Tuesday Trend - Advent Calendars

I know, 3 posts in one day! But I realize that next Tuesday is Dec. 1 and that's time to break out those advent calendars for Christmas. A few weeks ago I attended one of the Pottery Barn Kids' decorating series on Christmas. They have this absolutely fabulous pocketed calendar, but it's $69. So here are a few just as fabulous options, whether you want to purchase one or make your own...

1. Target's gift advent calendar is fun and affordable.
2. Pretty paper envelopes make a perfect countdown.
3. Although no longer available at Pottery Barn, this wall unit is a fun project for the woodworker in your life, plus it's perfect for year round use.
4. Got a drawer full of stray socks? Take a cue from Martha and turn it into a fun runner that is a perfect holiday reminder of how big those little feet are getting.
5. Got a drawer full of stay gift boxes? Here is a clever way to put them to good use with removable putty.

Tuesday Tutorial - Harvest Trees and Toilet Roll Pumpkins

OK, so the name of my blog is 'Not Just A Mommy' and yet, my posts almost always seem to eventually center around my kids. Case in point, our little harvest party yielded three crafts that would be perfect if you are having kids over for Thanksgiving and need to keep them out of the turkey. We made no-cook playdough and sponged harvest trees.Using package sheets of posterboard, have guests draw the tree's bough with brown marker. I made cloud-shaped templates, taped them down with painters' tape and they sponged away with acrylic paint. We also made these cute pumpkins (courtesy of our children's museum...see, can't get away!).Our guests wrapped toilet paper rolls and covered the ends with brown paper, then taped 1" by 11" strips of construction papers to each end of the roll. I hot-glued their choice of artificial leaves. Don't spend big bucks; check out the floral section of your dollar store and just strip off the leaves from a leaf bundle. Talk about thrifty fun, gotta save up for our Christmas soirees, you know!

Tuesday Trend - Turkey Treats

Looking for a few gobble-inspiring ways to keep those little (and big) hands busy? Set out lots of leftover Halloween candy for decorating these inspiring treats; this too-cute turkey cupcake or this Rice Krispies Turkey that doubles as a place setting.

Pretzels and peanut butter sorta kinda make this turkey treat slightly healthy.

"Baking" their hands is sure to be a hit!

Looking for healthy alternatives? Lots of great fruits make this little gobbler a great snack. This fruit gobbler is fun to make and will make the perfect centerpiece.

You must go check out Amy Atlas' Thanksgiving buffet these adorable cookies are part of.

Drink Of The Week - Whiskey Sour

Kick off Thanksgiving in style by greeting guests with this old-fashioned drink...recipe is courtesy of Martha Stewart Food and serves 8.

4 cups fresh orange juice (from 8 oranges)
1 cup fresh lemon juice (from 8 lemons)
1 cup triple sec
2 1/2 cups whiskey
garnish: thinly sliced wedges of oranges, maraschino cherries

1. Combine all ingredients in a pitcher; serve over ice, topped with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry.

Fiesta Friday (On A Saturday)/Color Party - Colorific Parties II

Another rainbow assortment of amazing parties. Looking for more fun? Check out Part I.....
A white Hawaiian luau by Bo Peep Productions via Imprintables.

Pink confections and other treats rule this ice-cream buffet

Go buggy over this ladybug party at TomKat Studio.

What a fun kids' table, inspired by the adult tables' palette of pink and orange poppies.

A Stunning Affair's Under The Tuscan Sun bridal shower is chock full of great ideas for any party.

I'm so much in love with The Frog Prince theme; I love when the party is personally inspired.

Breakfast At Melly's is the perfect theme for a slumber-party bridal shower inspired by the bride's favorite movie.

Real Party Sneak Peek - Pilgrim Hats and Ugly Sweaters

Yeah, I've been a bit slacky on the blog lately; I've just been super busy hitting up all the fabulous Christmas stores getting inspiration and trinkets for this year's Ugly Sweater Christmas party and prepping for two harvest-themed parties this week. I was a marshmellow-chocolate-dunking fool for these Pilgrim hats that are going to become cupcake toppers...And speaking of Pilgrim hats, I thought I would share our Thanksgiving placecards that we made last year...I pre-painted clay pots black, and everyone painted the band color and added the paper buckles and a black craft foam brim. After they dried, I wrote our names on with a Sharpie marker. Super easy to make and so much fun, you could have guests decorate theirs own early in the day, giving them plenty of time to dry before the meal.

And speaking of guests, how excited was I when my box with....my fab party invites arrived! They are Yum Boxes, and I just had to have them. I ordered them from my favorite party spot, Plum Party, during their 75% off sale, and I got free shipping! They came with peppermint candies, but they looked kinda old, so I switched them out with snowflake confetti. I was going to do a sweater die-cut with knit material, but wouldn't you rather receive this?

We Go Wednesday - Alderbrook Resort & Spa

This amazing place was our first choice for our Mother's Day weekend getaway, but alas, the gold-brick tree didn't bloom in time. But one day, some day....

Tuesday Trend - Cupcake Wrappers

I love the idea of cupcake wrappers; bake or buy your favorite frosted cupcake and set inside the wrapper for a beautiful finish.

Carrie Middlemiss of Bella Cupcake Couture kindly sent me an email about her lovely company. Her boutique-style cupcakes wrappers are made of durable, heavy-stock recycled linen paper and soy-based inks. Their designs offer a sophisticated elegance to any special occasion.

And her wrappers are so super special, she was chosen as the Martha Stewart's "Doer of the Week"! And she's been featured at the dessert goddess herself with my other idol, Trophy Cupcakes. Check out their Flickr site for more fabulousness, if I could lick the screen I would.

Don't limit yourself to just baked treats. Candy-filled cups can make a fabulous display or set at each place setting as a party favor. I'm inspired to share some other amazing cupcake wrappers from around the blogosphere, just in time for holiday baking...

Autumn damask from Cupcake Wrapture; poinsetta cups from Fancy Flours; my personal favorite - Paper Orchid Stationery's sunflower wrapper, snowflake wrapper from Wedding Things; silver holly wrapper and orange pumpkin wrapper from Cakes, Cookies & Crafts Shop.

Tuesday Tip - Invitation Consultants Little Artist's Contest

I'm so glad I received an email about this, because I don't know how I missed this!

The genius that is Invitation Consultants have created Little Artist's Cards as a way to share your child's awesome creations with family and friends. The cards have a space for your child's drawing or painting and a space for a photo of the little artist.

They are having a contest to win 25 Little Artist's Cards. Contest ends next Tuesday the 24th, so skedaddle over, wouldn't they make the bestest Christmas cards?

Drink Of The Week - Early Autumn Cocktail

I'm not sure why it's called "early autumn" but it serves 8 and sounds tasty! Recipe courtesy of In Style Parties.

1 1/2 cups vodka
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup Galliano
1/4 cup honey liqueur

1. Combine all ingredients in a shaker, pour into ice-filled glasses and garnish with flowering thyme sprigs.

We Go Wednesday - Dealbreaker

So, today's W.G.W. isn't a physical location, but it is just as entertaining. OK, I'm stretching that a bit. OK, you got me, I'm tooting my own horn today.

I love me some 30 Rock, and if you haven't been watching it, you should, because anything Tina Fey does is side-splitting. Who's that? Oh come on, you know her from her dead-on impressions of Sarah Palin during the elections last year. Oh yeah, she also wrote this little movie called Mean Girls.

Long story short, one of the episodes deals with romantic advice to the audience at a TV show. My favorite has to be when an audience member says ' "My boyfriend has been acting really weird since he got promoted at his job--" ' to which Tina Fey's Liz Lemon replies ' "Yeah, he thinks he deserves a vajayjay upgrade. He doesn't. He's not Tom Brady. Shut it down. Deal breaker!" '

Inspired by such inspiration is the site Dealbreaker - devoted to anything capable of ruining everything. Sample Dealbreakers include "You Watch The Hills", "You're Lady Gaga" and my personal favorite "You're Wal-mart". Oh, is that me? Why yes it is! Inspired by my dislike of Crocs and Wal-mart, I decided to channel my inner Liz Lemon and shut it down. And to disclaim, I had nothing to do with the photo, the genius that is the Dealbreaker crew did that. I love that his name tag says 'Facebook'...hmmm...subtle message there?

Oh, and second disclaimer to the couple of people who have emailed and commented asking why do I complain and go somewhere else to shop, I say to each their own. People jump out of perfectly good planes for fun and others wax their bikini area, to which I say "Why, why, why?" but to each their own. If you've had a fab time at Wal-mart, good for you!

I was just there the other day, and I swear the people in front had to be buying $200 worth of produce, all requiring weighing, counting and typing in codes. I kid you not. Plus, I've been under the weather and desperate to get out of the house and my befuddled brain figured that being early afternoon meant less people would be there. I must have stood there for 15 minutes; meanwhile my befuddled brain kept debating if I should move, but damn it, I'm next, while popping cough drops and hacking into tissue. It's just a cough, no swine flu thank you. Just one of those that wakes you up from a deep sleep, forcing you downstairs for more medicine while your husband 'sleeps'. I know he hears me. When he goes to bed first, I can creep in later with the skills of a ninja and he says 'I can hear you.' I'm hacking up a lung and he's dead to the world.

Wow, that train derailed fast. It's been awhile since I've ranted and raved. Good for me!

Tuesday Trend - (Sesame) Street Smarts

Today's trend is perfect because today is the icon's 40th birthday. I can't believe that it's been around that long...and then I remember, I've been around almost as long. Sigh. Ok, so my kids won't come near Elmo with a ten-foot pole, but I would force the little one to have a Sesame Street party just to attempt to make these....
Run, run, run over to Bakerella; she has a full tutorial, pictures, sketches, everything you need! And if you need some help planning the party around the treats, check out my previous post on some fab parties. And if that's not enough, and here are a few more to get those creative juices flowing!
HWTM's decadent candy buffet, perfect for the young and young-at-heart.

A very elegant Abby Cadabby party, perfectly appropriate for 1 year old Abby. Don't you love the themed sippy cups?

I love that this toddler Elmo party requested guests to wear red.

Me want Nick^D's Cookie Monster cupcake! How fun would it be to send guests home with a cute Big Bird lollipop?

Tuesday Tip/Tutorial - Cinnamon Apple Muffins

Looking for a new Thanksgiving tradition? How about a Thanksgiving Day Breakfast featuring...

Cinnamon Apple Muffins - recipe courtesy of My Punchbowl
1 ½ cups flour
1 ½ tsps baking powder
¾ cup sugar
1½ tsps baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ cup of whole milk
1/3 cup of melted butter
1 egg
1 cup peeled, cored and diced Granny Smith apples
1 cup cinnamon chips
muffin or cupcake liners

1. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon together in a medium-sized bowl.

2. Mix the milk, butter, egg, apples and cinnamon chips together, then add to the flour mixture, stirring until smooth.

3. Fill each muffin liner about 2/3 full, then bake in a 365 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

4. Allow the muffins to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving them.

Punchbowl Giveaway Winners

Congrats to Melissa and Chriss for their Thanksgiving comments, and I'm going to have to check out that Souper Suppers...Chriss if you could please email me I can get you in contact for your membership upgrade.

Drink Of The Week - Pumpkin Pie Martini

Another 'Yum-O!' moment from Rachel Ray...this recipe makes two cocktails.

2 ounces vanilla vodka
2 ounces crème de cacao
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
whipped cream, for garnish

1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice cubes. Add liquors, heavy cream, pumpkin pie spice and shake well.

2. Dip the rims of 2 martini glasses into a bowl of whipped cream. Strain the cocktail into the glasses.