Better late than Never!

I apologize for not posing almost the entire month of December. I thought I still might share some of my Christmas decorations with you all, even though Christmas is over. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!





I love old fashion looking Christmas decorations. They look like old Christmas cards. I use this a lot throughout my house. The Santa below is probably over 30 years old. My Granny hung him very year and I love him.





A few pictures of the kitchen.









Here's another old Santa from my Granny's house.













The bottom lights on my Christmas tree went out by the time I took these pictures. Sorry! I will be shopping for a new tree this year!

Merry Christmas to All!

Sorry I have not posted new Christmas pictures. I hope to have some up within a few days, so please check back. In the meantime, I hope you all are enjoying the month so far.

Happy November!

So Halloween is officially over...I took down my decorations last night. I always get sad when I have to take down decorations for any holiday. The great thing about taking down Halloween decorations though is that it means Christmas decorations go up soon! I leave Fall decorations up until the weekend before Thanksgiving, then I decorate for Christmas.

Here are a few great tips for putting away your Halloween and Fall decorations:

• Group boxes or storage bins by room. For example, put all your decorations for your living room in the same box, so you don't have to search in three boxes for one room.
• Make an inventory list for each box and place it on the lid. That way, you know exactly what is in the box without opening it.
• My sister in law had a great idea. Last year she put a pumpkin spice candle in with her Fall garlands. When she got the garland out this year, it had a wonderful pumpkin spice scent. Make sure you wrap the candle in paper or plastic so it does not melt on anything.
• Dust/clean everything before you put it away.

Follow these very simple tips, and it will take you no time at all to put everything up next year! Countdown to Halloween 2010 has begun!

Fall Tour of Homes

Here's a a second round tour of my home with my Fall and Halloween decor. Please enjoy!


Starting in the entrance...


















A little closer look... This is actually a chalkboard with little pumpkin magnets. I got it for $5 at Homegoods. I love that store!



The kitchen...

Its a little hard to see, but I have pumpkins and gourds in the colander beside the rooster and a fall towel under the bakery sign.



I put my pumpkin cookbook in my cookbook holder. I haven't made anything out of it, but I love to look at it!







Dining Area...










These little boxes are some of my favorite decorations. I put orange lights in the glass bowl under the pumpkin and gourds.





Living Room...





Jaxie (my little dog) wanted to get in on the fun!



For Fall...



For Halloween...



Patio arrangement

Happy Fall!

Go Gators!

I had to share this. My dog Jaxie watching a Gator game with her new collar and scarf. They won by the way, 56 to 6!

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookie Bars

Long title but but easy to make.

2 packages of chocolate chip cookie dough
8 oz soften cream cheese
3 eggs (I use Egg Beaters)
1 teaspoon vanilla


Preheat oven to 350.Grease a 13 x 9 baking pan. Spread 1 package of cookie dough evenly in bottom of pan.



Mix cream cheese, eggs and vanilla.



Spread over cookie dough.




Crumble second package of cookie dough over cream cheese mixture.



Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.



Cool and cut into squares before serving.
Note: I used a glass baking dish and the bottom layer of cookie dough did not cook through. I put mine back in for another 15 minutes. I consulted with my Mom (a wonderful baker) and she recommended using a non-stick metal pan.

-Recipe adapted from Goose Berry Patch- Christmas Throughout the House