Cyber Monday Sale at SweeterThanSweets on Etsy: Going on now!

Just in case you forgot (ha!)... today is Cyber Monday!

Today only, use code cybermondayetsy at SweeterThanSweets on Etsy for 20% off your entire purchase (not including shipping).

Hooded Towel Sets for Babies, Toddlers & Kids

Check back here later today for a Handmade Christmas Shopping Guide!

Black Friday sale at SweeterThanSweets on Etsy: Going on now!

Don't forget today's Black Friday Sale at SweeterThanSweets on Etsy!
 

Boutique Burp Cloths for Baby Boys and Baby Girls

TODAY, use code blackfridayetsy at SweeterThanSweets on Etsy for 20% off your entire purchase (not including shipping).

Can't decide what to get today? Come back on Monday and use code cybermondayetsy at SweeterThanSweets on Etsy for 20% off your entire purchase (not including shipping).

Black Friday and Cyber Monday at SweeterThanSweets on Etsy

Get ready for some Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales on Etsy this weekend! Now's the time to start your Christmas shopping if you haven't already.
 

Source: Salvatore Vuono

On Black Friday, use code blackfridayetsy at SweeterThanSweets on Etsy for 20% off your entire purchase (not including shipping). 

On Cyber Monday, use code cybermondayetsy at SweeterThanSweets on Etsy for 20% off your entire purchase (not including shipping).

What to buy, you wonder?

Boutique Burp Cloths for Baby Boys and Baby Girls

Mini Felt Fascinators for Girls and Women

Headbands for Girls and Women

Shoe Clips for Women and Girls

Appliqued Clothing for Girls and Boys

Hooded Towel Sets for Babies, Toddlers & Kids

Also in my shop: Hair Clips/Bows, Gift Sets and Hair Pins for Women.

I'm going to be restocking my shop with more hooded towels ASAP since I've sold so many recently. Check back in early December!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving and don't forget to swing by SweeterThanSweets on Etsy on Black Friday and Cyber Monday to use your 20% off coupon codes!

Fall Foliage in New England

It's Autumn! I was just browsing through some old pictures and found these from a trip we took to Massachusetts and Connecticut several years ago in the fall. It's amazing to see all the colors of God's creation!

The first four are from Boston and Cambridge:

Anyone on my mom's side of the family will recognize this last photo, which has a sentimental meaning to me (and probably to them, too).

It was taken near my grandparent's farm in Connecticut. I have so many good memories of times spent with my siblings and cousins exploring the woods, walking to the cemetery with the big lion statues, climbing on the giant rocks, and playing in the brook.

It was great to see all those cousins, aunts and uncles a couple of weekends ago when we celebrated my Grandma's 90th birthday in Arizona. We'll be back in 10 years, Gram!

(Linking up to Kanelstrand blog's Through the Looking Glass project.)

90 years old and Veteran's Day!

A BIG Happy Birthday to my Gramma, who turns 90 tomorrow!

And thank you to all who have served or are serving our nation's military (and to their Families, too). Happy Veteran's Day!

POW-MIA Flag & American Flags Photograph by dvtwist

Enjoy the weekend!

10 Tricky Treats to make this Halloween (Creepy Halloween Party Food!)

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My mom always makes the coolest food for her office holiday parties. She's very creative and an awesome cook! This week, she emailed me the link to what she made for the Halloween party, Melted Witches. People are so creative!

If you have a Halloween party this weekend or just want to make something fun for your family on Halloween, here are tutorials for 10 Tricky Treats!

Melted Witches by Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

Blood Slide Suckers by Forkable

Trick or Treats Cake Pops by Bakerella

Eyeball Caprese by Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories

Witch's Fingers by Magda's cauldron

Ghost Cake by i am baker

Jell-O Worms by The Idea Room

Halloween Cupcakes by My Cake School

Screaming Red Punch with Hand by Real Simple

Yummy Mummy Cupcakes by BH

If you're in the mood for less trick and more treat, check out Libby's Glazed Pumpkin Cookies, made by me!

Libby's Glazed Pumpkin Cookies by SweeterThanSweets

Cookie Fail

The other day, I attempted a different kind of Pumpkin Cookie. It failed miserably.

Here it is, my first attempt of using a cookie mold pan:

I want to share the destruction here because, as I said in the disclaimer on the About Me page, what you see on this blog just represents a part of my life. I don't usually share the messes or failures but every once in awhile, I believe it's good for the soul (yours and mine!).

What did I do wrong? Has anyone ever used these shaped cookie pans before? I used cooking spray and followed a sugar cookie recipe specifically for this kind of pan. But still, only one turned out right. If you've used these pans successfully for sugar cookies, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Anyway, since these were meant to be for the girls at my MOPs table for the next day's meeting, I had to reevaluate my approach and ended up making roll-out sugar cookies and using a pumpkin cookie cutter. Then I used orange-colored royal icing and piped on lines with melted chocolate.

Not what I planned (and my kitchen was a disaster) but that's life sometimes. I think next time I'll just stick with my tried-and-true Libby's Glazed Pumpkin Cookies!

Libby's Glazed Pumpkin Cookies Recipe

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You've been waiting for this (even if you didn't know it).

I gave you a sneak peek of these soft pumpkin cookies last Saturday. They are so delicious and this is coming from someone who doesn't even like pumpkin pie! In fact, this is the only pumpkin-y treat that I'll eat.

Have I convinced you? Now here's the recipe for Libby's Glazed Pumpkin Cookies (courtesy of VeryBestBaking.com) so you can taste for yourself how yummy these are!

Printable recipe available here.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
• 1 cup Libby's® 100% Pure Pumpkin
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Glaze (recipe follows)

Make sure you use 100% Pure Pumpkin (not Pumpkin Pie Filling!)

 

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease baking sheets.

COMBINE flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets.

BAKE for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

 

For Glaze: (Optional, but yummy)

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 Tablespoons milk
• 1 Tablespoon melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

COMBINE powdered sugar, milk, melted butter and vanilla extract in small bowl until smooth.

DRIZZLE, POUR, OR SPOON over cooled cookies.

Bonus points: Pure pumpkin puree is an amazing source of Vitamin A and a good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin K, alpha-carotene and beta-carotene (see the full nutritional data here.)

When you make these cookies, you'll have a little bit of pureed pumpkin left over. I always let Little Sweets eat what's left over and she loves it. Pure pumpkin puree was one of the healthy "homemade" baby foods I gave her when she was first starting solids.

In case you're wondering, No. This is not a sponsored post.
I just love Libby's Glazed Pumpkin Cookies.

Our trip to California - Part 2: Pumpkin Patch

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A Perfect Saturday.

Today has been a perfect Saturday.

I slept in until 8 a.m., then made myself a delicious double-tall White Chocolate Mocha. It tasted like the cappuccinos that my Sweets and I enjoyed at the cafe near our hotel in Rome (after we added 4 sugars to it).

Then our little family enjoyed a brunch of waffles with fresh-cut strawberries, scrambled eggs and a Fall favorite of mine, Libby's Glazed Pumpkin Cookies!

I'm going to share the not-so-secret recipe for these Pumpkin Cookies later this week so stay tuned! Here's the recipe for Libby's Glazed Pumpkin Cookies.

After we stuffed ourselves, we settled into a couch full of blankets and pillows for Family Movie Morning. Little Sweets can't really sit through a whole movie, but it was so cozy and I got lots of cuddles from her and my Sweets.

Then nap time for Little Sweets and time to get ready for a date night tonight, courtesy of our MOPs chapter. Tonight I'm going to enjoy some quality time with my hubby!

In other words... it's a Perfect Saturday.

How to "No Carve" a Pumpkin: Ideas for Halloween

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I got a little sidetracked while editing my pumpkin patch photos (coming soon) from our trip to California...

I was thinking that since Little Sweets is just 2, we won't be teaching her how to handle a pumpkin-carving knife quite yet. Here are some amazing no-carve pumpkin decorating tutorials:

Lacy Pumpkin by BHG

Painted Pumpkin by Alisa Burke

Glamorous Pumpkin with Rhinestones by BHG

Sparkly Pumpkins by The Swell Life

Rick Rack Pumpkins by Eddie Ross

Breast Cancer Awareness Pumpkins by The Swell Life

Decoupage Pumpkins by Little Birdie Secrets

Tangled Web Pumpkin by BHG

Glittery Pumpkin by BHG

Chalkboard Pumpkins by Your Home Only Better

Painted Pumpkin by A Beautiful Mess

If you want some Halloween costume inspiration, check out my other posts:

The cutest handmade DIY kids costumes,

The cutest handmade kids costumes on Etsy, and

The 15 best family-friendly DIY adult costumes

Are you carving or no-carving this Halloween?

Our trip to California - Part 1: San Francisco and Apple Hill

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The 15 Best Family-Friendly DIY Halloween Costumes for Adults

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After getting a great response from my awesome readers on my posts featuring the Cutest DIY Kids' Halloween Costumes and Cutest Handmade Kids' Halloween Costumes on Etsy, I decided to pull together the best DIY adult costumes for you...

But then when I started searching, I realized what "adult Halloween costumes" usually means... trust me, it was hard to find wholesome grown-up costumes, especially for us ladies. So I did the work for you and I now present you with the 15 best family-friendly DIY costumes for adults!

Real Life Lichtenstein Comic Girl by M.A.C. Cosmetics

Spider Web Mama and Baby by Martha Stewart

Pregnant Skeleton and Matching Husband by Make It And Love It

No-Sew Jellyfish by Martha Stewart

Sock Monkey by HGTV

No-Sew Bat Costume by Martha Stewart

Dino Man by My Li'l Pumpkin

Optimus Prime by dannyeurena

Popeye by mikeasaurus

Paparazzi by cockeyed

Toy Army Man by PuckstoppingPoke

And now for the Best Family Costumes:

The Incredibles by Freshly Completed

 B.L.T. Sandwich by Parents

S'mores Family by Disney's Family Fun

Cop and Robbers by Living Locurto

It seems like this is turning into a blog series. How about DIY pet costumes next?