Where I get Inspiration & My Thanksgiving Tablescape!

Happy Monday! I'll be back later today to announce the big winner of the Susan Branch Calendar Giveaway... I am so excited!!

I get a lot of questions from people as to where I find my inspiration & where I buy my decorations. To be honest, everywhere! I find inspiration in window displays, magazines, outside, & talking to people ( I don't have cable but I do get ideas from movies & shows on Netflix, too)& when I did have TV as a child I remember lots of inspiring commercials & shows (oh, trading spaces how I loved you)! 

Where I Get My Inspiration

As to where I find my treasures, three main sources come to mind:

Thrift stores- (I go once a week & find lots of fun things that cost a few quarters & that makes it easy for me to try new things, succeed or fail & move forward), remember the vintage Halloween pictures, those frames were .25¢ a piece!

Clearance- For example, I love Target holiday decor & buying things when they go on clearance is a wonderful way to keep your decorations fresh every year! Over the weekend I went to target & loaded up on Halloween decorations at 50% off. Soon they will be 70% off & I will go back. Sure every once in a while I miss out on something, but my patience is always rewarded with major savings!

 Lastly garage sales- this is where I find large items & vintage items. A garage sale is a great place for outside decorations that are hundreds of dollars new but only a few dollars now. For example back in August, I bought a 9' inflatable santa with LED lights in the box for 3$ (you just have to ask to plug things in before you pay).

One major tip I have for year round saving is to buy year round. If you see a Christmas decoration you want in March, buy it, put it away & forget about it! I have a tote bin in my office year round for decorations, when I see something I want big or small throughout the year I buy it & place it in the bin, put the lid on top & forget about it! Then at the end of September I open the bin & remove & organize the items for the upcoming holidays! It's really fun!

I thought it would be fun to show you my Thanksgiving tablescape for the buffet while also telling you where I got the items, I know sometimes it's hard to come up with places to get things you like & I realized when setting it up this year, I shopped around.

 Thanksgiving Tablescape

1.  An old frame from a thrift store, spray painted gold with a piece of shower wall board to write on (the dry erase markers work just the same!). Dry erase boards are expensive, one this size is 150$ or more! So making this one for less than 20$ was my idea of a good time! We've had it up & used it for about 5 years now & it's still going strong.

2.  Paper decorations make my heart pitter-patter, they're just so delicate& growing up I always had them in my home, in the past, the dollar store has always been a wonderful source for these sweet decorations

3.  Candle sticks make everything festive! These are from Home Goods, & were sold individually for a few dollars a piece.

4.  I love this bowl! It was a Better Homes & Gardens Exclusive at Walmart a few years back & it is just the perfect size for mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving day!
 
5.  What is Thanksgiving without a peace offering cornucopia?  This one was a thrift store find & I just bought some leaves & berries at Michael's & use some mini pumpkins to make it pop!

6.  Mr. & Mrs., these adorable pilgrims are from Cracker Barrel. That store is such a hidden gem of holiday decor! I always find items to love there & they always have a clearance corner from the season before!

7.  A wreath, I like to use wreathes on tables as well as to hang, I'll switch year by year where the wreaths go & this year it's a great centerpiece for the table.


8.  Turkeys, these turkey candle holders were another thrift store find, I just loved their charm!

9.  Pumpkins, but really any gourds or apples would work, I love incorporating plants & food as much as possible, it's all part of the bounty of Thanksgiving!

10.  Lights; candlelight, twinkle lights, or a dimm-able over head light can make a place feel so warm. I always find a way to layer it in. ( yes, my husband snuck in a toy in this last photo)...do you see him?

It's just another everyday, holiday with jillie

Halloween Party & Do it Yourself Frosting

Happiest Halloween 2013!! I hope you all had a wonderful time yesterday whether you passed out candy, went trick-or-treating with the babies or hosted a party! Halloween for us this year was a total blast! We hosted some of Sydney's friends & you can see here & here that I've been excited about it all week! Lot's of planning went into this little soirée & I am happy to report the kiddos had a wonderful time! They ate all the food, went out trick-or-treating for 3 whole hours & finished the night with a candy swap & watched movies! It was a whirlwind 6 hours! 

I want to share two things with you this time, the first being my finalized party set up & how I came upon it step by step & the second thing is how to make a piping bag in a pinch & dress up some store bought frosting! So let's jump right in!

 Warning there are A TON of pictures!

Halloween Party Tablescape

The table was a labor of love, a little bit of this with a little bit of that. I started with a black fleece throw. 

Layered on spider webs & made a runner out of one creepy cloth.

 Next I added some lanterns & a brass candelabra. I was sure to give them the spooky treatment. From there I tinkered with my platters & serving bowls. I wanted different heights so I ended up using a two tiers candy dish, a wooden bowl that I flipped over & placed some pumpkins on & a few glass platters. I finally got rid of that red bag of dog food in the right hand corner (I was being lazy)!

You can see I used most of my mood board inspiration. A veggie platter in the shape of a pumpkin, mummy hotdogs, cupcakes, witches brew, lots of mood lighting, & creepy crawly music by Midnight Syndicate! 

Cupcake Decorating

The second thing I want to share with you stems from one of the many career hats I've worn in my life. In addition to being a teacher I have also been a baker (kinda makes sense, huh?). I worked for a large chain grocery store, Albertson's. It was a fun job, I loved decorating cakes & talking to sweet old women who wanted me to sell them half loaves of bread! Anyway... I wanted to come up with a fun idea for people that don't have time to do from scratch but still want more than the store bought flavors offer! 

So I came up with a super easy way to dress up that can of frosting & make it look pretty too! It's an equal parts frosting & whipped cream.

 Mix together for a creamy smooth frosting. 

Since it's fall I thought pumpkin spice would be nice! 

A heavy shake of cinnamon, nutmeg & clove leaves you with this speckled treat.

 Next comes application. You can smear it on with a spoon & call it a day (trust me it will taste amazing either way), but a fun things to try is also a homemade piping bag. All you need is one Ziplock lunch bag. You begin by flipping it inside out over your hand. 

Then you make a cup in the center, fill with frosting from a spoon & then unroll the bag back over you hand! 

Zip it up & you've got a clean piping bag! 

Cut one corner off. Start small, you can always cut more, but if you make the hole too big from the beginning you'll just have to start all over.

 

 As you can see it came out nice & smooth, not much height with the heavier frosting, but it looks nice & clean & is not runny.

If you have frosting tips but no piping bag place one in a corner of your Ziplock & repeat.

 If you don't enjoy frosting, you are just like my husband, so with that very same tip see how much height I got from a light fluffy whipped cream, so be creative & decorate your heart out!

Magnifique!

It's just another everyday, holiday with jillie

Oh Happy Day!: Susan Branch Giveaway

I don't think its a secret that I love Susan Branch! Her art is so charming, recipes delicious & home adorable! So when I think of what I want to look at at least once a day, everyday I think Susan Branch! I shared this photo the other day to tease you all just a bit! Isn't is so whimsical, Hee Hee... 

I'm sure you all can tell how excited I am to share the 2014 Susan Branch Mini Calendar with you all this giveaway! I have already gifted one to my mother in law for her birthday a few weeks back, but I just knew I needed one to share with you, too!!

All the details & rules:

If you haven't already; follow here & like my Facebook page!

The Prize is: One (1) Susan Branch 2014 Mini Calendar & free shipping!

Who will win: One (1) winner

To Enter: Comment below on this blog with;  your favourite month! Maybe your birthday month, or your child's. An anniversary month is good, or maybe the start of a new season! 

Prize ships for free in the U.S. only

Contest Ends: on Friday November 1, 2013 at midnight. I will pick the winner using random.org & send you a message privately on Facebook! Winner announced the following Monday.

best wishes & happy everyday, holiday!

Fall Flavor: caramel apples from scratch

While planning Sydney's Halloween party I knew I needed to keep it children friendly, meaning simple foods, that they can grab & go. For the most part, it seems that children look for food they recognize at these kinds of events. They don't want to mingle & talk to me about the dip, they want to get their food quickly & get to socializing with Sydney! I thought long & hard about what kind of food I wanted to make, I really don't want to serve things that won't be a hit because the last thing I want is them to  feel hungry & gorge on candy! If you checked out my mood board for this shin-dig, you'll see that I wanted to sneak healthy foods in. Granted it might not be the biggest victory, sneaking in fruit under candy, but it's a start! 

This was my very first time making caramel from scratch & I was crazy nervous. It seemed so scary, like I was for sure going to ruin a pot & most likely catch the house on fire. I am happy to declare I was really, really, wrong. About ten minutes is all it took but I will say you have to watch it, it goes from "smooth sailing" to, "i'm going to burn", if you don't pay attention! So for this one, i'm going to say this is an adult recipe while the kids watch from afar.

Made with Love: Caramel Apples

Apples

3/4 Cup sugar

1/4 Cup water

1/2 Cup Heavy cream

1 1/2 Tablespoons butter

Dash, Lemon juice

Bamboo Skewers

Scissors

Toppings (sprinkles, marshmallows, nuts, pretzels)

Something to put candy apples in or on ( a foam block, a plate, or get creative like I did!)

Begin by washing the apples & setting aside, I used Rome apples but you can use whichever kind you like, I choose them because they were small, a little tart & on sale!

 Next cut skewers to desired length.

 Choose a deep pot & wash (even if it seems clean, give it a good rinse, caramel is persnickety)! 

Get all of your ingredients poured out & placed within arms length.

 Pour sugar & water in pot, make sure all the sugar is covered with water, lightly stir.

 Cook on medium heat stirring frequently, this will be a few minutes of stirring & watching, slowly the sugar will melt & become a syrup consistency.

 At this point put a few drops of lemon juice in the pot (this will help to prevent clumps in your mixture). 

Slowly it will start to become an amber color. Once it is the desired color of caramel remove from heat. 

Quickly stir in butter & heavy cream.

 It will bubble like crazy, keep stirring, all of the sudden it will become smooth & actually look like caramel! 

You did it! I know it was scary, but pretty easy at the same time! It just needed a little of your love!

Once the caramel has cooled down a bit, skewer your apples & dip away! 

Let them cool a little more  & become tacky instead of runny, then decorate to your hearts content! I like salty sweet so I made one with pretzel crumbs! The rest I decorated with sprinkles or left plain for the picky eaters, like Sydney.

& if you're wondering what I used to place my caramel apples while drying, I had a store bought birthday cake container, so I just poked holes for the skewers & rested the apples on top. Now go get creative!

It's just another everyday, holiday with jillie

Halloween Party Mood Board!

The week of Halloween is finally upon us! I am so excited! Halloween is on a Thursday this year but I'm not going to let a silly school night ruin our fun! Sydney has arranged an intimate get together with five of her closest friends. With friends & family there will be about 10 of us this year. I love having her friends over, it's a window into a part of her world I don't always see. 13 has had highs & lows but overall she has made more decisions that I am super proud of than not & the friends coming are a great group of kids, I can't wait to share their holiday with them!

Making a mood board is a fun way to get all of your inspirations in one place. Then you can save it to look at year after year, it's like a journal of your home! I like to use Picasa, it's free & I like how easy it is to use! All your pictures in one place, easy to edit, add text & make collages. To use, I downloaded Picasa, & then added images into a folder on my desktop from inspiring places! My folder immediately loaded to Picasa, easy-peezy!. Next, I hit the "create a photo collage" button toward the top & then played around until I was happy with my results, layering in text & playing with the font! So here you have my Official Halloween Party 2013 Inspiration Mood Board! 

1.

GimmeSomeOven has a wonderful idea for making cups out of apples & I have to say, I am smitten! This is adorable for any night around a campfire including Halloween!

2.

 I will be making caramel from scratch later this week & posting a tutorial of candy apples, yay!

3.

 Snoopy & the Peanuts gang are my favourite seasonal friends! Get used to seeing them with everything I decorate! 

4.

Witches brooms are a fun & easy to make. Just buy some fruit rolls & snip into the shape of broom bristles, peel from wrapper & then wrap around pretzel sticks! Easy-Peezy!

5.

What is a witch without her hat? This was always one my go to snacks in the classroom. Fudge striped cookies, orange frosting & a kiss! Thats all you need to make these spooky snacks!

6.

Pumpkins & twinkling lights! The best Halloween combo!

7.

What's a party without cupcakes? 

8.

Creepy lighting is a must for this Halloween soirée!

9.

I can't just feed these kiddo's junk food, so I've found a creative solution to a veggie tray & i'm using small pumpkins to hold the dip!!

10.

I want to make sure I have plenty of candles & pumpkins on the table, I find wonderful inspirations from the Dining Delight blog!

11.

Matt loves punch, & he thought we should incorporate this traditional recipe of bubbling witches brew!! I love the whole family getting involved in the planning!

12.

& lastly, something that actually resembles a main course, these mummy hotdogs will be great for the kids to grab & go, as they rush out the door to find tricks & treats!

I hope you all take away some inspiration from my mood board & have fun planning your own parties this week!!

It's just another everyday, holiday with jillie