Touches of Fall

I'm really enjoying these cooler temps we've been having here in Virginia the past few days. Makes it really feel like fall! I've been noticing all the fall decor on display here in blogland and have discovered some really cute and easy ideas to incorporate in my fall decor. I usually don't do a whole lot of fall decorating but this year I've gotten on the band wagon and since I'm currently unemployed, I have more time to piddle with stuff. I saw this cute idea for scrap wood pumpkins over at Dandelions and Dust Bunnies and just had to give it a try! I had Scott cut me some different sized wood pieces out of some scrap 2 x 4's and 2 x 3's that he had in the basement, painted them orange with hints of brown, added a rounded "stem", and dressed them up with some bits of raffia and ribbon and berry stems I had lying around. I really like how they turned out:



The best part of this project is that it didn't cost me a dime since I had all the supplies, including the paint, on hand. Gotta love projects like that! The picture doesn't show all the wonderful detail that the brown paint adds because when I took this picture, it was overcast and I had to use the flash. Plus, my camera isn't the best in the world, but we have to make do with what we've got, right?

Scott and I are going to be vendors at a small craft show this Saturday in a neighboring community. I've made several sets of these scrap wood pumpkins to sell. I've also been busy making tile coasters, tile plaques, post it note holders, birdhouses, pumpkin yard signs, and a few other pieces to take to the sale. Wish us luck!!

I am linking this post to some of the fabulous parties over on my sidebar. Please be sure to check them out for some great inspiration!

Until next time. . .

Happy Fall Y'all!!!

Can y'all believe it's the first day of fall?? Already?? Seems like the summer just flew by. And before we know it, old man winter will be rearing his ugly head! Ugh! Winter is my least favorite season. I guess because I hate snow! Yes, I said it. I hate driving in it, I hate being cold, I hate the shorter days, well, there just ain't much about winter I like at all! But I do love fall. The cooler, but not cold, temps, the beautiful colors of the leaves, apple cider, pumpkins, hay rides, and corn mazes. So much fun! Scott and I are planning a day trip to a farm about an hour from our home to do all that fun stuff. I can't wait! What fun and exciting plans do you have for fall? Whatever your plans, enjoy each day to the fullest. Because before we know it, winter will be here. Ugh, again!

Until next time. . .

Family History

Do you ever wonder sometimes where you came from? I mean, who your ancestors were? Some of you may be lucky enough to already know the answers to these questions. I've never really thought much about genealogy and have certainly never done any research to find out who my relatives are. Yeah, I'm just lazy like that, I guess!

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to find out a little bit about my family history. I have a great aunt who lives in Danville, Virginia. I have only met this lovely lady once before and that was over ten years ago. She recently contacted my mother and wanted us to come visit with her again. She didn't know that my Mom is now living in Arkansas and wouldn't be able to drive up to see her. So she contacted my uncle (Mom's brother) who lives in the same town as I do and asked him if he would drive up to see her. He was excited to do so and he called me and asked if Scott and I would like to go too! I jumped at the chance! So we all took off early yesterday morning and drove the three plus hours to visit Aunt Kat at her home.

Aunt Kat is a genius at genealogy! She has tons of information on our family tree and I spent a good portion of our visit yesterday just pouring through books of old family photos and records. She gave me this picture of my great, great grandparents on my mother's maternal side of the family. I believe it was taken in the 1920's or early 1930's.



She also gave me this wonderful picture of my beautiful mother. Mom is about 13 years old in this picture. I am amazed at how much she and I look alike! Everyone is always telling me that we favor one another, but I didn't realize how much until I saw some of these pictures!



She also had a picture of my great, great, great, great grandfather taken sometime in the 1800's! Unfortunately, she only has one copy of that photograph right now so I didn't get to bring one home with me. But it was awesome to see it! She is in the process of getting everything transferred to discs so that all the family members that want a copy can get one.

I was so glad that I thought to take my camera with me. I just had to have a pic made with this wonderful lady. She turned 79 years old this year.



We had such a nice visit yesterday and I cannot wait to go back!

Until next time. . .

I'm a copy cat!

I'm joining in with Debbie over at DebbieDoo's Blogging and Blabbing for her second copy cat challenge. I participated in her first challenge and it was so much fun! There are some really talented copy cats out there in blogland!!

For my copy, I chose an image from the September 2011 issue of Country Sampler:



I'm copying the centerpiece on the coffee table. It's kind of hard to see the details in the above picture so here's a closer view:



And here's my version:



Everything I used in my copy cat version came from the Dollar Tree. I purchased a plastic serving tray that I spray painted black, three plain white coffee mugs, three bags of candy corn, two different fall leaf stems that I tore apart, and a package of pumpkin scented tealight candles. I already had the lace doily I used to ground my display and I used a black paint pen that I had in my stash to write my letters on the mugs. I placed it on my Grandma's sewing machine in front of my fall topiary. I think it looks perfect there! And the best part of this little vignette is that it only took me about 10 minutes (not counting drying time for the spray paint) to put this together! Simple and quick ~ ya just can't get any better than that!



So, what do y'all think? Am I a good copy cat or what?? Please be sure to click here to check out Debbie's blog to visit all the other great copy cats there. I love these parties! They are so much fun and it's a great way to use your imagination to create your own little vignette or display.

I'm also linking up with some of the fabulous blog parties listed on my sidebar as well as at Savvy Southern Style and over at Grits and Glamour's Keep It Simple party. Please be sure to check them out!

Until next time. . .

September 11

September 11, 2001 ~ Ten years and a million tears later. . .never forget.

Until next time. . .

Cracker Candy

I found a super simple, super yummy candy recipe the other day and thought I'd share it with y'all. It's called Cracker Candy.



Cracker Candy

1 sleeve saltine crackers
2 sticks butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 12 oz pkg semi sweet chocolate chips
chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place entire sleeve of saltines in a single layer, salted sides up. You do not have to spray the foil with non-stick spray. Over medium heat, begin to melt butter. When butter is almost completely melted, add brown sugar and stir only once to blend. Bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes. DO NOT STIR ANY DURING THE 3 MINUTES!! Remove from heat and pour over crackers. This is your toffee. Use a spatula or butter knife to evenly spread the toffee over the crackers to ensure all crackers are coated. Bake for 6 minutes. Carefully remove from oven. It will be extremely bubbly! Once the bubbles subside, sprinkle all the chocolate chips over the crackers. Place back in the oven for about a minute or until the chocolate is almost totally melted. It should look glossy. Remove from oven and using spatula or butter knife, evenly spread chocolate over the crackers making sure all are as evenly coated as possible. If you are using nuts or any other topping, add it now. Lightly press down into the melted chocolate. Allow to cool to room temperature completely. If necessary, you can put it in the refrigerator to finish cooling, but only do this after it's reached room temperature, otherwise, the chocolate will seperate from your toffee mixture. Break into pieces and enjoy!!

Here's a picture of the candy from a side view, showing the cracker, toffee, and chocolate layers.



This is so good! And fattening! But hey, we only live once, right?? I made some today to take to a tail gating party Scott and I are attending tonight for our local high school football game. It would also be great to make for the holidays, using crushed peppermints on top of the chocolate.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Labor Day weekend!

Until next time. . .

It's been a while. . .

. . .since I've checked in here! Wow, time seems to just fly these days! So much has happened since we last spoke. Scott had a routine check up at the doctor's office last week and we found out he is anemic. So more supplements to try to prevent it from getting even worse. He has some other health issues that I won't go into that he has been managing since his early teens so this is just one more thing to deal with. I quit my old job, started a new job, quit that job, and am now actively looking for another one! My son has decided to join the Air Force. I have so many mixed feelings about this! I know that this is the best decision he could make for his life right now, but it just hurts my heart! I tell ya, some days I just feel like I am losing my mind. Y'all ever feel that way or is it just me????

In the midst of all these life changes, Scott decided that we needed a quick overnight getaway. Bless his heart, if he didn't keep me on the straight and narrow, I truly don't know where I'd be! We drove down to the Smoky Mountain area and spent the night in Pigeon Forge, TN. This area is only about a three hour drive from where we live so we try to go as often as possible. We just love it there. They have recently opened a new attraction called "The Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Show". It was a hoot! We laughed so hard and the food was really good, too. I highly recommend it if you are ever in that area and looking for some good, clean family fun. Here's a few pics from there:



The front of the building:


They had this clothesline up with giant sized pieces of clothing on them. Hey, how'd my underwear get up there!!!


Oh no! They found Scott's "draws" too!!!


Then there was the barnyard:


Full of pigs:


And chickens:


This chicken's name is "Tina Turner". Can you guess why??


They had wooden signs like this stuck in the ground all over the place:


This was such a fun trip! We will definitely be doing it again in the near future. I love going to the Smokies during the fall season. The entire Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area goes all out with the fall decorations. If we get to go down during September/October, I'll definitely be taking some pics of all the awesome decorations to share with y'all.

I haven't done any crafting at all lately. I've just not been motivated to get my creative juices flowing. I have a lot of ideas floating around in my brain, just no energy to follow through on them. I'm hoping to get back in the swing of things soon. I plan on starting my fall decorating here in the house today. We'll see how that goes!

Finally, here's a self portrait of Scott and I that we took in Gatlinburg over the weekend. I love this man so much. He literally saves me every day!



Until next time. . .