A Few Tricks and Treats

I'm a big fan of the treat bag for Halloween. Mostly because I'm a push over for kiddos in costumes and would probably give out all the candy to the first 10 kids! I mean how much is enough??? Three pieces, ten pieces??? A treat bag solves all of those problems.

My "go to" treat bag for the last few years has been the spider bag featured below (you can find out how to make them here)...

Better Homes and Gardens

But this year, I would like to add something new to the mix! Here is what I'm thinking...these cute ghost bags! I've had this page torn out for a while, and since my scanner was not cooperating, you'll have to settle for an iphone pic. Clear vellum bags, googly eyes, and black ribbon and your set! Actually, they used black licorice strings!

Better Homes and Gardens

Another option, might be these cute bags! Although, brown paper bags can be quite large. Don't think I need to hand out that much candy! But I still like them, and they look easy to make. Read about them here. What can I say. Martha always has something fun to make!

Martha Stewart

I've also had this little recipe on my mind lately...Southern Living's Caramel Pecan Pumpkin Bread Pudding. It's fabulous for dessert, but it's even great for breakfast! You'll have to give it a try!

Ingredients
BREAD PUDDINGS:
4 large eggs
2 (15-oz.) cans pumpkin
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (12-oz.) French bread loaf, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 10 cups)
CARAMEL-PECAN SAUCE:
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation
1. Prepare Bread Puddings: Whisk together eggs and next 8 ingredients in a large bowl until well blended. Add bread pieces, stirring to thoroughly coat. Cover with plastic wrap, and chill 8 to 24 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350°. Spoon bread mixture into 11 (6-oz.) lightly greased ramekins. (Ramekins will be completely full, and mixture will mound slightly.) Place on an aluminum foil-lined jelly-roll pan.
3. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes, shielding with foil after 30 minutes.
4. During last 15 minutes of baking, prepare Caramel-Pecan Sauce: Heat pecans in a medium skillet over medium-low heat, stirring often, 3 to 5 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant.
5. Cook brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 3 to 4 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and pecans.
6. Remove bread puddings from oven; drizzle with Caramel-Pecan Sauce. Bake 5 minutes or until sauce is thoroughly heated and begins to bubble.

TRY THIS TWIST
One-Dish Caramel-Pecan-Pumpkin Bread Pudding: Prepare recipe as directed in Step 1. Spoon chilled bread mixture into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake, covered, at 350° for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 minutes. Proceed with recipe as directed in Steps 4 through 6.

Big Girl Bed

Sweet Frances has been sleeping in our bedroom in a pack 'n play since birth. I just couldn't stand the thought of having her all the way upstairs. Part of it was sheer laziness on my part, not wanting to climb the stairs at night to feed her. But the other part was not wanting to "give up" my sweet baby. And that's coming from someone who likes to have her bedroom all to herself. No kids allowed!

Well, last night we made the "big" move. She has had a couple of good nights of sleeping through the night until 5 or 6 a.m., so I decided it was time!

I think she was pleased with the move!

Frances has something it took Walker and Kathryn four whole years to get...a room of her own!

Someone Turned Three Months Today

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

This past Saturday, our little family of five parted ways as the boys headed out early that morning for an "all boys" outing leaving the girls behind. They had grand plans of IHOP, Lowe's and WalMart, so us girls had to come up with some plans of our own!

First stop, McDonald's! One biscuit (for me) and hashbrown (for Kathryn) later, and we were off! We decided to go to Fresh Market to pick out our white pumpkins. Kathryn always flips out in their floral department. This day was no exception. She attracted such an audience that the young guy working in the floral department couldn't resist sharing a bloom with her. Here she is holding her flower in front of the Halloween display!

We spotted this little cat treat, and thought we would add it to our list of Halloween goodies for this year. We've already mastered the ghost and mummy marshmallow treats, and thought these cats would be a fun alternative!

We rounded out our morning with a stop at Michaels and Target. By then both girls were spent! It was fun to come home and trade stories about our morning with the boys. I think we'll do this again real soon!

A Pumpkin Project

This was the inspiration...

(I spotted these at my favorite local antique store. On a side note, I could have purchased EVERYTHING in this booth, but alas there's a little thing called a budget!!)

And here is our rendition...

I thought an oil based Sharpie paint pen would do the trick, but it didn't! So, I found an old can of black paint leftover from the previous homeowners and painted away!

These are real pumpkins. After I purchased these, I saw faux white pumpkins at Michaels and thought that might have been the better route to go, especially since we could have recycled in the future!

Babysitting Pop's Style

Gotta love the camo:)

A Few Decorating Finds

You might remember from this post that the Macau Chair (pictured below) from Ballard Designs is on my wishlist for my living room. Well, while shopping at one of my favorite consignment shops, I spotted these chairs. I didn't really like the gold paint, but I loved the price. Originally priced at $150 for the two of them (still a great deal compared to the Macau chair at $249/ea), I waited a couple of weeks trying to decide if I really wanted them. I finally decided they were worth the investment, and that a can of black or brown spray paint would give me the look I wanted for a really great price! So imagine my delight when I found out they were 50% off! That's right, both chairs for $75! Now that's a deal compared to the $500 I would have spent for two from Ballard!

Tula and I ventured back to the consignment shop last week, and look what she spotted. These barstools were $15 EACH!!! Someone already had a hold on them, but they let you put 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. holds on items in case the previous potential buyers don't buy. I called the very next day to see if they had sold. I was thrilled to find out they had not! They fit our bar perfectly!

Just to round out the barstool purchase, I also snagged a pair of pear prints. They were originally $65 each, and I bought them for less than $20 each!

If you live in the Mobile area or are just passing through, it would be worth your time to stop off at High Cotton for a peak! They also operate my favorite local antique shop, Antiques at the Loop. You will love them both!

P.S. One of the other great features of this consignment shop is each item is dated and for each month that passes you take 10% of the price. For example, an item that was brought in on August 21 would be 10% off if you purchased it today! Once items pass the six month mark, they move them out to the warehouse where currently all furniture and rugs are 50% off and pictures, lamps, and other items are 70% off. This is where I found all of my purchases, so there is still some great finds even once they've been moved to the warehouse!