Horn o' Plenty

Both our boys had Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off this past week for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

That means I heard a lot of, "I'm hungry!" "Can I have a snack?" "When's lunch?" The lunch question was posed at 9:38 on Wed. morning.

Luckily I saw this cute Cornucopia idea HERE!

And I threw some together for a surprising snack!

The recipe is basic:

Sugar Cone = cornucopia

Goldfish & Pretzels (or whatever your kids like to munch) = bounty for the inside

Fill up the cones with your snacks.

Feed them to your starving children.

I told the boys to look "Thankful" for the photos. This is what I get...Louie the actor in the shot above & John, Mr. Get out of my way, Mom, I'm watching Phineas & Ferb, in the shot below!

Either way...they both loved it!

Side note...John (our weird one) LOVES ice cream cones with out the ice cream! If we are at a restaurant that includes a cone as dessert, we have to order it for him minus the ice cream. So these snacks were right up his alley!

Gobble Gobble!

Last year I found this adorable Turkey made out of a 2 x 4, paint stick and craft sticks!

Source: u-createcrafts.com via Amy on Pinterest

I found it on Ucreate where Wendy from Craft Goodies was guest posting for the day. If you haven't checked out either blog...DO IT! They are both fantastic! And Wendy has a whole collection of awesomely cute 2 x 4 crafts!
So, anyway, I whipped up a bunch of them. They were fun to put together and I had my own little Turkey Assembly Line going. I must have counted wrong, though, because I gave them all away and didn't save one of our house!
This year I whipped up ONE. One for ME! Here he is:

HERE is the tutorial I followed. 

Then go on and click on the Craft Goodies link...you won't be sorry! So many great ideas!!!

Thanksgiving Display

All my fellow bloggers are so creative and wonderful at decorating their mantels for the different seasons and holidays. Since we don't have a fireplace or mantel, our piano in the living room is the go-to for decorating!

Here's what I threw together for Thanksgiving.

The pilgrim I received as a Bunco prize. The jars I made with Dollar Tree vases and candle holders. The gourds are from Dollar Tree. The tall grass and rocks are Dollar Tree. The jar on the right is filled with yarn pom poms I made for filler. And I want to focus on the turkey up front...

I made this little guy years ago! He's a pot (obviously) that I painted a pretty burnt orange color and then sponged with Turkey Colors. I hot glued a wooden ball to the top (er, bottom) that I had painted the same color as the pot. The beak & waddle are made from foam and I dotted on the eyes. Then I pulled apart a cheapy leaf bouquet and hot glued the leaves to the back to make feathers! He's so cute and colorful!!!

However. Now that I've shot his photo and I'm looking at it...his little eyebrows kind of make him look worried! Whoops!

It's like he's saying, "Eat BEEF!" lol

Another Fall decoration I cranked out years ago are popping up all over the place now!

Dryer Vent Pumpkins! We made a TON of these twelve years ago for my bridal shower centerpieces. Weird? My bridal shower was on Halloween!

Anyway, back in 1999 (so last century!) no one took shot by shot tutorials of their crafts. On a film camera. Ouch I'm getting old! But if you like this VINTAGE Dryer Vent Pumpkin...I'm sure you can just Google it and have a choosing of tutes at your fingertips!

Basically, we cut up the vent and then hot glued it into a tight circle. My dad rigged this wire in the garage that we hung them from to spray paint orange. We made pipe cleaner vines and hot glued it and leaves and raffia coming out of the hole on the top.

Here's a shot of the bottom:

Not too bad for a 12-year-old pumpkin!

Felt Leaf Garland

Oh Sweet Pinterest.

How do I love thee?

Too much! That's how!!!

So. I was on Pinterest. Again. Duh. 

And I found THIS amazing garland.

I love Fall colors, falling leaves, and garlands to string up around the house! Perfect Project!

Elsie at A Beautiful Mess Blog has a great tutorial post on how to make your own! Go check hers out...and then check out the one I made:

I used felt I had on hand and cut out a LOT of leaves. A lot.

Awesome Autumnal Colors!

Did I mention I cut out a lot? A lotta leaves.

I had a golden/yellow embroidery floss on hand, and that's what I used to hand stitch the leaves together.

Again. A. Lot. Of. Leaves.

Time to string them up!

I really do love this garland. The colors are just enough to pop without being TOO much. It's simple, but so pretty! And, since it's almost time to take down the Fall stuff and put up the Christmas stuff...you have a whole year to make one for yourself!

Crock Pot Applesauce!

Since I've been professing my undying love of Pumpkin...I feel the urge to say, 

"My name is Amy. And I think applesauce is yucky."

Phew! That's a load off my mind!

But. Seriously. It's kind of slimy and bland. Ugh.

My hubs & kiddos LOVE applesauce, though. And, being the terrific wife/mom I am...I've always bought it for them. I don't like buying the small plastic cups with the fear of chemical leaching hanging over my head. So I buy the jars. And my family binges on it. And then the jar gets shoved into the dark pit of the fridge. And then I find it...a dried mountain of apple stuff with an apple-ish lake in the center. ICK!

So. The last time my kids started whining asking politely for me to buy some applesauce I looked at our kitchen counter and saw a mountain of apples. CLICK when the light bulb in my head! We'll just make some. 

(Reading multiple blogs and Stalking Pinterest has given me Creative Superpowers...in my head)

I read a handful of recipes for crock potting applesauce and came up with my own version:

Peel and quarter 6 apples & put them in your crock pot.

Pour 1/2 a cup of water on top

Sprinkle on a Tablespoon of cinnamon

Sprinkle on 1/4 cup of sugar

Add a dash of vanilla (I didn't measure. Blame my Grandma. She didn't measure, either.)

Then I got my big wooden spoon and stirred it all up a bit.

See:

Cover it all up and cook it on low for 4 hours. Smells DELISH!

When times up, take your potato masher and mash them apples! It makes a beautiful squelchy noise while those yummy apple cinnamon smells hit your nose.

I plopped some into bowls while it was still warm...

...and fed it to the Masses!

Total Hit!

Thumbs Up!

And. Guess What??? I liked it, too! The flavor was awesome, and I liked how chunky and non-slimy it was!

Cozy Fuzzy Pumpkin Head

I've just got to share this adorable hat I whipped up for Kat last month!

What do you think? I'm pretty proud of it! I like how it has a ridgy knitted look, but it's all crochet!

I found & followed the pattern HERE at Nothing's Creative Anymore. I was able to crochet & finish it up in a couple of days! Sarah's pattern is sized for an average sized woman's noggin. Even though I made it for my little girl, I followed the pattern so she can wear it for many Fall seasons to come!

The sun was not cooperating with me, so I had to do some funky picnik editing!

Hmmm...watching the leaves fall!

Here she is, excited about the curly vine!

Ahhhh...finally a normally lit photo! 

I've gotten a zillion comments from people out and about! You can tell it's big on her, but I think it sort of adds to the cute-ness!

Pass the Pumpkin!

Here we are. In the middle of November!

It's pretty hard to believe in my little corner of the World, because our weather has been so mild!

Then our Middle One snapped me back to reality after preK this morning when he started quizzing me on Thanksgiving facts. "Well. Mom. You know it is a week from today."

Humph. I KNEW it was...I just kept not thinking about it!

That same Thanksgiving Encyclopedia I call John continued talking and talking and...talking...and said, "And. Mom. Thanksgiving means Pumpkin Pie. I'm gonna eat some. Without that white stuff. And I'm gonna make a pie sandwich. That's two pieces together. Only with out meat." And then he talked some more.

That being said, we are pretty big Pumpkin Fans. Yummmm-Me! (pronounced like yummy, just very enthusiastically)

So I about had a Pumpkin Fit when I saw this big of Sweetness over at The House of Hepworths a week ago.

Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing

Did I salivate? Did Pavlov ring a bell?

DING DONG!

Allison posted a fantastic tutorial / recipe for these babies!

 Check out how mine turned out:

They are so insanely moist and delightful.

And that cream cheese is literally the icing...on the cookie!

We ate these for breakfast (don't judge), snacks and dessert for two days straight. Then I forced my hubby to take the remainder to work so I don't grow as round as a pumpkin! So, be prepared, the recipe makes a LOTTA cookies!

HERE is the link again. Click it and grab your ingredients. You won't regret it.

But you just might lick your computer screen!

Me Likey Monday!!! Back to School...

I haven't done Monday Features for about a month now. Bit of a Summer Break?

So I thought it would be appropriate to feature some great Back To School Ideas for kids and for their awesome teachers!

I'm leading with this fantastically simple yet cute idea from lisa storms! We did these for John's pre-school teacher and Louie's third grade teacher this year. I adapted the little flag to say, "Cheers to a year of quenching our thirst for knowledge!" and had the boys sign them. Big Hit!

Deck the Halls of Home with JOY has these beautifully clever vases! Nothing says "school-time" better than the yellow of some new Number 2s. This would be great to give a teacher, to to decorate your own home.

These make me smile! We LOVE a good popsicle craft around here. Silly Eagle Books made these adorable magnets. I love the points! Maybe personalize for your kids or their teacher...

How about a scholarly snack? Parties by Hardie shows us how to make snacking more colorful!

Have I mentioned my love of pencils??? The Blackberry Vine shares this smart way to share the Pencil Love. Make up a bunch for your child to share with his class!

I love everything about this idea from it is what it is! Sneak one into a lunch box for a sweet surprise!

I can't even begin to express how my kids are going to flip out when I make these as an after school snack! Inspiration found at Blonde Designs.

Bee in Our Bonnet put together these lovely First Aid for Teacher kits! Stock them with the essentials, paperclips, erasers, hand sanitizer, chocolate...!

This is STUNNING! via minieco I NEED one for myself...

With school back in full swing...the papers will be stacking up! Artwork, homework, A+ tests...you'll want to display it all! And Ana White has a great organizing solution. Go check it out!

Check them ALL out...and Happy Back To School!

Fall Crochet Scarf

I am a complete newbie to the Art of Crochet. It's something I've always wanted to learn and something that my Mom has tried to teach me countless times. We've always chalked my failure up to me being a Lefty and my Mom being impatient (sorry Mom. Love you.). But I gritted my teeth and she gritted hers and we worked it out. Maybe my will to learn is stronger now that I have a daughter and I want to make her all these cute hats, flowers, scarves, ponchos...and whatnot's I see you ladies making all over the place. Anyway. It worked. But I'm still a newbie.

I am also a glutton for punishment. I found myself alone at the library. This doesn't happen often. Maybe once or twice a year. And when I'm by myself in the library...I tend to get into trouble. The kind of trouble that has me asking the librarian, "What's the book limit...?" And I found a couple of crochet pattern books. And in THIS one:

...I found a really cute scarf project. (Please forgive me...I'm also a newbie to blogging and I need to figure out how to get a cool professional picture from amazon to show up on my blog). Obviously this is a great pattern book because it looks like it's seen a lot of love. And I loved it!

I was able to figure out the pattern on my own and it's the first project I've completed without my Mom telling me what to do every step of the way! Here's what I ended up with:

There is a fringe on the ends that you can't see in my "Model's" representation. She LOVES it, so I'll be making her a Kat sized version. It's special, also, because the keen eye of my oldest picked out the colors for me. Quite nice and cozy.

Apple Pickin'

I feel so lucky to be living in the middle of the USA. We are towns-folk to the core, but it's nice to be able to drive in any direction and, within 10 to 20 minutes, be in the middle of beautiful green countryside! This also means we are close to MANY apple orchards and we literally have our "pick" of where to go get fresh apples.

So we headed out a couple of weeks ago (I have been incredibly slow and lazy about downloading these photos to my computer) and did some apple pickin'! The three kids rounded up 10 pounds total. Enough to make Apple Butter (ohhhhh sooooo gooooood), homemade applesauce (eh. I'm looking for a better recipe) and my Great Grandmother's Apple Strudel. And we still had left-overs to munch for breakfast and with lunches!

Here's Miss Kat. Perfect round apple for chubby little Fingers.

Here's J. Three seems like the PERFECT age & excitement level for this job!

Here is Louie...can't you tell he is SO excited to have Mom taking MORE pictures of him?