Days of Chalk and Chocolate - All Post

Homemade Cranberry Sauce, It's Not Too Late!

Share It:
I know this post may come to you just under the wire for the big meal but seriously, this recipe is so easy that you don't even need to plan. And it is delicious, so much yummier than the canned stuff which I love, by the way.

 I can't take credit for the recipe. I got it from Ocean Spray.  

1. Heat 1 cup of water with 1 cup of sugar in a medium sauce pan until boiling. 

2. Add one bag of cranberries (I think it's approximately 2 cups).

3. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Pour hot mixture into a small holed sieve or food mill if you have one. If you have a food mill, mill the mixture until smooth and most of the cranberries have been pressed.  If you don't have one, use a sieve over a bowl.


Use a spoon to press the pulp against the sieve. Every so often use the spoon to scrape the underside of the sieve.



5. Give it a stir. Isn't the color gorgeous?  It literally glistens like rubies. So pretty and festive.
 

6/ Discard the solids left in the sieve and pour the warm sauce into jars or molds. Chill until firm.

It is so yummy!  I have one in the fridge chillin' in a mold so if it comes out nicely, I'll post that pic!  


Enjoy your meal!
Jenny

Happy Thanksgiving!! Thank you!

Share It:
I wish you all a wonderful, blessed, and happy Thanksgiving day!  I would like to take a minute to say thank you to all of you, the readers who support my little blog!  I started this blog as a hobby two years ago and I am so grateful to still be writing and creating and I owe so much of that to you!  Thank you!

And let's be thankful, too, for our family, friends, health, homes, and Hallmark Christmas movies! Yay!

Enjoy your turkey!

Cheers and love!
Jenny

Last Minute Thanksgiving Table Decor

Share It:
This is a post and run type of post because I have to bake 3 dozen corn muffins for Molly's Thanksgiving feast at school (hi, Procrastination!  So nice to see you! Now scram!). But I wanted to show you what I whipped up at the last minute to jazz up our Thanksgiving table!  Nothing like waiting till the last minute, right?  So if you are behind on your Thanksgiving prep and still want to make the table look special, you can pull off these simple ideas in no time flat!



I used a blue and gold theme mostly because I had the blue burlap on hand. If you have any stash fabric that is remotely Thanksgiving-y get it out and use it up!  I made the runner by simply cutting a long length of burlap and fraying the sides. 




The place cards are squares of burlap onto which I hot glued a turkey cut from an old book. Then I used a marker to write the names. I used a gold marker first and it didn't show up as well so I went over it in black. That's why it looks funky. : )

The chargers were silver and I spray painted them gold. I also used a glitter spray paint to jazz up some little birds I had in my hoard. They were originally from the dollar store.


For a centerpiece, I used some leaves cut out of book pages and hot glued to a branch from my yard.  The little white pumpkins are from my fall/Halloween decorating. I just gathered them up from around the house and put them together in a cluster. Sometimes several of the same items grouped together gives a big impact!


A loop of ribbon hot glued to make a ring serves as a quick but fancy napkin ring. I had this glittery ribbon on hand but any pretty, thick ribbon will do!

So there you have some quick and easy ideas to add something new to your Thanksgiving table!  If you need more ideas, you can visit my Thanksgiving table round up!

Cheers!
Jenny

Fingerprint Popcorn Bowl Class Gift

Share It:
Recently, I was given the task to come up with a super class gift or craft idea for Ellie's preschool. The school has a silent auction that is the main fundraiser and each class creates a gift that is then auctioned off. It had to be quick and easy because 3 year olds are making it and it needed to be cute enough that someone would bid on it. 

So here it is!  



How I Decorate For Holidays on an almost $0 Budget

Share It:
If you have been a reader of this blog, you know I get tremendous pleasure from holiday decorating. I spend crazy amounts of time pinning ideas, reading other bloggers' holiday posts, reading specialty magazines, etc. to get new and fresh ideas for decorating for holidays. I am also on a budget. A small budget. Like $0. I once asked Jim what my budget is per month for fun stuff and he said "Your budget?  Buy nothing." HA HA HA!  It's almost like he has never met me before.

All kidding aside, it is tempting to toss out all the decor from the previous year and start fresh. Gasp...how can I possibly have another red and white Christmas when everyone is using GOLD?  Heavens!  As tempting as it is, I simply cannot do it. I have had to find ways to reuse, re purpose, and stretch my holiday decorating dollars (or dollar if Jim had his way).




Goodwill Nightstand Furniture Redo

Share It:
Jim and I purchased our bedroom set many moons ago. We bought it during a tent sale and there was only 1 nightstand. Not one to love a matchy-matchy look, I decided it was fine and I would come across something someday soon. Fast forward 9 years. No nightstand. Well, until....



Thanksgiving Turkey Bunting Decoration and Stuffing Recipe

Share It:
I have a confession. I don't like the traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  I adore the idea of Thanksgiving, of being grateful for all of our blessings (and we have so many!) and I love the idea of family coming together. But I seriously could never eat Thanksgiving dinner ever again and never miss it. One of my favorite Thanksgivings was when my mom made veal parmigiana instead. See ya, cranberries! No wait, cranberries, why don't you go wait in the kitchen and you can jump in some bliss bars, ok? 

And not only can you have my turkey, stuffing, and potatoes, you can have my fall decorations. I'm over them by Thanksgiving.  Our mums are fading, the pumpkins are getting in my way, and we have leaves everywhere outside, I don't need them strewn about my dining room table.

That being said, I am Jenny and I find myself looking to freshen things up. And a turkey bunting is the perfect way!