAY!

Another FANTASTIC Giveaway to announce!

In perfect time too, don't you think?

I'm sure you all have that one friend, mother, sister, teacher that you have yet to buy for.

So I'm here to introduce you to the wonderful JoAnn of A Step In Time and her beautiful Wrist Wrap Watches!

JoAnn is awesome. 

She is SO sweet and she also runs the awesome craft blog A Day In The Life.

But her watches are SOOOO cool! 

and only $12 (US)!
Bands are $4 each and watch faces are $8.
Which means...you should get multiple watch bands :)

Check out these pics of her watches. 

The possibilities are endless with the interchangeable wrist wraps.

Here's some pics of the different wraps and faces you can select from:

There's also a promo going on over at A Step In Time's ETSY shop:
** November Special!!! Order 4 flowers or watch bands and receive a bonus 5th for free!! **
Only place an order for 4 flowers or watch bands and during checkout let Jo Ann know what you'd like the 5th one to be. 
The offer can be combined - Buy watch bands, flowers or a combination of both to receive a flower or watch band free!


PLUS!
JUST FOR ALL YOU BIRD'S PAPAYA READERS!!
10% off EVERYTHING in her shop!!
(I'll do the math for you...that brings one watch face & band to only $10.80!)
USE PROMO CODE: "BIRDSPAPAYA10"

So here's the one that YOU can WIN!

(and you'll be wicked awesome, because it's the same style and colours as the one that I'm currently sporting and will tell you about more in a couple of days in my review!)

HERE'S HOW TO ENTER!!

REMEMBER TO LEAVE A NEW COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY

1. Go on over to A Step In Time's etsy shop or blog and tell me your favorite wrist wrap and watch face combo (just use descriptive words) - LEAVE A COMMENT
2. Follow A Step In Time's blog (called Wrist Wraps)! - LEAVE A COMMENT
3. "Heart" A Step In Time's etsy shop! - LEAVE A COMMENT
4. Tell me why YOU need a watch (ie: I'm tired of digging for my cell phone when I've got three kids in tow) - LEAVE A COMMENT

That's FOUR ways to enter!

WINNER WILL BE SELECTED on DEC 6th at 8pm AT RANDOM by RANDOM.ORG!

Winner will be contacted by email and be receiving the watch shown above free of charge.

GIVEAWAY OPEN ONLY TO FOLLOWERS OF THE BIRD'S PAPAYA

not a follower? go on over to the right sidebar and click "follow"

If you don't have a google profile, you can create one using a current non-google email acct!

**Giveaway Open to all North American residents**

Happy entering!

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED! THANK YOU!

Homemade Cinnamon Bread

A while back I came across a recipe titled "Best Bread Ever" done by the fabulous Delia over at Delia Creates.

Man, I'm a sucker for advertising, but it's rarely let me down. 

So the words "best" and "ever" had me sold.

Sidenote about advertising: 

it's like my favorite thing ever to sing along to tv commercials. 

Jingles are the best. 

I wish I was clever enough to write them for a living like the dude from Juno.

"family happens at Swiss Chalet"

"Always got time for Tim Hortons" 

(my husband argues that it's now "always Tim Hortons" apparently we just have the time now...)

"Ba da bum bum bum...I'm lovin' it"

Okay...I'll stop. I like jingles. Just know.

Back to the "best bread ever". 

I tried the recipe which was super easy to do, and did my own twist of just simply adding some cinnamon & brown sugar before rolling it up. 

It was DELISH! We also did the original plain version too, also fabulous.

Here's some pics of my adventure in making this delish bread.

One hour after it was baked...

(The whole family was digging this bread, my daughter calls my "swirly bread")

YUM!!!!

GREAT DEAL ALERT!

Use the below promo code @ SillyMama Quilts THIS weekend only:

BLACKFRIDAY10

gives you 10% off as well as free shipping!

 The coupon code will expire November 29 at midnight central time

also...sidenote...

LOOK WHAT I WON! 

I'm so beyond happy to have won a giveaway from Amy Cornwell Designs!

Thank you Amy for such an amazing giveaway! 

I'm LOVING my new necklace.

German Pancakes

Recently I found this post from Sugar Bee: Craft Edition for German Pancakes. 

Say what now?!

I've never heard of these German Pancakes.

So being one that never likes to be out of the loop...I whipped some up.

They were very different than any pancake I've ever had, but I have to say, I liked them!!

Click HERE to see Sugar Bee's Tutorial on them, but I will post the recipe below...

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick for you Americans!)
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup milk

Directions:

• Put butter a 9x13 pan and place in oven while it preheats to 400 degrees.
• While that's all happening, put the eggs, flour & milk into a blender and mix them up until it's kinda frothy.
• Once the oven is preheated (and butter melted), pour the batter into the pan.
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• Cut up into squares and serve plain, with icing sugar, maple syrup, jam etc.

I kinda felt like these were similar to a french toast in flavour, but with a firm texture from the eggs. 

I did like them and recommend you give them a try!

Here's some pics to convince you...

I served them (to myself) with maple syrup!

I do, however, recommend you drain off some of the butter...

More Ruffles, MORE I say!

Just completed another ruffle cowl scarf!

This time slightly more interesting than the black one I made, 

seen HERE along with a FULL tutorial! 

But before you go check out how to make it 

(which is pretty much the easiest thing ever to make)

...check out the pics from the new turquoise goodness below!

Fabric is a jersey knit (I don't know the exact makeup of the fabric since it was in the "bolt ends" section for $3/yard).

and now for some shameless self portraits.

Alright...there's a bit of shame to it all, but who else is going to model these beauties? I'll suck it up for you!

and since no one wears scarfs indoors, here I am sporting the scarf with a coat on... 

So if you weren't already convinced to try your hand at making one of these, I hope you are now!

Participating in THESE Parties!

This is one fun way to get an award!

Thank you SOOOO much April from Wildflowers & Whimsy for this award. 

HOW FUN that there are these cool rules to share the love! HERE WE GO!

Rules for accepting this award are:

1. Thank & link back to the person who awarded you this.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Pay it forward to 15 recently discovered great bloggers.

4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their award.

Here's my 7 things...

1. I have mad love for diet coke. MAD. LOVE. (see last post)

2. I don't clean my shower until it has that pink yuck on it...then I know I've gone too far, and it takes me SOOOO long to clean it and I always tell myself I'll change my ways. Before I know it, the pink is back with a vengeance.

3. I swam with sharks on my honeymoon. Check that one off the bucket list.

4. I'm dealing with some over obsession with wreaths right now, as I have four on my main level. Too much?

5. With each of my babies, post birth, one of my faves things to do is smell their breath. It's the first real breath that's just their own.

6. I love Zac Efron. I hide it behind my 4 year old's love for all things High School Musical.

7. I have all my fave movies on DVD sitting in my basement, but whenever any of them comes on TV, I watch them WITH commercials. Silly.

OKAY...I award the following...

Courtenay @ Signal Hill Interiors

Krystal @ Sassy Sanctuary

Ami @ Amieggs

Ashley @ A{Blonde's} DIY Life

Jo Ann @ A Day in the Life

Nichelle @ Vintage Wanna Bee

Anna @ Take The Side Street

Brie @ Blossoms of Blue

Katy @ Crafty Mama

Alissa @ 33 Shades of Green

Katie @ A Chirp in the Forest

Kristi @ The Speckled Dog

Kristol @ The Magic of Ordinary Things

Aly @ Polkanuts

Chelsey @ Chic Momma