Wordless Wednesday: Three Under Par

Inside Out Caramel Apples

If you have been a follower of my blog for long, you know that I have issues with apples...buying too many and then not eating them quickly enough:) I bought a couple of apples and some caramel bits with plans to make some fun caramel apples with the boys after my friend Angie posted pics of her yummy caramel apples. Somehow life got in the way, the apples never got made, and they started to get a little too soft to eat on their own. So I decided to try and salvage them {like I always do} with a fun new recipe I call

Inside Out Carmel Apples!

I started with 3 apples, some caramel bits, and some peanuts.

I chopped the peanuts in my mini food processor to make them more like the peanuts that you would roll a caramel apple in.

I cute the top off the apple with a sharp knife.

Then scooped out the core and the seeds. I found that the pointed end of a spoon worked really well to get all the core out of the apple.

Then I loaded the hollowed out apples with layers of caramel bits and chopped peanuts.

I topped each apple off with a dollop of butter....because butter makes everything better:) Then I baked them in the oven on 350 for about 30-40 minutes {just until the apple is nice and soft}.

This was a really fun way to eat a caramel apple...and it would be even more awesome with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Fall Garden Flag

I found this really great fall plaid material on sale at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago. At the time, I wasn't sure what I would do with it, but I loved it too much to not pick up a few yards of it. After I finished my fall wreaths, I knew the next step in 'fallin' up' my front yard was to make a new garden flag....and this was just the right fabric for it.

{For more detailed instructions on how to make a garden flag click HERE.}

I started with a rectangular piece of material. I use an old flag as guide, then I cut the length twice as long and folded the material over so that both rights sides of the fabric are out. I sewed the around the top and two sides just to finish it off a little so the material didn't fray.

I used some coordinating ribbon and my hot glue gun to add a design to the front.

I applied the glue to the ribbon and the placed the ribbon on the material in the shape of a W.

I ended up doing a double width of ribbon because my ribbon was kind of thin, but if you use thick ribbon, one piece would be big enough.

After I had my decorations on, I used this great product to turn my fabric garden flag into vinyl. This is the first time I have use this Heat n Bond Vinyl, and I have to say it is amazing! I simply cut two pieces {one for the front and one for the back} and then ironed on the vinyl following the instructions on the package.

After I ironed on the vinyl, I sewed the top edge over about 2 inches to make the hanger for the flag.

Now my yard is ready for fall!

SUPER Smart Scrapbook Paper Wreath

This is one of the cutest wreaths ideas I have seen in a long time...and I love how inexpensive it is to make!

Go check out Coley's blog and see how she made this SUPER smart and SUPER cute Halloween wreath!

Just Because Railroad Tracks are Fun

Wordless Wednesday: Cruisin' the Coast

Two Tulle Fall Wreaths

Summer is officially over, which means it is time to take down my fun summer plaid wreaths and put up something with a little bit of fall flair!

I decided to try using tulle on my fall wreaths...I was looking  for something different and I found some great fall colored tulles to use. Plus this stuff is only a little over $1 a yard!
I started with 2 wreath forms and 4 yards of 4 different colors of tulle: orange, green, yellow, and brown.

 I unrolled my tulle and cut each color into four long strips of material. Then I gather all four colors into a really long bundle. I was going to do a step by step tutorial, but I didn't think pictures of me tangled up in 16 yards of tulle would be very helpful:)

 For the first wreath, I cut the bundle of tulle into 12 inch pieces. I wrapped the cut pieces around the wreath form and then tied them into a knot on the back of the wreath.

 For the second wreath, I kept the bundle of the four colors of tulle long and simply wrapped them around the wreath form. To add a little interest to this wreath, I added a little bit of orange felt that I then covered with some of the brown tulle that I tied in knots facing the front of the wreath.

 For now, I have both wreaths on my front doors. Kind of different since I usually make two of the exact same wreaths for my front doors. I think they are fun and quirky, though my OCD may get the best of me and I may have to move them to other doors and put something else on the two front doors!

 For now, I am just excited that my front porch is finally looking more like fall and less like summer....even if the weather isn't cooperating!

Cake Decorating with Kids

I spent a couple hours yesterday doing this:

The boys' school fall festival is today and this year we decided to attempt the cake decorating contest. So while they were at school, I got busy making two three cakes. When they got home, and after the cakes had been cooled, they got busy with the icing and decorations.

I didn't get any action shots of Henry making his cake, mainly because I had a billion things going on at once, but here is the finished shot of his Campfire Cake. It is a big version of THESE cupcakes that we made for his birthday last year.

Grant made a Candy Corn cake. After the cake was cooled, I cut it out in the shape of a candy corn and put a crumb coat of icing on it for him. Then we colored some orange and yellow icing and he got busy making a SUPER cute candy corn.

I was pretty impressed with Grant's decorating skills. He did an awesome job smoothing out the icing and was very particular about getting it just right.

I think it turned out pretty cute for a 5 year old decorating it...I don't think I could have done much better!

How to Clean Pewter

I love the idea of homemade cleaners and scrubs and polishes....but for the most part I go the easy route and just buy those things at the store. I know that homemade cleaners can be cheaper, safer, and just as effective, but sometimes convenience wins out!

Last week, I really needed to clean a pewter chip and dip bowl that I bought a few years ago. It had gotten kind of tarnished and dirty, and I had no time to find the correct cleaner at the store. So I googled "how to clean pewter" and found a recipe for a homemade cleaner.

This is the piece I started with:

And these are the three ingredients I need for the homemade pewter cleaner.

1 cup of vinegar

1/2 cup of flour

1 tsp of salt

You mix the ingredients together and make a kind of paste. {I ended up adding a little more flour to make the consistency a little thicker.} Then you smear the paste all over the piece you are trying to clean. I scrubbed a little bit and then let the cleaner dry on the piece for about 30 minutes. I scrubbed a little more and then rinsed the chip and dip bowl off. I ended up cleaning it twice to make sure that I had gotten it as clean as possible....and I was pretty impressed with how well it worked.  

The cleaner didn't get out all the marks, but it did make the chip and dip bowl a lot shinier and clean! Sorry no after pictures, as soon as the bowl was clean I loaded it up with a ton of fruit and yummy fruit dip.

I think I may try to make a few more homemade cleaners....when I have the time:)

Are there any homemade cleaning products that you love to use?