Around the Campfire (week 47)

Dear Campers ~

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving week - anyone try any new recipes you want to share? I made mashed squash that turned out great, I posted it the other day if you want to check it out. Here's a recap of this weeks happenings:

Posts you might have missed ~

11/18: around the campfire (week 46)
11/19: wrapped pumpkin decor (aka: toilet paper craft!)
11/20: pumpkin vase 
11/21: Sarge's 6th birthday! lightbulb pear
11/22: mashed butternut and acorn squash
11/23: fabric bread basket
11/24: Cathy updated a dining room table and chairs

I can't share our menu's from this week because we have been basically eating hand to mouth without much thought this week! Settling in here at the condo, eating up what's in the freezer and pantry - just hodgepodging dinners together amidst the mess :)

the pinecone wreath I made last week is on my table
with a big candle in the middle - looks good! Now
I'm going to attempt to spray paint it...wish me luck ;)

Hope you'll stop by the blog this week and see some more fun projects I've been working on - and you have to see the gorgeous wreath Miss Lori made, I love it and you will too!

Sincerely ~



Jill, your camp counselor

Cathy re-does a Dining Room Set

Cathy updated this black dining room table and chairs, and they turned out so good I asked her if I can post them to show you - and maybe inspire you to look at things around the house that you aren't loving and change them up instead of replacing. I'm looking at you, ugly guest room dresser - you're next!

First she sanded the seat and top front of the chairs (with help from her granddaughter); followed by spray painting the backs and legs grey, once that dried she followed with a coat of white. Once the paint was dry she lightly sanded them to give a distressed look. Then she stained the seat and top brown to match the table (she sanded and re-stained that as well). How great did this turn out?!

Fabric Bread Basket

Made this bread basket to carry the herb bubble bread I took to Al and Cathy's (click here for the bread recipe). They said to bring "nothing" which drives me crazy - I always tell them I'm going to bring something, they might as well tell me what they want LOL. But they wouldn't, so they got bread and this simple bread basket I whipped up at the last minute. Seriously, it's a very quick project if your sewing machine is ready to go and you have some scrap fabric on hand that is - if not, it's still very easy once you have the material!

Cut two pieces of fabric 16" square. Iron on a matching piece of fusible interface to the wrong side of one of the fabric pieces (it'll help give it a little structure, not necessary tho if you want to skip this step - your basket will be a little flimsier but it still works and is fine). Sew the two fabric squares together, right sides facing, leaving a small gap in one side - the turn it right sides out thru the small gap. Insert a skewer or something long and pointy into the hole between the two sides and poke into each corner to get them all as square as possible (sometimes the material gets jammed up in the corners), then sew up the gap with either the sewing machine or by hand. Iron the square to make it nice and smooth.

 Measure 3" in on each corner and sew a straight line creating a point, almost like little wings.

That's it! Once all of the corners are sewn into points the basket takes its shape. The space where the bread goes is about 9" square which perfectly holds the pan of bubble bread I made. If you are using a different size pan you might want to change to a coordinating basket size when you cut the squares of fabric. I did 16" squares of fabric with 1" being the seam allowance (that's how much of the fabric gets used to sew the squares together, think of it as sort of the "hem", you need extra material to sew on) and each side wall is 3" so I ended up with a 9" basket. Measure your pan and add 7 inches to get the right size (1" for seam allowance, 3" for the sides times two). Hope that makes sense!

One year ago:

What's your Black Friday look like? Did you get up at 5am (or worse, sleep outside of the store?) to shop? Spending the day getting Christmas stuff out? I'm planning to have a nice easy day, steering clear of the mall, making stuff, and hopefully avoid getting in the car! I'm not posting anything I made today - unless I made you chuckle with these funnies in which case I did make something LOL!! Have a good day!

Mashed Butternut and Acorn Squash

I'm going simple this year with our Thanksgiving menu - Dave just wants turkey and stuffing (nothing else, he's so weird) but I love green bean casserole so we are having that too...I make it in the crockpot and it's sooooo easy (click here for the recipe). I decided at the last minute this morning, after Tesha told me she was making it, that I also want mashed squash. I was going to just boil some butternut squash chunks but when Tesha told me how she's making hers I decided to copy...er, I mean be inspired by haha... her method. Very easy so it's perfect for my simple dinner plans.

look how pretty this cut acorn is!

I cut a small butternut and a small acorn squash in half, scooped out the seeds, roasted the squash in a 350' oven until soft (I sort of forgot they were roasting so don't know how long it actually takes, mine were in there almost an hour before I remembered them!). Let the squash cool, then scrape out of the shell. I put it in the food processor so it'd get very smooth - don't know what Tesha did - normally I would add a little sweetener (maple syrup or brown sugar) but these squash are really sweet already so I didn't add any additional sugar. Taste yours before deciding if you need to make it sweeter. After processing the squash until smooth I streamed in 2 tablespoons of melted butter mixed with a pinch of cayenne pepper and salt until they were incorporated into the squash. Transfer to a 9" baking dish; about 1/2 hour before we were ready to eat popped it into a 350' oven until it was heated thru.

This turned out SO good, I'm not saving this simple recipe just for my holiday meals - it's a winner any time of the year!

PS: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Lightbulb Pear

I'm sure you've figured out by now how much I like to turn random objects into cute projects (think recycled k-cup crafts like these little birds, or a wreath made from sandwich baggies); here's another one made from a burned out lightbulb, twine, and a stick.

That's it. I pretty much just told you how to make it hahaha. Ok, ok, more details needed? Let's see...

1. save a burned out lightbulb in case you ever want to make something out of it. This is totally different than being a hoarding pack rat, promise.
2. hot glue twine around the lightbulb, starting at the round bulb end.
3. before you completely cover the screw end, hot glue a small stick to the base and finish wrapping twine around it.

Saw this idea on Pinterest, have no idea who the original source is.

One year ago: yarn-wrapped bottle
Two years ago: how to make turkey gravy
Three years ago: Sarge's birthday pupcakes

Pumpkin Vase

Remember my little peeping pumpkin from last month? Since I didn't carve it, this little pumpkin has held up well - so I turned it into a vase by cutting a big hole in the top and remove the guts and seeds (clean the seeds and put on parchment paper to dry them out before roasting them). Then I played around with what I wanted to put in the pumpkin - a small plant, succulents, a candle and faux leaves...it all looks good! My favorite is the candle surrounded by fake leaves; if you want it to hold a candle just make sure the size of the hole you cut in the top will tightly hold the candle. And note: I'm pretty sure fake plants are going to catch on fire and/or melt if they get too close to a flame, so use caution and be careful when and if you light the candle!! Better idea - use a flameless candle ;)

one year ago: yarn wrapped wheat
two years ago: Jen's spinach salad
three years ago: leaf lanterns

Wrapped Pumpkin Decor

Hmmm, I'm not sure what to call this. Tesha sent me the photo and instructions, and it's really cute - but if I call it what it is you're gonna roll your eyes and not give it a chance. So I'm calling it a 'wrapped pumpkin' so you'll at least look at it before judging this toilet paper craft LOL!!!

These were centerpieces made for a fall-themed wedding shower that Tesha went to, she was the winner at the table and got to take it home.  I would never have thought up this clever idea - who looks at a roll of t.p. and thinks "pumpkin decor"?

Wrap a roll of toilet paper in a solid piece of orange material and tuck in the top of the roll. Cut a rectangle piece of green material using pinking shears, tuck that into the top of the roll. Add a bit of straw or raffia if you want, then push a Tootsie Roll down in the middle of all of it to hold in place.

Around the Campfire (week 46)

Dear Campers ~

We are making our cross country road trip this week, but I made a bunch of things ahead of time so I could still post while sitting in the camper at night. Obviously I went on a pinecone craft roll, this week was 3 different birds and a pinecone wreath. And I still have a couple more to show you later! Hope you enjoyed my silly birds :)

Here's a quick little craft that would be super cute as part of your Thanksgiving decorations - acorn gift holders. Hot glue twine around the top of a plastic egg leaving a little tab sticking out on top to make the stem of the acorn. Add treats or small gifts inside the egg then attach the twine top. Looks like an acorn - how easy is that?

Posts you might have missed ~

11/11: around the campfire (week 45)
11/12: herb bubble bread
11/13: pinecone turkeys
11/14: pinecone owls
11/15: pinecone birds
11/16: pinecone wreath
11/17: homemade applesauce

It's been a very cold trip, freezing every night, so Dave didn't want to do his usual grilling at the campground - so I planned ahead and made a few dinners ahead of time (I had a very busy week before getting in the motorhome with all the crafting and cooking!) that could be finished inside instead of on the grill.

What's Cooking ~

• Al and Cathy made us smoked pulled pork with fixings and a delicious cake that I'll share soon
• my sister made us "Quebec Chicken" before we left - we love this SO much!
• pre-grilled chicken breast, long grain rice, mixed veggies, steamed spinach
• tuna noodle casserole, salad
• chicken enchilada suizas, chopped salad with tomatoes and avocado
• meatloaf, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies
• chicken parmigiana, salad

It's almost Thanksgiving - everyone ready? Got your menu planned and know what you're making? I'm not sure where we'll be; if I end up cooking for just Dave and I maybe I can find a turkey breast and make this recipe for roasted turkey breast and stuffing again, and just make gravy using butter instead of turkey fat. Oh great, now I'm hungry ;)

Sincerely ~



Jill, your camp counselor

Homemade Applesauce

Cathy's neighbor, Jane (yes, candied bacon Jane!), told me about a different way she makes and preserves applesauce that I had to try for myself. She was spot on with that bacon so I'm totally trusting her!  First of all, she cooks it in a crockpot so it's super easy and hands-off; second, she doesn't process the filled jars in a water bath (I had no idea you could do this by the way). Her unusual way is after filling the jars, wipe the rim clean, add a hot lid (note: put the lids in a small saucepan of water on the stove, bring to a simmer), and screw on a ring. Then place the jars upside down on a towel for 10 minutes, turn right side up and wait for the "pop" indicating it's sealed. You'll know if they've sealed by pushing in the center of the lid, there should be no give. Tighten the ring after you turn them over if it is loose.

That's it! She follows the recipe found here except she cuts the sugar to 1/4 cup, I followed her lead and did the same thing. I didn't try hers but my batch is a little tart, a little sweet, and the perfect consistency (note: not sure what Jane does but the recipe says you can put in food processor if you want a smoother consistency - I did not need to put mine in a food processor, it just turned into the right consistency when it cooked down).

Peel, core, cut the apples into chunks. I can't tell you how many it'll take to fill your crockpot - depends on how big the apples are and what size crock-pot you have. I used my big oval 6qt. slow cooker and an assortment of apples, some were big, some little - I mixed northern spy, courtland, macintosh, and honey crisp and it took quite a few of them to fill my crockpot. Note the recipe says she fills 3/4 of crockpot, I listened to Jane and filled it to the top.

Put the apples in the crockpot, pour 3/4 cup of water, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and a dash of vanilla over the apples.

Mix all together and cook on low for 5-8 hours until the apples are broken down and it looks like applesauce!

I didn't take a picture of the filled jars, but you can see
them in the background behind the green tomato jam...

Pinecone Wreath

Ok, I realize the last couple days have been all about pinecones with beaks...turkeys, owls, birds, oh my... so today let's change it up with a simple wreath made with a whole bunch of "found" pinecones (note: I may or may not have combed the neighborhood for pinecones...I have a rule to not go into anyone's yard to gather craft materials hahaha, but if it's on the sidewalk it's fair game...or if it's on a pine tree that's within grabbing distance from the sidewalk it's mine. Hopefully Mrs. Williams wasn't watching me jump for pinecones in her tree that was very very close to the sidewalk!). I actually looked at the craft store to purchase pinecones and then had a "what the heck am I thinking?" moment  and just went for a couple walks to gather them! Duh...

Since the pinecones came off the ground and trees, they are surprisingly full of creepy crawly little bugs (you don't want to know how I came to that realization...) so I read about a very easy way to stop that little problem...lay them out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and pop into a 220' oven for about 20 minutes. Interestingly enough, baking them for a few minutes not only gets rid of the bugs, it also turned them different colors which made for a pretty cool wreath.

This is super easy - just wire the cones to a wire wreath form. I did a base layer of bigger cones, and then filled in spaces by hot gluing smaller pinecones and small bits of broken cones onto the wreath until I couldn't add any more! There were a couple places where I could still see the green wire, so I added a few little sticks and feathers to cover those up.

I especially love that the pinecones sort of look like flowers when I cut them in half, the one that is anchoring the bunch of feathers really looks pretty. Agree?

I'm thinking I'll lay this wreath on my round dining room table and put a large candle in the center...and then once Thanksgiving is over I'm planning to remove the feathers and spray paint the whole wreath to make it a Christmasy/wintery wreath. I'll show you how that turns out (if it turns out, I'm not very good at spray painting - once again you don't want to know - so we'll see).