Pine Cone Turkeys & A Lovely Centerpiece

I am the worst about decorating for each holiday and season. The last couple of years we have decorated more than ever. By decorating I mean I bought some window clings at the dollar store and Little Bear put them on the windows.

This year for Thanksgiving my in-laws are coming. I am sure you all know how it is, you have company coming, especially in-laws and you want your house to look its absolute best. We have been working on remodeling and some other odds and ends that needed to be done, but I wanted to have at least a couple of cute decorations, too.

The first thing I did was run to Pinterest. It's my go to for craft ideas. I found several things I liked but none were exactly what I wanted so I took the bit and pieces I liked and I added my own spin on them. It helps that Little Bear has an amazing collection of pine cones that he has collected over the last 3 years.

I made a centerpiece with a wooden bowl I found at Marshall's, a bunch of Little Bear's pine cones, a candle in a glass holder that I found at the dollar store, and some little pumpkins and squash that I found at the dollar store. I started by putting the candle where I wanted it then I dumped pine cones in and artfully arranged the
little pumpkins and squash for a bit of color. I love the way the centerpiece came out.


Our other Thanksgiving craft is pine cone turkeys. Little Bear helped with this craft. It has googly eyes and he cannot resist playing with googly eyes. This craft used the hot glue gun, which is now my nemesis since it gave me a blister today. For this you need pine cones, fabric fall leaves, googly eyes, and orange foam or felt. When you pick out your pine cones try to pick some that will stand up on their own.

The first task I gave Little Bear was to cut me triangles for our turkey's beaks. Then, with my help we hot glued the little beaks and googly eyes on. Then, we took our fabric leaves and figured out what order Little Bear wanted them in. His favorite color is red so most of our turkeys have red leaf tails. The leaves get glued to the back of the pine cone and you have cute little turkeys.

Sugar Scrub

Growing up we used a lot of salt scrubs... and I loved them. As an adult I learned that sugar scrubs are also a great option and now I like them more than salt scrubs. Sugar scrubs are not as harsh on your skin. Things I have read say this is due to the smaller nature of sugar granules, as well as their shape, and their ability to dissolve more quickly. I occasionally use a larger granule of sugar that I run through the blender to break it up. Over the years, I have made quite a few different sugar scrubs and two hold the title of favorite.

The first of these favorite scrubs is a Lemon Sugar Scrub. I love the fresh clean smell of lemon. The second is a Lavender Sugar Scrub. The relaxing, soothing scent of lavender is a long time favorite.

Making sugar scrubs is extraordinarily easy. There is a simple ratio found in most sugar scrubs of sugar to oil. The typical ratio you see is 1 cup sugar to 1/2 cup oil. I like my sugar scrubs with less oil so I usually do 1 cup sugar to 1/3 cup oil. I use olive oil a lot of the time because it is something I always have in the house. You can also use coconut oil, jojoba oil, or almond oil. While I regularly use olive oil, I prefer the other oils because the scent of olive oil can be overpowering with some essential oils and olive oil is more greasy than many of the other choices. The amount of essential oil really depends on the type of essential oil and the carrier oil you choose.

My lemon sugar scrub is a great sugar scrub. I use white sugar, olive oil, or whatever carrier oil I have on hand, the zest of a lemon, and some lemon essential oil. Mix the zest and sugar together first then I slowly pour my olive oil in. Don't pour too fast because it is really easy to make this scrub more oily than you want to. Then, I add my essential oil. This scrub has such a fresh clean scent. I love to use it after I come in from gardening and my hands are dry and gross. I, also, love this in the winter months when the world is a cold, dreary place. This lemon sugar scrub is bright and cheerful!

The lavender sugar scrub is a little more time consuming. It uses two types of sugar. I use Demerara Sugar and white sugar. It also uses dried lavender flowers. I dump all of these dry ingredients into my blender and pulse until the sugar crystals and the lavender are well mixed and somewhat broken down. I like it somewhat chunky, but not quite as chunky as it is without running through the blender. Then, I slowly pour my carrier oil into the dry mixture, stirring. The amount of oil you need really depends on personal preference. I like this scrub to be a little drier than the lemon scrub. Then, I add my essential oil until I get just the right amount of lavender scent. The flowers and the essential oil give you a lot of room to play with the scent to make it as subtle or as strong as you would like. I use thus scrub before bed a lot. Lavender is very relaxing and soothing. This scrub is great for use as a body scrub in the shower.

I put my sugar scrubs in 8 ounce wide mouthed canning jars. I like these Ball jars the best. They hold quite a bit and they are low profile and sit close to the counter which keeps them from getting bumped and knocked off the counter by my son, like taller jars tend to do. When I started making sugar scrubs I was using a spoon from my kitchen to scoop it out. Some people use their hands, but I try not to contaminate them as much as possible. I now use some cool little wooden scoops, I found on amazon.com, that remind me of gelato spoons. They are the perfect size for sugar scrubs and are cute to attach and give with a scrub as a gift.

You can print these recipes here.

Let Your Imagination Run Wild with Homemade Window Clings

Recently I got a roll of vinyl adhesive free frosted window film. I bought this window film to make window clings. These are subtle and pretty without being huge. I use these decorations to brighten my husband and son's days. I leave them little messages or a heart or something on the mirror or window. These are nothing huge or fancy, but they are a lot more personal than using premade store bought window clings. This film stays up much better than the store bought clings we have tried. They fit smoothly against the glass and even when I forget to clean the mirror or window they stay up well; cleaning the window first really helps them to stay over a long time period.

My first few tries I used a stencil and a craft knife to cut them out. I am not the most coordinated or the best cutter and you can tell when you look up close at the first few tries. From a distance the uneven edges are not so noticeable. The sheet is fairly easy to cut through, but if you are like me and don't have a steady hand there are easier ways to make these. When you cut these out you can cut through the top clingy section or the clingy piece and the clear plastic backing piece. I tried to cut just through the vinyl cling part because I found it to be a little easier to remove from the backing. It is a little difficult to peel the two layers apart, but with patience it can be done.

The second batch I made I used my old Cricut machine to cut words and phrases. I cut a piece of the vinyl sheet with scissors and placed it on the Cricut cutting mat and then I load it in the machine. When you do this make sure your Cricut blade is reasonably sharp. When I started the first one the blade was not sharp enough and it was frustrating trying to pop the shape out. I have mostly been making phrases and sayings. Some of the favorites I have made are initials for every one in the house and put them on the bathroom mirrors. I have made anchors and hearts, and sayings like "I love you" and "smile."

If you are looking for a kid's craft you can cut out shapes for your children. Then, they can easily color on the textured side. I found that Sharpies work best. They do smear a little in the first minute or so after coloring. The color adds an extra dimension you don't get from the plain frosted look. Let your imagination run wild with these homemade window clings!

You can buy the Fancy Fix Adhesive Free Window Film here.

I received a discount on the window cling film in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.