Fall Lovelies {Crafty Decor}

I thought I'd give y'all a little peek into our home during my favorite season. It seems like almost every room is still a "work in progress" but it's still fun to decorate for the seasons.

I wanted to have an area that embodied what fall is to me... pure happiness. So just as you enter our house, this is what you'll see. I found the adorable idea for my chalkboard garlands HERE. I also embroidered the whimsical hoops using patterns found HERE and HERE.  I bought my felt HERE, and used baker's twine and scrapbook paper I already had.

 The patterns were really easy, and I did each in an evening, while watching TV with the Hubby.

I have really been enjoying stitching lately... so calming.

 

The lovely daisies are from my sweet husband, and the

treasures in the basket are old and new, found and gifted.

 

 My sweet Lovebug helped pick out the pumpkins and gourds we have throughout the house.

She could have any one she wanted, and picked the tiny white one at Trader Joe's.

She carried it around for hours... so proud.

 

We can't wait to carve pumpkins and eat pie!

We're soaking up the cool weather and lookingforward to Halloween!

 

Happy Fall! 

Insta-Friday!

Happy Friday friends! Here's a peek into our week...

This sweet girl just melts my heart. I feel so blessed to be her Mama.

 One of my very dear friends and her hubby and sweet boy came

up for a visit and we did Legoland for the first time!

Lovebug had a great time!

 

I made 100 of Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls for

our Wednesday night dinner at church... boy were they worth the work!

 



A little fall decorating... that post will be up tomorrow!

 

 

Have a great weekend y'all!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Squares

Fall is fully underway y'all and this Mama was READY! It's my favorite season of the year. Not only because my birthday is in 2 weeks, but because I LOVE cool weather, and piles of beautiful leaves, and getting to bake all things PUMPKIN! I've been working on putting up some seasonal decor around the house and baking away! Here's my new favorite treat...

What you need...

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Squares                                                                                                      Martha Stewart
2 cups flour
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 sticks butter {at room temp}
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup pumpkin puree
12oz semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Grab a 9x13in pan and line it with foil, so that there are overlapping "flaps" on each side... trust me-this is so helpful!

In a  medium bowl, mix together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt.

Then grab your mixer and beat the butter, and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and mix again. Then add the pumpkin puree... but don't worry if it looks kind of curdled... it's supposed to be that way!

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixer and stir in the chocolate chips. Bake for 35 minutes. Let it cool completely in the pan, and then use the foil to lift them out. Cut into squares and store in an air-tight container until you serve them.

They are moist, and chewy, and so delicious! They will disappear quickly, so grab one quick and maybe a Pumpkin Spice Latte too? Have a great week!

Insta-Friday!

Just last week I told Bri that I couldn't believe it was ALREADY Friday... ha. Apparently as soon as I said that, time stopped dead in it's tracks, because this Mama feels like it was supposed to be Friday yesterday and the day before that too! Amen? Our days have been full of the good kind of busy, and of sweet moments, but I'm also ready for the slow pace of a weekend and maybe a little extra rest. Here's a little peek into what I've been up to...

She hasn't taken a morning nap in like 5 months, but she

passed out on me 5 min before we left for lunch... precious. 

So much fun throwing a shower for my cousin...that post HERE.

 

Happy mail from Little Light Prints! LOVE Carly's work!

 

A Sunset walk with my little toddler... my sweet girl

makes me so very happy.

 

Napping on Mama while I do my Bible Study!

It's a good one y'all! Follow along HERE.

 

My baby sister turned 25! We had to celebrate with a

Mint Chocolate Chip birthday cake! Yum.

 

Auntie and her Lovebug. Their relationship melts my heart.

 

Have a wonderful weekend y'all!

  

And then she was a toddler...

My sweet girl is growing, and learning and keeping me in awe. She came into my life 15 months ago and has made life so much sweeter. She uses new words everyday and runs through the house giggling and yelling for Dada or Mama. She used a fork to scoop up her own mac n cheese at dinner last night and points to the TV and says "Minnie, Pwees."

She serves me tea with her tea set and kisses her babies. I fall more and more in love with her every day. She is such a cuddler... spending hours wrapped up in a cozy quilt on the couch with Mama on these recent cold days, and happily tagging along where ever we go together. As long as she's dragging her monkey behind her, she's ready to take on the world.

She brushes her four tiny teeth with Mama each morning, and piles up all the pillows so she can nestle among them to watch Elmo while I get ready. She picked out a tiny white pumpkin at Trader Joe's last week and carried it around for hours, showing everyone who came over her precious pumpkin... so proud.

She has so much personality- equal parts strong-willed, and tender-hearted. I look at her and see pieces of both Bri and I, and it makes me want a dozen more little ones pitter-pattering across our wood floors. I want to collect all her little kisses and save them forever. I love my tiny toddler.

S'more Krispy Treats

I have a confession to make y'all. I am seriously addicted to sugar. My sister has been on a sugar fast for 2 weeks... TWO WEEKS with NO SUGAR! I tried to think if I had gone a day recently without any, and I seriously can't remember a SINGLE ONE. So while I'm trying to decide if this means I should do something about this addiction or not, I'll just share another amazing sugary goodie... Mkay?

{Also... please don't judge me for how horrible this actually is for you... we usually eat organic, whole foods, but hey- life is short right?}

 
S'more Krispy Treats
10oz box of Golden Grahms (or the target brand version)
10oz bag of marshmallows (which I usually hate)
1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips
1/2 stick of butter
1tsp vanilla

This recipe is so easy that even my non-baking friend Raylene can totally handle this! {Love you Ray!} It seriously took 5 min to make.

Grab a pan and melt the butter over medium heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until creamy. dump in the cereal and stir until evenly coated. Dump in 1 cup chocolate chips, stir. Pour into a greased 9x9in pan and sprinkle the other 1/2 cup of chocolate on top and press. Stick the pan in the fridge for 10min or so, to set. Use a sharp knife to cut into squares. Then share with someone you love, or eat them, or both.

You're very welcome.

Chevron & Vintage Cars {A Baby Shower}

I seriously love to throw parties/showers. If push came to shove and I needed a profession... this would be it. I love the crafting, organizing, cooking/baking, and just opening our home to people. It warms my heart. Amen? So when my Aunt and her daughter-in-law's Mama came to me asking if I'd like to help throw a shower for my cousin and his lovely wife {and the sweet baby boy soon to be here}... I was so excited!

We rented the chairs and linens, and used our open floor plan to set up 2 long tables. I sewed the bunting using Riley Blake's Chevron fabric and Birch organic circa 50 cars, purchased HERE and HERE.

 

I bought the trucks for the centerpieces at Hobby Lobby and filled the truck bed with Hydrangas, using floral foam. I sewed the bunting with leftover fabric and bakers twine.

We used my Aunt's Matchbox cars as the rest of the tablescape. I bought the adorable chevron cupcake wrappers HERE, and made the flags using washi tape, purchased HERE. I used the Hummingbird Bakery's recipe for Red Velvet and Pioneer Woman's recipe for Creamcheese frosting, adding more powdered sugar to make it easier to pipe. 

 

I bought the stripy straws HERE, and used twine from HERE to wrap the mason jars. I cut small tags from scrapbook paper and we wrote each person's name on their glass.

For the banners, I bought chalkboard contact on Amazon, Inspiration found HERE. I used a liquid chalk marker to draw around the photos, after using removeable scrapbook stickies to put them on the contact paper. FYI... I used comand strips to put up the paper... hubby did NOT want to contact paper our newly painted walls!

The adorable chevron sporks were bought HERE. Unfourtunately, pictures of all the yummy food didn't happen... but goodness did we have quite a spread! The menu included biscuits and gravy, monte cristo sandwiches, cheesy potatoes, breakfast casserole, crescent rolls filled with; cinnamon and sugar, strawberries and creamcheese, peanut butter and chocolate!

We opened gifts, and spent the afternoon being excited for the little one that will be here soon!