A time to be Thankful.....

I took all the Halloween decorations down yesterday, and put up a few      Thanksgiving things......

I have been doing a little bit of "crafting"  we made these cute wooden stands with some great sayings on them

Blessed beyond measure...  yes I am!! So grateful for the many blessings in my life- Is it perfect? No- but there are so many GREAT things in my life everyday!!!

This one is probably my FAVORITE!!!  Everything looks better with a Grateful heart!!!

I put this chair up in the entry for my Halloween things & loved it- so I kept it there and stuck some fall things on it....

Oh how I love fall.....

Hope all of you take some time during this time of year and think of all the things in your life that are so GREAT!  It won't take long to see just how blessed we really are......

Happy Halloween

October is going as fast as September did.... I've got a few things up for Halloween-- but really need to start planning our Halloween party!!!  Any ideas? What are y'all doing this year for your parties?  I would LOVE some ideas.  

Fall is in the air!

Well, it's up!!! I was ready for a change inside....so I switched my table-scape from summer  to fall.  I love the fall, I love everything about it, the colors, the crisp mornings, the harvest, the cooler days.  I haven't gotten everything out, but here's a peek at what I did get done today! 

Pumpkin Rolls

I have amazing- talented friends!!  These are some rolls my friend Julie made and posted on her FB page.  We have known each other since we were 5..... and let me just that is a VERY long time!  She is an amazing cook, and I am so excited to show you what she's making for Thanksgiving. 

Rolls that look like pumpkins!! How festive is that.

Click the  button for the full recipe

I think they are adorable!!! If I was making the rolls this year I would try them... but this year one of my cute Daughter's in law is making the rolls!!  But she's crafty enough she could probably pull this off!!   I LOVE them!!  Thanks Julie, I think you're Amazing.

Simmering Sents

I was peeling an orange for breakfast this mornng- and it made me remember something I used to do years ago when the boys were young.  I would put things into a saucepan on the stove & simmer them to make the house smell good!  You can use whatever you have on hand.  This morning I used the orange peel from my orange, added a few drops of Almond & Vanilla extracts and a Cinnamon stick.  Put everything in a saucepan with some water and bring it to a boil, boil it for a few minutes, then turn the heat down to simmer & continue to cook it on the stove for as long as you want... oh the smell is WONDERFUL.  Just keep adding water to it as it boils down, every 1/2 hr or so. I have put it into a sm crock pot before too.  It's great, except when Clair comes in and says umm are you making an apple pie?  LOL  I don't know where he got the apple from- but you can use an apple in it too!!  So get those pans out and start simmering away!!! Your noses will be glad you did.

Heaven in a cup!!

Have you tried the Steven's Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa Mix? If you haven't- RUN now to the store and get some!  My friend Lisa introduced me to this a week ago & it is soooo YUMMY!

I have a couple of recipes for homemade pumpkin spice drinks, but this is so simple & quick!  Then if you want to step it up a notch...

get you some of these little babies!!  I will be honest, I hadn't tried them before- and the day after Halloween we went shopping for (more candy) - go figure :) but it was 50% off so hey, of course you need it!! LOL anyway my friends told me I had to try these- so I bought a couple of bags.  And you guessed it.... I put a couple into my Pumpkin Spice drink & oh my it was a little bit of heaven.

So wonderful that I decided to put the cocoa mix & the kisses in 2 jars that are very conveniently on my counter... calling my name!!  But I am happy to say that I have limited myself to 1 cup a day!!  So heat you up a cup of water or milk, add the pumpkin spice mix, drop in 1 or 2 pumpkin spice kisses, add a squirt of whipping cream and a sprinkle of nut meg -- sit back and relax!! The only thing that makes it better is to be all cozied up by the fireplace- sipping it with the people you love the most!! I love fall - ENJOY! 

Peanuts & Candycorn

Today I have one of my favorite fall snacks to share with you-- the best part is... there's no cooking involved!  All you need are salted peanuts and a bag of candycorn.....

just mix them together in a bowl- grab a handful & pop into your mouth, and you will think you have just bit into a salted nut roll. 

Beware.. it can be addictive!!  So yummy.... enjoy!!

FAll, Fall, Fall....

Well, my fall tote boxes had been setting in my family room for a week.... waiting for me to get my house decorated.  I have had so many other things going on I haven't had time to get to them!!  So- after 35 quarts and 12 pints of spaghetti sauce, 25 pints of pizza sauce, 20 pints of raspberry jam, a few quarts of peaches.... I FINALLY did some fall decorating.  So take a look around... I do love fall-

I still have a bit to do, but for today I am HAPPY.  Have a GREAT weekend!  Monday I will have one of my favorite fall snacks for you!

Caramel Apples

Have I told you I LOVE fall?  I do, and today I am making one of my FAVORITE fall foods!! Caramel Apples....

they are pretty easy, I like to use Peters Caramel- it comes in a big block and is packaged in a box.  Sorry I dont have a picture for you.

First put the caramel on each apple & then dip them in chocolate-- the ones I did today, I used white chocolate.  You can dip it as far into the chocolate as you like, as you can see some I dipped the whole apple & some I did 3/4 of the apple.  They taste great eaither way.  Then sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on them & add nuts if you like - drizzle with colored chocolate and....... 

Wrap in plastic bags.... tie with some ribbon & make some body HAPPY today!!  Or keep them for yourself!  They are the best.. Happy Fall!!!!

Oh how I love FALL!!

It's been awhile since I posted, between a CRAZY busy week last week & computer problems-- I couldn't post anything, but hopefully we've got in under controll this week!!

I LOVE fall, the colors are so warm and inviting--  you can feel the crispness in the air, the leaves have started to turn colors-  So I haulded out those tote boxes and started bringing the fall colors inside!  

I only made it to my dinning room table...but it's a good start

how about you-- what have you started doing to get ready for those cooler nights & lovely days of fall?  I would love to see what you've done!!      Happy Fall ya'll!  :)

Fall Bridal Shower for Megan

I know it's only July, but I have been trying to get my house organized a little more- and I came across these pictures of the Bridal Shower I had for my youngest sons wife Megan-- 2 years ago!!! Oh how time flies by.

I made glitter pumpkins, oh how I LOVE them-- almost as much as I love JARS.  Really I think I made 30 of them, but they have been used over the last 3 years by MANY people for MANY parties... so it was justified. LOL :)

we just had a buffet style set-up with soups, breadsticks and treats!!

see these are the glitter pumpkins-- aren't lovely!!  I first started glittering REAL pumpkins for a service project while I was the Young Womens President in my ward.  The girls loved to make them & deliver them to people in rest homes. But I decided to use fake ones, and then I could re-use them .... you can use really cheap ugly ones, because you can't tell what they looked like when you're finished.   

for the favor, I just had 3 large jars full of: Muddy Buddys, chex mix, and a mix of peanuts & candy corn. (it tastes like a salted nut roll)  for the guest to fill up bags with to take home 

this was the tag we made up for the treat table.....

each jar had ribbon & a tag attached so they would know what was in each one

pumpkins were all over the house... I had them displayed really cute on my mantel-- but I must not have taken a picture of it.   They are very easy to make-- just add a bit of water to elmers glue- to thin it out a little, and brush it onto the pumpkin. It's best to just do 1/2 of the pumpkin at a time and then sprinkle glitter all over the glue,  paint the stem & embellish with ribbon and leaves.   I might have to do a tutorial one day next week..  Now is a good time to get planning for those fall parties or decorating!!