Giving Gifts

Personal gifts are usually the best gifts. This pillow is sweet and meaningful. One of these days J is going to teach me to sew!

Pillow via In Between Laundry

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

... is Autumn!

Autumn includes cooling weather which means I get to wear scarves and sweaters and boots.
Autumn is when I was born! The trees are gorgeous in autumn. Halloween is in Autumn, and Halloween includes my favorite pastime, playing dress-up. (This year I made hats for me and baby so we could be Princess Leia and Yoda, respectively.  We wore white robes.  Hubby was Luke and wore goofy blonde wig and cargos. And Yoda in the Baby Bjorn.) And, last but not least, campfires!
My mom sent me these (from Papmered Chef) for my birthday so I can make s'mores without tromping through the woods to find the perfect stick.

Also in Autumn, I begin thinking about Christmas, which is of course the other Most Wonderful Time. I am thinking about crafts for gifts, decorations, everything! How much time I have to make all these things I'm seeing that look like so much fun... whole 'nother story.
Some ideas:

Garland made from paper circles, modified by using last year's Christmas cards.
Knit ornaments
Rosemary-infused salt.  I'm using rosemary from my garden and calling it Turkey Rub.

Happy Autumn, everyone!
-J

Jack-o-lanterns! and yummy pumpkin seeds

Turns out it's hard to take pics of lighted Jack-o-lanterns... they're either wobbly like this one or have too much flash to be spooky (see below).

The Carving
The hubby and I found pictures of ourselves and amped up the contrast until it was mostly black and white (no gray). The we printed out the pics and traced them onto the pumpkin. Unfortunately our carving skills and giant knives kept us from the picture-perfect execution we were hoping to achieve, but we think we got the gist across.

The Seeds
We scooped the seeds and rinsed them. Then I sprinkled them with olive oil, chili powder, salt and pepper. I tossed them with the spices and spread them on a cookie sheet, trying to keep one layer. I was baking something else, so the oven was already on 350. I let them bake for a bit, stirred them around a bit (un-sticking them from the pan, mostly), and let them bake some more. I don't remember how long it took, I just kept tasting them till they were crunchy enough for me!


-- J

Newest neighbor

Just in time for Halloween...

This lady visits and creates a giant web just outside our front door. (I know it's the female b/c I googled it. The male is smaller and hangs out nearby, but not in the web.) She is terrifyingly large, but not poisonous (also googled). Then I noticed one on the back porch.  And one over the big rosebush at the corner of the house. And one in the garden.
I looked them up to keep myself from panic. But it turns out they will not crawl into my baby's room and eat her. They just eat bugs.

So now I feel some affection for her (and her friends). Perhaps I should come up with names for them? Any suggestions?

Happy Crafty Halloween

Although I am not involved in crafting my daughter's costume this year, I do love a good theme party. (I learned from the best - A can throw a theme party like nobody's business!) Halloween presents a perfect opportunity to make fun center pieces, decorate recyclable bags for candy, and make decor from material that you may have around the house. Will you be handing out candy or trick-or-treating this year?

Pin:  Candy Corn Candles via Woman's Day
Pin:  Halloween Labels via Oscar + Emma
Pin:  Wreath via Twig & Thistle

Hanging By a Thread

My to-do list for next spring is already growing. My husband and I are constantly working on the outside of our home. Ok, well mostly my husband!

When either of us cook, we love to have fresh herbs on hand. A garden never came to fruition this spring, but this hanging gutter garden might be the perfect addition to our side yard next year. It seems like a terrific idea for any small yard, patio, or balcony.

Is your spring must-do list already growing?

Images c/o aHa! Home & Garden

Welcome!

We, The Darwin Girls, would like to welcome you our blog - our blog about everything under the sun. The four of us met in sunny Florida at Eckerd College, and have been a family ever since. Darwin was actually a dorm that housed most of our family at one time or another. Although we are now living in four different states, we are still in touch. Throughout the year we meet as often as possible for graduations, weddings, showers, and girls only reunions. Our blog content will span everything - and we mean everything - religion, family, relationships, school, parenting, travel, art, cooking, sewing, photography, and perhaps even politics!

Thank you for stopping by, and we hope to hear from you soon.