While He Was Napping

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30 Days of Thankful & A Deal A Day

If you’re here looking for the Weekend Wander Link Up, it’s the post after this one.

Whew.  Did October feel like a really long month to anyone else?  In any case, it’s over now and onward we go.  I am one that feels really bad that I kind of skip over Thanksgiving.  Not because I’m not grateful, but because Christmas takes so much prep (and we exchange gifts with my Dad’s side of the family a day or two after Thanksgiving while everyone is together.  There isn’t really time to do one holiday at a time there…).

But, I want my kids to realize that gratitude and thanksgiving are important too.  So, I’m going to do a mini-series on Facebook where I will share one thing I’m grateful for each day, as well as something to do with the kids to help them remember that life is about more than just “gimme, gimme”.  Join us on Facebook and play along or get ideas on helping your kids remember that giving is more important than getting.

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And the gift searching begins!  Last year, I did a deal-of-the-day event during November.  But, that was A LOT of work and I wasn’t able to keep up with it between my own gift-making and all the other holiday hubbub.  So, this year I’ve decided to do it a little differently.

Each week, (seven days in a week… so I can still call it Deal of the Day, right?) there will be seven items marked down to discounted rates in my shop, up to 70% off their original prices.  After the deals change, they won’t be back.  The deals will change at 9pm PST on Fridays.  You’ll have seven days to make your purchase at the discounted prices.  I will combine shipping as much as possible and issue any refunds for shipping charges I don’t use.  I will be introducing some new items as well.  Heads up now, the custom prints and signs won’t be offered at a discount.  I don’t have the time and man-power to discount them anymore than they already are.  Sorry.  But, you can get 10% off anything (including the custom prints and signs) for the entire month by using coupon code HOLIDAY2013.  This code will work on items that are discounted as well………  So, just saying, you could seriously score here.

This week’s deals include:

From top to bottom:
Holiday Hubbub Organizer*
Printable Christmas Countdown Calendar with Activities*
Date Night Jar
Thanksgiving Subway Art Print*
Kid’s Felt Track Set
Autumn Subway Art Set (6 Images)*
Pirate Ship Printable*

* Designates items that will be available for instant download after your complete your purchase.  Get the fun started right away!  No shipping costs and instant access!  Sale prices will apply at 9pm tonight and will expire on November 8th at 9pm PST, when seven new deals will begin.  Come check it out!

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.


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10 Halloween Cookies Anyone Can Make

So, if you’ve been over on the Facebook page lately, you’ve probably heard me whine about how I’m ready to move past Halloween for this year.  It was fun, but I’m ready for something other than witches, ghosts and goblins.  And, I’m out of Halloween blog posts…  No wonder I don’t usually commit an entire month to one theme.  I’m too A.D.D. for that, I get bored.  And with mere days left, why would I want to make something only to put it in storage?!

So, the boys and I made cookies… ’cause, well, I can put those away and not have to worry about them in the garage… just around my thighs.  And what’s a few extra pounds, swimsuit season is MONTHS away!  We opted for our go-to Chocolate Chip Cookies (just omit the pumpkin) and a bit of neon food coloring for a little fun.  We also put butterscotch chips in the orange ones, as well as chocolate chips.  We’ll be lucky if these last til November 1st.

In case you’re still feeling Halloween, but don’t want the commitment of a project to store, how about some of these cookies?  There are tons of fancy bakery cookies on pinterest, but I wanted ones that anyone could make.  Not just those of you that are culinary-inclined.  So, here they are… Halloween cookies anyone can make.

This blog is in Italian, but Google can translate it for you.
And the photos give a pretty good idea of what to do.
You could stick these adorable spiders on just about any cookie.
Which ones are your favorites?

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.

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{Our Grace Filled Life} Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

I would like to introduce you to another amazing contributor!  Amanda is here to share a delicious recipe with us.  How does Pumpkin Streusel Muffins sound!?  Well, let’s get party started!  Take it away, Amanda!

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Hey there!  I’m Amanda Fisher & I blog at Our Grace Filled Life.  My interests are all over the place, so you see a bit of everything there, but my favorite things to blog about are food, healthy living, furniture makeovers, home renovation & adoption. Today, I am super honored to be here & sharing one of my favorite Fall treats with you!  I look forward to pumpkin season all year round.  On occasion, my love of pumpkin even flows into other seasons {gasp! :)}.  Pumpkin really is best enjoyed in the Fall though, there’s just something very comforting about savoring a pumpkin treat with a little chill in the air.

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

For many years, I strictly used store-bought canned pumpkin, thinking that making homemade pumpkin puree was too difficult, too time consuming or simply wouldn’t taste as good.  Last year though, I ran across this tutorial from The Pioneer Woman & figured I’d give it a shot.  It really didn’t look too hard & because I try to make most everything else from scratch, it seemed silly that I’d never even tried it.  So, I gave it a shot & was pleasantly surprised by the results.  It really wasn’t difficult to do & we loved the flavor.  We’d also grown a few pie pumpkins in our garden last year, so it was fun knowing we’d made our own food from start to finish.

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

Whatever type of pumpkin you use, store-bought or homemade, I think you’re going to LOVE these muffins.  I’m a big fan of using whole grains & sweeteners that are as unprocessed as possible, so I’ve included a couple of different options for some of the ingredients so that you can use what you have on hand or are able to find.  Hope you enjoy!

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
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For the muffins
  1. 1 1/4 c. pumpkin puree {canned or homemade}
  2. 1/4 c. applesauce
  3. 1/3 c. sucanat or brown sugar
  4. 1 egg
  5. 1 t vanilla
  6. 2 c. whole wheat pastry flour or all purpose flour
  7. 2 t baking powder
  8. 1 t pumpkin pie spice
  9. 1/2 t sea salt
  10. 1/2 c. walnuts or pecans, chopped
For the streusel topping
  1. 4 T butter, softened
  2. 1/4 c. sucanat or brown sugar
  3. 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour
  4. 1/3 c. walnuts or pecans, chopped
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350*.
  2. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
  3. Using a stand or hand mixer, beat together pumpkin, applesauce, egg & vanilla.
  4. Add in flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice & sea salt & stir until just mixed.
  5. Gently fold in chopped nuts.
  6. Using an ice cream scoop or two spoons, fill prepared muffin tin with batter, filling each liner just 2/3 of the way full.
  7. In another bowl, mix together the topping ingredients. The mixture should be nice & crumbly.
  8. Using your hands, divy out the topping onto the waiting muffins.
  9. Bake for 23-25 minutes, until the middles are set.
  10. Enjoy!!
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YUM!  Don’t you want to just head to the kitchen!  I will need to try these this holiday season for sure.  Thanks for sharing with us, Amanda!  Head over and check out the other great things on Our Grace Filled Life.

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.


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{October Spooktacular} Glowing Cauldron

Okay, by now I’m sure you’ve noticed a bit of a reoccurring theme with my Halloween posts this year… yeah?  If not, I’ll give you a hint: Witches.  Okay, not really a hint.  Sorry.  Well, I’m almost ready to reveal the whole table display, but first I have to add the finishing touches.

This is a simple little project, but finishes off my display quite nicely.  Take a look:

GLOWING CAULDRON

Materials:
– Pillow batting (I just bought a cheap set of 2 pillows for $5 at Wal-Mart and unstuffed half of one of the pillows)
– Glow Sticks (Dollar Tree)
– Plastic Cauldron (On clearance at Wa-Mart last November)

Directions:
– Stuff the pillow batting into the cauldron and fluff until it looks “steam-like”.  I didn’t, but you could try hair spray or fabric stiffener to make the batting “rise” out of the cauldron a bit more.
– Break the glow sticks and position inside the batting.  Close to the outside of the batting but not so close you can see the actual shape of the glow sticks.  Play with it.  It will partly depend on the thickness of your batting.  My glow stick ended up having a crack in it and the glowy liquid spilled on the batting.  It turned out pretty cool as you could spread the glow around and not worry about the glow stick showing; but if you’ve got kids around, it might be safer to keep the glow sticks intact.

That’s it!  Super easy and it looks great.  The photo doesn’t do it justice.  Guess that’s what I get for trying to take a dark photo at mid-day…

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.


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