Sweet November: Autumn Wreath

It's time for an Autumn inspired wreath.... just a little something pretty to hang on the wall. I really wanted to make a wreath for our sweet November week, the challenge was deciding on what type and style I was after. After a trip to Target and seeing their (now discounted) Fall collection, the one with the vintage horse awards and lots of florals mixed with plaids, I had a good idea of the style I wanted. Something casual with dressy elements!

  This wreath was a joy to create, particularly because I was able to use things that I already had available at home. Some vintage wool, remnant pieces of lace, a handmade flower & leaves and even my Grandmothers rhinestone pin, look around your home and see what you can find to work with before heading the craft store!  

I'll walk you through my process of creating this wreath. Remember though, that everything can be substituted for something that you're comfortable working with. (like a sewing machine, hand stitching would work just fine as well!)

Materials

For the wreath itself, I used:

- a foam wreath 

- fabric, in this case a thick wool plaid

- scissors 

- a measuring tape 

- straight pins

- sewing machine

Directions

1. Start by measuring your wreath and then add 1 inch (my wreath form measured 7 inches so I want to cut the fabric at 8 inches.)

2. Lay fabric out and cut the measured amount. Because I wanted to gather or bunch the fabric on my wreath form, I cut out a piece of fabric the was 8 inches wide by 5 ft. long. (If you're using a shorter length piece of fabric, you can also sew 2 smaller pieces together to make one long piece.)

3. Once you've cut your fabric it should look similar to a long scarf.

4. Fold fabric in half (printed sides together or right sides together.) I'll be honest and tell you with this fabric I couldn't tell what was the right side and which was the wrong side, so I gave up and just started pinning the fabric together.

5. Fold over and pin the entire length of the fabric, making sure to leave about 8 inches at the end, so that you'll have room to turn the fabric 'right side out' (These sewing terms make me feel a bit like my mom :)

6. Sew down the length of the fabric, stopping at the 8 inch mark at the end. Remove pins once the fabric has been sewn.

7. Once the sewing has been complete, slowly (and patiently) turn the fabric right side out, by pulling the end of the fabric through that 8 inch opening at the opposite end. This is where I started to doubt whether using a thick wool was such a good idea, but after 5 minutes and some grumbling, I had finally turned the fabric the right way! 

 8. Finish sewing up the opening on the end of the fabric, either by hand of with a sewing machine.

9. I used a serrated knife to cut through my wreath, but with a little arm strength you can easily break the wreath from where the seam is. (I've accomplished this particular feat with last years wreath!)

10. Start to shimmy your fabric onto the wreath form.

 11. Once all of your fabric is covering the wreath, overlap the end pieces. 

So that's all there is to the actual wreath! It probably looks more complicated than it really is, I tried to break down the photos into the steps I thought would be useful. Next you get to decorate your wreath! 

I looked around for embellishments that were similar in colors: white - peach - grey - gold

My original idea was to use a craft glue to adhere everything into place, but then I discovered straight sewing pins do a marvelous job at securing light weight embellishments!

Start with pinning any lace or fabric down to your wreath first. Just like scrapbooking, we're working on building layers. Next add the larger elements like flowers, I was able to push a straight pin directly through the inside of the flowers and ruffled them a bit so the pin disappeared from sight.

For the leaves, I tucked and pinned them under the flowers on both side! 

Depending on how many lovely embellishments you're able to find, keep repeating the layering and pinning process until your wreath is nothing short of perfection!

Hope you enjoyed my Wreath creating process! I promise it really is an easy project that should take right around an hour or so - a perfect Fall weekend project! I have another tutorial to share tomorrow, something sweet to wear this holiday season! 

See you then!

Sweet November: Pretty Package

A week of Fall inspired posts wouldn't be complete if I didn't add at least one little gift wrapping idea! I was thinking about gifts that we give during this season, and one came to mind that almost everyone will either receive or be giving away this month. Any guests as to what gift that would be? 

If you said a Hostess gift, you and I are thinking alike these days! My grandmother told me to never show up empty-handed to someones home that has invited you for dinner. Since I'm usually the one doing the inviting, I thought it would be fun to think of a couple of ideas for hostess gifts just in case! 

Tara's Top 10 Sweet Hostess Gifts 

- Fall scented candle (this would be my #1 to receive!) 

- a cute pair of dish towels (think the embroidered ones from Anthropology)

- a bottle of wine (Peter's favorite :) 

- gourmet honey, butter, salt, oil, or sugar (who couldn't use more of any of these!)

-  a pretty set of kitchen magnets

- instead of flowers, bring along a potted herb plant (try Sage or Rosemary this time of year) 

- a set of buffet napkins

- clean scented kitchen hand soap

- a pair of wooden salad servers

- new cute dish gloves

Since most Hostess gifts tend to be on the petite side, I was playing with some ideas on how to wrap it all up. I found some great gift boxes at our new Paper Source store that just opened, using a few book pages I simply used my paper trimmer to cut strips and used them as filler for the inside of my box. 

To decorate the top of the box, I used a minimal amount of products just a few leaves, gift tag, clothes pin and a little seam binding. Now, the leaves that I had on hand were not the right color for the overall look I was going for. (When are unsightly red and yellow-orange-ish leaves ever the right look?)

 Fear not though, a little coat of spray paint and those red and yellow leaves are now a trendy metallic gold and bronze! One coat is all it took, and I rather liked the color, especially the red, peeking through the paint. 

Clip the leaves and gift tag together with the mini clothes pin and tie some seam binding or ribbon around the box to hold everything in place and your thoughtful Hostess gift is ready to be gifted! 

Tomorrow I have a repurposed Autumn Wreath tutorial to share, anything with wool, paper leaves and vintage jewelry is always a good thing in my book! Happy Monday to you all! 

Sweet November - Pumpkin Maple Panna Cotta

Good morning! Thanks so much for joining me for the 3rd day of our Sweet November week! This morning's post is something just as sweet and perfect for a entertaining since so many of us will be welcoming and cooking for guests this holiday season. I love making Panna Cotta because not only is it fairly quick and easy, you can also make it the day before and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator - giving you more time to spend with friends and family and less time fussing over dessert on the stove. 

Pumpkin Panna Cotta is the perfect dessert to accompany any Fall dinner party!

Pumpkin Maple Panna Cotta

Ingredients:

2 cups whipping cream 
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin pie filling
1 .25oz package of powdered gelatin
1/3 cup half & half 
maple syrup

Directions:

1. Pour half and half into a small bowl and stir in the gelatin powder. Whisk to blend. Let stand for 3 to 5 minutes to soften the gelatin.

2. Pour whipping cream, sugar and pumpkin in a heavy bottom sauce pan and set over med. heat. Pour the gelatin into the pumpkin/whipping cream mixture and whisk until gelatin has completely dissolved. Bring to a full boil, stirring continuously for 1 minute.

3. Remove from heat and pour into individual ramekins or custard dishes. *When it's just Peter and I, I tend to use ramekins because if the custard doesn't invert nicely - no big deal - it's just us. When company is over, I don't take any chances and will use custard glasses - still presents well and is just as pretty to look at!*

4. Cool the ramekins with custard until at room temperature, When cool to the touch, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight before serving. 

5. When ready to serve, unmold custard from ramekins by running a knife around the side of the ramekin to loosen. Place a dessert bowl or plate over ramekin and and carefully flip ramekin upside down to unmold. 

6. Drizzle maple syrup over Panna Cotta and enjoy!

Try serving this Panna Cotta with a Chai Spice tea. I loved how the flavors mingled with one another - spicy tea with a sweet creamy dessert - Yum! 

I have an extra post coming a little later today, but first I fell slightly behind on updating Etsy yesterday as I had planned, so I apologize if you were checking in! I have plans to spend a little time today playing with the new features on Etsy as well as my shop. 

Thanks for joining me on your Saturday! 

Sweet November: Autumn Picnic

Hello! I thought for my first project for this years Sweet November week, I'd start by sharing some of the photos from that Fall picnic I packed up last weekend! Nothing says Fall to me more than enjoying lunch outside under the cover of old Elm trees while the afternoon breeze creates just enough chill in the air. With the kids running about gathering up the fallen leaves, I got to set up our first picnic in the park! Below, you'll find lots of photos, my picnic menu outline and (hopefully) some helpful tips for planning your next picnic!

picnic menu

  

turkey & cranberry sandwiches (with/ lettuce, blue cheese, and red onion)

guacamole with blue corn chips

roasted spicy pumpkin seeds

tomato and pepper soup

apples with caramel dip

black plum and mint fruit salad

apricot and strawberry jam cookies

hot apple cider

Tara's top 10 best tips for planning a picnic:

- plan your menu and then create a shopping list & head out shopping 2 days before picnic

- do all prep work the day before; like making sandwiches and preparing salads

- bring along a small cutting board and knife for cutting up fruit

- pack 2 plastic bags, 1 for garbage and 1 for dirty plates/utensils

- look for metal trays at thrift stores (I love them because they are so much sturdier than a paper plate on it's own) and a cup will easily balance on one! 

- keep soup's and drinks bubbling warm by storing them in a thermos

- use vintage linens cut into a rectangle shape with pinking shears in place of paper napkins

- I like to pack cold foods in a ice-cooler and the dry foods in the picnic basket

-   to help transport everything from car to picnic site I have a old red wagon that I like to use, it's kind of nostalgic and super cute full of picnic stuff!

- use a large plastic ziploc bag and fill with; utensils, napkins, wet hand wipes, and the 2 plastic bags

   

 

Hope you enjoyed my Autumn picnic photos, I couldn't wait to share them on the blog! It's never to late to pack up lunch and head out to your favorite park! Be sure to pop into Jessica's blog today for a couple of sweet Fall inspired recipes! 

Sweet November: Welcome to Autumn

Hi there and welcome to day one of Sweet November! Just like the previous Sweet November, Jessica from the crafty Scrumdillydilly blog and I have an entire week full of Autumn inspired projects and posts that we hope you'll enjoy! Since Autumn is my favorite season I thought I would start our first post with some of my favorite things! 

Let's begin with a color-combination. It's no secret that color is always my main inspiration. For me, all projects begin with a simple color combination. I usually spot various embellishments on my work desk and it sparks an idea, or a concept and this year Jessica gave me the challenge of incorporating teal into our palette. So I gladly accepted Jessica's challenge and set about  creating a very neutral nature inspired color palette. 

Some of my favorite things: Color Combination

dove grey - apricot peach - teal blue - chocolate brown - taupe - gold

What can you find on your desk today that would make a spectacular color palette? 

Some of my favorite things: decor

I'll admit that I don't have very much in the way of Autumn/harvest themed decor and most of what I have collected I've made myself - with the exception of this collection on squirrels & chipmunk. The chipmunk was given to me by my Grandmother. As a little girl I remember this little figurine displayed on an end table at Granny's house. I never knew the back story of where she acquired it, or why she loved it so much and even with a chipped ear and broken tail (which Grandpa glued carefully back together) she still really wanted me to have it. So, Chippy came home with me last summer and found a place to stay in my craft room, perched on my dresser to watch over my creating. I'm thinking this chipmunk will be one of my more treasured Autumn decor pieces. 

Some of my favorite things:  Pumpkin Seeds

Need an idea for what to do with all those pumpkin seeds from this week? I love roasting just about everything, and pumpkin seeds are no exception! I've already made a spicy batch of pumpkin seeds but I also wanted to make one that was on the sweeter side. Here's my recipe for Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin seeds! 

Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Seeds

2 1/2 cups pumpkin seeds, rinsed & dry 

2 Tbls. butter, melter

3 Tbls. sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

directions:

- Preheat over to 220 F. 

- In a mixing bowl, combine pumpkin seeds and butter, stir to coat. Sprinkle on cinnamon sugar to stir again to cover pumpkin seeds. 

- Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray

- spread the pumpkin seeds evenly on the baking sheet and roast in oven for about  90 minutes, stirring every 30 minutes

- when the pumpkin seeds are finished cooking they should be dry, crunchy and no longer sticking to one another

I like to cook at a low temperature because: 1. I've been known to forget about what I have in the oven and 2. cooking at a lower temp can be more forgiving.... which is good because of #1. I tend to use the old cooking rule: when you can smell what's in the oven throughout your house, you'll know it's done and your house really will smell like cinnamon sugar, or like doughnuts as my son told me today! 

Some of my favorite things: music

When Peter and I were dating, we would take weekend roadtrips as often as our schedules would allow. Peter had a stash of cd's set aside just for our outings together and an old Frank Sinatra cd ended up being on of my favorites. It seemed like the perfect fit too as the theme music as we wound our way down Oak covered roads and through the historic mining towns of Northern Arizona. I can almost picture a black and white movie filmed in Sedona or Jerome with this song playing in the background. Frank still reminds me of date afternoons in the Fall!




I shared a few of my Fall favorites and I'd love to hear some of yours! Don't forget to pop into Scrumdillydilly to see how Jessica is starting her Sweet November -  Thanks for stopping by!