7 Fall {DIYs & Recipes} I'd Like to Try

Hi all! Hope you are enjoying your fall. The weather is really changing here in NC and I have been in the mood for salted caramel mocha's and pumpkin pie! The fall is definitely one of my favorite seasons.

On my free time (haha) I have been scouring the web and finding some really neat fall DIYs that I would love to try. Not sure I will have time this fall or not, but I am definitely saving these ideas on my Fall pinterest board for next year.

1. DIY Plaid Pumpkin
My girl Courtney is the queen of plaid and she has recently created this adorable plaid pumpkin vase for fall! How adorable is this? Or if you have no use for a vase, you could just create a plain plaid pumpkin and add to your Halloween or Thanksgiving decor.

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2. Apple Cider Sidecar Cocktail

Let's be honest, this mama could use a cocktail and this one is calling my name! Might be mixing this sweet drink this coming weekend.

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3. Orange Gingerbread Sugar Scrub Cubes

Don't these look fun!? I am thinking I need to call all my girlfriends and have a girls night in just to make these little guys. Maybe a fall party will be in my near future. 

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4. Fall Printable (Free Download)
This saying is so me! I love my tea and for some reason the fall makes me want to cozy up and read something new and exciting. This printable also comes in black with white writing for all of you chalkboard lovers.

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5. Fall Apple Cheeseballs

How adorable are these? Like so so cute. If you know me at all...anything cheese is perfection!

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6. Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Can you all see a recurring theme around here? Yes I love fall and yes I am hungry! I love this sweet printable recipe card from Jones Design Company. Have you signed up for their free printable archive?

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7. Candy Corn Chocolate Bark

Are you a candy corn fan? You are either all in or absolutely hate the candy. There are no gray areas for candy corn. I actually love it until I get sores on my tongue from eating too many...then I despise the stuff! Maybe making them into bark would help me from eating too much (maybe). 

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What do you all crave in the fall? Anything I NEED to know about?

Have a wonderful weekend friends! 

Easy Pumpkin Decorating {& GIVEAWAY}

Well it's no secret that everything around here has to be quick and easy these days. So when I saw this adorable photo from a blogging friend on Instagram, I had to share it with all of you!

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How cute are these gold vinyl dots? And....how seriously chic and easy would these be for your fall decorating?

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I also love the idea of the vinyl monogram and how reusing these in different ways around the house would be amazing! 

If you aren't following my sweet friend Leen the Graphics Queen, then you are missing out on some fabulous ideas for your home! I really need this Welcome Sign in my life and how adorable are these stars and dots in this little girls room?

Leen is the women! You can custom order pretty much anything in any color...and she is SO reasonable. 

Are you all ready to win some Gold Dot Decals? Hope So. One of you lucky readers will win a sheet of these different size dots just in time for Fall decorating!

Follow the rafflecopter below. One winner will be announced Monday 10/19 . Good Luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Easy Thanksgiving Tablescapes

If you are anything like me, life can get crazy busy and you forget all the detailed pieces when it comes to entertaining for the holidays. This year we are actually going to be out of town for Thanksgiving, so I didn't have to come up with a tablescape for guests. I am kind of sad about it. I love setting my table and making it pretty. So this year I am living through inspirational pictures like the ones below.

With Thanksgiving only ONE week away, here are a few quick and easy ideas to make your table look festive without much trouble.

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Take a trek into your backyard or neighbors yard. It is amazing what inspiration you can find for a centerpiece. Grab a stem of colorful leaves, a branch of magnolia or a bunch of pinecones. I love the organic feel of bringing the outdoors in! 

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Emily created an amazing centerpiece from discounted ornamental Kale from Home Depot and craft paper as the table runner. Genius!

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I also love the idea of using what you have in your refrigerator. Grab some colorful fruit to lay on top of garland or tie a sprig of rosemary to a cloth napkin to add interest. 

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This is a neat idea of gathering branches from outside and spray painting them a bright color. It creates a sort of art piece right on your table!

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We can't forget about the kiddos! Did you have a kids table growing up? We sure did!
This idea is absolutely adorable. Grab some brown or white craft paper (or wrapping paper) to cover the kids table. Use jars from around the house for art supplies. This will keep them busy a little longer so you can enjoy your scrumptious meal and the paper helps with clean up. Win Win!

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How about spray painting a charger with chalk paint? Rather than a word, you could write the guest's name on the charger with chalk marker to help identify where everyone will sit for the meal. I also like the idea of using ribbon and yarn that you have laying around the house to wrap the cloth napkins and silverware. Nothing fancy, but helps add so much character and texture.

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Free Printable

This is a great way to get everyone involved in an activity while waiting for the meal and takes the place of a normal place mat or charger. Click the source link to download your own!

As you can see, it doesn't have to be expensive to look amazing. Using what you have around the house is your best bet before going out to buy something. 

What ideas have inspired you? Any tips and tricks you have used over the years to help with the stress of having company?

November Inspiration + Thoughts and Where I've Been

Well hello my sweet readers! Can you believe it is November? How did we get to the holiday season already? Thanksgiving is three weeks from Thursday and Christmas is a month after that! Yikes!

source- My Sweet Savannah

I am pretty excited about the holidays this year. We are traveling for Thanksgiving, but will be around home for Christmas and New Years. I love being able to decorate and enjoy my home this time of year. It is my absolute favorite!

Slow Cooker Apple Cider- Recipe Here

Yes it has been almost 2 months since I have last posted. It was a much needed break, but one I didn't think would last as long as it did. When life happens...sometimes you just have to roll with it. As much as I love this blog and sharing inspiration and ideas with all of you, I needed to take care of me and my family first and foremost. I needed to have some time to reflect on life and what is most important as well as spend time with the people I love.

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Some fun experiences over the past two months:

I celebrated my 33rd birthday in September. I woke up to breakfast, flowers and Starbucks! Doesn't get much better than that!

The Hubs and I flew to Boston for business. It was more fun than business for me! Walking the gorgeous streets and enjoying a baseball game in Fenway Park were definitely some of the highlights.

Spent some time with my nephew at his soccer games. It was quite entertaining watching 4 year olds play soccer!

Toured Raleigh's Parade of Homes. Will share some details next week for sure!

Spent a week in Western New York for my sister-in laws wedding. It was a half Indian, half Christian wedding. It was gorgeous and we even got to wear Sari's!

Quality time at Sunday family dinners with these two crazies! (my mama & niece)



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Some thoughts I have had while on my blogging break:

I feel that in this world full of social media you can get caught up in what everyone else is doing. We often compare our homes, our kids, husbands and fashion to those around us. I really don't try to keep up with the Jones's, but being a blogger I often feel the pressure to complete projects in light year speed to knock out more and more posts for my readers. I want this blog to be a place of inspiration and project ideas, but not a place where I feel forced to produce. It can become exhausting and then burn out happens.

I started this blog as a creative outlet and to connect with others that enjoy what I enjoy. I am going to keep that outlook going forward. I want to be true to you and true to myself. I am going to post when I have inspiration or projects to share. It may be two times a week or five. It will depend on what is going on in my everyday life. I hope you will continue to stick with me and give me your own input on decorating and just plain ole life. This blog wouldn't be what it is today with out all of YOU!

Thank you to all of you who took the time to email and check up on me! I have found such happiness in this little ole blog and have made some true friends!

Also....thank you to all of you who have stuck around on my long absence! Many of you have been following bits of life on my Instagram and Facebook.

I will resume Tuesday Treats tomorrow and I have a few fun ideas coming your way later in the week!

XOXO

Sweet Velvet Pumpkins

A few weeks ago I saw an amazing giveaway for these sweet little pumpkins below. I usually at least "Try" to win. When I found out I was NOT the winner, I went to look them up to see how much they were to buy.

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They are beautiful....BUT can you believe they are $98 for three! I mean they are probably made very well and out of diamonds real velvet, but I just couldn't pull the trigger. That is when my light bulb kicked on..." I could totally make these! How hard could it be!?"

My mother-in law was in town and she was totally on board to help me with a little DIY. Here are my quick instructions. You can also find some great tutorials around on pinterest.

Supplies:

Also: 2-3" Needle, hot glue gun & heavy thread

**Instead of velvet I used velveteen and velour to cut down on the cost!**

**Pumpkin stems were given to us at the farm after we bought a couple of our own.**

How to:

1. Since we were on vacation while doing this project we used plates and bowls that we found in the condo to be our templates. We traced them onto the fabric with a pen and used fabric scissors to cut the circle. 

Here are our measurements and what size plate/bowl made what size pumpkin:

- 15" plate/bowl = 6" pumpkin
-12.5" plate/bowl = 5" pumpkin
-10.5" plate/bowl = 4" pumpkin


2. Next we used a heavy weight thread and long needle to make a stitch around the top of the cut fabric. Using a long needle helped weave the fabric almost perfectly!
**We also doubled the thread to make sure it wouldn't break**

3. Once you have made your stitch around the top make sure you leave the thread long at both ends. This will be needed to tie the velvet tight. 

4. Fill and Stuff your pumpkin! We used some leftover doll beads and put at least a half of a cup in the bottom to give it some weight. You can use any type of beans like above. Then we stuffed the rest of the pumpkin with polyfill stuffing to give it the shape we wanted. (we added more for a plump pumpkin and less for a squatty pumpkin.)

5. Here is where those long strings come in handy! Pull the thread tight and give it a few knots to hold the top in place.

6. Cut the extra thread and work your hands around the pumpkin to make it look the way you want.

7. Using your hot glue gun, glue the stem to the top of your pumpkin holding the stem for 1-2 minutes for adhesion. 

8. Enjoy the fruits of your labor!! AKA...ooh and ahh and show everyone what you made!

These were so quick and easy to make! We made so many within just an hour once we got rolling! They are lined down my dining room table for now. Every time I walk by them they just make me smile.

What DIYs have you been tackling for fall?


Linked up: LizMarieBlog

A Simple Fall Mantel

Welcome to Monday All! I hope you had a great weekend. Mine was actually relaxing for once. I am hooked on the show Hart of Dixie and Netflix just added season 2....so I was watching a bit too much TV this weekend. Ah Well....life is short, watch some TV!

While watching my shows, I noticed that I hadn't decorated our mantel for fall yet. What have I been thinking! Well...it was 90 degrees here on Saturday, so I was probably thinking "Where is Fall?" 90 degrees doesn't make you want to hang out at a pumpkin patch all day. But..I managed to scrounge around the house for some items to create a simple fall mantel.

A little gold, a little white and some little gourds are exactly what this mantel needed.

The gold vases were on sale last season at target. (Love the bargain end caps!) These antlers were on sale after Christmas at Tuesday Mornings. They are a good transition from fall to winter and to be honest they are displayed somewhere around here most of the year!

The little gold vases were a find while traveling this summer and I added a bit of green with some flowers and branches from my backyard. The fabulous antiqued frame is originally from my grandparents house. Love the look of rustic and modern mixed together.

You may remember these lanterns from my Thanksgiving table. They use to be black and I gave them a quick spray of my favorite gold paint! I love the glam they bring to the mantel vignette. A HomeGoods bargain from way back. 

I have noticed that at this stage in life I enjoy simplicity. Little touches of fall rather than HUGE changes that take me forever to put into action.

What simple touches make you happy for Fall!?

You can check out my previous fall/Halloween mantels Here, Here and Here