Pumpking Tasting Party

Yes, we had a Pumpkin Tasting Party!  And, I believe we'll make this some sort of tradition!  BFF Harriet and I love all things pumpkin (although I'm more of a pumpkin freak!) and so we decided to host a small tasting party that was "all things pumpkin". 

For those of you who enjoy a good slice of pumpkin pie, but just cannot imagine anything else pumpkin-related, check out our delightful menu...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our sweet guests brought these delicious additions...

 

 

  

Menu

Pumpkin Butter with Almond Thins

Pumpkin Spread with Cinnamon Pretzels

Pumpkin Pasties

Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Soup

Stuffed Pumpkin with Wild Rice & Sausage

Pumpkin Enchiladas

Southwest Pumpkin Burgers

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Pumpkin Pie Punch

Harvest Pumpkin Ale

From our homes to yours, wishing you a

Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!

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Paper Garland Tutorial

I've seen quite a few tutorials on how to make paper garland and somewhat merged a few ideas to come up with my own garland.  I'm sure someone else has posted this out there in Blog Land, but here's my take:

Supplies:

card stock or double-sided scrapbook paper in various colors/patterns

circle cutter

sewing machine

thread - All Purpose is fine

ribbon

1.  You will need at least three circles for each garland set.  My garland was approximately 45" long and had 30 sets, so I cut out 90 circles.  (I cut all those bad boys whilst watching TV one evening!)  The circles were 1" in diameter, but I think 2" circles would be nice also.  I laid the circles out in sets of three and varied the colors and patterns.

2.  Set your machine to straight stitch and a stitch length of 2.5.  Pull out a long length of upper and bobbin thread - about 12 inches or so, and lay them to the back of the machine.

3.  Stack three circles together and place them under the presser foot just in front of the needle.  Slowly lower the presser foot and while continuing to carefully hold the circles in place, begin to sew through the circles in a straight line.

 

4.  After you have sewn through the first set of circles, continue to sew about one inch before you add another set of circles.  I left about one inch between sets, but you can have your sets closer or further apart.  Continue sewing until all sets have been sewn.

 

5.  When you are finished, tie a sturdy knot at the beginning of the garland close to the first set of circles.  Tie another knot in the same way after the last set of circles.  

6.  You are now ready to separate the circles and fan them out.  Gently pull the side pieces away from the centers.  Use your fingernail or a bone folder to push them away from the center, or pinch them in the opposite direction.  The stitching will be fairly tight and will keep the papers from folding back inward.

 

 

7.  Tie pretty ribbons at the ends of the garland, hang, and enjoy!

 

I'm off to make more garland for Christmas!  See you soon! Pin It

This Funk I'm In

I'm in a creative funk!  Not the type where I'm coming up with absolutely nothing.  The type where I'm on total creative overload.  It finally felt a little like fall this past week and we even had some rain (thank you, Father!).  I'm ready to pull all of my fall decorations out.  I'm ready to sew.  I'm ready to create.  Ideas are everywhere and I've got the goodies to work with.

So what's the problem, you ask?  I can't focus!  What do I want to do?  What should I start with?   I keep hearing about Pinterest, but that would only make things worse at this point.  Maybe later.  It looks so fun but I will have to save that for another time.  Getting my daily fix of blogs is not helping either.  So many fun things to create and so little time!  Sigh...

However, amidst a soccer game for baby girl today, a little housework, and laundry today, I did manage to get one thing done.  Nothing spectacular or creatively fulfilling, but much-needed.  Remember this?

Well, now it looks like this:

Hey!  Who the heck left that water stain on it?  Anyway, I made another ironing board cover and also had to replace the quilted lining as it was as flat as the proverbial pancake from all the ironing.  So, taaaadaaaah!  If I can get a year and a half out of this one, too I will be pretty satisfied! 

 

I need to make a list I suppose of some of my ideas and try to get a grip.  I made these little guys last year...

... but they need some company.  I'm dying to make these pretty little babies - I just need to find some luscious silk velvet.

I bought more fabric and trim the other day.  I've been breaking the rule - "Don't buy more fabric until you sew with what ya got".  It's fabric - I don't need to explain myself here, do I?  Yeah, I didn't think so.  I've got several dresses and skirts I would like to make, as well as a new table runner, a banner, and baby girl's quilt.  See what I mean?  Another little sigh...

I'm off to make that list now!  Have a wonderful Sunday!

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Way down yonder in the pumpkin patch...

I decided to get a little farmin' done this week and grew myself some pumpkins!  These are fun, easy, and can be made to match any room in the house!

There are many ways to make these little (or big) cuties but I decided to make mine from rectangles of material using tutorials from Martha and the Thompson Family-Life blogs.  The pink and white pumpkins were made from a single-knit fabric which I found to be nice to work with.  

The stems were made from a brown, satin material although you can't really see the sheen in these photos too well.  I hand-stitched the stems to the pumpkins.  The "tendrils" were made by wrapping grosgrain ribbon around a wooden dowel rod.  I then baked them in the oven for 25 minutes at 275 degrees.  I opted to hot glue the tendrils to the pumpkins and they looked just as nice.

These pumpkins sit atop my kitchen table and I think I will make a few more for the living room, too.

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Happy Fall, Y'all!

The weather around here was absolutely perfect all weekend.  Perfect for high school football games, perfect for yard work, perfect for Fall decorating, perfect for pork chops, sweet potatoes, and stuffing, and (taking a breath) perfect for baking pumpkin bread!  Perfect.

And I did all of that this weekend, and then some!  It just had that Fall feeling - crisp air and cool breezes.  So I climbed up in the attic and hauled down my five crates of Halloween and Fall decorations.  Sounds like plenty, right?  Not nearly.  When I start pulling it all out I think, "Man, where is this gonna go?"  But after I spread a little here and a little there - it looks sparse.  I wonder if I can convince the local Hobby Lobby that because of that, they should donate a bunch more!  Ha!

So, I started with my little buffet in the kitchen and tried to do something different than last year.  Not sure if I did, but I like it just the same.

I kept my pink runner.  Pink looks great with orange and yellow for Halloween (to me, anyway!)  I added some black with this cake stand and neat companions.  They both say "Happy" on one side and either "Halloween" or "Haunting" on the other side.  Fun to be able to switch up.

Remember this little house that I decorated last year?  In case you didn't know, I LOVE glitter.  And, I haven't spent any time with it lately.  I hear it crying in the closet.  "Don't worry - Momma's coming baby glitter!" *snicker*

I was also able to put some orange lights and garland of leaves over my front door and some of my lighted pumpkins.  I just love this time of year!  I'm happy that most of my decorations last for two months!  I'm glad you stopped by and I would love to hear if you, too have been decorating for the Fall season!

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Caramel Apples!

Why did I wait sooooo long to make caramel apples?  It has been years!  Remember the Caramel Wraps? I'm sure they still make them. Those were awesome - and so easy!

I saw the Kraft Caramel Bits at the grocery store the other day and thought my youngest kids would just love them.  Well, they weren't all that impressed but I had much fun making them and it brought back fond memories.  Anyway, they looked pretty on the plate.  My oldest daughter I shared one.  Yummo!

My friend, Harriet and I tested out the masks.  Pretty spooky, huh!  HA!  Have a safe and Happy Halloween everybody!

Mona

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