DIY Fall Decor

I have several Fall decorations to share with all of you. I love Fall! The air gets crisp, the leaves change, Fall colors are the best, and I get to put out my Fall decorations! I have a lot and here are some that I have made.

Fall Wreath

This is one of my favorite wreaths I have made. I love Fall colors and pretty much everything else that has to do with Fall so it makes sense. Here is how I made it: I wrapped a foam wreath with yarn, cut out leaf shapes from felt and hot glue gunned them on, glue gunned filberts (hazelnuts) on, and to finish glued the twine on to hang the wreath. It was so easy and fun to make!

Here it is on my front door.

Seriously love how this wreath turned out! Fall colors are the best!

Here is a close up of the leaves and filberts.

 

Quilted Table Decoration

I got the pattern and kit for this next project from my Grandma Carol. She has so many different sewing projects that lately she has been giving some to me, so thanks Grandma! It's been fun. I really liked making this but it is one of the hardest I've done. It is the quilting. I never realized how difficult it would be to sew a perfectly straight line. It is not easy. Thank goodness I had fabric chalk and a quilting ruler cutter guide thing. I'm not sure what it's called but here is a picture. And by the way, if you want to do sewing, etc. even a little bit having this ruler thing and a rotary cutter. My wonderful Grandma gave me her extras and they made the biggest difference!

These will become your best friends for any sewing project!

Anyways, now I have this awesome Fall decoration for my table. It took me longer than I thought and involved more time using a seam ripper than I wanted, but it ended up great!

The quilted table decor I just finished. The pattern is called "Mini Pumpkins."

A close of up the pumpkins and quilting. Quilting is a lot harder than I anticipated.

Fall Table Runner

Next is the 15 minute table runner that I make for every season and holiday because it is so fast and easy. This Autumn one is probably one of my favorites that I've made. The fabric is awesome and the wood buttons I used added so much to the project.

The Fall table runner I made. I love the little pumpkins fabric!

Here is a close up. The wooden leaf buttons were perfect for it.

Summer Wreath

I figured I better get this up before the summer is officially over in a couple weeks. So here it is! This is my summer wreath. I didn't get to put it up this year because it clashes with the color of my front door but it is still one of my favorites. I wrapped a foam wreath in yarn. I then cut out the flowers and petals out of felt with a stencil and used a hot glue gun to attach them. Then I got some ribbon and glued that on to hang it on the door hanger. That's it! It was fun to make and turned out great! :)

Here it is! Looks pretty great right? :)

I love how the flowers and petals turned out :)

Family Room Canvas Paintings

I needed some pictures to hang in my family/living room but pictures and paintings are pretty pricey. Plus I have some pretty colorful and unique accent pillows and I thought it would be cool to match them to the paintings somehow.

One night I got some canvas covered frames, paint, brushes, and an idea. I took my pillows and made a photocopy of the main designs on them. I cut out the main shapes I wanted and traced those main shapes onto the canvas. I then filled the shapes in and the space around with whatever designs I felt like. I used my little brothers fine paint brushes that he uses for his model planes. I was going to leave it black and white but when I added the color to the main shapes it added so much. They turned out fantastic and they match my pillows exactly. Love them!

The set up in my family room with the accent pillows I based the paintings off of.

Close up of the bottom painting.

Close up of the top right painting.

Close up of the top right painting.

I am so happy with how they turned out!

THE Chocolate Chip Cookie

The perfect chocolate chip cookie! So delicious!!!

Late last night, I won't tell you how late, Greg and I were craving chocolate chip cookies. I have made many different recipes but I have never found one that I absolutely love. I found a recipe on Pinterest I wanted to try but part of the directions were to let the dough chill for 2 hours +. We didn't want to wait 2 hours so I looked on the website and found another one. I tried it out and it was the easiest chocolate chip cookie recipe I have ever made. They turned out perfect! Normally there are problems with them being too soft, too crunchy, spreading too much or not enough, the list goes on and on. But these, on the very first time came out exactly how I like them. The secret is cornstarch. Cornstarch! I never though of using that in a cookie mix but it made the biggest difference. So when you get that craving, try out this recipe. You won't be disappointed!

Fresh from the oven!

Ingredients:

•  3/4 c. (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (I had half a stick of unsalted so I used that and 1 stick of salted; to soften I microwaved it several times for 10 seconds each time. It worked great!)
• 3/4 c. dark brown sugar (I just used light because that's all i had.)
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt (Because I used 1 stick of salted butter, I used just a bit less salt than called for.)
• 1 1/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (That was a bit much for me so I used just 1 c.)

Directions:

1.  Line an ungreased cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. In a large bowl using a hand or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy (I used a regular hand held mixer).
4. Mix in egg and vanilla; scrape down the sides as needed.
5. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt.
6. On low speed, slowly mix in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
7. Stir in chocolate chips. Dough will be thick and sticky.
8. Cover dough and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day (I didn't chill it at all and they turned out amazing).
9. Once chilled, if you can wait long enough for that, the dough will be slightly crumbly, but will come together if you work the dough with your hands as you are rolling individual balls.
10. Drop 1 Tbsp. size balls of dough onto cookie sheet.
11. Press a few more chocolate chips into the dough ball for looks if desired (I used milk chocolate chips for this).
12. Bake for 8-9 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges. DO NOT cook them longer than 10 minutes.
13. Remove and let cool for 3 minutes on the cookie sheet. If the cookies are too puffy, try gently pressing down on them with the back of a spoon. They will slightly deflate as you let them cool. Transfer to cooling rack.
14. Cookies stay soft and fresh for up to 10 days in an airtight container.

*Make about 2-2.5 dozen cookies, basically a lot. Do not drop dough onto warm cookie sheets. Allow cookie sheets to cool completely between batches. Baked cookies freeze well, up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well, up to 3 months as well.*

(http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2012/08/06/the-chocolate-chip-cookie/)

Bear Lake Family Reunion

*You don't have to read this entire post because it is very long and I am mainly doing it for me and my family that wants to know what's going on. Just look at the pictures if you want. :)

In the middle of July we had a huge family reunion on my dad's side up at Bear Lake. My Grandma got us all condos and just about everyone made it up. My dad has 3 sisters and 3 brothers and almost all of them, their spouses, and their kids were up there. There are 20 cousins counting me and my siblings which I didn't realize until recently how many of us there are. It was a huge party all week! The last time we all went up together as a family to Bear Lake was when I was around 10 years old and it was so much fun to be there with everyone again.

We left Monday afternoon and of course there was Utah road construction. It's always awful and Logan Canyon was especially bad. We went 20 most of the way and of course there are people that like going slower anyways but we eventually made it! And oddly enough, we were a couple cars behind my parents and sister the entire way. Monday evening was the big family dinner. I was assigned to bring up Scott's Soccer Practice Bars, which I have to put the recipe on the blog, and I decided to bring up my baked caramel corn because it's always a hit. Funny enough my aunt was actually hoping I would bring it up. We had a great dinner and then walked down to the beach and skipped rocks. It was an incredible sunset and we took a family picture.

Greg and I at the beach.

Sunset over the lake. So pretty!

Looking back at our condos. The sky was amazing!

My parents, siblings, and nieces.

Nice action shot of Greg skipping rocks.

We got all settled in that night and got ready for the next day at the beach!

On Tuesday we got up pretty early. Partly due to the fact that Greg and I slept on the Murphy bed in the main part of the condo so when my nieces woke up they came to cuddle with their auntie. Well we got ready and headed down for a fun day at the beach!

It was a bit stormy but still pretty nice. The water was cold enough that it took me at least 15 minutes to get all the way in the water but once I did, I didn't want to get out. We played frisbee in the lake with my family, skipped rocks and just hung out with each other. Greg even tried paddle boarding for the first time!

 Bear Lake is one of my favorite places partly because it's one of the only lakes that I feel comfortable swimming in. I'm not a fan of deep murky water that I can't see in. If something touches my foot I would rather see what it was that touched me. My imagination makes things much worse than they are. Bear Lake is beautiful and blue and clear that I don't mind it.

After swimming awhile we had a big family lunch, I took a siesta partly due to the fact that I couldn't keep my eyes open and also I was freezing cold and couldn't get warm. After that it was too stormy to go back to the beach so we just hung out with family. We had a great day!

That evening Greg and I took a walk down to the beach. It was so quiet and peaceful. There's something about sitting by the water at night when no one's around. It's just serene and so nice to have time to just be together. It was a great first full day.

Dad and the nieces on the balcony. :)

My nieces playing in the sand.

Abby building a sandcastle.

It's kind of hard to see but that is Greg (sitting on the left) and my Uncle Matt (standing on the right) out paddle boarding.

Wednesday morning Greg, Uncle Chris, and my grandma's husband Mike got up early and went golfing. When the rest of us woke up my nieces came and cuddled in bed with me. Not long after my brothers Benjamin and Christopher also came and got on the bed too. Funny that my now-teenage brothers still like doing that. :) It was a special day because Benjamin turned 16 years old. To celebrate he ate some of a giant piece of jerky, funny kid. Evi and Abby, my nieces, were very amazed that jerky of that size even existed.

Bubba and the biggest piece of jerky in the world. Happy Birthday Benjamin!

Eventually we got ready and went to the pool for a couple hours. We always have a fun time when we all get together. After lunch we went down to the beach and I got to try paddle boarding for this first time! I loved it! I really want to buy one now. It is a work out but so much fun at the same time. When we weren't paddle boarding we were skipping rocks and playing frisbee. It was a beautiful sunny day!

Look at that beautiful sky! Couldn't be happier!

A great place to be with my best friend. :)

After lunch we rented seadoos for a couple hours. We all got to take turns. Greg and I went out with my dad and we all got a turn driving it. I made sure not to sit on the back, advice given from my brothers, and I'm glad because it is bumpy. It was so much fun! When it was my turn to drive, I was very hesitant at first but then I got more confident and I really liked it. It was fun being in charge and all the power! Those things are powerful. It's addicting. I was nervous about hitting a fish though so when Greg yelled that I did, he was joking of course, I freaked out and stopped. But oddly enough just after that I really did see a huge brown fish right at the surface and I did almost hit it.

We had to cut the fun short though when it started getting really stormy and choppy. And then the lightning started. And the rain just dumped on us. Good thing we were all in our swimming suits because we got soaked! It was great. We were going to come back around 5 or 6 to finish our last hour of seadooing but it didn't clear up in time so our last hour was going to be the next morning. Once it finally did clear up we played a bunch of lawn games and then I helped my mom and sister get my brothers cake ready.

My sister made the top cake with the car and I made the bottom one.

It's the Bear Lake Monster eating Teddy Bears floating on their floating mattresses. This is classic 5th grade Amanda.

Another angle of the Teddy Bear massacre.

It started pouring again so we had to have the ENTIRE family in our little condo. It was tight. And loud. And not much personal space. And fun.

This was the only way we could get everyone in the picture and it still couldn't get me and Greg.

Here we are! One plus of being crowded, I got to sit close to this hot man. ;)

The rest of the evening we hung out with family and stood on the balcony watching the bats fly around. Side note, we named one of them Hank Aaron and would say "Hanks up to bat!" Get it? Up to BAT? Ha ha we are so funny! Anyways, after that Greg and I took another walk down to the beach. We were smart this time and brought a mat to sit on. It was just great again to have along time and be in that kind of peaceful setting. Loved it.

For our last day Greg, Chris, and Mike went golfing again, those that wanted a turn on the seadoos went down to the beach and then the rest of us finally made it down too. It was the perfect day. Perfect weather and so much fun. A lot of family was already going home at that point but it was still fun. Greg, Christopher, and me all went and swam in the pool forever. Then my cousin Nathaniel came down and they my other cousin Sydney came too. Apparently they were supposed to come get us to go back up to the condos but that didn't happen. Also my cousin Davis was supposed to also but he never even showed up. At least the other two did. We had fun.

We decided to go up to the condos and it was good because everyone was getting ready to go to the Minnetonka Caves and we barely got ready in time. I'm glad we all went to the caves because I haven't been since I was maybe 10 or so. It was the last time the whole family went up to Bear Lake. It was fun to see what I actually remembered. We had to wait for maybe an hour for our turn and while waiting we saw a momma deer and her twin babies and lots of chipmunks. There were some surprisingly fat ones. Abby loved them and called them "chickamonks." :) Super cute!

Look how fat he is!

Me, Greg and Abby. Abby and Greg are best buddies.

Look at those cheesers!

We got to the entrance and it was surprising how cold it was just standing at the opening of the cave. Greg held Abby almost the entire time and when he needed a break I held her. She didn't want anyone else. :)

Me and Greg!

From left to right: Greg, me, Abby, Evi, and Benjamin.

It was a lot of fun, cold, amazing, lots of walking, and one section that has an obscene amount of stairs. 

Pretty awesome rock formations.

The Seven Dwarves!

That red light you see in the crack is another cave called the Devil's office.

That line you can see across the middle is the fault line. Yeah. Crazy. Luckily there hasn't been an earthquake!

Huge cavern with amazing rock formations.

 At the end, at the very bottom of the cave they turn the lights completely off. It is really unnerving because you can't see your hand in front of your face. Abby and Evi didn't like the total darkness either. Greg was holding Abby and she started getting nervous so we had her and Evi keep their eyes closed until the lights came back on.

Love this man!

By the time we were done with the caves it was dinnertime. We all met at the Bear Lake Pizza Company. We got the Old Ephraim which is a 28" pizza. They even ring a bell when they bring it out. It is that exciting and impressive. And we ate the whole thing between us and my aunt and uncles family. It was great pizza. I was a champ and ate 3 pieces. Only Greg, Christopher and Benjamin did that too.

My cousins showing the actual size of this monster.

Again, it was a beast.

Look at that slice! It didn't even fit on the plate!

Auntie and Abby excited for pizza!

Evi was so excited. When she saw the pizza she said "I want that! I need that pizza!" :)

These three pictures were taken all in a row. Evi is such a character!

Look at that funny face! She loves having her picture taken.

It was daunting but we triumphed!

Greg and I were leaving that evening so after dinner we went back to the condo, finished packing up our things and stopped to get famous Bear Lake shakes! Delicious and amazing!!! We got going and surprisingly traffic and construction were not that bad like it was coming up.

Classic Raspberry and Mint Oreo shakes!

It was good to be home but I definitely miss going to the beach everyday. We had an absolute blast up at Bear Lake but it is always nice to be home and sleep in my own bed.