Inspirations by D

DIY: Pom Pom Garland

I've been meaning to post this since last year, but I did not have the opportunity to until now. The days have been dark and gloomy and in order to have good photos, you need good lighting. I finally decided, light or no light, I have to post it, because it's popping up everywhere. So my apologies for not having great images, but you get the idea on what the garland looks like.

Do you remember this post? I showed you how to make Pom Pom Ornaments for your tree. This year I used my pom pom ornaments to create a garland. I made one last year, but never got around to posting it until now. This is pretty simple to make, all you need to know is how to make a pom pom, and you can read the directions on here.

You can use yarn or some kind of string to hold your pom poms once they are done making the amount you want. Tie each pom pom to the string to hold them tightly. Keep the poms poms about 6 to 8 inches apart. For extra flare you may add ornaments as seen here. You can place the ornaments between the pom poms, then hang them anywhere.

I made two sets of pom pom garlands, a small one and a large one. The one seen on this post is the large one. Use them anywhere, mantels, trees, and over doors, the choice is yours. I also used reindeer ornaments for my pom pom garland and you can view that one here.

I hope that you enjoy & Happy Crafting!

Holiday To Go...

This post brought to you by Piccadilly Restaurants. All opinions are 100% mine.

What are my favorite aspects of family Holiday gatherings? That is a question I have been pondering for the last hour. For me, it's more than just gathering, it's more than watching the little ones enjoy themselves with games and gifts, it's more than catching up with loved ones..."it's that moment".

Have you ever sat down with your family and friends at the table and just savor the moment?
I stop and watch everyone exchange conversation, laughs and share stories and I freeze it in my memory. Why? I don't want to miss it, I want to capture an image, a recording if you will, in my mind and I take that moment and savor it. I give thanks for all my blessings, I have people who love us, who are spending their time with us, and I am so grateful for them all. So back to the original question, I think my favorite aspect is "that moment" well spent with loved ones with good food and joy, because I get so busy preparing and making sure everything is done right, I miss those moments, until I have the opportunity to sit down and enjoy it.

Over the years, I have hosted dinners for friends and family, not always the best in my part because of the stress or hassle of preparing the right meals and hoping that everything will come out right. The only person I know that does a phenomenal job in preparing for large gatherings is my mom. She is the queen of entertaining with food.

As for me, if I had an oven like the Jetson's, where I press a button and dinner is served fresh and immediately, that would be heavenly. I'm still waiting for that invention, ha, ha! So the next best thing for me is to go to a source I can trust for flavor and good preparation. This is where Piccadilly's Holiday To-Go Feasts comes in. Have you heard of them? Piccadilly Restaurants offer Holiday Feasts To-Go for Thanksgiving and Christmas with your choice of turkey or ham and all the trimmings. Each feast serves 10-14 guests and for a smaller gathering, Piccadilly's Junior Holiday Feasts can accommodate 4-6 people. All of Piccadilly's home style favorites and desserts are available a la carte, so whether you want the whole meal, just sides or dessert, they've got you covered.

Holiday Feasts To Go orders must be placed a at least 36 hours in advance of pick up date. Turkey and Ham Holiday feasts are fully cooked, refrigerated and ready to heat. Doesn't that sound great? What a sweet idea to have someone else prepare your feast while you enjoy family and friends and put all the worries aside for once, to enjoy the true meaning of the Season!

To give you an idea of what Piccadilly restaurants are about here's a brief background; Piccadilly Cafeteria first opened in 1932 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Twelve years later, a budding restaurateur by the name of T.H. Hamilton took the reins with hopes of growing the business. Today, they have more than 60 restaurants and 80 food service locations all across the southeast.
Since day one, their goal has been to serve up home style comfort to every person who walks through their door. Their restaurants are family friendly and everyone can find something they love to eat. Some favorites are fried chicken, carrot soufflé and their desserts.

Piccadilly gift cards are also available tied to a special Holiday savings offer. For every $50 spent on gift cards now through December 31, 2013 a $10 savings card will be issued which can be used towards a Piccadilly purchase from January - January 31, 2014 at participating restaurants.
Let's be social and follow @EatPiccadilly on Twitter and like Piccadilly Restaurants on Facebook to get specials and more online. Do you have a Piccadilly in your area?

Christmas Tree Farm & Our Tree

Hello friends! Before continuing, I want to warn you, this post is filled with lots of green. We were out and about searching for our perfect tree after Thanksgiving. Our faux tree fell apart last year, so we needed a new one for this year.

Do you remember our first real tree three years ago? Well, we drove back to that tree farm to find a similar tree, not so much for it's appearance, but for it's memorable fragrance. I know, I'm weird, but the house smelled amazing that Christmas Season, and so we were on a mission to find one just like it.

Thankfully, this year they didn't paint any of the trees, it was pleasant to see the trees in their natural state, and we searched. They did not have any of the Blue Cypress Pine that we wanted. The Blue Cypress they had were still too premature and the trees they did have do not hold ornaments well. After searching almost the entire farm, we decided to look somewhere else. It was fun as we hunted for our perfect tree. We looked high and low and it was getting dark.

Finally we dropped by our local hardware store; and that is where we found our tree. Mr. M was not impressed, but we managed to find one we liked and it is filled with fragrance. Unfortunately, my new garland was not long enough, and I was not able to use it for this tree, I knew I should have purchased two from LMM. While placing the ornaments on the tree, my son told me to add more. I originally planned for silver, white and gold...

But I finished with all the colors I had in the box. I have not decorated with lots of colors before, nor with so many ornaments, so this was different for me and I'm still getting used to it. So there you have it, our Christmas tree. I am using last years handmade ornaments for a different purpose this year, which I'll post later on. I have not made much effort this year in decorating my home, my focus has been on preparing my heart to receive Him this Christmas, so Christmas home decor is a process right now. Thank you for visiting today!

Linked to:
The Dedicated House
Dwellings
Craft-O-Maniac
I Should be Mopping the Floor
DIY ShowOff

Pumpkin "White Chocolate Chip" Muffins

Are you getting ready for Thanksgiving? I hope that you enjoy your gathering. We'll probably go to a friend's house and share in their Thanksgiving festivities. I usually make Thanksgiving dinner for my little family and I did get what I needed just in case. I've been feeling under the weather this week, so I hope that I'm better by then.

I noticed that my Pumpkin Muffins were a hit at home and on cyberspace as well. The only person that was not feeling it was Mr. M. He is not a big fan of pumpkin flavor and those muffins are rich in pumpkin flavor, (I know!) Well what can you do, but make a special kind of a muffin overflowing with the sweetness of white chocolate. You guys, it is amazing and so addictive. Mr. M LOVES it! We couldn't stop eating them with soft melted butter on them and a side of coffee. I was lucky to have a couple to photograph for you.

The wonderful thing about this recipe is that it's easy to make. It is slightly different from the previous recipe, so I'll share it with you here. By the way, I have also included a recipe card on my Facebook page, so drop by to get yours. Great for Thanksgiving morning!

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups all- purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease and flour muffin pan or use paper liners.
2. Mix sugar, oil, eggs. Add pumpkin and water. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt. Add wet mixture ans stir in white chocolate chips.
3. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Serves 12

Oh the goodness!
If you are not a big fan of rich pumpkin flavor in a muffin, then this is the muffin for you! I know that you will like it. For my gluten free readers; I could not find a "white chocolate chip" pumpkin muffin recipe, but instead a gluten free sweet chocolate chip pumpkin muffin recipe for you. Hope that you enjoy.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Linked to:
I Should be Mopping the Floor