pumpkin patch 3-D picture frame

happy 1st day of fall everybody!

it's the season for all things pumpkin.
pumpkin bread, pumpkin lattes, 

pumpkin waffles, pumpkin pancakes, 

pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cake,

pumpkin kadoodles (whatever that is),

and of course,

pumpkin pumpkin...

just google search it and you will have a gazillion pumpkin recipes that you will never ever complete if that's what you wanna do.

so in choosing a pumpkin treat to do,

i stayed away from food this time and 

made a pumpkin patch picture frame instead:

it totally came out not looking like 

what i had envisioned at all, 

which is a good thing cuz my vision for it was a little clouded.

thus the reason for the lack of supplies in the following pic,

as i, as usual, winged it:

i got these wooden balls at home goods for the simple fact that i found them utterly cute.

my daughter says i am a weirdo and 

i must agree. lol

i think they are vase fillers but i am changing them to pumpkins.

by painting them as so:

of course you can use wooden beads that you can get at any craft store if you don't get these.

one usually paints wooden beads by sticking a skewer in the hole while painting but these balls had no hole so i just held them instead and washed my hands afterward.

no worries about the spots where your fingers are though, as that can easily be fixed later.

anyway, while the beads/balls dry,

grab some green paper clips or floral wire and do this:

put those aside and hot glue your pumpkins in random order or whatever order you like on the wooden frame then finish painting those bald spots and allow to dry.

then add your paper clip "vines" with more hot glue.

now you need leaves.

i hunted for leaves in my overcrowded craft room and found a tiny leaf hole puncher but i didn't like that idea too much as i wanted something "sturdier".

and that's when i went to my kitchen and found these that i got at jo ann's:

aren't they lovely?

in my craft life, i choose to use sprinkles for anything, not just for baked goods.

i figure i have sprinkles in my cabinet that are 99,000 years old and they still look brand new so these should hold up.

just grab some hot glue and place randomly on the vines.

next, add some personality with a black paint marker.

now all you need is a pic to complete your project.

or a cute fall printable like the one here that i used.

and there ya have it.

so there is my official contribution to the internet pumpkin world.

now if you have a picture of a pumpkin eating a pumpkin pie, 

then you will be ahead of all things pumpkin...

:>O!

mini caramel apple fudge sticks

well, i guess it's fall season.

crisp leaves,

cooler temps,

pumpkins galore.

but...

not around here in florida.

we have 

green leaves,

hot temps,

and summer heat galore.

so yesterday was summer.

today is summer,

and tomorrow will be summer.

summer summer summer.

ugh. ugh. ugh.

well, this fall girl will have to make up for the heat with a caramel apple treat.

but not just any caramel apple, 

let's make it with fudge ok?

and let's make 'em mini to boot:

yes you are seeing that right.

that's fudge.

and not an apple at all.

it just takes a few ingredients 

and freezing and decorating.

here we go:

the only reason i used caramel condensed milk is cuz my regular kind were expired...

since january 2016...uhoh!

so i had this caramel one that was still good 

and i said a caramel apple prayer that it would work.

let's look:

so like it says above, all you have to do is nuke the milk and chips together at 30 second intervals and stir til melted.

and yes-put that small bowl of 

80% melted caramel fudge on the side.

you'll see why in a sec, so don't mind the 

chips in there that still need melting.

so for the rest of the fudge, 

melt that completely and,

i was quite tickled when i colored the caramel red, 

thinking i was gonna get a funky color 

but yahoo it worked!

so next,form into mini apples,

or mini blob thingies pretending to be apples like i did:

freeze these blob apples for about an hour til nice and firm.

now it's time to mess with the 

small bowl of caramel and melt til smooth,

take your blob, 

dip it as shown, and place to dry.

you'll have to move quickly when you grab your apple 

cuz the warmth of your hands can make indentations.

no worries if it does, 

just cover with more caramel as shown below 

and add the details.

and there ya go.

mini caramel apples for summer fall season

in miniature size so you don't have to worry about waste.

(cuz goodness eating a real caramel apple fills you up 

doesn't it? or at least it does for me and i never finish it unless i share)

but no sharing will be needed here, 

well, at least for one apple eating.

unless of course they give you a quarter...?

(lol just wanted to show you the size of these)

happy apple season everyone! :)

diy pumpkin & candy apple candles

what happens when you have crafter's disease?

you know, when you can't live a day without making or thinking of creating,

so that everything looks like a potential craft of some sort.

well, something like this goes on:

yowza.

will my brain ever stop?

cuz one day i got gas for my car at 7-11 which led me to get a slurpee.

then i remembered i had to get a few things at the store.

that darn target. 

i wasn't planning on getting these.

but for $3 each and a slurpee in my hand,

i got the idea to make some fall crafts. 

so here's how it went:

that stem came from my backyard.

good ole nature.

now put that aside and grab that 

slurpee/icee lid and do this:

and with some more E-6000 glue, 

comes the next step.

ok so first i gotta tell you this.

when i craft, it's all or nothing. 

 i don't measure or draw the plans out ahead of time.

it's all in my head and i just wing it.

which certainly does not help you as i have no clue what size that felt is that i used, 

except it was large enough to cover the lid with just a little extra.

i got that jute cord at target's dollar spot too.

i should call it the $50 spot for me.

so now it's coming together to look like a pumpkin.

just a couple more details.

i used the sharpie before the paint just for a guideline. 

i could've left it as is but it looked too plain to me.

the ribbon hangs just below the rim edge as you can see 

in order to cover up the line between the candle lid and the candle bottom.

so now let's craft the apple candle.

i used regular tacky glue for this.

no reason why i used tissue paper vs. felt for this one,

other than i just wanted to see if tissue paper would work.

sorry i don't have a pic of the tissue paper gluing but when i glued the tissue paper,

i folded it in half and just glued one part of it, and then i folded the other half over the glued part so the tissue wouldn't look all wrinkly from the glue.

here's a little more detail on how the paper works,

which i like much better than the pumpkin.

when you cover the candle bottom, 

you'll have to glue the ends to the bottom instead of tucking it in for the top part.

god i hope that makes sense! :>O

ok so let's "dip" that apple in caramel and sprinkles.

the sprinkles are just sharpie paint marker lines.

and i got that ribbon from who knows where-sorry it was in my craft stash!

anyway, 

we are now done with our fall food craft.

so let's take a peek inside shall we?

it's a pumpkin smelling pumpkin scented candle.

and here's an apple smelling 

apple scented candle.

just be careful to keep the lid away from the candle while burning (duh!)

(i saw in the next few days that another target i went to actually had a caramel apple candle-so try to get that one instead of the one i chose.

shoot for me but good for you!) 

make a bunch for your friends.

 but first you'll have to grab some slurpee/icee drinks.

oh the woes of crafting life!

;)

baby owl nutter butter cookies on a straw branch

whoooo's ready for fall?

with 90+ degrees we're still having, 

i've been ready for fall since last fall. hehe

whooo wants to know what i made today?

whooo is getting tired of whooooo?

lol

why it looks like someone likes the whooo stuff.

and what is that they are sitting on anyway?

oh there are those branch straws again.

i used them when i made the spring tree cake pops. 

you can get them here or here, 

but i got them at home goods a while ago.

you can also use any straw you want though. 

ok so for the owls themselves, 

looks like mini nutter butter cookies,

various sprinkles and melted candy melt is all you need.

and here we go.

candy blue?

ugh. 

well if you can't candy blue them, 

just candy glue them. lol

i placed another candy wing under the glued one to help hold it in place til the wings dried.

i decided to stick them on a branch 

cuz they're so darn small, 

i wanted to give them as a treat and 

one cookie just didn't cut it.

so if you want to stick them on a branch too,

go with this next step.

hey did i just hear the big bad wolf?!

allow to dry and there you have your cutie patootie baby owl cookies for a fun fall treat.

so whooo whoooo wants one?

uh oh.

looks like these baby owls missed their english class.

maybe that's why they came together for a convention?

:>P