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! 

sweet november: hello fall

Hello friends, Happy November! Here in the western United States we are just beginning to see signs of my most favorite season of all. We've had some kooky temps, mornings as low as 45 and highs in the 80s but still, that magical light is sneaking in and the clocks will be turned back and fall will definitely come for a visit.

It's been two years since Tara and I brought you our tribute to fall with Sweet, Sweet November and we thought it was high time we share another batch of fall goodness. From color combos and inspiration to pretty diys and tasty recipes we will share a full week's worth of goodness with a pretty giveaway mixed in to keep it kicky.

For color this year, I'm drawn to the usual suspects orange, brown, cream...green with maybe a touch of teal and/or purple. Here's a happy peek at what is to come this week...

Today, Tara is sharing some of her favorite things, I'm going to share with you some of my favorite fall music. When the sky appears more grey than blue and there is a hint of moisture in the air, when the wind kicks it up a notch and the melody of the leaves scattering chimes through the open window, it is time for me to play my fall music. Fall music for me is less about the lyrics and titles and more about the memories of being wrapped up in a vintage quilt full of softness and threadbare bits as I would sit on our lumpy secondhand sofa and watch the rain fall through our picture window. The house would be lit by a candle or two and my mother's music would play on the record player that took a long time to warm up. So when fall hits in a-go-goland, on comes the tunes of Harry Chapin, Cat Stevens and Paul Simon along with a few more I have added through the years. The playlist is quite long so I created a mini version for you to listen to if you like.

What are some of your favorite tunes for Fall? I would love to listen to something new. Don't forget to pop on in to the pink couch to see what Tara has to share. Thank you for hanging out, tomorrow I've got a nifty breakfast recipe for you.