Pumpkin Fluff

I just had to share this yummy recipe that my wonderful friend brought
over to me!  Thank you Stephanie!!!
It was so good and light~plus it's perfect to keep on hand during the holidays!
It's Pumpkin Fluff and I swear you're going to love it!

PUMPKIN FLUFF
1 15 oz. can of pumpkin
1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
1 small package of instant vanilla pudding.
1 8 oz container of Cool Whip

Mix together the pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and instant vanilla pudding.  Fold in Cool Whip till thoroughly combined. Serve with Anna's Ginger Thins. They are a perfect little cookie in a cute flower shape, perfect for dipping.  You can find them in your local grocery store or in bulk at Costco.

Candace and I are working on some cute Santa's tomorrow that hopefully we'll finish quick to share with you.  I got them all cut out right before my dear old scroll saw gave up the ghost today and I've never been more thankful for Home Depot's Protection plan.  They issued me a gift card through my email and I was able to go pick up a new one this afternoon.  I'm thinking it was the best money I've spent!

Upside Down Pumpkin Pie

I tried this tasty pumpkin recipe at a Christmas dinner several years ago.  It was so good that I begged my friend Julie to write it down and give it to me.  The toasted pecan topping and pumpkin are delicious together.  The best part is, Upside Down Pumpkin Pie is so easy to make.  You just mix a few ingredients with your can of pumpkin, and throw cake mix, pecans and melted butter on.  Simple and a great dish to add to your Thanksgiving feast!

Upside Down Pumpkin Pie

1 (20 oz.) can pumpkin
1 1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 box yellow cake mix (Duncan Hines is the best)
1 (12 oz. can evaporated milk
3 eggs well beaten
1 c. pecan coarsely chopped
1 c. melted butter

Combine all ingredients, except cake mix, pecans, and melted butter.  Mix well and pour into greased 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture.  Top with pecan and drizzle melted butter over all.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Cool and serve with whipped cream.

Here are few of my other favorite pumpkin desserts.  They come from Mel's Kitchen Cafe..I love her blog!

Pumpkin Bars

Pumpkin Roll

And our favorite, the traditional pumpkin pie with our mom's pie crust.  So good!  I'm heading out to start my crust!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A Boutique Peek

The final boutique of the season that I do ended Saturday night
and I thought it would be fun to show you guys a little glimpse of a few of my favorite things
I did this year.

Above are my very favorite Believe letters I do.  I searched for hours for the perfect font to go along with
a tree inspired paper I saw a couple of years ago.  Although I ran out of that original paper, I did find some really cute new stuff with a black and cream hounds tooth I love!

These cute Adore letters are actually a set I tried to make after seeing some done for a Super Saturday Craft day by the very talented Wendy over at Craft Goodies.  She is one of our Wood You Like To Craft buddies!  She has the cutest ideas~I had to make some for me!  Thanks Wendy!

I found some really fun bright and playful Christmas paper I knew would be perfect for some Fa La La letters.  I've wanted to do some of these for a while now~I swear I see them on hand towels everywhere and knew I just needed to find a playful font to match!

I finally unloaded my car today and had a few things left over that I listed in my shop~but a huge thanks to everyone who came out to support us local crafters!  There is something magical about going to a boutique~unfortunately for me most of the magic I find is at the goodie table where my purchases will keep me warm all season long.....But hey, how can you resist butter toffee sprinkled with almonds, milk chocolate, white chocolate and peanut butter chips?

Candace has an amazing and delicious recipe to share tomorrow so make sure to come visit!

Wood Turkey with Crayons & Lollipops

I apologize for the lack of posts, right after Halloween my kids picked a croup virus that hit them slowly one by one, ending with me! I haven't felt much like crafting.  Nicole is busy on a fun project that involves knocking down brick walls in her home, hopefully she will be back soon to share.  

That leaves me on the scroll saw attempting several wood turkeys!  My son made a wood lollipop holding turkey in cub scouts that I thought was adorable, so I decided to make a few for either lollipops or crayons.  The turkey with crayons was a bit tricky because of the large drilled holes, I would suggest using a 2 inch pine board.  I used a 1 inch board only because I had it on hand in my garage.

The 1 inch pine board worked great for the lollipops, which my sons are much happier with anyway.  Nothing like making my boys more hyper than they already are with a little sugar while I cook!

I wish I knew how to attach printable patterns, for now this picture will have to do.  One day we will figure it out!  (If you want the pattern, you can blow it up on your computer screen.)

My turkey pattern is very simple, here's how I made it:  1 large cup and a cereal bowl from my kitchen.  The circle from the cereal bowl I folded in half and scalloped for the feathers.  For the turkey body I used one large cup and an Oreo I happened to be eating at the time.  An Oreo makes the perfect sized head for a turkey!   Yeah...it's really complex how we make our patterns around here! ;)

I used a small store bought wooden heart for the turkey's nose, my fingers are more valuable than cutting small wood parts for a turkey!

I added a straight edge to the bottom of the pattern to help the turkey stand up straight. I traced the pattern onto pine and cut with my scroll saw and sanded until smooth.  Next I drilled holes before I painted the wood edges brown.  If you are going to drill holes for crayons, start with a small bit, working your way up to avoid splitting your wood.  Last, I Mod Podged the wood with paper scraps and added ribbon.

Pretty simple and a fun addition to the Thanksgiving table.  

We'll be back soon, Nicole and I have been working on a few Christmas crafts to share with you! 

Banana Crunch Muffins

I stumbled upon a great banana muffin recipe a couple of years ago that is so good and I want to pass it along to you!

The recipe comes from Ina Garten, you can find her banana crunch muffin recipe at Food Network.   I  like how she adds coconut, walnuts, and granola to the mix, the smell in the house is wonderful as they bake. This recipe is a keeper and a great way to use up all of the ripe bananas I seem to always have.

We will be back soon, it has been a crazy week in both of our homes! :)



Little Flag Stickers

I voted.....have you?

That was my caption for my Facebook Post today when I had to snap a quick photo after leaving the voting poll.  How many of you will be awake all night watching the Election news coverage?  With a boutique on the horizon I'm glad I'll have something to keep me awake for my all nighter of crafting!   Happy Election day!

Halloween Afterglow

We hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!
We wanted to share a couple of glimpses of our fun day with you!
I finally got my daughter's costume done~with an enormous amount of help from my dear Mother.
My Dad asked on Tuesday night (the second night of an all day sewing marathon) if it was all worth it.....

When we came back to Trick or Treat and he could see the deliriously happy daughter of mine prancing around like a diva in her Cleopatra costume...oh yes, it was sooooo worth it!  I barely finished gluing on over 500 jewels before having to race to pick up pizza for her school party since I ran out of time to do all the cute ideas I found on Pinterest.  Oh well, for not even having time to shower yesterday~I was quite popular at the school when I walked in with those pizza boxes!

Candace's boys had fun again at Zurchers putting together fun costumes but they were in such a hurry to run off to trick or treat in the warm weather that she didn't get any great pictures to share!

***Great product tip***
Candace told me to try Beacon's 3-1 Advance Craft Glue to glue on all the jewels for Cleo's costume.  All I can say is it's AWESOME!!!!  Quick grab like a hot glue gun but with less mess and great adhesion for all the rhinestones.  It is a must have from now on for all craft projects!  You'll love it!

Best highlight of the day was peeking through Facebook last night to see all my friends post pictures or their cute kids.  I love seeing what everyone dresses up as but even more I enjoy seeing how much fun my friends have with their kids.  Hope your Halloween was great!