Pinteresting Features n' Shtuff #51

Before I get started with today's features, I just wanted to remind you about our Artsy Corner link party that we have going on. Would love to see what you've been up to!
Link up here.

Here are some inspiring crafts, recipes and ideas that I've pinned to my Pinterest boards recently:

Chevron Stamped Scarf

{Source: Pin via Mine for the Making}

Easy Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

{Source: Pin via Shaken Together Life}

DIIY Vintage Bathroom Canisters

{Source: Pin via Small Home Love}

Personalized Magnetic Paper Dolls

{Source: Pin via Meaningful Mama}

Simple Striped Skirt

{Source: Pin via VixenMade}

Banana Pudding Cupcakes

{Source: Pin via Sweet Southern Blue}

T-Shirt to Headband

{Source: Pin via The DIY Dreamer}

Office Chair Makeover

{Source: Pin via Feathers and Sunshine}

IKEA Desk Makeover

{Source: Pin via A Night Owl}

and just something funny...

{Source: Pin via SomeECards}

See you next week for more Pinteresting Features n' Shtuff!

Be sure to grab a button if you were featured! You deserve it!

Follow my boards if you want. Or not.

You'll still find some pretty sweet things to pin.

 If you need an invite to Pinterest, comment or email me your email address & I'll get you addicted an invite!

Easiest Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of my favorite fall treats are pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. This is my shortcut recipe and they taste just as good as if you'd spent all day in the kitchen baking from scratch! Gotta love that, right?

Easiest Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

15 oz can of Pumpkin Puree

1 Spice Cake Mix

{I used a yellow cake mix and it worked fine, but spice cake mix is much better!}

1 bag/2 cups Chocolate Chips

{you could also mix in nuts, raisins, etc in place of or in addition to the chocolate chips}

Yep. That's it. No oil, no eggs. Just the cake mix, pumpkin and chocolate chips. Plus they are low fat!!

So now you can eat a few extra without feeling guilty.

1. Mix the cake mix and can of pumpkin together.
2. Add in chocolate chips.
3. Drop cookies by spoonful onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Unlike most cookies that spread when baked, these cookies will keep their shape.
4. Bake at  350° for 12-15 minutes.

Cookies can easily be frozen and store in a sealed container {if you have any left}!

You could also top with a cream cheese frosting. The possibilities are endless!

Linking to these parties! 

Artsy Corner Thursday #1

Welcome to the very first Artsy Corner link party! I hope you all are ready to party!
Link up your favorite recipes, crafts, ideas, projects or fun posts to share.

A few rules:

• Please follow both of your hosts, Artsy-Fartsy Mama and Cox's Corner
• Link to a specific post {not your home page, no giveaways or shops please}
• Link up to 3 links. Please share your own projects, not someone else's.
• Visit other links and leave some comment love {because we all love comments!}
• Post our party button {the code is below} anywhere on your blog

<a href="http://www.artsyfartsymama.com/search/label/Artsy%20Corner"><img border="0" src="http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m617/yourfavoritelizard/afm2/ArtsyCornerButton_zps373d38a4.png" height="200" width="200"/></a>
Come back to see if you've been featured next week {there will be features on both blogs}!

Blogger's Night Out

About a week ago, I was able to attend a Blogger's Night Out! The event was sponsored by Gardner Village and My Craft Channel. We had an amazing time and I got to meet some really great people, plus visit some of my favorite shops!

   

Gardner Village is located in West Jordan, Utah. It is the remnants of an old mill town, now home to small retail shops in small cabins, houses, and buildings next to Gardner Mill. You can read more about their history here.

Fall is one of my favorite times to go to Gardner Village. The whole place is decorated with fall decor and witches everywhere! It's such a fun atmosphere, and we got there just in time to see them finish getting everything set up. In October, they have all kinds of witch-themed events called Witchfest! So fun!

Being the most forgetful person on the planet, of course I left my camera at home.

So here's a HUGE thanks to Highlite Photography for taking such amazing photos throughout the night!

We started out at Archibald's Restaurant for registration, mingling, and yummy appetizers. Amber from Quilted Euphoria came along with me, so I bribed my husband to come along with us because I didn't want to get us lost... and to my surprise he was on board with the idea! What a brave fellow.

The main event of the evening was a "scavenger hunt". We had to visit each shop in Gardner Village before we could enter to win big, amazing prizes at the end of the night. Having Jason there was a HUGE help in keeping the money in my wallet and helping me stay focused. I had a great time checking out my favorite shops, collecting prizes, meeting shop owners, and learning more about the shops.

Thanks to Amber for the cute photo of us! {yes, Jason even carried my purse for me!}

Here's a few photos we had taken when we made our stop at Highlite Photography:

I "mustache" you a question...

...but I'll "shave" it for later.

Once we hit all the shops, we headed to The Gathering Place for dessert and giveaways. We sat at a table full of awesome people: Elyse from Six Sister's Stuff, DeDe from Designz by DeDe, Jessica from Utah Deal Diva, and Amber from Quilted Euphoria - just to name a few.

And we can't forget the chocolate. Ohhh, the chocolate. YUM! I had my share of chocolate covered cinnamon bears, strawberries, pineapple and soo much more!

Lucinda the Witch called out the giveaway winners of the night, and had such a fun time!

You can see more of how the night went with this fantastic video put together by My Craft Channel:

BIG thanks to Gardner Village and My Craft Channel for the fun night out!
Can't wait to go back and really get some shopping done!

FYI, Jason must have really been inspired by being surrounded by such talented women that he finally gave in and started his own blog! Take a look at what he thought of the Blogger's Night Out at Surviving Crafting!

Pinteresting Features n' Shtuff #50

Before I get started with today's features, I just wanted to announce that this Thursday will be my very first link party! I am teaming up with Cox's Corner and couldn't be more excited about it!



So, grab a party button on my sidebar and get ready to party on Thursdays at Artsy Corner!!

So excited that it is officially Fall!!
Here are some Fall-themed crafts, recipes and ideas that I've pinned to my Pinterest boards:

Yarn-Wrapped Fall Letters

{Source: Pin via Repeat Crafter Me}

Autumn Mantle

{Source: Pin via Sassy Sanctuary}

Pumpkin Patch Photography Tips

{Source: Pin via It's Overflowing}

Apple Pie Fudge

{Source: Pin via Shugary Sweets}

DIY Autumn Wood Letter Blocks

{Source: Pin via Turnstyle Vogue}

Fall Carrot Cupcakes

{Source: Pin via The Cupcake Suite}

DIY Fall Sign

{Source: Pin via Clean and Scentsible}

Homemade Caramel Popcorn

{Source: Pin via Six Sister's Stuff}

Crock Pot Apple Butter

{Source: Pin via Changing My Destiny}

and just something funny...

{Source: Pin via SomeECards}

See you next week for more Pinteresting Features n' Shtuff!

Be sure to grab a button if you were featured! You deserve it!

Follow my boards if you want. Or not.

You'll still find some pretty sweet things to pin.

 If you need an invite to Pinterest, comment or email me your email address & I'll get you addicted an invite!

DIY Glitter Pumpkins

It's officially Fall!! My favorite! So, now it's time to get those decorations out {if you haven't already!}.

If you're looking for some simple, inexpensive, and fun Fall/Halloween crafts that you can even have the kids help with, these glittery pumpkins are perfect! I love what they have added to my own decor and the possibilities are endless for making them fit your style.

I started by purchasing three foam pumpkins from Target for about $6 total.

You can also find them at most dollar stores, Wal-Mart and most craft stores in all shapes and sizes.

Next, I painted all the pumpkins. I used Americana acrylic paints in Sour Apple, Dioxazine Purple and Bright Orange. I painted about 3 coats on each pumpkin, making sure to let them dry completely between coats. I also painted the stems of all the pumpkins.

Once the paint was dry, I used FolkArt Extreme Glitter paints in Green, Gold, and Fuchsia. I painted 2-3 coats of the glitter paint. Once the paint was dry, they're done! The beauty of the Extreme Glitter paint is that it seals in the glitter so you don't have to paint a sealer over top. The glitter stays put, and you end up with a whole new pumpkin! You could also use Mod Podge with glitter, and it would look great!

And that's it!! So easy, and fun! My daughter loves painting, so this was a perfect project to let her help.

Happy Fall!

Linking to these parties! 

I'm Kind of Here...

...But mostly over at 4 You- With Love's blog today celebrating her blogiversary
with a yummy Apple Slab recipe!

Hope to see you there!

Come Visit Me!

Today I'm posting over at Quilted Euphoria:

Sharing my yummy and EASY recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!

See you there!

Guest Post {Quilted Euphoria}

Hello all you Artsy-Fartsy Mama readers! My name is Amber and I am so beyond thrilled to be hijacking Lindsay's blog for the day.

I'm the evil genius behind the Quilted Euphoria blog. Don't let the name fool ya, I've got much more on my blog than just quilts! I like to confuse my readers with a touch of everything. Quilting, crafts, recipes, random thoughts, pictures, funnies...just about everything.

Today I decided to cannibalize a tutorial that I wrote last fall season and share it with you guys today. Now if you ask me why you don't get a fresh new tutorial that no one has ever seen before, I'll laugh at you...this is just how I roll. :-)

This project is fun, fast, CHEAP and so easy that even the crafty challenged person that I am was able to make it look cute. So read on for more info!

Fabulous Felt Fall Leaves

Today I'm going to share with you how to make these awesome leaves for yourselves!

To start off, pick some colors of felt that you feel will represent your theme and personality well. I went with some standard colors for fall, but if you like hot pink and neon orange, go for it! I found my sheets of felt at Hobby Lobby for about 20cents each. Score!

{I love the sparkly ones the best!}

I then found some templates for leaves on the internet and printed them off onto some card stock. Cut these out and lay them out on your sheet of felt.

Trace around your leaves with a marker to make the form of the leaf.

I am kind of anal about using up all the space, so I tried to fit as many leaves onto the felt as I could. If your leaves are bigger, you will likely use up more felt.

At this point you can draw on the leaves some stems and other lines to make them look more real. Or you can just leave them blank, it's just a personal choice. I liked the look with the veins so I drew them in with a sharpie. {The original plan was to use some embroidery floss and stitch the veins on. Then I realized how long that would take, became super lazy, super cool and just used the sharpie to draw them on! Worked just as well and went faster!}

Use some super sharp scissors and cut out your leaf shapes from the felt.

{How pretty!}

Next use some twine or thread and string the leaves onto it with a needle. {If the felt is too stiff, just work the needle around a little to create a bigger hole and the needle should slip right through.}

At this point you can decide whether you're going to hang your leaves individually, or make them into a fun garland.


As you're stringing the leaves on make sure to tie a little knot at the top of each one to keep them from sliding off the twine {Or down the garland if that's what you're doing} Cut the twine apart in 6 inch intervals to make your hangers for the leaves. {longer for longer falling leaves, shorter for shorter, etc etc.}

And when you're done you'll have a batch of felt fall leaves that look something like this! You can mix and match your patterns and colors for the leaves and have a combination that pleases you! I did three different patters on six different colors and had lots flexibility in my arrangement.

Using a bit of tape, secure your leaves to the ceiling varying the lengths of the strings to make the leaves "fall"!

And that's it! It's such a fun fast project that I haven't stopped making leaves! I've made three garlands and tons to hang on the ceiling! {I think my husband is about fed up with felt by now!}

Thanks so much Lindsay for letting me hijack your blog and kidnap your readers! I hope to see you guys around my blog soon, I love making new friends!