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Creating the Perfect Thanksgiving Table

October 28, 2016 Leave a Comment

Hi! Allison from A Glimpse Inside here once again. It is the last Friday of the month which means we are wrapping up this month’s Fall Must Have Craft Tips.

If you’ve missed the last 3 weeks, you can find the tips here: Tip 1, Tip 2, Tip 3.

This week I’ll be sharing some great tips on Creating the Perfect Thanksgiving Table.

Whether you are having a small family gathering or a much larger affair, creating a beautiful table can make your Thanksgiving more memorable and inviting to your guests.

You don’t have to go crazy but even doing one or two of these things can bring your table over the top.

1. Decide on a Place Setting

1.) Southern Living ; 2.) A Thoughtful Place

You will need to begin by deciding if you would like a more formal table setting or have it be on the more casual side.
Think of your menu and who your guests will be to make your decision.

Here is a graphic to help you decide what would best suit your gathering.

(The Salt Lake Tribune)
These would work well for just a small family gathering or I believe an all adult gathering.

Here is another one as well.

(Diane Gottsman)

If you are having adults and children at your Thanksgiving this one will help you set up a kid’s table setting.2.) Build your Centerpiece

Once you select what type of table setting you plan on having on your table, it is time to decide what type of centerpiece you would want to create.
They can be as elaborate or as simple as you would like.

1.) Apartment 34 ; 2.) Rooms for Rent ; 3.) PoppyTalk ; 4.) Julie Blanner

Use pumpkins, flowers, leaves, candles, berries, whatever you’d like to create your centerpiece.
Add texture with a fabric table runner, kraft paper, burlap, or even wood.

Add layers as well but my number one tip for creating a centerpiece is to keep it low!
You want your guests to be able to converse across the table with one another and if your centerpiece is too high it will block their view from each other and they will have difficulty speaking.

Also, don’t make your centerpiece too full that it crowds the table settings for your guests. Make sure there is still plenty of room for the plates, glasses and silverware so your guests are comfortable.

Kara shared some great tips last week for creating a perfect table scape so be sure to check that out if you missed it.

3.) Have fun with Napkins

Don’t forget about the small details when creating your table.
Napkins can add a little extra fun and flair to your table.

1.) Bow Tie Napkin from A Place for Us ; 2.) Floral Napkin Ring from Paper & Lace
; 3.) Menu Fold from A Practical Wedding ; 4.) Triple Pocket Napkin Fold from Smarty had a Party ; 5.) Leaf Fold from Cuded ; 6.) Wheat, Berry and Lace Wrap from Cuded

Create beautiful designs by folding your napkins to add a little flair.

Fold them in such a way that they are useful and hold a menu or your silverware.

Or just create a beautiful napkin ring with the flowers you use on your table or with some lace, ribbon or burlap along with some added details like berries.

There are some really cool ideas for napkins out there!

4.) Let Your Guest Know Where To SitAnother great detail to add to your table are name cards for your guests.
Even if you are just eating Thanksgiving dinner with your family, it is still fun to create a little name card to let everyone know they were thought about and are special.

1.) Turkey Place Cards from (Cool) Progeny ; 2.) Turkey Feather Place Cards from Almost Makes Perfect ; 3.) Rosemary Sprig Place Cards from Spoon Fork Bacon ; 4.) Pumpkin Name Card from Vicky Barone ; 5.) Kraft Paper Table Runner Place Card from By Dawn Nicole ; 6.) Clothes Pin Name Card Holder from Centsational Girl

Get crafty and make some fun, unique name tags.
They don’t have to be extravagant!
Use mini pumpkins and attach a tag or even draw directly on kraft paper on the table above the place setting.Anything goes! Have fun with it!
Do you create beautiful Thanksgiving tables to celebrate and give thanks with your family and friends?What is your favorite thing to include on your table?

Be sure to stop by next week when we start a whole new topic of tips and ideas!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Your hostesses,

The Scrap Shoppe | Flamingo Toes | Mine for the Making | A Glimpse Inside

Filed Under: decor, fall, holidays, party, party planning, thanksgiving, tips

Tips for Creating Fall Tablescapes

October 18, 2016 Leave a Comment

Hello and Happy Friday! Welcome to another week of Must Have Craft Tips. Kara from Mine for the Making here to share tips for creating fall tablescapes!

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I thought it would be fun to chat about how to create the perfect tablescape without spending too much money or too much time. If you know me, then you know I’m a busy lady and all about saving a buck, but not sacrificing on the pretty stuff of course.

1. Shop your house.

Check out the decor in other rooms of your house and see if you can find some things that go nicely on your tablescape. Examples of this are candles, sconces, a throw used as a runner or tablecloth, etc. Most times you will find exactly what you need around your own home.

Image from Canadian Living

Image from Worthing Court

2. Bring nature inside.

Using branches, twigs, pinecones, apples, acorns, wood, and pumpkins in your tablescape really brings fall into your home. Most times it will cost you nothing at all if you go out into your backyard or collect things while walking your neighborhood or going on a hike.

Image from Country Living

Image from Little Green Notebook

Image from Country Living

3. Use free printables.

There are so many awesome bloggers who have created free prints for your personal use. Anything from place cards, tags, banners, napkin rings, food labels, and menus. Be sure to leave a comment on their blog to let them know you loved using their prints!

Printable banner from Just Destiny

Printable placemats from Ella Claire Inspired

Printable pumpkin tags from Ella Claire Inspired

4. Make your own decor.

Get crafty! Make napkin rings, paint pumpkins, build a planter box for the center of the table, make sconces out of dollar store glass vases and candle holders… let your creativity go wild! Often times you can buy supplies at your local dollar store and make something for your table in an hour or less. It doesn’t have to be expensive or take a ton of time if you don’t want it to.

Image from Lemon Thistle

Tutorial for dollar store napkin rings at Mine for the Making

Tutorial for Pumpkin Succulents at Simply Happenstance

Do you decorate your table for fall or Thanksgiving? What tips do you have to create a beautiful fall tablescape? We’d love to hear!

Your hostesses,

The Scrap Shoppe | Flamingo Toes | Mine for the Making | A Glimpse Inside

Filed Under: decor, fall, holidays, meal time, party planning, thanksgiving, tips

Pumpkin Carving Tips

October 14, 2016 Leave a Comment

Welcome to another week of Must Have Craft Tips! It’s Bev from Flamingo Toes here this week with some fun Pumpkin Carving tips!

Every year my family and I have a pumpkin carving competition. It’s one of our favorite traditions! We each pick a design and keep it secret from the others. On carving night we clear a huge space on the living room floor, pop in a movie and all carve our pumpkins, but we don’t let each other see what we’re making. When we’re finished, we have a big reveal and light them up! Then we take photos and post them on Facebook so friends and family can vote. The winner gets to choose a restaurant to go out to eat to celebrate! It’s so much fun and my favorite part of Halloween.

I’ve gathered up some of my favorite Pumpkin Carving tips and tricks to share with you all, just in time for Halloween!

Tools:

Photo: BHG

Carving the hole: If you carve your hole at the top, make sure you’re cutting at an angle, in towards the center of the pumpkin. This way, the top sits in the hole – if you carve the hole with your knife pointing straigt down, the top falls right into the pumpkin. (which we may or may not have done on occaision). Carving the hole at the bottom is another option.! It makes the pumpkin sit straight and it’s super easy to add a light, you just set the pumpkin over it!

For scooping out seeds: We’ve found that metal spoons work best. In ice cream scoop or large serving spoons are great for this. If you also scoop out some of the sides, this will make carving easier. You can also do some really fun things with partial carving if the pumpkin is thinner. Just scrape away portions of the outside in a design to let the light shine through. It makes for a really pretty effect!

http://www.hgtvgardens.com/decorating/pumpkin-carving-ideas?s=2&?soc=pinterest: “>HGTV Pumpkin Carving Ideas

For cutting: We use the little knives that come in the pumpkin carving kits. They have small blades that work well for carving delicate designs and they’re easy to handle. If you’re wanting to do really advanced designs, a dremel and/or drill work great too!

Fancy Carving Tools from This Old House

Fixing an oops: If you are cutting a delicate part and accidentally cut too far, you can easily add back in the section by connecting the open part with the part you cut off with a toothpick. If you need to, break the toothpick in half for really tiny sections. It works great!

Lighting:

Battery operated tea lights are our favorites! These little tea lights are so inexpensive now and you can even find styles that flicker. They last for a long time and you don’t have to worrry about open flames or the flames blowing out. Easy peasy!

Battery Christmas Lights: Thre are some really fun battery operated Christmas lights now so you could light your pumpkin with different colors, or even flashing lights!

Just for fun: If you use a real candle or tealight to light the pumpkin, sprinkle a little cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice on the inside of the lid. It will smell like a pumpkin pie!

Preserving:

Petroleum Jelly: Rub the open areas of the pumpkin with vaseline or the generic equivalent – this will keep them from drying out quickly.

Photo and more tips from A Real Life Housewife

Soaking: If your pumpkin still gets a little shriveled, soak it in a cold water bath for up to eight hours to help revive it!

Do you carve pumpkins at Halloween? We’d love to hear any tips you have too!

Your hostesses,

The Scrap Shoppe | Flamingo Toes | Mine for the Making | A Glimpse Inside

Filed Under: fall, halloween, holidays, pumpkin, tips

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies

October 8, 2016 Leave a Comment

Hello there, makers! As soon as fall hits, I’m all about the pumpkin. Pumpkin decor and pumpkin flavor. Gimme all the pumpkin.

I thought I would whip up a batch of our favorite cookies, but with a pumpkin twist. I was hoping they would turn out delicious, and they did. Say hello to these Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies!

They were fluffy and had the perfect combination of pumpkin and cinnamon mixed into a cookie. They are definitely a must try if you are a fan of pumpkin like myself.

Ready for the recipe?! I pretty much took my snickerdoodle cookie recipe and added some organic canned pumpkin to the mix.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies

2016-10-07 17:48:22

Yields 18

Your traditional snickerdoodle cookie with a pumpkin twist! Perfect for fall.

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Cook Time

12 min

Cook Time

12 min

For Cookies

3 3/4 cups flour (gluten free flour optional)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 sticks butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup organic pumpkin puree
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg

For Coating

1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Instructions

1. Mix dry ingredients in medium bowl (flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg).
2. In large bowl, mix butter, sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin, egg, and vanilla together.
3. Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Cover and place in fridge to chill for an hour minimum.
4. Preheat oven to 350* and in a shallow bowl mix coating ingredients together.
5. Roll dough into 1-1.5" balls and then roll in sugar/cinnamon/nutmeg coating. Place on greased baking sheet (or on parchment paper or a Silpat). Press lightly on dough balls to slightly flatten.
6. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and allow a few minutes to cool before removing them from the pan.
7. Enjoy!

Notes

*Optional: Add a dash of pumpkin spice to coating mix for even more pumpkin flavor!

By Kara Rodgerson

Mine for the Making http://mineforthemaking.com/

There you have it! Feel free to print off the recipe or pin it to your recipe board on Pinterest! They make a tasty fall snack or dessert.

See you soon for a fun kids craft tutorial! Hope you’re having a great weekend.

Filed Under: cookie, dessert, fall, pumpkin, recipe

Tips for Preserving Pumpkins

October 7, 2016 Leave a Comment

Welcome to another segment of Must Have Craft Tips and More!

It’s October, a new month for the series, but Bev, Kara, Allison, and I are stilling bringing you fall-themed tips. You can’t have too many of those right?

I’ve rounded up some of the best tips from around the web for preserving your pumpkins, whether carved or not, to make them last as long as possible. I don’t know about you, but I’m a complete sucker for decorating with pumpkins in the fall! I love the natural look in my decor.

We have a wonderful local pumpkin patch that grows all sorts of pumpkins and gourds and allows you to go picking in the patch. This poor wagon from last year didn’t know what hit it after I went hunting for pumpkins! You can see I went a little crazy. I did say I love my pumpkins! And, of course, I want to make them last as long as possible through the season.

I also love to bring some of my pumpkins indoors. I have the Pioneer Woman Cake Stand that I love to dress up for the holidays because, let’s be honest, it’s NOT always full of cake, much to the chagrin of my little boys. But placing live pumpkins and moss under a sealed dome can lead to problems. Moisture builds up and mold sets in. But one of the tricks I’m sharing with you today will keep that moisture away and keep everything under the dome nice and dry!

I give you a brief description of each pumpkin preservation tip, but be sure to click the links on each one to read the tips in full.

365ish Days of Pinterest
This blogger swears by soaking pumpkins in a bleach bath then giving them a good wipe down with Vaseline to extend their lives.

Graceful Little Honeybee
A warm bath and a good towel off is what this blogger recommends to stretch pumpkins out for months of decorative use.

A Real-Life Housewife
There are some great tips here to extend the life of a carved pumpkin, including spraying the inside with a bleach mixture to keep bacteria at bay.

It’s Great to be Home
Floor cleaner can not only give your gourds a pretty shine, but it can create a layer to keep moisture out of them.

Creative Cain Cabin
This blogger says after giving your pumpkins a good wash and dry to spray them with a clear spray paint to keep moisture from getting in.

Family Food Garden
If you grow your own pumpkins, these are some great tips for harvesting, curing, and storing them until you are ready to use them.

Embracing Homemaking
This is a pretty powerful photo. And, as stated, this blogger tried 7 different methods to preserve her pumpkins and 1 worked like a charm.

My Science Project
This blogger did all the work for you on testing methods to find out how best to preserve a carved pumpkin by trying 5 different methods, including a white school glue method I had never heard of. Do you think you know which method was best?

The V Spot
This tip is the one I was hinting at earlier. It is one of my favorite tips for keeping moisture out of my pumpkin displays. But I do recommend keeping the silica in the packets. It will work just as well.

Join us next week for another must have craft tip for the fall season!

Your hostesses,

The Scrap Shoppe | Flamingo Toes | Mine for the Making | A Glimpse Inside

Filed Under: decor, DIY, fall, halloween, pumpkin, tips

Tips: Shop Your Home for Seasonal Decor

September 23, 2016 1 Comment

Hello everyone!

Are you ready for the last week of Must Have Craft Tips & More: Fall and Halloween Decorating Tips?

If you have missed the last few weeks, here is Tip 1, Tip 2, and Tip 3.

It’s Allison here, back with some tips on how to decorate your home for the holiday season by just shopping your home.

You don’t always have to go out and buy a ton of items to decorate for seasonal or holiday decorating. Just shop your home, inside and out, instead!

Walk around your home and you can turn many items into holiday decor.

Photo via: Country Living

Do you have some old sweaters? How about using them to cover pillows to cozy up the couch or a bench?

This year I decorated my fall mantle with all sorts of items from around my house.
The small chalkboard and wooden basket were in my craft room, along with the pumpkin and gourds that were stashed away in my closet. I had the arrow for a few months and then created the wreath out of an old wreath form and all the supplies were already in my craft stash.
And for all the hydrangea blooms, I just went out into my garden with some clippers and then boom, a pretty natural mantle that I didn’t spend any money on.

Photo via: Country Living

Do you have pillow and throws that are in fall colors in another room or tucked away in your house some where?
Pull them out and place them in the space you want to decorate.
Fall branches in a large vase or jar are also perfect free ways to decorate.

Photo Via: Country Living

Fall boots make are a special addition to an outdoor space or mudroom.
Branches are also a great way to add a rustic touch.

Photo via: Country Living

I feel like this room says fall without screaming it.
The pillows and throws are the perfect fall colors.
If you have curtains in another room and they would work in the room you are decorating, why not switch those out for the time being to bring the whole look together.
Vases, antlers, and cotton bring the mantle together and change out art to something that has a more fall theme to it as well.

Photo via: HGTV

Gather old books, vases, jars, and other vintage items you have around your house and make a vignette with them.
The added pumpkins and flowers tie it all together beautifully.

Photo Via: Bob Villa

Outside is a fantastic way to get items to decorate.
Place some fall leaves inside beautiful frames and berries, branches, and leaves in a vase that you already own and you can an easy, striking mantle.

This was my fall mantle from a few years ago. I shopped my house and used this old window that we had for a few years as a focal point on the mantle.
I took candle sticks, candles, and vases from other areas of my house and used them in my display.Some times you just need to go digging through your house and you never know what you will find.
Here are some items that can easily be used and switched around for decorating.
1.) Candles and candle sticks
2.) Pillows
3.) Throws
4.) Vases
5.) Plates, Platters
6.) Books
7.) Flowers
8.) Branches
9.) Leaves and Berries
10.) Clothing items (boots, sweaters, scarves)
11.) Artwork
12.) Wreaths

Thanks for joining us for another month of tips.

Be sure to join us next month when we begin a whole new set of tips.

Visit all the hostesses:
Bev- Flamingo Toes
Michele- The Scrap Shoppe
Kara- Mine for the Making
Allison- A Glimpse Inside

Filed Under: decor, fall, holidays, home, tips

Tips: Inexpensive Ways to Decorate for Fall and Halloween

September 16, 2016 1 Comment

Hello and Happy Friday!! We are back with another week of Must Have Craft Tips & More. Each week my friends Michele at The Scrap Shoppe, Bev at Flamingo Toes, Allison at A Glimpse Inside, and myself (Kara at Mine for the Making) take turns sharing tips based around a monthly theme. And this month we have been sharing tips for Halloween and fall… one of my most favorite times of year!

This week I am sharing tips on inexpensive ways to decorate for fall and Halloween! Let’s face it, you don’t need to spend tons of money to to decorate. And I’m going to tell you how to save a little moolah.

Shop the dollar store.

That’s right! I have found the cutest holiday decorations at my local Dollar Tree. There are so many ways to dress up or spookify dollar store items. Talk about all the crafts… check out some of these awesome ideas!

Halloween Boo ‘Mores Bar using Dollar Tree decorations

Pumpkin Plate using an orange plate and plate stand from Dollar Tree.

Make a fall leaf monogram using faux leaves from Dollar Tree and cardboard!

Dollar store plastic pumpkin painted with chalkboard paint for a Halloween Countdown Pumpkin.

This fall wreath was made with all Dollar Tree items and turned out so pretty.

2. Stroll Target’s ‘dollar spot.’

Though not everything is a dollar, Target’s ‘dollar spot’ always has adorable, inexpensive items to decorate with during the holiday seasons. Have you seen this year’s Halloween and fall decor yet? I love it all.

Image by The Spooky Vegan

Image by All Things Target.

3. Hit up the thrift stores and garage sales.

This is especially perfect for Halloween, in my opinion. Sometimes OLD is just plain SPOOKY! Be sure to check if your thrift stores offer special discount days or coupons… you can never be too thrifty. And rummage those garage and estate sales! One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure.

Paint thrifted wine glasses to create a spooky centerpiece.

Spray paint thrift store pumpkins for a whole new look!

Make your own witch potion bottles by thrifting various glass bottles and jars and paint them black and add labels.

Turn those thrifted sweaters into adorable sweater pumpkins for fall! I love these.

And there you have it! Now I am in the mood to decorate for Halloween… how about you? I hope you’ve found this week’s tips helpful. We’ll see you back here next week for Must Have Craft Tips & More!

Filed Under: decor, fall, halloween, holidays, tips

Tips: Using Reusable Wreath Forms

September 9, 2016 Leave a Comment

Welcome to another week of Must Have Craft Tips! Every week my co-hosts and I gather up our favorite craft tips to share with you! This week it’s my turn (Bev from Flamingo Toes) and I’m sharing one of my favorite holiday Must Have Craft Tips – Using Reusable Wreath Forms!

While I LOVE decorating for the holidays, and I completely decorate the house for the fall Holidays especially, sometimes storing all these things gets to be a problem. You can only have so many boxes of just wreaths, am I right? Especially if you’re like me and don’t want to use the same wreaths every year. I like to change things up!

My solution is to use reusable wreath forms! These wreaths were made with pins – so that the ribbons and decorations can be removed at the end of the holiday!

For this Spider Halloween wreath, all the fabric is pinned in place. The doily and rick rack are pinned to the back as well. Easy peasy!

Eeek Spider Halloween Wreath

This Ruffles and Burlap Fall Wreath is made with a straw wreath form, but it’s also all pinned in place. The pins make a great decoration on the front too!

Once the holiday is over, I remove all the ribbons and other decorations and store them in a gallon sized ziploc. Then I keep all the ziplocs in a small tub with the wreath forms that I use. It’s super easy and they take up so much less space!

These wreaths aren’t for Fall or Halloween, but they are all made with reusable wreath forms and pins!

Lucky Shamrock’s Wreath

Pom Pom Patriotic Wreath

Spring Bunny Pom Pom Wreath

It’s such an easy space saver – I hope you give it a try!

Make sure you stop by next week for more Must Have Craft Tips from your hosts, Michele at The Scrap Shoppe, Kara from Mine for the Making, Allison from A Glimpse Inside and me, Bev from Flamingo Toes!

Filed Under: decor, fall, halloween, holidays, tips, wreath

Tips: Reversible Holiday Decorations

September 2, 2016 Leave a Comment

A new month means it’s time for a new theme for our Must Have Craft Tips & More series! If you’re new to our series, my friends Bev at Flamingo Toes, Kara at Mine for the Making, Allison at A Glimpse Inside, and myself (Michele at The Scrap Shoppe) take turns each Friday to present a brand new craft tip revolving around a new theme each month.

It’s September and we’re officially kicking off the holidays! We will be focusing on different holidays for the next 3 months and bring you tips to hopefully make them feel a little less daunting.

This month we’re focusing on Halloween and fall.

I am focusing specifically on reversible holiday decorations. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a ton of extra space to store holiday decorations. And I am a HUGE fan of decorating for ALL of the holidays. So multi-purpose decorations are always a big hit with me. This is super easy to do with fall and Halloween. Especially if you love pumpkins, like I do!

I have a large collection of pumpkins and jack-0-lanterns that I love to display together in October. This set up is from a couple of years ago so I’m pretty sure I have even more now. But after Halloween is over, I am able to simply turn most of the jack-o-lanterns around and pretend they are just pumpkins. Easy peasy!

I also made this reversible Halloween/fall garland years ago. I still love to use it!

I found these fun ideas that are also perfect multi-purpose crafts for Halloween and fall decor.

From right to left: Reversible Halloween/Thanksgiving Blocks at JN Designs | Reversible Holiday Table Runner from Simply Notable | Reversible Halloween/Thanksgiving Door Hanger at Wired Up by Mellie

You can make an even bigger reversible stretch with these clever craft ideas! Transition from fall to winter. I particularly like the stacked pumpkins turned snowman. Who thinks of these things?? SO smart!

From right to left: Reversible Pumpkin/Ornament Decorations at Over the Big Moon | Reversible Pumpkin/Snowman Door Hanger from Thee Alley Cat | Reversible Scarecrow/Snowman Pallet from Mollie’s Custom Creations

And here are a few more. How cute are those trucks?

From right to left: Reversible Pumpkin/Ornament Door Hanger from The Wayward Whimsy | Reversible Fall/Winter Door Hanger at Thee Alley Cat | Reversible Halloween/Christmas Mantel Scarf from Pattern Jam

Do you have a reversible holiday craft that you’ve made? Leave us a link! We’d love to see it!

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Filed Under: decor, fall, halloween, holidays, tips

10 Handmade Thanksgiving Decor Ideas

November 5, 2015 Leave a Comment

Oh fall, how I love you. Now that it’s finally starting to cool off here in Arizona, I feel like I can actually start talking about my favorite time of the year. Time to bust out the crock pot and apple cider. . . it’s FALL! Yippee!

So it goes without saying that Thanksgiving is my all-time favorite holiday! From the food, football, parade, and overall feeling of thankfulness, it’s just a really special time of year. And I like to decorate my home accordingly. I am always in awe of how creative bloggers are! I mean, it’s easy to put a few fall leaves and pumpkins on your table and fireplace mantle, but these bloggers have really taken Thanksgiving décor to the next level!