Etsy Holidays

I've been gone for about a week and I may be pretty distant this week also. 

November went by way to fast and now I am attempting to catch up. 

Which means a lot of my projects are going to be put on hold until I finish up a little bit of school. 

But I thought I would share some of the fun stuff I have found on Etsy lately. 

For those of you who don't know Etsy is a place where collectors and artists can share their passion. 

Everything that is listed is either vintage or handmade! 

Anyone can open a shop to sell their goods and I decided to join about a year ago. 

I love using Etsy it is so easy to sell through and is super fun to shop. 

I thought I would share some of my goodies from the shop 

and some of the fun things I've found while looking for Christmas gifts! 

I'll start off with some of the little treasures I've found recently. 

First: I got my mom a camera bag from Robyn at Porteen Gear and it is BEAUTIFUL! 

I don't have a picture of my moms bag but Robyn does custom camera bags, straps, totes and more. 

The tote that she made for my mom is a beautiful acid wash cowhide camera bag that was customized for her camera gear. Robyn is so easy to work with and is helping me with a few other Christmas goodies this season, and has even pitched in for one of my own projects :) 

Second: These faux lace thigh high tights are beautiful. (Hint hint Reed these would be a fun christmas gift). I just think the Norwegianwood shop has so many beautiful clothes and accessories. Its more than I am willing to spend on myself but one day I hope I can get some of these leggings :) 

Third: The shop Sweet Things by MaraMay has so many cute decorations. 

These are things that I wish I could make on my own but I'm not patient enough to sit down and make them. I love this paper garland, I am going to try and order it for my burlap Christmas tree! 

There are so many other shops I would love to share with you but I just don't have enough time, and I don't want to spoil some of the Christmas gifts that I've already purchased. 

I will do another post like this after Christmas so I can share all of those goodies :) 

Now here are a few of my projects that are proving to be pretty popular for Christmas!! 

The hand-painted scarves are flying out! 

I love making them and I had no idea that they would get so popular. 

You can customize the scarf with a verse, quote, dates, lyrics or whatever you want! 

Check them out here: Scarves

(I need to take some better pictures... I'll get on that my next break from school)

The second holiday goodie that I've got in my shop is a set of Christmas dishes!! 

They are beautiful white ceramic plate and coffee mug that each have a gold ring around the rim. 

I can customize them however you want or you can order one of the sayings I have pre-made,

1. "For Santa" with a "from" tag and your child/children's names

With an "Enjoy" mug

Click Here

2. "A Taste of Christmas" plate and a mug of "good cheer" 

Click Here

These are just a few of my projects from my etsy shop. 

Please stop by and let me help you get ready for this Holiday season :) 

PS> I know this was a post about sales and what not, I've got a lot going on and will be sharing it with you soon! I just need some time to get caught up on life and to digest everything before I share it with the world!! 

I hope everyone of you had a fabulous Thanksgiving and are enjoying preparing for Christmas! 

Apple Pie Cookies!!

I know, I know, I know 3 apple posts in a row. 

I told you we had a ton of apples!! 

I was going to wait and share this one but these apple pie cookies were such a big hit that I figured I should share them in time for Thanksgiving :) 

I found my inspiration on Twigg Stuidos where she shared her Pie Pops.

I was going to make the pie pops but Reed said that was "too cute" for a tailgate. 

I didn't agree with that, but I did think he had a point. Cookies are a lot easier to eat. 

With out further adieu here is my little baking tutorial :) 

 Ingredients:

two apples

4 table spoons of brown sugar

table spoon granulated sugar

tea spoon cinnamon powder

1 table spoons of flour

2 table spoons water

And for the crust I just used store bought pie crusts

1. Peel and chop the apples, I cut mine pretty small so they would be easier to eat. 

2. Add the apples to a pan with the 2 table spoons of water and allow to simmer on med/high until soft.

This is where it started smelling REALLY good :) 

3. Add your 4 table spoons of brown sugar. Keep the heat on med/high until the the sugar coats the apples. 

4. Mix the remaining ingredients in a small bowl 

*remember to stir the apples continuously once you start adding the sugars. 

5. Slowly pour the remaining ingredients while constantly stirring. 

6. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer while you prepare the crust!! 

This kinda looks like chicken but it smells like heaven!! 

For the crust I rolled out store bought pie crust and used a wine glass to cut little circles.

Once you have the circles cut you can start filing them with about a spoonfull of filling. 

I then added the top, pressed down with a fork around the edges and poked holes in the center. 

These babies where finished after cooking for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees!! 

The recipe that I shared above made about 8-10 cookies. 

It is really easy to just play around with the different ingredient amounts, I changed it each batch I made. These sweeties also don't take very long. The longest part was peeling the apples and other than that it was probably only a 20 minute process. 

They were a huge hit at the tailgate and I am already making them for a few friends as gifts!! 

They taste exactly like apple pies, just mini! 

Hope this is a fun treat that you can share this holiday season! 

If you try these PLEASE let me know, I would love to hear your stories with making them and any improvements you have aswell!

I hope everyone has a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

PS. I am not sure if I will be posting on Thursday or not. I would like to but I'm gonna make sure my family comes first!! 

Baked Apples & Apple Pancakes

To continue my "newly wed" theme of the week I thought I would share some of the baked goodies Reed and I have made with the apples!

The first thing we did once we got home from the mountains was make baked apples! 

Here is the recipe we used and I'll attempt to give you step by step instructions :) 

Home Made Baked Apples

8-10 Apples, cored, peeled and halved
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1tsp cinnamon
2 tsp butter, melted
1 cup water
Place apples in greased 9x13 dish. Place all ingredients (except apples) in a pan and bring to boil. Reduce heat and stir continuously until it has darkened to a carmel color. Pour over apples in pan and bake at 350 for about 35 minutes.

Look at all these apples!! We are peeling and ready to start bakin! 

I would suggest to peel all of the apples before you start with the sauce. 

I just combined all of the ingredients in my measuring cup and then poured in to the pan. 

 Reed and I worked at the same time so I started the sauce while he was still peeling and we had to keep the sauce on a little longer than we would have liked. 

You can tell in this picture that when you first mix the sugars and what not together that it is a milky color. Continuously stir the mixture until it turns to a carmel-ly color. 

You can tell in this picture the color that you are going for. Because we cooked ours a little longer than we wanted it became pretty thick. 

But regardless it was still great just not as easy to pour over the peeled apples :) 

Then you want to mix the apples all up so everyone is covered in that sugary goodness! 

Then finally place it in the oven at 350 and try to wait 35minutes! 

It smells like heaven so its pretty hard to wait!! 

But WELLLLL worth it :)

So yummy!! 

Because we made the baked apples at like 9 at night we decided to save them for the morning when we could add them to apple pancakes!!

I've been so blessed to have a man that enjoys cooking :) 

This was his second ever attempt at making pancakes. 

He of course did perfect!

These pancakes were made from the apple pancake batter we got from the orchard. 

I would drive that entire hour just to get another batch of it.

SO GOOD. 

TA DA!! 

The finished product and plenty more apples! 

That breakfast was so good. 

And that weekend was even better!

I have a few more things that we have made with the apples that I'll share later :) 

I hope that my first attempt at a cooking post was successful. 

Tell me how I can improve, I need some blogging critiques! 

TAG YOUR IT, blogger style

Wanna read some about me? 
Wanna find 11 fun blogs?
Well check it out! Thats exactly what I've just posted :) 

Here are the rules:

1. Every tagged person has to tell 11 things about themselves.
2. The person who tagged you asked 11 questions, answer them.
3. Ask 11 questions for the 11 blogs you are going to tag, please choose blogs with less than 200 followers.
4. Mention the blog that tagged you, but don't tag them back.

11 Things about ME!

1. I am the 2nd of 4 children. 
2. I never moved until I came to college
3. I am in my senior year at Clemson University and will soon graduate with a Fine Arts degree!!
4. My dream was always to get married in college, and it came true this past August! 
5. I married my middle school and high school crush (we didn't date until my senior year of High school). 
6. I want to adopt my future kiddos 
7. I've been to Nicaragua 5 times and hope to live there for an extended period one day (Reeds parents live there). 
8. My love language is quality time and words of affirmation. 
9. I can't stand being alone. I love my friends and want them to be with me ALL THE TIME. 
10. One day I hope I can use my artist skill to further the Lords kingdom, hopefully this blog is the first step!
11.I grew up and realized as much as I love to travel I am a true southern girl and don't wanna live anywhere else!

I was tagged by Pam at Best Laid Plans and here are the questions she asked me! 

1. How long have you been blogging and what is your main focus on your blog? My first post was a year ago this past July. Butttt I didn't start blogging on a regular basis but about 6 months ago! I have 3 main focuses. 1. Life as an art student and sharing my fine art projects 2. Being a crafter at heart and sharing/selling those fun ideas and projects 3. Sharing my experiences as a newly wed!! 
2. What is your favorite craft/hobby? I love to make art. Any kind. But I think as far as hobbies and crafts I love to paint on found objects more than anything :) 
3. What is your current or latest project? My current or latest project in which part of my life?! As an art student I have atleast 3 projects going on just for classes and then with my etsy shop I often have one or 2 for that, on top of my home projects! But I think my favorite out of all of them right now are the pieces I am putting in to my senior show dealing with integrity and furniture. 
4. Do you craft for yourself or for gift-giving? Both. I love to craft and I don't have the space so a lot of the times I end up giving them as gifts.
5. What is your favorite holiday? I think it is Thanksgiving. I LOVE hanging around, talking to family and friends. Plus the food is a HUGE plus :) 
6. Who is your favorite author? Thats hard. I love reading older literature. I think Jane Austin would have to be one of my favorites. 
7. Do you have a favorite blog that you have to read? If so, share the name and link. :) By a landslide my favorite blog is Under The Sycamore she shares so much wisdom and truth and has inspired my life in SO many ways!! 
8. Where is your favorite place to vacation? Its a tie between Kiawah Island, SC and Nicaragua. I have been lucky enough to have family in both locations so I visit them pretty regularly. Kiawah is my favorite when I want to do nothing but get tan and read :) Nicaragua is a place I love to go for a reality check, and for any and every kind of adventure!! 
9. Do you love to cook or eat out? I'm so bad about eating out. I love cooking, specially now that I have someone to cook FOR. But I think talking over dinner is one of my favorite things to do so I always catch up with friends out to eat :) 
10. What is your favorite food? Well, right now it is anything and everything Mexican. I don't know what it is but I can't stop craving it!! 
11. Tea, coffee or wine? I'm southern and proud of it. SWEET TEA :) I just started to be fond of wine this year and I hope that I never like coffee :) 

And finally my 11 questions to YOU! 

1. Do you blog for yourself or others?
2. What is your favorite "blog experience"? (ex. I LOVE hearing from my readers)
3. Do you share everything thats on your mind? Why or Why not?
4. What is your biggest piece of advice to a newbie blogger??
5. Do you have blogger besties? If so, share them!! 
6. How do you spend your free time?
7. What is your DREAM job?
8. If you could do anything in the world, what would it be?
9. What is your all time favorite memory?
10. If you could have any talent what would it be?
11. How can your blog experience be better?! (I would love to help)

The people that couldn't run fast enough and got TAGGED!! 

1. Elemental Carbon
2. Craftlee
3. Love Grows Wild
4. Happy In Life Young in Love
5. Setting For Four
6. Callan Tinsley Photography
7. Sweet To the Soul
8. ML
9. What Its Like Being Jesse's Girl
10. Polka Dot Pretties
11. From Overwhelmed To Organized

Please let me know if you decide to play!! I would love to read your answers!! 

Blogger, Art Student, & Newly Wed

I feel like my posts are often ALL OVER THE PLACE. 

But I realized today that it didn't matter because each post is coming from a different part of my life. 

I'm a blogger, art student, and a newly wed. 

Each of these categories have so many different meanings and I often overlap them in some of my posts. 

Last week I did mostly blog themed posts. 

I got EXTREMELY lucky and was asked by 2 wonderful ladies to host some linky parties and so that took up a little bit of my time. I also was doing a giveaway with another fabulous woman and I was waisting way too much time attempting to give my blog a makeover. 

So, THIS WEEK I'm going for more of the newly wed jabber :) 

Mainly because I noticed I've never done a post on food and I've been trying to be a good cook lately. 

To kick off my week of all things newly wed (really doesn't mean anything, I just figured I would share  projects that involved Reed more than normal) I'm going to share a little bit of our time apple picking and then the fabulous apple concoctions that came out of it :) 

The last weekend in October was my birthday and Reed planned an entire day filled with fun fall activities with great friends! I'm lucky enough to share my birthday with a good friend of both Reed and I, so we made it a double date and let the boys plan everything. 

First they took us to Sky Top orchord in North Carolina to pick as many apples as we wanted! 

When we pulled up we were all blown away and went a little crazy for apples :)

These pictures are some of my favorite^ v
Don't they just look like some kind of apple wonderland!!

We picked and picked and picked some more and ended up coming home with about 30lbs of apples between all of us!

Not only did we pick a ton but we of course went through the apple gift shop and got apple pancake mix, apple cider and apple butter. 

Annnnnd then we tried the treats they where making on hand. 

These are apple cider DONUTS!

Heaven. On. Earth. 

We got a dozen and had to stop ourselves from eating them all and going back for more.

Then after our fun in the apple orchard they took us to eat BBQ in Saluda NC and it was the bomb. 

A great day full of everything that is good about fall in the South :) 

All that to say that you should be expecting many apple treats on the blog!

We have already made 2 pies, loads of baked cinnamon apples, apple cider drinks, and apple pancakes and we STILL have apples left over :) 

PS. Reed got me some AWESOME stuff for my camera for my birthday, I'm still waiting on my bag to come in and then I'm going to share all the goodies I got :) 

Party Rockin!!

Holy moly! This week is just full of parties! 

This one is HUGE, I'm so excited to be guest hosting SPARK this month! 

Be sure to check it out and share!! 

It's November, that means that not only are we all gearing up for the holidays, but it's also time for our new November SPARK themed party!

Time to inspire and be inspired with our recipes, stories, home decor, photography, crafts, DIY projects, Etsy items, and more.

The November theme for the month is-

A big welcome and thank you to our party giveaway sponsor this month-

Printcopia is a photo printing company that creates personal photos on canvas prints. The process is super user-friendly, just click the link and upload your photo. You even have to option to upload from Facebook or Instagram.

One lucky winner will receive a custom 8x10 canvas print (ARV over $40)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

SPARK is co-hosted by these lovely bogs

and these November guest hosts

SPARK Participation Guidelines

1. Become followers of each of the co-hosts as well as our guest hosts. We all have a variety of follow options on our blogs to make it easy for you.

2. Only family friendly links

3. Feel free to link up your Etsy items (not your shop), but no more than 5 items per Etsy shop

4. NO giveaways or linky parties

5. Link up to the original post, not your main blog

6. Please grab a party button (found at the end of this post) and display it on your blog somewhere. If you're not a blogger, a shout out on your social media sites is greatly appreciated. The more the merrier!

November Theme- Here Come the Holidays

 

Remember, each month has a unique theme, and we ask that you only link up posts or items that are relevant for that month. Please grab a button to post on your blog and help spread the word!

<a href="http://gracelangdon.blogspot.com/2012/11/party-rockin.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h425/myartsybaby/th_WinterSparkButton.jpg" /></a>

Have fun!

My "one day" Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is coming soon! 

I think this is my favorite Holiday. 

I've always enjoyed getting together and just hanging out with family around good food. 

I've always dreamed and drooled over how I would hold my own Thanksgiving feast one day. 

This year, I'm married and have my own little home. 

As much as I would LOVE to have my family come and celebrate at our house it really is too small. 

We would have people sitting in both bedrooms just to fit in half the family! 

But, one day I will have a bigger house that can hold my entire family and THEN I will host Thanksgiving!

For now I'm just going to have to be happy with collecting inspiration for my future Thanksgiving.

Here are a few of my favorite things I've found this season :)

I love this table done by Stacy at Not Just a House wife

My family always has some kind of awesome cake or pie at every occasion  I love the idea of adding the pumpkins :) 

Oh my goodness aren't these cozy sweater pumpkins the cutest! 

StoneGable has an easy tutorial on how to make them so I guess I could do them this year... but then my house would be over run by pumpkins . I need more space for decorating!! 

Another table center piece that I can't help but drool over is from Aunt Peaches.

This stunning apple orchard center piece is so easy but adds so much whimsy to the table. 

It probably helps that I just got back from an AWESOME apple picking trip for my birthday :) 

One day my house will have a dining room with a chandelier. 

Still not sure what style chandelier but something that I can add this to for fall for sure! 

Katie from Creative Living has added my favorite thing ever to her fall chandelier, FEATHERS!

And everyone knows Reed has all the feathers any one could ever want! 

So one day in my dream house I will be able to incorporate some of these awesome designs for my fall decor! I just love crafting and am trying to get a head start on Christmas. I want to for-real decorate this year!!