Autumn Chex Mix

Serve this yummy snack at your Halloween or Harvest party - or make some just to snack on :).

Autumn Chex Mix

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups Corn Chex
4 1/2 cups Rice Chex
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 bags of candy corn
5 cups of bite-size pretzels
Non-stick cooking spray

Directions:
In a large bowl place cereals. In a seperate bowl melt butter in microwave. Add brown sugar & corn syrup to melted butter and stir. Add baking soda and stir until dissolved. Pour this over the cereal and stir until cereal is coated with butter/sugar mixture.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Cover a baking sheet with foil and then spray with non-stick cooking spray. Pour cereal mixture onto sheet in a thin layer. Bake for 10 minutes or until brown and crispy. Remove from the oven and cool.

Once cereal is cool remove it from the baking tray and put it back into a large bowl. Some pieces may be stuck together. Just break these up with your hands. Add the pretzels and candy corn. Mix it up. Done!

I made some for party favors. I put the mix in canning jars, topped the jars with fabric and gave them away.

Enjoy!
KayteeJane

More Autumn Displays

As promised here are some more Autumn displays showing around the house.

This is an old calendar dishtowel from 1971. I bought it because I was born in October of that year. Wouldn't this make a great birthday gift for someone - a vintage towel from their birthyear?

I don't use it as a dishtowel but instead just hang it out on display as part of my seasonal decorations.

I decided to move all of my yellow pottery to one area. The squirrel pottery is added each Autumn and then gets put away for the rest of the year.

I changed out my bright colored Pyrex on the kitchen shelves to show the ones that have autumn colors.

A Chrysanthemum glass takes center stage.

Outside my little garden cart displays pumpkins & gourds.

Isn't this a cute idea? Find a triangular shaped piece of wood and paint it to look like candy corn. This was made for me by my friend Meghan.

These were painted at a farm where we bought our pumpkins this year. The artist drew the faces with Sharpie marker and then filled in with paint. Cute!

Have a great day!

KayteeJane

Spooky Cabinet Cards

Halloween Decorations continue...

I saw this idea in an antique store last year and just had to copy it. Take antique cabinet card photos and embellish them. You can usually find these for sale in antique stores for around $1 - $2 each. I'm sure some people would scoff that I use the original photograph and not a copy - but I feel like I am giving these "orphans" new life! Now each year they will have a place of honor as part of my display. Otherwise they would be sitting unnoticed in someone's attic or store gathering dust.

If you don't have any old photos to use search online for digital copies to print.

A family is transformed into "wicked" witches.

I really like this one. I cut a ghost out of vellum and placed it behind his back. Look for photos with black mats - these are great for Halloween.

This photo was already stained and faded when I bought it. Look for ones that are already browned & rough around the edges - they make the best "spooky" looks. To give your copies or better condition photos that effect use a dark brown ink pad to add staining.

How fun would this idea be if you copied pictures of your actual ancestors and embellished them? I might try that in the future.

On a side note...yesterday I posted a pic of a children's book called "The Crows of Pearblossom". Colleen asked what year it was published. The year was 1967. Thank you Colleen for calling attention to this book and the author Aldous Huxley - who also wrote Brave New World. I didn't realize that until you mentioned it. How cool!

Have a great day!
KayteeJane
  

Halloween Decorations

I finally got my Halloween/Fall decorations out. I'm embarassed to admit this but it took me an entire day to put this stuff out. Shuffling items from one shelf to another to make room for holiday decorations can be time consuming! Makes me question the point of it all...but that subject is not one for a blog about collecting!

For Halloween this year I gathered from around the house several things that are black to use as the backdrop for my holiday items. Today I am showing off what is on my living room mantle. Look around your house and use items that you already have. Things liks old cameras, suit cases, old bottles, black shoes, typewriters, old letters, black & white photos and interesting books with spooky titles would make great decorations. 

Here is what I came up with. 

I have been collecting these dime store plastic pumpkins for a few years. I don't know how old they are but something about them makes me smile. The one with the hat was bought this past weekend at an auction along with some other junk in a box for $2.

To make the Jack O Lantern sign I spray painted 2 Scrabble Game letter holders black and then added Anagram & Scrabble letters to form the word. Keep an eye out at garage sales & rummage sales for old games. They have awesome graphics that look cool on display.

An old pair of children's shoes & a black typewriter add to the "black" theme.

This little owl wears a witches hat - both items found for pennies while junk hunting.

Old clocks set to Midnight!

I like how my collection of old cameras looks. I'm thinking this display needs some fake spider webs draped over it.

I found this cute children's book about crows at our library's book sale some time ago and thought it would look nice as part of a Halloween theme. When decorating for holidays use unexpected things - like a kid's book - as part of your display.

More to show tomorrow. It is great to be back to the blog!

KayteeJane

Short Break

I will be taking a short break from blogging because my computer is currently out of commission!

The i key stopped working last week and as a result I had to send my laptop out for service. Hopefully it will be fixed and good as new within a week.

Thanks for your patience. I miss you all and can't wait to share with you my vintage Fall decorations and some craft projects I've been up to. Please stop back!

Until then,

KayteeJane