Weekending | Thanksgiving Finds

November 17, 2018 by laura Leave a Comment

We won the Thanksgiving hosting lottery in my family! You know when another member of the family offers to host! We are in for an appetizer and mashed potatoes. I am bringing this appetizer. I made this cheeseball twice in October for a Wine & Witches party and happy hour. Don’t let the name fool you; this is not your mom’s 1970’s cheeseball. The cheese ball was hacked into before a blog-worthy photo! Does that ever happen to you when making new recipes that you want to share on your blogs?

What are your plans for Thanksgiving? This weekending is all about Thanksgiving finds around the internet and blog feeds.

What activities are you planning for the days after Thanksgiving?

Weekending | Thanksgiving Finds

I loved this funny article about what happens when a family member hijacks a Thanksgiving tradition.

Looking for a way to entertain the family member and guests before Thanksgiving dinner? Check out this list of ideas.

Have you seen this at your local Costco bakery? I love Costco’s pies! But I don’t about this find.

Want to try a new dessert for Thanksgiving? Check out this list!

Did you see what I did to my fall mantel? It’s my favorite mantel scape.

Happy Thanksgiving! How many of you set up your Christmas trees?

Autumn Mantel for Thanksgiving

November 14, 2018 by laura 2 Comments

Quick question: do you say fall or autumn? In a conversation I say fall, but when I write I prefer to use the word autumn.

It makes me sound smarter. I feel like I have not settled into the Thanksgiving season. Why? because I continue to buy pumpkins everytime I run into the store for milk or creamer. It’s ironic my kids’ favorite book was Too Many Pumpkins, written by Linda White. In my little world, there is no such thing as too many pumpkins. Oh, coincidentally the author, Linda White, lives in Colorado.

Too Many Pumpkins was my youngest son’s favorite book during fall… I mean Autumn.

I justify the costs of pumpkins because they are in season from September -Thanksgiving. Pumpkins get way more attention than the Easter Bunny who is precariously squeezed between St. Patrick’s Day and Memorial Weekend.

But with manic pumpkin purchase frenzy, there is one space that is the same year after year. The mantel in our family room. It is the seasonal anchor and sets the tone for the rest of the house.

The family room mantel always offers a proper welcome. It’s the feature wall for the main level of our home. The mantel during Autumn is the one constant, year after year. It is familiar.

The Welcome Home sign is the year-round staple. It’s on the mantel for every season and holiday.

I ordered it online last year and it was love at first sight.

And the rest of the autumn mantel goes like this…

Lights, garland, faux pumpkins, wreath, lantern. Repeat. The last step is crucial because it bulks up the mantel with layers of pumpkins and lanterns and garland and more pumpkins.

May you all find that moment to capture the spirit of Thanksgiving. So before you carve up the turkey, try and carve out a little time for thanks.

Porch & Patio | A Basic Bench Extends the Season

November 13, 2018 by laura 2 Comments

With shorter days and cooler nights, the days feel busier. Do you feel it? The calendar is filling up and errands are the bookends to most of my days. This time of year there are more leaves on the ground than on the branches.

This time of year in Denver we can have a 60-degree day and wake up the next morning to snow.

After an early snow in Denver, we had both leaves and branches on our back porch. #ohsnap

But on the days I work from home I love to just look out onto our back patio. And, our bench; a basic bench that eventually found a home outside reminded me to slow down.

And what felt like a moment of buyer’s regret turned into a perfect little space outside on our patio.

I love benches because they are there to carry the weight of the day (literally and figuratively).

When we FINALLY updated our backyard last year we added a fire pit. This season I have a few ideas I found here to pull this space together and enjoy the patio (and the bench) for a few more weeks.

On my list to extend the season:

oversized pillows
wool blankets
lanterns
rug

Yep, a basic bench reminded me to slow down and enjoy the season.

How do you extend the outdoor porch and patio when the temperatures dip?

Weekending | Thinking Outside the Box

October 28, 2018 by laura Leave a Comment

It happened. Somewhere between seventh grade and ninth grade. My kids stopped running around the neighborhood, ringing doorbells and asking for candy on Halloween.

We closed the October tradition of lamenting over costumes, repurposing boxes and last minute trips to Walmart for a $7.00 sweatshirt. #goodtimes.

This photo was the year we hosted both my boys’ friends for a night of pizza, candy and trick or treating. My son was less than thrilled with a last minute costume when the weather turned to a night of freezing temps and drizzle.

Any guesses what my son is doing (besides pouting)?

Thinking outside the box.

I served ghost donuts. That’s right I didn’t have to bake, I just took them out (side) of the box.

My son was so happy to wear this last minute costume when the weather dropped 40 degrees from the day before Halloween.

From this picture my son looks like he is pouting, but my answer to the question on the box is “thinking outside the box.”

My husband and I attended a few costume parties with our version of Walter White & Lydia Rodarte-Quayle from Breaking Bad.

It is one of the few photos where I was thrilled my son’s photography skills were so rough. Why? Because my husband was wearing white briefs behind that apron.

Oh yes he did!

With my youngest in high school, I decided to create a few new Halloween traditions; something just for moms. Costumes optional, but witches hats encouraged.

Wine & Witches Party

The theme took off with friends bringing witches and wine theme napkins and towels!

I served this appetizer minus the bacon. It was easy and delicious.

Costumes optional, witch hats encouraged. Just thinking outside the box as we look forward to new traditions.

Last Minute Halloween Donuts

October 27, 2018 by laura 2 Comments

The last week of October is packed with work commitments, social events, and school-related deadlines. With a few Halloween parties on the calendar, I pulled out this fun donut treat. Every year, I plan to find some over the top Halloween dessert. And, every year I decide it is not worth $40 + to attempt to make that will have a lifespan of four minutes. And, that’s where these fun donut treats remove the cost and pressure to create Halloween treats.

These Halloween donuts are fun and easy AND guaranteed to get a reaction from the crowd… even a crowd of teenage boys.

I made these last minute Halloween donuts for my sons and their friends.

The best part? All you need are donut holes and a tube of icing or icing gel.

If you buy the donut holes in the plastic containers in the bakery they are $3.49 or you can head towards the English muffins and buy the Hostess bag of cake donuts for $1.99. Halloween cupcake liners served as a plate/napkin for the donuts.

The liners kind of contained the powdered sugar, but the cupcake liners provide one brief layer of protection from sticky hands. I can not stand to have sticky fingers.

So easy. No cleanup. No sticky counters.

Happy Halloween! Hope these Halloween Donuts show up in your kitchen!

Painted Glass Accessories are a Game Changer

October 26, 2018 by laura 3 Comments

Paint is more multi-purpose than we thought. It turns out it is a multi-parts of speech word. But don’t share this with your linguist friends or you may end up in a debate vortex. Is that where the name of the national club, Speech & Debate originated? I’ll leave you with that as we turn back to the paint. The bigger discovery is how painted glass accessories are a game changer for craft enthusiasts and grandma.

I use the word accessories loosely because paint is a game changer for jelly jars and Costco size pickle jars. I saved a few glass pint size glass milk jars from Sprouts. White spray painted bottles against a dark backdrop. The glass bottles look so regal!

Paint is a universal solution and likely a form of therapy for many.

At my house, the paint was a game changer for the 12 + glass pumpkins stored in a closet 10.5 months out of every year.

I was this ———- close to donating my assortment of small and large size glass pumpkins.

I bought them when a national candle chain went out of business years ago.

Every year, I haul them but the glass pumpkins and glass accessories, in general, were hard to showcase.

Does that make sense?

It might explain why the candle store went out of business.

They even have a place for a votive candle in the back.

Because I had over a dozen glass pumpkins I was willing to sacrifice one for the purpose of the brush vs. spray paint application.

I preferred the ease of spray paint. But, the paintbrush strokes accented the grooves on the pumpkins.

Just make sure you either prime the glass or use a primer + paint.

The painted glass makes for unlimited colors. options and techniques.

With the white paint, the pumpkins popped against my Hale Navy dining room wall.

And the white pumpkins look amazing against my living room hutch.

Stay tuned for the latest living room hutch. That hutch has had its share of makeovers this year.

I live vicariously thru my hutch.

Now is the time to run thru your house and pull out the glass jars you saved for some future project and have a little fun with paint.

I would love to see an assortment of painted, upcycled glass jars. How cool would that look against a dark background?

What do you think?

Sharing:

DIY by Design

Knick of Time

Marilyn’s Treats

My Husband Has too Many Hobbies

Our Hopeful Home

Refresh Restyle

Rustic & Refined

Twigs & Branches Centerpiece

October 25, 2018 by laura 6 Comments

It was the best (my first) curbside find the day I asked an arborist to help me parallel park my car in Denver. I didn’t actually have him park my car. I just needed some eyes on the curb and hand signals. Once parked I asked the arborist about the stack of twigs and branches next to the curb. Before I could finish my offer to take some of the branches, his crew was loading the twigs and branches into the back of my car. The leaves and bugs were included.

He asked me what I was going to do with them.

I told him I didn’t have a clue…

but, I would figure it out.

Which is basically my motto in life.

With a car full of twigs and branches and bugs I was on a mission to get home and spend time on Pinterest.

Well, the other thing about me is I stink at crafts. I don’t have the patience or the discipline to follow the directions. I take shortcuts. And, with my vision of a twigs and branches centerpiece, I made shortcuts. Get it?

And, then I went with the circle theme and layered the branches on a round cardboard form to form a centerpiece.

It was a glue gun and layers of sliced branches.

My first plan was to layer berries and twigs, but then I remember the stash of preserved boxwood wreaths.

I love to use a small boxwood wreath to layer and stack candles during the holidays.

This twigs and branches centerpiece was taking shape.

I added my favorite mini candle to pull the centerpiece together.

This upcycled centerpiece, made from Denver’s tree branches is ready for the holidays.

Sharing

Inspire Me Monday #200

October 22, 2018 by laura 1 Comment

INSPIRE ME MONDAY #200

Woohoo! Inspire me Monday celebrates 200 link parties!

Welcome to Inspire Me Monday 200

Thank you for joining in the fun! Inspire Me Link celebrates it’s 200th party this week!

Before linking & leaving we would love for you to visit at least one other link and comment. Comments make everyone’s day.

Inspire Me Monday 200 Favorites

Last’ week’s most popular link was #112. Which happened to be one of my favorites too!

Karissa over at a Fresh Start on a Budget

had me at clutter! Check out Karissa’s suggestions to clear the clutter.

More than 80 things you should throw out that are just clutter. Getting rid of clutter will help you get more organized and have a clean home

I had a few favorites too!

I love this glass vignette by mary over at the Boondocks Blog. She has great examples of how to style bookshelves for fall!

Chasing Quaintness shared how to increase your home’s curb appeal.

Debra shared a great furniture makeover.

Tracey over at the Kitchen is my Playground shared this recipe. It looks amazing. If you need inspiration spend some time on her blog!

IF YOU WERE FEATURED PLEASE GRAB A BUTTON & SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA.

WE LOVE TO GROW THE INSPIRE ME MONDAY PARTY.

Here are your hosts for the Inspire Me Monday Link Party 200:

FAMILY FRIENDLY POSTS PLEASE. LINK UP HERE.

Girly Pumpkins

October 18, 2018 by laura 2 Comments

Every year I try something a little different with what I call my stock pumpkins. You know the reusable pumpkins that act as filler around the house. I love my every growing collection of pumpkins and each year I try to add a little twist. This year I decided to play with leftover paint, tulle ribbon and faux fur from this project. And, with leftover scraps, I finally created girly pumpkins for mom.

The tulle ribbon was upcycled from gift wrap bows, stashed in a box in the basement. And, the faux fur scraps were on hold just waiting for a new purpose. I thought about making a Game of Thrones pumpkin dressed in a faux fur vest.

But instead, I upcycled the faux scraps and used them to add a little spunk to my pumpkins.

This one makes me smile every time I walk into my office. It’s cute and unexpected. I mean who puts

faux fur on a faux pumpkin? This mom!

I added paint, tulle and beaded wire for this pumpkin. They are perfect for my office which needs a little more spunk!

Here’s my most recent office update.

And, of course, I have to add a little (Hale) Navy in my house! Upcycle those craft supplies ladies (ande guys) you never know when a faux fur scrap will top off a pumpkin!