Hot Chocolate Station

The Great Pumpkin

I decked the steps of my back porch in pumpkins galore this afternoon. Check out the great big one.... I love that stem!!  And boy is it heavy!! (and only $12). And I couldnt resist that green one sitting below it! Such a gorgeous shade of green!!! 

LOVE. IT. (so does my dog, Carmen)



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Nature Walk inspires a leaf dish

I'm entering my clay Leaf Dish in the "Crafting with the stars" contest... Hosted by SEW DANG CUTE .  With the cooler, FALL weather finally rolling in, I've started taking morning walks after getting my kiddo's off to school. I've collected so many wonderful treasures from my walks....

See these leaves? Actually, the one at the top flipped over so you can see the veins?

This is what I saw when I looked at them:

I brought the leaf home with me and rolled out my earthenware clay and pressed the leaf veins into the moist clay.... cut out the shape and allowed it to dry for a few days. Fired it up in my kiln to approximately 1800 degrees and then glazed it in an earthy green glaze. Dont you just love the details in the veins? Even the gritty dirt that was on the leaf left it's mark on the clay. (the dirt burned off in the firing, but the glaze really picked up the marks it left behind).

I may have gotten some strange looks from other walkers who watched me picking up leaves, pinecones, acorns and sticks.... but I dont care! I have this wonderful ceramic dish!

If you like my dish, please head over to SEW DANG CUTE and vote for my project! :)



Vacation or Scavenger Hunt?

We've booked our hotel for our mini vacation to Helen, Georgia for late October. Oktoberfest is in full swing and I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the atmosphere up there. The scenery is GORGEOUS.... the air smells and feels AWESOME... all the neat shops and craft booth... and the food! mmmmmmm! My husband can get a good ol' Bratwurst and Beer and be HAPPY! Im not much of a beer drinker myself.... to be honest, after just ONE beer I'm a little too giggly and friendly and then Im just plain SLEEPY.

Anyhow... our weekend is scheduled for later in October and Im soooooo looking forward to taking a morning walk up in the mountains this year because I have a little scavenger hunt planned. Im on the lookout for some GIANT pinecones! Silly, huh? I live in Georgia... We have an abundance of Georgia Pines all around us.... yet I long for those HUGE PINECONES and cant find them anywhere..... well.... let's not say ANYWHERE.... I found some.....

approximately 12" - 17" inches tall.....  where did I find them, you ask??? POTTERY BARN online.... but they are $10 each.... sorry, I cant see paying that when I just might be able to find my own... for FREE!  I can just see a basket full of these babies sitting by my fireplace this winter.

WISH ME LUCK!!



Free FALL FINDINGS

Each day seems to be more "fall-like" as the weather starts to be a little cooler in the mornings and evenings... with sunny (but not HOT) afternoons. Why cant EVERY day be this beautiful!!?

So I've started my routine of taking morning walks.... 2 miles per day right now. I feel so GREAT after walking... especially on beautiful, cool mornings like this! And along the way I'm always distracted by the beautiful things I see.... I guess it's just the artist in me, because I don't see any of the other walkers stopping and picking up sticks and leaves and acorns.... I even stopped and picked some green moss off of a tree branch that had fallen from the storm the night before.  Im started to get funny looks from the other people out there. I dont care! I bet my fall decor around my house is prettier than theirs!!

While most people would see this:

I see this: 

I brought the leaves home, rolled out my clay, pressed the medium leaf into the clay and after a day or two of drying time, I fired it to about 1800 degrees and then glazed it in a beautiful Green Tea Stain. Look at the GORGEOUS details of the veins

I've also learned that I dont have to buy all my fall fillers for my candle cups.... Look at all the pretties I found along the path...

You may see this:

But I see this:

Sorry about the glare on the glass!



I made a few other Fall Themed pieces to list in my shop.... The "Happy Fall" dish sold within a few hours of listing it!  YAY!!!

awwww..... did I mention how much I love the FALL season???  oh... sorry!



One gal's trash is another gal's treasure!

FALL is in the air.... I love, love, love this time of the year! snagged some great deals at Garage Sales, Thrift Stores and the Dollar Stores this weekend to help with my fall decorating... Check out these finds:

Look at this beautiful silver acorn platter I found for just $3 at a local Thrift Store! It's really heavy... Looked brand new... still in the box!

Got this little tin bucket for just .50 cents at the same Thrift Store.... added a little vinyl birdy and some fall leaves from Dollar Tree.... Love it!!!

Love this basket!!! Just $1 at the Thrift Store.... Got the pumpkins in the produce dept at Wal-Mart - The Faux Corn was part of my fall decor from last year.

This is a shot of a little side table on my back porch.... The Vase has been there since the summer but i tucked in a few orange and yellow flowers for some Fall color, got that cute little Scarecrow fella at a garage sale for .50 cents... added a few of my faux pumpkins from last year's decor.... that iron dish of the birdy on the leaf was already there from the summer, but it came from Hobby Lobby.

 Lined my front porch steps with some faux pumpkins .... had a few of these from last year... strung a leaf garland from Dollar Tree along the pumpkins for a little splash of color. You can see my little $1 scarecrow pick in the background. 

 These fall planters were a spur of the moment purchase... wasnt even looking for them. I couldnt believe Wal-mart's garden center had these beauties!!! And for just $15... What a DEAL!!! Got one for each side of my front steps!! They are HUGE!!!! Had to get a separate shopping cart just for these 2 babies!

 Ok... funny story about this lantern... it's BIG and HEAVY... got it about 9 years ago and made a christmas arrangement with it... got tired of the christmas arrangement and it lived in my basement for years!!! Put it in my garage sale last year and it didnt sell.... Then when I had my garage sale this year, I told my daughter to pluck the christmas decor off of it and maybe it will sell this time. When she cleared it off, it made me think of those cool lanterns you see in Pottery Barn and a lightbulb went off in my head! So I added a piece of foam in the base, stabbed a few sprigs of leaves and flowers (from dollar tree) and finished it off with a plump little faux pumpkin from Hobby Lobby. Now it's my fall centerpiece on my dining room table!

 BIG SCORE!!!  It's not really meant for Fall decorating, but check out this wonderful Bakers Rack I got at a garage sale for just $25. I couldnt believe they only wanted $25... I kept checking it out trying to find something wrong with it. Too good to be true... I had no idea where I would put it, and Im not sure if I will alter the color of the wood and the metal, but for now.... I'm slowly adding stuff to it to make it fit in with my breakfast room! (pardon my walls... we are in the process of adding beadboard paneling below the chair rail)

 Here's a quick shot of my back porch... Im sure I will add more as the cooler weather rolls in... but for now... it's got a "fall" feeling to it! (that stain in the top left corner of the rug is from where my husband sat the ice cream maker a few months ago... I have no idea why it stained... it was just Ice and Rock Salt. Any suggestions on coloring outdoor rugs?)

 Glass candle holder from Dollar Tree, Candle from Dollar Tree and acorns ($3 per pack) from Wal-mart. The wooden bowl was .50 cents at a garage sale... great for holding fresh fruit.

BONUS: If you love pumpkin... you gotta try these Fat Free Pumpkin Muffins... OMG... The do NOT taste fat free... they are SO moist and sweet! However... I added a cream cheese frosting dollop in the center of each one, so they aren't as guilt-free as they could be... my next batch i think I will just do a quick dusting of powdered sugar over the top of each...but they are super yummy without any topping at all! I'll attach the recipe below!

Fat Free Pumpkin Muffins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with liners. Spray liners with non-stick spray.

Mix the following ingredients by hand in large bowl.

1 box of Angel Food Cake Mix

1 (15 oz) can of Pumpkin

3 teaspoons of Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 cup of water

The batter will be very fluffy. Spoon into muffin liners and bake for 15-18 minutes. Makes 24 muffins.

Party Like a Rock Star

Callie's 12th Birthday - Check out this AWESOME cake by Christie's Sweet Treats!  As amazing as it looks, it tastes even better! Im trying to watch what i eat, but couldnt resist a 2nd piece!!