Magazine Page Bows

Discovered a new favorite thing to do for decorating a present - making bows out of magazine pages...love!  Once I got the hang of it they are super easy and quick to make.

I know this idea has been around a long time, but it's new to me... my mom always wrapped our presents in newspaper and comics, I'm wondering why she never made these bows - it would have been perfect (and inexpensive!) and she could have got us to make them for her haha. I'm bummed to find out I was deprived of this awesome project as a child :)

Start by cutting a magazine page into 3/4" strips, you'll need 9 total. Leave 3 of them the full size (mine are 10 1/2" long), cut 3 of them to 9 1/2" long, 2 of them 8 1/2" long, and one 3 1/2" long.

 You should have:
3 - 10 1/2" x 3/4"
3 -   9 1/2" x 3/4"
2 -   8 1/2" x 3/4"
1 -   3 1/2" x 3/4"

Twist each strip (except the shortest one) so it has a loop on each end. This step is what took me a minute to figure out - it's almost like making a figure 8. Play with it looking at my picture and you'll get the hang of it. Staple it in the center. Shape the shortest strip into a circle and hold with a glue dot or double sided tape.

 This is what you'll have when they are all formed into the loops and circle.

Space the largest 3 on top of each other evenly like flower petals and staple to hold. Repeat with the next 3, and the remaining 2. This gives you 3 bundles. I used glue dots to then stick the 3 layers together but you could also staple or use double sided tape. Add the circle to the center of the "petals". There you go - magazine bow!

Provençal Summer Vegetable Bake

Layers of sliced summer squash, potatoes and tomatoes over a bed of white beans, topped with crumbled cheese - I found this recipe in an old Family Circle (click for recipe) magazine and it's really good. I do it a little differently from the original recipe omitting the called for eggplant (I don't love eggplant) and onion (my husband doesn't like onion) and I don't think it's missing either of those ingredients - it's very flavorful and pretty! It also calls for herbes de provence which is a mixture of dried herbs that you can make yourself or buy in the spice section at the grocery store (I bought it in a jar and had no problem finding it), if you don't have it or want to buy it I think this would taste just fine without it - add salt and pepper to taste and maybe a sprinkling of any kinds of herbs you happen to have - thyme, rosemary, etc. I served it on the side with grilled chicken - it would taste good with lots of different meats and could also be served alone since it has the beans for a protein. Usually I slice all of these by hand but I'm still learning how to use all the attachments on my food processor so decided to play with the slicing disk and it worked great - saved some time and made everything more uniform for sure. It works just fine slicing by hand tho, don't let that stop you from making this! It's a good one - enjoy!

the magazine shows these arranged in overlapping layers, I stand
 them up alternating veggies and like how it looks...

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

I have very nice neighbors that did me a favor so I decided to make them cookies as a thank you. I've been reading about Betty Crocker Pumpkin Spice cookie mix - it's a limited edition flavor that's apparently hard to find and people are raving about how delish they are...well I was in the grocery store the other day and they had a few so I bought 4 - if it's not as good as the hype then I'm stuck with 3 packages haha! I made them according to the package directions but frosted them with homemade cream cheese frosting and sprinkled with pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon or nutmeg would work good too). I thought they were pretty good before frosting, not sure I would hunt all over trying to find the mix - but adding the frosting took them to yummy and I will definitely make them again!  I got a big thumbs up from the neighbors so it seems they were a good thank you gift :)

To make the frosting:

In a mixer beat together 8 oz softened cream cheese, 1 stick of softened unsalted butter, a pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 3 cups of powdered sugar until smooth and spreadable - if it's too soft add additional sugar to firm it up.

Note: don't add salt if you are using salted butter. To soften butter in the microwave I cut in pieces and put in microwave safe bowl, microwave at 50% power for 1 minute. You don't want to melt the butter though so watch it - the size of your microwave might change the time it takes to soften.

Crocheted Beanie for B

As predicted, here is a post about the beanie that I made for Brooke to wear Halloween night - this hat works up pretty quickly (don't tell her that, I made it seem like I stayed up nights working on it for her haha) and is a simple pattern. I've changed the pattern a bit of course -  I like it longer than what the instructions are, sometimes I change it up by doing a different stitch for a few rows, I usually add a pompom (seems everyone wants a pompom on theirs!), and I use a size I hook and whatever yarn I feel like. I've made a few of these hats lately, every time I make one I get another request for one so it's keeping me busy crocheting - which I love and am happy to do!

I don't have a picture of Brooke wearing her hat, but here it is on my "model"...

Corn Husk Wrapped Candles

 Love this for an easy quick fall decorating idea:

•  moisten corn husks so they are pliable - I put them in a bowl of water for a minute then dried them. They aren't as fragile when damp and you can bend them to shape around the candle. 
• wrap the husks around any size glass candle you want, overlapping the edges -  I used a 3.5"x3" candle. 
• tie raffia, twine, cord, hemp (whatever!) around the husks to hold them in place.
• stick in a little decorative thing - I used a feather but lots of little things would work (small pinecone, nuts, or sticks are a few things I can think of off the top of my head. Look around and see what you can find!)

Make one or a bunch - I found the corn husks in the produce section of the grocery store, there are a lot of them in a package for $2.99 so it's an inexpensive decoration if you have the candles already. I would check the dollar store for candles if you don't have any already. Nothing is attached to the candle so when you are done with this decoration you can easily remove the husks and do something else to the candle - I'm thinking Christmas candle next haha!

This would be cute if you did a few of the small little votive candles, lined up on the dining room table or in a windowsill.  Or one big one. Whatever you like!

I got this idea from an old Midwest Living Magazine, if you want to see the whole article click here.

Brussels Sprouts Chips

I hate brussels sprouts. Really, really hate them. But....we were recently at a restaurant with friends who ordered brussels sprouts chips and "forced" me to try one - SO good! They are crunchy and salty, and I'm happy to say do not taste like regular brussels sprouts - I immediately thought to myself here was something that I'd like to try to make at home. I'm never going to like them traditionally prepared  -  no matter how much butter and bacon someone puts on them I still hate them. But in chip form? Oh yeah, I can eat these :)

You need to separate the brussels sprouts leaves - I cut 12 whole ones in half then trimmed off a little of the bottom and the leaves come right off, keep cutting little bits of the ends until all of the leaves are separate. Put in a bowl and toss with about 1 T.  olive oil and a pinch of coarse salt, then spread on a rimmed baking sheet trying to keep them in a single layer. Bake at 350' for 10-15 minutes until brown and crunchy.

Yes the house smells like brussels sprouts but eating the chips is totally making up for that downside!

November Wreath

I have a compulsion of sorts to put away decorations as soon as possible after the holiday or event has passed (thanks mom) so Sunday morning down went the Halloween wreaths and up go Thanksgiving.

I wrapped 12" foam wreaths with burlap ribbon hot gluing in place; wrapped orange and white ribbon over the burlap letting most of the burlap show thru; took apart a couple fall floral/leaf bunches from Hobby Lobby and hot glued them around 3 quarters of the wreaths; added some sunflowers (again buying a floral stem of them and taking it apart) placing them over the leaves where they look best; then hot glued 2 balsa wood cutouts in the empty space on the wreath (they come undecorated in a package for you to decorate yourself - Brooke and I colored them with markers).  I tied a longer piece of the orange and white ribbon around the top of the wreath arranging it among the leaves tying the ends at the top in a knot to hang on our door. By the way, we have storm doors in front of our front doors so the wreaths are protected from the elements - I don't think I would leave this directly outside.

Costume Organizing/Storing

This is my system for maintaining some control of our costume and accessories chaos and I thought I'd share in case you are looking for some ideas...this works really well for me.



I like to keep all of the parts of a costume together (with directions and pictures if I remember); if they fit I put them in a gallon size ziplock bag, clip them onto skirt hangers and hang in the basement - you could put them in a closet if you have extra space available but I don't...so we hung a rod up in the basement.

If they won't fit in a ziplock (like bird/angel wings, tutus, etc) I cover them with a grocery bag, cellophane or the packaging they came in and hang them on the rod. For the rest of the costumes or accessories I have them all in a large labeled box under the hanging costumes so they are all together.

The costumes stay organized and together this way -makes it so much easier to find all the little pieces of a costume that could be jumbled together if I put them loose in a box.

Pumpkin Gingersnap Trifle

My niece Macey doesn't really like cake so for her birthday I made her pumpkin gingersnap trifle in little individual cup servings - turned out cute, practical(transportable), and yummy.

I made pumpkin mousse (see below),  let it set up in the fridge for an hour, then scooped out about 2 tablespoons into 9 oz clear plastic cups. Add some chopped up gingersnap cookies, top with another 2 tablespoons of mousse and 1 tablespoon of cool whip, finish with some cookie crumbs sprinkled on top.




To transport them to her birthday party I put the filled cups in a muffin tray overlapping the edges of the cups a little bit to fit them all in. Worked great, didn't spill or tip over, and the individual portions made for pretty servings.

To make the mousse:

2 packages instant vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
1 can pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup cool whip or whipped cream

Whisk the milk and pudding together in a large bowl for a couple of minutes until dissolved and starting to thicken. Add the pumpkin and spice, stir well to combine. Fold in the cool whip. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

Witch Hat Cupcakes

Happy Halloween! For my last post this month I decided to make witch hat cupcakes for my niece's soccer game today - probably not the most practical treat at a soccer game but they are so cute I'm doing it anyway :) Girls are going to love them!

I just made regular white cupcakes from a mix and frosted with white store bought vanilla frosting (left over from Halloween gingerbread houses) whipped with some cocoa to make it light brown and fluffy. My sister heard a tip somewhere that if you whip the store bought frosting with a mixer it gets light and fluffier and it worked! Giving the non-baking sister credit for that baking tip of the day ;).

For the witch hats: melt black candy melts in the microwave according to directions on the bag (I added a little bit of shortening to it to make it a little runnier, maybe a tablespoon), then using a pastry brush I brushed small sugar cones with the melted candy and set them on a parchment lined baking sheet to dry - it doesn't take long to set up.

 For the brim I cut small (about 1 1/4")  holes in patterned cupcake liners and slid them over the top of the cones. Set on top of frosted cupcakes at a slight angle so you can see some of the frosting underneath.

This idea came from Country Living Magazine , click here for the article.