Gobble, Gobble!

I have a little bit of guilt that I'm ignoring Thanksgiving as my anticipation for Christmas grows.  Hostess with the Mostess had a super cute party for kids recently, and it's getting back in the creamed corn/mashed potato mood.

I particularly adore the tissue fan behind the forks.  I particularly adore any easy, low cost projects that make things look adorable.

Since we're on the topic, one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is singing the "fat turkeys" song.  My sister taught me this song years ago and singing it never gets old (even when you throw in the fact that I'm a vegetarian and kinda wish the turkeys were there for living).

Sung to the tune of "The More We Get Together"
 
Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble.  
Fat turkeys, fat turkeys.
Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble.
Fat turkeys are we.


We're not here for living,
We're here for Thanksgiving!
Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble.
Fat turkeys are we.  


What are you doing (eating, singing) for Turkey Day???

Little Man Shower: DIY Bowties

So excited to say that Ethan is almost here!  One of my favorite people is having a little boy, and I decided since our lives are so jammed packed full of princesses and dance classes that her shower would celebrate the manliness!

The first thing I knew I needed were bow ties.  Since the shower will be held where we both work and there are only women, we needed to suit up (as Barney Stinson would say) to get in the right mood.  

I picked four fabrics in what resembled tie-friendly prints.  Each bow tie was attached to an invitation.  

Step by step instructions on my bow tie factory...

Snowflake Curtain

13 days till Black Friday.  13 days till I can stop pretending I'm not already listening to Christmas music.  Got the new She & Him album, and I adore (like love, love, love) it.  So let's embrace it and get in the holiday spirit!

My sister-in-law and I made a snowflake curtain for her grandmother's store.  I used my Cricut to cut all of these out (but I think I'll remake one with my 4th grade class and have them cut out the snowflakes).   It's such a super easy way to festive-up a window/wall/whatever.

The snowflakes were stitched together, but a little fishing wire and Scotch tape work wonders if you're not a sewer.

If you're going with a snowflake theme this Christmas, check out the Better Homes and Gardens Christmas craft section.  This snowflake garland is the same idea and super adorable.

Dia de los Muertos Marshmallows

Tomorrow's the Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos.  Sugar skulls are more traditional, but I'm making a marshmallow version.  I bought the jumbo marshmallows, and they're JUMBO.  My original idea was to stick them on cupcakes, but considering how much sugar we've consumed recently I may just skip the cupcakes.

I used Wilton's Food Writers.  They're edible color markers with a relatively fine tip.  I'm thinking I need to bring them around more often to try to encourage my children to eat new food.  You color it, you eat it.

Pumpkin Chili

Tonight we'll be heading over to some wonderful friends' house for a Pumpkin Carving/Chili Cook-off.  I decided to take a chance this year and prepare a chili I'd never tried.  It turned out super yummy and very festive! Let's hope I win!

The recipe is from Trader Joe's, which features their products.  However, I think you can recreate it using things from any store if there's not a Trader's nearby.

Pumpkin Chili
3 lbs. ground beef (I'm using three packages of fake ground beef)
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 can canned pumpkin
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 16 oz. jar chipotle salsa (substitute your favorite salsa with a kick)
1 32 oz. container Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper Soup (substitute tomato soup and a dash of red pepper)
2 cans pinto beans, drained
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cumin

In a large pan, cook ground beef, onion, and bell pepper until meat is no longer pink.  Drain.  Add remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for one hour.

Build a Bear Party Treats

You know how the party's done, and then you've got hours of clean up to do?  Not for everyone.  Some people are smarter than I am and have parties outside of their home and let someone else do the work.  Build-a-Bear, Chuck E. Cheese, Scooter's Jungle...I'm talking about you.

Happy Birthday, Little Dude!

My sweet nephew just had his 4th birthday party at Build-a-Bear.  I made these teddy bear cookies as favors for his guests to take home.  

The cookie post-decorating.  

I used Wilton's Stackable Cookie Cutter to make the cookies.  The three cookie cutter-set is $3.99 on their website.  Super hot deal.  

  If you doesn't come across in the pictures, this sucker is huge.  I cheated a little and used pre-made cookie dough to make the cookies.  With each tube of cookie dough I made 6 bear cookies.  You could probably stretch it a little by making thinner cookies, but I'm trying to ensure my sweet tooth gets passed to the next generation.  

  

Halloween Cake Ideas for the Decorating Challenged

No time to channel your inner-Martha and blow everyone away with your adorableness and mastery of the pastry bag this Halloween?  Here are some less-tricky treats this Halloween:

Make a cute cake topper out of paper.  I cut this out on my Cricut using the Mini Monsters cartridge.  The tree and house are two separate pieces.  I'll be sticking them in stacked round cakes.

Even simpler?  Do an image search on Google, print your favorite on card stock, cut out, attach BBQ skewers (or toothpicks if it's short).

More treats coming up...