Hi friends, how are you all doing? Are you keeping busy this season? I have not been around the blog much within the past few months. My laptop got some accidental damages a few months ago and my repair person said it will be too expensive to fix it so I might as well get a new one. Although it still worked, it was much of a hassle to get anything done with it. Typing took longer than normal, constantly trying to keep it connected to the internet depending on where I was in the house, and also trying to keep it from falling apart. It finally crashed and stopped working completely, a few weeks ago.

I don’t know the last time I had been without a working computer, even pre-blogging. On occasion, when my computer had issues I’d use my husband’s laptop but it’s just not the same as far as having all your stuff saved on your own personal tool. But I have to admit that this technology problem gave me a break from trying to do too much. I had a line of posts including some tutorials, free printable Christmas tags I wanted to share around and just a litttle after Thanksgiving but that’s when it finally crashed. Thankfully, I now have a new working laptop but all tags, photos, and other documents are on that old one. I think I’ll have to take it to the shop to retrieve them off the hard drive but I won’t worry about posting from those photos now.

In any event, I thought I’d let you know that in case you were wondering. Also, while I was thinking about this post, I thought I would share a few quick photos of our home for Christmas. This was not planned at all – in fact, I didn’t do much decorating this year. Along with feeling the need for less, I did not want to stress over having to decorate unfinished rooms or empty rooms. But I do love adding Christmas decorations – just not much this year. We have a few trees around and the glowing lights are always a welcome sight. And then just a couple other touches like here in the entry and very few things in the kitchen. In fact, I decluttered our Christmas decorations before putting any of it up (too many randoms) plus I did not bring in much either. I also did some kitchen organizing because having too much decorations in the kitchen just make it look cluttered.

I wanted to focus on filling up a couple of empty spots such as this corner here in the entry. The table is a great little welcome addition to the front room. I ordered it from Wayfair. It makes me happy that the spot is filled with something useful rather than just spending money filling up the rest of the house with holiday decor.

Changing out some pillow covers brought in the additional color. Those pillows really never stay on the chair anyway. The kids like to play with them. JOY pillow is a DIY.

This tree is full of handmade and picked out ornaments. The kids have been making little ornaments for a while now. We love it – it’s our favorite. It is in our front room by the window. The front room itself is not furnished. It’s become an extended playroom to some extent.

Even my centerpiece on the kitchen island has not really come together and I think I’m just tired of having to move that bowl of fruit to put something else there. So yea, it may not be the prettiest but it sure is healthy:)

And here are a few homemade ideas – Christmas cookie village in jars and gingerbread cookie garland. And yes, the cookies are all real:)

So as you can see, there is really not much going on here but we do love the little we put up. We all have little trees in our rooms (the kids rooms and our room). And the porch because I want it to look presentable. But that’s about it. I have not even done a formal table setting yet. Sometimes we desire less and other times, we get so caught up with decorating we forget the main reason for the season.

It really was not perfectly planned out and decorated but it’s coordinated and as you can tell, my photos were not perfectly taken or edited. Because as I mentioned earlier, a home tour was not a planned post but I thought I’d share with you what we are up to.

Have you decorated much this year? You can see a vast difference in decor here from last year’s tour: Merry and Bright Home Tour. But thank you for understanding why I have not blogged much and hope your holiday is going well.

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MeijerCoffeeCreamerBundle #CollectiveBias

During the Fall, it’s easy to give attention to cozy blankets, throws and Fall decorations for the living room, family room and bedroom. But what about the kitchen? It needs it’s very own Fall coziness since it’s the place where we spend plenty of time cooking, eating, chatting and making memories. Making the kitchen cozy does not mean going overboard with all kinds of stuff. It’s already the one area in the home that can become so easily cluttered with all the necessary food making gadgets and equipment. I like to stick to a couple simple, practical yet warm and welcoming ways such as making hot drinks for our family to enjoy.

A hot drink station is an absolute must in our kitchen during the Fall. The weather here gets very chilly and sometimes, windy at the same time. There is a reason it’s called “the windy city”. We love to warm up with hot drinks on those chilly mornings and evenings. I so enjoy making and drinking various coffee inspired drinks at home; mocha is on the top of the list. One of my husband’s and my favorite Fall traditions is to have a cup of coffee paired along with a slice or two of pie during the Fall evenings. That guy loves pie but he loves it best with coffee. As a stay-at-home mom, quietly enjoying a cup of coffee while the kids play in the early morning is my favorite. Sometimes I make a to-do list while I make sip.

Our little coffee station has always been such a help for easy coffee and coffee drink making. Everything is in one place; you can find my post here on how to create one. We’re keeping our Fall traditions ‘brewing’ by bundling up our coffee and creamer for Fall. This year, I’ve added Dunkin’ Donuts Original Ground Coffee and Dunkin’ Donuts Original Blend K-Cups to our little coffee station. Dunkin’ Donuts is dedicated to providing a consistently smooth and delicious cup of high-quality coffee. The rich aroma throughout the house while it’s brewing is nothing short of wonderful!!!

It’s also available in a variety of formats, blends, and flavors, providing many different ways to experience the positive boost Dunkin’ Donuts coffee provides, whenever and wherever you want it. It makes me happy to hear my husband talk about brewing a cup before he leaves for work in the mornings. Sometimes he drinks it at home and other times, if he is running late, he takes it along with him. The K-Cups really come in handy for when he is hurrying out the door.

Pair Dunkin’ Donuts Original Blend Coffee with Land O Lakes® Buttercream Style Half & Half and you’ll have a really great combo for creating your coffee drinks at home. Creamer is a must whether I’m making a cup of coffee or mocha. Land O Lakes® Buttercream Style Half & Half is extra rich and creamy and is the perfect addition to our morning or evening cup. It’s such a good way to savor the simple goodness of half & half, made with an extra rich blend of real milk and cream. It’s indulgence done right!!  If you are a lover of all things pumpkin spice you’ll definitely want to try the International Delight Pumpkin Pie Spice Creamer. It’s a creamy swirl of seasonal spice flavors inspired by pumpkin pie.

You too can keep your Fall traditions brewing in your own home by trying Dunkin’ Donuts Original Blend Coffee along with your favorite creamer pairing. Right now, you can use mPerks from Meijers and save over $5 with these special offers:

• $0.75 off any Folgers coffee product (excluding Instant) – offer valid 10/15 – 11/1
• 5% off any Dunkin’ Donuts product – offer valid 10/15 – 12/2
• $1.50 off 2 International Delight 32 oz. Creamer products – offer valid 10/15 – 11/11
• $1.50 off 2 International Delight 48 oz. Creamer products – offer valid 10/15 – 11/11
• $1.50 off 2 Land O Lakes® Creamer products – offer valid 10/15 – 11/1

Once you’ve bought your favorite combo, be sure to try my caramel mocha recipe. I made it using Dunkin’ Donuts Original Ground Coffee and Land O Lakes® Butter Cream Style Half and Half. You’ll be happy you did!!

Caramel Mocha Recipe – A Rich, Creamy & Tasty Fall Indulgence 

• Brew 1 cup Dunkin’ Donuts Original Blend Ground Coffee or Dunkin’ Donuts Original Blend K-Cups.

• Place a small saucepan over low heat. Add in brewed coffee, then mix in the cocoa until it is dissolved.

• Add in Land O Lakes® Buttercream Style Half & Half, the 3 Tablespoons of caramel syrup, and a tiny dash of cinnamon (optional). Stir until dissolved and heated through.

• Remove the saucepan from the heat. Pour Mocha in a coffee mug. Clear coffee mugs like these show what is in the mugs. But any coffee mug will do.

• Top with whipped cream, drizzle with extra caramel syrup, then sprinkle with a dash of cinnamon. Enjoy!! Seriously the best!!

Print this 4 x 6 recipe card by clicking here: Caramel Mocha Recipe

We truly enjoy this drink; it’s one of those we just can’t wait to dive into. Bring on the pie or some other Fall related dessert for a cozy delicious Fall treat!!

Here are 7 Simple Ways to add a touch of Fall to the Kitchen. 

1.Bring in Nature: Nature is one of the easiest ways to add Fall to the kitchen – pinecones, branches, and Fall foliage are some of the top ones. They are easy to collect from the outside. In the past, we’ve collected pinecones and branches from trees around us. We now have a few trees in the backyard and more down our street that are pretty during the Fall. Last year, I clipped off so many branches of beautiful foliage from them. This year, though, the leaves don’t seem to be changing fast enough (I believe the constant changing of the weather has delayed the early change). So instead of pretty natural branches, I’ve used some faux foliage (from our storage) to add to the kitchen. If you have access to real foliage, use them.

2. Seasonal Fruit or Vegetable Display: A bowl of apples, pears, peaches or plums, some real pumpkins here and there, a couple of colorful squashes, etc. are all very good seasonal fruit and vegetables to display around the kitchen.

Fall Decor: A cute little dish towel, seasonal oven mittens, colorful bowls, and other decorative items can be used to add touches of Fall to the kitchen.

4. Wooden tools and Copper accents: Copper is a very warm and earth-toned color. It goes well with any color combination. It’s not necessary to go out and buy a bunch of copper accents if your kitchen decor has nothing to do with copper (takes discipline). However, I find that a few copper gadgets add a warm feel to the kitchen. Wooden tools and such as cutting boards, wooden spoons, salad bowls, etc. are all great for warming up the kitchen.

5. Baked Goods: Is there anything better than the smell of baked goods throughout a kitchen? It’s a good way to bring some coziness to the kitchen while creating an inviting atmosphere for family and friends to enjoy delicious Fall goodies.

6. Lighted Candles: The warm glow of a beautifully lighted candle on a chilly Fall day is just something beautiful. Choose a favorite Autumn scented candle and place it in an appropriate spot. Enjoy the warm glow as you go about prepping and cooking food. I also love to light a candle when the kitchen is all cleaned up before prepping for another meal.

7. Create a hot drink station

I hope you create coziness in your own kitchen by adding a hot drink station and take advantage of saving on your coffee products from Meijers by clicking here.

How else do you bring the coziness of Fall into your kitchen? What is your favorite Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee products? Share your ideas in the comments!!

I’ve held up on posting about the girl’s room that I was decorating and organizing back in the Spring. That’s not to say that there was no progress made. In fact, we’ve worked on it during the Spring into the summer and made a few little DIYs to add to it. This photo frame decor is one of those DIYs. It’s made from an old 5 x 7 photo frame. All the little hooks at the back of the frame had fallen out so there was nothing to hold the mirror. I thought maybe I could create something small for the girls room using the frame along with some fabric buttons they had for crafting.

I do believe that updating your kids room(s) does not have to be expensive. There are just so many cute things you can make with the kids to add to their rooms. Just think about the many crafts you or their teacher(s) have done with them that they want to display somewhere in the room. Isn’t it amazing how they get fascinated from simple crafts? Now I do admit that we don’t have much DIYs because sometimes it’s easier to buy rather than having to make. But we made this button frame and a couple other items for their room that we think are too cute.

Step 1: First, I gave it a few coats of white paint. The girls room is in pink; I wanted to add a few pops of white here and there.

Step 2: When the frame was dried I hot glued a few fabric buttons we had on hand. All done! It was super easy to make and the girls love it.

It’s not anywhere specific yet. It’s just sitting on a table top. I thought it would look great on a gallery wall of some sort.

How do you update your kids room(s) with decor? Do you make a bunch or is it easier to just pop into a store and buy something (like me)? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Do you love creative ideas on the cheap? I usually have more ideas in my head than I could actually create. Meaning that sometimes, I’d rather just go buy things and not have to deal with finding a moment and place to create them and then have to save them if it is something seasonal. It would be easier to do things like this if we were owning. But I do sometimes make things when the desire sparks and this tin can centerpiece is among them. It is a supa dupa simple idea and makes for a lovely Autumn inspired centerpiece.

My first intent was to leave the tin cans as is and wrap them in burlap. Then I thought it would be fun to paint them. By the time I was done painting them, I figured I would use them without the burlap wrap. The color of the cans alone brings out that Autumn/Fall look and I did not want to hide it.

I had on hand 3 or 4 cans of spray paint in similar gold and bronze color hue. During the Spring, I wanted to spray paint some items in a shade of gold and ended up buying all these gold and bronze shades to see which one would work best. And now I can use them for various projects like on these tin cans. I also have some rose gold liquid paint that’s similar to bronze which truly is great for using during the Fall, if need be.

Items needed: 

• Empty food tin cans
• Bronze multi-purpose spray paint
• Scrap paper
• Paint sealer for craft paints

What to do: 

• Wash and clean empty tin cans
• Remove labeling and paper glue residue
• Clean thoroughly and let dry
• Place cans upside down on scrap paper or painters plastic covering
• Apply first coat of paint and let it dry. Apply one to two more coats with drying time between coats. If desired, apply acrylic craft spray sealer. Let cans dry fully.

• Add fresh or faux flowers to create a centerpiece
• For fresh flowers: Fill cans with water, then add flowers.
• For faux flowers: Add a filler such as popcorn kernels, beans, dried peas (lentils, split peas, etc), then add flowers. These will keep the flowers in place in the can.

I picked up these faux flowers from Michaels craft store to add to the cans. I wanted to add real flowers but did not find the colors at the store I went to. But I thought that having some faux ones on hand will be great for anytime.

These could be used to create a table top centerpiece for Fall family meals or for a gathering with friends, other similar activities or just to decorate an area in your home for Fall. It’s a simple idea but it looks great! It will be nice to switch things up with real flowers in these shades according to the occasion.

What do you think of them on the table? It would be nice to have a few larger cans or smaller ones for variety. But overall, I think they look stunning with the flowers added to them. The bronze spray is one of my favorites.

I love having a seasonal wreath on the front door and making the porch look pretty in general. This DIY Fall wreath is easy to make and adds a touch of the season to the front door.

A few years ago, I picked up a beautiful Fall wreath in some gorgeous colours from Walmart. Rodents got into the storage bins and we ended up throwing everything away. We didn’t want to deal with it. Last Fall, I added a few steps of faux flowers and a piece of burlap to a grapevine wreath but I was not too impressed with it. It looked boring. This year, I wanted to buy a new one such as the one I had before in all the vibrant colors, yellow, orange, reds, etc. I saw some gorgeous ones but they either had no yellow or too much yellow and just was not adding up to what I had in mind. The idea of the pops of yellow was to make it show up more. As I was walking by the Fall isle at At Home stores, I saw a garland and it immediately hit me that I would go ahead and make one rather than trying to find ‘whatever non-existent’ image I had imagined. I already had a grapevine wreath I purchased a while ago from the same store. Customizing it was super easy. Somehow, I thought the garland had a bit more yellow in it but it still makes a welcoming statement despite. The mini pumpkins were enough to add just a touch of yellow.

What’s needed to make it:

• 1 grapevine wreath (desired size)
• 1 faux Fall leaf garland in preferred colour long enough to cover the span of the wreath (or two to get the length)
• faux mini pumpkins, pinecones, acorns, squash, etc
• a hot glue gun
• work space

How to make it:

• Step 1: Attach one of the ends to one part of the grapevine wreath. This will help to keep it in place while you work.

• Step 2: Weave the garland around the wreath (front side only). Make sure there are no huge gaps between the garland.
• Step 3: Once you have put it in a way that you like, hot glue parts of it to keep it in place.

Check to see if the leaves are all over the place and need to look more cohesive. Use the hot glue to keep leaves down in places where it look like they are ‘out of control’.

• This is how it looks when once I was done with this first three easy steps. There is a few little gaps but fixing the leaves and adding a few other items will cover it all up.

• Step 4: Hot glue the faux fruit and pinecones to the wreath. Use a pattern if you’d like or just randomly put them. I started out with a pattern, but got mixed up along the way. So it ended up being with some in a pattern and others randomly glued. I don’t think they are spaced evenly as I started to do too but it looks great.

Step 5: Once everything is glued on, check to see if there are any more ‘wild’ leaves. Continue using hot glue to keep them in place.

That’s all there is to making this Fall or Autumn wreath – really easy in just a few steps. When it looked like this next photo, I decided it looked good enough for hanging on the door.

I gotta say, I love the vibrant colors and although there is not much yellow, this wreath looks awesome on the front door.

Don’t mind the plants in the posts. I had just brought them home and placed them in the pots for a second when I took the photos. I haven’t had time to transfer them fully since we were out of town for a few days.

So what do you think of this one? Do you add a seasonal wreath to your front door? Please share your ideas in the comments.