What Have I Been Up To?

Well, for starters, I've been trying to increase my stock of burp cloths and tea towels for the Bell Craft Fair I have coming up in December. 

This is the state of my dining room.

Plus, with my Etsy business, I've been busy promoting that by linking up with other blogs and fulfilling orders.

And then there's my 2 full time jobs of mom and art teacher....so I've been pretty busy. 

Which lead me to my next journey....

I've been invited to be an affiliate with Lifestyle Crafts.

They make crafting supplies and I've been invited to use their products. So you may be seeing posts with me using/testing their products to see how they work. I've been looking at their on-line catalog  and can't wait to try their products! 

And if you want to order anything from them, you can get 20% off if you use my affiliate code button on the side. 

My Feature on Parentables.com

I'm super excited that my jack-o-lantern luminaries will be featured at

Parentables.com. It's a website sponsored by TLC. So go check it out!

Thanks TLC for featuring my jack-o-lanterns!

Boo! How to Make a Ghost Luminary

After making my ghost last year and having trouble keeping it lit (due to lack of air), I've been on the hunt at Goodwill for the perfect ghost shape. Earlier in September, I started this project at the same time I made my jack-o-lanterns (funny how I'm seeing these every where now). Great minds think alike I guess?

I started with this sconce I found for a $1 at Goodwill (our Goodwill's in the DFW area have 1/2 price sales the 3rd Wednesday of every month). The sconce is perfect as it already has an opening at the top to circulate the air (my dad, the glass man, cut holes in the top of my ghost last year). But not everyone has access to someone who can cut holes in glass.

Then I just used my Basic George Cricut cartridge to cut some ovals. I cut a variety of sizes to play around with (out of vinyl).

I used painters tape to fill in the opening at the top so spray paint wouldn't find it's way inside.

I used white spray paint to paint the glass. Peeled off the vinyl and I have the perfect ghost. 

Boo!

Linking Up With:

href

="http://www.mylifesatreasure.blogspot.com" title="My Life's a Treasure"><img src="http://i1154.photobucket.com/albums/p521/reiserfamily/LinkPartyBlogButton.jpg" alt="My Life's a Treasure" style="border:none;" />

Homemade Applesauce

I don't usually put recipes on here but Sophia really loves this homemade applesauce so I thought I'd share it. 

I used granny smith apples the first time and have since switched to gala (per Sophia's request). I used about 5 or 6 apples. I cored them.

Then I sliced them up (leaving the skins on).

I used about 2 cups of this apple juice that has less sugar (this last time I used an all natural, freshly pressed apple juice with no artificial or regular sugar added. It has no preservatives). Of course you could just use all water and add white or brown sugar.

I filled the rest of the pot with water and sprinkled a little cinnamon on there. I also added a 1/4 of honey. Next time, I'm going to try all water and 1/2 cup of honey.

I boiled the apples for about 20 minutes.

Then I used the ninja (just use whatever food processor or blender you have), to puree it.

I allowed it to cool and dished it up into individual servings. I put some in the freezer.

The first time I made it, Sophia wasn't a big fan. But recently they'd been studying Johnny Appleseed at school and requested I make it again. She went to Target and helped me pick out the apples (they had taste tested a variety of apples at school and she picked out gala apples). And she helped me add the ingredients and anxiously watched me puree it. She LOVED it!

I have a feeling we'll be making this again soon. 

And another bonus, it made our house smell heavenly!