Printables of Autumn Past

I thought I'd repost my autumn printables from last year since I had just started this blog when I first created and posted them. These are great for scrapbooking, parties, craft projects, gift tags, little notes, etc. The graphics on all of my printables are original, created by me. Printables are for personal use only please. Thanks!

First up are my Autumn Recipe Cards and Canning Labels/Tags...

Click HERE for the links to download these files and instructions for printing.

Next up are my "Welcome Autumn" Mini Banner and Cupcake/Muffin Toppers...

Click HERE for the links to download these files and instructions for printing.

Enjoy!




Make sure you enter for a chance to win an AccuQuilt Go! Baby. Giveaway ends Monday, October 3rd at 11:59pm (EST).

Point of View and Autumn Link Party!

Welcome to this month's Point of View reveal! The theme for September is "autumn"... my favorite season of the year. I love the way these projects look when you bring them all together. Take a look...

Jonie from Just Between Friends
Gwen from Gwenny Penny (Click HERE to find the recipe for my Autumn Paintbrush Cookies)
Stephanie from Always Just a Mom (Our guest this month... Thanks for joining us, Stephanie!)
Amy from Ameroonie Designs
Camilla from Rosy Red Buttons

Leanne from Organize and Decorate Everything

Michelle from A Little Tipsy

This month is chock full of great ideas. I'm continually amazed at the diversity of the projects month after month. As always, you can check out each of the tutorials by visiting each of the blogs listed above.

My project this month is actually a recipe: Autumn Paintbrush Cookies...

These are sugar cookies that you decorate with an egg yolk paint before baking. I am a sugar cookie connoisseur. I've been eating these my entire life, and I'm telling you... they are the best. Click HERE to find out how to make my favorite cookie of all time.

Now it's your turn. Do you have an autumn-themed project that you would like to share? We would like to invite you to join the Point of View Autumn Link Party right here on Gwenny Penny! Any idea that you feel relates to the theme is welcome at the link party (autumn, fall, harvest, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc). It doesn't have to be a new project... If you have something in your archives that's autumn-related, link it up! We want to see any and all autumn ideas. Add the Point of View button to your post so that others can join the party. And remember, by linking up you have the chance to be featured by one of the members of Point of View next week!


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Autumn Paintbrush Cookies Recipe

I am a sugar cookie aficionado. I have been eating Paintbrush Cookies my entire life. My mother made them with me, and I make them with my kids now. This is my absolute favorite cookie recipe of all time. Many of my longtime readers know that I am also a fan of the acorn. Combine my love of this cookie recipe with my love of acorns and you get my project for the September Point of View reveal...

Look at them... you really want to eat one, don't you. They take some time, but I promise you that they are well worth the trouble. Here's the how-to...

*This recipe was first published in the 1957 Betty Crocker Cookbook for Boys and Girls.*

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup shortening (Don't substitute butter or margarine... they don't taste the same.)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2½ cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Cream together shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

2. Stir flour, baking powder, and salt together. Slowly blend into the ingredients from Step 1. Chill dough for at least 1 hour (don't skip this step!)

3. Roll dough on floured surface. I usually roll it to somewhere between 1/8" and 1/4" thick. The thinner you roll, the crisper the cookies will be. Cut with desired cookie cutters. I got my acorns and oak leaves as part of a Wilton set (which also includes maple leaves) about 11 years ago, but it's still available in stores.

4. Place cut out cookies on ungreased baking sheets.

5. Time to decorate! This step is completely optional. 90% of the time I don't use the egg yolk paint; I just bake them as is.

Egg Yolk Paint: Mix together one egg yolk with 1/4 tsp water.

Separate into small bowls and add food coloring. I found all of these in my cupboard...

I had no idea I had four different types of food coloring (or why... obviously I don't use it very often). I ended up using all of them. I just mixed and stirred until I had nice shades of yellow, orange, red, and brown. Use small paintbrushes to paint directly on the unbaked cookies.

I have a pack of Crayola natural bristle paintbrushes that I save just for this recipe...

Here's my daughter demonstrating how to use the egg yolk paint on her Hello Kitty cookies...

6. Bake at 400 degrees for about 6 minutes. You want to make sure that you don't let the cookies get too brown because it will take away from the clarity of the colors.

Yum! You will love these cookies, and you can make them for any occasion. These are an especially great Christmas cookie idea. Have fun and get creative with them!

Now it's your turn... Check out this month's Point of View collage and link up your past or present autumn-themed projects at the Point of View Autumn Link Party!




I'm linking up...
Modern Country Style's Fall in Love Link Party

New Thanksgiving Decor

Have you guys been checking out some of the great Thanksgiving projects that have popped up all over the blogosphere over the past week or so? I decided to spend a little time this weekend creating some of the wonderful projects that other bloggers have to offer up.

First up was a Pottery Barn Mayflower table centerpiece knockoff. When I received my fall Pottery Barn catalog in the mail, I immediately noticed the centerpiece and thought it would probably be pretty easy to recreate, but I quickly forgot about the whole thing. Then last week I found a tutorial for the centerpiece, and I was blown away! I ran out to Michael's to pick up some supplies. Here's my version...

I love it! The tutorial I used was created by Robyn at The Pink Peony of Le Jardin. I did a couple of things differently than Robyn did. Mine is quite a bit smaller. It's about 11" long and 14" tall. I used sheets of stiffened felt for the hull of the boat (Robyn used bamboo placemats... very cool idea). I also added dowels to the bottoms of my sails and attached them to the vertical dowels so they would poof out a bit. I filled it with acorns and three faux mini pumpkins, and I had a great Thanksgiving centerpiece for my dining room table! This was a quick project, and I really encourage you to try it. There is minimal sewing involved and a lot of hot glue. Oh, in case you're interested, here's the Pottery Barn version...

image source: Pottery Barn

Next up was some wall art. We've had this one blank wall in our hallway since we moved into our current house over a year ago, and I decided it was time to dress it up. There have been some great free fall printables available recently, and I wanted to find a way to use them. I also found a template that I really wanted to use for making some acorn art using scrapbook paper. Luckily all of these pieces ended up complementing each other really well. Here's what they look like all together...

It took me just over an hour to throw this whole thing together. It took me longer to hang everything up than to get them all framed. Here's where you can find each piece...

The acorns were made using scrapbook paper and a template from Christie at A Lemon Squeezy Home. All I had to do was resized the template to fit my frames. I love the way these turned out...

The squirrel and oak leaf silhouettes were free printables from Yellow Mums. She also has a beautiful turkey silhouette to match that is available in her Etsy shop.

The "give thanks." print was a free printable from madigan made. I love the simplicity of it and the classic turkey added at the bottom.

So now I have this beautiful wall, and all I had to come up with were some frames and some paper. I plan to change out the printables with the seasons, so I can't wait to start hunting for some ideas for Christmas.

I hope you check out some of the other blogs I mentioned today. I feel like, as a blogger, I'm always trying to come up with something original and new, so it was nice to stop and smell the roses for once... to take a look at what others were doing and use their great ideas. There are lots of them out there!

Thanks for stopping by today! I told you that I was working on posting my holiday "to make" list. Well, I'm still working on it, but I hope to post it tomorrow or Wednesday in hopes that by sharing my list you might get some ideas for gifts to make this holiday season.

Linking up here:

Printable: Thanksgiving Place Cards

When I was a kid, I made place cards for every major holiday. It's not like we really needed them, but they always added a nice festive touch to the table. And there's something about seeing your name at the table that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. So I have a printable for you today... two sets of Thanksgiving place cards (with original graphics created by me).

The first set is my personal favorite. They are about 3" tall by 3.5" wide, so they're a bit bigger than your average place card, but I love them... especially the turkey!

I think he would look especially cute on the kids' table at Thanksgiving dinner.

Many of you probably recognize the acorn graphics from some of my previous printables (like this and this).

I just can't get enough of the acorns! And there's a whole lot of acorn love out there at this time of year. They would look perfect on the table for Thanksgiving.

Since some people may find these large place cards to be a bit too chunky for their liking, I also created a smaller set. They are 1.5" tall by 3.25" wide.

These are just as cute but on a smaller scale. And I love the little scallop border!

So there you have it... six different place cards to mix and match as you choose for your holiday table. They could also be used for scrapbooking!

Download or print the large Thanksgiving place cards HERE:



Download or print the small Thanksgiving place cards HERE:

Instructions: Print on white cardstock at 100% (no scaling). Carefully cut out each place card. Fold each place card in half to stand up.

All printables are for personal, non-commercial use only.

I love these place cards, and I can't wait to see them on the table at Thanksgiving dinner. Hope you enjoy!
(On a side note, I've been getting lots of requests for additional clothes for the Halloween paper dolls. I have plans to create some non-Halloween outfits for them, but it probably won't be until after Christmas since there is so much to cram into the next two months. I do have them on my list, though!)

Linking up here...