DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

Berry Cobbler with Boysenberries Although a berry cobbler can be made with many kinds of berries, my all-time favorite is with boysenberries.  I am absolutely wild about boysenberries. A California treasure almost lost, boysenberries are a cross between a blackberry, raspberry and loganberry. This is the beautiful berry that made Knott’s Berry Farm famous. Deep red-purple in color, these juicy gems are rarely found beyond a farmers market and their season is just a few weeks long. When I discovered boysenberries at Bristol Farms a few days ago I jumped for joy, greedily grabbing six boxes. Thankfully the produce guy knew me. He just laughed as I stood there with an open container, stuffing them in my mouth exclaiming “I can’t believe you have boysenberries”! Curious shoppers figured they must be special and started picking up boxes. The limited supply quickly dwindled. My life-long love affair with boysenberries started as a kid. My dad is a Pastor and his fi...

Ghostly Mirror Tutorial and Instant Relatives About one year ago, I created a post about " wallpaper mirrors "  decorative mirrors similar to examples I've seen before in Anthropologie stores (other bloggers have posted their nicely done interpretations too).  The project basically involved disassembling a mirror, removing the silvering in selected spots, and either decoupaging patterned paper directly on the glass or, for a less permanent maneuver, affixing the paper to the cardboard backing that protects the glass, then reassembling the mirror. Here are four of my finished mirrors, with vintage wallpaper peeking through the carefully removed silver: Here's a close-up of one example: Recently I decided to resurrect this fun project in time for Halloween, this time with a macabre twist:  A ghostly mirror with a face looking back at you through the silver: The mirror I selected already had some silver missing, making it so...

Raspberry jam with vanilla Finally, in my garden full of raspberry season :-).  This year, a little later than usual, but it is as anticipated!  In one set I decided to make homemade jam.  On Facebook I advised to you, which add to the raspberries to get the divine taste.  As a result, I chose vanilla again ..  :-) I love her so.  Your other suggestions: mint, red pepper and balsamic vinegar, rose syrup, hard candy (!), Rum and almonds, lavender, cranberry, chilli, blackberries, cinnamon, ginger, i ..  ;-) worms.  What are your favorite accessories? Ingredients for 3 small jars: 1 kg raspberries 2 cups sugar (or less, according to taste) squeezed juice of 1 lemon 1 tablespoon vanilla paste or seeds of 1 vanilla pod Place all ingredients in a flat pan.  Mix and boil.  Reduce the burner and cook for about 2 - 3 hours, on the smallest burner, without a lid until the water ev...

  The Autumn season brings with it the cool air, pumpkins, the color changing in the leaves and most of all the fun! Who can resist a fun fall festival or parade. Below are some fall parades that will be going on in the U.S. Have fun. The Village Halloween Parade In Manhattan, New York     With 53 Bands of Different Types of Music, Dancers and Artists, The Village Halloween Parade in  Manhatta n  is said to be the most outrageous and most colorful Halloween parties in the United States. This parade has everything you would think a Halloween parade would have. Everything from huge paper-mâché puppets, jugglers, stilt walkers and break dancers and one of the hugest crowd of onlookers possible leading up in the millions. The parade takes place on October 31 st  at 7pm in Greenwich Village, along 6th Ave from Spring Street to 22nd Street. New Orleans Halloween Parade ~ Krewe of Boo     The Krewe of Bo...

 This diy was found at  www.stolloween.com   I thought this was a pretty cool diy  and also pretty easy to make.  No haunt is complete without some barbed wire. This is a very easy way to make some convincing rusted looking barbed wire to enhance your props or costume and the best part is that it’s safe and inexpensive. This prop does not involve the use of a papier mache (gasp!) but it does make a nice enhancement to your papier mache props. The Faux Barbed Wire is made from twine, craft foam and black latex paint. When starting this project I referenced a piece of real barbed wire and found that the barbs were approximately five inches apart. The first step is to grab a piece of twine that is twice as long as you would like final piece of wire. If you want 10 feet of barbed wire then start with 20 feet of twine. Any type of thick twine will work but I prefer ...