Taking a Breather

When I saw this picture, I knew I had to borrow it because it fit my thoughts exactly. I am going to take a little breather and let life happen. There is much going on in my life right now and I need some time to just let it happen. But rest assured, I am thinking about the rest of the things I want to do for Halloween and my decorating. I will do them...just not sure when. You will be the first to know. Please stay tuned!

All Is Right With the World

What a wonderful weekend we had! Lots of family fun...and the Gators beat UAB to boot! Olivia is turning 10 today and wanted to have her family celebration at our house this weekend. It is super hard to plan much in this family during the fall because it has to fit around the Gator football schedule. This weekend was a home game and everyone was going to be in town-yeah!

Liv decided she wanted to do a 50s theme and her mom - my oldest daughter - outdid herself once again...right down to Liv's older sister wearing an old diner waitress costume and serving us all diner style. The menu consisted of hamburgers, hot dogs, REAL french fries, chili, pimento cheese spread and crackers, some crudite for the vegetarians in the group, Coke in bottles and 3 flavors of homemade milkshakes. The little kids were in heaven - as were some of the big kids too!

The birthday girl enjoying her chocolate-Oreo shake!


Olivia and her older sister, Caitlin, who served as our waitress. Mom kept her running with shouts of "order up" coming from the kitchen.



The table centerpieces were filled with 50s candy and the favors were old fashioned Coke glasses filled with said candy - another heavenly moment for the little ones. Even Presley (who is only 2 ) caught on to those candy dots in a flash and devoured a strip before you could blink! If you notice the Happy Birthday banner hanging in these pictures, Kris made it from some of her old 45s. It was fun to check the back of the records and make note of the songs and artists.

We all had a wonderful time helping Olivia celebrate her first decade and then snuck in a little Grandparent's Day celebration as well. A fun time was had by all and another memory filled weekend is in the memory book!

I've Been Busy!

Since I've got so much coming up. I just had to get started on my Halloween crafting. Everyone will be here this weekend so I thought it might be a good time to present this year's gifts because my girls are all "early decorators" like me.

I actually tracked down the witch society picture that has been everywhere on Pinterest and I purchased the download. As you can see, I have used it in 2 ways so far-the decoupaged picture and just a framed photo. I love it! The decoupaged picture was a many stepped process, but I am happy with the way they turned out. Half the battle is always just finding all of the supplies!


Then, also on Pinterest (I think), I saw some old moldings turned into wall hooks. They were distressed and craggy and the black one immediately made me think of Halloween and how cute the witch photo would be hanging on it -does anyone else's mind work like that? But, I digress!I had all intentions of finding old, actual lock hardware, but time prohibited that, so I remembered my new Tim Holtz die and the lock on it served the purpose. I just put together different sized wood and molding, painted, distressed and embellished. I think it will look nice.

I also whipped up some skull frames. I just downloaded the picture from Graphics Fairy, printed on a dictionary page and framed with a $ store frame. They were a bit plain for me, so I purchased some Jolees embellishments and it gave me just the pop of color I was looking for.

Now that I am breathing a little more easily with gifts off of my plate, I am compiling the list of things I still want to make for my house this year. The "Dead & Breakfast" sign is number one! It has been on my list ever since I first saw it and this is the year. It is a big project requiring many power tools - yeah! Now, my house has to be decorated by Oct. 1 for the grandkid weekend and we will be gone much of the time between then and now, so I may not have it done by then but it will definitely be ready by the time the trick-or-treaters are ringing the bell this year! Stay tuned.

Oh yes, see that wonderful picture of Poe? It is going to pop up somewhere, some way...just not sure how just yet!

Lest I Forget

Even though I never need reminding that this is my FAVORITE season of the year, I happened upon two things that I had downloaded during the summer and then forgot I had. Thought I might as well finish them off as they are both "no brainers".

I found the banner download at Penniwigs. I simply printed it and then bordered the letters with an orange and a rust background. I think it gave them a bit more of a presence. Then I punched the holes and strung on some rustic twine. I actually wanted to do a bit of embellishing but I have too much going on this week to drag out a lot of supplies so I was a bit reluctant to do so and then when I saw it like this, I decided that "less is more".


I also found this fabulous fall print somewhere on the internet, but so long ago that I don't remember where. I will try to search for it and let you know if I find the source. I simply put it in a frame I had and propped it on the table by the front door.

The next few weeks are going to be very busy-including some travels. I will be looking for my "fall fix" along the way and let you know what I find. And, when I return, it will be Halloween in my house-stay tuned.

What Has Come Over Me?

I told you I wasn't a "summer" kind of girl. As soon as my house is decorated for autumn my mind starts processing all things fall. It truly doesn't matter that it is still in the 80s outside...I suddenly think of warm, cozy autumnal things and soup is always right up there on the list.

I posted that I made a tomato-roasted red pepper soup last week. It reminded me how much I love to make soup not to mention the fact that it makes many brainless meals after it has been done and "what are we having for dinner?" is one of my least favorite things to hear in the whole world! It's too much pressure and even though I love good food, I would usually rather spend my time doing something more fun than cooking. I like cooking O.K., but I would so much rather be crafting, gardening, sewing, decorating or spending time with my family!

So the bug got me again today and I figured why not? I would make another big pot of soup and we would live on it for the rest of this week. Only problem with that is that I made one of my all-time favorites and I could literally sit with the pot and eat until I fall over!

This is a pot of Vegetable Soup with Vermicelli from Martha's cookbook "Entertaining". I not only love that cookbook but I love that recipe. I make it more often than any other soup. I love pasta, so I always add more vermicelli than called for and hence, I always have to add more stock so that there is a hint of liquid in the soup. I also use almost all vegetable stock (it calls for chicken) with just a touch of chicken for some body. I am not much of a salt person, but this soup needs a fairly good amount to bring out all of the other flavors. It is made with extra virgin olive oil and lots of fresh veggies so it is relatively good for you-if I could eat a bowl without having a huge hunk of buttered bread in my other hand for dunking.

Since I have "pinned" so many soup ideas, I think I am going to start trying one new recipe a week. I'll let you know what I find out there. Stay tuned.

More Small Glimpses of Autumn

I'm sure those of you familiar with my house are saying "wow, where did that room come from?". You caught me. That beautiful room isn't in my house-it is on one of my Pinterest boards. I "pinned" it because after moving some things around in my living room, I was at a bit of a loss as to what to use on my sofa table.

This is what the table looks like now and I think it is very disjointed. I don't like the look of all the things in a row even though I have been seeing that look in high end decorating. I have decided that even though I don't own a long trough like the one above, I could certainly make one rather easily. I'm just going to nail some 1X6s together and stain it. After all, the box isn't the focal point and most of these things are old, so perfection doesn't prevail.

I may not get to it until I am putting up my Thanksgiving stuff, but it IS on my list and you'll be the first to see it, I promise. Since I use most of my faux pumpkins and gourds on my "abundance" mantle, I will need to keep my eyes open for some good sales before November rolls around.

I love this pumpkin tureen. I bought it at a country store several years ago and use it every time we eat soup this time of year. It somehow just makes it taste better. We'll be using it tonight as I made a big pot of homemade tomato-roasted red pepper soup yesterday to take over to my daughter's house. She made caprese paninis to add to it and dinner was delicious. Even Presley who is only 2 loved this soup. Because we were celebrating my son-in-law's birthday, I also made a pan of Congo bars and another pan of Paula Deen's brownies. It was the first time I made that Congo bar recipe and they were just O.K., but Paula's brownies are to die for. I only make them for other people and I ALWAYS leave the whole batch with them because they are just what you would think of when you think of Paula Deen-decadent eating!

I found these votives last year at Big Lots. I don't really like that store but I will check it out certain times of the years to see what they have and when I found these mercury glass votives in both green and orange for just $1 each, I bought every one they had. It's hard to tell, but they're quite a bit larger than a regular votive holder. I can use one or the other almost every season or holiday all year long-love it when that happens!

Here's my old, faithful sugar mold sitting on a runner I bought a long time ago that really is nothing more than silk leaves glued on a backing. It would have been so easy to make, but I was still teaching, sewing, raising kids, etc. back then, so purchasing fit the bill just fine!

Can you believe even some silly new dish towels can get me smiling. I have several other new ones that have leaves but somehow this graphic pumpkin really makes me happy!

Lastly, this is an Indian corn tureen I made MANY years ago when I was doing ceramics. If I remember correctly, I also made a matching set of corn dishes and salt and pepper shakers-haven't a clue where they have made their way to and I almost didn't even unpack this guy this year, but then I remembered how long it took to not only paint each corn kernel a different color but to paint each one 3 times as you have to do with ceramics. After all the time it took to make, I really should set up a little shrine for it and display it ALL YEAR LONG.

And now for my reminder that pride always goeth before a fall...well, you get the idea. When I was gloating the other day about all of my found time I should have known it would come back to bite me and bite it did. When I ran out to get the mail and my shutters had dried from my cleaning, they were even more faded than before-the strong bleach water probably didn't help much, but I digress. So, I ended my evening on Wednesday by repainting all of the shutters on the front of my house. It really feels good to have it done, but I wasn't feeling that was while I was climbing up and down the ladder and struggling with large bushes and vines!

I have been out doing some errands so that I am ready to go full steam ahead on my Halloween gifts and decorations-even think I have talked my husband into letting me make the "Dead and Breakfast" yard sign I have been wanting-so stay tuned!