Here and There Halloween Decor

Once an elementary school teacher, always an elementary school teacher. I love holidays and I love decorating for them. 

Just little bits of holiday around the house... :D 

Ready for Baby*Ready for Fall! :D

Well, we're in the last stretch before our baby boy arrives. Less than one week to go before my due date and I can hardly wait! While I'm waiting for our "little man" I've been nesting like a crazy woman. The other day my mother-in-law and I picked up some pumpkins at Trader Joes and now I feel like my porch says, "Fall."  

Now we're just waiting for our little fall arrival. :)

Diaper Wreath

Check out this ADORABLE diaper wreath one of my girlfriends made for me! I thought it was SO cute and creative! I'd never seen one of these before!

It's going to be so hard for me to ever dismantle it and actually use the diapers! It's just too cute. I'm thinking maybe I'll hang it on the door when our little man arrives?? 

Here's what it looks like on the door. 

Cute, huh? :)

I'm DEFINITELY storing this idea away for future use. It would be just perfect for a baby shower and makes such a fun and unique gift. 

Thanks, Kristen!! :D

I Highly Recommend....

Rocks In Your Guest Bathroom Sink! :D

I saw this in one of my girlfriend's guest bathrooms and thought it was awesome. Of course, she had this really cool bronze faucet that looks like an old-timey water spout. It was just perfect. However, these are still is dressing up my little sink a bit. I think it gives the room a bit more personality, don't you? I had never seen it before, but apparently others have. My friend and neighbor around the corner has some rocks in her guest bathroom sink as well! 

I'm playing catch-up apparently. :)

A New Etsy Supply Shop Discovery!

This summer I discovered a great little etsy shop with lots of fun goodies. I recently got a shipment from AR Creations and just look at all the wonderful things I have to "play with" now! :)

(You can always click on the pictures to make them larger.)

So many pretty and fun things! I've already used some of the supplies today to make a gift tag for a friend's baby gift. :)

The seller is a WONDERFUL communicator and responds quickly to any and all correspondence. As a matter of fact, I owe HER an email right now! :D Check out all the fun finds at Annie's shop HERE.

A Remodel for My Craftin' Corner

The other day my husband and I were working to clean out a little more of our overly-crowded and cluttered garage. As we were going through one box, I found this.

Immediately I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do with it and what I wanted to use it for. It took a little convincing to get my husband to let me have it. His mother He had decorated in quite a bit of the Americana style before we got married. I like it, but it's not really how I decorate. So....after much conversation and an agreement that the flag would be saved, he let me loose! :)

He was TOTALLY wonderful and even did the spray painting for me since I'm still pregnant and still not supposed to do it myself. What a trooper! :) Thanks, Honey. 

I don't have a picture of it, but I had gone to Lowe's earlier and gotten some thin sheet metal. However, they would not cut it for me there. :( I thought they did everything, but apparently, they don't do this. Sooooo......

I went and purchased my very own pair of these. 

I think they're called tin cutters. I don't really remember. My husband says it's usually the man who always hears his spouse complaining about the "buying of tools." In this family, it's turning the other way around. I told him that I only wished they could have been pink and black. Then I really would have loved them. :)

They worked "ok." They weren't the easiest things to use. However, they did the job and cut the sheet metal to the size I needed. 

Here is the finished product.

I LOVE IT!! It's exactly how I wanted it to turn out. It's the perfect place to hang pendants that I'm working on, store supplies and keep the bottle cap magnets, etc. :D

Another "Southern Living at Home" purchase from the past.....

now being used to shelve some of my craft supplies. 

A $25 shelf from Walmart and one of my favorite signs I already had were just perfect for the space and....

VOILA!

my very own little crafting corner! 

I'm just thrilled to pieces! :D I still have some work to do, but it's a start! What do you think?

Check out THESE link parties!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake Success!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE "Southern Living at Home" decor. The company has now been renamed "Willow House", but I've been an addict for many years. I love beautiful dishes and I love to entertain, so it was a natural fit. I actually became a consultant for the sole purpose of being able to somewhat afford my addiction. My poor husband did not fully comprehend my affinity for the products until he'd already committed "to death do us part." :D It's okay though... he has his own vices that I had been blissfully unaware of as well. So....we'll call it even. :D Anyway, on with the blog. 

One of my most recent Willow House purchases was this beautiful cake plate and cover. 

Don't you just LOVE the ruffle around the edge?? 

I had borrowed a girlfriend's cake plate for the last two years for my husband's birthday cake, so I decided it was high-time I got my own. The problem....my cabinets are so jam packed with other dishes, that this little beauty has to stay on the countertop for the time-being. Well it can't sit there empty, so I looked for something "pretty" to put in it. 

This is one of my favorite cookbooks - a wedding gift from one of my sweet neighbors when we lived in Oregon. I found a recipe for Sour Cream Coffee Cake and thought it sounded tasty and would look pretty. :) It was both! The recipe is below the following pictures if you would like to try it out! 

Cooling on the stovetop.

Sitting on the ruffly cake stand I just adore :)

Mission Accomplished! No empty cake plates in this house, no maam! 

Hmmm.....this could be a problem. Chronic baking could lead to a chronic growing out of my clothes....

Gonna have to really try hard to either exercise a TON of will power and let my husband gain the majority of the weight....or I'm gonna HAVE to make some room in those cupboards! :)

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Prep: 30 min; Bake: 1 hour; Cool: 30 min  *16 servings

Brown Sugar Filling (Recipe Below)

3 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1 1/2 t. baking soda

3/4 t. salt

1 1/2 c. sugar

3/4 c. butter or stick margarine, softened

1 1/2 t. vanilla

3 large eggs

1 1/2 c. sour cream

Vanilla Glaze (Recipe Below)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom and side of angel food cake pan (tube pan), 10x4 inches, 

12-cup bundt cake pan or 2 loaf pans, 9x5x3 inches, with shortening. 

Make Brown Sugar Filling (see recipe below); set aside. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. 

Beat sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat about one-fourth of the flour mixture and sour cream  at a time alternately into sugar mixture on low speed until blended. 

For angel food or bundt cake pan, spread 1/3 of the batter (about 2 cups) in pan, then sprinkle with 1/3 of the filling; repeat twice. For loaf pans, spread 1/4 of the batter (about 1 1/2 cups) in each pan, then sprinkle each with 1/4 of the filling; repeat once. 

Bake angel food or bundt cake pan about 1 hour, loaf pans about 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan(s) on wire rack. Remove from pan(s) to wire rack. Cool 20 minutes. Drizzle with Vanilla Glaze (see recipe below). Serve warm or cool. 

Brown Sugar Filling

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. finely chopped nuts (I used pecans)

1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon

~~~~~~

Mix all ingredients.

Vanilla Glaze

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1/4 t. vanilla

2 to 3 t. milk

~~~~~~

Mix all ingredients until smooth and thin enough to drizzle. 

Check out THESE link parties! :)

I'm NOT Dead....REALLY! :D

I've just been a crazy nesting woman trying to get ready for our first baby who is due to arrive in less than three weeks. We were out of town for almost two months, so you can just imagine how crazy behind I am and how much of a panic I've been in to get things as close to perfect as possible. I have managed a few projects and recipes in the in-between moments as of late and will be posting those over the coming days provided our little man doesn't make a surprise early appearance. I've worked on carving out a little crafting space for myself and LOVE how it has turned out. It's not roomy, but it's cute. I've made my first coffee cake ever and it was so YUM! I've got an "organizing for baby" project to show you and I've discovered a fun etsy shop with lots of goodies! That's the teaser....now I need to download all my pictures and get to blogging! Don't give up on me, girls! :D I'm a sporadic new crafter wanna-be who will find my groove soon enough. :)