sweet november: black and white

 Again I have to admit that I kinda sorta ran out of time here. I took this photo a week or so ago when many of the family a-go-go hit up a Haunted Hayride in an apple orchard. The hayride itself was not really all that haunted and was shorter than short (the folks at the orchard could probably use a new copywriter) but it was still fun and sweet and we enjoyed the short wander around the herb garden.  Thanks to fun photo sites that let you alter your pics, I was able to convert this one to a sort-of black and white picture....it's a nice sentiment don't you think. Love does indeed grow here.

sweet november: a giveaway

Greetings friends! It is time for our run of sweet november to come to an end, Tara and I do hope you enjoyed it and felt inspired in some way. To celebrate, we have two fun giveaways created just for you.  

Leave me a comment (I know, many of you dislike my word verification but without it, the spam comments are CRAZY) letting me know what your favorite bit of sweet november was and I will pick a winner on Tuesday, November 13. Hop on over to the pink couch to see what Tara has for you and leave comment if you would like to be entered into her giveway. Here's a handy dandy recap of all the pretty:

scrumdillydilly

hello fall

spice it up

squash and succulents

simple fall ensemble

november sweet treats

wrap some string around it

pretty place setting

breakfast time

cold mornings and happy scones

the pink couch

Welcome to Autumn and Cinnamon Pumpkin Seeds

Autumn Picnic in the Park

Pumpkin Maple Panna Cotta

Pretty Package and Hostess gift ideas

Autumn Wreath tutorial

Tie Necklace tutorial

Something to wear ~ Fall

Hello Fall - mini scrapbook

For my giveaway I have put together a wee pack o' dilly for you filled with buttons, fabric yoyos, happy scrappy fabrics, vintage postcards and garland. Here is a sneak...

 thank you for visiting!

****CONTEST NOW CLOSED****

sweet november: breakfast time

Good morning, friends! Here is a nifty french toast treat for all you pumpkin spice adorers. If you are a fan of pumpkin cheesecake and/or cream cheese fill french toast then this is the recipe for you. There is a nit of texture involved so if you like yer french toast on the toasty side skip the complicated fancywork and add a bit of pureed pumpkin to your egg batter instead.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese French Toast Bites

*soft bread such as potato (8 slices)

*8oz cream cheese

*1/2 cup pureed pumpkin +2T

*1/4 cup powdered sugar

*rolling pin

*serrated knife

*3-4 eggs

*1/2 cup milk or half n half

*1 tsp vanilla

*1 tsp pumpkin spice

*skillet

Allow the cream cheese to soften and mix in the 1/2 cup pumpkin with a hand mixer until fluffier than fluffy. It will look a bit like frosting and would probably taste amazing on a batch of fudgy brownies.

Grab a slice of bread and roll out flat. Do not trim the crust off, when the crust crisps up in the skillet it adds to the overall tastiness of these french toast bites. After your slice of bread is nice and flat add a small dollop of the pumpkin cream cheese mixture and spread it across the bread and then gently roll your bread up.

Repeat for each slice and gently slice 4-5 bites out of each bit of rolled bread with a serrated knife. It may get a bit sloppy so use a serrated knife so as not to squish your pumpkin rolls too much.

Pile it all up onto a platter and prepare your batter. Crack eggs into a shallow bowl, add milk beverage of your choice, pumpkin spice, 2T pureed pumpkin, and vanilla and whisk it all up. Add a dollop of butter or butter substitute of choice to your hot skillet and get ready for some toasty goodness to happen. 

Place french toast bites into the batter and submerge before adding to your hot skillet. The heat will cause the cream cheese mixture to melt a bit so your bites won't be super pretty but they will be tasty! Cook until it reaches your desired bit of crispiness.

 Serve with a smattering of maple syrup, a sprinkle of roasted pepitas, and a dusting of powdered sugar, enjoy! 

sweet november: a pretty place setting

Good evening friends! I apologize for my lackadaisical posting regarding sweet november. I allowed myself to be waylaid by the election, hot weather and a new camera. Oh my goodness! My new camera has me swooning all about the tiny and much cluttered casa. Today's project should have been posted on Sunday but I did not actually do more than visualize it in my head and on paper. This idea came to me late one night back in 2010 a day or so after Thanksgiving and then last year I was too busy to get to it but this year I was prompted to remember it when I crunched, crunched, crunched across the parking lot at work and realized there were acorns everywhere! 

My original idea involved a much plumper acorn and the use of vintage clip-on earrings. Sadly, I no longer have a pretty stash of clip on earrings and so had to make do with what I could discover in one of my many metal drawers of wonders. 

To make the cloth napkins all you need is about a yard of a plain fabric. I picked up a remnant at my local fabric store of a sturdy woven muslin. It is coarser than a soft cotton but not as coarse as canvas. Sturdy and simple, perfect for painting. I am a lazy crafter, I admit it. I am horrible at measuring and making things neat. If I were gifting these, there would definitely be measurements involved. Instead, I folded my fabric in half and ironed it to create a crease for simpler cutting. I cut along the crease creating two long panels of fabric and then measured out along one edge about 16" then cut again to create an almost-square. Using that piece as a template I cut three more so that I could have four napkins. My piece was a remnant so you may be able to get six out of yard, it all depends on how you measure and cut.

Bring your pieces to your sewing machine and stitch all the way around using a short stitch. I would guess that I stitched about half of an inch in from my edges. Make sure to back stitch. This is my lazy way of making sure the fabric does not unravel with use. It will still get a bit ragged but not too much and I don't have to hem the edges (remember, I am an admittedly lazy crafter).

Next, tape off two edges opposite each other. You may wish to measure for an even edge but you can also trim your edges once the paint dries...you will be trimming anyway to remove the thready bits. Paint your exposed edges but do not go over your tape. I used blue painter's tape but you can use masking tape if that is all you have on hand. For the paint I used an all purpose craft paint in happy metallic hues. The paint is a Martha Stewart Brand. Once the paint dries, gently remove the tape and trim all the way around the perimeter of the napkin. To fancy these up a bit more you can paint all four edges, front and back. 

Okay, so to create the napkin rings I collected a handful of acorns from the parking lot at work and set them aside in a container for a few days to see if any little critters had moved in. Next, I gathered up the pretty vintage jewelry bits I could find and grabbed a hot glue gun. While the glue was cooling on the bedazzled acorns, I pulled out a few twisty flower dealios I had recently picked up from Michael's with a coupon and gave them a couple of dabs of metallic paint. 

Each flower dealio had three sections and so I pulled them apart into two sections and twisted them back together, end to end. I plopped a bit of hot glue to the pile of now painted metallic bits and plopped a bedazzled acorn atop that.

 After rolling up the napkins, all you need to do is wrap and twist the napkin holders around the napkins and yer set!  I am so very pleased with the way the napkin holders came out. So pleased! I did a happy dance and giggled to myself  probably a bit more than I should have but I couldn't  help it, don't you love it when an idea looks better than you imagined? 

I hope this encourages you to  rummage around to see what you have on hand to create all sorts of happy homey crafts! 

sweet november: wrap some string around it

My, my, my...the best laid plans, right? I have to be honest and tell you I had time to work on the project I originally had planned today but I frittered that time away. I could blame the heat as it has been anything but fall-like here on the central coast or mayhaps I will blame my brain for skipping out on November and leaping to December. See, last night I tried to go to bed at a decent hour, I'm a bit of sleep monger and generally am not prone to being up late these days but last night it was hot...H O T. Icky hot and my brain began a love affair with ideas for both Christmas and Hanukkah and lest I lose those pretty ideas I had to slip into the living room to write things down and then I decided I was awake, awake, awake and so I put together lunch for the mister, read a few chapters from two library books, perused pinterest, maybe played a game of marble lines and eventually crawled back into bed a smidge before 2am which one could say was really 3am what with the time change and all. 

Before I knew it, mister was heading out the door and  I was awake, awake, awake at 5:45 and so I did the dishes and read another few chapters and distracted myself to hit the Goodwill outlet because  surely I needed a few more supplies for all those nifty ideas I wrote down, right? Not that I found much for those ideas but I did score a pretty and ragged croquet set (sans the balls) for all of $3 and then at he market I discovered carmel flavored vodka and new ideas drifted through the noggin and after a Michael's run, I headed home where I enjoyed a lovely phone call with this lovely lady, ran a load of laundry, remembered to eat lunch and prepped dinner for the evening...and then I noticed the time and the fading light and jumped up all crazy-like to sort through supplies to make my project for the day and that is when I decided that THAT project kinda sucked and so I ditched it and grabbed a handful of trusty embroidery floss and went to work.

When in doubt, wrap some string around it, right? I admit this project is on the close side of ridiculous but truly I am delighted with how it looks. I believe these bits of happy pumpkin would look delightful hanging around yer happy casa for a bit of Autumnal flair, don't you?

I began with about a yard of each color and knotted the whole bit of happy around the base of each stem. After untangling the happy mess I proceeded to wrap one color at a time around it all using the basic friendship bracelet knot. 

 

If your stem is super curvy it may take a bit of wrapping and knotting before the happy mess looks like much of anything. I love the way the floss looks on the stem of the blue ballet. Kinda like a messy web of sorts. 

A yard of each color is probably more than enough, when you get to a point where you want to stop, tie off that bit of floss with another color and trim if you like. I like the wispy bits dangling about.

Happy Day five of sweet november. I hope you enjoyed this bit of ridiculous whimsy! If you like, wander on over to Tara's to see her take on a hostess gift. 

sweet november: squash and succulents

Welcome to Day 4 of sweet november! I have to admit that I have a thing for pumpkins. I love them! All the different shapes and sizes make me swoon with fall happy. Here is a simple project you can do in a day that can pretty up your holiday table and/or act as sweet take home gifts for friends, family and neighbors. 

I used mini pumpkins from a local pumpkin farm. You can use any small gourd or squash as well. If you wish to decorate the outside of the pumpkin by etching a design, letter or word, do so before removing the top and seeds. 

A small cookie cutter gently hammered into the flesh of the pumpkin creates an easy outline to follow for carving a simple shape. A curved carving tool will do to remove a shallow top layer of the squash. to create the initial, i used a pencil to sketch out the letter then carved it out with the carving tool.

 Use a serrated knife to cut out the top of each mini pumpkin. If the top proves to be too stubborn to remove, you can use a spoon to scoop it off. Use the same spoon to scrape out the smaller seeds and save for roasting or your compost pile. 

 

Spoon in a small mixture of damp potting soil before adding your succulent. My succulents were a smidge root bound so I gently removed a good portion of the potting soil by squeezing my hand around the roots. After removing a bit of the potting soil from the pumpkins I was able to replant my succulents into their new (temporary) homes.

While quite pretty, these mini pumpkin planters will not last much longer than three days. If you give these as gifts please include a small note regarding replanting. I picked up my plants form a local garden store, purchasing a small pack for less than $5. Bought separately, these plants were $4 each and up. I now have a happy garden of succulents planted into vintage pottery, jars and tins. Happy November! 

sweet november: sweet treats

Happy day three of sweet november! I had planned to post a diy today along with my fall ensemble post but had a smidge of a snafu when I awoke with very unhappy ear and sinus pain. After a trip to the weekend doctor I am now loaded with meds and a bit too sleepy to do any crafting. I'm sure I will bounce back after a nap so for now you get two recipes of a sort with a couple of pretty pictures for good measure.

I left early this morning to be at the doc when the doors opened so as not to have to wait too long, because of that I left with no breakfast and well, a sick girl needs to make sure there is food in the belly when she begins dosing antibiotics and steroids. After I picked up my meds, I gave the mister a quick update with a phone call and asked if her would prep some oatmeal for me. When I got home, I made a few adjustments so I could enjoy a bowl of pumpkin oatmeal. Lookie...

While it was cooking, I added a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice and a tablespoon of pureed pumpkin and stirred it all up. In my bowl, I added a teaspoon of honey, a handful of pepitas, pomegranate seeds, a sprinkling of granola and a tablespoon of half and half.  It could definitely look a little prettier but I needed to eat and not stage a photo! Delicious! 

I've had some pumpkin in the fridge that has been camping out there for a smidge too long. I had previously read about all sorts of recipes using box mixes and pumpkin or soda or other bits so I thought why not? I dumped a box of brownie mix into a bowl, added the pumpkin (a little more than a cup) and then a wee bit of half and half when the dough looked a bit too cookie-doughy. 

The batter spread nicely in the glass baking dish and I popped the whole thing into a 350F oven for 28 minutes. After adding some pumpkin spice powdered sugar (a pinch of pumpkin spice with a pinch of powder sugar mixed up in a little bowl) I took some pretty pictures and got ready for a snack. I will now warn ya, this is super easy to make and appears to be a super dense brownie. Appears. It may be a little prettier than it tastes...sort of. The flavor is ridiculously rich. I have no sense of smell and the chocolate lingered in my mouth in a very pleasing way. The texture, however, is another species. The pumpkin makes the baked up brownie feel a lot like playdough. While the flavor is enticing and rich, the texture is a bit on the rubbery side. Methinks if you add an egg it will fluff up nicely so I would recommend that. Would I recommend this recipe as is? I would and am because the flavor is so tasty, just remember that the texture is on the wonky side so proceed at your own risk. 

Thank you for visiting sweet november and don't forget to check out the pink couch for a delicious recipe from Tara.

sweet november: a simple fall ensemble

sweet november by jekinthebox featuring motorcycle shoes

This is what I would wear given the chance on a perfect fall day. I can sort of pull this look off now but my jeans are a bit more slouchy-loosey and my sweater is not nearly as nifty. My scarf is grey, my coat green and my bag could be grey or yellow. The shoes are a bit of a dream but I do have a pair that would work sort of. All in all I would wear this for any type of wander that did not include going up a muddy mountain or across an icy cold stream. Let's say this is perfect for breakfast or lunch and delightful for a visit to the apple farm or pier or perhaps one of Tara's picnics, what is your favorite go to ensemble for November?

sweet november: spice it up

Lately it seems that fall is synonymous with pumpkin spice, not that I'm complaining but my last trip to Trader Joe's revealed more pumpkin spice goodies than you could shake a stick at. I may only be a tad bit whiny about it all as I love me some pumpkin spice but now that I am anosmic and have absolutely no sense of smell I can't help but be bummed out about missing all that goodness. I do have to tell you that I think all that pumpkin spice out there is a whole bunch of smoke and mirrors (she types as she takes a sip of her pumpkin spice chai latte) see there is no pumpkin in pumpkin spice, nope. Pumpkin spice is a lovely mashup that may contain cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg. It depends on the maker. 

I like my pumpkin spice on the fragrant spicy side and have a recipe to share with you. My recipe adds a bit of black pepper which you can leave out if you like, it also has a fair amount of ginger in it and if memory serves, I do believe Ms. Tara is not a fan of the ginger so you can leave that out as well. 

 This recipe will make a little more than you need to fill an empty spice jar, my little jar came from Cost Plus World Market. Pick up a bunch of spices in bulk and you can make a small army for holiday gifties. I use a teaspoon of the spice in my oatmeal and often add it it to my oatmeal cookies. This also works just dandy on apple dishes as well...it's what I use on my apple pie! I hope you enjoy me little recipe and project, don't forget to hop on over to the pink couch, I believe there is a lovely picnic to be looked at!