My talented cousins....

My Aunt Frances (Mom's sister) had 6 daughters and 1 son. They are all so talented in may ways. It's time to show off three of them today, Amy, Carmen and Patty. Here is the final fall decorations which have been sent to me by my cousin Amy. Amy has done an amazing job on her decor. It makes me want to just go sit down and visit with her for awhile.

I absolutely fell in love with this one.

I want to sit on her porch and pass away a lazy afternoon.

I adore this primitive display. 

She is such a talented decorator. An old window and old jars and look what she turned it into.

Carmen fixed up an adorable project. She used Modge Podge to put napkins on the top. 

How adorable is that. 

This little table was her first time of trying chalk paint. I love the way it turned out. I have been wanting to try it but haven't found anything to paint it on yet.

Carmen has this hanging in her home, but the cat was actually made by her sister Nancy. My cousins are all multi-talented.

One of the other sisters, Patty, is one I have featured on my blog before. She is so awesome at crafting things. She is the one that is my age (technically I am two months older than her, which she would remind me of if I don't mention it. LOL) She recently made some dolls. Check this one out. 

But my favorite was this lady in black. Isn't she amazing.

This is a pin cushion she made. Isn't it adorable?

But my favorite is this pin cushion she made. How precious is that?

This isn't fall, but it is crafty. She recovered a folding chair. I love this!

Well as you can see, my cousins are all talented and I am so thankful they let me share. I can't wait to see what they make for Christmas.

Looking forward to my day....

I actually have both days of the weekend off. I am super excited. Started it out by getting off an hour early last night and picking her up to stay all night. This morning we are going to get my daughter Diana and granddaughter Shelby. The four of us are going to a 10-mile yard sale in Sevierville and ending up at Old Time Pottery with a stop on the way home at Old Time Pottery and Hobby Lobby.

My youngest grandson Colby has a ball game today and after that, he's stopping here and staying all night with me, Alexis and Shelby. We are going to have an impromptu Halloween party tonight. I fixed up a couple of games for them to play tonight and will get some treat bags to fix up for them. We are going full blown costume party. The only rule is they have to use things from around my house to create their own costume. Alexis has already been googling ideas. We both agree that Shelby will hit up my makeup bag at some point in her costume design. She's obsessed with being a rock star. Now just to see what Colby will think up. It promises to be a great day!

The World's Best Sister

I feel like you all know my sister, Rachel, because I talk about her a lot and her home shows up on my blog a lot. Well, did you know that she's got a birthday today? Well, she does. I won't tell her age, but I will tell you she is 13 1/2 months older than me. We have been bosom buddies our entire life. Never have we gotten mad at each other (except when we were still at home and I wouldn't keep my side of our room as clean as she did hers.) We have remained best friends our whole life. I can talk to her about anything. And when something good or bad happens, I always need to talk to my big sis about it. This is one of my favorite pictures of me and Rachel. She was around 3 and I was around 2. 

We both had those natural ringlet curls and thought our Daddy walked on water.

We were forever playing house. We could play dolls and dishes for hours on end. 

We soon grew to have two brothers, Jack and Andy. All four of us are still really close.

Lots of fun out in the yard when we were growing up. Jack was a couple of years younger than me so we all had lots of play time. She's probably going to shoot me for the bathing suit pic.

Andy came along when I was almost 10 and Rachel was almost 11. We may not have gotten to play much with him like we did Jack, but we did spoil him as we got older and he was still little.

Rachel and I have always been close to Mom just like we are to each other.

I cherish all those sister moments, when it was just the two of us doing things together. Of course they were rare since we had five kids between the two of us so we rarely did anything without the kids until we got older.

She has been my best friend, my buddy, my pal my whole life. I just can't imagine what life would have been like without my beautiful sister. She always has a smile ready for anybody and I don't recall ever seeing her in a really bad mood. I love her with all my heart. I hope you have a very happy birthday, Rachel.

A favorite recipe

I love peanut butter candy. It's not to be confused with fudge. Peanut butter fudge is soft and needs refrigerated. Peanut butter candy sets up into a form that is a little crunchy to break apart, yet it melts in your mouth. I love both but my fave is the candy. One of the oldest recipes I have is one Mom wrote out for me for her recipe of peanut butter candy. I have had it since my early 20's when I started making it myself. So this little card is 40 years old. I guess you can tell it has had a lot of years of use. Even though most of the time I make it without even looking at the recipe.

You only need sugar, milk, peanut butter and vanilla. Even though it says 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, I use a tablespoon from my silverware and just scoop out a good full tablespoon of peanut butter. I don't use an actual measuring spoon. It's not enough peanut butter if you do.

I whipped up a batch late last night because I have been craving it. Before starting,  grease an oval plate or platter by rubbing butter a light coat of butter all over it. I use a Corningware platter.

You mix the milk and sugar in a medium sauce pan and cook over medium heat until it comes to the soft ball stage. (or 234° - 240° for those of you who like the exact science of cooking). Stir occasionally so it doesn't scorch. Remove from heat and add the peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until it starts to set up a little. Pour on the platter and let it cool. Do not refrigerate. An wah-lah! You have simple, easy, fast peanut butter candy.

A word of warning! It is very addictive. I just sat here and ate 3 small pieces while I was writing this blog. Have a great day.

Sweets & Treats

We are going to have Halloween festive day one day at work next week since we will be closed on Halloween day. I can't decide what I want to do. We are focusing on sweets & treats so the field of ideas if mind boggling. This is neat for Rice Krispy treats.

Pretzels dipped in the orange chocolate disks that you melt. Then they stuck an M & M on for the stem. Talk about easy to do.

I make brownie cookies a lot and this would be really cute to put some M & M's in them.

I just fell in love with this. You take a melon baller and scoop little balls of apples out of a big apple. Then dip them in melted caramel for some small caramel apples. I really, really want to try this.

Of course I will make my candy corn and honey roasted peanut mixture I posted about before. I love this stuff.

This is a cute and simple treat. Who doesn't love pretzels when it involves candy.

I say every year I am going to make this, but I haven't done it yet. Maybe this year.

I have done this before. Making the cones was so much fun.

We need a little decor to brighten up the table so this would be easy and cute.

We made these a couple of years ago and it was so much fun. Going to make some of these again. Yarn and pipe cleaners and quick and easy. My favorite things.

It should be interesting to see what everybody comes up with.

Window Wishing....

We have all heard about window shopping, but I am renaming it Window Wishing. I have been looking at items to get ideas for my wish list for Christmas. It started by accident. I went to Walmart after work at 10:40 at night last night. I was going to run in to get Junior Mints and a pair of gloves because it's getting colder at night when I come out of work.

While I was in there I was walking by the Halloween display and picked up these three things for $1.00 each for something we are doing at work.

As I was walking by the Halloween I had to go through the clothes and fell in love with these sweatshirts. I am going to have to get me one of these. They are so cute not to mention super soft. 

And I am looking for a small back pack purse. I saw this and just absolutely loved it. I love furry in the winter time on anything.

Well, all these goodies made me think of Christmas and I came home and started looking up some Christmas ideas for my wish list. I want to get this movie. I read the book when my kids were little and then saw the movie in '78 or '79. It was one of the first movies I ever watched that actually followed the entire story line without deviating or changing it. They did a remake in 2010, but as usual the remake paled in comparison. You can't beat the cast in the original movie.

I also want this movie. It is my favorite movie ever. I had it on VHS for years, but when my VCR went caput I only get to watch it on TV which is rare anymore. I watch the whole movie just to hear Michael Douglas say..."It turns out I have a rose garden." 

Another thing I am putting on my wish list is the copper/titanium crisper. I want it to fix my fish and fries in. Bake in the oven with no oil and a tray catches any drippings.

I also want the Gotham Steel skillet in the square shape. I haven't always wanted a square skillet.

Every year you probably see a pair of warm moccasins on my wish list, but I never get around to buying them. The ones with real soles, not house shoes. But if I buy myself nothing else all year, I am going to make sure I get some of these this year.

I also need some new black ankle boots. My ones I've had the last 3 or 4 years have torn up and I can't wear them any more. I want some plain slouch type style ones.

Speaking of Christmas, my daughter surprised me with these cute little ornaments that she picked up at Cracker Barrel. I love them both but the barn is my favorite. 

Well that is all of my window wishing for today. Hope you have a great Tuesday.