Halloween Tablescape Treat With No Tricks!

Hello fellow bloggers and tablescapers! It is one of my favorite times of the year! I am definatley still a kid when it comes to this holiday! I am sure most of you will agree. I am linking up with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. I am sure there will be many trickers and treaters participating this week.

I just bacically added a few items to my last years decor. I found some smoke colored water goblets perfect for Halloween. My wonderful hubby purchased this Pumpkin overlay at Marshall's for me. I layered it with a white tablecloth and loved the results! Thanks honey!

So here it is, my litttle Halloween table complete with secret potions!!! Enjoy and Have A WONDERFUL HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by! Sorry this is posted late! Blogger just now decided to let me in. This happen to anyone else? Looking forward to all the wonderful Thanksgiving posts to come!

A Tablescape for the Birthday Star

Good Morning and thanks for stopping by! I thought it was time to do another tablescape since it's been a while. Our youngest son turned 15 over the weekend so it was a great time to pull out some dishes. Fall and Halloween are his favorite time of year. So my challenge was to combine his love of music with a bit of Halloween using things that I already had. Not easy but here is what I came up with.

I think it has a elegant tone tying in red, black and silver stars. After all 15 year olds are way too cool for a kiddie birthday table. As I am reminded. We had a great time and I made Stromboli, salad and his favorite Peanut Butter Chocolate cake.

I will be in trouble for posting the birthday boy but I couldn't resist! I wish that I had added black place mats, they would have grounded the place settings more. Next time I will set up the night before because the candle light would have served this table better. Always learning!


I thought I would add this quick and easy cake recipe also for all you other peanut butter and chocolate lovers.

Peanut Butter Cake with Chocolate Peanut Icing

1 yellow cake mix (from scratch just doesn't hold up)
1/3 to 1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter (depending on your taste)
2 pound bag of powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 stick or 1/2 cup of room temp butter
1/4 cup of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup of crushed peanuts or nut topping (I just crushed my own with a Ziploc and a rolling pin)

First mix your cake batter to the mix instructions. Add the peanut butter and mix well. I used 1/3 cup this time but you can add up to 1/2,  any more and it doesn't work well. Pour into  two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans, I used 9. Bake at mixes time and temps. I did 350 for 25 mins. Cool layers on baking rack.

While cakes are cooling. Place butter in large mixing bowl with 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Give it a little mix. Slowly start adding powdered sugar, mixing well. Once you have half of the sugar mixed in add the cocoa. Now you can judge if you want to add some of the milk. Finish by adding remaining sugar, adding more milk till you get your desired consistency. This makes quite a bit of icing.

After cakes are cooled, place one layer on cake plate and ice just the top. Place the second layer on icing its top as well. Dipping your cake knife in warm water will help with smooth spreading. Now you can rotate cake as you ice the sides. Lastly take your crushed peanuts and press them into your sides of the cake.

I handed the bowl of extra icing to the kids and let them fight it out! It was worth the ten minutes of "When is dinner going to be ready" being silenced. Use your own discretion on sugar overload!


Thank you so much for stopping by. I am linking up with Susan for Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch.

My Weekly Blog Hopping Finds

Welcome everyone. I hope everyone is having a great fall Monday morning. I have been enjoying some time catching up on my blog reading. I stumbled on a wonderful one too. I am so excited to share it with you. It is called A Fanciful Twist, Vanessa is an amazing artist and blogger. I cant wait to dive in this blog for AMAZING eye-candy!

On October 22, Vanessa will be hosting a blog party. I'm so excited, I cant wait to participate. You can too. Hop on over to her wonderful blog. Read about it here for all the details.

So if you love being inspired by amazing photography and art make sure you head on over and lay your peepers on all the wonderfulness. Thank you in advance Vanessa and I am so excited to find your blog!

Have a wonderful Monday friends and glad you stopped in!

100 Days to Christmas is Having a Giveaway!

Welcome everyone, so glad you stopped by. I wanted to post real quick to let you know that Jenn is having a great giveaway at 100 DaystoChristmas  as a part of her yearly countdown. This is so amazing, she is giving away a Kindle 3G with a $5 gift card towards the purchase of her ebook!

There are several ways to win. You can subscribe to email or in a reader, tweet about it, blog about it and leave a comment. Go by 100 Days to Christmas' Facebook page and "like" it. Then you can post "Christmas would come early this year if I win a Kindle 3G at www.100DaystoChristmas.com "

Hopefully by now you have stopped by and joined the Community. I cant wait to stop in everyday and see whats going on. If you want to be ready for the holidays in stress free fashion this year don't hesitate to grab your ebook soon!

photo credit: 100 Days to Christmas website

Are You Ready for the Holidays? 100 Days To Christmas Ebook

Welcome and thanks for dropping in. Can you feel the temperatures changing? Are there some tinges of color in the trees? It means one thing to me folks. THE HOLIDAYS ARE COMING! Most years it would cause a serious case of panic.

Not anymore. Three years ago I found ListPlanIt. I immediately purchased the holiday and household planners. Jennifer has really nailed down what us list makers/lovers need. A few years ago I received a email announcement for her 100 Days To Christmas. I have participated and I must say it has been a life saver for my holiday organization. From making costumes for Halloween, menu planning all the way to making  sure we keep the real reason for the holidays alive in our busy household. 100 Days has been a treat to participate and a big stress reliving helper to me.

Jennifer has came out with the AMAZING 100 Days To Christmas Ebook. This resource is chock full of everything you will need to cruise through the holidays while being organised and enjoying yourself too.

She has broken this ebook down to the months September though December. I love this especially when I want to just hop over for a quick reference. I will admit I am a paper and pencil gal. I always preferred to have the "in hand" reference. But I have been converted. Jennifer has made me fall in love with the ebook! I have fallen hard too!

Not sure how to apply it to your planning? Never fear, Jennifer has included a wonderful section on how to use you ebook to all its potential.

Another big advantage is that it is available for Kindle and Nook. Perfect for the planner on the go. Could it be anymore convenient?

It is time to get organized, the countdown begins in two days. Hop on over and get your ebook and reap the benefits of Jennifer's hard work and professional organizing skills. You will not be disappointed. I feel so calm knowing that my calendars will be safely filled out and my budget will be planned ahead for a debt and surprise free January!

Don't forget to stop by ListPlanIt for your other listmaking needs also. Jennifer graciously allowed 100 bloggers to review her ebook for free. Thank you so much for sharing Jennifer!

Im excited to kick off the countdown! Get your ebook and sign up for email delivery and join the community, you will not be disapointed.

The Birthday Girl and the Luau

Welcome friends and family! Glad you stopped by! Today is a special day, Shay the baby of the family is turning 12! We celebrated last night with a low key Luau style dinner.

This is where the Birthday Girl will be seated. In pink of course. Her friend Sally the flamingo is sitting in for her.

Even the hula girls were invited. They don't eat much or take up any space.

It's so hard to believe she is 12!

For her dinner she chose Pan seared Parmasean Talapia with Oven Roasted Potatoes and Parmesean Grilled Asparagus.

More Hula-ing going on! Hula-ing? I guess its a word?

The Birthday Girl blowing out her candles....Saying goodbye to 11! (BOOO HOOO!) Slow down child, you only were in diapers yesterday it seems!

I  am linking up with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for TT. Make sure you stop by and see as many of the tablescapes as you can. They work so hard. The talent and photography blows me away every week! Have a wonderful weekend. School is starting Monday, We will be having our first Freshman in a while and the Birthday Girl will be in 6th.....SIGH!

Garden Update and Other Chit Chat

Hello there bloggy friends. In usual fashion I have been MIA around here. Lots of things have been going on good and bad in the garden around here. First the good, tomatoes are coming in finally and after 3 attempts this season my cantaloupes are full of softball sized melons, my peppers jalapenos and salsa peppers are in high gear. The bad? Yes there is a bad side, over fertilizing on my part caused blossom drop, Late blight came to visit and as soon as that was under control the ugly horn worm went on his eating frenzy.

But things are turning around and the tomatoes plants are again setting blooms and ripening some beautiful fruits. It will probably be a low yield season but with 30 assorted plants I'm sure I will have enough for our use at least.

I have been making tons of jam. My recent batch was Raspberry Strawberry. It turned out SO GOOD! I didn't have enough raspberries to make the batch so I added some strawberries, about a 70:30 ratio. It is perfect, we ate way too much of it last night. I have also made Strawberry Lemon Marmalade, Strawberry Blueberry, Peach and Strawberry Rhubarb.

This is my first Cherokee Purple tomato. They are so beautiful in there own way and the taste is out of this world!

Last but certainly not least the hubby had his birthday this week! We had a super yummy Buttermilk Chocolate cake with White Chocolate Icing. Can you guess how old he was? HeHeHeHeHe.... I'm just being jealous cause I'm four years older.

I am looking forward to catching up on all the blogs I follow I really have missed everyone. So I will stop the chattering and head off to blog stalk everyone! Have a great week friends!!!!!

Independence Day Tablescape Featuring Liberty Hall by Staffordshire

Happy Fourth of July friends! Thanks for stopping by. Thursday has arrived again and brought with it Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. Make sure you stop by and see all the wonderful tablescapes.

These are my new dishes, Independence Hall by Staffordshire. I just love them so much. They are the first blue in my collection. What a great way to start!

I layered them with my white Gibson Claremont plates and gold chargers from my Christmas stash. I think a bit of gold sets the red white and blue off perfectly. It represents the gold stars.

The blue wine goblets are from the Dollar Tree. They are so pretty a perfect match to the Independence Hall. I love mixing it all.

I used my tried and true red place mats and Oneida's Brooch flatware.

Here are a few candlelit shots. Please for give me for scrambling the order of the pictures. Not sure how that happened. It's been a while, I guess I'm rusty.

Here is a shot peeking through the wine glass that I am using as a water goblet. Is that breaking any rules? Never quite acquired the taste for wine, but I love the glasses.

A close up of these new treasures. I just love the blue and the detail. It's so great to be back with a tablescape post. I have really missed it.

Have a safe and wonderful 4th! A special thanks to all of our soldiers and their families past and present. As we all know, their sacrifices have built the wonderful country!