peter pan and pumpkin dip

The week of Halloween is always a little crazy. It is red ribbon week at school (which throws it all for a whirlwind) and it always seems the end of October is just a "busy time."

Among all the craziness there has been some fun Halloween/Octoberish things to enjoy...

First, my sister and Caden came over on Saturday morning and we made Caden's costume. Now, of course he tried it on and in the split second I moved on to make one more part to the costume he managed to get his hot chocolate and add his own touch. Overall, it turned out great and of course is unbelievable stinkin' cute....

(again disclaimer for the blackberry photo)

I mean does it get any cuter?

Also, I took some pumpkin dip to community group last week and forgot how yummy it is to share! I got this wonderful recipe from Kristen Campbell my junior year in college and have loved it/made it EVERY fall ever since. It is great to take for a group of people. I recommend getting ginger snaps to dip. Although, I highly recommend getting the thin ones and the only place I have found them so far is Whole Foods.

Here is the recipe....

Pumpkin Dip

1 can of organic pumpkin

1 block cream cheese

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. clove

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

I put it all in the mixer and whisked away!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week and yay for weather in the 70's tomorrow!

burlap ruffled pillow

So I have been wanting to find some fun pillows to add to our bed (because I am always looking for fun decorative things to add on.)

I found the look I wanted this summer when pottery barn came out with a variety of pillows in a burlap material that had cute sayings like "nest" or "laughter" stamped on it. I fell in love....then...

(photo courtesy of pottery barn)

...I read the $49 price tag. No thanks! I mean don't get me wrong...I lovvveee our pottery barn bedding (but what I love even more is that it was a mixture of wedding and graduation gifts!)

So instead of forking over the 50 bucks I headed to the good ol' Hobby Lobby and bought a yard of burlap to start my project. I wanted to add some sort of embellishment...so I decided on ruffles (because they are wonderful!)

I grabbed the burlap, cut some strips off the back of an old white t-shirt, and started sewing away. Once I was done, I stuffed the pillow and ta da.....

disclaimer- our computer is on it's last leg and doesn't like the pictures I was trying to upload...so blackberry photo will have to do for now...

Not only did it turn out great...I lovveee the price

1 yard of burlap- 2.99 (with LOTS to spare)

1 bag of stuffing - 2.99 (with LOTS to spare)

Total about $6

The best part is I have enough materials to make another pillow for FREE!

Hope everyone has a wonderful evening!

granola.

Since my morning breakfast typically consists of the same thing (plain yogurt, a little honey, raspberries, and vanilla almond whole foods granola) I decided I needed to spice it up a bit. I wanted to make my own granola so I combined a few recipes and added in a few things I really love. Here it is....

4 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup sliced almonds

about 5 seconds of Agave Nectar(gives it a little sweetness)

2 tbs. Canola oil

1 tsp. sea salt

a sprinkle of coconut (or however much you like)

a handful of dark chocolate chips

a handful of dried cranberries

a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon

Bake at 350 for 5 minutes. Take out and stir then bake for another 5 minutes.

Then put it in a Mason Jar (because you can use them for everything) and they are super cute!

I hope to get some more baking in this week/weekend! Fall makes me want to bake things all the time!

Hope you enjoy!

Lauren