Swap Goodies

I joined A Happy Miscellany Craft Swap hosted by Domestic Bliss a little while back and I had so much fun! I love shopping for little treasures to fill a box.

The lady that sent me my box was Rosemary. She spoiled me! Her box was loaded with stuff! She had it all package in this cute little suitcase. I have plenty of treasures to keep me busy. Thank you Rosemary, I love it!

Domestic Bliss is hosting a Holiday Helper Swap. The sign up deadline is Wednesday, November 21. Click over there and check it out. I hope you join because I would love to swap with you!

Stacking Up

The weather here has started to change ever so slightly to the cooler Fall weather. After the hot, wet, humid summer, this is cause for celebration and a call to begin living a cozier life. As you can see my bedside table is about to topple over from the weight of all these lovely pages, waiting to be read. Pages filled with old friends and new friends. As soon as I finish reading these books, I will be offering them in a monthly book giveaway so come back the first Monday of the month to see which one is up for grabs. You can still enter this months giveaway, just scroll down.

Happy Reading!

Happy Veteran's Day

Thank you Veteran's!

President Eisenhower signing HR7786 changing Armistice Day to Veteran's Day in 1954. To learn more about Veteran's Day, check out their site.

Glassy Baby

I first heard of Glassy Baby while watching The Martha show awhile back and fell in love with them and had to order one right away. They are the cutest votive, vase, tumbler that I have ever seen. They come in 53 different colors.

They are a little pricey at $40.00 each but it is true craftsman quality and they are so cute! I love how cool it looks all clustered together. What a statement!

Please visit their site and look around. Check out their gallery and see all the ways they have them displayed. The company is located in Seattle, WA. A place I would love to visit sometime. If you are in that neck of the woods check them out. They have sales quite often and you could grab a couple of glassy babies. The above three photos are from Glassy Baby.

This is my Glassy Baby. I have just started my collection and will be adding to it eventually. Doesn't it look so pretty glowing?

National Vanilla Cupcake Day

The cupcakes above and the recipe below are from Queen Martha. The recipe is for vanilla cupcakes, not chocolate.

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (1 1/2 sticks)
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk

Makes 24

Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until incorporated and scraping down sides of bowl, beat in vanilla.
Add flour mixture and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl to assure the batter is thoroughly mixed. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling papers about 2/3 full. Bake on the center rack of the oven until tops spring back to touch, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Turkey Cupcake How-To

Kids will gobble up these tasty turkeys! Their heads are store-bought coconut marshmallows; make holes in them with a toothpick dipped in water, and insert chocolate sprinkles for eyes. Gummy fish are the perfect shape for beaks and tail feathers. Toasted coconut "feathers" sprout from the turkey's chocolate butter cream bodies.

Friday Fill In

1. Plans and schedules help keep me focused and organized.

2. I'm happy when things go well.

3. The last thing I drank was bottle water with Sugar Free Raspberry drink mix packet.

4. One of the most valuable things in my life is my son.

5. I like pineapple on my pizza.

6. Dear November, Please send cooler weather down our way. I really want to wear my Fall clothes.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching movies and relaxing at home tomorrow my plans include the last soccer game of the regular season (we are undefeated!) and then shopping my favorite thrift stores and Sunday, I want to have fun!

My responses are in bold. If you decide to play let me know so that I can come read your responses!

Enjoy your weekend!

Thrifty Finds

While searching the shelves at Goodwill, I discovered this collection of Southern Living Recipes for the Year cookbooks. I grabbed every single one and barely made it to the checkout. My DH just shook his head when I walked in the door with my arms loaded down with the cookbooks, but he loves me anyway. I'm not much of a cook but I couldn't resist these charming books at $1.00 each. And you never know, I may be inspired to whip up a great meal!

**Sorry about the blurry picture. Not sure what's going on.**

Hope you are having a great week.