More Cozy and Comfy Fall Decorations

So, I'm not sure if I could fit another Fall decoration in my house if I tried.  The Harvey house screams Fall right now! And, as I promised, I'm going to share my latest projects with you.  

A few weekends ago, the Hubby and I went to a festival in Northern Ohio.  Right as we got there it started to pour rain.  Unfortunately, because of the rain, all the vendors at the festival packed up and headed home.  So we made the best of it and wandered into an antique shop.  This was the coolest store and if we didn't have the dogs taking up the back of my car, I would have done some damage buying all sorts of cute antique furniture for the house.  But, since we didn't have any extra room to take anything home with us, I settled for these adorable, little bottles. Who knew hair dye used to come in glass bottles like these?! Now they have a new purpose...to hold a few stems of mums on our ladder shelf in the living room.  They fit perfectly and add the perfect pop of fall color.  Nick thought was I crazy for being SO excited about glass bottles but I love them and they look like they were made for this shelf.  Moral of the story; if you have the opportunity to browse a place with antiques, take it.  You can find so many things you are re-purpose and use to decorate.   

Also pictured are these fun, burlap pumpkins I found at HomeGoods.  I absolutely LOVE that store and was so excited to find these.  I've done a lot of decorating lately with burlap and these pumpkins helped pull it all together.  I wish I could say I was crafty enough to make these.  I paired the burlap pumpkins with two pumpkins made from sticks and placed them at the base of our mantle.  (Fall Mantle post coming shortly)

Next is a little teaser into my Fall Mantle post.  I had some extra popcorn, beans, and split peas from my Fall Candleholders (see: Fall Decor- Lovin these Candles) so I used an extra Ball jar to make a place for a pumpkin spice votive candle.  I re-purposed another glass bottle (this time from San Pellegrino Mineral Water) and added some fall embellishments.  I love the fall colored berries but am obsessed with the acorns.  I bought a few more stems of the acorns to incorporate into the mantle as well.  And lastly, to tie it all together, I added a mini pumpkin.  A Fall mantle isn't complete without at least a few mini pumpkins.    

The final picture is of the fall accents I added to our front porch swing.  I decorate our swing each season in various ways.  I think it gives the front porch a very welcoming feeling.  As I was perusing Pinterest one day, I stumbled upon directions for No Sew Pillow Cases.  (No Sew Pillow Cases)  I figured I would give these a try so I didn't have to buy new pillows for the swing.  I would just cover my summer pillows and reuse them for fall.  Well, it was a little difficult to follow the directions exactly since I used burlap so I improvised and used a Jute Ribbon as my finishing touch (instead of the knot in the Pinterest picture).  I topped off the swing with the Welcome Fall pillow which gave it the perfect amount of Country/Rustic flare.  This swing is one of my favorite places to drink my coffee and read a book.  

When I said in my last post that I loved Fall, I wasn't lying (as you can see).  I hope you enjoy these quick and easy decorating ideas as much I do.  Happy Decorating!

Next Post....my Fall mantle. :)

BlogLovin

Happy beautiful Fall morning everyone!  As I'm sitting here enjoying my Pumpkin Spice Latte, I stumbled upon this website, BlogLovin.  It's a handy little place you can go to read all your favorite blogs in one location.  Well, needless to say, Simply Settling In is now on BlogLovin.  I would love it if you would join and follow me.  More creative fall posts are coming soon and you don't want to miss them.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Have an awesome day!

Amber

Fall Decor- Lovin these Candles

I can't tell you how excited I am for fall!  I think its the most beautiful season.  I love the colors, the smells, the temperature, and all my favorite fall foods.  With my obsession for fall, its safe to say I'm in full swing decorating the Harvey house.  

Each season I change out the candles in the center of our kitchen table.  I had three Apothecary type jars left from our wedding that were perfect for this project.

What You Need:
Jars (Apothecary, Mason, Hurricanes etc)
Candles
Yellow Corn Kernels
Red Beans
Split Peas
Raffia or Jute

These are so simple to make.  All you need to do is put your candles down in the middle of the jars and layer the corn, beans, and peas around the candles .  Tie a little raffia or jute around the jars and you  now have the cutest fall candle holders. (I took my picture before I added the jute) 

I loved these so much I had to make a set in some Mason jars I had to place on our mantle.

Brat Burgers- The Best of Both Worlds!

As a vegetarian, I don't cook meat very often at all.  Nick, one of the biggest burger and bacon lovin' people I have ever met, has been a trooper through all my veggie dishes and meat alternatives.  So to show my appreciation, I came up with a recipe that combined two of his favorites- a brat and a burger.

What You Need:
6 Pack of your Favorite Brats or Italian Sausages
1 Green Pepper
1 Small Onion (I used a Red Onion)
Swiss Cheese (4 Slices)
Buns (I used a Cheese Topped Bread I found at the Grocery)

*Makes 4 Burgers

Step 1: On a cutting board use a knife to cute the casing open on the brats.  Remove the meat from the center of the casing and place in a large bowl.  Continue to do this on all 6 brats.

Step 2: Once all the meat is in the bowl, mash it all together with a wooden spoon.

Step 3: Form 4 burgers with the meat and start grillin!

Step 4: As the burgers are grilling, cut up the green pepper and onion into slices.  Place in a small skillet and saute until tender.  These are for on top of burgers.

Step 5: Once the burgers are done, top with the peppers and onions and the swiss cheese and ENJOY!

(Dinner on the back porch on an awesome summer night.  Barley wants to know where his burger is.- haha)

These burgers were perfect with some Potato Salad and Corn on the Cob.  Obviously, I just had the Potato Salad and Corn but Hubby sure appreciated some real meat for a change.

Hope you enjoy these!
Amber

Our Eclectic Lil Picture Collage

One of my favorite decorations in our house is on our living room wall.  Its a collage of some of Nick and I's favorite pictures.  Our decorating style is like rustic/ country/ eclectic style so the many different kinds of frames we included went perfect with the rest of the house.

We decided to put these pictures on this wall to try to cover up our ugly, outdated thermostat.  (Don't worry, Nick left enough room behind one of the pictures so it can still read the temperature.)   There are also a few of our favorite sayings or signs incorporated into the collage as well- such as my FAVORITE "All You Need Is Love...and a Dog" sign.  

I hope you love this idea as much as we do now that its done.  It's a perfect way to tie a bunch of things you love into one adorable decorating idea.  Happy decorating!!

Recipe for Coffee Ice Cream Pie

Good Morning Readers!  Well, its a rainy Sunday morning here in Columbus so its a perfect morning to relax with a hot cup of coffee (or 2) and blog.  It was recently brought to my attention how long its been since I posted (thank you Tara for kicking me into gear) and I got really excited because the Hubby and I have been working like crazy on the house and trying to new recipes so there is PLENTY to post.

Our neighbors invited us over for dinner this past week and we were in charge of dessert.  I've been obsessed with coffee ice cream lately so I decided to try a coffee ice cream pie and it was AMAZING.  So, here's how I did it....

Coffee Ice Cream Pie
What you need:
1 package of Oreos
1 stick of butter
1 quart of Coffee Ice Cream
Fudge Ice Cream Topping
Caramel Ice Cream Topping
Whipped Cream
Non-stick Cooking Spray

Note: You can try this with any kind of ice cream, not just Coffee.  I think I may try it with cookie dough ice cream next time.

Step 1: Take the ice cream out of the freezer so it can soften.

Step 2: (This is the best step if you've had a stressful day) Put the package of Oreos in a large ziplock bag and crush them until they are crumbs.  You can use a rolling pin to get the crumbs fine enough.

If you have a food processor, just dump the cookies into it and let it do the work.  Its SO much easier with the food processor (one of our many awesome wedding gifts).

Step 3: Melt the stick of butter and add to the cookies crumbs.  If you are using a food processor, add the butter to the crumbs while they are still in the container and pulse in the melted butter.  It mixes it together really well.  If you are using a ziplock bag, put the crumbs in a bowl first and then stir in the butter.

Step 4: Spray the dish you will be using with the non-stick cooking spray.  I used a pie pan.  Make sure to get the corners and edges really well.

Step 5: Press the cookie crumb and butter mixture in the pan to make crust.  Once the crust is made, place your pan into the fridge or freezer for a couple of minutes to allow the butter to harden back up.

Step 6:  Scoop the ice cream into your crust.  Use the back of a spoon or spatula to smooth out the top as much as possible.

Step 7: Dip a spoon into the fudge and caramel sauce and drizzle it over the top of the ice cream. Add as much as you like!

Step 8: Garnish with the whipped cream.  I used an icing decorating gun to get the finished look on the whipped cream.  If you don't have one, a dollop every so often on the top will work.

Step 9: Put back in the freezer for an hour or so before serving.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  And I promise, there will be more recipes and projects to come...

Cork Boards for the Sewing Room

So this winter I've been working on a couple sewing projects.  One of which was just getting my sewing room organized enough to be able to work on projects in it. I made two little ways to organize patterns I've picked up and all the spools of thread I've accumulated.  Today, we're focusing on the cork boards because I LOVE them.

What you need for this project:

Corkboards 

(I used a pack of three cork hot plates from Bed, Bath and Beyond $10)

Fabrics (I used three different)

Staple Gun

Hammer

Push Pins
3 tabs off a pop can

Step 1: Cut a section of fabric big enough to cover your corkboard plus an extra 2 inches or so. 

 

Step 2: Pull the fabric around to the back of the corkboard in small sections and secure with the staple gun.

 

Step 3: Continue pulling the fabric to the back of the corkboard.  As needed, use the hammer to tap the staples in further.

Step 4: Trim any extra fabric from the back.

 

Step 5: Attach the pop can tabs to the back of the corkboard in the center.  This will be what you use to actually hang the corkboard with.  And you're done!

 

 

 

Hollyberry Monogram "Wreath"

You asked for it...You're getting it.  So many people asked me how to make our "H" wreath on our front door.  It's so easy and really added a pop of color to your front porch.  So here you go... I know its a little late for Christmas this year but it never hurts to start on projects for next Christmas!

Materials Needed:

Wooden Letter 

Red Acrylic Paint

Sponge Paint Brush

Burlap Ribbon

Lots of Hollyberry Garnishes (I found mine at JoAnns)

Glue Gun

Glue Sticks
Optional: Staple Gun
Wreath Hanger (got at the Dollar Tree)

Step 1: Paint the wooden letter with the red acrylic paint.

Step 2: As the paint is drying, begin using the scissors (or wire cutters) to cut the berries of the stem. 

Step 3: Once the paint dries, begin using the hot glue gun to glue the berries to the letter.

Step 4:  Once the letter is completely covered in berries, its time to add your ribbon.  This can be a little tricky depending on the letter.  Letters Q, O, D, P, B etc. are a lot easier to hang than, for example, W.  I used a staple gun to attach the ribbon to the left and right side of the H.  You also use a hot glue gun to attach the ribbon.  Or, if your has a letter with a full loop, just simply tie the ribbon through the letter.  

Tip: I folded the ribbon over to create two layers on the ribbon so the stress from the weight of the wreath doesn't rip the ribbon.  Depending on your letter, you may want to include this step.

 

Step 5: Hang it up and Enjoy!

Ladder Shelf- Love Hubbys Resourcefulness

So Nick was leaving work one day and happened to notice an old painters ladder out by the dumpster. Since we love the recycled yet old distressed look of the ladder it was soon in the back of Nicks car.  Nick sanded it down, got some of the old paint off it and now we have a new shelf!

 

(Sorry for the poor quality picture!)

Homemade Caramel Dip ((Amazing!))

So, as I often do, I was browsing Pinterest and came across an amazing recipe for homemade caramel dip.  Hubby is sort of a kid in the fact that he hates anything healthy.  So, I thought if I made this caramel dip maybe he would dip apples in it and that could be a (semi) healthy snack.  The dip turned out awesome!!

The caramel is super easy too.  All you need is:

3/4 cup of Brown Sugar

3/4 cup of Sugar

1/2 cup of Corn Syrup

1/3 cup of Butter

2/3 cup of Whipping Cream

Directions: In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients except for the whipping cream.  Heat for approx. 5 minutes until sugar and syrup mixture comes to a boil.  Once it has boiled, remove from the heat and let cool for about 5 minutes.  After it has cooled, stir in the whipping cream.  Once its all blended, pour it into a jar and cool in the fridge.  I used a pint size Ball Mason jar and it was just the right size.  

 

The caramel makes a perfect gift for coworkers.  I'm pairing a jar of it with an apple slicer for each of mine.  If they like it half as much as the Hubby then I'm in luck! 

Also, on Christmas Eve we are having a Hot Chocolate bar for the family and I'll be putting a jar of this out for them to stir into the hot chocolate.  Who doesn't love caramel and you can use it for some many things.

Now I'm going to settle into the couch with a bowl of dip and apples (that is if Nick left me any)....

Christmas Sign For Your Front Porch

Now that all the Thanksgiving leftovers are gone, we can switch our focus to Christmas!

Who doesn't love Christmas?  But to say Nick and I love Christmas might be an understatement.  We look forward all things Christmas- cutting down the tree, decorating, egg nog, stocking stuffers, and time with family to name a few.

So far we have had so much fun decorating the house.  We got the Christmas lights up, the garland around the front door and we made this adorable sign for the corner of our front porch.  It was so easy to make and it was fun looking up the towns named after Christmas related things- such as Santa Claus, IN or Snowflake, AZ. 

So to make your own sign, all you will need are some wooden plaques (can get them at JoAnns or Micheals), a 4x4 (Home Depot or Lowes), 4-5 screws, some paint and paintbrushes, and then you can add garland and holly berries if you would like.

So first, we painted the wooden plaques and post the base color.  Then Nick, who looks for any excuse to use a power tool, screwed the 4x4 to the bottom of the stand.  We then looked up the towns we wanted to be on our post and used Google Earth to figure out the miles from our house to put next to the names.  We painted the names of the towns on the plaques and, once they dried, used a screw to attach them to the post as well.  If you want your sign to be accurate, make sure you have the directions of the cities correct before attaching the plaques to the post.  And then lastly, we added the garland and holly berries (which we also got at JoAnns). 

Its perfect if you have a corner on your front porch that you want to add a little something to.  I can't wait for our guests to come over on Christmas Eve and see it.

Just in Time for Thanksgiving- Last Minute Addition- Cranberry Sauce

For the past two years I've made this amazing cranberry sauce for our family Thanksgiving.  Its so simple to make so I thought I would share.  Just in case you needed that last minute addition to your dinner.

You will need:

• 1 t. arrowroot or cornstarch
• 1 c. Sugar or Splenda (I used a mixture of both)
• 1/2 c. water
• 3 cups fresh cranberries
• 2 medium oranges (squeezed into 1/4c. of Orange Juice)

Cooking Directions: 

1) Combine the cornstarch/arrowroot, sugar or Splenda, and water in a saucepan. 

2) Heat (on Medium) while stirring until all the ingredients blend and dissolve together.  

3) Stir in cranberries and orange juice. Bring mixture to a boil while continuing to stir.  

(Tip: use a fork to strain the juice as you are adding it to avoid seeds and pulp going into the berries)

4) Reduce heat and shimmer (while continuing to stir) for approx. 5 minutes or until cranberry skins begin to pop and mixture begins to thicken.

5) Remove the pan from the heat.  Put the cranberry sauce into a bowl and put in the fridge to chill.  Let chill for approx 5 hours before serving.

 Enjoy! Hope you and your family have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

My First Post- Top 5 Pinterest Projects

What better way to start off my blog than with a Top 5?!  I've been feeling very creative lately and these are the projects I hope to tackle first.

1) With the Holidays right around the corner, I've been obsessed with finding the cutest wreath idea for over our fire place.  Well, I think I found a winner.  Love this one. 

Felt Flower Wreath

2 & 3) The Hubby and I are in the process of turning the "office" into our "craft room".  These helpful organization projects are a MUST for this room.

Fabric Magnet Board

Coffee Can Organizer

4) I love these for Christmas decorating.  If only I could find gold tissue paper.

DIY Christmas Trees

And lastly...
5) I'm making these to bring to Thanksgiving dinner for dessert.  They are adorable and sound like they would be amazing. 

Pumpkin Chai Cookies

I'll let you know how these projects turn out. :)  Thanks for reading and hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving!