To the 9's | Happy Fall Y'all!

Font // Print // Home // Food // Plan // Handmade // Style // Give // Craft

 

 

•  I have been using the Sanchez font for darn near everything, I love it that much. It's clean and simple and goes well with a lot of other fonts. 
• I printed this out and framed it myself and you should too. I'm not skipping over Thanksgiving this year before moving on to Christmas. 
• Oh how I dream of a porch that I can decorate for the holidays and it be so inviting!
• Homemade fruit roll ups? Yes, please! Especially these fabulous fall fruit varieties. 
• Have you made a Fall bucket list this year? We have ours and have been happily checking off every little accomplishment. This is a great one to get you started. 
• This handmade hoop art is the cutest ever. I like the mixed media used to create it. 
• I may be so last year, but I am really into the big polka dot thing. I never follow the trends anyways so whatever! I want this sweater! And the scarf too!
• I gave jar gifts a few years ago and people really do love these. I used to love getting them myself when I worked in childcare. 
• This looks simple enough for the kids to help out with! Just print, cut, and glue! 

 

 

It's NaBloPoMo, which means I will be blogging every day in November. I do hope you will follow along here. 

 

                    

November Mood Board

Cooler weather calls for coffee and crochet slippers and fires and good books and comfort food. 

• Starbucks is always at the top of my list. I like the holiday coffees, but my favorite is always a simple Caramel Macchiato. Sometimes Starbucks is a little mini date for Jason and I. And as soon as those chilly mornings hit, I live in my slippers. 

• I used to have a pair of crochet slippers that were my absolute favorites in the world. They were so comfy and cozy and then they just disappeared. Dammit! Why does my stuff always go missing?

•  We have a fireplace but we almost never use it. Perhaps we should put that baby to good use this year. However, we love gathering the fam bam and spending some time around the fire pit together. Cuddled under a warm blanket and roasting marshmallows and just talking. 

• I am dying to read the book One Thousand Gifts since we have been focusing more on Gratitude and Encouragement. I actually had the book checked out on the iPad through my local library, but I didn't get around to reading it. I will definitely be adding it to my to do list this month. 

• This is the time of year I will definitely need to watch what I eat. I can very easily gain some of my weight back eating all the goodies I make, as well as things from family and friends. I know a lot of people who can prepare some really amazing foods. But no matter what you bake or what you cook, one of my favorite things are the finger foods table at holiday parties. You can't keep me away from the cheese and crackers platter.

How do you anticipate November looking for you? What are some of your favorite things about this month other than Thanksgiving, of course?

                    

Chocolate Corn Chip Cookies

I have been baking a lot lately and homemade cookies have been on my to do list at least 2-3 times a week lately. I made the sugar cookies, pumpkin cookies, peanut butter cookies, Reese's Pieces filled cookies, and some others. For some reason, 6:30 a.m. has been a favorite time to bake for me, right after the kids leave on the bus. I pour myself a cup of coffee and then get busy in the kitchen, filling my house with the yummy smells of baked goods.

This morning I got up wanting to bake cookies like usual, but I wanted to do something different. I got to thinking about what I had in my cabinets and I came across the corn chips. We like to cook hot dogs on our fire pit, and we usually put corn chips with them as a side. Afterwards, we sometimes have S'mores, but for one of those times that we don't actually have S'mores, I got the idea to add the corn chips in with some chocolate chips to make these yummy chocolate corn chip cookies. I love sweet & savory snacks and these definitely hit the spot.


How to make Chocolate Corn Chip Cookies:

Prepare this basic cookie recipe and tweak it to make the different varieties of cookies I have been making. You almost can't go wrong! I whipped up the basic cookie recipe, added some chocolate chips, and then folded in the corn chips. I baked them at 375 degrees for 10 minutes and then removed from oven and let cool completely. The cookies will seem uncooked when you remove them, but allowing them to cool on the pan first will actually allow them to continue cooking slightly while they cool. The corn chips crunch in spots when you bite into the cookie. Super simple and so good!

                    

Salt Dough Leaf Bunting

 

I came across the recipe for salt dough the other day and it reminded me of the Christmas ornaments we make every year. As I was sitting there thinking about how we could do our ornaments differently this year, I thought about using the recipe to make something for Fall. I remembered I have a small Pampered Chef set of cookie cutters, and that there was a leaf shape in the box, so I decided to use it to make this leaf bunting. Originally, I had planned to just make the dough and then let the kids paint them, but then I decided to mix food coloring with the dough instead to make Fall colors, and whatever dough was leftover, the kids could play with it.

Elijah enjoyed watching me roll the dough and even helped me cut some of the leaf shapes. Then, I used a straw to poke holes in the tops of each leaf and baked according to the recipe. Once the leaves had baked for several hours, I took them out, let them cool, and then threaded a long piece of jute twine through them. I tied a knot in the top of each leaf along the way and made sure to leave about 2 inches between each one.

I had planned to hang this elsewhere, but this lamp of mine was crying for some attention so I tied it around the top of the shade . During the day, you can see the colors, but at night, when the lamp is on, I love how you can see them as a silhouette. Minus the baking and cooling time, this was a super quick project.

I made so many of these leaves that I had a ton left over, so I put the rest in a bowl and added a little bit of gingerbread essential oil and turned them into potpourri. Just a few drops and the leaves soaked the oil right up. I also made something else that I will be sharing with you this Wednesday! Be on the lookout!

If you are interested in making your own salt dough ornaments, here is the recipe that I used. Just a few simple ingredients!

                    

These Owl Cupcakes were a Hoot!

Recently, my best friend Amanda over at We Don't Give a Hoot, baked some of those super cuter owl cupcakes that have been all over the place, with her daughter Gracie. I just couldn't resist baking some with Elijah last week to celebrate Fall and October, my favorite month. Elijah has helped us a couple times in the kitchen before, but I am now starting to realize just how much our little man enjoys helping out in the kitchen. He doesn't eat real well, but he loves to help make it.

Oh, and by the way... that thing where they say that if they help prepare it, they will be more willing to give it a try? Umm, nope! Not Elijah! But, these were cupcakes, so of course he had no problem gobbling a few of them down.

You don't really need a whole lot of instructions for these. What you see is what you get. We baked chocolate cupcakes, topped them with a homemade frosting I made, split Oreo cookies in half for the eyes, and used Reese's Pieces for the pupils of the eye and the beak. 

These would even make a great addition to any Fall festival or Halloween party! Elijah and I don't get out of the house much, so we made them just because. Just because... we're awesome! Ha ha! 

Happy Fall, Y'all!