Halloween Treat {last minute}

Need a last minute, quick and easy Halloween treat? Here you go, Peanut Butter Peanut Butter Cups!

 I had these at a Halloween party this weekend and decided to make my own for tonight. 

Here's what you'll need:

- 1 box peanut butter cookie mix {or you can make your own if you're feeling up to it}

- 24 mini Reeses peanut butter cups

- mini muffin tin

- mini muffin liners {optional}

- candy corn

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 375

- Prepare cookies according to package

- Line cupcake tin with liners

- Take approx. 1T peanut butter cookie mix and roll into a ball. Press down in middle {to make a sort of cup} and put into liner. Continue with rest of cookie dough {my package made exactly 24}.

- Insert one mini Reeses into in each cookie {into the cup like opening you created}.

- Bake 6-7 minutes until cookies are done.

- Before allowing to completely cool, top each with one candy corn. 

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Patch

The holidays are much more fun now that there is a little one around {not like she is going to remember but it's still fun}. We went to the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago and again this past weekend. She loved it!

Sleeping on the way there:

Already rolling her eyes at her mother:

The beginning of the melt down {too many pumpkins!!}.

Happy Halloween Weekend!

Pinterest Projects

I actually went back and looked at my "Projects to do" pinboard the other day and there are so many cute projects that I want to do. 

Knock-off Z-Gallerie Subway Art

Source

Hypertufa Pots

Source

Ruler Growth Chart

Source

And one that I actually completed. Here's my inspiration:

Source

And my completed project. The before:

Definitely could have been in my great-grandma's house. I purchased it at a local antique store for about $10. 

And after I did my paint-by-number:

A little brighter than the original. 

Holiday Style Quiz

Today is October 26th, the little one is officially 10 months, and Christmas is less than two months away! I was browsing the Nate Berkus website and found this funny holiday decorating quiz. Are you a traditional holiday decorator? Nostalgic? Over the top?

1. When wrapping your holiday presents, what do you use to wrap them?

A. Glittery paper with multiple bows and multi-colored ribbon

B. Plain brown paper with a holiday bow and a hanging dreidel

C. Scraps of old paper and old bows you’ve saved

2. It’s time to put our cookies for Santa…what do you put on his plate?

A. A Festive Santa Cookie (with all the trimmings!)

B. Black and White Cookies 

C. Homemade Chocolate Chip cookies

3. When shopping for holiday gifts, what’s your shopping style?

A. You’re first in line at the stores at 5AM on Black Friday 

B. You order stuff online and also make many trips to the mall 

C. You shop throughout the year

4. It’s holiday party time! What are you wearing?

A. Holiday sweater and pants, Santa hat and ornament earrings 

B. Basic black skirt with a bright sequined top 

C. A festive holiday plaid skirt with hostess apron

5. It’s time for some holiday romance…what’s your style?

A. Rent a champagne fountain and spell “I love you” in Christmas lights

B. Give your partner a nice back rub and then pick a fight

C. Wait for a moment under the mistletoe and make your move

IF YOU ANSWERED MOSTLY "As"You are an OVER-THE-TOP DESIGN personality.

Your motto for holiday decorating? MORE is more! From more trees and lights to statues and ornaments, you deck the halls (and any free space available) with holiday decorations.

IF YOU ANSWERED MOSTLY "Bs"You are a HOLIDAY SPLIT personality.

You like to mix it up during the holidays - Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, old stuff and new stuff - you mix it all together and hope it looks good!

IF YOU ANSWERED MOSTLY "Cs"You are a NOSTALGIC/TRADITIONAL personality.

You love your grandma's ornaments and keeping up with holiday traditions you've known since you were a kid.

I won't pull out any holiday decor until the first week of December but it did get me a little more in the holiday spirit. And as for me, apparently I'm a HOLIDAY SPLIT personality. Go figure. 

Halloween Treats

Look at these cute Halloween treats! Hopefully I'll have time to make some of them to take to a couple of the parties we have this weekend. I still need to put together the finishing touches to our costumes, how is it already the 24th!!!

{Click on image for source and recipe}

Play Rooms

I vividly remember my playroom from when I was little. My sisters and I spent countless hours playing barbies, "house", "school", dolls, etc...I remember the shelves along one wall with all our toys. 

I was looking online at party-kitchens for the little one for Christmas and came across playrooms I would have died for. I mean I loved our playroom but these are quite a step up from what I grew up with!

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Favorite Things- All over the place

There have been a few things lately that I've fallen in LOVE with, no rhyme or reason I just think they are fabulous. Here's a few of them:

Bitty Bags from Whisker Graphics. I'm using them for the big ONE year birthday {they are looking so cute I can't wait to share}. They are also the perfect size for a gift card. You could wrap them so cute. I was totally inspired by this picture:

They have a bunch of other cute stuff. See what they have here. 

Look how cute these headbands are:

They happen to be made by my much more creative best friend, Brittany. I want to go buy felt today and make some. Although we seem to be in a "no bow" phase right now. You can see the tutorial here.

I'm a big fan of Italian, and Mario Batali just opened up this restaurant in our area:

Look at the fabulous menu here. My family are kind of pizza snobs {my dad has his own starter that is over 10 years old} and this pizza is definitely up to par. 

Grandma watched the little one one night this past weekend and the husband and I did a spontaneous date night here:

If you were curious, even if you show up at 7:30 at night you still pay the $80. 

How's that for some random favorites! Happy Weekend!

My 1st attempt at chalk paint

I have been wanting to paint a side table in my family room for a VERY long time. It had a nice lacquer finish that was saying "sand me". And it was the sanding that was keeping me from wanting to paint. And then yesterday, while reading my friend Brittany's blog, I was informed of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint {apparently ASCP for the hip folk}. So I googled and searched and soon knew this was going to be my paint solution. 

I searched some more and on her website there was a list of stockists and one happen to be not too far from my house. So the little one and I drove down and bought what we needed. It also helped that the lady in the shop had used the paint numerous times and had examples of many of the colors in her shop. She gave me pointers on how to do it and I left feeling confident. You can visit Truly Tattered's blog here. 

The goods:

1) Clear Soft Wax

2) Chalk Paint in Paris Grey

3) Dark Soft Wax

4) Two brushes

**Note this paint is not cheap, it was $130 when I walked out the door. But from what I've read it is worth it and after completing the project I would definitely agree. 

The before:

The After:

Yes there is a baby gate in the background and a baby book on the table. Welcome to my life. 

A few things to note:

1) You use very little paint. I did two coats of the Paris Grey and I used about a 1/2 inch of paint in the can. 

2) You have to work quickly with the wax. I would paint some on a small area with a brush and wipe it right after with an old t-shirt rag. 

3) I was initially afraid of the Dark Wax, and after using it on a spot I knew wouldn't get too much attention I gained confidence and learned it was actually quite easy to use. 

4) There are endless options of what your finished project could look like. No dark wax, lots of dark wax, mixing colors, etc... the options are endless. 

5) It dries very quickly. I only had nap time to complete this project and I can say from start to finish it took me approx. 2 hours. 

6) They were right, no sanding or priming necessary. Which to me made it worth every penny!

Now to that book case I need to paint....

I've linked this to Miss Mustard Seeds Furniture Friday. See her blog here:

And others great furniture posts here:

How often do you clean?

My mom watches my little one every Tuesday for a couple of hours so I can run errands, go to the dentist, etc.... When I came home a couple of weeks ago she was cleaning my coffee maker, running vinegar through it over and over. And it was clean when she was done and the coffee tastes a lot better. But I soon realized that was only the 2nd time in 3 years {!!} that I had cleaned my coffee maker. 

So I googled "how often should you clean your coffee maker", apparently at least once a month! So I searched some more, and here's what I've found. 

Coffee Maker- At least once a month

Sheets- Every two weeks {there are a LOT of differing opinions}

Microwave- weekly

Toilets- weekly

Countertops- Daily

Windows- monthly

TV- weekly

Shower- weekly

Dust- weekly

Appliances- monthly

Ceiling fans- monthly

Now I LOVE and clean house and really can't function without one so I'm pretty good with most of the timelines above {husband definitely considers it OCD}. But with "Hurricane Morgan" stopping by every afternoon some things get put on the back burner now that I have a child. 

Tiny Prints and Costco

Did you know that Costco members get 20% off their orders at Tiny Prints? I wish I knew this a couple of years ago! Just go to Costco's photo website and scroll all the way down to the bottom. Or you can just click here. 

They have so many cute invites, note cards and thank you's! I know I still have a little more than 2 months before the little one turns the big ONE, but I feel like I need to start planning now before the holidays come. 

Look how cute these note cards are:

and these Christmas Cards:

or these birthday invitations:

all images via tinyprints

Members also get 20% off at Wedding Paper Divas for any of you planning a wedding. 

A Real OC Housewife

I made a late night run to our local CVS pharmacy to grab a digital ear thermometer as I have quickly found that a 9 month old is not okay with you sticking something under her arm, let alone somewhere else! And who did I run into, but Gretchen and Slade from Bravo's Real OC Housewives. 

But then it got me thinking, how is she a housewife??? Not married and no kids. Just a thought. 

In case you were curious here is the Webster's official definition of a housewife:

: a married woman in charge of a household

 Oh, and just so you know the ear thermometer from CVS didn't work either so I had to go back and return that one and just ended up ordering one through Amazon instead. Oh the joys of motherhood. 

I tried it...

If you are on Pinterest, I'm sure you have seen this:

That's it. A box of yellow cake mix and a can of pumpkin. My sister made them and said they were delicious. I was a bit skeptical but decided to give them a try. I also added ingredient no. 3, pumpkin pie spice. I wanted a bit more pumpkin flavor. And to be completely honest, they were a bit dense and the dough was really thick. Next time I think I'm going to stick with the eggs and oil. They'd be even better with some thick cream cheese frosting and if I'm going to splurge with the frosting why not go ahead and add the eggs and oil!

25 Ways to Tie a Scarf

I don't think I appreciated the scarf until a few years ago. Here in Southern California they are actually quite practical. It can be too hot for a coat but add a scarf and you are perfectly warm. I now have quite a few and with it being fall have just pulled them back out.  I saw this video here and thought it was too good not to share. I've emailed it to many friends and family and they all loved it. 

If you wait until the video is finished playing you can actually go back and click on the individual scarf and she will give slower step-by-step instructions. I'm currently a fan of the waterfall but can't wait to try some more out!

Fall Decor

I know I have said earlier I am not a huge fan of Halloween but I like to have some fall decor around the house this time of year. Plus, if I add "fall" decor I can keep it up until Thanksgiving. Here are a few touches around the house:

Paper mache candy corns {got them as a gift almost 8 years ago, no idea where they are from but I still like them}.

Added a few gourds to a basket on my console table {$1 each at WalMart, last year}.

Pumpkin candles from Pottery Barn {got them on sale for $10?? a few years ago}. They have similar one's on sale here. 

And a few mini pumpkins put in a bowl on the coffee table {picked up at local grocery store for $0.50/each}.

It's hard to do, but always buy holiday decorations on sale after the holidays are over. Come December, no one wants a pumpkin candle anymore. 

Our outdoor furniture solution

We have been blessed with a very large outside covered patio that we love. We love to entertain and it is a great place to have people gather. When we first moved a couple months ago we were on the hunt for some new patio furniture. We wanted a big table in order for a bunch of friends to sit and eat together. We searched high and low and anything that we really liked was really expensive. We finally found a great option, picnic tables. They were inexpensive, a little rustic and included seating {because chairs sure do add up!}.

They started as unfinished picnic tables. We picked them up from Lowes for $89/each. 

We wanted a durable finish and decided to use a wood stain. It soaked into the wood and dried nicely. It took two coats to get enough coverage. We used Olympic Maximum wood stain in Wedgewood. 

And here's the finished product at my husband's birthday: