Homefront: Thanksgiving Mantel

My mom and I have been eyeing these lovely Thanksgiving statues at Hobby Lobby for a few years now. She is so pretty! We have Cherokee in our blood, so we love little Native American touches here and there.

 A "mantel" doesn't have to be over a fireplace!

My mantel before. Pretty, and a little plain. I wanted to add more personalization. The orange glitter pumpkin is the jack-o-lantern from my Halloween display, just turned around. Thanksgiving decorating is really just borrowing from Halloween and adding a bit to it. The 'styling' began with the two paper wrapped pumpkins. I was going to spray paint them gold, but thought it would be too bold, so instead I lightly handpainted them a metallic gold color so details can still peek through.

  

Then, I took that gold paint to the wreath and the cute little pilgrim sign, just to add some glint. I always have some sort of artificial flowers and such laying around, so I made a quick little floral display. My tutorial on making quick and easy floral arrangements here.

 I recently taught a Thankful/Memory jar idea the other night. Tutorial HERE!

 

Live in Thanksgiving Daily

 Well, the Thanksgiving week is upon us, and that means it's time to show my Thanksgiving mantle. I really loved and prefer my crisp white fall mantle, that changed swiftly to the Halloween mantle, and I left a few pieces out for this.  Some may wonder why I excessively change my mantle. Well, it's one of the only surfaces in my home that I have that I can put decor on, and so there it is. Plus, I just love to rearrange and be creative, and I bore easily of seeing the same thing up there too many weeks in a row.

Well, my sis and her 4 boys will be joining my hubs, mom, my 2 boys and myself for the weekend, and we are so happy to see them. Isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about?? Taking the time to reflect on what is important and deciding to make a change to enjoy those things a little more. 

May your pies be yummy, your bellies be stuffed and your homes filled with warmth, love and laughter. I love love love this short little video of learning to see and appreciate those little things, and live in thanksgiving daily:

Here is a cute little video of random people on the streets of New York City sharing a variety of grateful responses to one simple question: What are you thankful for?

Of Animals and Crisp Fall Mornings

little fox prince print by this years girl

 My mother and I use to live in a little old house up on a wooded hill. We had a frequent feral cat (who I took care of medically) named Ernie, I loved that skinny, striped orange guy with a crazy long nose and huge, slanted and inquisitive, endearing blazing green eyes, I was so sad when he stopped coming around. We had a roadrunner who loved to run across the road every time we drove on it. And we really loved this little baby fox that came around at nights. He or she kept a safe distance, but would come and sit with me outside a few feet away. I lov how butterflies are seen as summery creatures, but on our wedding day, 7 years ago in October, is was the Butterfly festival.

There is finally a little chill in the air. A bit of an autumn crisp in this warm state of Texas. But I ever so much welcome it as I stood outside, arms crossed, watching a squirrel jump from our pecan tree to the roof of the house and ponder, now I will have to force my young children to wear clothes every day.

It's been busy around here. You are now looking at a child entertainer, Princess Layla and Cookie the Clown of my little Ever After Entertainment side project to be exact. And on top of that, my mother is moving in with us this weekend so she can have surgery and recovery on some cervical herniated disks. It will be a good fall, just a crazy one. But this is the season for crazy, isn't it?

Homefront: Fall Mantel

I'm joining up with Nester's Fall Mantel (Fantel) Linky Party today. Because I did this in a rush, I feel it's too cluttered, but that's alright, I will be changing it Halloween style in about week anyways. So be sure to visit back for that.

I'm not liking the bird, but I love the pine cones, mostly because we have collected them fresh from our new yard, and I've always wanted to do that. I plan to make a garland out of them, maybe for Christmas. This rosemary plant needs to be re-potted, but it smells so nice, and can't wait to use it in my roasted potatoes.

Opinion needed. The "window" mirror is actually black, I placed an empty shabby white frame in front. Should I leave the white frame there, or does the black frame look best? Thanks!

Sweet Treats: Perfect Vegan Sugar Cookie Recipe

 These fall inspired sugar cookies are from the cheerful Dainty Squid. Seriously, isn't that one adorable acorn? She used this vegan recipe by John and Kristie.

"The cookies were just hard enough to keep their shape, but soft when bitten. They tasted buttery and melted in your mouth. The icing was glossy, smooth and sweet. Like the cookies, the icing was just hard enough to allow stacking, but soft to bite. They were a hit at the party! And surprise, they were vegan!"

PERFECT VEGAN SUGAR COOKIE RECIPE
This makes about 36 cookies. We made two batches.

1 cup margarine	3 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar	2 teaspoons baking powder
2 whole egg replacements (Ener-G)	1/4 cup tofu cream cheese (Tofutti)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1.	In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar. Stir in the egg replacements and vanilla. Gradually add the flour, baking powder and tofu cream cheese. You may have to use your hands at this point to finish the mixing. Form the dough into a long loaf and wrap in cellophane. Refrigerate for a couple hours.
2.	Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease the cookie sheets or use a non-stick foil.
3.	On a lightly floured surface (we taped down a sheet of non-stick foil to our countertop instead), roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place about 1 inch apart cookie on sheets.
4.	Bake for 12 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven, until bottoms and edges just start to get light brown. Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container.

PERFECT VEGAN ICING RECIPE
Each batch is enough to easily coat 24 cookies. We made four batches, one for each color.

2 cups confectioners' sugar	1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
6-8 teaspoons of soy milk (Silk Vanilla)	Assorted food coloring
4 teaspoons of light corn syrup

Directions:

1.	In medium bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and soy milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.
2.	Add food coloring to desired intensity. Dip cookies and allow to dry overnight.

Draped in Comfort

London

These are some of my favorite 2009-10 styles captured by Scott Schuman, aka The Sartorialist, from all over the world. Now if you want to see some true, homegrown fashion, then check out his vintage photos contest. And if your man dresses a little shabby, he too can get a nice taste of style ideas as well.

Alessandra, Milan

While most of the masses are getting a tizzy for Spring time dressing in brighter colors, I am grasping at straws here hoping to wear my wonderful fall clothes a little longer. I think the idea behind it is, the styles are tried and true. They've been tested, are comfortable and easy to know which will remain a classic style and which ones will fall by the wayside come next season.

Maria Carla, Milan

Maybe it's a Texas thing, me hating the summers and all, but I think I just happen to love layering and simple muted tones with layers and wanting to wear them all the time. Fall/winter styles being in the clearance section right about now sure helps as well. Even though many of these styles features boots, distressed jeans, trenches and scarves, a sprinkling of light dresses and blouses can be found in those classic muted hues I love.

Paris

There is an effortless chic in the way the clothes hang, as well as soft barely noticeable details that really complete the outfit, such as a crisp cuff, rolled hem, a simple pleat or ruffle. Scott has a way of empasizing these details that one may easily passover, and the comments on each post shares his sentiments.

Chloe cape, Paris

Sau Paulo

West Village, NYC

Paris

Marais, Paris

Melbourne

Manhattan

Ninth Ave, NYC

Joana, Brazil

Paris

Milan

Milan, love the comments here

Ninth Ave, NYC

Milan

NYC

Sydney

Sydney

Sydney

Paris

Milan