Pumpkin Spice Cookie

As promised, here is a quick and easy Pumpkin Spice Cookie recipe.  It was given to me by my brother-in-law verbally and by texting back and forth as I attempted to make them.  I have no idea where he got the recipe or who originated it, but the cookies are just fantastic, so a big thanks to him and whomever created it.  The instructions are the ones I used so they should be good to go but I don’t guarantee the results, give it a try and see what you think.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

1 box of Spice Cake Mix, any brand will do.

1 can Pumpkin 15oz.  size (not pumpkin pie mix)

1 pkg. of dark chocolate chips or you could try a substitute like

          Raisins, cranberries, or nuts to equal the chocolate chip volume.

Hand blend the box of cake mix, the can of pumpkin and the chocolate chips until mixed together and smooth.  It should be very moist but not super runny.

Drop by tablespoon onto a Parchment Baking Sheet, placed on your cookie sheets, it helps the cookies to cook evenly and come off cleanly.  (Do not use wax paper it will ruin your cookie sheets, what a mess)

Bake in a pre-heated oven set at 375 degrees for approx. 12-14 minutes depending on your oven.  (I baked mine 14 min.)

Makes 4 to 5 dozen 1” cookies.

This recipe was super quick to whip up and very tasty.  If you decide to make these cookies, be sure and let me know how they came out, I am dying to know how you like them.

Recipe compliments of my brother-in-law, Larry.  Thank you so much.

Since I am sharing today I thought I would also share one of my regular reader’s holiday tabletop decorations, she sent me a photo of the small kitchen table, she dressed up for Christmas, which sits in her new kitchen makeover.  Love it June, way to go. 

This table is just darling and screams Christmas, I love it.  If you send a photo of a project you made, inspired by one of my posts, I would be happy to share it on my blog.  Thanks June, for sharing with us.

Watch for my next post featuring a quick gift card holder I whipped up to hold those pesky little cards I am giving out this year.  Happy crafting, decorating and sewing.  See you soon.  

If you enjoyed this post you may also want to read:

*Sparkling Santa Tabletops

*Holiday Sparkle

Sparkling Santa Tabletop

This year with a new home and a new furniture layout I could not figure out where to start my decorating, I tried a few things here and there but I just could not get into the swing of things.  I fussed around for hours and finally decided to start with my dinning room table, it is the largest piece of furniture in the room and the first thing you see, it would set the tone for the whole room and the other adjoining rooms.  I played with tablecloth colors, runners and center pieces until I landed on a cream, gold, burgundy and green theme for the table and the room.  Once that was decided things just few together as I dug out all my decorating goodies; here’s what I did.

I chose a very basic cream table cloth, a taupe and gold table runner, a really beautiful gold and cream standing Santa, which I collect each year and finally gold chargers with cream napkins and beaded napkin rings. This was my very basic color base which I would use to add the sparkle and bling.

Out came the greens, I could either use silk or fresh greens but chose silk to get a longer lasting centerpiece, but you could use either one and get a fantastic look.  I pulled out my box of bling to add to the greens and went to work adding dimension and sparkle.

I placed some tall crystal candlesticks with some oversize sparkly ornaments on top, and then put them on opposite ends of the Santa to create some symmetry and balance.  More ornaments in different sizes, shape and colors were tucked into the greens to give it extra shine and color variation.  It was still missing something so I pulled out my box of decorative pearls and added those, just the right amount of bling to pick up on the Santa and the tablecloth, more balance.

  

All done and looking very glamorous, I just love the way the dark room came alive, now I have my jumping off point for the rest of the room which should make finishing up my holiday decorating much easier. The tabletop will stay like this until Christmas Eve day which is when I will change it up to make it fun and kid friendly, for our family Christmas dinner, this one is just for show until then.

I can’t wait to start on all the other projects, look for those as the weeks get closer to Christmas, I will try to post them as I finish them, at least a picture or two per project.  Thanks for letting me share my Sparkling Santa Tabletop with you, back to more decorating.  See you soon.

Thanksgiving In A Bag

That’s right; our Thanksgiving came out of a big box with lots of food packaged in bags, kind of like the food from the space shuttle.  You are probably wondering how that happened to someone who entertains so much? It was one of those things which happen when everyone wants to get together, but no one can figure out how to fit in all the cooking with everything else that is going on.  Our local grocery/deli was having a big promotion on pre-prepared meals, we thought it would be fantastic not to have to cook a big meal, just warm it up and eat.  You know, you really have to ask questions, lots of questions and we did not ask enough of them.  When my husband came through the door with just one big box I got my first clue that something was not right.  Oh boy, was I ever right, when we started to unload the box all we saw were sealed plastic bags, even the turkey was sealed in plastic.  Out came the large instruction sheet, oh no, we were in trouble, it looked like we would be assembling and cooking the entire dinner, not what we signed up for, that is what we get for trying to short cut Thanksgiving.

We spent the next 3 hours in the kitchen in a marathon cooking frenzy opening bags, mixing ingredients, putting it in the oven, pulling it out and mixing more or adding more ingredients, all in fifteen minute intervals, we never stopped once until the dinner was ready to be put on the table.  Our guests had to let themselves into the house and stayed in the kitchen watching us in total fascination as we squeezed their dinner out of plastic bags into the appropriate trays and bowls and cook it right in front of them.  We all agreed this was the dinner we wanted but no one had any idea what we had gotten ourselves into. It was ten times the work of the dinner I usually cook for everyone.  The food was very fresh and actually very good, but so much work.  The moral of this story and the lessons for today are; ask lots of questions when trying something new, when in doubt, don’t do it and there are no short cuts.  Next time I will hire a caterer or cook it myself, lessons learned.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, no matter how your meal was prepared and you had a wonderful time sharing it with your family and friends.  Watch for lots of holiday decorating tips, projects and fun family events, all starting this week.  Thanks for letting me share my Thanksgiving dinner with you.  See you soon.

Christmas Stockings for Kids

It is official, the holiday season is about to start, beginning with Thanksgiving on Thursday and black Friday sales and cyber Monday specials and all that shopping… oh my.  For those of us who are not into all the crowds and the sales, we begin our holiday season by decorating the house, getting ready for all the holiday entertaining and making our own gifts and decorations.  On Friday, after the Thanksgiving entertaining clean up, I will go to storage and pull out all the holiday decorations I will need to decorate the house for Christmas with the grandchildren and the holiday parties with friends. It will take me several days to turn my everyday home into a festive wonderland for everyone to enjoy.  There will be lots of DIY projects to share with all of you as I go along, hopefully you will get some creative ideas for your own homes and parties.  More sparkling tabletop decorations, lighted banisters and who knows what else, we also decorate the outside of the house; there will be some fun ideas from there as well.

It appears I have already begun my creative season with the making of the Christmas Stockings to be donated to children in need who are staying at one of the local shelters.  My process began with the making of a pattern, I chose to make a rag stocking, quilters who make rag quilts know what I am talking about.  Finding fabrics from my retro stash and purchasing some newer fabrics and pulling out all my leftover batting from past quilts, more recycling.  The inspiration for the stocking project came from The Pink Slipper Project which makes and donates slippers to children and adults in need, last year they added Christmas stockings to their challenge.  Since I landed in the hospital and was not able to participate then, I picked up the project for this year and I am committed to seeing how many I can make, hopefully I can get others interested in doing the same. I already have a bunch cut out and got several all sewn up and ready to give.  We will see how it goes, I will report back on my progress, keep good thoughts for the projects success.

I truly hope all of you have a wonderful day of giving thanks for all the good things and people you have in your life.  Happy Thanksgiving.  See you very soon with lots of holiday sparkle.

Check them out:

www.pinkslipperproject.org

Holiday Sparkle

Holiday Sparkle -  How to get it

The holidays are fast approaching; it is time to make your home a place that sparkles with light and glamour.  Even if you don’t traditionally celebrate or decorate for the holidays you can still give your home a little lift with some elegance and a bit of sparkle.  Some of us go all out decorating the tree, stairway, fireplace and every nook and cranny we can find, at least that’s what I usually do when I have the time and energy.  But for those who live alone, don’t have family who come to visit or who don’t celebrate the holidays, it is business as usual, the same old surroundings day after day.  Even if the holidays aren’t your thing you can still add a bit of bling to help bring some new light to your daily surroundings and have some fun while doing it.

You don’t have to go all out; you can just make a few simple changes to give things a fresh, new look.  One of my favorite ways to help perk things up is to set my dinning room table.  Several times a year I change up my table, since we only use it when the whole family is home for a visit or we want to have a romantic dinner for two.  You could do the same with your dinner table, if you don’t have little ones, a great trick for all of you empty nester's.  I don’t put out plates, silverware and glasses, just all the pretty things around them.

Here is a list of some of the items I use to change up my table whenever I want a new look or feel in the room.

I have several different colors of plate chargers; gold and copper.  I purchased a variety of tablecloths; brown, red, olive green, copper and cream, pretty basic colors to go with the chargers.  I eventually bought napkins, place mats and table runners in coordinating colors as well as some napkin rings.  I didn’t purchase it all at once, it took me some time, I kept in mind the colors I already had whenever I saw a clearance sale, great time to stock up and Target is wonderful for that.  I had a little 3x5 card in my purse with all the items listed I already had and what I wanted to look for.  Whenever I couldn’t find what I wanted, I made it myself, to fill in the gaps; napkins, place mats and table runners are quick and easy to make.  These are the foundation pieces necessary for dressing your tabletops. 

For several options, start with two table linen colors which are complimentary so you can mix and match; like brown and gold or brown and copper, red and cream or green and cream.  Buy one set of everything in each color then mix and match creating all kinds of elegant tabletops making your whole room feel like new each time you make a change.

Now for the elegance and sparkle; simply add a pretty charger in gold or silver and a couple of different napkin rings, one for everyday use and one with some bling.  You can really get a lot of different looks with just a couple of changes.

This simple brown napkin takes on an elegant look when placed on a gold charger with a sparkling napkin ring.

Add a pretty beaded napkin ring and place it on a brown place mat for a whole new look.

A golden jeweled napkin ring on a copper charger brings in fall elegance.

The brown napkin with a wooden napkin ring, on a copper charger, placed on a brown place mat sets the table for Thanksgiving.

 Put the sparkle and elegance in your daily decorating by adding a few pretty pieces to your everyday dinner table or special occasion dinning room.  Make everyday a special day.

  
Thanks for letting me share just a few of my tabletop decorating ideas.  Look for part two of Holiday Sparkle; I will be sharing how to add some more sparkle and glitz to your holiday dinners and parties.  Let’s glam it up together.  See you very soon.

Where to buy:

Target

Bed Bath & Beyond

Michael's

Pier 1 Imports

Home Goods