Friday, November 29, 2013

Put up the tree before my spirit falls again!

We made this cute throwback vintage felt Christmas tree for our nephew in LA!


We freehanded an outline with chalk and then cut out our tree.


And glued on a stump.


The ornaments are felt too!  
We added ribbon with fabric glue as a fun quick detail.
The best part is, the felt ornaments stick right on the felt Christmas tree! 


We hung the tree with painters tape.


And off we sent it to LA!
"It was a good tree."





Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Corn in a Jar.

Such a quick way to make your apartment look festive for the harvest.
Literally, just pour corn in a jar...literally.






Who wants popcorn? 







Saturday, November 23, 2013

Foliage Frames.

It's hard to find Thanksgiving decorations.  
We wanted our bookshelf to look seasonally appropriate...but all we found were some tiny cute turkeys from Target.
We needed more!  
We framed leaves.  


We like to switch out our frames seasonally. 
Simple, effective and dirt cheap! 


Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?






Thursday, November 21, 2013

Our favorite side dish!

This is one of our favorite side dishes...it's so easy and always tastes delicious!
It's a family recipe that's usually only made on Thanksgiving but we make it all the time!  


Ingredients
2 1 pound bags of frozen corn
1 brick of cream cheese
1/4 cup of jarred jalapeños cut, to taste!
1 tsp butter


  • In a large pot saute the jalapeños with the butter, this will really get the flavors out! If you're a jalapeño lover, add more!  


  • Add corn and stir until corn is soft.  
  • Taste and add jalapeño juice from the jar for a little extra kick!


  • Add brick of cream cheese and mix until melted and blended.


It's that easy!  
It's a perfect dish for the holidays because you can make it in advance and it reheats well.  You can also make it in the crock pot- skip the butter, throw in the corn, jalapeños and cream cheese, set on low for about 5 hours.  

Not only is this a great addition to your Thanksgiving feast, it's the perfect side dish for summer BBQ's and taco night!






Monday, November 18, 2013

Turkey Time!

You can't celebrate Thanksgiving without a turkey!
This year we used our paper leaves and make a turkey candle!


We gathered and taped our paper leaves to make the feathers. 
The face and body were cut from leaves too, we added the googley eyes for some whimsy. 
We like reusing our jars season to season so we taped our pieces to the jar, but glue would work just as well.


This project would also work great with real leaves.
Just be careful not to have your "feathers" in the line of fire.
Ouch! Save the cooked turkey for later!


Gobble, gobble, gobble!





Saturday, November 16, 2013

Hipster Photo Props!

Thanksgiving is all about family, friends, food and fun!
What better way to bring everyone together than with a sensible Thanksgiving photo prop photo shoot!?


We made these ourselves out of cardstock and wooden dowels.
We had all our materials, so this was much cheaper than buying them!

Get creative with this and use what you have at home!
If you don't have wooden dowels, use a straw, pencil, chop stick...how about a stirrer from Starbucks...make it work designers!


We're so excited to whip these out after a few drinks on Thanksgiving day!




Time to make the corn!
(More pics to come!)






Tuesday, November 12, 2013

3 little pumpkins!

Mini pumpkins candles are really popular, we see them everywhere and they're so cute!


We read that most people use a drill bit to cut the hole, but cutting the hole with a knife was just as easy and looks pretty much just as good!


Trace a tea light on top of your mini pumpkin and then cut...but not too deep.
Then put in the tea light! 


Unfortunately, they wont last too long if kept indoors.  We've been putting them in the fridge when they aren't lit.  Seems to be working so far. 


One little, two little, three little pumpkins...






Monday, November 11, 2013

Paper Leaves on Parade!


We've been using the hell outta these paper leaves we cut back in September!


We arranged and taped them together to make a simple dramatic Thanksgiving table runner.


We aren't spending Thanksgiving here but it sure looks like it!






Saturday, November 9, 2013

Smells of the Season.

What's more Thanksgiving-ey than cranberry and sage?
We love this stovetop potpourri for November!


Making a stovetop potpourri is a quick inexpensive way to welcome the cold and make your home smell warm and inviting!


Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and fill with water.  
Place on a low setting burner and enjoy! 
Don't let the water completely evaporate, keep refilling.


One mix stays good for about a week!


This will also make the perfect homemade gift for your Thanksgiving host!


Have fun with the packaging and don't forget to include the instructions!





Thursday, November 7, 2013

NY Autumn love!

Fall is beautiful in New York...that is if you're fortunate enough to live by some trees, we have some gorgeous foliage by our apartment in Queens!


Our nephew lives in LA and we wanted to send him some NY Autumn love!
We preserved our leaves the "old fashioned" way with wax paper and an iron.


After we picked some leaves, we flattened them under a stack of books over night.
In the morning, we sandwiched the leaves between two pieces of wax paper (waxy sides together).  Then ironed on low heat until both layers of wax paper melted together around the leaf.  We carefully cut around the leaves making sure the wax pieces still stayed together! 


The wax paper didn't fully melt on all the leaves, we don't know if that's because we have a crappy iron, the stems on the leaves were too thick or there was too much moisture in the leaves...but we're overall happy with the outcome and think our nephew is gonna love them!


We ended liking them so much, that we decided to keep some for ourselves!



We also preserved a handful of leaves by microwaving them...yes microwaving them! 
We laid out a handful of leaves between two pieces of paper towels.  They didn't need long in the microwave, maybe about 30 seconds...but we had to keep a close eye on them, because the leaves can catch fire! 
The leaves should slightly dry out but they shouldn't over cook to a crisp. 


Try to remember the kind of September...





Monday, November 4, 2013

Suga Brim!

Cinnamon brown sugar rim = fall in your mouth.


In a bowl mix together one part cinnamon and two parts light brown sugar.


Get all the lumps out by using the back of a fork!
Mix well and make it a fine as you can.


Wet the rim of your glass with a sliced orange.
If you don't have an orange, water works basically just as well!
Dip your glass into the cinnamon brown sugar.


We love it with a seasonal beer or apple cider with vodka!



Lip smacking good!