A little late and a little early...

I have tons of unique decorating blog ideas for fall from my family. I am going to start sharing some of them. I decorate for fall but since I was on vacation I am behind on that. Hope to get it done on my next day off. However, since October 1st I always add Halloween in with my fall stuff, you will get both season/holiday together this year. This was from last year and I will probably start with something like this again this year. October 2nd I will kick off Seven Days of Seasonal Decorating Ideas where I will share thing my family and friends have shared with me.

But while I am getting the house ready with fall decor, I skipped a fall blog template and moved straight to my favorite Halloween template. Wanted to get it done so I could have it ready by the 1st of October when I go into full Halloween mode all month with lots of witch jokes, Halloween party food ideas and just lots of fun. 

So, I'm a little late for fall and a little early for Halloween, but I'll get myself caught up one of these days. Hopefully in time for Thanksgiving & Christmas. 

A busy day so far....

I've had a busy morning this morning. First off I got up and ran to the store early to get eggs. I haven't been to get groceries since I got back from the beach. The sky was gorgeous. I just love the morning sky.

When I got back home, I made a cinnamon Swiss chocolate cake. It's the Duncan Hines Swiss Chocolate cake mix and I just had about 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and bake by the directions. Somehow it fell a little, but it will still be good.

These icing is 1 box of Confectioners sugar, 1 stick margarine, 4 tablespoons of cocoa, 6 tablespoons of milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. You put the milk, cocoa and butter in a medium sauce pan and stir it constantly over medium - low heat until it starts to boil. Don't bring to a full boil, just as soon as bubble start remove it and pour over the confectioners sugar (I recommend sifting it first) and the vanilla. 

Pour on cake immediately while it is still warm. Serve with ice cream or my favorite an ice cold glass of good old white milk.

While it was baking, I was working on my sewing room. Going through things, I found this .99 cent bag from Joann's that I have never used. It started to go in the "next yard sale" pile.

Then I had a thought, so I cut the front off of it and using a cool iron and a towel over it, I pressed it down a little to reduce the wrinkling from being stored.

Then I went hunting for an old frame I wasn't using.

Now I have a cute little picture hanging in the sewing room

I also managed to fry me a couple of eggs for breakfast, clean up the kitchen mess from cooking and baking,  and do a load of laundry. And it is just 11:30 a.m. and I didn't get up until 7:00 this morning. Not a bad start to the day.

Some new things....

Thought I would share a few of my great finds from my trip. I have been going to the beach for over 30 years. I have found gorgeous shells and nice smooth pretty rocks, but have never been lucky enough to find a piece of sea glass until now. I was thrilled with my find. It is so nice and smooth around the edges from being bounced around in the sea.

Sherrie was wanting a bowl for her seashells and she knew she could get it at Old Time Pottery and didn't want to wait till we got home so we went to one at the beach. I was thrilled we did when I found this Santa. My living room always has tons of Santa's at Christmas. This one is special because my hubby always dressed like Santa for Christmas when the kids were little. Not to mention he had a favorite sweater he wore for years that was cable knit white like this one. So I had to have this for just $9.99.

I thought about getting this tree to set beside him. I didn't. Now I wish I had. Going to go check my Old Time Pottery and see if  I can get it there. 

I fell in love with this deer and may end up getting one of these as well. I sent a pick to my daughter and she definitely wants to go get herself one because she decorates with a lot of the red plaid and with deer so this would be perfect for her. 

But the one thing that made my day was finding this vintage looking stand. I went nuts over it. I was also upset because I have a small car with lots of luggage to take home. Then I realized the shelves tilted up, the sided tilted in and it folded up flat. SCORE! So guess what came home to Mamaw's Place. 

Since I am doing my sewing room with some red in it, it was a no brainer where I would put it, but then I started looking for other things for the sewing room. I found this Simplicity pattern box at Hobby Lobby and used my 40% off coupon to get it for just $5.98. 

And I found the fabric I want to use for my sewing machine cover. Oh, by the way it turns out that Sherrie's mother has a sewing machine cabinet she doesn't use and wants somebody to get it out of her way so guess what I'm going to go get on Saturday! Once I get that and get my sewing machine set up, I will be ready to make my cover.

I found this little basket somewhere for $2.95 but can't remember where I found it.

We were in a store called Tomblinson's when I found the red shelf. I found this cute basket for just $4.95 in there. Since I am wanting a vintage looking sewing room, I snatched this up as well. I want to fill it with vintage spools of thread but for now, will just use regular spools. 

The day I got home, I went right to work sitting up the new rack with some of my finds and some stuff I had on hand. The white basket is one my friend Georgeanna bought me. She had shown me some she got at Walmart but I never could find them at ours. So she found one for me a few weeks ago. I am so glad I did buy the rack. It's a perfect start to my new room. 

Did you miss me?

I know my posting has been sporadic this past week, but I took a well earned vacation and spent five days at Myrtle Beach. We had 85 degree days every day and not one single drop of rain. Their was no humidity and the wind was light and balmy. We could not have ordered better weather. 

We took lots of walks on the beach, letting the ocean wash up across our feet. 

I loved the times I took my chair down and enjoyed my book while watching the waves. It was so relaxing that I must admit I watched more waves than I read pages.

There were some gorgeous sunrises....

....and on the street side of the hotel, we caught some breathtaking sunsets.

Due to Maria about 350 miles off the coast, we had some high tides with 5-8 foot waves which resulted in lots of great shell finds. We went shelling every evening around 6:00 and brought home lots of unique finds.

Did lots of shopping which I'll share another day. God displayed his handiwork the morning we left with this beautiful sunrise and majestic sun rays. It was an amazing week.

But as much as I loved wearing flip flops every day, gazing endlessly at ocean waves and watching the sun rise over the ocean, nothing compared to the feeling I got when I saw mountains on the highway heading home. Vacations are amazing but there is no place like home. 

Weekend wrap up

I have been doing some shopping the last few days and I'm very excited about some new things for my sewing room redo project. I love the 10 from Hobby Lobby for Simplicity patterns. I have a friend who thinks she can get me some vintage patterns from her mother to put in it.

I found this cute little wire basket that I want to put vintage spools of thread in.

The above basket and the little wire when below both came from Hobby Lobby. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to put in the one below but I really fell in love with it and it was only $4.

I found some buttons and material that I want to use for making my sewing machine cover.

I have a friend who is going to give me a sewing machine cabinet to put my sewing machine in. I can't wait to get it. But my favorite purchase this weekend was this little red shelf for my sewing room. I am beyond thrilled with it and the whole thing folded flat which made it easy to bring home.

I can't wait till my days off next week to start putting some of this stuff together to decorate my room. 

Let's have a laugh

After working about an 11 hour day yesterday, my brain is fried this morning. We had a health fair combined with a show plus 2 regular shows at work yesterday. PLUS I went down to our sister show and worked one of their shows. Talk about a busy day! But today is an easy 6 hour day with just one show ending with food and fun and celebration for our monthly employee event after work. I am really looking forward to an easy day today. Going to work is always fun for me, whether it is a long day or a short day. And the fall decorations we have really adds to the festive air around the office. My favorite is our horse fall display.

When you have days like yesterday, if you just learn to laugh you can get through the craziness. Here's some of my favorite funnies that made me laugh recently.

It's a start....

I have been struggling for about three years with how to redo my craft/sewing room. Been through so many Pinterest photos it would make your head swim. Through it all, the only thing that always got me thrown off track was the three pieces of cherry bookshelf that took up one whole wall. I wanted to go vintage but couldn't get past this stupid cherry furniture that was way to fancy to go vintage with.

Then on a trip to WV this summer, I found a vintage sewing kit in red and creamy white. I have been looking for a vintage sewing kit for a long time and I had been toying with the idea to do some red in my sewing room.

I finally realized the only way to do what I want and be happy was to get rid of the bookcases and a matching file cabinet. I sold them last weekend and now I have a fresh clean slate. Now to decide what to do. 

My friend Georgeanna blessed me with the tomato pin cushion I want for my new sewing (Plus some Halloween Junior Mints). So I knew it was time to start accumulating ideas of things that may be good for the room. 

I will still need either a cabinet or shelves for my supplies and maybe a smaller cabinet but for now, the only thing I have seen that caught my eye are these crates from Hobby Lobby. Not sure they are the way to go, but I am going to look at a lot of options and do a layout before I ever start purchasing anything. I want to take the time to get it how I want it this time. 

Since I am going to go with red and white with a pop of yellow or navy, I appreciate in thoughts or sample ideas.

Sunday morning.....

There is just something about a sweet Sunday morning where you can set outside on your porch in the early morning coolness and watch the sun come up. I was also watching the deer out in the field across from my house. I love moments like this.

Fall Food Festivities

One thing about my job is we ALL love to eat. We have some great cooks and amazing bakers so we are always looking for an excuse to bring in food. And most of the time is is a theme. For example, the other day was Italian day. We had lots of great food to sample. This is just the bare minimum, we had a ton of food.

In a few weeks we are doing a chili with grilled cheese day. One of the bosses brings her griddle and makes us fresh grilled cheese. They are amazing. Can't wait to sample all the chili variations. 

And then of course we had to plan something for Halloween. We are actually closed that day but will be there for phones and decorating for Christmas so it was another perfect excuse to eat.

I'm trying find some different Halloween themed foods to eat. I love these spiders on cookies. Talk about easy to make!

I won't be taking these, but I did think it was a cute idea if you are having a few friends over.

I am going to fix this and take it in for October. I mix candy corn with honey roasted peanuts and it tasts exactly like a Pay Day candy bar.  

Too cute and super simple. Only I want to dip the pretzel in chocolate.

Oh how adorable! White chocolate pretzel ghosts!

This make me crack up. Plastic teeth, chocolate chips and Krispy Kreme donuts. This is a definite MUST for our Halloween feast. We are just a couple of blocks away from Krispy Kreme and we are forever getting them. 

I have always wanted to make these. Mummy pigs in a blanket or as they called them on Big Bang Theory "Halloweenies".

And for those that do not eat sweets. What a cute idea. Yep, I want to do these as well.

Nutter Butter cookies dipped in white chocolate. Talk about easy.

I did this for Children's church one time. They loved the homemade popcorn cones made from scrapbook paper. I think I will do these for sure. 

Now to just narrow it down to which of these cute ideas I want to do for our party. What gets your vote?