My Spook Crew 2012

We have a lot of traditions we have established in our family with our Grandbabes. One of these, is having the whole family go trick or treating together...we load up in our cars and travel the local countryside in search of treats for our little Spooks.

This year, we all met at our home and had a chili supper with some sweet cupcakes, so everyone could get their energy level up for the nights activities.

We live off the main highway, so don't have many trick or treaters drop by. We would never expect a Treater to leave our home empty handed, so we always leave a bucket of treats on the doorstep.

It's always fun to take some snapshots of the Halloween decorations we encounter along the way.

Hope your Halloween was equally as fun this year!

 Have A Good One,

http://theycallmejammi.blogspot.com

Lanterns Light My Way

Lanterns in decorating are a big hit.  I love them tall, short, chunky, round, square and on and on.  There are so many options.  Lanterns are extremely versatile and can be used indoors or out.

Here we have three differant styles and sizes of lanterns to create a gorgeous vignette.  For the larger lantern in the back, the topiary in the terra cotta pot is highlighted with the tea candles surrounding the base. 

Allhomedecors

Beautiful grouping displayed with natural materials and creamy white candles.  Simple but elegant. 

Homedesigndecorates

I found a great selection of lanterns at Old Time Pottery.  So many styles and I can imagine them decorated with candles and fillers. The prices were extremely reasonable with the largest size being 29.99.  The galvanized would be gorgeous on a screened porch or sunroom. 

This idea from Nell Hill takes my breath away.  She placed lanterns outside so that they sparkled through the windows.  Wouldn't this be gorgeous on a cold, snowy night.  Does that woman ever have a bad idea???

Nell Hill

I'm crazy about this idea - again from Nell Hill - for placing an urn on a garden planter and dressing up with ribbon and greens.  This is stunning and could be easily duplicated for maximum appeal. 

Nell Hills

I'll be making a trip back to Old Time Pottery soon...I'm trying to decide which style and sizes I want.  I think you will agree that I can't go wrong with any choice I make. 

Mancakes For Father's Day

If you are looking for a suggestion for a Father's Day breakfast, Bisquick has an idea for you....

Mancakes with beer and bacon.  You can find the recipe HERE.  Somehow, there is just something so wrong about this, but I can't quite put my finger on it.  LOL. The men in our lives might really enjoy this....or not. 

What do you think.  Will you be giving Mancakes a try?

A Touch Of Spring

I need to lighten my decor and start to bring in the spring.  I reworked the vignette on my barrister bookcase, using some bright colors to lighten up the dark corner.  Nothing like a sunshine bright group of lemons to add some brightness.  After putting this together, I was delightfully surprised at how well the yellow and red work together with some touches of green.  I love my red pottery pears...they weigh a ton and could easily be used as paper weights, they are just so darn cute.

I wanted my pineapple to sit atop my pitcher on a bed of green, so I used a tall candleholder to sit inside my pitcher.  The greenery hides the candleholder and the gap around the pitcher.   Whoops, I see the candleholder peeking out a bit between the vine....just close your right eye when you look at the photo closely.

I picked up some of my favorite magazines and enjoyed paging through them this weekend. I so LOVE flipping through a magazine filled with beautiful pictures and helpful articles. The visuals are my favorites. Seeing a beautiful home or ways to make a home beautiful, warm and inviting always brings a smile to my lips. If I was able to time travel or project myself to a differant place on demand, I would always be popping into someones home.....I would try to avoid any whoops moments and not overly affect someone privacy..but pop in and look around, I would definetly do.

I'm a big fan of the Hoffman series of Celebrate magazines.  The Spring issue is out and has some really cute ideas.  Peeps were used for some of the cutest food and decors...peeps, who would have thunk it.  I love the cake with the peeps on top...pure Genius.  Yellow Peeps saySpring!!

If you color your own Easter Eggs, there are some great tips on getting beautiful egg results. 

I'm joining the following parties this week.  Please be sure and click the links and give these ladies a visit...you will be glad you did.

Met Monday
Amaze Me Monday
Tabletop Tuesday
Rednesday

Any Excuse For A Get-Together - Valentines 2011

We have the good fortune of having both our daughters and their families living within a few miles from our home, so we get to see them often.  Because of this locality, we are usually together on the weekends and take every opportunity to celebrate and make our time special.  This weekend, we celebrated Valentines Day and as usual provided our GBs with some small tokens of our love...they are definetly our Valentines. 

There is no day that goes by that is not enlightened by the smiles and laughter of one of our precious babies...Daughters and Son-In-Laws included.  It is such a joy to spend time with them and have the heart of our family in sync.  It is so easy to enjoy a good life when you have such sweet family to share it with. 

Of course, we took the opportunity to eat dinner....in the South, every reason is an end to a good meal.  We kept it simple with Chicken and vegetable kabobs on the grill and a big pot of Dilled Red Potatoes. 

You can't have a Valentines Day celebration without a little chocolate, so we indulged in a Chocolate Caramel cake.  Yummy. 

How did you celebrate Valentines Day this year? 

More Snow In Tennessee And A Holiday Flashback

We have snow on the ground again in Tennessee.  We have 2-3 inches and the schools are closed.  The snow started me thinking about the wonderful snow we were blessed with on Christmas Day this year.  When I started thinking about Christmas, I realized that I had not posted my post Christmas goodies from my normal after holidays buying trip.  If you are sick of Christmas, feel free to skip, but if you still like a little taste of red and green, here you go.

I found some beautiful things this year at 50-80% off....I love after Christmas shopping.  Found a beautiful white holly tablecloth from Kohls and picked up another Christmas Santa Chef as the one I found last year was claimed and being in the Christmas spirit, I gave him away.  Was lucky enough to find another on sale this year.  Snowman nesting bowls came from Cracker Barrel and the knit stockings and Elf hat are from Lowes.  Pier One had some great items at 60-70% off...I got a set of candleholders with ornaments hanging inside, a tiered Christmas Tree server, some napkins, mini gravy boats, and two cute snowmen.  Dillard's yielded the Red polka dot Christmas bowl peeking out from under the napkins and a cake knife and server set.

The Santa Chef is just so darn cute.  Last year, I thought there was a Mrs Claus with kitchen items as well, but could not find her this year.  I'll look next year and might find her. 

I bought four of the little gravy boats to use as individual serving pitches for syrups for pancake breakfasts....yum.  Hope you enjoyed my little Christmas flashback....it was fun to relive these beautiful items and share them with you.  As usual, I am astounded that we are already near mid-February.  Hope you are making each day count.

My Christmas Memories

I Remember

My Great-Aunts Gladys and Sadis coming through the front door of my Granny and Grandpa's with big smiles and saying 'Christmas Eve Gift' or 'Christmas Gift', depending on the day they visited.  I always loved this...they would be smiling and laughing as they presented themselves as the gifts.

Granny Powell's Christmas cake.  Filled with raisins and nuts and topped with a chocolate buttercream and more pecans.

Grandpa giving us brown paper bags full of fruits, nuts and hard candy.

Walking home from church after Christmas play practice.  Enjoying the feel of the brisk, cold air and watching the 'smoke' rise as we breathed.

Playing dolls with my sisters after we had opened our presents.  We used a cardboard box for a table and a piece of wrapping paper for a tablecloth as we enjoyed tea with our new tiny dishes. 

Going Chirstmas shopping and having to hang out in the parking lot in the car with Daddy while Mama shopped.  Made better when we were at Sears and Daddy would go in and buy a hot bag of Spanish peanuts for us to munch on.

Sitting my two sweet babies under the Christmas tree and trying to capture that perfect picture.  Not realizing then that they were all perfect pictures.

Enjoying the love and feeling the pride as I enjoy Christmas with my family each year.  Knowing that each moment is precious, each look to be cherished and hugs and kisses are the best thing God ever invented.

I will be working hard on last minute wrapping and baking the next couple of days and then enjoying the wonder of the season with my family.  I hope all your hopes and dreams are realized and that you live each moment of this holiday season, realizing that family and friends are true treasures.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to each and every one of you.

Rich Red and Wintry White....What's Not to Like

I love traditional Christmas colors and have decorated in red, white and green this year.  Snowmen are a part of the season and keep finding their way into every room in my home.   My sideboard in the breakfast nook.

Pinecones and snow.  If I could figure out a way to get under the glass, I'd play in the snow.

My China Cabinet is all decked out for the holidays.

Don't peek till Chirstmas....good advice, but rarely followed.

Thanks for visiting.  Joining the party over at Marty's at A Stroll Thru Life.  Please be sure to drop by the party.