Happy First Day of Fall!

Yeah, I know, post is a bit late but oh well. 

In room mo for my youngest son's pre-k class at church. First day of my favorite season called for a special treat! Browsed through my pantry.

Voilà! 

My fall snack mix! You can add whatever you like to these (I make lots of variations!). Kids love snack mixes! 

For this one I used popcorn, thin pretzel sticks, and candy corn. I created a little tag with fake fall leaves and scrapbook paper. You could do this with any holiday or season. Get creative! 

Ma-Maw's Peach Preserves

My Ma-Maw made tons of canned things. Yeah, I'll admit it. I don't remember much but I DO remember the peach preserves. Its been probably twenty years since I had any fresh made preserves so I was determined to learn. 

And learn I did. 

I got a bunch of peaches from Jaemor Farms and found an easy recipe online (it's from the Georgia Peach Counsel page). It was a bit of work and probably took a bit longer than it should but hey - first time. 

What did I need for 12 1/2 pint jars? 

About 11-12 cups peeled, chopped peaches 

7 cups of sugar

9-10 Tbs pectin

Lemon juice

What did I do? 

Washed all my jars, kids, and rings. Peeled and chopped the peaches. Added some lemon juice (probably a couple tablespoons) to keep them from browning. Put the peaches and sugar in a big pot, cooked until it tried to boil, then added the pectin. Very LOW boil for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until it reaches consistency you want. Put the jars, lids, and rings in boiling water for 5 minutes. Pour preserves in jars, close finger right, put in boiling water 5 minutes. Allow them to cool (you'll hear the kids pop which means they're sealed). 

Enjoy! 

Fun with Burlap

I needed a new wreath for my front door so I decided to try one of those looped burlap wreaths. You don't need many supplies for this one. 

Wire wreath frame (I think this is 16in)

Burlap ribbon (I had 2 15ft rolls)

Accent ribbon

Embellishments (I chose burlap flowers and a metal J) 

There's lots of tutorials online so I'm not going to reinvent the wheel. It took me a few tries to get "the twist" down but once I figured that out and got into a rhythm it was pretty easy. I could've used a little bit more burlap but I made it work. 

I love the way the chevron burlap ribbon looks along the edges and isn't that metal J just darling? I tied a simple bow and hot glued it on with the J and flowers. Here's the finished product: 

Try making one! They're pretty and you can add so many things to them to make each different! 

More Crafty Goodness

I've managed to be crafty despite there being some sort of illness in the house almost every week since New Years. The first picture is the Christmas present for my mom that was finished on Christmas Eve. The rest are for various things. 

Love how this turned out! Will be making one for myself. 

Homemade Valentines for the boys' classes. Not because I'm cool but because I hate the boring, rectangular, gotta-have-some-character on them cards that are sold in stores now. 

Homemade peppermint sugar scrub for the boys' teachers. They smelled awesome...and looked pretty! 

Table decorations for our Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet. The theme was the pinewood derby. I threw these together the morning of the banquet after a frantic call from our Den Leader's wife. :) 

Wall/door hanger for a bridal shower gift. May have to make one for our house, too! 

Some Homemade Christmas Fun!

I love being crafty! Christmas is a great time to make things you know others will love! Here's all but two of the projects I've done this year (I'll add the last ones once I complete them!). 

Christmas Countdown Plate

Lighted Nativity Scene

Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh Gift Baskets. (The crosses are cut vinyl.) 

Lighted Cross

Small wreath

I may try to sell at some festivals in the fall. 

It Smells Like Christmas!

I've started hosting a little Christmas party each year for my kids (this was my 3rd year doing it). Nothing real fancy. I pick a "theme" (this year was The True Christmas Story, last year was the Grinch) and then come up with a simple ornament for them to make and a treat to decorate. We always make reindeer food from the reindeer food bar and read a story that fits with the theme. Simple and quick. Really. Lasts about an hour. This year I wanted to do one of those simmering potpourris on the stove so my house would just smell like awesome Christmasness. ;-) After a quick Internet search I decided to go with this "recipe" as it was the most common one I came across. 

1 orange, sliced

1 cup of fresh cranberries

3-4 cinnamon sticks

2 Tbs cloves

Put all ingredients in a pot on the stove, add water to within about an inch of the rim, and simmer on low. 

It truly smelled amaze-balls. I started it about 1ish for a party that started at 5. Everyone walked in and commented on how awesome it smelled. I will say I was a bit surprised at how expensive the cinnamon sticks were but it was worth it and I've got enough left over to make more on Christmas Day. 

Enjoy and Merry Christmas! 

Puzzling...

It's one of those times where you have to sit back and just wonder "wth?" Y'all know the time. Good, close friend just disappears off the face of the planet and you can't get in touch with them...for several weeks. You then go through several stages:

1. Don't worry because they must be busy.
2. Start to worry after some time passes, hoping everything is okay.
3. Really, really worried that something bad has happened.
4. Start to wonder if you did something to upset the friend and spend hours racking your brain trying to figure out what in the world it could have been (and coming up with nothing since the last conversation you had with them was great).
5. Okay...I'll just keep my cool and hopefully they'll get in touch when they can.
6. Enter into the "am I hurt or mad" phase (am I hurt because this friend that I thought was so close has disappeared or am I mad?).
7. WTH?
8. Grrrr..... (still hope they're not hurt or something)
9. Fluctuating between 5, 6, 7, and 8. :)

Yeah, I'm at step 9 at this point. I'm more hurt at this phase as I can't bring myself to be "mad" at them yet. Its just sad when you find yourself in this situation with someone you really cared about (though you are aware of some "outside circumstances" that may be keeping them away, though they should know they can talk to you about it.

There....there's my sad post. Every blog is supposed to have some serious stuff occasionally, right? :)

"I Made it" 5k

I finally did my home town's Memorial Day 5k. Yay! That's all the yay I can muster. 

I felt horrible from the moment I got up that morning. Blah. Before the race started I wasn't even sure I'd even start it. 

I did. 

I figured I paid for it I'd better at least start. Then I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish it. 

I did. 

Barely. If my friend Emilee hadn't been there cheering and encouraging as we ran I probably would've stopped. But I finished in 48 minutes, which is surprising because that's only 2-3 minutes off my usual time. Not too bad for feeling like you're gonna fall over and die for the entire length. :) 

Not a great picture (really, it's hard to look even decent with as bad as I felt) but it proves I was there.