old fashioned holiday

 This photo is the quaint little house

by the HUGE Mount Washington Hotel  in Bretton Woods, NH.  

We enjoyed a wonderful vacation here a few years ago. 

I’m sharing with you today,

because it reminds me of all good things of

Thanksgivings’ past. 

What about you?

Can’t you imagine a ‘50 station wagon pulling up to the country porch,

mom and dad open the back car door for anxious children,

not so patiently,

awaiting their arrival to Grandma’s for a Thanksgiving day feast. 

I can almost smell the aroma of pumpkin pie and homemade bread

from the wooden steps of the porch.

Whether you’re having an old fashioned holiday or dining out,

my wish for you is a joyous one just like those of Thanksgivings’ past!

shopping, chopping, basting, baking-it’s that time of year!

 

It’s prep time at our home. 

Busy shopping and chopping;

basting and baking and on and on it goes.

  

Just in case you can’t read this it’s worth repeating.

“May we eat bread with JOY and drink wine with a MERRY Heart.

Ecclesiastes 9:7

Sharing with Tabletop Tuesday at my dear friend, Marty’s place.

just sharing a lil’ Thanksgiving…

 

 

from our home to yours.

Come on in.

 

 

 

Sharing with Vignette Friday and Show and Tell Friday.

turkey tees and a bib

So if you saw my last post,

you know that my grand-guys have a table reserved just for them on Turkey Day,

but what are they going to wear? 

A Turkey Tee, of course!

This was a simple fun project. 

My local Target store had long sleeve tees and onesies in my guys’ sizes.  I was thrilled!

• I applied iron-on Pellon Craft Fuse according to the package directions to the back of the fabrics I chose for my turkey to give each stability. 
• Drew the body of my turkey, the layers of feathers, and the beak separately on paper and cut them out.
• Traced them on the back of the respective fabrics with a disappearing ink pen.  (Just make sure you cut them out before the ink disappears!)  J
• In this case, I appliquéd each piece together, layering accordingly, before attaching to the tee.  When working with a tee, it’s a little tricky to stitch since you don’t have a flat surface and the knit fabric is stretchy. {Hint, place a sheet of paper under the fabric you are appliquéing to, in this case the tee to keep it from puckering.  Any kind of thin paper will do; I use notebook paper.  When you are finished appliquéing, tear it off the back}  In case you don’t know how to appliqué, it is a tight zig zag stitch around your design.
• Tiny buttons for the eyes and a red ribbon sewn under the beak finishes it off.

My little guy still needs a bib so I thought this would be perfect for him.

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

Sharing with “What are little boys made of”

~old child’s table reborn~

 

This little table and chairs belonged to my daughters as children.

Some of you may remember pine furniture with a clear finish and cut-out hearts was very popular during the 80s.  (uh oh, telling my age.)

Now that I have grandchildren, I decided to recreate this little dining set for them.

 

Since my  kitchen cabinets were recently painted and distressed, I decided on the same finish for this little table and chairs, but with a twist. 

First I sanded the wood finish and then painted everything but the top with SW Kilim Beige (just because I had it handy.)  It happened to be the paint I used on my kitchen ceiling, but any soft ivory color would work for this effect.

As you can see, I painted the top with a primer.  You’ll find out why a few photos down.

On everything else, painted beige, I brushed on a mocha glaze and wiped it off till I got the effect I wanted. 

I also sanded a few areas that would have been worn naturally over the years.

And here’s the surprise! 

I painted the top with chalkboard paint so my grandchildren can draw, erase, and draw again.

  I also made chair covers out of a taupe and brown tiny check cotton fabric and added piping…

 appliquéing their initials on the back.

Their table is now ready for Thanksgiving Day and for many fun times ahead.

Sharing with others at Boring to Better, Transformation Thursday,

and The DIY Project Party and

Funky Junk Interiors’ Sat. Nite Special

Pumpkin Praline Pecan Pie Cake

Oh! You are going to love this pie cake. I can't decide if it's a pie or a cake so I just call it pie cake! :) The recipe I used called it "dessert". I guess that was their way of getting around what to call it. Oddly enough, while reading our local paper today, I came across a recipe very similar to this one and it was titled "Upside Down Pumpkin Pie". hmmmm...I guess that works too.

Whatever! It's delicious and so easy to make. It's makes a great covered dish and feeds a crowd. Prep time is 20 minutes. You gotta love it!

Begin by heating your oven to 350 degrees (325 for dark or nonstick pan). Grease or spray bottom and sides of 13 x 9 inch pan. In medium bowl, beat until smooth the following.

1 can pure pumpkin

(if you can find it! Pumpkins are scare around here, what about you?)

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (or 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cloves)

Pour pumpkin mixture into your pan.

Sprinkle a box of yellow or spice cake mix over top of pumpkin mixture.

Next sprinkle 1 cup of chopped pecan.

Melt 3/4 cup of butter and drizzle over the top.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 30 minutes.

Tip: Pour pecans in a zip lock bag. Zip. Pound with meat mallet until pecans are chopped to consistency you desire. Quick and easy and no clean-up chores.

Serve warm or chilled with a dollop of whipped cream sprinkled with pumpkin spice. By the way, use the real stuff and whip your cream! It's Thanksgiving!

Store covered in refrigerator if it's not all eaten before you get a chance to!

Don't worry about calories! Remember the famous words of Erma Bombeck,

"What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?"
- Erma Bombeck

I sharing my post with lots of other delicious dishes at Tempt My Tummy Tuesday!

Thanksgiving Preparations and an IDEA

Have you began your Thanksgiving preparations yet?

I pulled a few of mine together to share with you on Mosaic Monday, Made it Monday, and DIY DAY.

First on my preparation list -

It's always a sweet reunion when I pull out Mr. and Mrs. S&P Pilgrim from a long year's storage. Many of you may have this same couple. Remember the Publix commercial? Didn't you love it? Always brings back fond memories for me. Here's another prep I did and you may want to do the same. I made name tags for my guests and attached them to the stem of their drinking glasses. If your guests are staying the day, they will need a drinking glass for longer than the Thanksgiving meal, while watching football or the parade for instance.

This idea not only allows them to recognize their own glass throughout the day and keeps you from having a load of dirty glasses, but it adds decor to your table and could dual as your place cards too.

I made these out of cardstock and used leaf punches and embellishments to jazz em up. Tied them to the glass with raffia. Quick and Easy!

Next, on my preparation list was to make this Pumpkin Praline Pecan Pie-Cake to take to a pre-Thanksgiving get-together. It is so delicious and a great dish to take and feed a crowd. I know this will be one of your favorites so check with me tomorrow and I'll share the recipe with you.

Until then, here's my wish for you.

May your stuffing be tasty

May your turkey plump,

May your potatoes and gravy

Have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious

And your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs!