Food to go

The Hubby and I are off the Night of the Races.  Images that come to mind, vintage horse races where ladies wore hats and men were still gentlemen oh and lots of plaid.   But to those of you who are not lucky enough to go to one of these events.  It is a fundraiser for high school sports or the school themselves.  Where old horse races are shown at random  and you can bet on a horse just like a race track.  There are lots of other games too. It is always for a good cause and last Saturday’s events was for a high school soccer and lacrosse team.  My husband coaches for the school and its a great event for the community.

Last year was my first year at the races.  I was stunned on how the people brought all kinds of finger foods.  Some people even had theme decorated tables.   I felt shown up.  How could I not know to bring snacks and arrange the table beautifully?  Well this year I was going to bring it!

So by know you might have guess it the pretty room is traveling and in style.   I started with a theme or inspiration.  Which was vintage horse racing and plaid.  I just can ‘t not get the Tommy Hilfiger ad for Christmas out of my head.  I think it really shows in this project

After images of what I wanted to achieve where in my head I went to the menu.  There are a couple of party and or snack receipes that I want to try for while a now, and it work perfectly.  So for the menu I made Parmesan and Italian spice crackers (Ina Gartan), party mix and Chocolate and Carmel crackers from (Smitten Kitchen).  I used the cracker recipe again for thanksgiving and  of the recipes will work well for  this seasons holiday partys.

All the recipes turned out great.  Have a look I have added the links so if you want you can get the recipes.  I made the party mix from everything I found on the web with my own alterations.

Party Mix

Servings: about 10 cups of mix

Ingredients

1 cup Cheerios

2 cups small cheese crackers Kashi

2 cups small pretzels

1/2 pound peanuts

1 cup dried mangos slices

1/2 soy sauce

1/4 season salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon chili power

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

2. Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl Melted the butter and seasonings together in a small sauce pan till completely melted.  When butter mixture is melted add to the large bowl and mix completely.  Bake in 250 degree over for 30 mins stiring every 10.

Chocolate Carmel Crackers

Parmesan and Thyme Crackers

Party Mix

The styling. I had Black tins that cookies came in from work.  I must say that I love these tins.  They are stylish and add a bit of color to a clear plastic world.  Tin, to me, is such a good alternative to the plastic storage containers.  I found the plaid tin at yard sale.

I must say the hubby does not like that I collect “junk” but it does come in handy!  I think he is starting to realize it too!   So I started to think that I could line the tins with wax paper for a vintage feel.  I could line with paper napkins cheesy! Then another project came to mind.  I will make paid cloth napkins and a black one for the plaid tin.  This project is super easy and really adds to the wow factor.   Plus I got enough fabric to make napkins for some of many holiday get togethers I might host

To make the napkins you will need piece of fabric 12.25” square, Heat and Bond, Iron and Scissors.

Cut the fabric 12 ¼ ” Iron flat and then fold over the corners ¼”  fold over corners so they over lap. Insert Heat and Bond strips iron down make sure the heat and bond completely covers the fabric.  If you want you can also sew around the edges.

Just like that you have cloth napkins.

To hold everything is a basket I had waiting for this moment! A picnic basket!  I really believe that any large basket is a great investment.  There has been so many times that I have had to travel with food and this helps with the stress factor of it not going all over the car

The point of this post is that it really is not that hard to make a tailgate, night at a fundraiser, or Holiday parties that you have to travel to stylish.  If you take away the fact that I made most of the snacks, when you get down to it you can even dress up store bought food with things collected from the house and maybe an hour devoted to crafts.

So here it is the start of my blog!

I am excited to start this new creative adventure. I am creative in all kinds of ways, but my favorite is home decorating.  My husband and I bought a fixer upper about three years ago.  It has inspired my creative side in many ways.  I have a fine arts degree with a background in ceramics and I currently work in graphics.   This will be a place were I journal my creative efforts and hopefully help others along the way.  Hope you will enjoy the ride with me!

Halloween is gone, but now comes my very favorite holiday, Thanksgiving.  I like this holiday for many reasons.  Mostly because my mother loved Thanksgiving, and what it stood for and now because of her I love it too.

I have a great Halloween decoration right now, but it can be converted to a nice thanksgiving decoration. Now that’s what I call crafting on a budget!

 

Dinning room table decorated for Halloween

The decorations for my dining room can be converted easily. On the table I took away the black burlap and made the black linen smaller.  I also found some beautiful leaves from my back yard and added the leaves to the table.  The original display cost me about ten bucks.  The fabric from the remnants bin was five dollars and the gourds and pumpkins costing me about five dollars from my favorite flower nursery.  I had the cranberry garland from a past Christmas.

The table with some updating.

On my living room mantel I took away the Halloween decorations that could not be converted.    Now adding more fall leaves in the candle hurricanes.  The inspiration came from Martha Stewart she suggested spray adhesive to the glass.  I am just not in that. The hurricanes were a wedding present and I love them and do not want to ruin them.  Spray adhesive and I have a complicated relationship.  It is valuable art tool, but many projects have gone so wrong because I am just not patient enough. I ended up ironing the leaves in between wax paper and then lined the glass. Wahoo for crafting on a budget

Updated mantel