Halloween Glimpses

Leaves are quickly falling from the trees and bare branches are silhouetted against the bright white moon as darkness casts as eerie glow throughout the landscape.  Halloween is creeping up on the calendar and the ghouls and goblins have been busy. Take a glimpse at some of their Halloween decor, treats and Fall backyard foliage at The Little Yellow Corner Store. Or should I say.... take a glimpse at who is peeking out at you.

For all of the adult Halloween trick or treaters, a Coffee Glazed Nut Trail Mix is the perfect Halloween treat. The mix is made with bold and robust coffee and some dark chocolate covered espresso beans. It is guaranteed to add to your caffeine consumption for the day. The recipe is as follows:

Coffee Glazed Nut Trail Mix

2 tsp. ground instant espresso powder

2 T hot water

3 T brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 T honey

dash of salt

3 C mixed nuts

1 C dark chocolate covered espresso beans

Mix powder and hot water until dissolved in saucepan.  Add sugar, extract, honey, salt and bring to a boil.  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Pour sauce over nuts in a bowl and mix.  Sprinkle glazed nuts onto parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes stirring frequently to dry.  Cool and add chocolate covered espresso beans.  Store in airtight container.

The following adorable monster cheese balls were made from a recipe I found on Pinterest from a very talented and creative food creator at Hungry Happenings.  Her work will steal your heart.  You can visit her monster creations and all of her other outstanding work at Hungry Happenings Mini Monster Cheese Balls.

Below are my little monsters that remind me so much of the little aliens on Sesame Street when my children were little and watched it every day.  Yup...Yup...Yup...Yup.....

And who can bat an eye at a pumpkin spice ice cream cocktail.  Sweet and scary at the same time.

Here's looking at you.........

Art of Tablesetting 2017 - Part II

Welcome back....... You are invited once again to a fun and relaxing tour through the exhibit, The Art of Tablesetting 2017 at the Rahr Art Museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.  As promised here are some of the remaining tablescapes in this year's event.  Come see for yourself.  If you missed the previous post, Art of Tablesetting 2017- Part I or if you need details including location, dates and time of the exhibit, it can be found in the previous posting, It's That Time--The Art of Tablesetting 2017.  Just click here.

The following tables are some, but not all of the tables in the exhibit and include their titles above each picture. Enjoy browsing the selected samples!

Southwest Fiesta Ole'

Mexican Madness Ole'

High Tea With Henry Moore

Dinner and a Movie

Merry Mary

Linens and Lace

The Dancing Chef

A Visit From Jack Frost

Peacock Beauty

Round to the Red Robin

Days of Wine and Roses

Happy Fiesta

Sharing Our Polish Culture

Woodland Wonders

A Cry of the Loon

Thalassophile

Letters From Home

The Raven and Dove

Soul Friends

Lunch Among the Monarchs

Imagine

Thank you for joining me.  I hope your tour through the exhibit was inspiring and that you enjoyed the variety of creativity of these gifted designers.  Happy Tablescaping.......

It's That Time....The Art of Tablesetting 2017

Can you take a minute from your busy day to answer a few straightforward questions? If you happen to answer "yes" to any of the following questions, this article may be of interest to you.  So here they are:

1. Do you enjoy seeing or setting a beautifully decorated table?
2. Do you often think up unique themes or styles for setting your tablescapes?
3. Do you find that you love to shop for new dinnerware, linens, flatware or glassware?
4. Do you visit thrift stores to"rescue" someone's discarded family china by purchasing and researching replacement pieces to complete the set?
5. When you set a table for dinner guests do you spend time working on the details in order to create just the right mood, feel or ambiance? 

Are you surprised by your own answers to these questions?  Did you answer "yes" to all five questions? A majority of us who happen to create or read tablescaping blogs will most likely have that kind of score, but even if you answer "yes" to just one of the questions,  I think you will derive a great deal of pleasure in reading further.

What's more, no matter how many positive answers you had for the questions above, you will be delighted to know that the time has come for all tablescape enthusiasts...the event of the year that everyone has been waiting for has arrived, the Art of Tablesetting 2017, at the Rahr West Art Museum.

For those readers who are new to my blog, the Rahr West Art Museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin holds an exhibit, The Art of Tablesetting, every October.  I always look forward each year to participating in the exhibit.  The museum features so many creative and imaginative tablescapes from talented artists/designers in the local community and beyond. The exhibit runs from Sunday, October 8, 2017 to Sunday, November 5, 2017.  The museum is located at 610 North Eighth Street, Manitowoc, Wisconsin.  (Visit their website for hours, directions and more information at http://www.manitowoc.org/1006/Rahr-West-Art-Museum.)

The event arrived rather quickly after a busy summer.  This season, both my sister and I were chosen to design a table and the theme we each selected included pieces already available from previous completed tablescapes which were posted on this blog in the past. Preparations were easy since items were put together in storage bins throughout the year and were now ready to go for this Fall event.

To give you a sneak peek during the set up day, I have included pictures of my tablescape and that of my sister's tablescape after we were finished.  My sister's tablescape features The Snowman and, of course, my tablescape entitled, Strutting His Stuff--My Love for the Peacock, is a tablescape that I have also done before at home, but now includes the addition of a peacock folded napkin.  To view these tablescapes and their prior articles, just click on the following links:  The Snowman and The Peacock.

The Snowman

Strutting His Stuff--My Love for the Peacock

Stay tune for more photos of the entire exhibit in my next post.  There are so many wonderful tablescape ideas and tips.  You will be amazed.  Thank you for stopping in.