FALL: baking, bittersweet & a lil transformation...

Happy Sunday friends,

This afternoon we are headed to see our oldest daughter row crew for her University team...so excited...I thought I'd bake a little something to bring for the girls so I tried an apple cake from scratch...hope it tastes as good as it looks...Also, I LOVE bittersweet and have had some branches out on the porch waiting for them to pop!!!...and....I had this cute pedestal that I picked up at a tag sale this summer...I painted it and gave it a bit of antiquing last month...here's what I did with it today....

so, here is the after of the pedestal...

here is the before...I paid 75 cents for it at a tag sale at the shore...

I added some of these little pumpkin pods and something you will see tons of from me in the upcoming months...baby pinecones....LOVE them!!

I painted the pedestal and added some antiquing glaze...

Another fav of mine is bittersweet...I cut the branches and stuffed them into the ball jar, put a little burlap on top and VOILA!!

bittersweet love....

I tried this recipe for apple cake from my good old Betty Crocker cookbook...hubby and 2 of the girls taste tested it and gave it 2 thumbs up!!

I hope you all enjoy your Sunday and your families...
xo, Mariaelena


linking up to:
http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/
http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/
http://creatingahouseofgrace.blogspot.com/
http://athomewithk.blogspot.com/
http://tatertotsandjello.com/
http://www.notjustahousewife.net/
http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/
http://diybydesign.blogspot.com/
http://organizeyourstuffnow.com/wordpress/
http://www.domestically-speaking.com/
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
http://www.thevintagefarmhouse.com/

If at first you don't succeed....make something else!!!

Happy Friday friends!!

So a couple of days ago when I shared our front porch fall decor with you, I said I was going to make one of those fabulous toile pumpkins from CL magazine....Well, I tried, and tried and it wasn't working out so well....(very disappointed)...anyway, if at first you don't succeed, drink wine!!...only kidding...try something else....I ended up covering the fake pumpkin or (funkin) with twine....lots and lots of strands of twine....and this is how it turned out...not my beautiful toile pumpkin I was hoping for....maybe next year...

Little Miss beach to burbs helping out with what was supposed to be our gorgeous toile pumpkin!! 

so far so good....we thought....

Houston, we have a problem!!!....the toile paper was not blending with the funkin the way it did in CL...I got frustrated and started trying to rip it off to start over...and then decided to go with a completely different approach...lol

twine and hot glue

Here she is in all her pumpkin twine glory....
a little drop cloth, a few baby pinecones & some bittersweet...

xo, Mariaelena


linking up to:
http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/
http://laurieannas.blogspot.com/
http://frenchcupboard.blogspot.com/
http://diybydesign.blogspot.com/
http://organizeyourstuffnow.com/wordpress/

Our fall front porch....

Happy Wednesday friends!!

I just got back from Office Depot where I made copies of some toile fabric so I can attempt to make one of those fabulous pumpkins that graced the cover of Country Living.  I've been dying to try it ever since I got my copy of the magazine...If it comes out ok, I'll share it tomorrow...haha...we'll see...in the meantime, 

I wanted to share some photos of our fall front porch.  My husband has spent the last 2 weekends painting the outside of our house and now that he is finished, I could finally get to it.....Hope you like it and wish me luck on my mod podge pumpkin project!!

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My dream house would have a huge rocking chair front porch.  When we bought our home 16 years ago, it only had a small cement stoop.  My hubby took that off and built me this small, but wonderful front porch...and look...I got my rocking chair!!

xo, Mariaelena


linking up to these great parties:
http://savedbylovecreations.com/2011/10/thrifty-thursday-week-43.html
http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/  
http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/
http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/
http://athomewithk.blogspot.com/
http://www.fingerprintsonthefridge.com/
http://verymerryvintagestyle.blogspot.com/
http://firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com/2011/10/show-off-your-stuff-96.html
http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
http://commonground
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http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/
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http://www.thevintagefarmhouse.com/