Happy hump day! Today I’ve got something SO delicious and yummy you’ll want to run to the store right now to get the ingredients!!
I’m a sucker for pumpkin spice lattes. Who isn’t? But, I’m not so much a fan of paying $3 or $4 to get one. So, I’ve just started making my own pumpkin sauce and adding it to my coffee! I love that I know what’s in it, too. It’s so perfect for crisp fall mornings, and, it’s SO easy to make! In fact, I may be drinking one as I type this. 🙂
You only need a few ingredients (full directions at bottom):
First, just boil the water and add in the pumpkin. Once that’s all dissolved, add in the sugar and dissolve that, too. Add in the spices and vanilla, and you’re done!
To use, I put about a tablespoon or two in my coffee with some half-n-half. Seriously YUM! Add a little whipped cream and you’ve got yourself a much cheaper and tastier pumpkin spice coffee, if I do say so myself!
It’s so yummy, you probably could even use half the water and it’d be thick enough to spread on some toast or a bagel. Ahh, I think I need to try that, too!
Pumpkin Spice Sauce
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 can (14oz) pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
Boil 1 cup of water in a small pot. Turn heat to medium and mix in pumpkin puree until well dissolved.
Add 1 1/4 cup of sugar and stir to dissolve.
Add cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla, and cook on low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often.
Remove from heat and let cool.
Store in airtight jar or container in the fridge for up to a week.
To use:
Add 1 or 2 tablespoons to your coffee. Add in some half-n-half or milk, stir, and top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg. Enjoy!
A WORD OF CAUTION: I like my cream and sugar with a little bit of coffee, if you’re picking up what I’m throwing down. So, if you don’t like things too sweet, I’d only use 1 cup of sugar instead!
Do you like pumpkin spice lattes? What else do you put in your coffee?
Good morning!! It’s Monday again, and time to show off your best DIY home projects! Did you have a good weekend? It was 80 degrees here both Saturday and Sunday and I LOVED it!! I wish fall was warm, along with all the beautiful colored leaves. it’ll get cooold here far too soon.
Thank you to all who linked up with us last week. There are so many beautiful fall projects that were linked up, and I loved looking at every single one! So much fabulous inspiration!
Ready to share what motivates you? Link up a recent post of yours; something that motivates you to create or just be awesome! Our goal is for this link up to focus on craft, DIY, & home posts so please try to remember that when linking up. Please limit it to three links per week and remember to link directly to your post. Do not link stores, giveaways, or other link parties. Also, hop around some of the other posts that have been linked up to share the love and get motivated by what others have been up to, because of course, this is Motivational Monday!
Every week, each hostess will feature their favorite post from the previous week. In order to be featured, please make sure you follow your hosts on at least one form of social media. By linking up, you agree to let each host share your photo and link back to your site. Link party goes live Monday and ends at 5:00pm PST on Friday.
Don’t forget to grab a Motivational Monday button on my sidebar to put on your own blog to help spread the love, OR text link back! —–>
How incredibly neat is this Industrial Pipe Candleholder from Table and Hearth? I love it! Emily did such an amazing job creating this Joss and Main knock-off, and it looks so great as her centerpiece!
Don’t forget to grab a button from the sidebar if you were featured! —–>
Let’s get this party started! Please link up your craft, DIY, or home projects here and link back to this party or display our pretty button somewhere on your blog. Spread the love too, and share this party on your choice of social media!
Good morning, friends! Well, it’s now October so that means it’s time to get your Halloween decor out! Even though most stores are now having all Christmas inventory displayed {UGH!}, all the better reason to get out and snatch up those half off Halloween pieces!
Growing up, my family never really decorated for Halloween. Tragically, my aunt and grandfather both died on October 31st in an auto accident, a few years before I was born. As you can probably guess, Halloween was not a favorite holiday in the house. My parents still let us dress up and go trick or treating, and we still carved pumpkins. But that was the extent of it.
Today, now that I’m married and I have my own family, we still don’t really decorate for Halloween. Rather, I decorate for fall and keep that decor up until it’s time to decorate for Christmas. I might occasionally put out a carved pumpkin with a candle and we still hand out candy, but that’s it. So, because you probably won’t be seeing any Halloween crafts or projects from me, I bring you 24 Spooktacular Halloween Mantels and Vignettes! I will live vicariously through these fabulously decorated spaces!
*Please pin directly from the source and give these bloggers the credit they deserve!*
Happy hump day! I hope you’re all having a fabulous week so far!
I was SO excited when Hometalk contacted me and asked me to curate a Fall Banner Clipboard! There are SO many amazing festive banners and garlands for fall, and I put together 17 of my favorites. I love banners because they are a super easy decoration but can add so much to a room! (I made a gold-dipped fall leaf banner this year in case you missed it!)
Okay, I have to tell you about Hometalk, my new favorite home decor and DIY obsession resource. I’m a Pinterest freak, but on top of that, I’m now a huge Hometalk fan! I’m really new to the website, but I can tell you there is NO shortage of home decor, DIY, garden, organization, and many more ideas! I might have gotten lost for a few hours in all the amazing posts last weekend. I couldn’t help it! What’s neat about Hometalk is you can like, share, and “clip” your favorite projects to your own clipboards, which is what I did to make my fall banner board! It’s a great way to find inspiration for your own DIY decor. You can also ask a question and get advice from others who may have had some more experience in DIYing! This is such a fabulous resource, and you may or may not get addicted, like me. Just sayin’! 🙂
You can click HERE to come visit my board and see all the amazing fall banners that I’ve clipped. I guarantee you will find some great inspiration for creating your own! And, while you’re on Hometalk, I’d love for you to follow me as well to see my latest projects and clipboards!
Thank you Hometalk for the opportunity to curate a board! I had so much fun doing so!
Are you on Hometalk? I’d love to follow you, too! leave your Hometalk link in the comments!
WOOHOO!! Are you ready for an amazing giveaway?! I’ve teamed up with the following 14 amazing bloggers, and we want to give you $150 to HomeGoods! Ohhhh the endless possibilities of things you could buy! Just read the details below and enter through the Rafflecopter.
This giveaway wouldn’t be possible without the help of some of my favorite blogger friends. I hope you’ll check out their blogs and social media after you enter for a chance to win this fabulous prize!
Before you enter, here are a few important details!
This prize has been sponsored by the hosts of the $150 HomeGoods Gift Card Giveaway. No purchase necessary.
Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm eastern time on October 5, 2014.
Contest is open to residents of the United States and Canada, 18 years and older. (To our friends abroad – we’re sorry you can’t win, but there aren’t HomeGoods where you live!)
One winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter.
Winner must respond within 48 hours of notification send time to claim their prize. If no response is received within that time, a new winner will be randomly selected.
Gift card will be sent via US Mail.
Please be sure to read the complete Terms & Conditions on Rafflecopter.com.
If you have any questions, please email Bre at averagebutinspired@gmail.com.
{Pssssst!!! Today we have an AMAZING giveaway starting!! I’ve teamed up with 14 of my blogger friends to give away $150 to Homegoods!! click here to enter for your chance to win!}
Hey friends! It’s Monday again, woop woop! Hope you all had a fantastic weekend! It’s definitely fall here. Cold weather, lots of wind, and rain! We hunkered down and stayed at home in our sweats and relaxed. My favorite kind of weekend!
Thank you to all who linked up with us last week! There are so many beautiful fall projects that were linked up, and I loved looking at every single one! So much inspiration!
I finally got my fall wreath up, and I love how it turned out! I made it with paper straws, and it was so easy! I also have some super cute free printables for you to print out for your fall decor!
Ready to share what motivates you? Link up a recent post of yours; something that motivates you to create or just be awesome! Our goal is for this link up to focus on craft, DIY, & home posts so please try to remember that when linking up. Please limit it to three links per week and remember to link directly to your post. Do not link stores, giveaways, or other link parties. Also, hop around some of the other posts that have been linked up to share the love and get motivated by what others have been up to, because of course, this is Motivational Monday!
Every week, each hostess will feature their favorite post from the previous week. In order to be featured, please make sure you follow your hosts on at least one form of social media. By linking up, you agree to let each host share your photo and link back to your site. Link party goes live Monday and ends at 5:00pm PST on Friday.
Don’t forget to grab a Motivational Monday button on my sidebar to put on your own blog to help spread the love, OR text link back! —–>
This week I chose Shelly from The Domestic Heart’s How to Decorate for Fall on a Budget! She gives some seriously amazing tips, and they are ALL frugal ideas that will either cost a few bucks, or nothing at all! She made a cute pumpkin from just book pages and a toilet paper roll! Now THAT’s my kind of budget decorating. You really have to check out her ideas, and pin it while you’re at it because you’ll want this as a reference for later! Great job, Shelly!
Don’t forget to grab a button from the sidebar if you were featured! —–>
Let’s get this party started! Please link up your craft, DIY, or home projects here and link back to this party or display our pretty button somewhere on your blog. Spread the love too, and share this party on your choice of social media!
Have a great week friends, and don’t forget to come back and enter the $150 Homegoods Giveaway!!
*This post contains affiliate links. To read my full disclosure policy, click here*
Good morning! I feel like the last person in Blogland to actually get a fall wreath made for my front door. Usually these sorts of things are done BEFORE the season is actually here, but I kind of failed on that one. And fall is definitely here, in all its glory. Just this last weekend it was sunny and 85 degrees; a few days later, it was 57 degrees and raining. Even I have to admit, seeing lots of leaves on the ground and all the pretty colors has me a little excited. I start thinking of all the holidays coming up, boots, scarves, flannel blankets, fireplaces, soup; ohhhh I could go on and on! I’m ready, so bring it on! But, I digress. Back to my fall wreath!
You didn’t actually think I’d make a wreath for fall and NOT use gold in it, did you? You’re going to be real sick of gold soon, if that’s even possible!
So, I saw a paper straw wreath on Pinterest not too long ago, and thought it looked SO neat. I wanted to make one too, so I got on Amazon and looked for straws. I came across these amazing birch tree straws and I just had to have them for my wreath! They were only $7 for a box of 144; a great deal.
The wreath itself isn’t hard, just a little time consuming. I managed to finish it in one day while my daughter took her naps.
I started out by using a couple of different sized bowls to trace circles on my cardboard. You can make it any size you want, depending on how big you want your wreath. I used an Xacto knife to cut it out. And it doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s going to be covered anyway!
Before you start gluing straws, spray paint your leaves gold so they can dry while you glue.
Then, start taking straws one-by-one and gluing them to the cardboard ring all the way to the inner edge, leaving a little bit of space in between each straw so you can glue more later. It took 37 straws to do the whole ring.
Take 37 more straws and cut about an inch off of each one. Now, you could get really crazy and measure each one, but I’m not that crazy nor do I have the time. So, I just laid straws out flat and used a ruler and a pen to mark a few across so I had an idea of where an inch was, and then just cut the tops off in bunches. It really doesn’t have to be perfect, no one is going to come measure each straw to make sure they are all the same. And if they do, they might just have a slight OCD problem and you probably shouldn’t let them in your house. 🙂
Now, hot glue the shorter straws to the cardboard between the full length straws all the way around. Don’t worry about the glue stringys, they’ll be covered up by the leaves!
The last part is the most tedious. I forgot to count how many straws it took, but I assume 37ish more. You can also leave your wreath as is if you want it less full, but I wanted more of the straws to show so I cut straws in half and glued them in-between each straw like in the picture. Again, don’t measure, just eyeball where half is and cut!
Some didn’t fit well so I just flattened one end, and put glue on either side to stick in between straws. This will NOT look pretty with glue all over, but I promise you won’t see it by the end once you glue the leaves on top. Go all the way around, making sure the short straws are glued between the other straws well (they won’t be on the cardboard, so you want to make sure they stay!).
After they are all glued and if you haven’t burned your fingers off yet, it’s time to glue the gold leaves on. I glued the first layer on and overlapped them a bit, making sure to put them high enough that they cover any dried glue from the straws.
I did the same with the second layer, overlapping each leaf and making sure to glue them in a little bit from the center to hide the edges of the straws.
I used a teal wired ribbon that I tied into a bow, and glued on the back of the cardboard.
Woohoo! A pretty and unique fall wreath to (finally) dress my front door with! Because it’s pretty dry here where I live, I’m able to hang it outside. Our porch is also covered so it doesn’t get wet. If yours does, you can always put it on an inside wall over a mantel to liven up your fall decor!
I really like how the gold leaves pop against the straws, and the contrast of the teal ribbon.
Good morning, friends! Happy fall! I love a good and simple printable as decor when it comes to seasons and holidays. They are an easy thing to change out every few months as needed, which makes decorating a little bit easier. Or, if I get tired of them in a week because I’m indecisive, I can find something else.
Today I have 2 cute free printables for your fall decor! My sister has an Etsy shop and sells her printables, and I asked her to make some for me. So, I am also sharing them with you, too!
The first one is a simple chalkboard “Harvest Love” print. It can go with any color and decor, which makes it versatile!
You can print it here (click on the image):
The other printable is a cute “fall in love with fall” print with teal. You can print it here (click image):
I hope these can add a little something to your fall decor and liven up your home! If you’d like to see more of my sister Sarah’s Etsy shop “Printables of Love,”, you can visit her here and check it out!
*Don’t forget, in order to be featured, you need to follow your hosts in some way!!*
Happy 2nd day of fall! It was mid 80’s here yesterday, but it’s supposed to cool down this week. Right on cue! Did you all have a fun weekend?
Thank you EVERYONE who linked up with us last week! There were SO many great projects, I love looking through them all! We have some super talented people linking up!
Last week I had some fun making some adorable basket pumpkins for fall. They turned out so cute! I also FINALLY finished our command center, and it’s quite girly! (And gold!) 🙂
Ready to share what motivates you? Link up a recent post of yours; something that motivates you to create or just be awesome! Our goal is for this link up to focus on craft, DIY, & home posts so please try to remember that when linking up. Please limit it to three links per week and remember to link directly to your post. Do not link stores, giveaways, or other link parties. Also, hop around some of the other posts that have been linked up to share the love and get motivated by what others have been up to, because of course, this is Motivational Monday!
Every week, each hostess will feature their favorite post from the previous week. In order to be featured, please make sure you follow your hosts on at least one form of social media.
By linking up, you agree to let each host share your photo and link back to your site. Link party goes live Monday and ends at 5:00pm PST on Friday.
Don’t forget to grab a Motivational Monday button on my sidebar to put on your own blog to help spread the love, OR text link back! —–>
My feature this week is this absolutely GORGEOUS little table that got a lovely makeover by Bre from Brepurposed!! Bre always has the most amazing makeovers, and does such beautiful work with furniture. I love the coral and white contrast with the wavy legs and body!
Don’t forget to grab a button from the sidebar if you were featured! —–>
Let’s get this party started! Please link up your craft, DIY or home projects here and link back to this party or display our pretty button somewhere on your blog. Spread the love too, and share this party on your choice of social media!
It’s Friday!! {happy dance!} It feels like I’ve been waiting forever to share my finished girly command center with you all!! I’ve been frantically trying to get it done the past week. You know when you have a project your working on but it just keeps taking forever, or little things will come up that you have to change over and over? That’s been this command center. But boy, I am beyond excited to have it done so we can start using it! Now, for a beautiful before and after (If you read my Tour Through Blogland, you might remember the “before” picture):
How glamorous is the after?! Ahh, gold, how I love thee. But, the before is seriously pathetic, right? I mean, you guys, my humongo calendar was TAPED on the wall. Quite obviously we were in desperate need of SOME sort of organization. And, our mail always looked like this:
I’d have little “neat” piles on the counter or table of mail that we’d need to file or send or something. Well, not anymore! I got to work figuring out what to do on that sad little wall. I’ve been kind of obsessed with chalkboard lately (and gold, obviously!) so I went with the traditional black chalk and painted a few coats of that on the wall. Now, for the organizational part!
I had bought an old window at a yard sale a few years ago, and it was hanging as is in our guestroom. I was putting things away in there one day recently when I happened to look at it. Hello, light bulb! It’d fit perfectly on our wall behind the backdoor, and I knew just what to do with it. Here’s what it looked like before:
First things first; sanding this bad boy down and cleaning it up. It still had shards of glass around the 2 windowless edges that I had to carefully chisel out. The other 2 pieces of glass were a mess. Aaaaand the sanding. It. took. forever. This window is seriously OLD, and still had plaster or something all over the front of it that was impossible to sand off.
The wood was splitting terribly. Finally, after at least 2 hours of sanding and my arm ready to fall off, I decided it was time to borrow an electric sander. I’m thinking it also might be time to invest in one! I finally got it all sanded down and ready to paint.
I was going to paint the window frame white, but thought some color would be more fun. And since I will probably be the primary user of this command center, I wanted a girly one! I went with Folk Art Chalk Paint in Vintage Mustard. I kind of love this paint, it’s the third project I’ve used it in recently! I gave it a good sanding once again to distress it after it was all dried.
Now time to add the fun organizational pieces. I’m weird when it comes to my calendars. I like being able to look months ahead and schedule things early. So, I didn’t want a dry erase one. I opted for just a boring paper one that I can plan ahead on. I also knew I would need a menu board. I’ve been telling myself I’ll menu plan for months, and still haven’t. I’m hoping that having a place to write out our meals will help? We shall see! With one of the glass panes, I wanted to turn it into a “list” board for groceries and other things. I glued scrapbook paper to the back of the window to make it look pretty. Lastly, we needed somewhere to sort all that ridiculous mail that piles up, so we came up with little mail sorters. But, wait until you hear how we made them!
All we used was a shoe box! I cut it in half, and then David measured and cut across the corners. I added some pretty paper, washi tape, and a label. I just hot glued the bottoms and sides inside the window frame. SO easy! And, free. Woot woot, that’s what I’m talking about!
Here’s a close-up of the command center details:
Does anyone else have a list devoted to just Costco? It’s totally necessary.
I glued on little painted chipboard letters for my menu board, and we also used gold hooks for the calendar so I can easily change it out each year.
And, one of my favorite parts; my pen holders. Do you recognize where they are from?
Yep, you’re right, they are the letter holders in Scrabble! I bought a bunch and used them in our wedding a few years ago. I happened across them the other day and totally thought they’d be perfect to hold pens and chalk. I spray painted them gold. Of course! And the price? Free again.
I got this cute little sign from Michael’s on clearance for $2.50. I thought it was so perfect for this spot, since I’m a complete procrastinator.
I’m so incredibly happy with how this all turned out. And, David actually likes the gold too! I’m all about functional. Because this is behind our backdoor though, we unfortunately couldn’t put any hooks for baskets or other hanging items. However, I envision as our family grows possibly adding more to the lower portion for the kiddos. And I can totally see Jade sitting on the floor loving all the pictures she can draw with chalk on the wall!
Ok, how about one more look at the before and after? Ah, I’m in love! I actually stop and smile every time I walk by. What makes me the most happy is the price tag. I had almost everything on hand with the exception of the paper, calendar, and sign. Cheap = happy mamma!
I hope you have a fabulous weekend, friends!
Do you have a command center in your home? What elements are important to have in yours?
Happy hump day! Today I’ve got something SO delicious and yummy you’ll want to run to the store right now to get the ingredients!!
First, just boil the water and add in the pumpkin. Once that’s all dissolved, add in the sugar and dissolve that, too. Add in the spices and vanilla, and you’re done!
To use, I put about a tablespoon or two in my coffee with some half-n-half. Seriously YUM! Add a little whipped cream and you’ve got yourself a much cheaper and tastier pumpkin spice coffee, if I do say so myself!
It’s so yummy, you probably could even use half the water and it’d be thick enough to spread on some toast or a bagel. Ahh, I think I need to try that, too!
![DSC_0008[4]](http://www.dwellinginhappiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/DSC_00084.jpg)
![Nevermore Decor To Adore 014-003[3]](http://www.dwellinginhappiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Nevermore-Decor-To-Adore-014-0033.jpg)
