Thanksgiving Recap

How was everyones Thanksgiving? Ours was pretty good, I took some pictures so you can check it out!

Here is how our table was set up Pre-Dinner

Here was our setting

Here is our pie, HOMEMADE!

It turned out really good!!

Here is our YUMMY Turkey!

Here is our homemade pull apart bread!

Here is our Mashed Potatoes!

 Here is our Green Bean Casserole

Here is our gravy! Pulls it all together!!

Corn! I never knew how much this completes the meal until we ran out of our left overs and it just was not the same!!

 And my favorite part!!!! The stuffing (dressing). I LOVE THIS STUFF!!!

So that was our Thanksgiving meal! Then we relaxed for a little bit and went out black friday shopping. 

Have you seen the Walmart commercials this year, the one where the ladies run into each other and they are so polite and sweet! hahahahaha NOTHING LIKE THAT!!! It looked like a mosh pit at a rock concert. I wasn't really there for anything important so it was a waste! While I was fighting off the wolves, My husband and Mother-in-law went to Toys R Us to get some door buster toys for the kids. They said it was very civilized and they got goodie bags of toys for waiting in line and everything. Then we all met up at Target. This was much better than Wally World! We stood in line outside, it wash't too cold, then they let in a few people at a time, once the doorway was cleared they would let in a few more. We got some great deals. We bought iPod Touch's for our kids. Towels for the house, some clothes and PJ's for the family and when we were done we walked straight to an open  register it was way too easy!! Then we dropped off my Mother-in-law and things from the 1st 3 stores and went to best buy! WOW that was a lot of people. We got Apple TV a flash drive and the best deals of the night Iron Man 2 and Sherlock Holmes Game of Shadows both on Blu-Ray for 3.99 each!!! 

How was your Thanksgiving?

What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?

Did you participate in the madness that is Black Friday?

If so what was your best deal?

Sugar-Plum Treasury by LongTallSallys

Check out this gorgeous treasury featuring our plum flower hair clip:

'S U G A R~P L U M ' by LongTallSallys

Amethyst Crosscut Glass... LovingLighting $209.00	Linen pincushion - cro... namolio $15.00	Pair of Vintage Walnut ... FabulousPieces $635.00	1940's New Look Lil... MarleneX $550.00
Toddler Shoes Soft Sole... BitsyBlossom $32.00	Knitted Scarf Plum Cowl... NinisNiche $36.00	3.25" Flower Hair ... LizzyandJanes $13.50	DREAMING OF PLUM...Auth... TLCcharms $109.99
purple canvas purse // ... olivetreetexti... $47.00	Purple Planet Necklace ... SilkPurseSowsE... $9.00	Vintage Oval Hat Box 19... VintageBarrel $24.99	Cute Purple Plum Satin ... daisyclub $16.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Thanksgiving Recipes!

Thanksgiving is coming, YAY! It is the one day a year I am happy to wear my fat pants! Loud and Proud baby! So here is my Menu...I am so excited to make dinner this year since I have been learning how to make more things myself (i.e Bread) I am glad to have a reason to practice. Plus I am also pretty excited to be able to use my new double ovens for something.

Turkey- I am pretty traditional when it comes to turkey and I do not get fancy. My reasoning, "Why mess with a classic?" I just pat my turkey with generic seasoning salt and put it in a turkey bag that has been shook with flour in it. SIMPLE! However I do go big on the portions I love leftover Thanksgiving dinner so I am making a turkey that is 23 lbs.

Mashed Potatoes- I love REAL mashed potatoes! Also simple and for the same reason. Boiled potatoes with heavy whipping cream, butter, and salt SIMPLE!!

Stuffing- I am not yet so ambitious that I make stuffing from scratch. I do love the Pep. Farms cubed stuffing so I buy 2 bags of that and add the fresh cut celery and onion and chicken broth. However instead of putting this in a casserole dish in the oven, I have other stuff that needs oven time, I put this in the crock pot and let it sit on low for an hour or so. SIMPLE!! (Are you getting a theme here?)

Green Bean Casserole- I make the green bean casserole from the recipe on the Frenchs Fried Onion box, the only thing I change is instead of using cream of mushroom soup I use cream of chicken. The only reason I do this is because my husband does not like mushrooms. SIMPLE!!

Corn- On the stove, SIMPLE!!!

Gravy- From the packet using the turkey drippings. SIMPLE!!

Monkey Bread- Okay I am not talking about what the majority of people call Monkey Bread. I do not put cinnamon, or brown sugar or any of that stuff on it. This is just bread and butter in a bunt pan that makes awesome pull apart bread (This is in place of making regular dinner rolls). Usually I use frozen dinner rolls, thaw, let them rise, then put them in the bunt and bake it however this year since I have learned how to make bread dough from scratch I am going to make the roll dough myself and use that. I am so excited to try this. I will let you all know how it turns out! Still SIMPLE!! (I Hope.)

Pumpkin Pie- Usually we order our pies from a bakery like Perkins or something however this year I am going to try to make my pumpkin pie myself. I am going to use the Famous Libby's Pumpkin Pie from the bake of the can, yes I am using the can. I am not going to make my first pie ever straight out of a pumpkin although it is on my bucket list. So pretty SIMPLE!!

French Silk Pie- Since I am going to make the Pumpkin Pie I am not in a huge hurry to lean how to make french silk. So I am ordering this from Perkins. SIMPLE!

To drink we are going to have sparkling grape and apple juice and milk with our pie!! SIMPLE!!

So my whole menu is really SIMPLE but like I said "Why mess with a classic?" I am so excited. However the thing I am MOST excited for is probably the Decorations!!! Well I guess that will have to be another post!

I will just leave you with this question...What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving recipes??

High Five Friday!

High Five!!

#1 My son turned 2!! Yay, bring on the terrific twos! I love this age, it's right when they can start to talk and tell you what they want and don't want in words that are easy to understand and they have SO much imagination and energy! I am so glad that he has hit this fun and exciting milestone!

#2 Monday we had a little party for Liam and invited some of our friends over for cake and ice cream (and caramel brownies for the adults). It was nice to spend some time with some great friends. Since we moved in June we have been welcomed with open arms by so many people and it was nice to return the invitation.

#3 I learned how to make homemade bread from scratch, no mix, no box. We used freshly ground wheat flour and everything! I cannot believe how easy it was and this bread is like to die for!!!! So good

#4 I got to have a girls night with some of the greatest ladies!!! It was so much fun! We went to go see Breaking Dawn Part 2......which brings me to my last but not least #5

#5 Breaking Dawn Part 2 was EPIC!!! No spoilers here sorry! Just a superfan in love with the books and in like with the movies. The final movie actually lived up to the legacy of the book! I am still freaking out about how good I thought it was. Sad that it took till the 5th movie to be as good as the books but I am glad we ended on a good note! Now next I just have to read The Host before the movie comes out!

Halloween Recap

Hi L&J Readers, 

Lizzy here. I am happy to introduce our newest blog addition. A guest contributor and the youngest of us sisters. The creative and talented mama of two, living and loving in Colorado. Welcome 'Kitty'!

Before we get too far into the Thanksgiving season which I am so excited about I want to recap some of the awesome Halloween projects we did this year!! I am a big "pinaholic" so I tried to accomplish as many Halloween pins as I could on a budget. Luckily my husband was building some walls in our basement and he had some left over supplies that I could craft away with. Here are some of my favs: 

This pinterest find was super easy and a lot of fun! I bought an inexpensive white picture frame from hobby lobby and a ball of string. Then I took out the glass and propped up the prongs on the back of the frame. Then I tied the string around one of the prongs and started making my web! I used every combination of prongs to make sure I got the web to look symmetrical, to make sure the sting would not slide off the prongs I put a ball of hot  glue on top of each prong. And done!

Here is the finished product on our front door!

Next are these mummy jars! Also easy as can be!

My daughter wanted to make one for each member of our family Dad, Mom, Her, and Little brother. Even Nanna, Pappa, Oma and Bacca got their own jars. These are just mason jars from the dollar store, a pack of sterile gauze wraps from Walmart, and a package of crazy eyes from hobby lobby! For each jar instead of putting a tea light in there and burning myself trying to light them I bought the battery operated tea lights from the dollar store to go in the bottom of the jars. 

Next was the easiest of all the pins. I loved this idea however I did my shopping for the project too close to halloween and my options were limited as to the variety of pumpkins that were available. 

These are just foam pumpkins from Michaels wrapped in tule and tied at the top with ribbon. I saw this idea on pinterest with both orange and white pumpkins, and I must say the white pumpkins did look better. I made two in this bigger size and then three in a smaller size. 

This is my attempt at a cute fall wreath! This was a lot cuter on pinterest.

Here is the set up all together.

I wanted the inside of the house to be just as festive as the outside so I made these fake blood candles by dripping wax from a red candle onto the edges of a white candle.

Then I placed them next to vases with halloween filler and tea lights. 

L&J Goes Green

I LOVE sharing about a good cause. And I have a new cause I just have to share with you! Okay, really it is not new. Recycling has been around forever. But, what I stumbled upon will transform your recycling! Plus, this is the perfect month to focus on giving back to mother earth, because we should all be thankful for the wonderful blessing the earth is to each of us. But, I should start at the beginning. 

My precious laptop was seriously injured in an accident recently. [Not sure if I can actually claim it as an accident, but I digress.] So, I was looking online for places local to me that I can properly dispose of/recycle my laptop. I was searching online and found a site. 

Earth911.com

It was such a fabulous site. You can simply search for a recycling facility near you, and it is not limited to laptop computers, they have categories for batteries, paint, glass, gardening materials, construction supplies and equipment. The possibilities will amaze you! The site also gives specific information for the recycling facility, so you don't have to do a bunch of additional research. Plus, it has some great articles on being green, ways to recycle, recent news pertaining to recycling and taking care of mother earth. Go to the site and bookmark it now! You will thank me, when you have some odd item you need to recycle and no clue where to take it!

Another bonus of finding this gem of a website is that I learned that, 'America Recycles Day' is in two days! Ahhhh. You can search for local events taking place in honor of this day, you can pledge to make a difference by finding out what items you can recycle locally and making a pledge to recycle more within the next month!

So, what are you waiting for? Jump on over to Earth911.org and pledge to make a difference and find out how you can be the change in your community to help make recycling an issue that gets the attention it deserves! 

High Five for Friday

High Five for Friday! (Disclaimer: I am high fiving from the last two weeks. :)

#1: First and foremost I am high fiving the fact that although the week started with the flu, it didn't last too long AND I feel great now. Plus, my hubby was seriously my hero while I was sick and got our little pumpkin ready for church all by himself, took her to church all by himself, taught my Sunday School lesson for me extremely last minute and then cooked dinner for his family (which I had committed to do) and took it over to his brother's house. He won major brownie points and really made it easy for me to relax and get the rest I needed so I could get well. A.Mazing.

#2: Pumpkins! Christmas is truly my favorite holiday, but Halloween is a close second and I love carving pumpkins. I try to be creative and do fun characters or go with a great theme. So in honor, I am posting some of my favorites I have created throughout the years in my Halloween recap (look forward to Monday's post).

#3: Trick-or-Treating was awesome. My little girl is 20 months and you just never know how these things will be recieved by little ones. She loved trick-or-treating! It was so fun to take her around and see the excitement on her face. She even got in some, 'trick-or-treats' (we practiced for weeks) and some, 'thank-yous' (at appropriate times even). The weather was perfect, and that is saying something for the Rocky Mountains this time of year. We took our wagon (best. idea. ever.) and since her bucket got heavy and she got tired towards the end, the wagon was the perfect catch-all when we needed it.

#4: Home Sweet Home is coming together and that feels amazing. We are building a new home and recently had our design appointment (SO stressful)! The day of I couldn't sleep and I barely ate because I was so anxious and excited to pick out all of our design elements for our home. But now that is complete and we have agreed on our must-haves, it feels really great and very exciting to be able to look forward to the progress and anticipation of seeing our ideas come together.

#5: Cookies make any day better. Especially my homemade sugar cookies. These are the best sugar cookies. Nice and fluffy but not too soft and crumbly either. I get requests all the time to make my sugar cookies, they have become semi-famous, so I am going to share this amazing recipe with you. You can thank me later, when you have devoured the whole batch of sugar cookies in one sitting. :) 

Lizzy's Famous Sugar Cookie Recipe 

1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
3 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla and milk. Then add baking powder and flour. Chill dough for at least 10 minutes. Roll dough on lightly floured surface about 1/4" thick. Cut out. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes. 

Baby Girl Bling!

Lately I have had lots of friends having babies (and I mean there is something in the drinking water, so watch out). Well, lots of them are actually having baby boys, but for the few that are having girls, it means I get to go accessory crazy and put fun things together from my Etsy shop. So, I decided to show you some of my creations I am sending to a friend who just had her first baby.

You can check out more Lizzy & Janes creations in our Etsy Shop.

For custom creations, you can always contact us. We customize for free, so we can always change up colors, styles, centers, headbands, etc. Plus, all of our items come gift boxed so you don't have to do any busy work to get them ready to gift.

Make sure to leave us some love and tell us your favorite accessory! We always love to hear feedback.

Happy November!

Happy November! I hope everyone has had a fantastic fall. We had a wonderful Halloween! I will be blogging about it this week, but I have to say, I am breathing a little easier with Halloween under the belt and out of the way, because I have so many other things occupying my time. We wanted to bring in the new month with a breathe of fresh air with this beautiful treasury. Our set of flower hairclips is included, and although we love to be included, we also just adore this collection of items and the wonderful simplicity they bring to this wonderful season! Enjoy.

 

'Changing Seasons' by GetGlassy

As the seasons change....

Decorative Feathered Bi... RobinsArtAndDe... $35.00	Woodland Costume Headdr... mimiandlu $24.00	Burgundy & Bronze Acorn... UnnamedRoad $12.00	Felted Wool Bag in Ivor... HuzzahHandmade $95.00
Architectural Bud Vase ... LandMstudio $50.00	Bronze and cream - 3 f... EmbellishedLif... $12.00	free shipping ruffle co... betsybdesign $32.00	Copper and Silver Metal... lucysnowephoto... $30.00
Kitchen Conversions - 1... wickedmint $18.00	Gold Porcelain Pendant ... CorkyWhites $85.00	Fused Glass Handmade Di... Smokeylady54 $45.00	Set of 3 - 3" Flow... LizzyandJanes $18.00
Detoxifying Traditional... Mundus $12.00	Copper Gold Barrette - ... ccvalenzo $24.00	Celtic Embroidered Purs... ourspecialange... $15.00	Wrap Bracelet Pearl Bro... RavensNestScar... $16.00

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