Harvest Decorating

* Any highlighted words will take you to that post.  So enjoy!

 

 

So here we are in the month of November and I realized I NEVER even tried to write a post in October.  Shame on me.  I did happen to take a few photos of my Halloween/Harvest decor so I thought today would be a good day to show all of you.  I went pretty simple this year.  Isn't it funny how our decorating tastes change over the years or in my case it has changes almost every year.  These first two pictures show  the only real Halloween  decor I displayed this year.  I just was not in the Halloween spirit this year.  My poor kids!  They love the month of October.  So on with the tour....

 This side table/pie safe is sitting in my living room in front of my very large window.  I love having a table there but this one is a bit too high.  I hope to have that rectified in the future.  The skull I got last year after Halloween at Walmart.  I absolutely love it.  There is a button you push that plays the theme music from the movie "Halloween".  It is awesome.  I made the "Autumn, Harvest, Give Thanks blocks a few years ago.  Everything else was from around the house.

 Here is my side table I got from Goodwill while living in Michigan.  I still need to paint it but have not decided what color or if I should just re-stain it.  The cloche was the one I made  back in the day.  It is the one that made Allison of House of Hepworths go viral with hers.

 This is my coffee table in my living room.  I got that tray/cupboard door from the Habitat Restore. The ceramic squash was from Hobby Lobby in their clearance section, and the faux plant and sign are from Tai Pan Trading.  Absolutely Love them. 

 Here is my Dining table center piece.  I was trying for a bit cleaner look this year and used what I had around the house again.  The tray was from Goodwill in Michigan, the pitcher is from Ikea, wooden sticks are from a blind that I cut down, that faux foliage ball is from Tai Pan Trading, canning jar and pumpkins were from my stash from last year, and the rot iron bracket is from Hobby Lobby.  Got it for anther project but had never used it until now.  The table runner is just a scrap piece of fabric (can not remember the name of it) you use for Swedish Weaving.

 Here is a closer look at the vignette.  I really love how simple it is.  Lots of texture there.  LOVE IT!

Here is what my dinning room looks like now.  It is coming along.  I will do another post on my new addition...  The utensil wall art.  It is my FAVORITE!!!!  And so simple.  Well thanks for stopping by.  Hope you have a great week.  :O)

Projects here and there

So I decided to take a little break and spend some time with my family.  It sure has been nice and  we have had some fun.

 But it is about time for school to start here (in 2 weeks) so I better get in gear and start posting again.  I mean can I really expect the kids to get back in to school/homework mode if I myself can not get back into blogging?  So here I am back from a fun summer break.  :O)

I thought I would show you all some fun little (and I mean little) projects that I have been doing over the summer.

  I had painted the inside of the front door black last fall.  I love it.  But it needed something.  I had  leftover ruffles from another project and thought they would work great to make a rag wreath.

 Next, I changed out the blue Christmas ornaments that were in the cloche I made a couple years ago.

 I had gotten these green moss rocks quite a while ago so this was a no cost change-a-roo.

 If you have never gotten on Groopdealz than you are missing out.  Check out the fun personalized kitchen rules subway art I got.  It was an awesome deal.  I LOVE IT!!!  It has even helped the kids table manners.  Maybe the kids can learn to be civil at the table.  Ha ha ha.

 It is hanging in my dinning area.  I also FINALLY made the curtains for the window in the dinning area.  They match the living room curtains.  I know why did I have them match?  Because I loved the fabric.  I was thinking of doing different curtains in the dinning area but did not want to spend any more $$$$$ so I had to use the same fabric as the living room.  That is alright cuz I still like them.  Just gives it a little more of a finishing touch in there.  See...

 I had decorated the tops of my cupboards last fall and never showed you all.  I know shame on me.  I had these miss match baskets and some fake grass ( from my neighbor who worked/worked for Albertson's warehouse here in Utah) and he had all of this fake grass that he was getting rid of.  I guess they had an over abundance and was going to throw it all away and he saved it.  Then I got some.  Wish I would have gotten lots more.  Anyways,  I spray painted the baskets black to make them match and put the grass in them.  The memories sign I got from an antique store that was going out of business.  And wouldn't you know it,  the lady that owed the store and I had met via our blogs a year earlier and did not know we lived in the same town.  CRAZY I tell ya.

 I don't know?  I am wondering if I should paint the memories sign.  The finish on it right now is like galvanized metal.  What do you think?  Come on give me your input.

Another part of the cabinets is small so I needed something to fill it up with out it looking cramped.  I made the "B" blocks back when we were living in Michigan.  The egg basket I got from the Goodwill there too.  More of the grass and some fake fruit.

 Here is a better picture of the "B" blocks.

 Just another view of the top of the long cabinets.

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you have/had a wonderful summer like we did.  As always have a great week.  :O)

Gotta Love Velata!

Sunday was our second childs Birthday.  He does not like cake and has now informed me that he does not like frosting either.  Good to know since I was going to give him a can of frosting instead of a cake.  Frosting WAS all he would eat at Birthday Parties.  LOL  Funny boy!!  Any ways,  While I was at SNAP! back in April this year we had the priviledge to try a product spin off from Scentsy.  It is called Velata!  It is a warmer for fondue.  They even have the best Belgium chocolate that you can order for your warmer.  The flavors are milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and my all time favorite....  caramel milk chocolate.

So anyways, this is what I decided to do for his party this year.  AND it was a HUGE hit.....

It was super fun to choose the different items for dipping.  There was something for everyone and no one complained they did not get enough frosting.  I feel a tradition happening here.  Head on over to Velata to find a consultant near you.  You wont regret it!!

9 p.m.

So what do you do on a Tuesday night at 9 p.m. in June?  Me?  Well, I head on over to my friends house and pick cherries from her tree.  :O)

Aren't they so pretty.  There is just something about cherries that SCREAMS "It's Summer time!"

I filled 2 freezer gallon bags and had enough left over in the colander for eating.  Which is enough for another gallon freezer bag.  Just saying.

I was told that you can freeze the cherries so you can eat them all year long.  Hope it is true...  Now her tree still has a lot more cherries on it but we did not have a ladder tall enough for us to reach them.  I wonder if We could convince the boys to climb the cherry tree and pick them?  Hmmmm.  Now there's a thought.

Hope you are having a wonderful beginning of Summer.   We sure are.  Until next time!  Enjoy!  :O)

My FAVORITE Fruit Dip

Sorry it has been a while since my last post.  Seems like I have been saying that A LOT lately.  I thought I would share with you all one of mine and my families most FAVORITE recipes.  It is super easy and oh so YUMMY!

 

Best Fruit Dip Ever


2 pkg (8oz) cream cheese softened
1 jar marshmallow cream
Maraschino Cherry juice

Place the top 2 ingredients in a mixer and start mixing it together.  Add the maraschino cherry juice a little at a time and keep mixing together to get to the consistency of a dip.

That is it.  You will love it.  I have to make it several times during strawberry season.  That is the best way to eat it.  I like it best after it has been chilled.

Enjoy!

I will be at the SNAP! Creativity at Your Fingertips Conference  this weekend so if you happen to be there please find me and say hi.  I am so looking forward to meeting everyone IRL.  :O)

Back from the Dead...

Wow,  not having a camera sure puts a damper on blogging.  It has been over 2 months since my last post.  So sorry.   Well I finally got a new camera and am in L.O.V.E. with it.  It is a Sony something something or other.  The hubs picked it out.  His father is a wedding photographer and the hubs has been talking to him for the last 2 years about cameras.  So I let him pick it out.  It only took him 2 hours in the store to finally decide which one.  But that is alright.  I GOT A CAMERA!!  :O)


Well, remember this picture I showed you all last year after going shopping at the case lot sales?This cold storage room needed some serious help.  It was semi organized.  I wanted shelves so bad.  The hubs said he would do them and here we were a year later and it still looked like this.  Until... Today...  :O)  When the hubs got up today ( he had the day off) I told him to get to work so I could get all the canning from this year in there.  It was ALOT!  So, I took everything out and here is the final result....

Now it is super organized.  I did not ask for pretty, just functional and sturdy.  And that is what I got.

Oops, need to restock the cereal.  I have 2 bins empty..  I learned how to use the pressure cooker this year.   I canned green beans.  :O) They are right above the bins.  Hope they last us till next summer.

The tomato's are canned in quarts for my favorite tomato soup.  I will have to share that with you all another time.  It is DE-LISH!  Then pints are all salsa.  YUMM-O!!  It is my friends recipe.

It is a good start on our food storage.    Wish the room was bigger.  I would love to have look like a store like you see on TLC's Extreme Couponing.

Well, thanks for coming to visit.  Again sorry for the long break in posts.   I do have a lot of projects  that I did during the summer break.  Can not wait to share them with you.  Until then have a great weekend..  We get to go to the groundbreaking for the Payson Temple.  So excited.  :O)

Valentines update!

I thought I would surprise my family when they all got home from school/work for Valentines Day yesterday. So this is what they saw when they came home... The table set with love....

I even made these bad boys and they were AWESOME!!!

See, doesn't it look nice all set up for Valentines Day? Did you happen to notice anything different about this spot? No, well I will share more on that in another post...

Everyone got a heart on their plate and I even made everyone tell what they loved about well everyone!! It was so fun to hear the different things... My 5 yr old daughter was the funniest.. She sure can come up with some doozies... Is that even a word? Oh well!! :O)

I just wanted to wish you all a Happy (Day Late) Valentines Day!! Tomorrow I will show you what I got from the hubs!! I was soooo happy!!

The Kitchen Organization is on...

Alright, I know I was supposed to have a post done about my closet organization project for last week... But, they (yes more than one closet in the works) are not done... It is turning out to be a bit of a bigger project then anticipated... But, the fruits of my labor will be enjoyed by all.... :O)

So on to this weeks organization projects... The Kitchen... I started with some drawers that were bugging me.. Every time I opened them things would shift and I could not find what I wanted. So, in came my new found friend... I am in L.O.V.E. with it... It is Duck brand cork peel and stick liner.. I found it at Lowes for like $9.99. Kind of pricey but if it helps the drawer problems then it is worth it to me... First I cleaned out the drawers real good and even vacuumed them. Then measured the size i needed and cut away.... The back has the grid on it so cutting was a breeze...

Now, you are going to want to apply this the same way as vinyl. Peel back just enough to get started and SMOOTH it out.

Start in the back. It is much easier that way. Just pull the back off as you go and keep SMOOTHING it down.

I cut this one a bit short on the side but that is alright by me.. When I put everything back in you will never even know... Unless I told you and well, I did so SHHHH! It's our little secret..

Know I forgot to take a picture before I took everything out of the drawer but here it is on the counter.. I know very messy counter.. Believe it or not that is the only messy counter I have... But enough on that...

Now I wanted to get some containers to put things in and keep them neat but I did not want to leave the house so I went on a hunt and came up with bread pans... I have a lot that I collected from the DI over the years and have not used the small and medium ones in a very long time.

Isn't she all pretty now? I can now find my measuring spoons right away... And the best part, when I close the drawer and open it up again... EVERYTHING stays in its place.... YEAH ME!!!

Here is the start on the drawer the kids are always in... Still using the bread pans...

Oh, the neatness....

Now the silverware drawer really bugged me... The container to hold all the silverware would slide to an angle every time it was opened... This just bugged me to no end. I needed to empty the dishwasher but chose to do this project instead...

See all better.. And I even emptied the dishwasher.. Now we all can eat again...

Now, this is just the beginning of what I have in store for the kitchen organization. I have much bigger and better things in store for it....

Until then... Have a great one...

I will be linking this to Traci over at Beneath My Heart on Friday for her organization party so head on over there then..

Oh fudge...and last minute projects!

I thought that would caught your attention... :O) I finally finished my ornament wreath and am loving it... I got the ornaments at Walmart. They were a package of 4 for only $1. The colors match my new tree perfectly... :O)

I had the ribbon left over from my PB knock off here.

It has wire in it so it was super easy to get it just right. Love that!!

Look how shiny!! I have been wanting to make one of these since I saw them last year...

Now I do... :O)


Next are the teacher gifts I did this year for my kids teachers...

I got the $1 candles at Walmart and just cut some scrapbook paper to size and wrapped it around and secured it with some tape. Then I printed off the tags and cut them and attached them to the front of the candles... SUPER easy and inexpensive... Got to love that....


Now, how about the fudge....

Me, well not so much of a fudge fan but the hubbs is... Well, that is before I came across my aunts recipe... I love this fudge!! It is so creamy and easy to make. Double score in my book!!

Just needed to show you all how yummy it all looks! :O)

Now for the recipe!

Million $ Fudge

4 1/2 cups sugar

1 can evap. milk

1/2 cup butter

Bring to a boil and cook for about 7 minutes.

Remove from the heat and add 1 tsp vanilla and stir.

In your KitchenAid (which I recommend for this recipe) brake up into pieces the following.

2 jumbo Hershey bars

2 packages chocolate chips

1 pint marshmallow creme

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Pour hot mixture over all and beat until gloss is gone ( the dough hook works best.)

You are going to fall in love with how easy and creamy this is....

Enjoy and have a wonderful Christmas time!!! :O)