The Smell of Fall is in the Air...From a Crock Pot

Don't you love the smells of autumn...apples, cinnamon, pumpkins. Well, here's a quick and safe way to enjoy those smells.

I made more apple pies today. One pie is for home (home nothing, my husband will eat the whole thing himself) and the second pie is for work.

I had all the cores and apple peals left over and I knew just what to do with them. This is also great time to use those apples on the bottom of the fruit drawer that are all bumped and bruised!



Place all your apples into a small crock pot and add your favorite spices. I used ground and whole cinnamon and some whole cloves.


Add water about half way up...

Cover and slow cook on low and it will last all day....just add more water and spices as needed. You can also simmer it on high and the smells will start faster, but watch how fast it cooks down.

It will start to cook down over time. This was just after an hour....mmm it smells so good!

Happy fall,

~Karen~

Tool Time Tuesday...Doorway Theater

Or how about Doorway Theater or From The Doorway To Broadway...

What ever name you give this project, your children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews will be glad you turned 2 tension rods from the hardware store into...




a Doorway Theater!

This is more of a technique, rather than exact measurements, because every one's doorways are different sizes and well, so are your children! lol. Just as a reference, my doorway is 34 inches wide.

I used 2 strips of fabric that I had. Each pieces is 28 inches wide and 72 inches long. I also had a piece of red and white polka dot that you'll see later.

The process for this is really easy. I didn't even hem anything. If you don't sew too much, it just took 3 straight lines and that's all...oh yeah and some hot glue. If you don't sew at all, just hot glue everything!!

First step is to fold over the top edge down about 13 inches.

Now from the top folded edge, go down about 2 inches.

The 2 inch mark is where you will sew, hot glue or use that stitch witchery iron on stuff (that's the technical name!!)

I sewed the channel for the tension rods in each of the long pieces.

Here's a quick peek of what it looks like. It's a quick step in making a valence. The only way this works is if your fabric is the same color on both side. The perfect fabric for this is a cheap flat sheet.

This is the piece of fabric I used for the lower portion of the theater. See, I didn't even turn the edge on the hem...I just used pinking sheers!

Add one tension rod through the top valence and the second tension rod through the lower portion and your theater is done.

I closed the door so you can see the fabric better without the light shining through from the back, but your little ones will be in the door way behind the curtain with a fantastic puppet show for you.

This is a close up of some of the hot glued trim. A cute little button on the ribbon tie backs

and some ric rac hot glued to the valence edge.

This was the driving force behind this project. The finger puppets I bought back during my trip to Ikea. Aren't they the cutest and I think only $4.00.

Here are the stars of the show. Wish my girls were here to demonstrate rather than leaning these finger puppets up against the door. On second thought, even if they were home, they wouldn't do this for all of you to see. I think they're glad they are away at school right now!

You know I tried these on...I just couldn't snap the picture at the same time!

Let the show begin.

Here it is with the door open. If your little ones don't want to do a puppet show, you can remove the lower tension rod and they can do theater by themselves.

I have another little tip for the kids to sell tickets.

I borrowed this from the girl's bathroom. It's a stand up toilet paper holder.

Great to sell tickets from.

Enjoy the Show!

Have a wonderful Tuesday,
~Karen~