here we come a wassailing

It's officially the week of Thanksgiving which means cinnamon, pumpkin spice and hot chocolate! I'm so happy! My house, however is an asbolute wreck as I prepare for our guests to arrive. So to make up for the scatter and the un-organizedness I decided to cheer myself up with a post on Christmas, Thanksgiving, Fall and Winter in a mug!

If you ever want your house to smell amazingly and taste great too, this is for sure the best recipe out there. Wassail is like a spiced cider that is quite rich and smells heavenly. Trust me. You. Will. Love. It. Most recipes I have found for Wassail have been chock full of sugar but my mother, my sister and I have tweaked and twisted this recipe into a more healthy delight. However you are more than welcome to twist and tweak it right back if you like!

Recipe
1/2-1 cup of sugar (I didn't say there was no sugar in it, just not the usual 4 cups)
4 cups of water
8 cinnamon sticks
(simmer for at least 15 minutes)

then add:

2 qts pure cranberry juice (the really sour stuff)

2 qts of water

4 cups of fresh squeezed orange juice

1 1/4 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice (to taste)

(simmer for another 30 minutes)

*remove cinnamon sticks before serving*

believe me it tastes as good as it smells

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankfulness

As I'm sitting down to post this, I'm thinking about just how grateful I am. This time last year I was in labor with my son at 22 weeks pregnant. Thankfully we were able to keep him in for 12 more weeks but the time between Thanksgiving and his birth was probably the most challenging time of my life. Words cannot begin to even express how happy I am that he was born healthy and has continued to be so. I've decided that each post I do this month will begin with something meaningful that I am grateful for. This will help you as readers know me a little better and this will help me know myself a little better.

Now on to the fun! I'm in the process of making a new wreath which will be posted shortly. In the meantime I made some printables for the coming day of gratitude. Just click the link below the pictures, choose your size, click "actions" and download. Easy as pie.

download

download

Bippity Boppity Boo

Halloween is just around the corner and I am soo excited! This is hands down one of my favorite holidays! Even when I was living in France I made everyone play games and bob for apples so they could get a feel of the holiday. Let the decorating and pumpkin food anything begin!

...and what is all Hallow's Eve without a pumpkin? It's a bit too early to carve any in this weather so until then I have to come up with an alternative and this is what I've got. We are going to turn

this..........................................into this

The supplies you need are a roll of toilet paper, a fat quarter of fabric, a wooden sponge brush, and old dish towel (optional) and extra fabric and ribbon for the stem and leaves.

First things first if you are using a dishtowel wrap it around the roll, then stick the sponge brush in the center of the tube. Now you can start tuck the fabric around the brush until all the fabric forms a cute little pumpkin shape. I wrapped some dark fabric around the stick of the brush and cut some green fabric to look like leaves then tied a ribbon around it. How simple is that?! I love these things! They are cute and festive and make for great centerpieces or mantle decorations.