Fall - Petite Haus

Angelina October 9, 2016 Fall

2016 Pumpkin Festival in Germany

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This year I had another opportunity to visit the World’s Largest Pumpkin Festival! It is held every year at Schloss Ludgwigsburg in Ludgwigsburg, Germany (just outside of Stuttgart).

We went stumbled upon it by accident in 2013 and when we decided to go to Europe this past September we made sure it was part of our itinerary again!

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Every year the festival consists of over 400,000 pumpkins!!! The festival is lots of fun! It is held on the castle grounds of this palace below:

Even if you aren’t pumpkin stir crazy, the grounds are beautiful and you can also tour the inside of the palace as well. We had been inside in 2013 so we passed this time.

Every year the pumpkin festival theme changes. This year it was Circus themed (Zirkus, in German). When we were there in 2013 it was a Sports theme. So if you go every year it is always different!

The pumpkin art is made mainly from wood, straw, and gourds/pumpkins. Just enjoy the pictures now!

They had this wall with all the different pumpkin and gourd varieties! I loved looking at it!

The festival also has pumpkin-themed food of all types: pumpkin… soup, bread, muffins, rice, ravioli, pasta, quiche, and of course, strudel! Now this soup inspired to me to create my own copycat version here! The dark stuff floating on top is pumpkin seed oil and it is DELICIOUS.

There are also special events that occur during the festival. Last time we were there they had pumpkin boat racing in the main fountain of the palace! This year we just missed Ray Villafane, the famous pumpkin carver.

You can view my trip to the pumpkin festival in 2013 here.

So what do you all think of the pumpkin festival?? Have you ever seen anything like it??

OH PS – I saw a stork for the first time in real life in Germany at the festival and was so excited I had to share!

For more information, you can visit the official website here.

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Angelina October 6, 2016 Fall

French Country Fall Ideas – Thursday Favorite Things

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Before our French country Fall tour begins, let’s sit back and enjoy some hot mulled apple cider. Kingsbury Brook Farm shared a delicious recipe for hot apple cider!

Then, let’s enjoy a Frenchy appetizer! Simplify Life with Mrs. R shared this recipe for this French Inspired Pear & Brie Pastry! YUM!

Okay, now onto the French country tour… Belle Blue Interiors shared her French country kitchen. I love how the orange of the pumpkins goes so well with her blue dishes!

Olivia from Reinvented Collection, one of our co-hostesses shared her painted cabinet makeover decorated in the French country style for Fall! Don’t you love it? Please also swing by her blog – she has her own features every week too!!

Bringing French Country Home shared her entry way styled in a natural French country way. Love the antlers in the French market bag!

Designthusiasm shared this beautiful French country table for Fall! I love the use of pink roses end eucalyptus Who says Fall has to be all orange?

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Katherine’s Corner

Peonies and Orange Blossoms

Reinvented Collection

Surrounding’s by Debi

Marilyn’s Treats

Vintage Mama’s Cottage

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Angelina October 4, 2016 Fall

Rustic Fall Centerpiece Decor with Owls

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With every season I change the decor in the center of our ridiculously oversized kitchen island. I have to crawl on top the counter to place the owls in the center!

I love decorating for Fall with my owls. I have slowly added to the collection, but I think I am done collecting them. I’ve had these pieces for years now.

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The wreath holder is up year round and I change the wreath as the seasons change. For Fall I have an acorn wreath which I love. Below is a look at the entire centerpiece. I have scattered mini Fall candle figurines, lit Fall leaf light strand, Steiff teddy bears and a nutcracker. The pumpkins are from the garden. The scent from a seasonal candle fills the room putting one in a Fall mood!

I love this nutcracker and the sunflowers. Who says nutcrackers are for Christmas only? You can also see some of the little candle figurines better – pumpkins, owls, and a squirrel!

A closer look at the owls and acorn wreath. As you may have noticed, photographing in this room is incredibly difficult with the lighting situation. It is so bright at the windows but dim in the kitchen. I can’t use natural light in the kitchen so all the pictures take on a yellow hue.

Below are my little Steiff teddy bears. We have pumpkin bear who I’ve had for several years. This year I have a new bear who is carrying a maple leaf that is changing colors. He is really cute and is actually a yellow-orange-brown color just as in the picture. And you may have noticed the odd color of the pumpkins… they are YELLOW! Yes, really, it is not photoshop! They grew on our compost pile as volunteers. I have never seen yellow pumpkin before! We are thinking we are going to save the seeds and plant more next year just to see what happens!

A last look at our Fall centerpiece and our unique yellow pumpkins.

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed my little Fall centerpiece for the kitchen!

And here I picked a few of my Fall favorites…

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Angelina October 2, 2016 Desserts

The Best Apple Pie Recipe

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I am sharing with you today my FAVORITE apple pie recipe. I have been making this recipe for several years and I still think it is the best apple pie recipe EVER!

Granted, in general, fresh homemade apple pie is usually always good, but this one seems to be better. I think it has to do with precooking the apples.

Doesn’t it just look delicious and put you in a Fall mood? Now imagine yourself enjoying the pie… do you like yours with ice cream or whipped cream?

The BEST apple pie recipe: (printable version here)

For the dough:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. granulated sugar
16 Tbs. (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 to 4 Tbsp. ice water

For the filling:

2 lb. Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into slices 1/4 inch
thick
2 lb. Honey Crisp apples, peeled, cored and cut into slices 1/4 inch thick
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
4 tsp. cornstarch
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 egg white, beaten with 1 tsp. water
2 tsp. granulated sugar

Directions:

To make the dough (Now, if you are going to do as many cutouts as I did, you will want to double the dough recipe): In a food processor, pulse the flour, salt, and granulated sugar together until combined, about 5 pulses. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 pulses. Add 3 Tbs. of the ice water and pulse 2 or 3 times. The dough should hold together when squeezed with your fingers but should not be sticky. If it is crumbly, add more water 1 tsp. at a time, pulsing twice after each addition. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, divide in half and shape each half into a disk. Wrap the disks separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out half of the dough into a 12-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Fold the dough in half and then into quarters and transfer it to a 9-inch deep-dish pie dish. Unfold and gently press the dough into the bottom and sides of the dish. Trim the edges flush with the rim of the dish. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

On a large sheet of lightly floured parchment paper, roll out the remaining dough disk into a 12-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Using leaf pie cutters, cut out as many leaves as your heart desires. Refrigerate the cutouts for 30 minutes (I actually did not do this step this time and instead cut them out and immediately put them on top of the apples).

Meanwhile, make the filling: In a large Dutch oven, stir together the apples, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and cornstarch. Set over medium heat, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are just tender but not mushy, about 20 minutes. Uncover and cook until the liquid has thickened and become glossy, 5 to 7 minutes more. Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice and let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

Position a rack in the lower third of an oven, place a baking sheet on the rack and preheat the oven to 400°F.

Let the pie shell, lattice top and leaf cutouts stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Transfer the apple filling to the pie shell, then gently invert the lattice top over the pie. Trim the edges flush with the rim of the dish and press the top and bottom crusts together to seal. Brush the underside of the leaf cutouts with egg wash and gently press them onto the edges of the piecrust, overlapping the leaves slightly. Decorate as desired with the remaining leaves. Brush the entire top crust with egg wash and sprinkle with the granulated sugar.

Place the pie dish on the preheated baking sheet. Bake until the crust is crisp and golden brown, about 1 hour, covering the edges with aluminum foil if they become too dark. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool for at least 1 1/2 hours before serving. Serves 8.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen.

Here’s a look at the pie just before it headed into the oven…

…and here it is fresh out of the oven! The smell is intoxicating.

I actually shared this recipe on the blog several years ago, but I thought I’d give it a little photoshoot refresh. However at that time I did a lattice top with these leaf cutouts. The cutouts in the pictures in the post are much easier to do than the cutouts in the pictures of the old post. In the old way the dough would rip when trying to transfer it to the top of the pie.

Oh yum, just before eating… hot apple goodness oozing out… I like my apple pie with a touch of vanilla ice cream. Or homemade cinnamon ice cream. My mom votes next time we try it with homemade salted caramel ice cream. Doesn’t that sound delicious?

One last look at the pie, yum yum!

If you are interested in the piecrust cutters, I used these ones here from an earlier year. These ones here are similar and cheaper.

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Angelina September 27, 2016 antique

Fall Table Decor using Natural Elements and Antiques

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I had fun putting together this table for Fall! I knew when I scored this antique paisley shawl at an estate sale this past Summer that I was going to use it for my Fall table! I like decorating with antiques and for Fall, I used natural elements – the pumpkins, corn, and wheat stalks!!

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The shawl is from around the 1850s and I got a really good deal on it! It is in great shape too! I also knew I would use my antique dough bowl again this year, but I wanted the centerpiece to look different than last year… so I just decided to use white and the blue-gray Jarrah pumpkins.

What I thought was interesting was that when I placed the blue-gray pumpkins in the dough bowl, the blue-gray in the paisley started to pop out of the pattern! The green stems also go with the green in the paisley!

As you can see, I couldn’t help myself and bought the little white Staub pumpkin cocottes. I could not decide if I liked the white pumpkin in the center (above) or the orange one (Below). I flipped and flopped them for a long time. Still don’t know what I like better!

When I spotted this deep purple Indian corn at our local farmer’s market (it is actually a farm stand I suppose as it is literally at the farm)… I knew I had to take it home with me! I love how it goes with the purple goblets and purple linen napkins!! The dried wheat stalks go with the dried corn!

I know that using plaids and tartans are pretty popular right now for Fall tables – I thought about doing that but I don’t have any Fall-colored tartans. I haven’t really seen any Fall tables using paisley, have you? I love this look of the table from up above.

This antique paisley is so pretty! I can’t believe how good of condition it is in considering how old it is! When I was in Germany, I read an article about how Empress Josephine Bonaparte popularized the Kashmir paisley shawl in Western culture in the 1800s! The paisley pattern means love. It was quite expensive coming from Kashmir region and it was often gifted among the elite as a symbol of love.

Above, Empress Josephine Bonaparte in 1801 with a Kashmir Shawl.

Anyway, sorry for the distraction about the history of Paisley, I just thought it was interesting! I love looking at the swirling pattern of the fabric and how the colors go with all of the natural elements on the table! I confess, I actually don’t really like the color orange. But I do like this shawl a lot!

I like the mixing of the old and the new. Why should you put your antiques away when you can use them? This paisley shawl was sitting in the cedar chest, but it shouldn’t hide there all year! The “new” in this case are the pumpkins – only 100 days old instead of 100 years!

You can recreate this look too. A paisley fabric, a dough bowl (reproduction or antique!), pumpkins, corn, and dried wheat stalks!

Here are my sources of what I know of (contains affiliate links)…

White ceramic pumpkin cocottes – Staub

Orange ceramic pumpkin cocottes – Staub

Goblets – Juliska

Black Plates “Country Estate” – Juliska

Orange “Country Estate” plates – Juliska, discontinued.

Couzon Consul Silverware

Antique Dough bowl – similar here and here

Antique Kashmir shawl – similar here (I had no idea they were worth so much!! I paid, um, $15…)

And here are a few Fall favorites…

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Angelina September 25, 2016 Fall

Country French Fall Home Tour 2016

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Hello!! Welcome to my Fall Home Tour for 2016!

I *LOVE* Fall and I am so excited to share my Fall home! Let’s have a look at the front porch, shall we?
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This year the front porch has some major style complete with a hay bale! Hey, we are living in the country after all and actually grew hay on our land! Although, this is not our hay, but that’s okay (everything is rhyming right now). I love the cinderella pumpkins stacked up! These are actually French pumpkins, Rouge Vif d’Etampes, and it is the pumpkin that inspired the artist to draw Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage.

Below, I put my MK Hunter boots out. I liked how they looked with the wreath on the front door with MK ribbon! You can see my Fall Wreath tutorial here. The mums brighten up the porch, although with my brown thumb, they are likely going to die. The little lion statue is vintage French!

When you come inside you see our dining table in the background… this year I had fun filling the antique dough bowl with white and blue pumpkins.

A sneak peek of the Fall tabelscape I created… the entire tablescape is saved for a post later this week!

Mr. Swan this year is more neutral in his decor. The dried roses and eucalyptus have been there since Spring… I just really like how they look. Some white mini boos surround him with some acorns. Mr. Swan is made by Bavent Pottery which is located in France. The company has been around since 1842.

Into the living room… a little coffee table vignette with MK tray, tea set, and velvet pumpkins brighten up the room. The fur pillow is actually there year round, but goes great with the Fall look!

In front of the fireplace is a Fall pillow. Actually, I confess, it is just a table runner secured around a pillow. Couldn’t find a table to use it on this year! My Fall fashion accessories are displayed for the photoshoot for fun!

Here is this year’s mantel. It is a little simpler than last year… just a few of the odd shaped gourds that we all love! The lavender the that was in my dough bowl earlier in the year is now in a Madeleine pot!

A closer look at the Fall mantel… love the fun gourds. The candles are faux and light up at night on a timer!

New this year are these little scarecrow and witch figurines! They are actually not Halloween, technically, they are part of a Wizard of Oz set . I just bought these two of the set because I thought they would be perfect for Fall decor! You can find them here: Scarecrow and Wicked Witch

In the corner of the room is a sneak peek at Halloween. These two houses light up. The barn makes scary noises and the bats on the right house spin in a circle. My husband loves them!

Don’t you just love this purple Indian corn?

On another table is the sunnier side of Fall… fresh cut dahlias from my garden fill vases from Astier de Villate. These are surrounded by vintage handkerchiefs. Fall isn’t all about orange pumpkins! In fact, you’ll notice inside the house I only had 1 orange real pumpkin! I actually hate the color orange… but the Fall porch is really the only place I use orange!

The velvet pumpkin vignette I blogged about last week is still up on the other side of the same room as the dahlias…

We end with a look at the scene on the kitchen island… my favorite owls are out again! This year is a new Steiff teddy on the right, and a Fall candle is burning. More on this scene is to come, just this post is already long enough!

I hope you enjoyed my little Fall home tour! Thank you for stopping by and sharing one of my favorite seasons!

Here is last year’s Fall Home Tour!

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And Here are a few Fall favorites…

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Angelina September 20, 2016 Fall

Decorating with Velvet Pumpkins and Velvet Corn

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I *love* decorating with velvet pumpkins for Fall! They are really quite photogenic and I love the beautiful jewel tone colors that they come in! This year I was super excited to discover velvet corn!

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Creating this Fall vignette was a little bit of an accident. You see, I had an orchid in this old stone vase with Spanish moss and it died. So I was changing around my decor to find something to put in the vase when I noticed that the pumpkins looked pretty cute sitting next to the vase. So, I grabbed a few more and voila!

You could easily recreate this look at home. Simply find an old vase, arrange your velvet pumpkins, and add a little bit of Spanish moss. It goes well with the orange of the pumpkin!

I love the real dried stems on the pumpkins! I tried to pick the pumpkins with stems that were a little whimsical. I also love the new corn with the Swarovski crystal kernels! You can get the corn here and here. I think it goes well with the pumpkins!

I still remember the first time I saw velvet pumpkins… they were in a little shop in Portland, Oregon in 2008. I thought, wow, this is special! I didn’t know many years later they would be at Neiman Marcus! You see, Hot Skwash is from Tigard, OR and I think the little shop was her first dealer. Then it seemed came along Love Feast Shop online that is so popular with bloggers. I don’t know if they are the same company or not? They are very similar to each other. Although, I noticed the Love Feast shop doesn’t have velvet corn, so it makes me think they are different. But they do both have velvet pumpkins, mushrooms, and acorns.

As you can see, I have quite a few pumpkins but they are all really little. The smaller ones are a lot cheaper than the large ones! Do you have any velvet pumpkins?

Here are a few Fall favorites…

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Angelina September 18, 2016 DIY projects

DIY Fall Wreath Tutorial

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I feel like I must be one of the last bloggers to make my own Fall wreath. You see, I’m not super crafty. But when my cheap-o one from last year fell apart, I started on my hunt for a new wreath. I just could not find one that I liked in my price range.

So, I headed off to Hobby Lobby with coupons in my purse and started picking out faux branches. I already had burlap ribbon at home plus I’ve had the Mackenzie Child ribbon for several years and hadn’t quite found the perfect project for it… until now!

Here are all of the materials I used:

1 grapevine wreath

Fall leave sprigs (enough to go around the wreath)

Fall gourds

Burlap ribbon

Mackenzie Childs Ribbon

Wire and Wire Cutters

When I started, I just picked one spot and started to place the leaf sprigs into the wreath. I secured it by wrapping the wire around it.

Then I added the gourds and other Fall sprigs around the wreath until I liked it.

Next came the hard part: making the bow. I struggled making this bow. I searched for a good tutorial and this one by Susie Harris is the one I ended up following. My Mom and I both made it together… you needed about four hands to hold it all! We secured the Mackenzie Childs ribbon on top with hot glue.

And Voila! Here is the finished project! I think it looks pretty nice! I like it better than anything I saw in the stores and I especially love the black and white courtly check ribbon! I wish I had bought the 2″ Mackenzie Child ribbon too! I used the 1″ ribbon.

Here is my image for pinning!!

Here are a few Fall Favorites…

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Angelina September 13, 2016 Fall

13 Inspiring Fall Porch Decorating Ideas

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This year I want to have a prettier porch for Fall. I have turned to Pinterest and my some of my favorite blogs for inspiration. 13 porches as today is September 13!

This post contains affiliate links.

First, I want to start with one of my all-item favorite porches, from Pottery Barn, of course…

source -Pottery barn

I LOVE Stone Gable’s use of tartan on her porch.

source- Stone Gable

this one below is more Halloween like, but it’s fun!

source – Pottery Barn

I love the garland here.

source Laura Trevey

I love the use of dried corn stalks.

source – I can’t find one! So sorry!

This color scheme is more monochromatic.

source – Pottery Barn

I like this one below with the fruit mixed in the garland. I also think the green vines are real.

source – Peonies & Orange Blossoms

Here was the beginning of my Fall porch from last year… by the end of the season it was covered in pumpkins but unfortunately I did not take a picture. This picture is from when only a few of our pumpkin vines were reading for picking!

source – Peonies & Orange Blossoms

source – Still Woods Farmhouse

I like the corn stalks and the welcome sign!

source Shabby Grace blog

Source – Cottage in the Oaks

Isn’t that fall arrangement on the left amazing?? I also like the wispy vines on the right.

source – Serendipity Refined

Now, if only we all had a picture-perfect dog to pose for all of us!

source- Craftberry Bush

If you are pinning, please pin from the original source.

What I noticed about these porches is that more is more! I love that lots of pumpkins are used. I love the dried stalks and all the use of mums!

Here are a few Fall favorites…

Leave me a comment!

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Angelina August 28, 2016 Fall

Fall Home Decor Favorites 2016

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I have rounded up a few of my favorite picks for Fall home decor this year. I know it is a *wee* bit early but as you know cute things do sell out! I’ve created a few categories. For the living room, outdoors, on the table, metallic accents, and faux greenery. I had so much fun putting this together!
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EDIT – Some of these links may not work anymore since they are from 2016. Here is a widget that always has products that are in stock. They may not be exactly the same as the pictures above.

For the Living Room…

Plaid blanket– I LOVE Pendleton blankets. I have a problem with them. You can use this Pendleton lambswool on the couch, on your bed, as a tablecloth, or outside for pretty blog stylized pictures!

Pillows – We all love to change up our home decor with seasonal pillows. I am loving this Wheat Pillow as well as this watercolor pumpkin patch pillow.

For the Outdoors…

Olive Bucket – I could see a pretty Olive bucket with seasonal faux (or real!) branches spilling out.

Wheelbarrow – I LOVE this Wheelbarrow Planter – you could put it on your front porch or table and put tons of pumpkins inside. Wouldn’t it look cute?

On the Table…

Pumpkin Mugs – Aren’t these pumpkin mugs so cute to sip some pumpkin spice latte or hot apple cider from?

Pumpkin Bowls – I own these pumpkin cocottes and I use them all Fall long! I serve my pumpkin soup in them and it makes it extra special! This year Staub came out with the pumpkin cocottes in white (already sold out online on WS, keep checking back, but I found Sur La Table also has little white pumpkins as does Bed Bath & Beyond. Those retailers also have the large pumpkin. Macy’s has the large pumpkin too but not at a discount.) Staub came out with a large cast iron white pumpkin new this year too – I own it already in orange

Fall plates -aren’t these seasonal Fall Leaves plates just perfect? I love the colors!

Seasonal Centerpiece – This Harvest Pumpkin Candle basket is so perfect for the center of your table! Imagine lit candles providing ambient light while you eat!

Gold Silverware – This set of gold silverware goes so well with the colors of Fall! Speaking of gold…

Metallic Gold…

Napkin Rings – I think these gold napkin rings are perfect! They go with almost anything.

Metallic Gold pumpkin and gourds – These are faux of course. There is a large metallic gold pumpkin and then also metallic gold pumpkin and gourds.

Faux Branches and Greenery…

I love all of these faux branches – there is an acorn spray, gingko spray, and setaria spray. The acorns are perfect for filling vases, bowls, or just scattering around.

Then there is this pretty Magnolia wheat wreath!!

I love these black and white Mackenzie Childs Beware pumpkins!

I hope you enjoyed my little round-up for Fall home decor! Forgot to mention, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this pumpkin bread (and there is now a gluten free version!!). I know it’s a little pricey but IT IS WORTH IT.

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Angelina August 12, 2016 Fall

Five on Friday #24 – Planning for Fall, Velvet Corn, Harry Potter, and More!

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Getting ready for Fall!

Yes, I know it might be a *little* early to start thinking about Fall – I am sure many of you are planning for back-to-school or are trying to squeeze in a last Summer vacation. But I am a planner. I like to plan things. I am starting to plan for Fall.

First, I have been busy pinning away on Pinterest on my Fall boards. I have two:

Fall & Halloween Decor and Fall Recipes.

The pumpkins are planted. You see – I actually started planning for Fall just after July 4… if you want to grow your own pumpkin patch and have it ready at the right time that takes planning!

I bought some Fall scented candles! I love the Bath & Body Works fall scents! The Leaves Candle is one of my favorite scents for Fall. I buy it every year. This year I also bought the Pumpkin Pecan Waffles, Vanilla Pumpkin Marshmallow, and Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin. I haven’t burnt these ones yet, but I’m getting ready!

And, while I was out shopping this week, I had a little preview of this years’ new VELVET CORN!!!

I LOVE IT!!!! Just when I thought, oh, I’m done with buying velvet pumpkins… velvet corn comes along to sit next to them. It is going to look so good next to my velvet pumpkins. I will be posting about the velvet corn some time later once I get my hands on more… it is currently shipping so we will all have to wait! You saw it here first!!

Instagram Favorites and Stories!

Have you tried out the Instagram stories??? If not, let me explain: It’s like Snapchat but in Instagram. Still don’t get it?? Well, any picture or video you take in your Instagram Story will only appear for 24 hours maximum and then will disappear. I am LOVING this… why? Because I can now post things that I wanted to before but it won’t “ruin” the look of my Instagram feed because it disappears!

So, how do you use it?

On your home screen, swipe your finger right (see my lovely picture below!)

Then, it brings you to a screen with a camera. Just simply take a picture by tapping the check button in the bottom OR if you want to upload a video just hold the button down and it will record. Then simply upload it!

So, where can you see “Your Story” and stories by others?

See the circles just below where it says “Your Story” in a colorful circle and then other pictures in colorful circles?? That’s where you see the stories. You will not see these in people’s regular instagram feed. You have to look at them on the home screen.

Did you like my little Instagram Tutorial? I’d Love for you to follow me on Instagram (@LePetit_Macaron). I am obsessed with it.

Let’s look at a few of my favorites…

Spotted…

Speaking of planning for Fall… last year I wanted to buy the trendy LL bean duck boots but they were sold out in my size by the time I went to buy them…. so THIS YEAR I planned ahead and they just recently arrived.

Now the most popular style is the 8″ boot here… but I got the 6″ boot here because I thought I would wear it more in sunny California. I think if you live somewhere where it snows you should get the 8″ boot and if you live in a warmer climate go with the 6″.

They also come in different colors: there is a blue one here. I strongly recommend getting the wool camp sock to go along with it.

Below is the 8″ boot with the wool camp sock.

from charmingly styled

from Covering the Bases

Below is the 6″ boot

from the College Prepster

Sneak Peek on the Blog…

Coming this weekend, a little sneak peek of a tour of a newly built French Farmhouse tour. Those who follow my instagram will recognize this vignette… it is from the house tour!

Be sure to check back on Sunday morning to tour the house!

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – A Review

I am a big Harry Potter fan (I had gone to the midnight opening at the bookstore for books 4-7), but I suppose some of that has faded with age as I was unaware that the newest Harry Potter book was even being released!

Anyway, I knew that there was a Harry Potter play that was going to premiere in London this year.

The newest book is actually the script to the play and is NOT a novel.

I knew this when I started to read the book, because I wanted to create realistic expectations. There was no way this book was going to be as good as the originals simply because of the format – you cannot have as much character development and narration with a play! I’m going to write my review of the book below, with SPOILERS, so if you don’t want to read the spoilers consider yourself warned.

SPOILERS BELOW FOR THE BOOK REVIEW

*SPOILERS*

Ok. The play starts off 19 years since the 7th book left off, with Albus Potter, the son of Harry Potter. Albus goes to Hogwarts and several years actually fly by in a matter of pages (what?! I wish we could all take the train back into the school!). Much to Harry’s dismay, Albus becomes best friends with Scorpius Malfoy, the son of Draco Malfoy.

For some reason, the two of them decide to go on a quest to prevent Cedric Diggory from dying in the Goblet of Fire. They steal a time turner from Hermione Granger, now the Minister of Magic. They go back and time and basically screw up everything so that Voldemort would essentially rule the world. Harry, Ron and Hermione have to come in and save the day and undo the time travel to make it all right again. The plot also involves someone who states that she is the daughter of Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange – honestly, I think that this was totally lame and ruins part of the original books.

So, in short, I did not love the play, as I knew I would not, and honestly I even debated about reading the story but decided to because I couldn’t help myself. I felt like there wasn’t enough character development. It didn’t have nearly the amount of details as the books (well, it can’t, because it is not a novel). I didn’t like how the adult Harry was portrayed because he didn’t seem very Harry Potter like at all.

In short, a Harry Potter story written by someone who is not JK Rowling can never be as good as the original books – and I knew that when I started the story which is why I had really low expectations. So given how low my expectations were, I had a nice time reading the play, but if you have high expectations you will be very disappointed. I enjoyed spending some time with some of my favorite literary characters for a few hours.

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Angelina October 26, 2015 Fall

Pumpkin Festival 2015

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Every year down at our local ranch they hold a pumpkin festival. They actually hold several! One is a gourd festival and another is a Fall harvest festival. We went to both as it really is our biggest form of entertainment out here in the country! I had fun looking at of all of the different pumpkins!!

These pumpkins are actually REALLY BIG. Probably *at least* 50 pounds. I think they are fun! Maybe we’ll plant some of our next year!

Here is an assortment of all the ones they grow with their prices.

We grew our own Jarradales this year!

The “wolf” pumpkin below had HUGE stems. So much fun!

You can really see how big the “big max” is!

Wolf pumpkins!

Cinderella pumpkins below, I think we will have to plant some next year!!

Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com

linking up at: amaze me monday The Scoop! Metamorphosis Monday’s Inspire Me Tuesday Wow us Wednesdays! Creative Ways Share Your Style Thursday Favorite Things, Home Sweet Home Feathered Nest Fridays Foodie Friday & Everything Else Sunday’s Down Under

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Angelina October 12, 2015 DIY projects

DIY Felted Wool Acorns

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I’ve got an easy DIY project for you today that’s perfect for Fall! Felted wool acorns! Aren’t they cute??

The inspiration for this project came from these velvet acorns that are made by Hot Skwash, pictured below.

Like velvet pumpkins, velvet acorns don’t come cheap!

So, my Mom and I had the idea to make our own! We didn’t have velvet laying around, but we did find some wool felt balls at a local fabric store.

We thought, wouldn’t those little wool felt balls work perfectly as little acorns? So, we bought some acorn “hats” off of etsy.

The project is very easy: use a glue gun and glue the felted wool ball to the acorn hat. The acorn hats are from real acorns.

In real life, the seed of the acorn detaches from its little hat after it hits the ground. You can find acorn hats everywhere. DONE!

See? Instantly you have the same look for less!! I love the fun colors. I think the colors of the velvet ones do look a little richer, but I think this looks pretty good and it cost a fraction of the price!

While writing this post, I searched for wool felted acorn on Etsy… turns out a lot of people make them. But they sell for about $2 each per acorn! WOW!! The velvet acorns go for more… approx $5 each!

Let’s look at the cost of making your own: the felted wool balls go for $10 for 50 balls. The acorn hats are $2 for 25… so you could have 50 homemade acorns for $14… the price of 6 premade wool acorns off of Etsy OR two velvet acorns. I think I’ll take mine, thank you! Plus, it didn’t take that long to make!

Hmm, maybe I need to make more and sell them… oh wait. I already have a full time job. Never mind.

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Angelina October 7, 2015 Fall

Fall Table Setting 2015

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Since it’s October and officially a few weeks into Fall, I am finally ready to share my Fall tablescape! I am just loving the look of it this year!

I have a few new things… the antique dough bowl in the center! This puppy is HUGE. It’s also a genuine antique. A lot of them are reproduction but mine came from a reputable antique dealer in Oregon who tells us this is from the 1800s likely made in Pennsylvania. It is carved from one solid piece of wood! Amazing! I filled it with a variety of pumpkins, my favorite being the red-orange cinderella pumpkin in the center! A few pieces of Indian corn are arranged on top (credit to the husband – I asked him to set them on the centerpiece, don’t they look nice?)

New this year are the dried wheat stalks from Tuesday Morning as well as my new favorite thing… mini pumpkin cocottes made by Staub! Aren’t they just the cutest? We’ve been serving up soup in them! The Staub pumpkins sit on my favorite Juliska “Country Estate” plates!

My Mom found this cute little squirrel salt and pepper shaker! He seemed like a perfect fit for Fall!

I love how the Staub pumpkin matches the real pumpkins! The deep purple hues from the napkin and goblets also match some of the deep purple in the Indian corn!

Oh, did I mention, this dining table is new too? It’s from Restoration Hardware. We’ve had our eyes on it for several years but it was above our price range… until one day we found at the RH Outlet for almost 25% of the original price. And there is no damage to it! Talk about a bargain!

I am thinking this table setting could go straight into Thanksgiving, but let’s face it, you all know I’m going to rearrange things for a new Thanksgiving table setting, right?

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Angelina October 5, 2015 Fall

Fall House Tour 2015

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Now since it’s October, I am finally ready to unveil my Fall House Tour for 2015! I know in blogland it seemed like house tours started September 1… but my pumpkins weren’t ready yet!

So c’mon in and have a look around…

My scary cat topiary actually died last Winter but we placed him in a planter box and planted some new ivy a month ago and voila! Looks like new! I thought the pumpkins stacked on the concrete urns were kind of cute!

Now that you’re inside, imagine the smell of Fall as I have a candle burning…
This dough bowl full of pumpkins is the first sign of Fall that you see in the house, but I’m saving my table scape for a whole other post so you only get a little preview today!

I’ve put mums in the tulipiere and lined the halls with the mini pumpkins that we grew in our own garden!

Mr Swan is full of Fall foliage. The pumpkin candles are new this year… thought they were fun. Below the swan are DIY wool acorns… I’ll have a post dedicated to them too! I just love how colorful they are!

The little birdies are having a chat about pumpkin spice lattes…

Off to the living room we go. I stacked the pumpkins on top of an anduze pot! Don’t you just love the cinderella pumpkin? I love the red-orange color! We will take a closer look at the hearth later…

But first, hello Scary Cat and Pumpkin Bear! Today they are sitting on “the puzzle table”… where we often gather around and spend some time putting together puzzles, especially on blustery Winter days. I think I’ll will do a proper tablescape with them later…

Ah ha! I spy a velvet pumpkin patch! I just love the colors of these pumpkins.. they are so rich!

In the hallway sits pumpkins and acorns on tiered cake plates from my wedding.

Can’t forget to say hi to the owls in the kitchen, they are next to the cinnamon/nutmeg/fall smelling candles!

ok a closer look at the mantle… some faux foliage sits amongst baby pumpkins, mini candles (owl, squirrel, and hedgehog shaped). I used my antique staffordshire figurines that are with donkeys… I am pretending they are hauling a Fall harvest in. I placed the lanterns on the sides and filled them up with mini pumpkins. I love it!

One last look at the fireplace and mantel. It’s too hot to turn the fireplace on… so no, the pumpkins won’t be baking in front of the fire!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the Fall House Tour of 2015!! If you don’t follow me, click on any of my links in the side bar… as I’m sure you’ll love the Fall tablescape I’ve put together and the DIY acorn project!

Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com
linking up at: amaze me monday The Scoop! Metamorphosis Monday’s Inspire Me Tuesday Wow us Wednesdays! Creative Ways Share Your Style Thursday Favorite Things, Tablescape Thursday’s Home Sweet Home Feathered Nest Fridays Foodie Friday & Everything Else Sunday’s Down Under

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