Happy Halloween!

Have a good day!

Harvest Scatter Mix

If you like scatter mix, you might enjoy it with a seasonal twist. It goes together easily and, just like the traditional mix, it stores well in an airtight container.

Harvest Scatter Mix

3 cups cinnamon flavored Chex-style cereal (I used store brand)

3 cups pumpkin flavored Cheerio-style cereal (I used store brand)

1 1/2  cups mini twisted pretzels

1 cup dry roasted, salted peanuts

1 cup candy corn

1 cup candy-coated chocolates (I used original chocolate M and M candies and sorted out the blue ones since they are not a harvest color, but there are so many varieties now that you could select your favorite flavor!)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 Tablespoons pumpkin pie spice

In a large bowl, combine cereals, pretzels and peanuts. Set aside. 

In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice. Mix frequently until melted and sugar is all dissolved. Pour over cereal mixture and mix well until it's evenly distributed and coating pieces. Pour onto a foil-lined jellyroll pan and bake in a 275 degree oven for about 45 minutes until it begins to brown. Stir it two times during bake time. After removing, allow it to completely cool before adding candy corn and coated chocolate candies. 

For a printable version click here.

Have a good day and scatter kindness! 

Two Months and Counting...

Tomorrow is the 25th of October and that means it's just two months until Christmas! This might be a good time to throw together a few DIY ornaments in preparation and I have a quick and easy way to accomplish that. You just need some of the freebie holidays cards which have started arriving in our mailboxes. Another option would be to use old cards previously sent to you.

You will also need 4 by 6 frames of your choice from the dollar store. The ones they carry work well because they are very lightweight.

Scraps of ribbon to match your frame will become the hangers. If you don't have any, you can pick up some at a craft or dollar store.

Trim your card front to fit the frame and when you assemble it, just use the cardboard piece from the frame as the back. Omitting the "real" back piece with the stand makes your project even lighter (plus it is not needed).

Use hot glue to attach the ribbon loop to the back of the frame. 

Now your frames are ready to go! Decorators recommend placing larger ornaments, like these,  on the bottom half of the tree and keeping smaller ones toward the top. If you're like us, you will be decking the halls right after Thanksgiving since Christmas is in just two months...and counting. 

Tuesday's Tablescape

We have had a few frosty mornings and are beginning to see some fall color. That makes me happy since autumn is my favorite season. I am drawn to the golds, oranges and reds of the season and love the combinations even for a tablescape.

I'm crazy about this quilt which I found at a yard sale a few years ago and enjoy using this time of year. For today, it's playing the role of a table cover. 

My cousin made the pumpkin eons ago and I decided it would be a perfect container for a centerpiece of faux fall stems. The owls are keepsakes from my great grandma's salt and pepper collection. 

My plaid dinner plates (purchased last year at Walmart) have the same colors as the quilt, so I pulled out those.

My leaf bowls complete each place setting.

Jack Frost, Jack Frost,

What a busy fellow,

Painting all of the autumn leaves

Orange and red and yellow! 🍁

Sweet Little Acorns

Two of my friends made these sweet acorn treats and I had to share the idea! If you're like me, you enjoy squirreling away tasty and unique recipes to use and this one is perfect for this time of year.

Like all acorns, these may be assembled ahead of time and stored in an airtight container until you're ready to use them. You will need Nutter Butter Bites, Hershey chocolate kisses (unwrapped) and Nestle mini morsel chips. That's it! In a nutshell, the directions are easy. You melt a handful of mini morsel chips in the microwave and dip the flat side of an unwrapped Hershey kiss in the melted candy. Using it as "adhesive", attach the kiss to a Nutter Butter Bite. Set aside and allow to set-up. At that point, carefully dip a mini morsel chip in the melted chocolate and attach the top of the Nutter Butter Bite to become the stem. Allow to set up. 

I'm nuts over these! Let me know if you try them. 

Fall Mantel

Although I decorated our mantel several weeks ago, I hadn't shared it yet. I wanted to keep it simple and seasonal. Don't be distracted by the reflection of the plantation shutters caught in the mirror.

I began with my favorite glass jar and filled it with oversized metallic faux acorns.  

To add texture, I set it on a burlap remnant and for dimension, I inserted some artificial fall leaves.

I coupled my chunky candlesticks (a teacher gift I received from a sweet family) with a picture I took a few years ago. To balance the leaves on the other end of the mantel, I added a sprig of matching leaves.

I typically pilfer through my stash when I decorate. Putting together new combinations for fresh looks each season is just the odd way my brain works! Sometimes people ask me where I store all of my loot. Labeled totes containing seasonal decorations go in a storage room in the basement. You can click here to look at a post in which I addressed the topic three years ago.

I hope your day was a good one!

Tuesday's Tablescape

With a hint of fall in the air, the colors in my grandparents' china seemed appropriate for today's table. The muted tones have always appealed to me.

My rooster not only matches the dinnerware, he also provides a rustic feel which seems especially fitting for this time of the year. By the way,  I love his snazzy tail feathers!

Blessings to you!

A Little Break...

We enjoyed some time away last week when we visited Branson, MO. This popular little Ozark town in southwestern Missouri is a common destination complete with numerous music theatres and attractions. Our idea of a great little break includes exploring a region and sightseeing which is exactly how we spent our days.

Poking around attractions like Ripley's Believe It or Not or Hollywood Wax Museum was enjoyable. More lighthearted than our usual stops, they were both well done and fun to see.

Historic tours are right up our alley, so we were eager to tour "Shepherd of the Hills" and were not disappointed. It was excellent. This old homestead from the turn-of-the-century is the actual setting of its famous namesake book.

Fascinating to see, this is the actual desk on which Harold Bell Wright penned the story, The Shepherd of the Hills in 1907.

A lovely old church was a part of the tour. 

The absolute highlight of the trip was going to Sight and Sound Theatre to watch the Bible story of Samson come to life. With over 2,000 seats, this famous theatre has a 300 foot long wraparound stage. 

Show pictures of Samson were not permitted, of course, but this dynamic statue was on display in the lobby.

This was our first Sight and Sound Theatre experience and we are now hooked! The next production, Noah, opens in the spring and runs through the end of December (2020). We plan to go see it.


We appreciate the rolling hills of Branson.

Look at Mr. Chipmunk who watched us as we watched him one day during a walk.

It was great getting away because a little break can make a big difference!

Moss Walls

We recently had the pleasure of attending a workshop/seminar at a local business called Growing Green. They specialize in interior plantings for office spaces, hotels, hospitals, shopping centers, residences, etc. This was a professional opportunity for my husband since he does business with them and my mother and I were invited to tag along. We were delighted to do so. Growing Green designs, plants and maintains planters of all sizes and shapes, green walls and they also provide and lease large scale seasonal decorations (trees, wreaths and planters in commercial lobbies). You can imagine how interesting it was to tour the facility, particularly the Christmas staging area!

Are you familiar with green walls? These trendy spaces are vertical panels, both inside and out, on which plants are grown or displayed. There are two types. Living walls host individually potted plants and create quite a statement.  Moss walls  require little, if any, maintenance since there is no soil base and the plant is dormant or preserved. The topic of the workshop was moss walls. Regrettably, I neglected to take any pictures of the examples they had in their showroom. 🙄 So, please click here to see the portion of Growing Green's website highlighting their incredible moss wall creations. The culmination of the evening was the opportunity for each of us to build our own mini moss "wall" (picture). We were provided our choice of frame, multiple moss options and a vast array of natural elements for embellishment. One could select anything from seedpods to small stones. Additionally, there were beautiful clear glass pieces in different colors. Equipped with hot glue and ample materials, our imaginations shifted into gear and we all began working. My husband chose a chunky wooden frame for his personal design.

My mother and I each selected a frameless option. The back of this type has an arm so that it sits up on a tabletop. 

It was a great experience and we had so much fun! 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Old Fashioned Apple Cake

Sometimes I forget about a recipe for several years, only to happily rediscover it and that was the case with this apple cake. A friend shared her recipe with me a few months ago and since autumn is the prefect time for apple desserts, I am sharing it with you! This recipe has been around forever and while there are numerous versions of it, most are basically the same. It is moist and flavorful and tastes like the apple cake you had when you were young.

Old Fashioned Apple Cake

1 cup oil

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

3 cups diced apples

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 T cinnamon

Using a mixer, mix together oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla and then set aside. Peel and dice apples. Add to mixture. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add to bowl of first ingredients and mix well. Pour into greased 9 by 13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 40-45 minutes until golden and done.

Top with a dusting of powdered sugar or serve warm with a scoop of whipped cream.

Click here for a printable version.

Happy baking to you!

Cotton Bolls and Gyros

I am sharing two completely unrelated product endorsements. 

Faux cotton remains a trendy decorating accent and these stems from Dollar Tree are pretty good quality.

Certainly not perfect replicas, I think they are comparable to others sold in craft stores and at a fraction of the cost. I was happy to find them in stock at our local Dollar Tree and picked up five. They sell really quickly, so you will want to check your store if you would like any. They are a seasonal item, so they won't be restocked when they are sold-out.

Whether clustered in a vase or woven into an arrangement of greenery, these will be fun to use. I plan to incorporate them in one of my trees this Christmas.

For many reasons, I am not a fan of premade food products so it's especially surprising that I am recommending this. 

When I read about this kit in our local restaurant supplier store ad, I decided to give it a try because I wanted to make a Greek meal. I admit that I did not have very high expectations, but was pleasantly surprised with the quality and taste. Everything is precooked and microwavable, but I prepared ours using the oven and stove.  I made a fresh Greek salad and fresh oven-roasted Greek potatoes to go with our dinner. I would buy them again. I searched online and discovered that they are carried at Walmart stores. No matter where you get them, they are kept in the frozen foods section and do require to be transferred to the refrigerator for 12 hours before preparing. 

Have you ever purchased either of these items? 

If so, what did you think? 

Tuesday's Tablescape

Happy October...or as we say here in Cardinal Nation, Happy Red October! Our St. Louis Cardinals won the division championship and today's table is set in their honor! ⚾

"Red October" is a play on words from the movie by the same title. We, in St. Louis,  adopted the term in 1982 during the World Series when our Cardinals played the Milwaukee Brewers. We won, the term stuck and each year that we are in the playoffs we refer to this time of year as our RED OCTOBER!