Autumn Amelia

Hello everyone!

Are y'all ready for a new decade?!

Because it's basically here...

To help us celebrate I made this fun DIY disco ball piñata.

I have made a few piñatas in my day.

They aren't hard but, are a little time-consuming.

Make sure to give yourself a few days to complete this project.

You will need:

36 Inch Balloon

Newspaper

Scissors

Flour

Water

Silver Crepe Paper

Fringer Scissors, Optional

Tape
Silver Ribbon

Start by inflating the balloon to your desired size.

I inflated mine about halfway, 18 inches.

A 36-inch balloon is rather large...

I'm lazy and didn't want to decorate the whole thing but still wanted it to be large enough to make an impact.

You can blow it up to the full size if you prefer.

Cut your newspaper into 1-inch strips.

Cut A LOT because you will need it.

Once your strips are ready to use, create your papier-mache.

Mix 1 part flour to 1 part water until a paste is made, it should be a thick glue-like substance. 

1 and 1/3 cups of each is the amount that worked for me.

You will need to make more or less depending on the size of your balloon.

Dip the strips of newspaper in the paste and slide off any excess with your fingers.
Add the wet strips directly onto the balloon.

To help keep the balloon in place, set it in a box.

Repeat until the balloon is completely covered.

Let dry completely.

I recommend 24 hours but, have gotten away with 12 when I was in a hurry.

Once the first layer is completely dry, apply another layer in the same manner.

Let dry.

Add a third coat to make it extra sturdy.

Let dry.

Once the final layer is completely dry, poke a hole through the papier-mache to deflate the balloon. 

Cut a small flap in the top of the papier-mache, large enough to fit your hand into so you can stuff it with your goodies.

Open the flap and remove the deflated balloon.

Cut long strips of crepe paper.
With the fringe-scissors, fringe one side of the crepe paper leaving about an inch of space at the top to attach to the piñata.

You can fringe the crepe paper with regular scissors as well but, the fringe scissors will save you quite a bit of time.
I'd highly recommend investing in some! 

Starting at the bottom of the piñata, add a layer of the fringed crepe paper.

Use small pieces of tape every few inches to secure into place. 

Continue adding strips of the crepe paper up the piñata until it is entirely covered.

Poke two slits in the top of the piñata and string one end of the silver ribbon through.
Tie the ribbon into a knot on the inside of the piñata.
Repeat with the other ribbon end to create a loop in which to hang the piñata from. 

Open the flap and fill with your goodies.

 Seal the flap with tape.

Hang and enjoy!

I love how this piñata turned out!

The size and metallic silver make it the perfect pop of fun every party needs.

I am planning on using it as decor for our New Years' Eve at home.

It's too pretty (and took too long) to wreck!

Maybe next year?

How are you spending your New Year's Eve?

All my love,

Autumn

From our little fam to yours!

Hello everyone!

Christmas is just a few days away and I can't wait!

It is my favorite holiday.

I thought it would be fun to add a Christmas twist to the popular spring floral crowns and bring them into winter.

And thus this holly crown was born!

You will need:

Holly Stems

Floral Wire

Floral Tape

Wire Cutters

With the wire cutters, cut the holly leaves and berries from the stem, leaving an inch or two of stem at the bottom to wrap around.

With the floral wire, gently measure a crown around the intended wearer's head.
I like to wrap it around twice to create a thicker base to build on.

Cut the wire to size and wrap the ends around the crown wire to secure into place.
Wrap the exposed ends with floral tape.

Add the holly leaves to the crown one at a time by laying them flat against the wire and securing them into place around the stem with floral wire.
Wrap the exposed ends with floral tape to protect your scalp and hair!

Repeat until you have worked your way around the crown or have reached your desired coverage.
Add the berries to the crown with the same method.
I added my berries after every three holly leaves.

Fill in any bare areas with extra leaves or berries.
Wear and enjoy!

Floral crowns are much simpler to make than I originally thought and can be worn for so many different occasions!

I think my nieces would love to wear these holly crowns for all of our Christmas festivities.

I mean, who wouldn't?

What do you think of the floral crown trend?

Love it or hate it?

All my love, 

Autumn

Hello everyone!

Over the weekend my family had its annual progressive dinner.

A progressive dinner is a meal where each course is served at a different house.

The progressive dinner tradition started out with my Dad's family before I was even born!

Now that we are grown we do it within our own little family.

We have four courses; soup, salad, main course and dessert.

This year we started with salad at my sister April's house.

She served it with all the fixings.

And rolls...

Each house always has rolls.

Each house also has a theme and a favor to take home.

Her's was Christmas trees. 

We each left with a beautiful distressed aluminim Christmas tree. 

After her house, we headed to my parent's for soup.

They served ham and bean soup and beef stew.

Have you ever heard of ham and bean soup?

Cause we sure hadn't!

Their theme was the nativity.

They had beautiful nativity themed decorations and we each left with a nativity themed ornament. 

After my parent's, it was off to my sister Heather's house for the main course.

Heather lives the furthest away so we try not to make her drive back and forth too much.
So, Erik and I share their house for dessert.

That way they don't have to drive down and up and then down and up again. 

Before heading to her house we made a quick stop at our house to pick up the trifles we made.

Trifles are not the easiest thing to transport...

I ended up holding them on my lap the entire forty-minute drive and am proud to say they made it!

We arrived at Heather's house to a full-blown Christmas cookout.

It was decorated in red and black gingham, we each got a festive mug to drink out of and they served pulled pork sandwiches with mac and cheese and potato casserole.

SO yummy!

We each were given a gingham stocking filled with candy and a gingham sign that read Merry Christmas.

We also got to take our mugs home.

After the main course, Erik and I pulled out our trifles. 

We brought our own plates and napkins to serve them on.

Our favors were whisks with instant pudding, a play on figgy pudding.

It was such a fun evening and I can't believe another year has come and gone.

I am already counting down the days till next year!

Have you ever attended a progressive dinner?

All my love,

Autumn

Hello everyone!

Today is my family's annual progressive dinner, a Christmas tradition we have done for years.

A progressive dinner is a meal where each course is served at a different house.

This year Erik and I were in charge of dessert.

I always try to come up with somewhat original ideas for our theme.
I thought a play on figgy pudding would be fun.

I have never seen or eaten figgy pudding.

The only reason I know that it exists is because of the song "We wish you a Merry Christmas."

Also, if chocolate is not involved in the dessert my family will riot, myself included. 😉

So, I thought a chocolate trifle would be the way to go.

It's English and includes pudding (like the song!) and I included cake (and brownies!) like an actual figgy pudding. 

I also wanted to include some Christmas flavor for those who were interested so, I decided to make two different trifles.

Chocolate Raspberry Trifle

You will need:

Brownies, Cut into 1-inch squares

Instant Chocolate Pudding

Raspberries

Whipped Cream

Prepare the pudding according to the directions on the box.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

Place half of the brownie pieces on the bottom of a trifle dish.

Add a layer of chocolate pudding on top.

Add a layer of raspberries.

Add a layer of whipped cream.

Repeat the layers.

Brownie, pudding, raspberries and whipped cream.

Chill for one hour before serving.

Enjoy!

Vanilla Orange Cranberry Trifle

You will need:

White Cake, cut into 1-inch squares

12 Ounces of Fresh Cranberries

1 and 1/4 Cups of Sugar

1 Cup of Orange Juice

1 Teaspoon of Orange Zest
Instant Vanilla Pudding
Whipped Cream

Prepare the cranberry filling.

In a medium saucepan, add the cranberries, sugar, orange juice and orange zest.

Cook on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until it reaches a boil.

Once it has reached a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until all of the cranberries pop, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Set aside to cool and thicken.

Prepare the pudding according to the directions on the box.

Refrigerate until ready to usee.

Place half of the cake pieces on the bottom of a trifle dish.

Add a layer of vanilla pudding on top.

Add a layer of cranberry filling.

Add a layer of whipped cream.

Repeat the layers.

Cake, pudding, cranberry filling, whipped cream.

Chill for one hour before serving.

Enjoy!

I love trifles!
They are easy to make and act as a decoration with all of their pretty layers displayed.
The best part is that you can use all premade ingredients or make it all from scratch if you desire.
I went with homemade cake and brownies and instant pudding for ours.

But, you can use premade cake and brownies or make your pudding from scratch.
It's up to you how simple or sophisticated you want to go!

We usually include favors for each member of the family to take home that goes with the theme of our meal.

This year, I grabbed some fun festive red whisks from Target and stuck a box of instant chocolate pudding inside.

I then added tags that said "We "whisk" you a Merry Christmas!"



and "Oh, bring us some figgy chocolate pudding!" to tie it into the theme.

These were such quick and inexpensive favors.


I am so excited to present these to my family tonight and enjoy another year of progressive dinner together.
What are some of your family's holiday traditions?

All my love,
Autumn

Hello everyone!

Last weekend Erik and I had a fun Christmas themed date night!

We started out at the Grand America Hotel.

The Grand America is a luxurious hotel in Downtown Salt Lake City.

And if you have visited my blog before you know my love for it runs deep...

We like to stay there to celebrate special occasions.

We have always wanted to stay there in December.

But, with Christmas, it just doesn't make sense for us financially...

This year we decided to go explore the grounds and see all of the decorations first hand.

And it did not disappoint!

The exterior of the hotel is covered in lights and wreaths.

The lobby is filled with trees, wreaths and garlands.
We happened to arrive during afternoon tea and were able to hear the harpist playing Christmas carols.
Each table had gorgeous vintage pieces such as nutcrackers or Christmas trees.

After exploring the lobby, we headed to their holiday window displays.

This year the windows displayed scenes from the Night Before Christmas.

In the bottom corner of each window was another miniature display showing a little mice family preparing for the holidays.

And we can't forget the gingerbread house!

It was HUGE!

This year's house was a recreation of the hotel itself.

Little mice were guests and it even had lights on the inside!

A hotel employee was there to pass out candy canes and take pictures.

After we finished strolling through the window displays we headed to one of my favorite spots, the courtyard.

The trees were covered in lights, each archway had its own wreath and there was a tall beautifully decorated Christmas tree with ornaments the size of my head.

I loved exploring the hotel and discovering all it had to offer for the holiday season. 

I am ready to move in now...

After soaking in the amazingness that is the Grand America we headed down the street to the Eccles Theater to see A Christmas Story the Musical.

A Christmas Story holds a special place in our hearts as it's one of the only Christmas traditions Erik and I have created on our own.

TBS plays A Christmas Story for 24 hours straight on Christmas Day.

Our first married Christmas in our little apartment Erik and I watched it while eating breakfast.

The next year we happened to do the same thing.

And then the next and the next and the next.

It has become a tradition we love deeply and we have such a fun time watching it.

Each year it grows on us more and more and we usually find a new quote that we add to our vocabulary.

When we heard the musical was coming to town we decided we needed to see it.

We bought our tickets months ago and have been (not so) patiently waiting.

We went in not knowing anything and really enjoyed it!

We felt that they did the movie justice.

There were a few things that were different but it didn't differ too much from the original story.

Also, they had real dogs in the play so you know I was in heaven.

Needless to say at the end of the night we were definitely feeling the Christmas spirit.

Maybe we have some new traditions on our hands?

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?

All my love, 

Autumn

Hello everyone!

It has been a busy holiday season for me this year and it's just getting started!

Because of this, I have been keeping my side projects on the simpler side...

And this week's craft is no exception!

This DIY wood garland is quick to put together and I love the natural look of the unfinished wood.

You will need:

Wood Beads, I used large and small

Wood Cones

Wood Wheels 

Twine

Scissors

Start by laying out the wood pieces and organizing them into your desired pattern and span.

Once you have your pattern established, measure the twine against its length and cut, leaving a few extra inches for tying and possible mistakes.

Tightly tie off one end of the twine.

Trim off any excess.

On the opposite end of the twine, thread the wood pieces on one at a time.

Once all of the pieces are on, tightly tie off the open end of the twine.

Trim off any excess.

Display and enjoy!

This craft only took ten minutes to throw together!

I love the pronounced look of the plain wood.
It's so versatile!
You can hang it on your tree, lay it on your shelves or wind it around your stair banisters.
I placed ours on our entryway table.
I love how it fits in with our neutrally colored reindeer canvas and pops against our green decorations.

If you have more time on your hands, you could paint the wooden pieces and add a burst of color.

What garland would you prefer for your home?

Colorful or natural?

All my love,

Autumn