Fun Painted Halloween Pumpkins

Thanks to everyone who has been visiting lately!  I am so excited to see new readers thanks to the Ultimate Blog Challenge.  If you are a fellow blogger, check it out.  There's still time to join or you can think about getting on board in January. It's a great personal challenge and way to connect with other bloggers. 

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Here's a peek at what we did last year.  Every year we head out to the pumpkin patch, one of our favorite fall activities!  After we each pick out a pumpkin, feed the goats and eat some ice cream, we bring our treasures home.  Sometimes we carve and sometimes we paint.  As you can see from the pictures, last year we painted.

The pumpkin above is my husband's artistic creation.  Funny enough, he did an eyeball two years in a row.  And even funnier, it didn't dawn on him that this was a repeat until the pumpkin was nearly complete.  He's got a theme going!

The pumpkin below is my daughter's creation.  She chose a batman theme.  Cute, right?  At the time I didn't even know she was into batman.  Go figure.  My daughter is all about trying new things whenever she gets the chance.  She's always open to a new experience and when she gets bored she likes to try the next new thing.  Right now it's soccer and unicorns.  She really is a fun person.

My son went with a classic Halloween monster, complete with bloody tooth.   I think it's a zombie.  He's really quite the good artist.  He's the kid who likes to make everything on his own including Halloween costumes.  We were in the store just the other day and came across some pretty cool costumes.  He even tried some on.  When asked if he wanted one, his response was, "I think I just want to make my own".  If you remember the lobwhale, you'll see that this unique creativity is classically my son.

I chose to paint two gourds this time.  I'm pretty sure my pumpkin rotted by the time I got to it!  So, gourds it was.  I must have been feeling feminine that day and went with a flowery, sparkly theme.  I think the gourds turned out pretty, but they are a bit out of place with the rest of the bunch!  

We are each our own unique people in my family.  I was talking to my husband the other day about this because my daughter and son are almost opposites in their personalities.  This lead to discussion of my siblings and me.  While we all share some quality or other, the five of us are distinct.  It's funny how people can have such diverse personalities even when their backgrounds are much the same.  I guess we all have something different to offer the world.  And that's a good thing.

So there you have it, some inspiration for your pumpkins this year.  Stay tuned to see this year's creations!  I wonder if there'll be another eyeball.

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The Pumpkin Patch

Brookfield Orchards

Ultimate Blog Challenge Facebook Page

Yarn-Wrapped Woodland Wreath

I saw a cute idea on Pinterest about making a yarn-wrapped turkey wreath.  I went to the craft store with full intention of buying materials for said wreath.   Then I saw this cute little squirrel just sitting there on the shelf.  And....it was on sale.  I had to change my wreath plans immediately!

This wreath is quite simple to make.  Basically you just wrap a straw wreath with yarn and glue stuff on it.  Ha!  Simple, right?

Here are all my supplies.  I was going to buy new yarn, but I remembered that I definitely had plenty lying around.  The things I bought on this trip were the ribbon (40% off baby!), the squirrel (on sale), the wreath (not on sale) and flowers (50% off!!).  Still, this wreath cost around $10-12 to make.  I've seen people wrap pool noodles, which would be cheaper, but I wasn't up for the challenge. 

As you can see, I left the plastic wrap on the wreath. Years ago when I made yarn-wrapped wreaths I read this tip.  It helps you to not get straw everywhere and I definitely recommend it.  To begin, wrap the yarn, tie it to the wreath, knot it and tape it down.  Then wrap, wrap wrap.  It's a little tedious, but it's a great TV activity.

Above you see the wreath almost done, but in the hot-glue process.  Basically I just glued things where I thought they would look good and finished it off with a bow.  Wreaths are a very easy way to get creative.  Just start with the basic process and embellish in your own unique way!

You can see I added a bow, but you won't need one if you like things simpler.  It's up to you!



Supplies:

1/3 skein orange yarn (approximation)
1/6 skein brown yarn (approximation)
1 straw wreath
Wired ribbon
Fake flowers and berries
Squirrel figure
tape 
hot glue
thin wire


Instructions:

Do not unwrap wreath.  If wreath is already unwrapped, you may cover it in plastic wrap.

Tie orange yarn around wreath.  Knot and tape down with tape of your choosing. Wrap yarn around wreath being carful not to leave any straw showing.  Continue until wreath is about 3/4 covered in orange yarn.  Tie off orange yarn and tape down.

Tie on brown yarn and repeat steps above.  Tie off brown yarn and tuck in yarn tail.

Hot glue on squirrel and flowers, being careful to hide your glue.  You don't want it showing all over the place!  After everything is glued on, trim any glue strings.

Tie a bow with your ribbon.  Place wire through bow and secure to wreath.

There you have it, done!

I used a command hook to attach my wreath to the door.  I simply hooked it right through the wreath, no special hangers to attach to the wreath are necessary.

As a reminder, I'm participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge.  Click the link to the Facebook page and see what the fun is all about!


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10 Fun Facts About Me

This post is not exactly fall-themed, but it's a great way for readers new or old to get to know me!

1.  Fall is my favorite season!

2.  I like eating non-breakfast food for breakfast.  If you follow me on Instagram @homecookedandhandmade, you will see pizza for breakfast more than once.  But it's not just pizza.  I'll eat a chicken dinner, spaghetti, whatever I'm in the mood for.  No silly food rules for me!

3.  Cinnamon is my favorite smell.  Perfect for fall, right?  At Yankee Candle, my favorite candle scent is Home Sweet Home which is oh-so-cinnamony. I use cinnamon leaf oil in my essential oil diffuser all the time.  I find the scent both welcoming and comforting.

4.  For my birthday I prefer ice cream cake or cheese cake.  Regular cake is not my favorite.

5.  I enjoy writing about pretty much anything.  It helps me think and I love to see words on a page that came from my brain and hands.

6.  I enjoy music from the sixties and seventies.  Think Beatles, Peter, Paul and Mary, etc.

7.  I traveled to Northern Ireland and Scotland when I was a teen.  Those two trips were some of the best experiences of my younger years.  I would love to go back to both places someday.

8.  I used to teach high school biology.  I still enjoy science and reading about new developments.  Genetics, particularly, has always interested me.

9.  I never learned all the names of the parts of speech.  I know how to write a sentence, but I don't do very well at diagraming and naming more than the simple parts of speech.  The only time this has ever affected me negatively was when I was learning higher level Spanish.

10.  God is important to me, but in different ways than ever before.  I used to have a very narrow definition of what God was.  My understanding has changed, but I still long for a connection with the divine.

So there you go!

As a reminder, I'm participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge.  You can still join!


You might also like:
My "About" page
Ultimate Blog Challenge Facebook Group

What I Love About Fall

Some of the best things of the year happen in fall.  It's my favorite season.  Can you blame me?  I live in beautiful New England where we wait for fall all year.  There's apple picking, pumpkin picking, pumpkin carving, pumpkin-flavored everything, crisp walks, jumping in the leaves, Halloween, Thanksgiving and so much more!

Here's a roundup of some of my favorite activities and recipes that are just perfect for fall.

Brookfield Orchards

One of the things we do to kick off the fall season is a family day at the orchard.  Last year we spent time at a couple orchards, but this one is my favorite.  I buy apples here throughout the season and make many recipes with these tasty local fruits.  Click the link above to read about one of my favorite places of all time.

Apple Recipe Roundup

These recipes are time-tested and family approved.  Try any one of them and you surely won't be disappointed.   I'm always looking for new recipes, so if you have a good apple one you think I'd like, share it in the comment section below.  Healthy recipes are a bonus!  I may even do a recipe review and let you know if I like it!

Pumpkin Roundup

Not long after the apples have appeared pumpkins steal the show.  Unlike my recipes made with fresh apples, most of my pumpkin recipes call for canned.  I do cook with fresh pumpkins as well, but they are much more tedious to deal with than fresh apples.  Typically I start making pumpkin recipes long before we head to the pumpkin patch in mid October.  In fact, I made this bread just the other day!

Carving and decorating pumpkins is also one of our family's favorite traditions.  Here are the one's we made last year.  Can you guess who made each one?

Crochet

Autumn is the perfect time to crochet.  With a slight nip in the air, you can cuddle up with your current project on the couch.  Here's a blanket that works up quickly and easily, and could be done by Christmas with time to spare.  Follow this link so you can see how it's made.  If you've never crocheted before, fall is the perfect time to learn!

Try these for your Thanksgiving Feast!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  I think it might be beat out by Christmas, but just barely.  We have some fun Thanksgiving traditions in our family.  Some are typical like turkey and pie.  Others are not so typical, like Bingo.  Everyone in our family has a great time on Thanksgiving!

Here in New England winter rolls around just about the time Thanksgiving finishes up.  Christmas gets me through the cold season and hopes of spring once the new year begins.  But fall in New England will always be my favorite.

Do you have any favorite autumn activities?  A favorite fall recipe to share?  Pumpkin spice or anything nice?  Share it in the comment section below!

Also, today is day two in the Ultimate Blog Challenge!  Check it out!  I think there's still time to join!

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30 Days 30 Recipes
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31 Days of BLOGtober

This is my first time participating in a BLOGtober challenge, specifically the Ultimate Blog Challenge!  The idea is to create a new blog post every day this month.  It's both intimidating and exciting.  But, after my success with the 30 Days 30 Recipes Challenge, I knew I could do it!

I didn't want to do another whole month of recipes, but I also didn't want to commit myself to 30 days of crafting.  This time my theme will be all about autumn in my newest series, Time for Fall.  I'll be giving you a little something (mostly) fall-themed every day this month, so stay tuned!

If you have any requests of what you'd like to see, leave them in the comments below.

Also check out the Ultimate Blog Challenge on Facebook and check out other blogs you might have missed in the vast world wide web.  You might even want to participate next time!


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30 Days 30 Recipes Challenge Wrap-Up
Ultimate Blog Challenge Facebook Group