I really don’t appreciate the winter creeping up on me so quickly. I am making a silent protest by refusing to bust out my winter jacket. However, that leaves me freezing to death – Ive made my decision though! My winter jacket will not surface until December! Unless absolutely necessary. Until then, I will live in denial land pretending that it is still fall. But hey, at least I added some boots and a scarf. Im at least a little bit sane…
My best friend just celebrated her 25th birthday, and we splashed out on the most incredible cake for the occasion. I’m not the biggest cake fan, but put a plate of soft cookies out and they will be gone. The cake we bought was layers of two types of thin soft cookies and buttercream icing. One cookie was cookies and cream, and the other was a standard chocolate chip. They used hot pink frosting to add a beautiful contrast, and it tasted as good as it looked! Seriously, I almost went into a sugar coma, totally worth it. If you’re looking for something different and delicious to serve at a party, cookie layer cakes are the way to go!
It’s that wonderful time of year, where men grow out some seriously questionable mustaches, all in the name of prostate cancer research. While I’m not a fan of the look, I’m a big advocate of the cause. For the ladies, I wouldn’t advise rocking a stache, but there are lots of ways to get involved! For instance, support, donations, and non mustache fundraising. My friend from work made some delicious sugar cookie mustaches, she got donations and is helping the cause in her own way 🙂 So get out there in the sea of porno staches and embrace a good cause 😉 
Despite my limited artistic abilities, I have to admit that my skeleton face painting came out pretty decent! My friend and I got lots of compliments at the party we went to, and i feel like I spent 15 dollars very wisely! Now I’ll just have to work at topping this costume next year 😉 
Sweet sun, send me the moon.
Its easy to get swept up during the halloween season. There are so many cute decor ideas, costumes and baking projects. Keeping my budget tight was a priority for me, so that meant getting creative with my costume. Originally, my friend and I had settled on doing some youtube DIY face paint project. We were going to test our art skills and paint on some creepy skeleton faces. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that our costume would be lacking without some additional skeleton details. Of course, adding the details is where your budget can grow steadily out of control. It starts with something small here and there, but it all adds up in the end to being way more than what you bargained for. Regardless, I went hunting for some skeleton accessories. I found myself strolling through a party supply store, when a toddler skeleton costume caught my eye.  I decided I would take a peak, just out of curiosity, and after inspecting the type of material, I realized I could probably repurpose pieces of the costume. Ringing in at only 8 dollars, this costume was way cheaper than trying to purchase individual skeleton accessories. I went home and got straight to snipping. I cut the legs off of the costume, and was able to use the top portion as an actual top. I reused the gloves by snipping off the finger tips, and could even save the leg pieces to use as leg warmers. I won’t lie, I was pretty impressed. Once I add the face paint on friday, I think the look will really come together! Doing halloween on a budget is tough, but if you get creative there is definitely a way to put together an awesome costume! 
I love this knit sweater. Its baggy and fluffy and warm. Im pretty sure that is the quintessential requirements for any winter wardrobe pieces. Having a good quality knit is a must have in cities like Toronto. They are predicting an extremely cold winter again this year, so its best to get your wardrobe equipped for the cold! I know that I will be preparing for the worst 😦 But who knows, maybe mother nature will take some pity on us this year!
When you are neck deep into your fridge complaining that you don’t have anything to eat  – despite your fridge being full, consider making some shakshuka! This easy egg dish can work with almost any veggie that you have in your fridge. My go-to choices are mushrooms, peppers, onions and olives. All you need to do is sautée your favourite veggies, and then add in a can of tomato sauce. I recommend adding fresh tomatoes, and then putting in only a bit of sauce to thicken it. However, if you are looking to cut time, skip the fresh tomatoes and a pasta sauce will work fine. Let the sautéed veggies stew with the sauce for a while, and once it’s bubbling and thick crack some eggs on top. Cover your pan up with a lid so that the eggs cook on top, and after about 10 minutes you will be left with poached eggs in a bed of saucy sautéed veggies. I like to season the sauce with garlic, cayenne, basil and fresh cilantro on top. But like I said, this dish is the epitome of flexibility, any spices will work! Shakshuka is delicious and quick, it’s perfect for a busy week night!
Ive never given a lot of thought to table settings. I can appreciate when someone goes out of their way to do it, but I’ve never thought about going the extra mile myself. When my cousins came by for Thanksgiving, they had the wonderful idea to add a little creative centrepiece to the tables. We got out some small pumpkins that had been picked earlier in the day and set off on an easy DIY craft. All that was needed was some painters tape, glue and glitter. We went with a chevron pattern, and then covered the pumpkin in glue and gold glitter. It was actually the easiest 5 minute craft that anybody could do. After letting the glue dry for about an hour, we ripped off the tape and were left with a beautiful fall themed centrepiece. It may not have taken a lot of effort, but it looked like we took the day styling and planning the table. Plus, I now have a cute pumpkin to put on my porch for the halloween season. Im thinking of buying some black glitter to make some spookier looking pumpkins. Maybe put the word BOO in black glitter, or a bat design. The possibilities are endless! Dressing up a pumpkin in some glitter is a sure way to impress your guests with very little effort. I would highly recommend this easy DIY!
jellyoverjam 