Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a wonderful and relaxing day!

Thanksgiving Craft

I stumbled upon a great online resource for the holidays, Organized Christmas.  The best part is there are lots of good Thanksgiving (and other holiday ideas) there too.  


Of course, I always love the idea of creating a fun, easy holiday craft.  These Thanksgiving Blessing mix favors fit the bill perfectly.  The good news is there's still plenty of time to purchase and create these before the big Turkey Day.  I bet kids would have fun assembling these too.   


I created mine using the bag toppers  but the gift tags are also adorable.  Here's the recipe (along with my slight modifications):


2 cups Bugles brand corn snacks
2 cups small pretzels (be sure to use the tiny twists)
1 cup candy corn
1 cup dried fruit bits or raisins (I used Sun Maid raisin/cranberry mix)
1 cup peanuts or sunflower seeds (I used roasted/salted almonds instead)
1 cup M&Ms-brand chocolate candy (I searched high and low for a bag of the autumnal colors but was told that after Halloween they disappear from the store shelves.  I settled for a traditional bag and removed the red and blue)
16 Hershey's-brand chocolate kisses


The finished product

A basket of blessings.

Have fun! 

America Recycles Day

 

Confession:  I am not very green.  I drive an SUV, I don't shun animal tested products, I don't know anything about carbon footprints.  Despite my best efforts, I often forget my reuseable grocery bags and I abhor compact fluorescent lightbulbs.  Also, I have never seen An Inconvenient Truth.

I do, however, proudly recycle.  I recycle cardboard, glass, plastic and aluminum.  My city makes it easy because they offer this service for, what I consider, a nominal fee.  Twice a week these items are picked up curbside.

How many blogs contain a photo of trash/recycling cans? You're welcome.

My husband thinks my recycling efforts are a bit silly.  In the scheme of things, he insists, it doesn't make that big a difference. But, I tell him, collectively, we all make a difference.  Besides it sets a good example (for my children especially) and others.  I think being even a meager steward of the environment is important.  

I was feeling pretty smug about my determined efforts to help the environment, until I saw this documentary, a few weeks ago .  Thanks to the Oprah Winfrey Network (which aired the film), these days I'm feeling almost criminal when using a styrofoam cup or eating a hamburger (believe it or not, beef consumption is bad for the environment).  

All the same, today I am going to work to be proud of the very, very small part I do to leave the world a bit less impacted by my existence, and I hope you will too.  

Claude Monet's birthday

Today we celebrate the birthday of one of the world's best artists and perhaps it's best known impressionist, Claude Monet.  

Though I am partial to the work of Manet and Cassatt, there's no denying the popularity and ubiquitousness of Monet's paintings, especially the water lilies and haystacks.

I prefer Monet's early work, his beautiful ladies in hats with parasols, French flags and scenes by the water.

This is my favorite of my favorites.  

Confession:  I took an Art History class, Impressionism, in college.  In a moment of ridiculousness (along with my decision to take Economics), I elected to take the class pass/fail.  I loved the class, and though I have few creative bones in my body, I loved studying the nuances of color and light, the subjects, as well as the biographies of the artists.  By the end of the semester, I had an A in the class, which was too bad, since my grade point average could have used that 4.0. But I learned to love the work of all the impressionists (Renoir, Pissaro, Morisot, etc.) and, in particular, to respect the work of Mr. Monet, who's own work had given the Impression movement it's name.  

So Bon Anniversaire, Mr. Monet, and Merci.  

October 31

Pumpkin Fun

Did you know that Irish immigrants brought their tradition of Halloween and the jack o’ lantern (that o’ should have clued me in that it was an Irish custom) to America almost two hundred years ago?

According to legend, the jack o’ lantern began with a man named Jack.  Jack died and was rejected from both heaven and hell.  He then asked the devil to at least help light his path as he was forced to wander the earth.  The devil threw him a live coal from hell and in order to keep it from blowing out in the wind, Jack put the coal inside a turnip (a root vegetable) he was eating.

Consequently, "Jack of the lantern", shortened to jack o'lantern, has become a symbol of a doomed soul and is said to frighten away evil spirits.  

Despite this cheering and inspirational story (I kid), 

I am a bit partial to the fun and whimsical side of pumpkin carving/decorating.

Here are a few fun pumpkin ideas, including ours from this year:

A stencil and a black paint pen (+ my unsteady hand) made this happen.
I love the white pumpkins, but  I'm still contemplating a face for my jack-o-lantern.

Which was inspired by my neighbor's

A little wonky, I know.  But super cute.  

I love this UGA (University of Georgia bulldog) pumpkin.
I made a Georgia "G" pumpkin one year (but didn't photograph it, boo hoo).

One time I used crescent and star shaped cookie cutters to decorate my pumpkin. That was fun. 

Mine wasn't as cute or elaborate as this, but you  get the idea.  

Another year, I painted pumpkins and used them for a ring toss game at my son's preschool Halloween party.  They're still among my favorites.    

A little pink pig, a princely frog (with limes for eyes) and a smiley faced fun guy.  

Happy carving!

Halloween Couture

Sadly, our Halloween costume days (Trick or Treating) are coming to end.  But, I couldn't resist this walk down memory lane.

No costume this year, just a pumpkin all her own.

Nothing says Halloween, like a bunny!

One year even the grown ups got in on the act.
I made these costumes using contact paper and
black sweats I purchased at Walmart 

Meg from Disney's Hercules

With her brother in the background in his clown (pajamas)
costume and pacifier.  

Dorothy and the clown costume gets recycled.
Believe it not, this was our Christmas Card photo that year.  

A Hippie and a (cookie eating) Fireman

A Transformer with Barbara Eden (I loved I Dream of Jeannie).
You can't see it, but in her arms was a genie bottle that we
made using a Mary Kate and Ashley craft book.

Superman and a Snow Princess

Felicity with Spiderman

A girl pirate

 A soldier

A "friendly" witch with an unhappy knight

Indiana Jones (adorable)

Felicity (again)  

A Flapper and Darth Vader