Craft Supply Swap

Last Saturday I hosted a Craft Supply Swap! I wanted to get rid of some things in my craft closet and get some inspiration for Christmas presents, so I thought it was a good idea. Four people showed up with fabric, beads, scrapbook paper, and other fun stuff. I also had everyone bring a snack to share so we can make an occasion of it! And because I like fall, I decorated the tables in my autumn best!

Everyone left with new items and new ideas... for free! The fun part was sharing our interests and what projects we were working on. I can't say that I'm totally prepared for Christmas present ideas, but the wheels are turning!

Spicy Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cake

This is one of my favorite fall recipes! Not only is it yummy, but it makes the house smell terrific as it bakes! And it starts with a boxed cake mix! I made it today for my craft supply swap (more about that later!).


SPICY PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHUNK CAKE

Ingedients
1 pkg (2 layer) spice cake mix
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
6 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Prepare cake mix as directed on package, reducing water to 1/2 cup and increasing oil to 1/2 cup. I listed 3 eggs in the ingredients, but use how ever many eggs your spice cake mix calls for.
- Add the cream cheese, the pumpkin, cinnamon, and ginger
- Beat on medium speed until well blended
- Stir in chopped chocolate
- Pour into greased 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube plan
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, cool for 10 minutes

You can top with a cream cheese icing or cool whip!

Enjoy!!

Beth Moore Weekend

I spent Friday & Saturday with girls from church at the Beth Moore event in Memphis. There were 13,300 women at the FedEx Forum for the event!


The worship and message were great and the fellowship even better. Below is a picture of us at lunch on the way home. It doesn't really look like it, but it was COLD and all I had packed were flip flops! My toes were FREEZING!

Another Blog for You to Read

This week I started another blog... funny, right? Since I can't really keep up with this one!?

I've started a blog on home organization tips, projects, and products. I'm hoping it will eventually turn into an actual business.

This week I started with the pantry re-do I did this weekend, including before and after pictures. I ought to practice what I preach, right?

www.taylortotalhome.blogspot.com

Check back often as I hope to do Tuesdays Tips and some product reviews in addition to documenting my projects while I gain some experience.

I'm willing to help some friends get organized in exchange for before and after pictures while I'm getting started! Just let me know if you are interested!

End of Summer Harvest

Sorry to be MIA for a while! Our garden has been quite fruitful this summer! The pictures below are what we brought in the house just TODAY! From left to right, there are green bell peppers, jalapenos, tomatoes, and that huge pile of leaves... BASIL!! I'll be taking quite a few bell peppers to work tomorrow to share. I think we're going to make some more pesto this week and try to dry the basil in the oven.

We also dug up our potatoes today! Jeff planted them in the spring and their flowers just started to die off (which is the signal they are ready). They are a lot smaller than we thought they'd be. I'm going to figure out how to blanch and freeze them.

We have had probably over one hundred jalapenos this summer, easily! I've frozen most of them, but we made some yummy jalapeno poppers a couple times. I also got up enough courage to make hot pepper jelly and can it this weekend! We tried some today and, I think for a first attempt, it turned out well!

We've also made salsa, spaghetti sauce, and stuffed peppers with our home-grown vegetables. We've frozen the spaghetti sauce, but now that I am more comfortable canning, I'll do more of that next year.

Today we cleaned out part of the garden to get ready to put in the fall garden. We'll put in most of what we planted in the spring again.

My "Cure for the Common Life"

I'm part of a girls Bible study group that meets every Thursday! I love the fellowship and conversations that group provides. We just finished reading Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado. In order to get back to my "sweet spot" and do something I enjoy doing, I decided to put my insecurities behind me and sell some of my wares! So today I set up my Etsy site:

http://beadingbecky.etsy.com/

Right now I'm mainly selling some beads that I want to get rid of in order to get more (prettier!) beads. There are a few bracelets, too. Since I have Fridays off for now, I'm hoping to spend more time making things and learning more about the beading and sewing.

And this is totally NOT a sales pitch! I'd prefer to sell to strangers! Friends, family, and blog readers get things free!

Jennifer & Ben's Wedding

This was weekend #3 of 4 for travel... needless to say, glad I'll be home this weekend. That said, it was still a fun weekend. I traveled with Kelly to Atlanta for our cousin Jennifer's wedding. Jeff was stuck at home working. Actually, the wedding was in McDonough, Georgia at the Hazelhurst House. It was beautiful, of course!

Practicing!

Despite a little rain in the beginning, the wedding was sweet. I think they were trying to compete with Jeff and I on the fastest wedding ceremony, but we are still in the lead. Probably because they had 9 bridesmaids and 9 groomsman!

Mom & Dad at the reception.

Cousin Josh... his wedding was last summer! And in this picture, I'm on my tip-toes and he's practically sitting just to get the two of us in the picture. Hard to believe we're related!

Kelly & I at the reception.

Good to see the extended family at weddings now that we really don't get together at Christmas anymore. Now someone has to get married next summer!