A Witchy Wreath

As promised, here's another great Halloween decoration!

Don't you have to have one?

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Applesauce Cake

I can't wait to share this delicious recipe with you.  My Mom passed on this recipe to me and I made it for my small group from church tonight.  The cake is very moist since it has applesauce in it and the top is crunchy from the cinnamon and sugar mixture.  It was a crowd pleaser!  To make it even better, it is very easy to make!

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Planter Boxes and a Great Giveaway

Okay, so how lucky am I?  I have a great friend, Marijke, who owns a local nursery, Grower's Outlet. Years ago, my husband built four planter boxes to go under our garage windows. I've planted them, each season.  I have to be honest, they've never been planted well... until now!  I asked Marijke for advice.  She told me I needed a thriller, a spiller, and a filler plant to complete my window boxes. She also suggested specific plants for my fall planting.

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Halloween Countdown

Happy October!  We promise to share great seasonal crafts and recipes with you this month!  Stay tuned...

Great Halloween decorations, part 1:

Last year I made about a dozen, "Countdown to Treats" sets for friends and family.  I got the idea from the HowDoesShe girls and their great tutorial. As you can see, I changed the "Countdown to Candy" to "Countdown to Treats". Otherwise, I used their ideas and created a great decoration that can be used every year!

My daughters love to countdown to special days and are able to count backwards with this!

A Backyard Oasis, In the Works

Sometimes, I just need to brag on my awesome husband!

Why?

Because, he created this awesome "shack" for $50!

My husband, John, had visions of a beach in our backyard. We live in Georgia, many miles away from the ocean! I have no idea what prompted him to transform the woods in our yard to a beach, but... we're on our way to a real getaway.

He just started this transformation with only one building completed; however, he has plans for more to come.

The shack has working electricity and even a mini ceiling fan inside, to keep our princesses cool on hot days.

He's added a ton of water paraphernalia to the building to authenticate it.

He also built a dock the leads to my Granddad's Boston Whaler sailboat.  He built a platform for the sailboat, to make it stable, for the girls and their friends to play in it safely. 

John made all of this from recycled materials he had on hand.  The only thing he purchased was the metal roof ($50). Even the paint is mixed from paints he had on hand to get the desired color.

Now, to be fair, let me be honest, John is a builder.  His degree is in Construction Management and he owns a Home Remodeling business; therefore, he is not an amateur. We are lucky girls! He said this is just the beginning of his backyard oasis and he has many more plans.  I know a two and a half year old and a newly five year old that are excited to see what their Daddy has planned for his next structure.  Don't worry, I'll share it with you too!  (If you'd like to see more that John's done, check out his blog: http://www.jotsremodeling.com/)



Pinterest Picks of the Week 9/29

My husband is hating Pinterest.  Why, you ask?  His honey-do list is getting longer.  Too many great projects that I want to make that I need his handyman skills.  The first of which is this great project:

My kids don't have a sandbox, nor do I like sand, but maybe I could convince my husband to make it and we could have a corn box.  More fun to play in and no yucky sand.  He could make it much cheaper than the cost of this!

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Creating a Chalkboard from an Old Picture Frame

I needed a place, to write all my goals, in my craftroom.

Did I mention, I didn't want to have to go buy anything?

Well, I did it! I made a wonderful chalkboard out of stuff I already had.

What do you think?

This was so easy to make and it turned out wonderfully.  Here's how you do it...

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Deployment Gifts

On Friday, my son's teacher contacted me to help her in honoring a student's step-father who is being deployed this coming weekend.  I was more than willing to help out.  The only problem is I was recovering from a nasty sinus infection and all creativity was out the window.  Thankfully, I asked many of your wonderful followers who were on Facebook for help.  The ideas that were shared were fantastic.  Thank you most of all to Sarah Hasse for giving me the ideas for the gifts I made!  I really appreciate it!

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