Pinecone Wreath

I am a little sad to banish my tulle Halloween Wreath to the attic, however Halloween is done and it's time for a new look. Bring on the Pinecone Wreath! I've been toying with this idea for a couple of years now after seeing them sell at places like Crate & Barrel for upwards of a hundred bucks. Yeah right! I mean, they're just freaking pine cones. They've popped up on quite a few blogs as well this year. Here's how to make your own:

Step 1: Send your kids out into the woods to get some pinecones. We did a "nature hike" at my parents' cabin to aquire the pinecones. You will need quite a bit. I used about half of a reusable shopping bag full of pinecones.

Step 2: Gather your supplies: wreath form (grapevine, styrofoam, whatever you've got laying around), glue gun, tons and tons of glue sticks, your bag of treasures from the woods - or the craft store if you don't have pine trees in your area! Bonus supplies: Cup of coffee and an Ipod

Step 3: Start gluing the pinecones down. It helps to start in one spot and work your way around. You don't want to go all random and then have to fit them in like a puzzle piece.

Step 4: Keep gluing. You're going to have a few moments of "this is NEVER going to end!" Just hang in there. It's worth it! Go refill your coffee at this point. You're going to need it.

Step 5: Once you've got the whole wreath covered, you get to decide how to decorate it. I am a no-fuss, anti-country decor kind of person, so I opted for a simple ribbon to hang mine. However, if the blinged out look floats your boat, then go ahead and add on your goodies. Some of these would work great: ribbon, fabric, leaves, acorns, mini pumpkins or gourds, that harvest corn stuff, etc.

Step 6: Stand back and admire your hard work and try not to think about your sore trigger hand from pumping the hot glue.

Bonus: If you keep it fairly simple for Fall, you can then change the ribbon and add a few Christmas things, and use this baby all way through the new year!

Nothing says Fall like Pumpkin Muffins!

After much begging and pleading from the oldest child, a batch of our favorite Pumpkin Muffins was made this evening. These are without a doubt the moistest muffins I have ever tasted. They just ooze the feeling of autumn!

Super Moist Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

1 can pure pumpkin (not the pie filling)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1 cup bread flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease your muffin tins.
2. In your mixer's bowl, wisk together the pumpkin, eggs, water, and oil.
3. Add in the remaining ingredients, sifting as you add them. (I like to turn my mixer on the lowest speed and add the dry ingredients slowly so they don't fly all over the kitchen when I turn on the mixer.)
4. Fill greased muffin tins about 3/4 full.
5. Bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes or until set when touched.
   

This batch makes 12 regular sized muffins and about 18 mini muffins. I add the mini muffins in about 15 minutes after the regular sized ones, and they all finish at the same time.

Now go put on some great cooking music, get a pot of coffee going and make some muffins. I promise you'll be glad you did!