Grandma's Old Hutch

Just a peek inside my kitchen... I've just finished painting my Grandmother's old hutch to try to update it and make it match a little better in my home.

 

Grandma's old maple hutch before.

Old hutch updated!

And for Halloween... some scaaarrrry silhouettes on my white plates.

All it took was some black paint and some new pulls to bring my grandmother's maple hutch from the 1950's into this century.  Now it matches my kitchen table!

Painted Rock Pumpkins

This is a really easy, cute way to decorate your front porch for Halloween without your jack-o-lanterns rotting before the day arrives!

First we found some large river rocks and the kids painted them orange.
Then I hot glued some cinnamon sticks onto the tops.

Lastly, we painted the faces and some lines to make them look more realistic.

Now you make some!

Fall Leaf Stained Glass

I helped the kids make this beautiful craft this morning after we took a walk to collect some fall leaves.

First we decided on a pattern for the leaves.  Next, we cut a large square of clear contact paper and layed it sticky side up, then pressed each leaf onto the sticky paper.  Then we cut another square and enclosed our leaves inside the two sheets. 

We made a frame for it out of construction paper and hung it in a sunny window.  Isn't it pretty?  I love fall.

Eggplant Hummus

Eggplant Hummus is easy to make and so delicious!

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant, 1 clove garlic, 1/4 teaspoon Salt, 2 Tablespoons Tahini, 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

Directions:

~ Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees

~Slice eggplant into 1/2 inch pieces

~Lay on a foil covered cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes

~Scoop insides out and place into a food processor (or blender)

(I used the side of a spoon to cut along side of the peel. Be careful, it's hot!)

~Dice garlic up as small as you can (put into a separate small bowl)

~Add salt, Tahini, and Lemon Juice to the garlic, stir well.

~Add the Garlic mixture to your food processor, and blend until smooth

You may want to add more salt, lemon juice or tahini to taste.

Serve with Pita chips.

ENJOY!!!

A Sweet gift for a new Teacher~

I'm so excited to learn S'more!

School is approaching quickly for us, and when I came across this cute gift idea for my children's new teachers, I thought it would be perfect. I found it on I Share Everything on facebook. This is a great place for printables, craft ideas and more, so head on over there and 'like' her page on facebook! Here is the adorable (free) printable package topper.

Homemade Zucchini Bread

This recipe came from allrecipes.com, and turned out wonderful. Hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 
  

• Directions

  1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
  2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
  3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
  4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Kyah's School Placemat

My daughter Kyah started the first grade today and she was so excited!  Her new teacher requested that the children bring a cloth napkin with their name on it to use as a placemat while eating their lunch.  Well, I didn't want to give up a napkin from one of my sets and why go buy something when I could make it!  Now she has her own custom placemat with her name embroidered on it!

We made the batik a couple of years ago following this fun tutorial.  We had this little scrap left over and used it for the center and the purple corduroy material was from one of her favorite dresses that she has outgrown.  If its good material, we'll use it!