How about them Apples

If Fall had a flavor I would be hard pressed to find a better one than crisp bright apple. Right up there with changing leaves and cozy sweaters, this favorite of fruits with its red, green and golden hues epitomizes Autumn.

As a child, a sweetly coated caramel or candy apple was a special seasonal treat, although rarely completely eaten in one sitting. Sadly they don't store particularly well once bitten into, resulting in a discolored gooey mess and pouting faces the next day. To the rescue: the popular mini apple caramel treats showing up everywhere on recipe websites.

For my version, I switched out caramel for a more dental friendly peanut butter coating in the same toasty color and added a sprinkling of crushed peanuts.

You'll Need

Large ripe apples - any variety

Melon baller

Meltable flavored disks 

Oversized toothpicks or lollipop sticks

Fall leaves or accents

Easy as....

1) Using melon baller, scoop ball shapes out of widest part of apple

 2) Insert toothpick in mini apple and swirl in melted peanut butter mixture covering any peeled portion but leaving a bit of skin peeking out for that authentic caramel apple look.

3) dip into crushed peanuts and Voila!

 Let cool on wax paper or place them in mini cupcake liners, if desired

 I created a quick label using vintage images from the Graphics Fairy and hung from mini clothespins

There are lots of fun and fancy Fall party picks available at party and gourmet stores, but I opted to simply spruce up some of the oversize toothpicks with pressed small leaves from my yard or a few knots of twine.

If you have leftover melted peanut butter coating and crushed peanuts, you can make a quick peanut butter bark. Stir crushed peanuts into melted coating and spread onto wax paper

 Let cool completely and break into smaller sections

serve with the mini apples or pop in a mason jar as a sweet gift or favor.

PennyWise Tips

Waste Not: After creating mini apples with melon baller, the extra unused apple scraps can be diced and added to muffin batter or other recipes

White or dark chocolate or other flavor melts can be used as an alternative, if allergies or taste rule out peanut butter. sprinkles, walnuts or mini chocolate chips can stand in for crushed peanuts.

Thanksgiving Light

I'm so delighted to be included in the 
Thankful at Home Tour. 

From November 4th through the 8th, 25 bloggers will be sharing ways in which they add personal touches to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. Speaking of gratitude, a big thank you to Julie of Lilacs and Longhorns and Kelly of My Soulful Home for organizing this tour!

Don't Miss a thing! 
Click Here for a complete list of  participating blogs.

As part of the tour, I thought I'd share a quick and easy DIY that won't take too much time away from the turkey

While Thanksgiving is a holiday which focuses on traditions, sometimes adding a new element can create wonderful new memories to accompany the time honored turkey and pumpkin pie. 

With a few simple supplies you can add a little glow to your holiday decor while letting friends and relatives take a moment to express a personal timely message of thankfulness and maybe even start a new holiday tradition. 

You'll Need

Clear clean jars in any size or a variety of sizes

I had some mason jars and also reused tomato sauce and baby food jars (we had an aged cat who ate baby food) 

(*With baby food jars make sure votive fits properly inside some have smaller openings)

Assorted light colored scrapbook or white paper cut to the appropriate size(s)

Faux leaves, ribbon or twine

Decorative accents

Flameless votives

Basic art supplies

While kitchen duties, football, conversation and catching up often keep many revellers busy on Thanksgiving, a decorating station set up in a quiet area with precut paper strips and simple art supplies, allows guests to come and go and get creative at their own pace.

Laying a sheet of freezer paper down first prevents oopses on your furniture

I slipped a swatch of ivory burlap under the glass of a thrift store frame and penned a sharpie (easily erasable) message for inspiration.

In keeping with the season, I chose scrapbook paper with Autumn tones, family themes and nature inspired patterns

Oh so basic supplies include: sparkly gel pens, colored pencils, markers, scissors and glue sticks
tarnished pieces from an old tea set and a rustic basket keep supplies in easy reach.
Last years DIY burlap banner adds a festive touch

Simply have guests write their name,

date, and a quick word or phrase on the cut paper strips or let we artsy types create an image representing something we are grateful for, anything from serious or sentimental to silly. 

Once done, slip paper into the jar, pop in a flameless votive and replace lid. 

I spruced up the lids ahead of time with some simple faux leaves, rustic natural accents and hot glue and spritzed a few with hammered metallic spray paint

As daylight wanes and plates are cleared (weather permitting) lanterns can be displayed outside on a patio....

inside on a windowsill,

or mantel,

or hung from a porch or tree

If planning to hang lanterns you can place a loop of twine over jar opening and carefully screw on lid, securing in place or attach hanger using a strong glue or alternately wrap with wire.

Wishing Everyone a 

Wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!

and for foreign PennyWise readers and friends

a Happy Fall!

Pennywise Tips

After the holiday, if desired, you can remove and keep gratitude messages and place in a scrapbook or keepsake box, reusing jars for next year.
 Have fun seeing how the messages change from year to year.
   

Or send guests home with their lanterns as a memorable favor 
   

Assign Kids or bored Tweens the job of helping to  assemble and hang or display jars

For more Thanksgiving projects and ideas pop over and visit

previous Pennywise posts.

Fall in love with Burlap

Fall into Sweet Treats


Thanks to all my readers

for making my first year of 
blogging such a delightful experience!

Thankful at Home Tour

Does the idea of planning your Thanksgiving holiday have your feathers ruffled?
Join us for a tour of twenty five inspiring blogs celebrating a season of Thankfulness with their favorite projects, recipes, decor and more, all while keeping the simple spirit of the holiday in mind!

A Special Thanks to Kelly of My Soulful Home and Julie of lilacs and Longhorns for putting this tour together!

Tour Schedule

Monday

savvy southern style

finding home 

lilacs and longhorns

The Inspired Room

the crafty woman

Tuesday

Stone Gable
Debbiedoos

What Meegan Makes

Maison de Pax

Confessions of a Plate Addict

Wednesday

Thistlewood farms

Eclectically Vintage

My Soulful home

Cedar Hill farmhouse

Southern Hospitality

Thursday

the Lilypad Cottage

a little claireification

Fresh Idea Studio

Pennywise (that's Me!)
the Rustic Pig

Friday

Housepitality Designs

Mom 4 Real

Country Design Style

The Everyday Home

Unskinny Boppy

and the winner is....

Recently I was delighted and honored  to be awarded the "blogger to blogger" Leibster award by the charming blog The Eclectic Shorebird. This award specifically recognizes and helps promote  those blogs currently with smaller followings.

In keeping with Liebster tradition it's now my turn choose creative and unique blogs that have been inspirational to me but might still be undiscovered by many. My first award recipient is the enchanting Botanic Bleu.

I knew I'd adore Judith's blog when I popped over to her site and was greeted with a most sublime photo of a charming outdoor table set with delightful objects and mismatched chairs all with a seemingly effortless and very French flair. Just the way I would outfit my (dream) house in Province.

Botanic Bleu brims with charming ideas, travel tips (she could write a book on Paris), holiday ideas (she has a special fondness for Christmas) and tutorials for crafts and projects that add that je ne sais quoi to your life and home.

Judith is also a shop owner (sadly I'm no where near Texas) and seamlessly combines her blogging and retail talents in a wonderful resource for design inspiration dedicated to living every day with joy and grace.

Here are just few teasers

beautiful French inspired Fall Vignette

September's Vintage Bird Prints

Indulge in delightful armchair travels and exquisite photography in her series 

A Moment in France

Part of the award involves a series of get to know you questions which the recipient will answer in an upcoming acceptance post and though I am no Barbara Walters he's a go:

How did you come to start your
Blog?

If you could meet one person from history, who would it be?

What's your favorite flower?

Your favorite book?

What four words best sum up your style?

If your life was a movie, which would it be?

Your favorite place to shop?

How do you de-stress from your busy schedule?

How would you spend a perfect day? 

Who inspires you?

For more inspired projects, lovely decor and general joie de vivre pop over and pay Judith a visit!

Nevermore.....

This time of year, I sometimes wonder if Edgar Allen Poe would be pleased that, more than 150 years later, his poem's namesake would be such a wildly popular Halloween accessory. 

Since I tend to embrace the eerier more mysterious side of the holiday, eschewing obvious ghoul and gore motifs, the raven is the perfect accent to lend a slightly spooky and otherworldly air to my decor. 

Last year I created a raven wreath so I thought I'd continue that theme this season with easy DIY accents featuring October's favorite feathered friend.

5 minute Raven Feather Globes

Seems the aisles of the craft stores are already filled with Christmas cheer so when I noticed the classic empty globe ornaments on sale, I figured I'd snatch up some early and put them to use before December rolls around.

I made two versions but there are infinite possibilities.

 For one, I popped in a printable raven image and feather and topped with a black bow. For the other I simply added a feather or two and topped with a gold ribbon and a printable "Nevermore". 
I rearranged the "fillings" carefully using a long skewer and suspended with fishing line.

Glass Globes,printout images, black feathers and assorted ribbon make up the supply list but glitter, beads or faux cobwebs would be fun too!

 made with images from the graphics fairy

Raven Cupcake Topper

A simple cupcake topper adorns store bought treats. 

Super Easy Supplies

Of course if unlike me you have a talent for baking, by all means use homemade cupcakes. I found black candy melts at my craft store and they are usually on sale around halloween.

I melted chocolate according to instructions and poured it into a ziplock baggie. (be careful it gets hot) After snipping a small hole in corner of thebaggie, I then traced free handed small ravens on wax paper (adding a "stem" to insert into cakes) 

I roughly outlined shaped on white paper and slid under wax paper as a guide. As always I made plenty of extras as these are very fragile and break easily when handled. When chocolate is completely cool carefully peel from back of paper. 

Have fun experimenting with words and shapes

Bon Appetite

I'm so delighted to be featured on
Rooted in Thyme's

Simple and Sweet Fridays!

Since PennyWise was brand new last October I thought I'd include

a quick Halloween Flashback

for Pennywise Readers who missed last year's post. Halloween Fun features the easy instructions

An easy DIY using Dollar store wreath and boas

A raven perches on white faux pumpkin which got a speedy makeover with temporary dollar store tattoos. 

A dollar glass globe becomes a crystal ball when filled with faux cobwebs and a flameless votive. Add a topper and set on a painted terra cotta saucer to complete the look. 

CPaul2013

Wishing Everyone A Magical Holiday!