Perfect Pumpkin Presentation - say that three times,LOL!!

I know Thanksgiving is long gone, at least for us Canadians. So are all the goodies I created. But I really wanted to share my favorite way for giving them away this year. I saved the best for last. I brainstormed for awhile and came up with what I thought was a pretty good way of presenting them to my friends.

Simple Dimple:




Cut paper into strips. Punch a hole at one end of the strips. Lay the strips around in a circle with the holes matching up in the center.
Cut out two of the largest die from the flower set "Blossom". Punch a hole in the center and lay it on top of your strips of paper. (I choose to re-enforce my flowers. I glued my paper to some leftover cardboard cereal boxes, and ran the through my die cutting machine.)
Next I cut two of the largest dies from the flower set "Nested Flower". These I also re-enforced these the same way as my previous ones,and used them as my stems. Poke a hole in the center of these as well.
Here is where I tied all my pieces together. I tied a knot in my string (in this case I used Raffia) and started to thread through all my holes, ending up at the top of my pumpkin. By this stage you should have gone through all your strips of paper, the Blossom flower and lastly your Nested flower. Tie a knot and cut off the end.

Now I turned upside down this entire piece, placed my cookie bag upside down as well. I took the second "Blossom" flower that I had cut and took one strip at a time and stapled it to the flower.

You can turn your pumpkin right side up now. You have one thing left to do, the stem. However, there is a little bit of trick to this. It is probably one of those things where it is harder to explain than it is to do.LOL! (Bending the "Nested Flower" a little before tying it on will help a lot.) Glue the "Nested Flower" together and place an elastic band around the top to hold it in the shape you want. Once the glue is dried you can take that band off. Now all you have to do is add your tags, leaves and pretties!! I had so much fun making mine. It was fairly easy to do, and they were really pretty when I was done.

Here is a close-up of the top.



I could not resist making some of them in one of my favorite styles: Shabby Chic! I had purchased some wallpaper by Debbie Travis, (that stuff is gorgeous!!!) and this project was just begging me to use it here. So, I did! I was filled with glee,hehe! SEE:



I also made Pumpkin Biscotti, and I put these in the white pumpkin.

I made two other pumpkins that were more traditional:



Here's all three together:



If you think you like this idea enough to try for yourself, you might want to look here for some more imspiration. Jeanette Lynton did a "BANG-UP" job!! I find it kinda funny though.--I truly, honestly had mine done before I knew of her posting.

I thought that was kind of neat! There are just so many fun ways of doing this I guess. If you do make one yourself, leave me a link in the comments. I'd love to see your take on it.

Everything Grows Better with LOVE

A-while back I saw an idea that was shared on this blog, she bought a canvas (a much larger one than I have though) for her daughter to paint, and then paint over as many times as her little heart wants. Thought this was an awesome idea, and saved it for future use.
I took that same concept and spent some awesome one-on-one time with each of my kids this afternoon. We painted on an 8x10 size, and I am hoping that over the long cold winter months here, that we could do more of the same. It was so relaxing and fun. I am sure I could think of better words to describe this afternoon, but sometimes words aren't enough.
My heart is so full of gratitude to the Lord this Holiday season, for all His goodness to me. One of the things I am thankful for the most, is Family.
The kids were having a wonderful time painting. For myself, it was a wonderful expression of my heart, and I know when I look up on my wall I will remember with my heart, all that the Lord has done for me.






Giving Thanks...




P.S. Thanks so much Nona for sharing your wonderful idea, it blessed our day today!!

Presentation- Everything Pumpkin

With Thanksgiving right around the cornere, I decided to do some baking this past week.



Don't they look yummy? I made some to give away, and a small few to keep for ourselves. Apparently I didn't leave enough though for us to keep, everyone around here asked (begged) me to make some more. LOL Since I don't do much baking, and these were so well loved, I made another double batch.

You just can't help but eat some of them right away. You take your "baker's rights" (lol) and taste test a few, making sure they are good enough to share with the family.

Then you share it with the family like this:



Follow the link here for the ingredients and full instructions. They don't get any easier than this.

Now that you know they look and taste good, it's time to share it.

The holiday naturally make me think of a lot of things and people that I am thankful for. Giving a few of these treats away to someone is just a little way to say "Thanks", "Thinking Of YOu", "I Love YOu".
Now, for the ones I give away, presentation is just as important for me as the contents.
Chances are if you are reading this post, that you are a crafter and already have similar, or exact supplies on hand. If you do not, don't let that stop you here. Wrap up them goodies anyway you can, get them out there and bless someone.

Here's one way of presenting some taste treats.

Peel off the label and wash your can(s). (Note: stay away from cans that had contents with a strong odor, for example - fish. You just might ruin your cookies). I used the cans that held the Pumpkin that I had just used to make my cookies. To keep the top edge of my can smooth, and free from injury, I used a Pampered Chef can opener.

For my can, I tried to keep it fast and simple, making it easy for me to mass produce. I took the dimensions from the label I had peeled off, cut my paper to match those dimensions and attatched it to the can. Some finishing touches----and----VOILA!! Nothing fancy, but hopefully "purdy".

Place the coookies inside the tin, close the lid and deliver the goodies with a smile and maybe even a {{{hug}}}.




We decorated cans last year too, and I am thinking that these would be great little containers for Christmas goodies too!! If you get around to creating your own decorated tin cans, leave me a link in the comments as I would love to see your creations too.

There was a time when I used to stay up late, clean my room and re-organize it. I loved doing that! It was so much fun. My mom would always found a 'new' room in the morning. lol. That's what I am doing tonight, re-organizing my Blog. So stay tunned, thing are going to change around here a little.