Decorating

I'm a little early but, with the help of my dad, I put up most of my outside Halloween decor this afternoon. I still have bat lights to put up and I need to get some more headstones and pick up some cobweb. The kids and I also still need to make a scarecrow and head to the pumpkin patch, but that will be later. It seemed as if everyone around me was putting their stuff out and I felt behind. So, now it's out there waiting happily for Halloween. I will have pictures up once I take some. I have yet to do the inside of the house, maybe tomorrow.

GPD Tomorrow!

In honor of GPD tomorrow, I bought 1 yd. of six different fall type fabrics to make a quilt when I went to Walmart earlier this evening. Now I just need to decide how big I want the squares and if I need more material or not. I'll probably begin work on this tomorrow.

I'm also looking for a tall, skinny black cat to add to my altered clipboard. If anyone has an image they would be willing to share, please let me know! Enjoy GPD tomorrow. :)

Altered Halloween Countdown Clipboard

Here is my unfinished altered clipboard. I still have to find something to put on the left side and then paint the numbers on the pumpkins I plan to use and attach them. But here is a picture to show you how it's coming. I messed up on the spacing of the letter stickers, but this clipboard is going to be for me so it's okay and I think I can live with the mess up.

Ghostly experience to share

Last night I went to bed in the 10 o'clock hour. I always try to keep my eyes shut because if I open them, I see things.....sometimes pretty crazy things. Anyway, last night I opened my eyes for some reason and my closet door was 1/4 of the way open. I ALWAYS leave my closet doors closed. They are sliding wood doors that have no track on the bottom so it's dangerous for the kids for it to be open, i've smashed my fingers several times in it. So i'm sitting there hoping that someone's not in my closet and while i'm looking at the door, it starts slowly sliding closed. I couldn't believe it! I got out of bed and turned on my bathroom light, then I went and checked all the doors in my house to make sure they were still locked. I went back to the bedroom and decided I had to look in the closet to be sure. I turned on the closet light and opened the door.....of course there was no one in there. Ghostly experience or figment of my imagination? You decide.

Great Pumpkin Day!!

Today I went to the library and checked out more Halloween and Christmas books. I went through one Halloween book and marked things I liked. I didn't get to my supply lists and copying the directions yet, but I will. I also didn't get a chance to work more on my Halloween countdown clipboard, hopefully tomorrow.

Snickerdoodle Mini Muffin Review

After searching high and low for a mini muffin pan, I could not find one anywhere. I guess i'll have to start looking in the antique stores. I made the Snickerdoodle Mini Muffins last night but had to use a regular muffin pan. It made about 10 nice size muffins.

One warning: Make sure your butter is really softened or completely melted before adding it to the liquid mixture. Mine was just softened in the microwave and I had a hard time getting it to blend with the liquid mixture and it didn't get much better when I added the mixture to the dry ingredients.

Other than that, the muffins are good warm with butter on them.

Here's a picture:

Recipes

I recently purchased Autumn in the Country from Gooseberry Patch and let me tell you, it is a must have! Normally when I purchase cookbooks, I can only find one or two recipes that I or my family would actually like, not the case with this book. I have found so many, I could be cooking for weeks. Reading through it has really gotten me craving the sights, smells, and sounds of Fall. Today I wanted to share at least one recipe with you that I intend to make at some point this week.

Snickerdoodle Mini Muffins

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. quick-cooking oats, uncooked

3/4 c. sugar, divided

1 T. baking powder

1 c. milk

1 egg, beaten

1/4 c. margarine, softened

1 t. vanilla extract

1 t. cinnamon

Combine flour, oats, 1/2 cup sugar and baking powder; mix well. In a separate bowl, combine milk, egg, margarine and vanilla; blend well and add to flour mixture. Fill greased mini muffin cups 2/3 full. Mix together cinnamon and remaining sugar; sprinkle over muffins. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes. Makes 3 dozen.