Thanksgiving Paper Craft - Indian Corn for Fall

In a festive fall mood the other day, the kids and I did some paper crafting:

 Indian corn! We used orange, brown and burgundy heavy tissue papers:

The kids glued the "corn kernel" papers onto brown cardboard using pencil ends, topped each with shredded and wrinkled tassels and completed the project with a ribbon bow.

Fall Roses on Display

The cool air of September is making my rose bushes bloom magnificently! We had to steal a vaseful from the hidden sides to bring indoors to enjoy.

A shallow rustic candle vase is transformed with a bit of brown and pink satin ribbon. Mmmmmm - they smell fabulous!

Fall Decorating with Gourds

Pumpkins and gourds – are they fall decorating staples at your house? We picked up a mixed bag of interesting gourds the other day and turned a few into this coffee table centerpiece trio:

I can't handle the ones super warty ones, but some of the shapes they come in are pretty cool. I like the one on the far left above. I'm using vases and a footed plate from my pewter collection that normally sits atop my kitchen cabinets.

How are you decorating with little pumpkins and mini gourds this year? See lots of fall ideas at this linkup.

Fall Decorating with [re] Purpose!

Time to move indoors for fall! I took these metal cross tablecloth weights from our patio table ...

 and re-purposed the cross in decorating a deep eggplant-colored candle!

Note:
DaySpring online is offering one of my most popular art canvases at 30% off this month! 3 days left to get this large best-selling wall canvas at a great price!!

Fall Scripture Cards - FREE Printable!

I have been so lax in my blogging I thought I'd make a little treat for you all to celebrate FALL!! A new season always brings a freshness to our lives and homes, and with it a little excitement ... although I must admit I'm totally a summer girl [yes, I know, I married a "Winters!" How did that happen?!]

Anyhoo, I put together a little page of themed tags with fall/harvest/thanksgiving Bible verses as a free printable!

(Click to Download the "Fall Scripture Cards" PDF)

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

I Peter 1:2

He provides ... and fills your hearts with joy.

Acts 14:17

To every thing there is a season.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Let the whole earth be filled with His glory.

Psalm 72:19

In everything give thanks.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

The works of the LORD are great.

Psalm 111:2

Tie them as tags around a gift. Paste them to the front of a handmade greeting card. Tuck them into your bathroom mirror. Glue them onto magnets. Laminate them as bookmarks. Print two sets and play Concentration with your kids. :-)

I hope you find a use for them! Enjoy!!!

Simple Pumpkin Fall Centerpiece

Our favorite blue green pumpkin from our farmer's market outing takes center stage in a very simple tablescape for fall:

Our wood and metal platter from Blessings Unlimited is usually on a stand in a decorative grouping above our fireplace. But the pressed tin has a great cool tone to go with the cool sage of this pumpkin and the rich purple of a skinny eggplant. Altogether it makes a simple, yet stylish centerpiece as we decorate for fall.

Anyone know what our sage pumpkin is really called?

Fall Decorating with Squash, Pumpkins and Fresh Produce

Fresh fall market produce!! So colorful and REAL!! A must for fall decorating. We fell in love with this sage green pumpkin  – or is it a squash? – at the market and had to get it just for the fabulous unusual color!

The kids couldn't pass up the fun displays so they got to pick out their own harvest treasures to bring home. This wooden tray caddy piece from Blessings Unlimited was perfect to display the autumn produce on our coffee table:

Fine wood shavings complete the natural look:

May God richly bless YOU with abundance this fall!

Kids Back-To-School Party Cupcakes, Annual Picture and Breakfast Traditions

Our last Friday play group/pool party before the first day of school... where did the summer go? To make it a little special we made some colorful school-themed crayon cupcakes!

 

The kids helped frost and decorate two dozen strawberry cupcakes with bright colored sprinkles. Then they stuck a new school crayon into each cupcake for fun:

The first morning before school starts, since preschool, I take my son and daughter's picture as they hold the number of their age/grade. My daughter just started first grade! Last year she held a big "K" for kindergarten:

To make the first back-to-school breakfast special last year I made pancakes shaped like the first letter of their name. This year I made their latest favorite – french toast. A custom menu waited for them at the counter with breakfast entrees listed inside:

Last year we also made paper links to count down to the first day back to school, but this year they weren't very excited about school, so we didn't want to make it come any sooner than necessary! What traditions do your kids like?

Kids Craft - Marble Art Leaves Tutorial

Today I have a kid's craft idea for you. We've been making Marble Art leaves for several weeks now.  The kids love them, so it's been a fun to do with just us and with play groups.

Supplies:

paper / leaf coloring pages
scissors
4+ marbles
foil muffin pan
covered foil cake pan(s)
washable paints

Print out some leaf coloring pages and have the kids cut out their own leaf shape. Sometimes I cut random leaf shapes freehand ahead of time for them, especially with preschoolers. 

While they're cutting, you can ready the paints. In a foil muffin pan mix your colors. I usually do yellow, orange, red and brown. I took these pics after our paints had dried, but you'll get the idea. Be sure you're using washable paints! [brown is made by mixing all 3 primary colors: red, yellow, blue.] Drop a marble in each muffin cup and roll it around until it's full of paint:

Put craft aprons on the kids and let them at it!  Put the child's paper leaf in the bottom of the cake pan. They can pick up one colored marble at a time and drop it right on the leaf:

Cover the pan and shake it from side to side:

 Take off the cover and put in a marble of a different color. Repeat until they like how their leaf looks!

Fall Gratitude with Flowers & Leaves

We took a beautiful "leaf peeping" drive this weekend. My daughter is a collector ... so we collected pocketfuls of leaves, acorns and pine cones. Since she and Daddy had just brought home gorgeous fall tulips Saturday, we decided to dress them up with some leaves:

A Making Memories "gratitude" tag was just the thing for heading into the Thanksgiving season.

A band of red maple leaves is held on to the vase neck with a simple white satin ribbon.

Harvest Blessings & Giveaway Winner!

Enjoying the beauty of God's bounty this fall season ... how about you?

"Harvest Blessings"

Congrats to the winner of my new iPhone Scripture Signs app Giveaway: "Christian" who wrote...
I'd love to put one of your prints as my background, please put my name in the hat!
Thanks all who entered!

Serving & Decorating

I mentioned my goodies from DaySpring a couple posts ago ... and today I'd like to show you one of the new treats – this rustic metal tray:
The cross design is actually carved right into the tray, giving it a cool, authentic finish:
I think it works with so many different styles. I set it on my coffee table with pine cones and leaves last week:
and now I'm seeing it with Christmas greens and candles. Of course, it's functional, too, so you can use it as a real tray ... but, hey, then you'd be covering up my design ..... :-)

Stay tuned ... hopefully tomorrow I'll have the Giveaway details!!!!!

(Update: Click to view or purchase
Rustic Metal Collection - Cross Serving Tray)

Thanksgiving Idea, A Giveaway and Come See Me at...

Wow - It's almost Thanksgiving already! Time to prepare for a lovely AND meaningful dinner with friends and family. I put together some paper napkin rings: I printed out words and design in 2 different widths and assorted patterns:
Write a simple "We thank God for you:"
Or "I am thankful for __________" to encourage everyone to think of something they want to thank God for, and then go around the table and share before digging in to the feast:Or a classic "Give Thanks:"
You can add the names of your guests and turn these into place cards, too. I added a short stalk of wheat to each and I'm ready to go!

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I've been honored with the chance to speak at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) this week! I'm so excited! I'll be at Water of Life church in Fontana, California this Thursday and Friday mornings. (Nov. 19th & 20th) Call them for details and join us! Here's the blog of the lovely lady who invited me - Cara's church is the one with the incredible "Cardboard Testimonies" video you see there.

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Don't forget to scroll down to my previous post - one more day to enter to win this amazing book - Aim High: You'll want to read it, then LOAN it out, then buy more copies for gifts, then read it again yourself, then think of another person who'd love it, then loan your copy out again, then read it again, then read it to your daughter, then bring it to your local school, then tell a niece about it, then tell your friend about it ...
:-)

Flowers, Fish & Friends ... and GIVEAWAYS!

I must tell you what & who I have been INSPIRED by lately. And it's the reason I've been lagging in my blog posts of late. I took on a design project that has been taking up quite a bit of my time. So, in every free moment, I've been trying to enjoy this gorgeous fall weather with my kids:
They've been "collecting" all the "fallen" flowers in our yard and on outings. I've been the honored recipient of these valued treasures!

And we have ONE chrysanthemum plant from last year that has truly thrived! This vibrant bush is almost as tall as my kids! (if you know the stories of my black thumb, then you know why I'm especially thrilled about this - one out of three ain't bad!)
Along with my unusual work hours, comes shortcuts in the dinner department. Well, my foodie husband whipped up a low-fat, low-carb meal for us recently - Halibut with his HOME-GROWN cherry tomatoes and herbs. Yummmmm! (recipe at bottom)
And now for the exciting project I've been designing. A great friend of mine, Laura Contreras-Rowe, has just authored a TRULY inspiring book:Aim High: Extraordinary Stories of Hispanic & Latina Women is a compilation of mini-biographies of 33 amazing women. Women who have "aimed high" and overcome assorted obstacles to fulfill their dreams and goals. Successful, prominent women who you have heard of, or will be soon! As I read their stories, I am so inspired! The book is targeted to young Hispanic girls, but the more non-Hispanics who have read it, including several that are not so young!, the more we realize that it's an incredible tool to motivate and challenge girls of any background, race or age. This definitely needs to be on many Christmas gift lists!

Aim High is being printed as I type, and I can't wait to have the final book in my hands. It's a hardcover "coffee-table-style" book, full of colorful photos and fabulous design! Tee Hee! The author, my friend Laura, has had national press and is already setting up her book tour. I'm honored to be a part of this inspirational project.

For more information about Laura and her book, or to pre-order, you can visit here. She'll be rolling out the new site, www.aimhighbook.com any day!

AND ... you can win one here! Please leave a comment with your email address, and one lucky, random winner will receive one autographed copy of Aim High when they're available (probably right after Thanksgiving). You must have a US mailing address. Giveaway ends midnight MT Nov. 16th.

AND ... I just received something really cool from DaySpring - something else I designed that I can give away! SOOOOO, that'll be coming up shortly, too!! Stay tuned!!

Halibut en Papillote:
Wash and dry the fish fillet. Set aside. Cut a large rectangle of baking parchment and place on a cookie sheet. Put the fillet on it and top with:
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp medium-grind black pepper
- 1/8 C fresh Italian Parsley - chopped
- 1 large green onion - chopped
- 1 C sweet cherry tomatoes - cut in half
Drizzle over 1 tsp olive oil. Top with another piece parchment, folding edges together to seal and make a packet. Cook in preheated oven 400 degrees until the fish is tender (up to 18 minutes for a thick fillet).
You can also do this with individual fillets, like tilapia, making a packet for each person.

Fake Tree Goes Fall!

My two little leaf collectors want a project a day for their growing collection. So, we decided to give our artificial ficus tree a "Fall" look!
Once again, we pulled out our hole punch and glitter glue:Decorated some of the leaves with the kids' monograms, crosses, glitter dots, paint ... and left some plain:Then we punched holes, threaded gold string and decorated the ficus as if it were changing colors with the season:
Kind of brightens up that corner a bit!

As an update to my little chestnut bowl post ... my kids have taken a liking to coloring the tops of them!! Every time they have the markers out, a few more get "dressed up!"