thankful

This Thanksgiving my husband and I hosted our families at our house. It was so nice to have both sides of our family in one place to celebrate the holiday.

When I mentioned to people that we were hosting I would usually get the same response, "Wow, you are cooking for all of those people!" I realized that usually "hosting" includes cooking. My response to them was usually, "Um...NO WAY!" A few years back, before my husband and I were married, I took on the very crazy task of hosting his family at my place. I shared my place with a few of my girlfriends, one of which had a dog that would usually urinate on the wood floors. I always assumed she cleaned up after the dog, but the stench in our rental would make you believe otherwise. Needless to say, I still thought my place would be ideal for a Thanksgiving gathering. I still to this day do not know what I was thinking. I decorated, cleaned to the best of my ability and proceeded to make the stuffing. A few minutes too late I checked on the stuffing. The top layer was pretty "crispy", otherwise known as BURNT! I tried not to freak out and thought about what my mom would do in this situation, which included scraping off the top and laughing it off. I have tried to learn from that experience, so now when I say "host" I simply mean "host". I clean, decorate, and provide some simple appetizers. However, in an effort to keep the stuffing and all the other fixings edible, I do not cook! I tell myself I will have to work up to that endeavor. My utmost respect and admiration to all of those whose "hosting" Thanksgiving includes cooking the entire meal! I am in awe of you!

So since I do not cook on Thanksgiving (and I do not have children yet) I am left with ample time to do what I love most- decorating! This includes some practical touches and some not so practical ones. :) Wish I could take credit for most of these ideas, but the majority of my inspiration comes from magazines. Here are some of my favorites.

I really wish I could say that I made this wreath but I can't. I bought it from Pier One Imports last year. :)

YAY! I made this one. :) These tags are from Paper Source (love that store) and the letters were printed on Word, cut and pasted onto the tags. I used twine to weave through the tags. I also laminated the tags so that I could use the sign next year and so that it would hold up in the rain. I bought a great laminator from Costco. For more info on the laminator check out my "Happy Halloween" entry.

Last year when we hosted Thanksgiving we had an issue with glasses. Everyone used their dinner glasses throughout the day for water, wine, tea, etc. Before we had dinner I felt the need to wash everyone's glasses again. (I openly admit that I have some OCD tendencies.) So, this year I wanted to figure out a way to solve that problem. Below was my solution. Very simple, I know, but I can't tell you how excited I was by this improvement.

Everyone thought the fonts "meant something" about them. My father in law, for example, thought his font was large and bold because he was getting old and  thought I didn't think he could see as well as everyone else. I got a kick out of that!

The table was very simple this year. I bought some mason jars in different sizes from the Do It Center. The smaller ones were used for tea lights and the larger ones for the fall flowers I found at various markets.

Now to the not so practical. This is called squash bowling. I ripped the idea out of a Martha Stewart magazine years ago and finally decided try it. If I could describe this craft in one word it would be "frustrating"! See below to understand why.

The squashes were very hard to paint, as you can see from the picture. 

Although they were annoying to paint, this activity did provided some fun times. Especially when the goal went from knocking the squashes down to smashing them into pieces. Wish I took an "after" picture of these poor little squashes. They had a rough day!

Just in case you are interested in making these for your Thanksgiving holiday, I've included the directions with a picture.

1. Attach vinyl sticker numbers to ten butternut squashes.

2. With painters' tape, cover portions of each squash to create stripes.

Depending on the shape of the squash, this step can be difficult and frustrating.

3. Fill in stripes using acrylic craft paint, and let dry.

4. Carefully peel off stickers and tape.

Finally, my favorite decoration was for my brother. His birthday is November 26th and every 6 or 7 years it falls on Thanksgiving. This year it fell on the day after Thanksgiving. For all of those whose birthdays fall around a holiday I am sure you understand that it isn't so fun. Anyway, I try to make it special since it is easily overlooked with the hustle and bustle of the season. I laminated this sign as well since I plan to use it for my brother's future birthdays. Maybe I will attach it to his car or hang it in his office. Haven't thought that far ahead, but I do know that I want to use it again in an effort to show him that he is someone I am so very thankful for. Love you Ross!

Lastly, I love to set up a thankful tree. On the tree family write what they are most thankful for. 

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween

Some fun Halloween decorations I tried out this year.

These mice are my favorite Halloween decoration. I laminate them and put them all over my kitchen and the front of the house. You can find the template at mice template.

 This laminator by Purple Cow is only $20 at Costco.

This year I decided to paint my pumpkins instead of carve them. It is a really easy and quick way to decorate your house for Halloween. You print the letter in a Word document using a Halloween type font. Then you cut out each letter and cover one side with black paint. Carefully lay the letters on the pumpkins one at a time. Remove the letters right away so the paper won't stick to the pumpkin.

I love finding new kinds of candy. At one point Grant suggested I open a candy shop. I don't think that would be a "healthy choice" for me. :)

Here are some of my favorite Halloween candies from this year.

 

Candy Bones sold on Amazon.com.   Candy Bones
If you have kids you can also use them for a fun math activity at home. Dem Bones Graph
 Below are the sweet tart version of Candy Bones. They are not as cool but they taste a whole lot better.  I am biased because sweet tarts are one of my favorite candies. :)

Some bats to spice things up a little bit.

Lastly, the Happy Halloween sign for the garage.

Under the Weather

Teaching kindergarten brings with it so many joys! You spend most of your day with 5 and 6 year olds who live life with so much enthusiasm and laughter. The simplest situations in life fills them with so much excitement. If I am writing something on the board and the pen accidentally falls out of my hand they are immediately in stitches. If only mistakes like that were funny to adults, instead of annoying or frustrating. Last year we were walking to the library and when we arrived the lights weren't turned on yet. One of my students started running through the library screaming, "oh my gosh, the lights are out in the library"! I will always remember that moment because I loved witnessing the overwhelming joy it brought to that student! Along with all of the laughter and enthusiasm, kindergartners also bring with them a whole lot of germs. Getting sick is inevitable as a teacher. This really hit home when I first started teaching kindergarten and one boy sneezed ON my face while I was talking to him. Not much hand sanitizer can do in that situation. :)

This past week I came down with a pretty nasty cold. It was going around my classroom, and it was only a matter of time before I caught it. My remedy when I get sick? Lots of sleep, water, and Kelly's Chicken Vegetable Soup for the Soul.

I made a batch of it this week and realized it was something I wanted to add to the blog. For my wedding shower my friends and family put together an amazing book of their favorite recipes. This was Kelly's favorite recipe and it has now become one of mine. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.

I decided to take a picture of the recipe. Lazy I guess.

Experts recommend buying organic potatoes and bell peppers because of the high levels of pesticides absorbed by these vegetables.

Regardless if you buy organic or not, I recommend using a vegetable wash like the one below to wash all of your produce. Trader Joes sells it in the produce section.

  

The finished product...

 Yummy leftovers!

Enjoy!

Bar Keepers Friend

These are some heirlooms from my Aunt Mary Anne. They belonged to my great, great, great grandmother and grandfather.

 I love this stuff! My mother in law introduced me to this product. Love it!

 Over 100 years later...they look as good as new!

***Oops, my mother in law informed me on Thanksgiving that Bar Keeper's Friend is not to be used on silver. I guess it states that in the directions (admittedly not good at reading directions thoroughly). The utensils still look great but probably shouldn't use that again to clean them. Lesson learned. ;)

Why am I starting a blog?

Starting a blog has always seemed like an overwhelming task. I am not an eloquent writer and don't have a specific subject that I am super passionate about. I do however enjoy sharing ideas and new products I love. Awhile back I asked a bunch of my girlfriends to start a website with me. I thought it would be a great place to post advice about all different topics ranging from marriage and childrearing, to the mundane stuff like great products that make cleaning the kitchen a little bit easier. Whenever I get together with my girlfriends I am overwhelmed with how much wisdom they all have. I feel as though I should have a pad of paper to write down which books they just read and loved, or what they did in their garden to finally make their tomatoes grow.  I easily forget things and am constantly making lists. So I guess in a way this is my enormous list of advice, ideas, and wisdom I have received from all of the people who have touched my life. 

I had a hard time deciding on a title for the blog. Butter and cinnamon toast was something I loved as a child. If I was allowed I would have eaten it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I hope to fill this blog with "cinnamon toasts" from my past, present and future- books I have loved and want my future children to read, advice from amazing people that helped shape my life, cool products that make life a little bit easier, holiday crafts that have been passed down over the years, and even yummy "recipes" like toast with butter and cinnamon sugar.

So I think it is appropriate that I entitle my first entry- Cinnamon Toast

Here are the "directions".

1. Put two pieces of toast in the toaster.
2. Toast until they are lightly brown.
3. Spread butter (the real stuff) on top
4. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar (I prefer mostly sugar with a hint of cinnamon so it isn't overpowering)
5. Yum!

***This can also be done with English Muffins. The butter gets into the nooks and crannies! Delicious!