Shelly Wutke

Today on Shelly’s Friday Favourites, I’m going to share my favourite sugar cookie recipe with you and show you how easy it is to decorate these cookies. If you get overwhelmed by roll out cookies because they’re too sticky or they don’t turn out right, you’ll love this recipe. The dough is light, fluffy, and rolls out like a dream.

Let me set the scene for you. It’s 8 pm and I get home after a long day chasing small people to see the Cricut Explore has just been delivered to my house. I’ve been asked to test it out and write up a review, and I’ve been looking forward to it because I’ve never tried a Cricut before. Little did I know that my husband and I would be fighting over it and in 5 short days I’d be completely hooked. Read on and find out why everyone needs a Cricut Explore.

Having one or two games in a games room is great, but it’s the extras that convert a spot where you play darts or Ping-Pong into the perfect hang out for the guys or the entire family, and these games room extras make the perfect gifts to put under the tree. With the holidays right around the corner, here are some great gifts for games rooms.

Why make homemade soup when it’s so easy to open up a can and eat within minutes? Really, it all comes down to taste. If you go through the effort of making your own soup base and you let your soup simmer on your stove or in your slow cooker for hours, the flavours of what you’re cooking will practically explode when you eat it. 

Fitness trackers are a great tool for anyone interested in getting the most out of their workout or just adopting some healthy new habits. I’ve tested out a lot of wearable technology and used quite a few different fitness trackers, and although they all have different features that will appeal to a different type of user, the common thread I found with all of them is how incredibly motivating they are. Fitness trackers make great gifts for the holidays too, so if you’d like to choose one for yourself or pick one up to put under the tree this year, here’s a few types you can choose from.  

Instead of pouring over a toy catalog like we used to before the Holidays, we cuddle up on the couch with our kids and scroll through pages of the latest toys on our tablet. But no matter how we check out the top toys of the season, I still get that cozy holiday feeling that comes from sitting down with the kids and dreaming about what Santa will bring them. Check out the top toys of 2014 right now, and do a little Christmas dreaming yourself.

Last week we said an official goodbye to summer and hello to cool weather, bundling up, and fall recipes. One week of fall favourites isn’t enough, so this week we’re going to check out a few fall recipes that make for easy weeknight dinners.

If you want to survive holiday travel with your sanity intact, especially if you’re traveling with kids, you’ll need to be prepared. That means prepping ahead of time and picking up these holiday essentials to help you sail through that airport and enjoy any mid-trip downtime.

  Baby, it’s getting cold outside, and it’s safe to say the warm weather has hit the road and it’s time to bundle up and turn on the fire. When the cold weather hits, it’s also time to warm up the range and see what type of fall dishes we can cook up.

Did the game of darts start from sheer boredom? One of the most popular beliefs surrounding the game darts is that it was created by a warrior who, bored and trying to kill time between battles, decided he’d throw short spears at a slice of tree. The natural rings in the tree served as the markings on the first ever dartboard, and since then millions of people worldwide have played. If you’ve never played or you want to learn a new game or two, read on to learn how to play darts.