Fall Mums

Today I went to Trader Joe's to buy some groceries. And they had the most beautiful fall colored mum's. I had to buy a few! Then I bought a few baby white pumpkins.

I had the white pots at home and decorated them with a piece of fall colored plaid ribbon. This was a fun fall project!  I bought the ribbon at Hobby Lobby - they had a 40% off fall item sale.

ABC and 123 Graham Cracker Treats

This is a really fun treat for back-to-school or it can even be used for teacher appreciation week.

I have 10 items on my Fall Bucket list and so far I have completed 4 out of the ten and blogged about them! I am thrilled with my follow-through!

Practice making icing numbers and letters on parchment paper.

Using half of a Hershey bar - glue the printed side face down on the graham cracker with a little icing.

So to make this simple project you will need:

Graham crackers

Hershey bars

Red m&m's

Primary colored icings

Parchment paper

I got this idea from crissycrafts.blospot.com - she used white icing to make her numbers and ABC's. Check out her blog if you have a minute. Because she has a lot of great ideas.

Fall Themed Trail Mix

This is a wonderful snack to make for lunch boxes, after school treats or the team.

I used six ingredients - three salty and three sweet. From left to right - kettle corn, mini cheese crackers, mini pretzel twists, fall themed m&m's, mini marshmallows and candy corn.

You will also need some cellophane bags and twine or fall themed ribbon.

Pour all the ingredients into a large bowl and stir with a wooden spoon. Add a cup of the mixture into each cellophane bag and tie with a twine bow.

I like to experiment with my trail mix ingredients. I was thinking that the above trail mix would have been great with the addition of some salted peanuts.

I hope this inspires you to make a fun trail fall trail mix! Use your family's favorite salty and sweet treats. They sell cellophane bags at Michael's and at Target (in the party section).

I put the trail mix in my metal pumpkin bucket. This would be so cute on your kitchen island or by the door so the kids can grab a treat to eat on the way to practice.

Happy Trails!

Candy Corn Treats (with Candy Corn m&m's)

I noticed candy corn treats all over Pinterest. I wanted to do something original. I used m&m's in the candy corn package.

I bought the candy corn m&m's at Target. Hurry up and buy some before they are gone!

I am addicted to these clear tubes that I buy in the wedding aisle at Michael's (use a coupon). I have used them to package sunflower seeds for the baseball team and layer jelly beans at Easter time.

Project Items:

Clear plastic tubes
Candy corm m&m's
Scotch tape
Orange polka dot ribbon
Glue gun
Plastic candy corn

Directions:

Make the plastic tubes. Using tape to adhere the bottom cardboard.

Organize the candy corn m&m's into separate bowls according to color. Then start layering the colors into the clear plastic tubes. Layer the yellow,  then orange and finish with the white. Tape the top cardboard piece on top of the clear tube.

Using a glue gun adhere the plastic candy corn decoration on the top of the tube. Also using the glue gun adhere the little orange ribbon around the top. I bought the plastic candy corn decorations at Hobby Lobby (with a coupon) and the ribbon was already in my craft cabinet. I am pretty sure that the ribbon was from Michael's.

These make great party favors, treats for the classroom, team or neighbors! And this will just be one of my candy corn ideas - I have another idea that I am working on!

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Baked Apple Chips

These are really easy to make and perfect for lunch boxes or after school treats.

Ingredients:

3 Granny Smith apples
3 tablespoons of granulated sugar
2 tablespoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Wash and slice the apples. Using a mandoline or a very sharp knife to thinly slice the apples.

Place the apple slices on a cookies sheet that is lined with parchment paper.

Mix the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sprinkle a little over each apple slice and rub it in with your finger.

Bake the apple slices for 2 hours. If the apple slices are not crisp enough - bake for another half hour to an hour.

Place the apple chips in an airtight container so that they will stay crisp.

These would make a great hostess gift. Decorate the jar with burlap and twine.

Back-to-School Bus Treats

I like to put little Hot Wheel type buses on everyone's placemat for the first few weeks of school.

And I always make little back-to-school treats for a little homework incentive. This year I made some easy little school bus treats out of Hershey miniatures. They were so fun and easy to make.

You will need:

Yellow scrapbook or construction paper
Pencil
Ruler
Fine tipped black pen
Scissors
Tape
Hershey miniatures

The Mr. Goodbars are my favorite. I might have had a few while working on this project!

Using your ruler measure each bus in a 2 3/4 x 1 1/4 rectangle. Then measure from the bottom 3/4" from the bottom and draw a line. Hand draw the windows, doors and wheels. Write the words "school bus."

Using the fine tipped black pen - color in the windows, door and wheels. Write over the words "school bus." Then cut out each bus and place it around the Hershey miniature, tape the ends.

This is a fun project that your kids could help you make!

I filled the candy bowl that I keep on the end table in the living room. I wonder how long these will last?

Wishing everyone a successful school year! If you need to order some Hershey's miniatures click on the link below.



Hershey's Miniatures Pouch, Assorted, 40-oz. (Google Affiliate Ad)

Dress Cookies in Honor of Fashion Week

I made these dress cookie using my favorite Sugar Cookie recipe and the icing recipe from i am baker. See the Strawberry cookie post. I was feeling lazy so I just used white icing. I tried to make a little blue icing to decorate the cookies - but I added a little too much gel paste then tried to thin it with milk and it came out to runny. Ugh!

However, now I can cross number 8 off my fall bucket list! Which was make dress shaped cookies for Fashion Week. Done!

I bought this dress cookie cutter in the wedding section at Michael's. It came in a little kit with a dress, shoe and kiss cookie cutters.

I was out of parchment paper so Noelle and I decorated the cookies on foil.

Noelle added the little pearls.

My hand was getting so tired from icing. And probably because it was stressful watching Andy Murray try to win the US Open. Yeah - he finally won two hours after I finished making the cookies. What a fantastic final. Of course I couldn't post these dress cookies until the next day because I was so involved in the match!

Noelle thought our cookies looked like wedding dresses. I think they look like party dresses.

This is a photo with the runny blue icing. Sometimes I get a little bummed because my cookies aren't perfect and my photography skills are awful. But then I think maybe I inspire others to try - because I make mistakes and keep on trying. But enough of that, now let us have a little Julie Andrews (or Fraline Maria) moment.

........Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes....

I love Fashion Week! Great job Andy Murray! And most important since today is 9/11 - God Bless America.

Strawberry Cookies

I started making Apple cookies - but then I thought they turned out looking like Tomato cookies. Ugh! I also thought they looked a little like strawberries. So I decided to make them into strawberries.

I used my favorite sugar cookie recipe (see the sugar cookie recipe on my numbers cookie post December, 29, 2011). I bought the apple cookie cutter at Sur la Table for one dollar.

I usually use a frosting recipe from I am baker she has a great cookie frosting tutorial. If I happen to have meringue powder I will use the frosting recipe from Bake at 350. These are both great baking blogs.

The above picture shows how I outline the cookies and then flood them with the frosting.

It is really hard to get a good red icing. You have to add a ton of red gel food coloring.

After I added the green stem I felt like my apples looked liked tomatoes. Ugh! This is when I decided to make strawberries.

I added a little more green stem and melted a little milk chocolate and put it into a small zipper bag and sniped the tiniest hole and piped on the little seeds.

I think my strawberry cookies came out really cute. However, I am going to try to make apple cookies again! Because nothing says "back-to-school" like a strawberry cookie!

I Love Making Fruit Tarts

I made a rectangle shaped Fruit Tart! I like to use different sized tart pans. I usually use this rectangle pan for a tomato based tart. But I was looking for my round tart pan and I realized that it would be fun to use my rectangle tart pan.

Ingredients:


CRUST

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

 1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup butter, room temperature


FILLING

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract



FRUIT

Kiwi

Strawberries

Blueberries

Raspberries

This is a tricky way to have your kids eat more fruit. Use their favorite fruit and make a beautiful design. After I made this tart I saw some fantastic peaches. Perhaps I will make a tart with fresh peach slices next week.

Directions:

To make the crust:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Using a pastry blender blend the confectioner's sugar, flour and butter until a dough forms. Press the dough into the tart pan and bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Set aside to cool.

To make the filling:

Using a mixer combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth. Spread the filling over the cooled crust.

Adding the fruit:

Wash and  dry your fruit. Cut the strawberries and kiwi into equal sized slices. Start making a design.with the fresh fruit.

Isn't this the easiest recipe? it is perfect to serve at a mid morning brunch or evening BBQ.

My Fall Bucket List

I am a huge list maker! I make a "to do" list every day. I make cleaning lists and grocery lists. I never wing it at the grocery store! I make holiday gift lists! I get great satisfaction by completing items on my list and crossing the items off! Making a list can reduce stress and focus the mind. I keep a grocery list on a downstairs tablet and on scratch paper upstairs. I combine the two lists before I go the grocery store. After I do a complete menu plan!

Lists help us remember things that we want to do! And a list can often keep you from procrastinating. So I have decided to make a Bucket List for each of the Four Seasons. This will help me to remember exactly what I want to accomplish! And you can see what types of posts I am planning.

1. Make apple cookies

2. Make an apple pie completely from scratch (Done)

3. Make a Fall themed centerpiece (Done)

4. Host a Fall dinner party and serve comfort food

5. Make Fall candy bark

6. Make mini apple bundt cakes

7. Make graham cracker back to school treats (Done)

8. Make dress or shoe cookies for Fashion Week (Done)

9. Make school bus treats (Done)

10. Make a Fall themed trail mix (Done)

Easy Stationary Idea - Perfect for a Hostess Gift

You will need:

Fun scrapbook paper

A pack of cards and envelopes

3-D Tape

Small sharp scissors

Cellophane bags (a little bigger than the cards)

Coordinating ribbon

I bought everything except the scissors (I already had) at Michael's. They had a 25% off all items - even sale items a few Sunday's ago. So I took full advantage and stocked up on some craft supplies!

Began cutting out the little designs (this takes a long time). I started putting the little cut outs in little piles on the pillow next to me on the couch. I did this while I was watching the U.S. Open - I was glad that Andy Roddick won today!

Using the 3-D tape put the little scrapbook cutouts in a design on the cards. I did this while I watched Maria Sharpova's match!

Add an envelope to each card and package 5 or 6 cards in a cellophane bag.

These little packages make great little hostess gifts. I am sorry that it is hard to see the designs under the cellophane. Ugh!

I hope this little post will inspire you to make some cards. They have a lot of fun holiday themed scrapbook papers.