Dollar Tree Crafting for Your Thanksgiving Table!

We no more than finished with Halloween and now it's time to decorate for Thanksgiving!  Yea!  Changing from one season to another with decor can be expensive...but it doesn't have to be!  If you have a Dollar Tree in your area, they can be a great place to start for decorating.  We have all seen blog after blog filled with wonderful Dollar Tree creations!

I was so inspired by these that I created my own table centerpiece with many items from Dollar Tree!

The glass vase was $1.00.  The leaves were $1.00.  The gourds and pumpkins were $1.00.

I spent $1.00 on a flameless candle.  I already had batteries (AA) for it and a bag of

spanish moss to fill inside the vase to lift up the candle.  I used some scrapbook paper I

had on hand to form a band around the vase.

My Dollar Tree didn't have small grapevine wreaths, so I had to go spend $1.44 for one

at Michael's Crafts.  While I was there, I fell in love with a little package of various sizes

of green pear vase fillers.  You see one on my vase.  Isn't it cute?!  They were $4.99 for a bag

full.  Considering how little I spent on the other items, I splurged! Total cost?  $10.43...but

get this...I made of 6 of them for that price!!  They are all over the house now in various places!

Have you made anything for your Thanksgiving table?



Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

If you search the "net" there is no shortage of recipes for pumpkin seed roasting.  I, however, came up with my own variation after several failed attempts with a 'too easy' recipe from Martha Stewart's website.  No tutorial on this, just instructions on my version, which is OH SO GOOD!

First, gut your pumpkin.  Clean as much of the pumpkin fibers off the seeds as possible.  This is the least fun part of preparing pumpkin seeds to be roasted!  Use a strainer and rub the seeds between the palms of your hands as you rinse with warm water.  They are slippery little devils, so expect a few escapees during the process! hee hee 

Fill a saucepan with water (how much depends on how many seeds you have but you want them covered with water).  Sprinkle liberally with sea salt.  Then pour in your rinsed, drained seeds.  Boil on the stove for about 5-10 minutes.  Drain and rinse with cool water.  Pour seeds onto a dry cookie sheet and place in oven at 350 degrees until seeds are dry.  The time varies with ovens, but it took mine about 25 minutes.  Remove and let cool enough to handle.  Pour into a plastic container with a lid that matches.  Add 2 TBSP olive oil and a generous sprinkling of Lowery's Seasoning Salt.  Place lid on containter and shake, shake, shake!

When you open the lid, if any seeds aren't covered good with Lowery's, sprinkle in a little more and close the container and shake, shake, shake again!

Pour this onto the cookie sheet again and bake at 350 until seeds are slightly browned.  It took mine about 15-20 minutes.  Let cool and enjoy! 

Pumpkin seeds are really good for you, by the way.  They are high in fiber!

Caramel Apple & Pecan Cookies

Thought I'd been missing in action long enough!  Trust me, I've been up to some things, just never could find the time to blog about it!  Hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather that is FINALLY here!  I had grown very tired of the high heat day after day!  It's refreshing to have fall temperatures and enjoy the leaves starting to change.

With fall, for some reason, comes the desire for me to bake!  I love to bake!  I rarely have the time to do it, however.  This week, though, was fall break with the kids so I had the time to do a little baking. 

While perusing blogland a few weeks ago, I discovered a yummy recipe on Smashed Peas & Carrots blog for Caramel Apple Cookies.  You can find the recipe HERE.  Doesn't it look & sound devine?  I borrowed a pic of Maggie's finished product because I forgot to take a picture of mine!

Loved, loved, loved these cookies!  I highly recommend it!  I changed it up just by adding a 1/2 cup of chopped pecans that I had on hand.  Do heed her recommendation to use parchment paper.  The caramel really sticks!  I used wax paper because I was out of parchment and got to enjoy scraping them off the waxed paper when they were done. (not fun)

You can see all the oats and caramel bits.  Yum!

More Silhouette Giveaways!

Stephanie, at Under the Table and Dreaming,  Kara's Party Blog, The Shabby Nest, and Grosgrain Fabulous are all offering a deal to win a Silhouette Craft Cutting Machine!! Woo hoo!!  Boy, would that ever look great sittin' in my craft room! LOL

If you wanna try to win one, go HERE and HERE and HERE and, yeah, HERE

Thanks, Stephanie at Under the Table Dreaming, Kara's Party Blog,  The Shabby Nest, and Grosgrain Fabulous for giving us a chance at an early Chrsitmas present!

Teacher Gifts for the New School Year

Is it just me or did summer just fly by?  I can barely remember what all I did this summer.  And yet, this morning, I found myself driving my son to school amid 1,000 other parents shuttling children to elementary and middle and high school.  Where did summer go?


Now my son is in middle school and too old to be taking teacher gifts to school.  HE says he's too old.  I say, teachers never grow tired of useful and thoughtful teacher gifts.  Uhhh...tell that to a 12 year old boy!  He's not going for it!


Regardless...I have been a blog hoppin (and boy, are my legs tired...he he) and I have seen some sweet, creative ideas for teacher gifts this year.  If you are lucky enough to have a child still willing to take in a gift to the teacher, here are some doozies for you to try out...

Oops, I Craft My Pants (love that blog title!) never disappoints with her creations.  HERE she shows how to decorate lotion bottles (with free patterns).

Ten Cow Chick has posted an adorable, cheap and easy idea for hand sanitizer.  Jazzin' up hand sanitizers for teachers is nothing new.  But she had a great idea with her label.  Check it out HERE

HERE How Does She back in March of this year posted an adorable idea for etching glass and using a Cricut for lettering!  Cute!!  What teacher would say, 'uh, thanks but I don't need that.' 

HERE The Creative Itch back in December of 2009 (yeah, I bookmark that far back!) posted a cute idea for a simple tile from Home Depot modgepodged with an awesome quote for her child's teacher.  My friend, and fellow blogger, Jenn at The Frugal Front Porch did her own take on tile creating HERE.  I love the saying she chose for her pillow project:

Skip To My Lou posted a cute idea 2 years ago using a 7 day a week pill case filled with teacher necessities.  Very creative and inexpensive!!

Eighteen25's blog posted a great idea using large calculators to make a really cute and useful teacher gift!

They also posted one of my favorites using a chinese take out box and adding a personalized label and chocolate dipped fortune cookies inside!  LOVE this idea!!!  See it HERE with free dowloads for the label!

HERE they show how to make a cute grass potted plant for the teacher!

They even include a free download!  Can you tell I love their blog?!

Whatever you decide to do for your child's teacher, make sure they know you are there if they need you.  Beyond any teacher gift, that is appreciated more than anything!

How to Keep Up With and Organize Blog Ideas

Have you ever been ready to make something you saw on a blog or wanted to give the original creator credit for a copied craft, recipe, etc. but can't remember where you saw it?  I read a lot of blogs faithfully each day.  I love recipes and craft ideas.  Over the years I have really started to accumulate some wonderful food recipes from these blogs.  I thought and thought about a logical way to save these recipes and still be able to remember where they came from in the future should I blog about making a recipe.  That way I could give proper credit to whoever's blog I got it from!  This is not an easy task.  I did come up with a great idea!

First I cut and paste the recipe or craft idea, or tip into Microsoft Word.  I clean it up some and take away unnecessary commentary.  If a picture of the item is posted, I include it.  At the beginning of the recipe, I also include the name of the blog and the author and the date.  That way, later, when I make the item, I can give proper credit on my blog to whoever made it.  But it doesn't end there...

I also print each of these recipes/ideas out on 8 1/2 x 11" paper and then store it in a sheet protector in a 3-ring binder.  This allows me to keep the recipe clean and ledgible for future use.  I can also categorize these recipes so I can easily find desserts over salads or etc.

This binder has inside pockets.  I use the top pocket to house a folder labeled "printables."  This is for all those free designs people in blogland share so nicely!  I print out copies of designs for free and keep them in this folder.  The bottom pocket is for stuff I need to file.  But since it's so easy to file in this binder, I rarely have backlogged stuff to file! 

Each section has a tabbed divider.  I have the following dividers set up:  crafts, recipes, decor, organization ideas, party ideas, and tips.  But you could make whatever tabbed dividers you need. 

Today, for example, in my tabbed divider for crafts, I inserted the page to the right from Creative Crate's blog.  This is a craft idea for making a "look what I did" art display for the kids! 

This page is in the section labeled "decor."  This is a photo off Flikr of a really cool Dodge truck sandbox.  I love this idea!  I don't want to lose it, so it went into my binder. 

These same principles can also be applied to sewing projects, organizational suggestions, etc.  With the overwhelming amount of helpful ideas on blogs today, it's too much to try to just remember it all in your head.  This is a great way to store these ideas and keep up with them for many years to come.

How do YOU organize your own blog ideas?  Any suggestions for a new way for the rest of us?  Please share!  Jennifer with Hope Studios is hosting a great Tutorial Tuesday linky party here.  I'm linking this idea up with her party for a chance to win a $30 gift certificate to Single Stone Studios!

Happy Birthday Frugally!!

My mother-in-law's birthday is this coming Wednesday.  Because she has a summer birthday, I often incorporate flowers or plants somehow into her gift.  Depending on what you buy, that can get EXPENSIVE!

Last week my son took an awesome class in how to learn to silkscreen.  While he was in class, I took some rare time to shop alone at some of the local bargain stores.  I stumbled upon a cute little metal bicycle plant stand for $8!  I loved it but didn't have the cash in hand to buy it.

I went back to the store yesterday after work and couldn't find it! Just my luck!!  After a little searching, I found ONE where someone must of picked it up and put it down after deciding not to buy it.  I swear, it wasn't ME! LOL  I headed over to the local nursery and scored on two pots of Wave Petunias.  I figure, one for me...one for the plant stand!  $4 for both!  Awesomeness!

Then I went home and printed out a birthday tag on my Cricut and added a skewer and stuck it in the plant and wah-lah....an awesome birthday gift for her that she's going to love for her covered porch.  Total price?  $12!!!  How's that for frugal but tasteful?!  Love it!!  Hope you do too!

Everyone have a wonderful 4th!!!  I'm going to a co-worker/friend's house and enjoy lots of delicious food and fireworks with the family!  I'm taking my stuffed mushrooms from my party a week ago, by the way!