Pinterest Worthy Halloween DIYs

I've never been a big halloween person.  I have always liked the holiday and have great memories growing up trick or treating with all of my neighborhood friends, but celebrating this holiday as an adult never seem to be a priority for me.  Well, that is until this year.  

My office floor at work just so happens to be filled with a large number of halloween enthusiasts.  For the past few years one side of the floor has participated in a Halloween office decorating contest that grown into quite the elaborate competition with each passing year.  This year, my side of the office was invited to participate in the floor decor competition.  Naturally we all jumped at the opportunity to participate.  The one hiccup on my team was that our boss was going to be on vacation the week we were scheduled to decorate, but graciously offered up his office to decorate for the competition.  I think that's the last time he will ever trust us with the keys to his office for an event like this.  We ended up creating the most fabulous and elaborate, roach infested (400 fake roaches to be exact) doctors office complete with a dead body on his desk and fake blood splattered practically everywhere.  As if that wasn't enough, we also created a dessert buffet for the judges including spider web cupcakes and candy corn rice crispy treats, which I am sharing today in this post.  

In addition to the office decorating competition, the floor also decided that it would be fun to have a pumpkin decorating/carving competition as well.  My team and I were in it to win it and immediately turned to Pinterest for a few pumpkin ideas.  We ended up settling on a movie theater pumpkin scene (pictured above) that was inspired by this picture, courtesy of Brit + Co.  

In the end, my team came in second place for the office decorating competition and first place in the pumpkin carving contest.  Truth be known, we ran unopposed in the pumpkin competition, but I was still really proud of the masterpiece we created.  Most of all, I think I surprised myself at how into Halloween I got during this competition.  We had a great time working together and are already plotting and planning for next year's floor competition.  

For today's post, I couldn't resist sharing two easy Halloween dessert ideas that I am loving this year as well as the cutest idea for a Halloween hostess gift.  I hope you all have a wonderful and treat filled Halloween!

Indian Corn Rice Crispy Treats

• See this post from pintsizedtreasures.com for the complete how-to guide (plus video) on how to make these absolutely delicious treats. 

Spider Web Cupcakes

1. Bake and frost 24 chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting
2. Using a pre-made piping bag of white decorating icing (like this one)
3. Pipe a bulls-eye onto the top of each cupcake
4. Then, starting at the center dot, pipe lines around the cupcake (pictured above)
5. Take a wet toothpick and drag it through each straight line to help blend the lines and create a web effect
6. Top each with a plastic toy spider ring 

**Note-  Each cupcake must be piped one at a time and toothpicked before moving on to decorating the next cupcake.  The decorating icing dries quick, so if you wait too long to drag the toothpick through, it will crack and you won't achieve a fluid looking web.

Wine Bottle Witch Costume

• Mini Witch Hats by Meri Meri Party
• Black Raffia
• Natural Raffia Ribbon
• Paper Bat Tags
• 6-8inch Tree Branches/Sticks for Mini Witches Brooms
• Red Wine (I suggest Trinchero Napa Valley BRV Cabernet Sauvignon)

To Make the Mini Witches Brooms

1. Collect sticks from outside that are roughly 6-8 inches in length
2. Wrap raffia ribbon around your 4 fingers 20 times.  
3. Carefully removed the coiled ribbon from your fingers and tie them off at the top using a piece of 6 inch raffia ribbon
4. With the excess raffia from tying off the raffia coil, secure the coil to the end of a stick
5. Cut another piece of raffia ribbon (8-12inches) and wrap that piece along the top of the attached coiled ribbon and stick to tightly secure (optional- use a hot glue gun for this step).
6. Trim the exposed coil ends to achieve the clean broom look
7. Use a piece of black raffia ribbon to secure the broom to the neck of a wine bottle, like my latest obsession pictured in this post Trinchero Napa Valley BRV Cabernet Sauvignon (literally to die for, so delicious!  A quintessential Fall wine for sure!). 
8. Top wine bottle with a mini witches hat from Meri Meri Party. 

A Healthy Recipe for Homemade Granola

My husband has always been my best food customer when it comes to leftovers from a blog post, which I have certainly appreciated considering how much food it takes to create one food blog post there would be so much food wasted if it wasn't for him.  Recently my husband has been on a granola kick courtesy of this recent recipe.  I love that he is into having granola in mornings now, but of course his recent interest in granola has sparked an interest for me as well in learning how to create a healthy and affordable version. 

After a bit of recipe testing I have landed on what I believe to be a really delicious and nutritious homemade granola that honestly couldn't be easier to make!  This is a dump, mix, bake recipe (my personal favorite!) and I promise you wont be disappointed with the results.  Here is how to make this healthy and oh so delicious breakfast cereal:

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups Rolled Oats
• 1/2c Coconut Oil (melted)
• 1/3c Agave 
• 2 Tbs Light Muscavado Sugar
• 1/2c Raw Sliced Almonds
• 1/2c Dried Cherries
• 1/2c Raw Sunflower Seeds
• 2 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
• 3 Tbs Flax Seeds (toasted or raw)
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Kosher Salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit and place rack on the bottom third level of the oven
2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl using clean hands (my preference) or a spatula to mix ingredients until combined.  
3. Spread contents onto rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper
4. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes
5. Remove from oven and stir granola around
6. Place back into the oven for an additional 10-15minutes until just golden brown
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool. *Note- Granola will still appear damp when first out of the oven.  As it cools it will harden.  
8. Once cool, store granola in an air tight container.  **Granola will keep for 2-3weeks

How to Hang a Lighting Fixture

I go through peaks and valleys when it comes to home improvement projects.  Typically my husband and I budget for one major home project a year, last year we added a new butlers pantry (see this post) and this year we built a wall upstairs to create a defined second bedroom (see below).  

In between big projects I try to focus on little updates that I can do myself, like painting or hanging window treatments, to keep the home improvement momentum going while saving money on outsourcing these simple projects to professionals.  Over the past few months I had finally hit my limit with 3 lighting fixtures in my house that we had inherited from the previous owner.  The closet light in our bedroom and the sconce on our staircase were both bathroom light fixtures that had been repurposed for spaces other than the bathroom, and the fixture over the front door to our house was actually a garage light that emitted a florescent purple/white color when illuminated.  

I started small with this DIY lighting project by tackling the bedroom light first.  After watching endless youtube videos (like this one) and how to articles (here and here), I successfully hung this semi-flushmount lighting fixture from Pottery Barn in our bedroom.  The satisfaction of hanging the light myself was beyond words and of course instantly gave me an itch to want to replace the rest of my unsightly fixtures as soon as possible.  I went on to tackle replacing our stairway wall sconce with this Restoration Hardware fixture and finished out my lighting project by replacing our entryway light with this piece from Lowes Home Improvement.  

I decided to document my final lighting installation and share it with you all today for a few reasons:

• I've learned throughout this process that replacing a lighting fixture follows a basic formula.  Once you know/understand the formula it's fairly quick and simple to tackle this project yourself.
• You can save some serious money doing this yourself as opposed to having to call an electrician to do this simple task for you.
• It's really empowering knowing how to do something like this.  I know it can appear intimidating at first glance, but after teaching myself how to do this I am really proud and amazed at what I am capable of accomplishing.  

What you will need... 

• Screwdriver (philips and/or flathead depending on the fixture)
• Wire Strippers (wire cutters or a utility knife work just fine)
• Needle Nose Pliers (helpful for twisting wires together)

Instructions 

1. Start by turning off electricity to the light socket by flipping the appropriate switch in your electrical box.  Electricians would refer to this as "turning the breaker off at the fuse panel."
2. See this guide for how to remove an existing lighting fixture
3. Remove the new fixture from the box and make sure to read the installation instructions carefully (as there may be slight variations in the process, but overall it's the same formula)
4. With the old lighting fixture removed you will notice that there are 3 wires in the lighting fixture socket - A Black Wire, A White Wire and a Copper Wire.  Make sure that these wires remain accessible once you install the new metal lighting mount (provided in the new lighting fixture box)
5. To attach the new fixture, connect the following:
   1. Twist the ends of the fixture black wire and the socket black wire together and then secure with an electrical wire cap.
   2. Twist the ends of the fixture white wire and the socket white wire together and then secure with an electrical wire cap.
   3. For the copper wire, sometimes both the socket and fixture have copper wires to connect together, but in the event that only the fixture has a copper wire, secure it around the flathead bolt located towards the mid-center of the metal lighting mount. 
6. Once the wires have been secured, screw the bolts into the lighting fixture, connecting them to the metal mount (make sure to tighten the bolts so that the fixture feels secure).
7. Once the fixture is secured, install/attach any remaining assembly components of the fixture (including the light bulbs).
8. Flip the power to the fixture in your electrical box back on and then confirm that the fixture is working by flipping on the designated lighting switch.  

Breakfast Parfait Bites

As you all may recall from this previous post, I recently had the privilege of being part of a select group to receive a preview of the latest product launch from 34 Degrees - Vanilla and Chocolate Crisps!  Boy did I have fun creating all sorts of delicious dessert bites using both the vanilla and chocolate crisps.  However, after taking time to think about it I realized that the pairing options didn't have to be limited to just dessert.  Why not use these crisps to make a delicious and healthy breakfast treat?!? This recipe for Greek Yogurt Parfait Bites is super easy to make, healthy and delicious.  Definitely a crowd pleaser and an absolute must try.  See below for recipe details. 

Ingredients

• 34 Degrees Vanilla Crisps
• Greek Yogurt (I prefer plain, but vanilla works too)
• Honey Almond Flax Granola (or similar)
• Fresh Blueberries
• Good Quality Honey

Instructions

1. Arrange 34 Degrees Vanilla Crisps on a serving platter
2. Spoon about a tablespoon of greek yogurt onto each crisp
3. Top each dollop of yogurt with about a teaspoon of granola
4. Place 3-4 Fresh Blueberries (Blackberries and Raspberries work well too!)
5. Finish each parfait bite with a light drizzle of gourmet honey
6. Serve and enjoy!

Fall Entertaining Essentials

I am back in the mountains this weekend to celebrate my husband's birthday and the fall season is definitely in full swing here.  The leaves on the trees are beginning to change colors creating the most gorgeous fall landscape and there is a crisp chill/snap in the air.  In any event, this atmosphere has totally gotten me in the mood for some fresh fall entertaining!  As I begin to shape my fall entertaining repertoire, I wanted to share my initial picks for favorite entertaining essentials this season.  A great mix of classic and fresh, these items will have you ready for entertaining this season! 

Napa Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon

With notes of ripe blackberry, black currant, herbs, cocoa and a velvety finish, Napa Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon makes for the perfect wine to enjoy during the Fall season.  This wine pairs beautifully with an array of delicious cheeses (see this post) and it's full body profile makes it an ideal pick for cozying up to a fire during these cooler months.  A definite crowd pleaser amongst my friends and family, you will love sipping this wine during the Autumn season.  

Figs

Did you know that figs have two in-season periods each year?  The first in June, known as the "Breba" season, only lasts a few weeks.  The second season, known as the "New Wood" season runs from August through October, so we are currently in the midst of peak fig season!  The most common type of fig is the Black Mission Fig, followed by the Brown Turkey and the Green Kadota.  I love figs because they are rich in taste, accompany a cheeseboard beautifully and compliment my Fall wine pick (see above) perfectly.  For more information on figs (storing, preparing, etc...) check out this page from Whole Foods.  

Leopard Cocktail Napkins

This is the craziest thing because I would say that my taste tends to be on the classic side with a predominantly solid color palette.  However, recently I have had a hankering to add a little leopard to my life.  Whether it be these fab smoking slippers from J.Crew or these gorgeous Caspari cocktail napkins, leopard is my neutral this season.   It adds an instant touch of fun and I am not kidding when I say that you will be shocked at how well it pairs up with a variety of colors and patterns (yes, even red tartan!).  For an instant touch of chic this season, I highly recommend incorporating a little leopard print into your entertaining repertoire.   

Olivewood Cheeseboard

A new season definitely calls for a fresh cheeseboard!  I have always loved the olivewood aesthetic when it came to finding casual and slightly rustic serveware.  Recently while perusing the aisles of Sur La Table, I came across this Italian Olivewood Slice Serving Board and instantly fell in love ( yes, love for a cheeseboard!).  The thick weight and earthy color tones make this board the perfect addition to any fall party and great for serving up a flight of tasty cheeses or charcuterie in style.  This olivewood slice board is a serving piece that will instantly freshen up your entertaining repertoire with a unique rustic flair!