Autumn is Here!

The mornings have been progressively cooler the last week. This morning it was 37 degrees! When walking out to my car in the afternoons, the sun has not been scorching my skin; instead a cool breeze has been there to caress it. One day it was cool enough to produce a few goosebumps.

To celebrate the arrival of fall, I made taco soup last week. This week I bought another spaghetti squash, roasted it almost to perfection, and enjoyed it with some turkey meatballs. Technically the turkey meat has nothing to do with the season and everything to do with my attempt to eat healthier (it is very lean), however why not have a little fun with it, right? Okay, moving on. I have several pumpkin recipes I want to try - three cans of pumpkin puree are awaiting me in the pantry. My problem is deciding which ones to try first! Pumpkin waffles...pumpkin trifles...pumpkin snickerdoodles...the list goes on and on and on. Something else I want to try again: roasting pumpkin (or spaghetti squash) seeds. I did this a few weeks ago and loved them fresh out of the oven. Later, however, I quickly realized that I had salted them entirely too much. It is very hard for me to eat anything that is too salty. Ugh. So, yes, roasting seeds will happen again in the near future. Unfortunately, the squash from the other night barely provided any seeds at all. I just did not see any reason to go through the trouble of roasting so few. Oh! I also made some leaf and acorn shaped sugar cookies iced with colored royal icing (first time I have ever made and used royal icing - interesting stuff!). The acorns were my favorites. Here is a picture:

My front door has also received some attention. Based on inspiration from blogland, I made a "wreath" from an embroidery hoop (14" diameter bought at Hobby Lobby with a 40% coupon), some burlap material (1/2 a yard, also purchased from Hobby Lobby), black spray paint (already on hand from a previous project) and a stencil made using my Silhouette machine (learn from my mistake and do not assume that vinyl sticks to everything...it does not stick to burlap and so I wasted materials when making my stencil). Using some of the leftover burlap material, which I spray painted black, I made some rosettes to add detail to the finished product. Here is a picture:

This evening I put the finishing touches on my humble and virtually nonexistent entryway. The turkey came from Hobby Lobby one or two years ago, though I think I saw some similar ones there recently. The platter (behind the pitcher and basin) and the stems (in the pitcher) also came from Hobby Lobby...at least three years ago, I believe. The little pumpkin beside the basin came in a package of several from Wal-Mart several years ago. I was actually surprised to find something so cute there...no offense intended, but a lot of the floral type stuff I find at Wal-Mart looks pretty...cheap. So, I usually get that kind of stuff when it is on sale at HL. Anyway, here is another picture:

A few other things around the house...the top of a little bookshelf. It has a beaded garland, a couple candle holders (currently holding the flickering LED tea lights - actually look pretty real), a couple pumpkins, some word art spelling "harvest", and a turkey all from Hobby Lobby collected over the years. In fact, the turkey is one of several my mom shared with me...they are so old I cannot remember when they were purchased, but the neat thing is that you cannot tell. They have held up well over the years being packed and unpacked and packed again. I also added a few wooden acorns (you guessed it...from HL) and some colored leaves to my tabletop candlescape. Finally, you may (or may not) remember the garland I made for my parents' fireplace mantel last Thanksgiving. I confiscated it, lol, and hung it in my house this year. Basically, I used my Silhouette to cut out a lot of 2" scalloped circles which I folded in half and glued together. I closed each circle around a small brown ribbon to create the garland. This was another idea I found on a blog somewhere. Here are some more pictures (goody!):

The pictures were in the opposite order that what I described, but I am too busy lazy to go back and rearrange things.

To top off things, my Scentsy business has been going well. I thank God for opening this door and I pray it continues to be successful. I am currently using the September warmer of the month, Maize, in my living room as it has a very "fall-ish" look to it. My favorite fall scents are Pumpkin Marshmallow, Sentimental Cider and Autumn Stroll (which happens to be the October scent of the month). Please contact me if you are interested in seeing what Scentsy is all about. Aside from being a safer way to create a pleasing aroma in your space, it is also a great way to earn some extra income. I would love to have you on my team!

I hope you have enjoyed seeing what I have been up to this fall! Happy Autumn - God bless you!