Friday, November 30, 2012

Family Night: Harvest Party!

Technically this was not a Family Night activity at our house - but I think it would make a great Family Night so I am sharing it here! There is so much variety you can do with a Harvest Party! It can be just you and your own children bobbing for apples and doing a sack race, or it could be with close friends and larger scale.

I know I have shared about how much we love being part of Classical Conversations {frequently referred to around here as CC!} and as we entered our third year, God provided an opportunity for me to start a group closer to home. Thus, we are in a new group this year, I am finding my way in a new experience and it has really and truly been blessed of God and such a blessing to us! We have made sweet new friends and have found a beautiful community that God orchestrated.

As I was working on the calendar for the year, I realized we would be gone all of December and wanted to figure out a way to do a party in lieu of a Christmas party. It seemed a natural choice to continue the Harvest party tradition and let that be our big seasonal party! One sweet mom in our group gifted me with taking the planning over and what a blessing to have her show up and set it all up - wow, the gift of beauty in such sweet form.

Here are a few favorite scenes from our fun {and wonderfully chilly!} morning together. Photos are a mix of beautifully edited pix from my sweet and talented friend Jen and mine are {as usual} straight-outta-the-camera:

















 




We are definitely grateful for these dear friends and what a joy filled my heart at having them all in our little place where we do life daily. And, I think it is safe to say as we move into celebrating Christmas that we have enjoyed this Fall to the FULL! So thankful and so blessed.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Pecan Pie


About a year ago, David's aunt sent us a big box of pecans from their pecan farm and included this recipe. She sent me a bag of pecans all chopped and measured and ready to make this and it is soooo yummy! And, she let me know this is an old family recipe :) I've been very slow about using the pecans to make them last longer so it was fun to pull some from the freezer to make these little mini pies for Thanksgiving last week!

Pecan Pie
1 c. granulated sugar
3/4 c. white corn syrup
1 stick butter
3 eggs{beaten}
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. pecans {chopped coarsely}

Blend sugar, syrup and butter together in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Blend in beaten eggs slowly in a steady stream into the syrup mixture. Take care to whisk briskly because the eggs will scramble if you add them too fast. Stir in the pecans with a spoon and pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven immediately. If it does not seem firm in the center, it will be when it cools.

Here are a few photos I took while making this recipe over Thanksgiving ...





 


Serve warm with real whipped cream!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Slow Day











Tuesday, November 27, 2012

DIY Mercury Glass

Thanks to Pinterest, I've been wanting to try this Mercury Glass tutorial for several months! Well, it finally worked out and a friend and I got together and enjoyed this project. It was easy and quick - perfect!



I started with four small glass votive holders and one jar from a thrift store plus the Looking Glass spray. This spray paint is not cheap - the can is small and $8 at Wal-Mart, but we were pleasantly surprised to finish 12 pieces and still have some spray left.

We also learned that a light mist of both the water/vinegar mixture and the spray paint are best. And, I preferred not to dab off the water droplets but to let them dry under the paint.

You can see that I had fun arranging the table that night before dinner and Rachel caught the bug and got into the bin of paper goods and set the table for dinner including a sign for the door that said Happy Thanksgiving. That's my girl!











I guess you can tell that I had fun, huh?! And, just because this all looked so pretty by candlelight - I tried to capture that essence in pictures though photos never really do candlelight justice!




If you've been wanting to try something like this - I would recommend using the tutorial linked above! It worked great and I was very pleased with the results!