Fall Decor

IT'S FALL TIME IN THE MELLE HOUSE!

I finally got around to doing a little "fall" decorating around the house.
Honestly, I don't usually decorate that much for fall, but I've been inspired to this year by all my bloggy friends & seeing all the wonderful decorating jobs you have all done!!
So, here goes.....

This little table is in my living room.

I had some extra space on my counter top so I created a little vignette.
They are all things I already had around the house.
The picture I just printed off the internet.

This cute sign I got at Marshall's for like 6 bucks, it's on my back door.

This is our front door.
Got the wreath from Walmart for 10 bucks.

This shelf is in my Kitchen.

I found this printable off one of the blogs I follow, of course I can't remember which one.....
But, I loved it & just had to print it out!

This is on our Dining room table.
Hubby's mom gave it to me last year.

Since we don't have a fireplace mantel in this house I decided to make the shelves our "mantel".

The left shelf.....

The glitter pumpkin is from The Dollar Tree, which I placed on a candle holder I already had.
The printable is another one I got from one of the blogs I follow, again I forgot which one but Thank-you to who ever's it was.
The jar is from Michael's & I just added the ribbon & little glass acorns, total cost for that project was about 5 bucks.

The middle shelf....
The glass jar I already had & just added the fake little pumpkins & ghords from The Dollar Tree to it.
The sign I got from Family Dollar a while ago.

The right shelf....
The candy jar was my Mamie's & just added the candy corn.
The picture is one I took last year.

This is the corner cabinet in my living room.

My mother had gotten this basket for me last year at one of our local craft fairs.

And this cute little sign & pumpkins are sitting on top of my microwave.

Now I'm dying to decorate my front porch but haven't really had the funds lately to do so.

I won't be around all weekend because I'm leaving for Maine w/my sister & cousins for our annual girls weekend of shopping.
This will be our 6th year going & I can't wait!
The places we go to shop are wonderful!
Lots of unique little shops, not like the same ole places around here in the Berkshires.
I'll definitely be looking for some great new items for the house & it's also for me to get a head start on Christmas shopping for all the kiddos.

Anyway, hope you all have a great holiday weekend!
I'll be back either Mon. night or Tues. to post all about our adventures in the beautiful state of Maine!!



Linking to:
Judy over at DIY by Design
for her Fall into Fall Party





Allison

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Yesterday was such a crappy day out here in the Berkshire's!
All it did was downpour just about all day long.
It's been raining a LOT lately!

Well, I had forgotten to pull something out for dinner & still have a ton of apples, so I decided to make some apple cinnamon pancakes.
Good comfort food on a rainy day!
My kids absolutely love having breakfast for dinner!
I do it usually once a week.

Now mine are nothing special....
I use box mix, I just don't have the time to make them from scratch w/4 rugrats running around,lol.
Here are my ingredients.
Simple.

I just follow the package directions.
add 2 cap fulls of vanilla extract.
add a dash or two of cinnamon(however much you like).
dice up the 2 apples.

add the apples to the mix.

And cook.
We just use butter & syrup.
But you could also use some applesauce on top, I've done that before too & it's also yummy!

Rye Rye devouring his pancakes!

I love adding all sorts of things to my pancakes!
I've made strawberry, rasberry, blueberry, mixed berry ones, straw. banana ones.....
I told my husband before if we ever do someday open up a little diner, I'm in charge of the pancakes!

Do you eat breakfast for dinner in your house?
What kinds of pancakes do you make?

Have a great weekend!


Allison

Braedon's 5th Birthday Party!

Sunday we celebrated Braedon's 5th birthday.
In our house for the 1st,5th,10th,13th & 16th i go all out!
I consider them the BIG birthdays.

Originally we were going to do a beach party theme but we changed it to a camping theme.
It was the perfect theme for him since he loves to go camping.
I researched the computer for a couple weeks before his party looking for ideas on cakes & decorations.

With checking out many different cake ideas I came up w/this one.
The grass is coconut that I colored green w/food coloring.
Braedon had said he wanted a river so I made one.
The rocks are just marshmallows I painted w/brown food coloring.
The tent is made of poptarts which I frosted.
The trees are just these little plastic covers I had on hand covered in frosting.
And obviously you can tell the fire & marshmallow sticks were made out of pretzels & frosting.
I was up till 2 in the morning w/this cake, about 3 1/2 hrs. to make, but it was totally worth it to see the look on his face when he got up in the morning & saw his cake!!

And I have to say I was pretty proud of myself!

Here is the banner I ordered along w/his pinata which was a tent.

The food table!


Here's Rye crying for me to pick him up over my HUGE belly!

After we ate we opened presents.

He was so funny, he did this w/everything he got.
And he whipped through opening them in about 5 minutes he was so excited.

Here he was thanking everyone for all his gifts.

Cake time!

Pinata time!
Look at his face! LOL

Our new fire pit we bought so they could all make smore's.

W/his cousins Alora & Gabriel.

After everyone left he got into his new jammies & played w/his new remote control car.

He was a happy camper that's for sure!
He received lots of new toys, a ton of new clothes & a couple gift cards!

I'm so glad he had a good time!


Allison

Applesauce Time!

Do you like homemade applesauce?

I LOVE it!
It's sooo much better than the jarred stuff!
My oldest loves it too, the other 3 won't eat it.
Lauren & I think they are weird, how can you not like applesauce?
I mean they eat apples, but hate applesauce.
Oh well, more for Lauren & I!

There's nothing complicated or different about mine, just easy & quick!
But sooo good!

First you need lots of apples.
I used a whole bag.
Don't ask me how many I used because I don't remember how many.
Feel free to use as many as you like.
Just remember even though it may look like alot in the pan it's not really because they break down pretty quick.

Here they are all cut up in the pan, filled to the brim.
I used 3 different kinds, Mac's, Golden Delicious & Paula Red's.
Again you can use whatever kind or kinds you like best.

Add a little water to the pan, not alot.
Medium heat, stirring every few minutes.
I add cinnamon as they start cooking, some people add it to it afterwards, but I like the smell of the cinnamon as they are cooking.

Here's what it will look like.
Now take it off the stove & I taste test to make sure I think it has enough cinnamon.
We like ours pretty cinnamony so I added a little more.
Now this is when you can add some sugar if you want.
I normally don't because the apples are sweet enough, but I did add some to this batch because it was a little tart.
Again, it's up to you as to how much.
And here's the finished product!
Omg, it was really good!
Lauren & I ate some w/our dinner Sat. night.

I also went on to All Recipes.com that night & looked up some apple recipes.
I found a bunch of different things to use the apples in!
I found:
Butternut Apple Harvest Soup-I will so be trying this one for Thanksgiving(maybe sooner though ;))!
Apple Brownies-um yeah this one sounds so yummy!
Taffy Apple Salad-I might try this one this weekend for Braedon's birthday party, if I do don't worry I will post the recipe!
Apple Cole Slaw-I love cole slaw so I can't wait to try it!
&
Pumpkin Cake w/Apple Top-This one sounds absolutely delicious!!

What kind of things do you use apples for?

Have to go get the kiddos from school now, hope you all have a great rest of a day!!


Allison