Flower Arrangement

Last week one of my friends and I took a class at a local florist shop to make a fall flower arrangement. It was a lot of fun. I'm happy with how mine turned out. It's all out of fake flowers and some dried flowers.  We even learned how to make homemade bows to add to the basket.

Linked to Just a Girl

Hair Bows

Last year I started making hair bows for my daughter.  I just googled for a tutorial to see how to wrap the clip and make the bows. We don't have many places to buy nice bows.  Last year she barely had any hair and I had to use the really small clips.  Now that she has more hair I can use the bigger clips.

Tonight I made two Christmas for her.  She doesn't have bangs, but they aren't as long as the rest of her hair, so I like to pull it back a little bit on one side.  She was so excited about these.

I also made three sets for one of my friends little girls that is turning one.  It's her birthday this weekend and I wanted something a little extra to add to the gift. I hope she likes them.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Last week I tried baked potato soup for the first time. I had run across this recipe a couple of times (both online and in the Kraft recipe magazine). I thought it sounded good and very easy to make.

You can get the recipe by clicking on the link above. It was really good. I wasn't sure if I would even like it. My husband said he wouldn't try it and then after he saw it and what was in it he ended up eating two bowls.

I attempted to add a picture from the Kraft website but was not able to get it to load.

Cheesecake Bars

I made some cheesecake bars for my chex party last weekend. I got the recipe from The Sisters Cafe http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com/2010/09/cheesecake-bars.html






These bars are so good and very addicting! I actually doubled the recipe and made it in a 13x9 pan.

Book Reviews

I have read a couple of really good books in the last few weeks.

The first was The Scent of Rain and Lightening by Nancy Pickard.

http://www.amazon.com/Scent-Rain-Lightning-Novel/dp/0345471016/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1286164375&sr=1-1

This book was really good. A little mystery, a little romance, twists and turns. I just stumbled across this one when I was on my librarys epub site and thought it looked good.

I just finished Summer's Child by Diane Chamberlain yesterday.

http://www.amazon.com/Summers-Child-Diane-Chamberlain/dp/0778328414/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1286164555&sr=1-1

This author wrote The Secret Life of CeCe Wilkes, which I've also read and was good.

This book had so many twists and turns. I think my jaw hit the floor at the end when I found out what really happened. This one was about a baby that was found on the beach and was adopted by a family. It's about her life and the families life that she was adopted into.

Both of these were really good and I would recommend them to anyone.

Fall Decorating

I have been busy pulling out some of my fall decorations. Many of the things I have put up have been things that I made in the last couple of years.



This table is in front of my kitchen island. I strung up my BOO banner that I made last year. I added the Autumn gourd that I also made last year. The tree picture my daughter made in daycare a couple of years ago. She sponge painted the paper and the teacher cut out the tree. I put it on some scrapbook paper and framed it. I made the candy corn topiaries a couple of years ago. The little glass pumpkin I bought at Walmart last year, I believe for $3. It is filled with mini pumpkin shaped potpourri that I got from a friend. Next to the topiaries are two leaf tea light holders from Party Lite.

Here's a close up of the items on the table. My little lamp I bought at Pier One last year. I have some ribbon that I'm thinking about adding to the shade, but I'm not sure yet. I have it sitting on top of the book, The Help. The colors fit into the fall decor. Plus it is one of the best books I have ever read.



I have linked up to Southern Hosptality and Tatertots & Jello

Chex Mix Party

I was asked by General Mills Psst to host a Chex Mix Party through My Get Together. I had a few friends over and we tried the Chex and watched a couple of movies. I also made pepperoni/cheese pinwheels, deviled eggs and cheesecake bars. I also served cheese, summer sausage and crackers.




Me, Beth & Ricci. My almost 4 year old took the picture after she put a puppy sticker on me :)

I received three kinds of Chex Mix (Original, Honey Nut & Toffee), a Chex Mix bowl, napkins and plates from My Get Together.