In His Grip

Picture Perfect Interiors -- Giveaway

Brenda Freebern, owner of Picture Perfect Interiors is the very first designer I ever worked for. Twenty one years ago Stitches By Sturman was just starting out and she found my business card in the first model home I had ever done window treatments in.  Being new to the home design industry, I was excited to be working for a "real" designer and one that I would receive repeat business from as well.  She and I have been working together very since.   Right now she is holding a giveaway for this fabulous holiday floral arrangement.  All you have to do for your first entry is go the Picture Perfect Interior Facebook page and "Like" Picture Perfect Interiors.  For an addition entry into the giveaway, you can "share" this post and then go back to Picture Perfect Interiors Facebook and comment letting them know that you have shared the post.  Easy peasy.  Good luck.  You might also want to stop by Picture Perfect at 119th and Blackbob Road in Olathe, Kansas, they have some wonderful holiday items as well as a full service design staff.  

 

Funfetti Sandwich Cookies

Funfetti cookies have become my family's favorite. Not only are they easy to make, all you do is use a Funfetti cake mix, add 1/3 cup of oil, and two eggs, but they are good, good, good.  At first all I did was frost the top and add sprinkles and then I got to thinking if one Funfetti cookie at a time is good, two at a time has got to be fabulous.  The idea of Funfetti sandwich cookies was born.  Since this new inspiration, I make two batches at a time in order to make sandwiches.  I frost the wrong side of one cookie and then place another on top, smooshing slightly so the frosting oozes out and lastly roll in sprinkles.  These are so good and there are Funfetti cakes mixes for every holiday. That means Funfetti cookies all year long, yeah!  

Here are couple of need to know tips.  If you use two cake mixes, you will use all of two cans of frosting.  I put the frosting in an icing bag and use a huge tip making for a much faster frosting process.  You will use a whole jar of sprinkles as well.  You may as well buy two jars because you would hate to run out, at least that what I always do and you can never have too many sprinkles, right?

See, don't these cookies just make you happy whatever the season.  I am already keeping my eyes out for the Christmas Funfetti cake mixes to come out in the grocery stores soon. Yes, I will buy several so if the store nearest you is out, I just may have been there before you :o)

Three Word Thursday

Outside my door . . .

Baby Gifts -- More Hats

This is what has been keeping me busy over the last week. I have once again been making baby gifts and this time it happens to be for a couple of little girls.The light pink hat is for the new baby Reese and the hot pink one is for the big sister.  I learned how to  make these hats last year and you can see the others that I have made here.   Because they have been such a big hit with the little people, I just keep finding reasons to make them and my friends keep having babies.  The pattern that I use can be purchased on esty at RAKJ Patterns.  She has some other great designs as well.  But I have to say the owl is my favorite.

I am participating in the following link ups:  Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff,Boogiboard Cottage, Its So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Today's Creative Blog,Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, The Tablescaper, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter,Itsy Bitsy Paper, So Much Ado, One Tough Mother, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Handy Man, Crafting Woman, Women Who Do It All, Seven Thrity-three, Someday Crafts, Tea Rose Home. Lil' Luna, Momma Hen Scoop, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Sommewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Momnivore's Dilemma, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home,Truly Lovely, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Someday Crafts, Passionately Artistic, Goodbye city, Hello suburbs, Handy Man, Crafty Woman

Three Word Thursday

Before and after :o)

Trick or Treat Banner -- Free for the Printing

Here is a Trick or Treat banner that I created for some Halloween events that Indian Creek Community Church will be putting on through out our community on the 31st. The idea is to  "live out" the love of Christ in our neighborhood by having a great trick or treat house that not only passes out candy but is there to greet folks and have a great time.  Each house participating will be giving away a $25 gift card to Amazon.  The house events range from giving out candy along with some kind of raffle for the gift card, to having the TV outside on the driveway so that the Dad's trick or treating can get an update on the game.  Some folks will have their fire pits in the driveway and offer fixings to make s'mores and hot coco.   We wanted to make a banner for folks to download and print that they can hang from the porch, garage, etc.  You can access the file here print and hang the banner in your house.  There are two sizes.  The large size has each candy corn printed on an 8 x10 sheet of card stock and ends up being approximately 100" long with the candy corns 10" high.  

The small size prints two candy corns per page and ends up measuring around 50" with each candy corn 6" high.  

These Halloween events are not so much about the day itself, but giving each of us the opportunity to get to know those we actually live around.  Halloween is the only day of the year that it is expect to ring every doorbell in our neighborhood and people not only smile but give us a treat.  Let's make our houses a welcoming place and one that folks just might want to hang out for a while and get to know each other.  Happy trick or treating!

Participating in: The Thirfty Home, Blue Cricket Design, My Grilish Whims, Sew Much Ado, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Passionately Artistic, Someday Crafts, Momma Hens Coop, Seven Thrity Three, Sweetpeas and BumbleBee, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Somewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales from Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Monivore's Dilemma, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home, Finding Fabulous, Its Fun to Craft, The Shabby Nest

Autumn Wreath

A couple of weeks ago  I went with my daughter Lindsey to a craft night that she and her friends do about once a month.  This time they were making wreaths.  You can read more about how they plan this event over at Just Paint it Pink Lindsey's new and fabulous blog.  I have really come to like this whole burlap look that is out everywhere and again with my fall decorations taking on a more natural look this year I thought that a burlap wreath would be in order.  And yes, if you don't visit my blog often, that is a hot pink front door and you can read more about how that came to be here.

I started with a straw wreath and wrapped it with 1 1/2" strips of burlap overlapping as I went.  You will need to put hot glue every so often to keep the wrap in place.  

I purchased an "S" initial and wrapped it with jute, also hot gluing as I went in keep the jute in place.  

Because I wanted the "S" to be a contrast color and could not find a color that I liked in jute, of course, I decided to paint it.  The color I used was soft black.  This is a super color because it is almost black, but is also almost brown.  Love it!

Using some scraps of silk that I had in my studio I made some twisted flowers and then attached some of the thousands of buttons that are hanging around here too.

Shopping around this fall I found this six inch wide burlap ribbon and purchased a couple of rolls.  I have no idea what I will be doing with it but figured that it would make a perfect bow to top off my burlap wreath.

I am participating in the following link ups:

Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff,Boogiboard Cottage, Its So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Today's Creative Blog,Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, The Tablescaper, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter,Itsy Bitsy Paper, So Much Ado, One Tough Mother, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Handy Man, Crafting Woman, Women Who Do It All, Seven Thrity-three, Someday Crafts, Tea Rose Home. Lil' Luna, Momma Hen Scoop, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Sommewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Momnivore's Dilemma, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home,Truly Lovely, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Someday Crafts, Passionately Artistic, Goodbye city, Hello suburbs, Handy Man, Crafty Woman

 

Three Word Thursday

Feeling very blessed . . .

Creme Brulee French Toast

On Monday mornings for years now I have attended a women's bible study.  I look forward to spending time with like minded women in order to grow in our faith together.  Women getting together in the morning would not be any fun unless we shared treats as well as some great coffee.  This week was my turn to bring something to share in the treat department so I decided to bring my Creme Brulee French Toast.  I found this recipe on allrecipes.com some time ago and it has become one of our family favorites.  This is a great recipe that you prepare the night before and then just stick it in the oven in the morning.  Needless to say, this is a recipe that we often have on Christmas morning, or other holidays when little preparation in the morning is what a gal needs.  Several of the gals asked me to post the recipe on my blog so here it is:

Creme Burlee French Toast

1/2 cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons corn syrup

French bread slices to fill the bottom of baking dish

5 eggs

1 1/2 cups half & half

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon brandy-based orange liqueur (Grand Marnier)

1/4 teaspoon salt

 

1.  Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Mix in brown sugar and corn syrup, stirring until sugar is dissolved.  Pour into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

2.  Arrange bread in the baking dis in a single layer.  In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, half & half, vanilla, orange brandy and salt.  Pour over the bread.  Cover and chill at least 8 hours or overnight.  

3.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Remove the dish from the refrigerator, and bring to room tempature. 

4.  Bake uncovered 35 to 40 minutes, until puffy and lightly browned.  

 

 

Book Pumpkins

I found a tutorial on line to make pumpkins out of old books.  Creations By Kara has a great step by step instructions on how to make these lovely little beauties.  They really are easy and everyone has old paperbacks hanging around, why not make them into these cute decorations? I found that the fatter the book the fuller the pumpkin.  I used scissors to cut the pumpkin shape but I think that a box cutter would make for more uniform pages and you would less likely make the shape bigger as you go as I actually did on both and then had to do some trimming in the end.  I really like how they turned out and may be making some more soon.  

I am participating in the following link ups:  Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff,Boogiboard Cottage, Its So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Today's Creative Blog,Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, The Tablescaper, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter, Itsy Bitsy Paper, So Much Ado, One Tough Mother, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Handy Man, Crafting Woman, Women Who Do It All, Seven Thrity-three, Someday Crafts, Tea Rose Home. Lil' Luna, Momma Hen Scoop, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Sommewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Momnivore's Dilemma, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home, Truly Lovely, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest

Three Word Thursday

Camping family fun!

Mossy Twig Jar Candle

Spending time in the north woods always inspires me to do some thing creative with the things that I find outdoors.  In the woods near my Mom's home there is an abundance of mossy twigs.  I have always loved the way that the moss grows and makes the branches of the trees look like they have a fine lace hanging from them.  Again, with the fall decor in my home this season taking on a more natural look I thought I could use these twigs to make a jar candle that I will use on the table in the dinning room.  

I collected a bunch of branches covered in the lacy moss making sure I had a variety of size twigs to be able to cover the jar.

Using a jar from a jar candle, I began hot gluing the twigs to the jar being sure to cover the area completely.  When the twigs did not fit close enough to cover the glass, I just took some of the really fine ones and glue them in to fit.  

This is a perfect addition to my natural dinning room table decor.  Adding a candle to it so that the light shines through the small spaces looks so good.  I wish I would have made several sizes, but this is the only one that I made.  Shoot, I guess that I will have to go back to the north woods to make a whole display of these.

I am participating in the following link ups: Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff,Boogiboard Cottage, Its So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings,Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, Keeping It Simple, Today's Creative Blog, Somewhat Simple