Fall Greeting Card That Doubles as a Recipe Card!

I think an apple cobbler is a unique gift idea to give in a pretty (new) ceramic baking dish with the recipe attached. What a fabulous pick-me-up or a thank you gift to a friend, teacher or neighbor! Here is the yummy Apple Cobbler recipe I 'borrowed' from the Land o' Lakes website! (Inside of the card)

And the directions in case any of my readers were in need of a fabulous way to use all their freshly harvested apples!

Have a great day!
Rachel

GO Tampa Bay RAYS!!!!

~We clenched a spot in the Playoffs!!!!~

A friend, on Facebook, suggested that we all

change our profile picture to one of us dressed

in Rays gear. So I decided to go a step further and post to my

blog. I am so gosh darn excited!!!!

Here a few pics of my family at a Rays game last season. My kids hounding the players during practice for a few autographs- guess being cute works, they got their mitts and balls signed!My husband painfully posing for me so I could get a photo of the Trop sign!!! You would think we have never been to a Rays game the way I act sometimes!!My honey and me :)My two older honeys!Matt Garza ... one of our favorite pitchers!

David~ Price-less!!!! Our most favorite pitcher!!!!!!!!!

Carnival Themed Gift Basket

My boys were invited to their best friends birthday party this Saturday. She is having it at the park and they are doing a carnival! Ya'll know I can not resist the opportunity to make a gift basket! And I can not pass up the chance to tie the birthday theme into the gift basket either!!! So I went shopping ...

and I found this giant plastic popcorn bucket, juggling balls, clown nose with glasses, silly string and carousel candy sticks at Dollar Tree and the yummy tub of cotton candy at CVS. The main gift is actually a $25 Target Gift Card (I know my kids love receiving gift cards!). I painted on Kendall's name and made a colorful name tag to match!

How fun are these!?!?!?

Thanks for stopping by!
Rachel

First Halloween Craft of the Season!

I have not been in a very crafty mood in quite some time but recently started a swap to jump start my mojo and it actually worked! I do have thank my very good friend, Audrey, for my crafty pep talk! Love ya girl!

I used my Blackletter Cricut cart for the Gothic looking *BOO* letters. I added a little bit of black Stickles to the letters to give them some dimension. The Drippy Goo punch I used around the border of the frame is by Martha Stewart. I had the black photo frame and white mat. And the Halloween paper is by Jen Yanok for K & Company, I bought on clearance last year in a slab. The lime green paper has flocked spiders, aren't they the cutest!?!?!

Stay tuned, I have more Fall projects planned for the week!
~Rachel

Sunday Dinner : Ziti and Meat Sauce with an Italian Tablescape

Benvenuti nella mia cucina, Welcome to my Kitchen! I have the table set, the candles lit, the San Pelagrino chilled and plenty of ziti for sharing! Grab a seat and enjoy the dinner conversation!

Rachel's Meat Sauce Recipe :

1 lb Ground Sirloin (seasoned with salt and pepper, browned and drained)

2 cans crushed tomatoes (I love Cento brand!)

1 med yellow onion, diced

4 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
2 tbsp Italian Seasoning

1/2 burgundy or red wine

1/2 tsp sugar

salt and pepper

Saute the garlic and onion in olive oil until translucent. Add browned beef and the rest of the ingredients. Taste and add any increased amount of the ingredients you prefer. Simmer on VERY LOW for at least an hour and a half - 2 hours. Cook any pasta you like and serve with a green salad and garlic bread!

I love the candles lit for dinner. They are simple and elegant and they tell your loved ones that they are special!

Don't forget the ice and lime ... they are the perfect partners for the chilled San Peligrino.I am so glad you stopped by for our Rustic Sunday dinner! Grazie per fermare da (Thanks for stopping by)!!! I am linking up with http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/ ... stop on by and check out all the other great table inspirations!!! And with Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch! http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ . Everyone posts the most fabulous table scapes, hurry up and check out the links!

~Rachel

Homemade Autumn Willow Wreaths

I bought two plain, undecorated willow wreaths from my local Dollar Tree a few months back with out even having a simple project planned. I just knew one day I would need them! So fast forward to this week when it dawned on me that I decorated the house in Fall colors already but left my beach wreaths on the double front doors. I decided to make matching wreaths (I am a freak about having two matching wreaths on double doors!) with an Autumnal vibe! I grabbed my vintage floral ribbon in sage green, wound it around the wreath. Then I glued down some of the dried grasses that I had in a display in my foyer. I added some moss and pine cones and lastly, some springs of beaded garland.

I really couldn't be happier with the finished product. It was simple and cheap! What more can you ask for!?!?!

Thanks for stopping by!
Rachel

Pre-Garage Sale at my friends house!

My sons best friend's family recently sold their house and are preparing to start fresh. This undaunting task means that her Mother is purging many of her 'treasures' to make the move more simpler. What that means to *this* Mother is NEW TREASURES! I was actually stopping by their house to pick up the Xbox 360 and 20 games I had purchased for $50 and noticed all her "treasures" laid out on the dinning room table for the garage sale. As you will see, I scored MANY incredible bargains!Before I get started I wanted to invite you to all the parties I am participating in this week! Table Top Tuesday's at http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/Centerpiece Wednesday at http://thestylesisters.blogspot.com/ .Tablescape Thursday's at http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ and Vignette Friday's over at http://niagaranovice.blogspot.com/ I purchased this LARGE Autumn floral arrangement for $2 !!! Yup, two bucks!

Remember the candle base I picked up at Goodwill for $2 last week, I added it to the dinning room vignette with a few artificial artichokes and a pillar.

I also put out my black rattan chargers I got at Kohl's a few weeks ago for $2.50 each and then I added my every day olive toned dishes with the embroidered initial napkins my friend made me a few years ago!

I love the clean lines of the sugar and creamer set ... $1 !!!

Great amber colored glass (sorry, my dinning room is so dark!) candle lantern! A buck!

This fabulous, swivel, cherry wood desk clock for ................. yeah, a dollar!

Party Light bowl and wreath with the three-wick candle for A DOLLAR and the matching smaller candle holder and wreath for A DOLLAR!

I snatched up the fall floral bundle for JUST A BUCK! I added it to the cream colored glass vase, that I had for a while, and moss. The smaller mum arrangement in the copper colored urn was only $1, as well!

This wrought iron wall decoration was the most expensive (not including the Xbox 360!) at FIVE DOLLARS! I actually have an arched alcove that this will fit perfectly into. For now, it sits in my foyer where I left it when I unloaded the family truckster!

Thanks for stopping by!
Rachel

Root Beer Floats and Rattan Glasses

Happy Monday everyone! Or rather... Happy Labor Day! We have had a great weekend in Ft. Lauderdale, full of family, food and inspiration! I love the colors of Home! Especially all the time we have been spending on Las Olas, the colors just jump out and grab you!I found these 4 rattan glass holders and glasses for $1 a piece at a newly discovered Goodwill! I have seen them a few times on table scape blogs and feel in love. When I stumbled upon them, strewn among the bar ware, I KNEW I was buying them... NO MATTER WHAT!!!I even made special straw embellishments to make the glasses a wee bit more festive for my boys! I decided my new acquisition needed to make a special debut for the kids. So I made them Root Beer Floats with Oreo Sticks as their after-school treats!

Today I am linking up with Coastal Charm for her Nifty Thrifty Tuesday Party! Yeah, I am a day ahead, but I will be super swamped tomorrow!!!

Here is the Cream in My Oreo, enjoying his after-school treat! I asked the boys if they liked Mommy's new bargain and (of course when you fill it with Root Beer and Ice Cream... it is always a YES!) and I was right, they DID!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to stop by Coastal Charm for more inspiration!!
Rachel