New Cottage Charm Giveaway Mailing List

Well, this year's Cottage Charm Giveaway is all but over! Drawings are taking place now and into tomorrow for some and it's so exciting to see who all the winners are! We've had a blast and I thank each and every one of you for playing along.

I received some exciting news yesterday from Sadie Lou, the administrator of the Cottage Style Street Team @ Etsy.(As you probably already know, Etsy is THE place to buy and sell all things handmade and vintage.) The Cottage Style Street Team was put together "for artists/sellers at Etsy that specialize in Glitter, Ephemera, Old Photographs, Collage, Mixed Media, Roses, Polka Dots, Tea Stained, Ball Fringe and all around beautifying the world with our Romantic, Shabby, Cottage Style!" There are, as of right now, over 160 members in the team. How wonderful is that?

Anyway, Sadie contacted me and expressed interest in working together next year to promote the 3rd Annual Cottage Charm Giveaway. This would be an awesome way to promote the members of the Cottage Style Street Team as well and I'm all about promoting small businesses - especially those specializing in cottage style! So who knows...with the help of many more shop owners, next years Cottage Charm Giveaway could be even bigger!

So check out the CSST @ Etsy...Maybe you even qualify to join their team if you have an Etsy shop. They also have a blog that you won't want to miss. I've added it to my blogroll already.

While we're on the subject of exciting announcements, I wanted to let everyone know that I've set up a mailing list for those interested in receiving upcoming announcements regarding future Cottage Charm Giveaways. (Thanks to KJ at eye-dyllic for the great idea.) I know that time flies by and we can easily forget - so it would be convenient to have reminders when the next giveaway rolls around. You can join the mailing list below as well is in the right hand column of my blog down near where the other Cottage Charm info is.

Enter your email here to receive future Cottage Charm Giveaway updates:






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Well, it's been fun and thanks again to everyone who helped make this year's giveaway a huge success!

Cottage Craft "Studio" - Dreaming and Planning Stages

I really don't know how we've accumulated so much in the few years that we've lived here. Have I been sleeping for five years? How have I not noticed? Our yard sale was postponed another week simply to allow more time for me to pull out and go through everything. And I do mean through everything. I need the space! Until now, our sunroom / office has pretty much been used as a temporary storage area for remodeling supplies and other things. But as hubs will tell you, my craft and business supplies are slowly taking over the house! I need this space, not only to store my supplies, but to provide a quiet place of my own to work.

Here you see a couple of old photos of the space as it was being cleaned out a year or so ago. It's not huge and it's lacking in a lot of wall space, but I'm sure that with proper planning, I could make it work somehow. We've since removed the banister from the steps and I think I'd like hubs to build a pony wall (is that what they're called? a short half-wall is what I'm talking about) in it's place. This will give me a little bit more wall space for a desk or smaller work table. The light in this room is amazing - full sun just about all day. The ceilings are high but need work. They currently have old flimsy beadboard on them which I would like to replace with real wooden beadboard. The walls need to be remudded as they are in bad shape as well.

The view in the last photo is from the kitchen. There is currently a single french door separating the kitchen from the office (future craft studio!) but we will be replacing it with a solid pine door like we've installed in the rest of the house. Hopefully hubs will remember to order it this week. I think I'll enjoy the added bit of privacy a solid door will provide - and the ability to lock it if I want! Another thing that I appreciate about this space is that there are views to the both landscaping beds and the deck and backyard. Though there is nothing to look at out there now, the potential is there at least, even with my so-not-green-thumb. Also, the door you see in the second photo leads into the garage which is perfect because I do a lot of work in there, too.

Though the rest of the house will be getting wood flooring, I think I'll leave the tile flooring in this space because it's practical. It's already white though I may regrout to brighten it up a bit. And those little windows way up high? I think they would be sweet framed out like our other windows, and the sliding french doors need trim, too.

Ah, and then there is storage and shelving and paint and furniture to consider! So much to think about - and what fun! If anyone out there has some great craft room inspiration photos and ideas - be it your craft room or not - could you please send them my way? I can't wait until this yard sale is behind me so that I can work on some fun stuff again! It seems that when I'm extremely busy with necessary mundane chores and projects, I get huge bursts of creative energy and ideas...how ironic is that?! That's probably why it takes me so long to get things done around here- I putter and daydream too much! I'm sure I'm the only one:) *wink*

EDITED to ADD: Someone asked about the layout/position of the craft room in relation to the rest of the house and I thought I'd post a couple of exterior shots (these pics were taken right before we moved in). It's really in a pretty "inspiring" part of the house with the aforementioned landscaping beds to one side and the side/back yard to the other side. One thing we liked about this house was the potential for more space in the future. There is a *huge* unfinshed space upstairs above the garage with high ceilings and four big windows - and a bathroom! It's about 3 or 4 times the size of the sunroom and I can see that being a wonderful craft studio at some point. We have to get finished with the rest of our unfinished house first:)

From the backyard side of the craft room:


From the other side of the craft room:

Sunny Delight - An Update on Buddy Bird + Future Cottage Charm Giveaway Suggestions are Welcome!

We went to view the found cockatiel on Thursday and I'm sorry to report that it was not our Buddy. I had a good cry because I was so hoping that it was him. But on a positive note, we are now the official foster family of a little lost cockatiel. We know someone out there has to be missing their baby (as we are) and hopefully we can reunite them soon. We are calling it "Sunny":) Thanks for all the well wishes regarding Buddy - he's out there somewhere and maybe with a foster family of his own:)

Thanks so much to everyone that has joined up in this years Cottage Charm Giveaway and to others that are helping to spread the word! Last year we had 40 hostesses join within 6 weeks (I started it early last year!)but this year so far, we've had 32 giveaways added in just 11 days - and there's plenty of time left for others to join! That's amazing!

This is something that I plan to do yearly in May. I think that beginning next year, I'll start the giveaway at the beginning of May to give everyone a full month to join. Six weeks was a little long, 2 weeks is a little short, but a month is just right, don't you think? So mark your calenders for May of 2009! I'm already starting to put items away for my personal giveaway next year:)

Next year, I would like to give back to those that are posting the Cottage Charm Giveaway banner on their sites even if they aren't personally having a giveaway - this really helps to get the word out and I truly appreciate it! So I may have a special giveaway just for everyone that posts the banner on their blog, as well as separate giveaways for other giveaway hostesses and everyone else, too.

I love doing this giveaway for several reasons. For one thing, it's a great way for many of us to get rid of some of our excess. There are some things that I know I could easily put in a yard sale or send to Goodwill, but how much more wonderful it is to give it to others that you know share a love for cottage style?! These giveaways are also a great way to discover other inspiring blogs filled with great ideas! My blogroll will probably double after this year's giveaway is over and maybe yours will, too! For those of you who have shops, I think it's a wonderful way to promote your shop (and that's ok - nothing at all wrong with that! I encourage it!). Some shopkeepers are so generous in literally pulling items from their "shelves" to give away. Lastly, it's just so much fun both putting together "prizes" to give away and to also have a chance at winning one or more of the beautiful giveaways!

If you have any ideas, comments, or suggestions for future Cottage Charm Giveaways, please let me know! Thanks again to everyone!

Cookie Feathers

Because that's what I have on my mind right now...cookies and feathers - or more specifically, cookies and our missing cockatiel named Buddy. I've recently written about how, about a month ago, hubs walked outside without knowing that Buddy was on his shoulder. It only took a second for Buddy to fly away. We searched feverishly for him, canvassing neighborhoods, putting up flyers, placing ads in the paper and Craigslist, calling vets offices and pet stores, going door to door and personally asking folks to keep their eyes open for him - but to no avail. There were a couple of sightings of him in the first week, but that's about it. Until now. Imagine our thrill when several people called and emailed us this week letting us know about a recent Craigslist ad posted by someone who had found a cockatiel matching our Buddy's description! Now, I'm really, really, really trying not to get my hopes up. This cockatiel was found about 32 miles away - which isn't unusual for a bird, but it really could be anyone's bird. Tomorrow (Thursday) I meet up with the person that found the bird so that I can handle the little guy and try to figure out if it's ours. The manager at a nearby pet store is going to kindly let us use one of their rooms. Yes, I'm really trying not to get my hopes up but I guess I'll know by tomorrow evening if our Buddy has been found or not:)

Now about those cookies...

This is the last week of school and of course, the last week of school is filled with fun activities, end-of-year celebrations, and gift giving . My oldest girl requested that I bake a couple of batches of cookies for her school party and she chose M&M cookies and Peppermint Surprise Brownie Bites. The latter are made with York Peppermint Patties and when I went shopping this morning and found that I would have to spend $7.00 for two bags of patties, I decided that I would make Andes Mints cookies instead:) So that's what I've been working on today (reminding myself that these are for the children and teachers - not me!) I'm also baking Snickerdoodles and Chocolate Chip Cookies to go along with some of the M&M and Andes Mint cookies for gift boxes for the teachers. I thought it would be fun to give them a nice selection of four different kinds of cookies. I'm going to be up late, I can tell!

The recipe that I used for today's M&M cookies and the Andes Mint cookies (and the chocolate chip cookies, of course!) was taken from one of the chocolate chip cookie recipes in the book Mom's Big Book of Cookies: 200 Family Favorites You'll Love Making and Your Kids Will Love Eating . Oh.My.Goodness, what wonderful cookies it makes! They turn out to be very soft and moist and oh so yummy. Not puffy, fat, and dry like many of the cookies I've made before, hehe! I will use this recipe time and time again for all types of cookies, just substituting the chocolate chips for whatever we have a craving for!

The Snickerdoodle recipe is just as delicious and is my family's personal favorite. I'll try and post some recipes when I have some more time. In the meantime, check out that book - it's wonderful!

Yard Sales - How I've Missed You

I've been especially good this spring at not bringing anymore "stuff" into our home. Surprisingly enough, I haven't been to a yard sale this year at all, I don't think. I'm preparing for a yard sale of my own right now and goodness, we need the space! But this weekend, I spied out a yard sale just right down the road and I thought maybe I'd take a peek. It was near noon and I figured that probably all the "good stuff" was gone by then anyway. No huge risk of actually finding anything, right?

I guess it goes without saying that I did find a little goody. I've been thinking lately that I'd like a piece of furniture under my (once gold) mirror in the living room, something to put flowers or books on - and what do you know - I found it! It's an old little telephone table, I was told. I also found a couple more items that I'll write about later. So I brought my new old table home, put it in place,and cut a bouquet of roses from my rose bush to place on top. It's like the table belonged there all along, don't you think?

I love the little niche inside - a perfect place to slide my Carl Larsson books. The table is sturdy but the finish needs attention. I can't decide if I should keep it dark or paint it white. Eventually we will have very tall white beadboard in the living room, kitchen, and hallway, so I guess it depends on if I want contrast or softness. Hmmm....something to think about:)

My Cottage Charm Giveaway #2 (for everyone!)

The WINNER is....Kristen from My Polka-Dotted World!!! I gave everyone that entered (minus any duplicates) a number and Kristin's number was 165. I used a random number generator to draw the number. I will be contacting you soon, Kristin, and I hope you enjoy this gift as much as I enjoyed putting it together! Thank you to everyone that entered - I appreciate all your visits and comments!!







My giveaway #2 (as part of this year's Cottage Charm Giveaway) will be for everyone - whether you've never visited my blog before or you are a long time reader...don't hesitate to sign up! This cottage giveaway includes one aqua blue shawl, six altered matchbooks, seven altered clothespins and a four piece faux dessert set.

I thought this pretty aqua blue (very soft!) shawl would be sweet draped across a chair or folded on a dresser. I love the color, which was the inspiration behind my giveaway selections:)

I don't know about you, but I love painted clothespins! I painted and papered these in colors of aqua blue, pink, red, white, yellow, and green.

I altered these matchboxes to coordinate with the clothespins. I think they're just darling. I like the idea of putting a sweet little note inside them and giving them to your loved ones, or your favorite quotes or small items - or anything you can think of (that will fit, that is!!!)

The four piece faux dessert set includes one large fancy chocolate cookie topped off with a cherry and "sugar" sprinkles, one gourmet creme filled sandwich cookie, and two mini cupcakes with a cherry and sprinkles. The frosting is an aqua blue which I think looks delicious with red accents! I made these faux dessets from 100% inedible materials so you can set them out on your counter or table and not have to worry about ants (or your waistline!)

If you are interested in signing up to win this giveaway, please leave your email address (or blog address) in a comment below. Please know that I cannot enter your name in the drawing if I don't have a way to contact you. I will draw a name on May 31st, as will all the other Cottage Charm Giveaway hostesses.

If you'd like to learn more details about the 2nd Annual Cottage Charm Giveaway, just click the banner below to find out how you can have your own Cottage Charm Giveaway or see who else is participating. And remember, if you sign up to host your own giveaway, you'll be eligible to put your name in the drawing for my Giveaway #1. Hope to see you and many others join us!

My Cottage Charm Giveaway #1 (Open to Other Giveaway Hostesses Only)

The WINNER IS: Elizabeth from Thoughts from an Evil Overlord! Congratulations!!! I gave every fellow hostess that entered a number and used a random number generator to draw a number...Elizabeth, your number was 17 (I'll be contacting you soon - after dinner!). I hope you enjoy this giveaway! Thank you to all the other hostesses that entered and held their own giveaways...we couldn't do this without you!





As I mentioned in my post below, this year I've decided to do two different giveaways for the 2nd Annual Cottage Charm Giveaway. My giveaway #1 is for those that participate by having their own giveways on their blogs. Feel free to add your name to my comments if you have already posted your own Cottage Charm Giveaway on your blog complete with a banner link and I'll put your name in the hat! The drawing will be on May 31st so you still have plenty of time to be eligible for this giveaway!


My offerings to other giveaway partipants are: a sweet cream colored teapot, some of my handcrafted faux desserts, and again this year, a copy of the book Mrs. Dunwoody's Excellent Instructions for Homekeeping!



"Mrs. Dunwoody's advice and words of wisdom were meant to be passed down to each generation of women as they married and took up housekeeping...or "homekeeping" as she called it." Like I said last year, if I only gave one thing away, this would be it. I just love this book - just check out the reviews and peek inside the book at Amazon and you'll see why!


With the book and the teapot, I'm giving away an eight piece faux dessert set. Included in this set are: 1 chocolate shortcake, 2 mini cupcakes, 2 gourmet creme filled sandwich cookies, and 3 pieces of fancy candy. I've recently made these items but you will never have to worry about them growing stale or unsightly - they are made out of 100% inedible materials but will always look good enough to eat! They will look so pretty sitting out in your kitchen or wherever you choose to put them. Here are a few close-ups:

Chocolate Shortcake filled with creme and topped off with a cherry


Two mini cupcakes sprinkled with "sugar" - one with a chocolate sprinkles and the other with a handcrafted red rose



Two gourmet creme filled sandwich cookies and three fancy candies



Stay tuned for my giveaway #2 for everyone else! In the meantime, check out the details and other participants of this years Cottage Charm Giveaway if you haven't done so already!

A Trip Back to Cottage Yellow + Cottage Charm Giveaway Update

Earlier in the month, Angela at Cottage Magpie challenged everyone to post their own "yellow" inspiration photos. I didn't get to join in at the time (and soon there will be a new color challenge, I believe) but how I do love yellow! Before owning our own home, we rented for a decade and couldn't paint, but I always said that when were finally able to get our own home, the living room would be yellow! And yellow it was - many shades of it until I found just the right color. A couple of years ago, I finally found what I was looking for...it was a shade called "Clarified Butter" by (at the time) American Tradition from Lowes. Since then, I've painted again to accommodate my changing taste and decor, but I still have a special love for that cheerful, happy color - yellow.

I've finally found the items that I want to include in my Cottage Charm giveaways and I'm so excited! I want to do two different giveaways: one for everyone but also one for those that also participate by having a Cottage Charm giveaway of their own. I need to take photos of everything and get them posted here soon (and then you can put your name "in the hat")...I've got a lot of things going on at school with my kidlets and we've spent a lot of our time running back and forth and haven't had much spare time! I'm soooo ready for summer break!

The official drawing day for everyone that participates will be on May 31st, so you all still have time to do a giveaway if you like. We've had two bloggers to already sign up and several more that have expressed interest and are gathering their items. The more the merrier! Click here for further details:)

Sign Up for the 2nd Annual Cottage Charm Give Away Day - May 31, 2008

May 30, 11 PM UPDATE: Thanks to everyone that participated in the 2nd Annual Cottage Charm Giveaway! Your offerings were all amazing and so very generous and I hope everyone had fun! As of right now, I'm no longer updating the giveaway participant list. Feel free to draw names for your giveaways as early or as late as you like on May 31st. Congratulations (in advance) to all 54 winners!

(Click here or scroll down to view the "Cottage Charm Give Away" Participant List - Updated Daily Until 11 PM Central on May 30th, 2008)


Last year I thought it would be fun to host a 'blogwide' cottage themed giveaway so that's exactly what we did! We had over 40 participants to offer giveaways on their blogs and many, many more to sign up for the various giveaways. It was so much fun! It was also a great way to discover new cottage, romantic, and vintage oriented blogs (aren't we always on the lookout for those?). I was asked last year if I planned to host another thisyear and I said that I would love to - and guess what?! It's May and time for the 2nd Annual Cottage Charm Giveaway! This year's blogwide drawing will by on May 31st, 2008, so you still have a couple of weeks to post your giveaways. Here is how it works:



It's simple. You have until Friday, May 30th, 2008 to post your "Cottage Charm" giveaway offering on your site. Then let me know so that I can link to your giveaway right here in this entry. Remember, people respond well to photos and good item descriptions. Encourage your readers to enter their names (on your site) for a drawing (by you) to win your charming cottage themed giveaway. To keep things simple, you choose your own sign up and drawing methods, how many cottage charm giveaways to offer, shipping details, etc., ...I'm just getting the ball rolling here:)



Use your own definition of "Cottage Charm" for this giveaway- the possibilities are endless! You can give away books, your own crafts, thrift store finds, new items, yummy treats, recipes, vintage goodies...goodness, I could go on forever! Just have fun with it! Here is what I offered last year and also check out what everyone else gave away. Again, so much fun!



At some point on Saturday, May 31, everyone participating will hopefully be able to post on their blog the winners of their giveaways after randomly drawing a name (or names depending on if they have more than one giveaway). So the more participants (givers and receivers!), the better! Hopefully everyone has plenty of time to come up with something special to give to their readers.



How to Participate:

All that I ask is that you:

(1)let me know when your giveaway item is listed on your site by posting a comment with your giveaway link right under this post. You are encouraged to describe your giveaway and post photos if at all possible (more folks tend to sign up when they can see what they may be winning). Please only post the link to your giveaway post. We don't want readers to have to go searching for it. I will begin composing a list of giveaway links as they are added to this entry.



and



(2)Please link back to this post so that others may have an opportunity to learn about and participate in this giveaway. You can just copy and paste the coding (below) to your giveaway post or preferably somewhere on the right or left side of your blog. If you prefer a text link, that's ok, too:)



CODE to add to your site:



<a href="http://owcl.blogspot.com/2008/05/sign-up-for-2nd-annual-cottage-charm.html"><img border="0" src="http://www.onewomanslife.com/giveawaybanner.gif"></a>







After you've created your giveaway offering post and have added a link back to this page, I'll add your giveaway link to the list right here in this entry so that more folks will find you and your fabulous giveaway. If you know you're going to participate but aren't yet ready to write about or post photos of your giveaway, please feel free to first go ahead and add the Cottage Charm banner code or link to your blog so that we can quickly get the word out. Thanks so much!



By the way, I will add links to this page and to the right hand column of my site right up until 11 pm, Central time on May 30th. But hopefully you'll have your item(s) listed well before then.



If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.



Please remember, I would like to only add the link to your actual giveaway post containing instructions, descriptions and/or photos of what you are giving away. This will cut down on confusion when readers are looking for what you are offering.



I'm still thinking about what my giveaway will be this year...I have so much extra stuff around here now - I wish I could give it all away!!!

"2nd Annual Cottage Charm Give Away - 2008" Participant List - To Be Updated until 11 PM Central on May 30th

***View photo album of all giveaway items***

1) My Romantic Home

2) Cider Antiques

3) A Cottage Industry

4) An Enchanted Cottage - Giveaway #1

5) Vintage Vavoom

6) Cottage in the Making

7) The Twice Remembered Cottage - Giveaway #1 (for other giveaway hostesses only)

8) The Twice Remembered Cottage - Giveaway #2 (for everyone!)

9) 'Tis DesignWorks Originals

10) A Lovely Thing

11) An Enchanted Cottage - Giveaway #2

12) Land of Nod Studio

13) Pink and Polka Dot

14) Home Again Vintage Treasures

15) Eye-dyllic

16) Karla's Cottage

17) Oatmeal and Whimsy

18) Fabric, Paper, Thread

19) Digi Scribbles

20) Bailiwick Designs

21) Ribbonwood Cottage

22) Cottage Magpie

23) Herbgirl of Calendula Court

24) Pictures, Pots, and Pens

25) Tales from an O.C. Cottage

26) Part-time Gardener

27) Beth Lientz

28) Faerie Window

29) My So Called Junky Life

30)A Secondhand Rose

31)Thoughts from an Evil Overlord

32)The Rose Cottage

33)Uniquely Yours

34)French Poppy

35)The Rustic Cottage

36)The Little Things

37)Bits of Wool

38)Mountain Meadows

39)Little Shack Out Back

40)Crafty Dad

41)B B in a Box

42)Forever and Ever House

43)Burgeon

44)Dreams Intertwined

45)Niesz Vintage Home and Fabric

46)The Come Home Cottage

47)Decor to Adore

48)Cherished Vintage

49)Speckled Egg

50)Coasting Along

51)Tutus and Tippy Toes

52)The Rat's Pajamas

53)CupcakeDD

54)Brookside Cottage

____________________

Colorful and Cool Retro Appliances - or What We Like to Call "Eye Candy"

Of course I couldn't write this entry without thinking of Cottage Daisy and her sweet baby blue fridge that we have all (let's admit it) drooled over for the last couple of years. While we have already bought our average, everyday, run-of-the-mill appliances since our remodel began, I still get a thrill checking out what is available out there nowadays.

Wouldn't these appliances be perfect in a cottage style kitchen? And you can also get them in *custom* colors - weeee!. Range hoods are also available but they haven't yet been added to the site. Can't wait to see them!

Isn't if funny how we get excited about these classic style appliances like men do about old cars?

Where Credit is Due

Digital scrapbook elements obtained from http://digitalscrapbookgrapixs.blogspot.com/, http://dreamscrap.com, and http://flergalicious.com

Strawberries and Cream Muffins + A Little Update

Isn't it odd, don't you think, that I've chosen to breathe a little life into my blog by posting a recipe? Well, you see, I did mean to post this recipe well over a month ago but if you only knew how topsy turvey things are at the moment, you'd understand why I'm only now getting around to writing out this sweet little recipe... Thanks to all who keep checking in for any signs of life:)

We've begun more deconstruction here at the house which has included tearing out a coat closet in the living room (to make room for a future secretary or book shelf) and also taking apart our daughter's closet in order to expand it. She had two small closets but we are creating one larger closet with just one door instead of the two. This work has to be done, along with tearing down our hallway ceiling to raise it a foot, before we can put our flooring down. We are inching our way closer to real flooring at last!

And in the middle of all this, we are getting ready to have our yard sale in two weeks and there are piles of "things" everywhere! Throw in there that May has been the month for school projects galore and we also have two upcoming school musicals this week (for which I must finish two costumes in the next few days!)...and not to mention that we've all been taking turns being sick for the last several weeks. One week when hubs was away, I was so ill that I stumbled head first into the bathroom door frame and it knocked me out to the floor for a little while. My oldest daughter came in and was curious as to why I was "sleeping" on the floor:)

Sadly, we also lost our pet cockatiel Buddy this month, the one that we bought after our parakeet Skyler died last year. I've never written about Buddy because I was so afraid something would happen to him - I didn't even want to buy him to begin with to tell you the truth, for the very same reason. But it wasn't very hard to fall in love with the little guy, and did I ever! Unfortunately, hubs didn't know Buddy was
on his shoulder one day a few weeks ago when he stepped outside onto the deck. Buddy took off and went up, up, up, and away like a helium balloon. I just really don't think we are cut out for birds, as much as I love them, and I told hubs that there would be no more. We have taken all the right steps to try and find him and have spent many hours posting flyers, calling vets and animal clinics, talking to neighbors, and canvassing nearby areas, but nothing yet. I still keep my eyes upwards when I'm out and about, though. We all have been down about losing him but it's a different kind of sadness than when we lost Skyler. It's a sadness with a little bit of hope attached to it. Even if we don't get him back, we can at least hope that someone finds him and that he has a good home somewhere.

Somehow in the midst of the chaos, the baking bug bit me and I've been busy whipping up cookies, muffins, and breads. I even concocted a little recipe of my own based on a combination of other recipes. I call them Strawberries and Cream Muffins (with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting). The kids really loved them! Here is the recipe:

Strawberries and Cream Muffins with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Muffins:
1 cup fresh strawberries (frozen can be used)
1 tablespoon water
3/4 cup sugar(1/4 C for strawberries and 1/2 C for muffins)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3-5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on lemon preference)
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk

Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Muffins:
2. Cut up strawberries into small chunks and gently stir in 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of water. Set aside.
3. In large mixing bowl, cream 1/4 cup softened butter, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 3-5 tablespoons of lemon juice. Combine 2 1/4 cups flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and add to creamed mixture alternately with cream and milk. Fold in strawberries.
4. Spoon batter into greased or lined muffin tins and fill 3/4 full. Bake at 375 degrees for 24 - 26 minutes. Let cool before frosting.
Frosting:
5. Combine softened 8 oz. cream cheese, 1/4 cup softened butter, 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 2 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice. Blend with mixer until smooth and spread on cooled strawberries-n-cream muffins. Top with whole or sliced strawberries.

Where Credit is Due

Digital scrapbook elements obtained from http://www.digital-scrapbook-art.com/ and http://digitalscrapbookgrapixs.blogspot.com/ .