Custodians of Beauty

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!  Our family enjoyed a wonderful Easter Sunday with my parents and siblings this year. We dyed eggs on Holy Saturday then ate a scrumptious brunch with polish sausages and homemade bread. On Sunday, after Mass mom made a delicious ham with cheesy potatoes. Here are a few photos that capture our weekend.  She was so proud of her bunny egg. Colorful eggs all ready to eat. My Pinterest easter bunny cupcakes.  Helping Oma with the dishes. Easter basket goodies! Are these Shining Light Dolls cute, or what? Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady of Czestochowa. These neck tie easter eggs were made a few years back. The patterns from the ties transferred surprisingly well. Stay tuned next year for a "how to" on the blog.

St. Joseph and the Child Jesus by Charles Bosseron Chambers "Joseph, the carpenter... shows the dignity of work, which is measured not by earning power or prestige, but by the love and motivation with which it is done daily."  -From the Novena to St. Joseph

Taking a break from packing to bake some muffins! These are my ALL time favorite muffins to bake. Granted, I don't make very many muffins, but even if I did, this one would be at the top of the list. Don't let the avocado/blueberry combination scare you away! The avocado lends a subtle flavor and gives the muffin a delicious creaminess and the streusel adds a sweet crumble to the top. You can find the original recipe on Ali's Blog, Gimme Some Oven . Don't the photos of her baked goods make your mouth water? MMmm! Ok, so here's how my Blueberry Avocado muffins turned out. I altered her recipe slightly because I didn't have greek yogurt (I substituted with sour cream). Below is my revised recipe if you care to try it. The recipe yields a dozen muffins. Muffin Ingredients: 2 cups flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 1 ripe avocado, pitted and peeled 3/4 cup sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 1/4 ...

Cranberries were never my thing. In the past, my experience with cranberries was limited to the gelatinous form that comes from a can at Thanksgiving, and well, the cranberry juice my grandpa used to drink. Meh. Not my cup of tea.   Then it all changed when my aunt baked THE cranberry orange pecan cookies. They were delicious! There's just something about cranberry orange that makes my knees buckle. I'll be at the coffee shop ordering my usual beverage and catch a peek at their bakery case. At that point, there's no turning back. That cranberry orange muffin has my name on it. End of story.  I took it upon myself to bake cranberry orange scones this week. Now, I have never tried this before... so it was a shot in the dark as far as flavor goes. I used my strawberry scone recipe swapping out the strawberries for cranberries. Didn't have an orange on hand, so I improvised with lemon zest and orange juice to it spruce up. These cranberry orange scones pa...

This is the first year I threw a themed birthday party, and I'm very glad I did. My youngest celebrated her 1st birthday last week. It was a small gathering with immediate family. The party's theme was based on the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," by Eric Carle; it's one of A's favorites. We own the board book along with a stuffed caterpillar toy. These turned out to be perfect party props.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle The week before the party, I combed through Pinterest boards for food, decor and party ideas -- believe me, there were PLENTY to chose from. Lucky for me, I wasn't the first mama to put something like this together. ;) Here are a few photos of the festivities: Found these free coloring pages  for the party. Get your color on!    Instead of balloons, I used paper plates to create a caterpillar inching across the doorway. Gotta say, this was much faster than blowing up balloons. Plus, we're tryi...

When I came across Nancy's  40 Catholic Saints in Cross Stitch , there was no question. I purchased her patterns that day. How could you not? These mini saint designs are awesome! The simple details for each one are fantastic. St. Rose of Lima wears a flower crown, St. Brigid holds a reed cross, and St. Pio reveals his stigmata. There are quite a few saints in this batch which made it easy for me to pick out a few to frame and give as gifts. www.dosmallthingswithlove.com  Cross stitch pattern for Maria Goretti I decided on St. Maria Gorretti for my first cross stitch saint, since she is my confirmation saint and because during the  Pilgrimage of Mercy: Tour of the Major Relics of St. Maria Goretti ,  I was blessed to touch the reliquary containing her bones. I didn't have the exact colors called for in the patterns. That being the case, my saints outfits vary slightly. The burlap was leftover from a rug project I did a few summe...

Over Thanksgiving and Christmas, I created a few more felt pages for my ABC quiet book . I've sewn a blanket stitch around the edges to join the opposite facing pages. Each page seems to get more and more involved with intricate cuts and hand sewing, but I'm excited to see it all come together.  A sampling of the edged pages I've made it through ...T, U, V. Now for the last four letters of the alphabet. Here are some preview pages of my favorites.  K for Koala O for Owl R for Rooster T for turtle My grommet kit  came in the mail last week, whoo who! I've never tried grommets before, but from the reviews I've read online they seem fairly easy to assemble. Just a bit of hammering will do the trick. The kit I purchased comes with brass grommets, a cutter and the grommet tool. Wish me luck!