Supplies:

• Plastic Pumpkin
• Spray Paint
• Mums or Fall Plant

Directions:

1 – Remove the handle.
2 – Spray paint the pumpkin.
3 – Plant!

Best of all, this decoration doesn’t have to come down once Halloween ends. This is perfect to use through Thanksgiving, too!!

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This week my 5 year old decided she wanted to get down and dirty with some paint with me, so we tried out some stamping methods…one new, and one old. We’ve all heard of using toilet paper rolls to stamp and paint with before, right? Don’t feel bad if you haven’t, but yeah, it’s been around. When I heard of someone using LEGOS® to paint with though, woah! A light bulb went off in my head. Why haven’t I thought of that!? Do you know that perfect little circular shaped pattern that Legos® leave behind? Wouldn’t that be perfect for making a painting of INDIAN CORN!?? Ahhh! It just all came together.

Supplies:

• Brown Construction Paper
• Lego®
• Paint
• Scissors
• Toilet Paper Roll

Directions:

• Trace the outline of a tree OR print the one I created for you.

• Color the tree trunk.
• Using cut and squeezed toilet paper rolls (see example), dip into paint and add leaves to your tree.

• Add as many leaves to your tree as desired.
• Allow to dry and display your creation!

Notes:

• We used 3 different colored paints (yellow, red, and orange) to stamp leaves all over the tree, but you could whatever colors you want!

This is TREE-mendous if I do say so myself! I think it’s beautiful in it’s own simplistic way! Now let’s get ready for the Indian corn painting!

• Draw the basic shape of a cob of corn.
• Use a Lego® to stamp dark red, gold, and yellow all over the corn cob.

• Cut out leaf shapes from brown construction paper.
• Complete a fan fold to give them some dimension.
• Cut out the corn cobs.
• Tape the leaves to the back of the cob.

Simple. Easy. Fun. Not too messy. Those are all the things I like! Happy Fall Ya’ll!

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This acorn tree certainly fits perfectly with my autumn decor and it has such a unique, au naturel look. And it’s probably the cheapest tree I’ve bought or made – I only spent $2 on the styrofoam cones from the dollar store!! Add this to your project list this fall and then leave it out through winter as well with some red berries sprinkled around the bottom, perhaps!

This is all you need:

• Styrofoam cone (can be found at dollar stores or craft supply stores)
• Hot glue gun
• ACORNS! Lots of them. In all different sizes.

I initially decided to make 2 acorn trees. Because I could only find one-size styrofoam cone, I cut the base off of one to make it shorter than the other for some fun diversity. And then I only ended up completing one tree anyway.

Step 1) Start at the base of the cone and hot glue acorns forming a spiral up towards the top of the cone. Once you get about half way up the cone, start forming second and third lines to make sure you can make everything fit. You want to end up with hardly any white styrofoam showing through.

Step 2) You don’t have to worry about straight spiral lines through the entirety of the tree – fill in little acorns in places that you can make them fit. The spiraling just gives it a more interesting look rather than gluing the acorns straight across in rows. Finish your tree off with a few acorns on the very tip top!

For my next tree I may spray paint the styrofoam cone a gold color before gluing on the acorns to help hide the white that shows through the acorns in some places. Either way, I think it’s beautiful! My husband thought I was crazy when I had bags and bags full of those little nuts but agreed afterwards that my Acorn Tree turned out very nicely. Hopefully our neighborhood squirrels aren’t too hungry now!

Would you give this a try?? I’d love to see your results! How else have you brought the outdoors into your home??

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To start, head over to your local thrift store to grab an old sweater that you wouldn’t mind cutting up. Or, if you have one in your closet that you haven’t worn in years… that’s even better! Size doesn’t matter – you’ll just be using the sleeves. This is everything else you’ll need:

• Poly-fil® or pillow stuffing
• Wine cork (or something of similar size)
• Twine
• Scissors and hot glue gun
• Clear glue (optional, for curly-q stem piece)

Step 1) Cut off the sleeves of your sweater. Depending on the size of your sweater, you can get up to two pumpkins out of each sleeve. I scored a petite 3/4 sleeve sweater from my thrift store so one sleeve ended up making just one pumpkin for me.

Step 2) If you are making one pumpkin with the whole sleeve, turn the sleeve inside out and tie together the cut end. If you are making two pumpkins out of your sleeve, cut the sleeve in half, turn each piece inside out, and then tie together a cut end on each piece and proceed with step 3.

Step 3) Turn the sleeve right side out again so the tie is now hidden inside and stuff with your poly-fil or stuffing.

Step 4) Once you’ve puffed things around and created the pumpkin shape that you like, gather the remaining sleeve in your hands and cut right below your fingers leaving about 1/2 inch of material. Grab that hot glue gun and glue the hole shut, pinching the edges of the material together to seal nicely. This will be the bottom of your pumpkin.

Step 5) Hot glue twine around the wine cork to create your stem. I also wanted some curly-q things next to my stem so I wrapped a piece of twine around a pencil and secured with a clip. Then I mixed some clear glue with water and painted over the twine to get it to keep that curly-q shape. Once it dried I hot glued the wine cork to the top of the pumpkin (not the side that was sealed shut with hot glue) and I added the curly piece next to it.

And that’s it!

This project has actually given me inspiration to clean out my closet now. I wonder what else I can come up with!?

What sorts of crafts have you put together using old clothing? Share those ideas in the comments below!

For more fun DIY and family-friendly crafts, visit MyMilitarySavings.com!

MyMilitarySavings.com was not compensated by the company, service or product mentioned in this blog. This is strictly the honest opinions, findings, beliefs, and/or experiences of the author. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are purely the bloggers’ own. Any claims, statistic, quotes or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question. MyMilitarySavings.com is not liable for any risks injury or illness that may occur if you choose to act upon the bloggers’ suggestions stated in this blog.

The base of this recipe is THREE ingredients. Score!

• Bratwursts, cut into thirds
• Half a head of cabbage, sliced
• 6-8 fingerling or small potatoes, cut into chunks

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Oil a baking sheet and add the cabbage and potatoes. Nestle your brats on top and then season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Now, this meal is AWESOME by itself. I decided to take it to the next level with a mustard beer sauce and HOLY MOLY guys. SO. Good. While, it’s baking whip the sauce up on the stove. I don’t have a picture of the ingredients because I was literally making it up as I went along, but I kept a list of what I used.

• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup stone ground mustard
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup beer, optional

Sauté your onions and garlic in a pad of butter until soft. Add the rest of your ingredients and whisk until smooth. Simmer at least 10 minutes.

When the 30 minute timer for the oven goes off, take out your pan and add the sauce. Bake another 10 minutes and you will have the most delectable one-pan dinner. This was a winner with BOTH kids. You know what a miracle that is? HAHA!

Warm and comforting and PERFECT for a cool Friday night dinner.

Pair with your favorite beer, I have Blue Moon Pumpkin Wheat in my fridge (OF COURSE!)

You can find more amazing recipes at mymilitarysavings.com. You’ll also find coupons! Membership is free so be sure to sign up today!

Seriously. Have you ever had a warm Rice Krispie treat with a hot cup of coffee? It’s a perfectly acceptable breakfast. And for lunch and dinner, well, I’ve noticed that the kids eat quite a bit faster when they know they’ve got these crispy, creamy treats waiting for them afterwards!

In the spirit of autumn officially beginning (September 22nd, y’all!) I HAD to throw some pumpkin spice in the mix. It just makes your belly warm and cozy like we all will be soon, snuggled up in our hoodies and boots! So if life has been throwing you a lot of marshmallows lately then take those suckers and whip up this delicious snack because, why not? Life is too short to not indulge on the amazing.

Grab these goodies to get started:

(Recipe from WhoNeedsACape.com)

• 3 Tbsp butter
• 40 regular sized marshmallows (approx. 1 bag)
• 6 cups Kellogg’s® Rise Krispies® cereal
• 1 1/2 – 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Step 1) Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan or glass dish (cooking spray works fine.) In a large bowl, melt the butter in the microwave and add the marshmallows. Toss to coat them well.

Step 2) Heat the marshmallows in the microwave for 1 minute on high power, stir, and then heat for 30 seconds longer and stir again. At this point they should be pretty much melted but if you’ve got a stubborn batch then nuke ’em again in 20 second increments.

Step 3) Add the pumpkin spice seasoning and Kellogg’s® Rice Krispies® to the melted marshmallows and stir well until the cereal is bunched together by sticky deliciousness. Using 1.5 tsp of seasoning gives a very subtle pumpkin flavor so I would start with that and give it a little taste. If you want a stronger flavor, add the other 1/2 tsp!

Step 4) Put your mixture into the greased dish. Spray the back of a spoon with cooking spray and use it to push the Rice Krispie treat down evenly around the pan. Then let it cool and harden and dig in!!

And right now, on certain varieties of Kellogg’s® Rice Krispies® you will find a chance to win $25 in Crayola Cash! You just check inside the box for a winning sticker and redeem it at KelloggsCrayolaRewards.com!

PLUS, visit KelloggsFamilyRewards.com and print a coupon for 50 cents off of 1 box of Rice Krispies®! Just more reasons to love the yummy cereal!

I hope you enjoy these treats as much as we do. For more fun recipes, visit MyMilitarySavings.com!

So it’s out with the old and in with the new now! My flip-flop wreath has come down and I’m putting out my orange and red mums. I’m not quite ready to go all out with Halloween decorations yet, although it’s a battle every trip to Wal-Mart because my kiddos see it all on display front and center and they don’t understand why we can’t start planting spider webs in our living room TODAY. Sigh. Soon enough I tell them, soon enough!

I AM, however, pulling out my cozy apple pie scented candles, our candy-corn colored fabric banners, and dried corn stalks. As I was sorting through everything I realized that I needed new autumn themed centerpieces for my dining room table and living room so I began brainstorming ways to decorate that I haven’t tried yet and it instantly hit me – a craft that I have been wanting to try for soooooo long but never had a need for it. Well folks, it’s the perfect time now!!! BLEACHED PINECONES!!!

I love the woody, au natural, repurposed adornments around the house so this DIY was right up my alley and it really makes a fantastic embellishment for console tables, mantelpieces, countertops, you name it. Once you read how easy it is to do, you’ll have jars of these things all over the place, too! 🙂

This is all you need:

• Pinecones (open or closed, it doesn’t matter)
• Bleach
• Water
• A large bucket
• Another large bucket to fit inside of the other one OR heavy items such as bricks or large rocks

Step 1) Place pine cones into a large bucket. Fill the bucket with water so it covers the pine cones and then add 1 part bleach to 2 parts water. I eyeballed this – it does not have to be exact. You just want to make sure the bleach is diluted about 2:1 so the pine cones won’t disintegrate and fall apart.

*I, of course, recommend doing all of this outside in a well ventilated area, and using gloves to protect your skin!

Step 2) Depending on what you decided to use, cover the pine cone and water/bleach mixture to force the pine cones down so they’re completely covered. They will want to float so you need bricks, large rocks, or another bucket full of water to submerge them. I chose to use a bucket 1/2 full with water. You don’t want to crush the pine cones, but force them down. You get the point.

Step 3) Let the pine cones soak for 24 hours and then remove from the bleach water. You will notice that they all closed up because they were wet… no problem. Set them in the sun for a few hours to dry and you will find that they all reopen. This will also remove any unpleasant smell.

Step 4) Decorate with them as you wish!

I am all about simple, and I am all about CHEAP! This project cost me absolutely nothing because I already had bleach on hand. And it’s a fabulous look for the upcoming fall season!

Let me know what you think!! Give it a try, and tell me how it turns out! I’d love to see photos in the comments below!

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Did you know Smirnoff makes a Pear vodka? I saw it at the Exchange and got CRAZY excited! It has such a great pear flavor and goes perfectly in this drink.

Pear Moscow Mule

• Smirnoff Pear Vodka
• Ginger Beer (if you want less of a ginger taste, use Ginger Ale)
• Sliced Pear
• Sliced Lime

Pour a shot or two of vodka into your glass and muddle it together with your pear and lime slices. You don’t need copper mule mugs, but they are GREAT for keeping your drinks extra ice cold. And they’re super pretty!

Add some ice and the ginger beer. You can use either nonalcoholic alcoholic ginger beer. The beer gives it a nice ginger bite, but if you prefer a more mild ginger flavor, feel free to use ginger ale. Give it a stir and garnish with more pear and lime slices, if desired.

I love the hint of pear and the zing of the ginger beer. It’s ice cold and so refreshing! I think it’d be great with a pear cider as well. I just LOVE pear!

As always, we ask that you please enjoy responsibly. For more information, coupons, and recipes you can go to mymilitarysavings.com and sign up for a FREE membership! You can also check out the Facebook page here!