Thanksgiving Mix

Anyone who knows me well knows I keep everything. I'm a pack rat. My wheels are constantly turning, trying to come up with ways to [re]use things I already have, which forces me to keep everything. In this case...spaghetti jars. I also kept a little poem that was given to me by some amazing visiting teachers I had for about a year after my son was born. Combine the two and you'll get a cute little jar of Thanksgiving goodness.

Start by thoroughly cleaning the jars and removing the label.

I didn't use any measuring for the next step. I simply just cut a fat strip of paper and decoupaged it on. I love projects where I can use my scrap paper. I just found a bunch of scraps with fall-ish print.

Wrap the paper around the jar and glue it end over end. Make sure to pull it tight enough so it won't come loose and slip down. You could even apply Mod Podge to the jar since it dries clear and the paper would stick to the jar. I was just using the "quick, throw it together, not think about what you're doing" method. I use that method a lot.

Trace the lid on matching paper cut it out and decoupage it on the lid.

Fill the jar with Thanksgiving Mix ingredients and screw lid on.

Add embellishments.
Here's a picture of what goes into the jars and what it means.

The bugels were bugels brand, found in the chip isle at the grocery store.
pretzels were the braided pretzels
candy corn was the regular brachs candy corn
fruit was the sugar fruit slices that come in the shape of orange slices
peanuts were regular peanuts.

Super easy and cute too! Makes for something fun to give to a neighbor a child's teacher or a friend you visit teach. We gave one jar to our pediatrician.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Just sharin' some pumpkin love. Seriously these are so good!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies
1 can canned pumpkin
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. vegetable oil
1 egg
2 C. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp milk
1 Tbsp. vanilla
2 C. chocolate chips

Combine pumpkin, sugar, oil & egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon & salt. Dissolve baking soda in milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Add vanilla & chocolate chips.
Drop by spoonfull on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 about 10 min. or until light brown and firm. My cookies were a heaping spoonfull size of batter and they were perfectly cooked at 13 minutes.

Tie-dye

Hubby transformed into a hippy this evening for Halloween.  Went to Jo-Ann's, found a shirt for $3, bought some Rit dye, came home and went to work.

I wrapped the shirt in rubber bands all over. No method to it just wrap and make lumps. Although the lumps where I wrapped more rubber bands on top of each other turned out better (What can I say it was my first shirt). I boiled water in an old pot. I would recommend a stock pot. Something deep. The water and dye actually were overflowing when I put the shirt in. I was FREAKING out at this point! Aren't you so glad I'm telling you all of my mistakes. Don't let that happen to you.

Look at the mess I made. All the dye on the outside of the pan was nothing compared to the mess I made. You can see the residue of it overflowing. 

I used an old spoon too. Anything that touches the dye will stay that color. After the water is boiling, add the dye. The more dye you add the darker the shirt will be. Boil for about an hour stirring constantly.

After the hour, drain the water and rinse the shirt until the shirt rings out clear water. Remove rubber bands and voila... see the circles on the bottom right? That's the look to go for. The trick is to wrap the rubber band around a lump of shirt and then do another one right above, maybe even 2 or 3 more. It gives it a layered look if you know what I mean.

Sexy I know. Sorry ladies, he's taken!

The bottle of Rit dye has directions on it if you have any questions. Happy tie-dying!

Banana Bread

I think everybody knows what to do with bananas when they're too ripe to eat...

make banana bread. Duh!

Don't throw them out. You can get two yummy regular loaves or 4 mini loaves out of 3 bananas, depending on the recipe. Here's a recipe I found on another blog (can't remember which blog) that has a few ingredients you probably already have on hand. I love that in a recipe. When it's simple and you already have all the ingredients Here it is:

1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
3 ripe mashed bananas

Mix butter, sugar and eggs set aside. Mix dry ingredients. Combine two mixes and add mashed bananas. Poor batter into 4 mini loaf pans that have been greased. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top. Bake @ 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Tip: load on the sugar and cinnamon. When it bakes it creates a sweet crunchy crust on the top of the bread that is so delicious!