How To Create a Tablescape

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My boys love to read! That makes me so happy because I love reading and I know it is such an important part of learning and development. Having a 9 year old boy, I have learned that it can be hard to find fun books for his age that he can get enthralled in and that will challenge him (his perspective, his vocabulary, his reading level, etc).

I was excited when I heard about Travels with Gannon & Wyatt. Travels with Gannon & Wyatt is a middle school adventure book series that takes children to exotic locations around the world. Each novel entertains through fun tales of exploration, while promoting an understanding of world geography, cultures and wildlife. I knew my 9 year old would love this! He loves adventure and I knew it would be so neat for him to learn about different places and cultures.

There are three books in the Travels with Gannon & Wyatt series. Botswana, Great Bear Rainforest, and Egypt (to be released in January 2014). The first book is Botswana and my son loved it! When Gannon and Wyatt travel to Botswana for an African safari, they hear that a poacher has shot and wounded a lioness. They set off into the wild in the hopes of saving the mother and her cubs before the poacher finishes the job.

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 This post is sponsored and written as part of a campaign with Michaels, but all opinions are my own.

Remember how I told you I was a part of Michaels dream tree challenge this year? I promised you I would reveal my tree on November 1st. Well, guess what folks? It's November 1st! That came along faster than I anticipated but that seems to happen to me quite often. Well, it has been like Santa's workshop over here and I am excited to share my tree with you.

Michaels sent me a pre-lit tree so the first task was unboxing it, setting it up and making sure the lights all worked. That's my least favorite part about decorating a tree so I had my little elf (actually big) help me. He's always willing to do the dirty work for me.

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My favorite part about Halloween this year was my front porch. All the color made me so happy! I stole the Ikea orange and white polka dot rug idea from cute Jen at Tatertots & Jello, and the wagon full of pumpkins from Miss Sassy herself, Tausha at Sassy Style Redesign. Thanks for the inspiration, ladies! If you don't already follow them on Instagram, you should.

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This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Kleenex but all my opinions are my own. #KleenexAllergy #pmedia http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO

I have a home filled with people suffering with allergies--big and small. My son suffers from asthma and last year we decided to have him allergy tested so we could know exactly which pollens trigger his asthma. Well...the poor guy was allergic to EVERY single weed and grass he was tested for. Man, that's the pits! My husband also suffers from allergies but not as severely as my son, at least not now that he is an adult.

I have learned over the years to put up a good defense against these allergens because I just don't want my poor family suffering more than they have to! I have allergy medicine constantly stocked in my cabinet and I make sure to keep my son away from freshly mowed grass and other weeds when they are really circulating outside. But one of my biggest defenses...Kleenex. The truth of the matter is that you just can't avoid allergens all the time. Especially with kids who love to run and play and be outdoors! I don't want to miss out on fun family memories at such fun times of the year because I am worried about allergies. So I keep my Kleenex close at hand and we don't have to!

I have Kleenex all over my house. Let's be honest. When you feel a sneeze coming on, you need some Kleenex very nearby, otherwise all that junk is ending up in your sleeve or on your hand. Kleenex has such nice patterned boxes that I don't feel bad keeping it around my home and it is so gentle on those little runny noses.

The Kleenex pocket packs are my best friend. I carry them everywhere I go. Seriously. Ok, I will prove it. Look inside my purse.


I didn't just put those in there for your benefit. I actually caught a friend peaking in my purse one time and when I asked her what she was looking for she said, "I just wanted to see just how many Kleenex packages you had in there!" After several kids sneezing, having runny noses, and watery eyes, I just learned it is best to keep these in my purse all the time. They are a real lifesaver. The adorable patterns don't hurt anything either.

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Easiest. Project. Ever. This Halloween burlap table runner doesn't need much of a tutorial. It honestly took me about 10 minutes to make. And it really makes my Halloween table display pop.



I found this printed burlap fabric at Hobby Lobby and bought two yards. I bought 3 yards of pom pom trim from the upholstery section of the sewing department, but I only used about 2.5 yards. The rest I used on my burlap Halloween banner.



Using this easy cutting method from my burlap wedding banner tutorial, I trimmed the short edges to make sure they were straight and even. Then I overlapped the pom pom trim over the short edges and zig-zag stitched them in place. The edges were already frayed a bit so I left them that way. That is seriously it. It doesn't get much easier than that, my friends.

My other fave is this vintage Halloween book page art I made. Just take a piece of dictionary paper or other book page and print a vintage Halloween image in the middle and frame it. This bat image is from The Graphics Fairy (I used it on my Halloween tea towels, too!)  I love fast and easy projects like this! I think you'll be seeing something similar on my Thanksgiving table. . .


You still have time to decorate for Halloween--I put together this Halloween centerpiece using mostly stuff I already had, plus a few super fast projects like these. Happy Halloween!

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This post is sponsored and written as part of a campaign with Michaels, but all opinions are my own.

I was recently asked by Michaels to participate in a dream tree challenge this year. I know, it seems a little crazy to start thinking about Christmas already, but you know it will sneak up on us...it does every year! And if you are going to be inspired to decorate your own tree, I need to give you time to do it!

I went to Michaels today to start getting inspiration for how I want to decorate my tree and boy is this going to be a true challenge! There are so many wonderful items and you could decorate a tree in so many different ways. Michaels already has many aisles of Christmas decor so it was fun to get some ideas.

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More last minute Halloween DIY decor! I saw the cutest burlap Halloween banner in the Pottery Barn catalog recently, but it's no longer available. So what are you going to do? Make it yourself, of course!

I decided to stencil the letters on burlap for an aged look. I used the same method as I showed on my burlap wedding banner with a few additions.

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I know I can't be the only one still looking for fun Halloween ideas, am I right? One of my favorite Halloween resources for years has been Martha Stewart's Halloween issue. I am amazed that her staff is still coming up with such gorgeous and creative ideas. I am especially loving this pumpkin cauldron from the 2013 Halloween issue, and Martha is letting us share the fun tutorial with you!

 Photo by Lucas Allen. Courtesy of Martha Stewart Halloween Special Issue. Copyright ©2013.

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The following is a sponsored post as part of Jo-­Ann Fabric and Craft Stores® Celebrate the Season campaign. All opinions are my own.

Halloween is right around the corner! My kids have already been wearing their costumes around the house in anticipation of all the festivities coming up. I wanted to feel as festive as my kids, so I decided to get going with some new Halloween decor. With a little help from Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft, I set out to create a spooky space in my home.

Have you visited the Halloween section of Jo-Ann yet this season? They have some really fun, festive decor. Here are just a few of the things I picked up.

I love this tablecloth I found. I decided to use it as a runner on my console table to set up my spooky space.

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Most craft bloggers will probably tell you that it's not hard to create a project for a post (because that's the part we love), but for some reason that last step of actually creating the blog post takes a Herculean effort. Take this Halloween "boo" bunting I made as gifts for some friends I visited in Seattle last week. I was so proud of myself for getting 17 of these babies done before October even began, but it's now a week in and I still haven't posted the tutorial (editor's note: it has now taken me three days to finish this post!). Maybe I need to hire an assistant. . .



Anyway, you will be amazed at how quick and easy these little burlap Halloween banners are to create. I have been wanting to print on burlap for ages, but I was afraid it would gum up my printer and my husband would ban burlap from our house. I'm here (and so is my burlap stash) to say it was a success! I ran over 50 pieces of burlap through my printer and didn't have so much as one piece get jammed. I printed on paper right after and it was smooth as silk--no burlap fiber stuck in the ink or anything. Printing on the burlap saved me hours of stenciling like I had planned. Here's a quick tutorial for printing on burlap--you are going to love this!

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It's game night. And this game night is one we Utahns wait for all year. The so-called "Holy War" between the University of Utah and BYU. You might remember my family bleeds red (16 years and probably around $80,000 at the "U" between my husband and me make us true believers). But whatever team you side with in your team's rivalry game, you are going to want to have these amazing football game appetizers at your next game day party. Trust me. Best. Dips. Ever.

This first recipe is a new discovery for me, but a fast favorite in our extended family. I'd even venture to call it a new football game staple (or summer BBQ staple, or New Year's Eve staple--really the must-have dip at any get-together you have planned). It comes from my friend Danielle, so I often refer to it as Danielle's Famous Pickle Dip. But if you don't know Danielle you can just call it Game Day Pickle Dip. Either way it's outrageously delicious. I usually double this recipe for larger crowds.

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Have you started thinking about your Halloween costumes for this year? I always get a little overwhelmed by how much it can cost to buy everyone in my family a costume. Luckily, I can pass them down through my three boys each year. There are also so many great ideas out there for DIY Halloween costumes. We have featured several ideas on our blog in the last few years that you can check out and I also wanted to share a few fun and clever ideas with you.

My brother and sister-in-law are Halloween costume pros! Every year they come up with some really fun idea for costumes and they make them or find pieces to put together themselves.

One year they were Mickey and the broom from Fantasia. They found a few components and then put the rest together themselves and it was so fun and creative!

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With school well under way, my schedule fills up so quickly each night. There are school activities, homework, scouts, church events and more! It can be really hard to get motivated to make dinner with so much else to worry about and it can also be hard to find the time! Mealtime is really important to me and I like to sit down with my family and have some time to talk about our day and spend time together. That means I cannot spend a lot of time cooking dinner on nights that we have to rush off to activities. Enter Pillsbury.

Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits provide a variety of family favorite recipes, ready in under 30 minutes, that are delicious and have a little twist to help keep dinner fun, not boring. I love using these biscuits for all sorts of meals. You can really get creative with them and they save me a lot of time!

This week I made the Easy Grands! Chicken Pot Pie. My family loved it and it was so easy to make. Plus we had leftovers so it saved me another night of cooking!

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I cannot believe we are half-way through September! Fall is right around the corner and I am already getting my holiday crafting on! Michaels has a wonderful selection of craft pumpkins for all sorts of decor ideas as well as Fall craft projects.




I let my kids help me design and carve a pumpkin that we could keep out all month! I love that you can come up with decor ideas that will last for all of Fall. Typically we do real pumpkins and they rot pretty quickly! Michaels also has a fabulous hot tool that can carve these faux pumpkins easily! 

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