Family Memories and Holiday Decorations

Pine cones are an important part of my family's history.  They were incorporated into the decor of the home in which I grew up as well as where my mom and dad currently reside.  Over the years, they have also become part of my own decorating. 

Why so important?  Well, my parents had known each other for quite some time, then in the fall of 1965,  they went for a walk to collect, you guessed it,  pine cones.  Then, started dating after that.    Now, we have pine cones as a beautiful symbol for our family!

When the holidays roll around, we have a large, shallow bowl that graces our kitchen table and is filled with gold, spray-painted pine cones.  A few years ago when my older one was still in pre-school, he brought home this giant pine cone decorated with red and green glitter.  As soon as I saw it, I knew the perfect place to show it off each Christmas season!  It now sits right in the middle of all of those other pine cones, and I love it! 

Our kitchen table is a popular place in our home, as I'm sure it is in yours.  All meals at home are eaten here and although we have to move the centerpiece each time we dine, I still love having the boys see this every day during the holiday season.

How do you decorate using family memories?

Halloween Guacamole

Looking for a gross, but fun and easy way to serve guacamole during the Halloween season?  Check this out!  I can't take credit for the idea - last fall I found a similar image on Pinterest with the website of My Food Looks Funny.com at the bottom of the picture - I couldn't resist but to give it a try!

You can certainly use store bought guacamole (like I did here) or you can make your own.  Check out my Guacamole with Grapes recipe for another idea.

I bought the tiny pumpkin and carved out a face, put some of the guacamole in it's mouth, then spread the rest on the platter.  Add some tortilla chips and you are done!  

If you dare to make this....I'd love to see your photos!

Happy Halloween!

Fall Is Near!

We were expecting "cooler" temperatures this week in the Valley so I decided to start pulling out my fall decorations to help us get into the spirit of the upcoming change in season!

I know this isn't a decorating blog, but I figured since I like to host gatherings and throw parties, how I decorate my house is important too.  Just wait until Christmas!

The fall wreath we had on our courtyard gate had to be taken apart last year because it was in bad shape.  During a visit to Michael's over the weekend, I purchased a bunch of artificial fall flowers, leaves, and such and made a new wreath on Sunday morning.

We also have a number of artificial pumpkins, cornucopias, leaves, etc that we place around the house as well, along with "fall smelling" candles of course!

How do you decorate your home for fall?

Summer Fun Cupcakes

These yummy cupcakes were part of my End of Summer Party blog post, but they were so cute, I thought they warranted their own spot on the blog!

The idea is courtesy of Martha Stewart, I just swapped out the shark fin for a jelly fish on the "ocean" cupcakes.