My favorite trick or treaters!

Some of my favorite little trick or treaters stopped by tonight! Here is little Miss Madisyn and Uncle Cody-she just loves her crazy uncle! Sierra the Butterfly Fairy and Cheyenne the Spider Queen.
Madisyn as Tinker Bell and Hunter as Captain Hook.
And here are all 4 cousins. They were fighting over who got to hand out candy while they were trick or treating at our house. They always get special treats from Aunt Trisha and I even make treats for mom and dad too!

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Roll Time

Last year, I decided to do something brave and make a pumpkin roll. I had never made one let alone tasted one so I was a little scared. They look hard but they are super easy and super yummy! My picky husband loves them and begs me to make them all year long!Here is the recipe:

Preheat over to 375 F

1/4 cup powered sugar (to sprinkle on the towel)

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp salt

Mix together in small bowl

In a large bowl beat together:

3 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup Libby's pumpkin

Add flour mixture and beat until smooth.

Grease and flour a 10 x 15 jelly roll pan/cookie sheet

Spread mixture into pan.

It will look like this:

While it is baking for 13-15 minutes, prepare your towel by heavily spreading the powered sugar on it. This ensures the cake won't stick.
As soon as you take the cake out of the oven, transfer it to the towel leaving about an inch of the towel to start the roll.
Roll it as tight as you can in the towel and then let it cool. This time of year it is cold enough to put it outside and it cools in no time!

While it is cooling, prepare the frosting:

6 TBS softened butter

1-8 oz package cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup sifted powered sugar

Cream the butter, cream cheese and vanilla together. Mix in the powered sugar and then unroll the cooled cake. Spread the frosting over the whole thing. Reroll, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

When ready to serve, cut into slices and sprinkle with a little powered sugar. I promise that this is easy to make and so delicious. Just be prepared because once you make one, you will have to make many more all pumkin roll season long!

Enjoy!!

Tag Crazy!

I have seen so many adorable tags created by my fellow bloggers lately and they have really inspired me. I wanted to make some of my own! I had a few white tags laying around so I decided to use some coffee grounds to stain them and make them a little more vintage looking. My favorite colors are pink and aqua, so I used scrapbook paper to create these pretty little roses-I followed Donna's tutorial at My Shabby Chateau.

I love the way they turned out! I used white glitter on the aqua and pink glitter on the pink and used a coordinating bead to finish them up.
I think I have a new found addiction-making paper roses and tags!! I then added some vintage lace that has just a touch of pink around the top. And that is where I hit a creative block. I think they look pretty good as is-there is plenty of room to write in a message. But I think they need more. Any suggestions??

Craft Show

My mother in law and I tried our hands doing a craft show this weekend. We have been busy since the end of September making all kinds of crafty things. We had a a little booth at the craft show in our town and even though we didn't make millions =o)...we had fun! This is our cute little booth. Lot's of fun stuff for everyone!
I made a couple sets of my scrap pumpkins, some Halloween paper cones full of fun stuff for the kids and some funky square shaped pumpkins too!

We had wreaths, arrangements and a few BSU goodies for the Boise State fans!

There were super cute tutu's and hair bows that made me want a little girl of my own! We made cedar frames with fun arrangements-a great alternative to hanging a wreath on your door!

My mother in law made handpainted kids purses, bags and doggie scarves!

Like I said, we didn't make a lot of money, but it was a lot of fun hanging out with my mother in law every weekend crafting. In fact, I think there are probably more craft shows in our future!

Pretty little angels

I found these pretty little angels at the craft store the other day. I have always been an angel lover, so I couldn't pass them up. They were a little blah and needed just a hint of color to really bring out the beauty of the roses. So, I took a little watered down pink paint and made the roses pop. I added a little aqua to the leaves and tied matching ribbon on as well. I think they look even sweeter now! Here is a side by side of the before and after as well as some smaller versions I will be revamping as well!
You probably can't tell in the pictures, but the wings are sparkly too. Angels need a little glitter on their wings, don't you think?!

These beautiful angels are going to look darling on my shabby Christmas tree that I am planning for Christmas time!

Ten years of sisterhood

Before I ever went to college, I swore that I would never be in a sorority! I just wasn't that kind of a girl. All the movies that portrayed sorority girls made me think they were all petty, snobby, rich girls and that was not me. Boy did I do a complete turn around once I got to college! I went to a small, private liberal arts college in Idaho. When I went there, it was Albertson College of Idaho, it is now called The College of Idaho. I absolutely loved my college experience. The 4 years I spent there were probably 4 of the best years of my life. One of the reasons I loved it so much was my sorority-Kappa Alpha Theta. Now my college didn't have a Greek Row and we didn't have a house. What we had was an amazing bond of sisterhood! This October was the 10 year anniversary of our chapter, so of course, I had to plan a reunion! After sending out around 150 invitations for the weekends events, it was time to bring everyone together to celebrate the accomplishments of our chapter.
We had a formal dinner on Friday night where sisters got to join together to relive old memories and make new ones. There was a speech given by the first president and the current president to show how much things have changed in just 10 years. When the first president was a freshman in college, this years freshman were only 6! Talk about feeling old!
It was a wonderful night where old friends were reunited and new friendships were formed.

The bond of sisters is something that can never be broken. People move away and move on but the bonds of sisterhood that were taken many years ago always remain strong.

Some of the very first members of the Eta Eta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta. We are the old ladies now!

This is my pledge class and some of my very best friends. Whether we talk to each other once a week or once every few years, we are still sisters and still share a very special bond.

The reunion was a huge success! I know that in no time at all, the 20 year reunion will be here and there will be even more sisters there to make new memories with!

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Never say never-you might stumble upon something that completely changes your life for the better. I know that I am a better person because I was in a sorority. I learned valuable skills in leadership, public speaking and life in general. I served as an officer for 3 years, attended Grand Convention, Leadership Conferences and met people who are absolutley amazing! Blogging really reminds me of my sorority-there is a special bond that only other bloggers understand!

Salvation Army Centerpieces

For the past 3 years, I have had the opportunity to make centerpieces for tables at the Salvation Army Banquet. This annual banquet raises money to support the Salvation Army and their many endeavors to help those in need. There is a dinner with a silent and live auction. Auction items vary from merchandise, pastries, quilts, and everything in between. Sometimes the cinnamon rolls go for over $100 a plate! I love having the opportunity to decorate tables and create auction items too. Here is a look at a few of the things I have made. This was the centerpiece I made in 2008. I made 3 of them and they were so glittery and so beautiful. I love the Christmas picks at Michael's!

I made 3 of these in 2009. There were 3 different centerpieces, each in a little bit of a different color.

I made a double sided wreath this year. It was supposed to be the centerpiece on a table, but instead we decided to auction it off and use the basket for the auction as the centerpiece. I don't have a picture of that, darn it!

I think this wreath sold for about $55-not too bad since it didn't cost that much to make.

Oh how I wish I had a job that required me to make centerpieces and baskets all the time. I would probably get sick of it eventually, but I think that if I got to be creative and do something different everyday, I would never get sick of it!

Scrap Pumpkins

I saw these cute little wood scraps and just had to make some pumpkins out of them. Since I wasn't sure how they would turn out, I didn't take before, during and after pictures. They are so easy to make and turn out so cute! I just painted these wood scraps orange and sanded them a bit. Then I took little pieces of tree branches and hot glued them to the top. A few leaves were glued on after that. I had some wire that I wrapped around a marker and glued those on for the little tendrils pumpkins have.
My mother in law has tons of this scrap wood so I think I am going to be making a few sets of these cute little scrap pumpkins!
Happy October!!