Feeling the Burlap Love

Can I entertain you with one more wreath post? I know I've been going wreath-crazy lately (see here, here, and here), but this one is just for me and is the last one, I promise. Well, the last one until I start making Christmas wreaths anyway.

When we were in Pennsylvania in August we made a point to hit some some stores that we don't have here in Canada. One was Joann's and that's where I bought a huge grapevine wreath. 24 inches? 30 inches? 9,865 inches? I don't know, but it's the biggest wreath I've ever owned.

I've been wanting to do a loose weave, floaty kind of burlap wreath for quite a while. I found all kinds of inspiration on line, but they all looked like a heckofa lot of cutting and glueing would be involved. And I make a big enough mess just deciding what decorations to use. Imagine all that burlap fluff flying around the room, getting all over your clothes and up your nose? (Ha, that rhymed!)

Instead, I took my burlap, wrapped it around the wreath like a tube and loosely stapled it. It was like the wreath was wearing a sock. A sock with lots of holes, that's probably pretty itchy. I then pushed and pulled and wrinkled it all up to give it some dimension. The back of the wreath isn't as pretty, like how the mannequins in the store have all kinds of pins and clips at the back making their clothes look perfectly fitted. (Don't you hate finding out that the shirt or sweater isn't cut like they pretend it is?)

I like a simple wreath so I just added some berries and leaves to the bottom and centered it with a brown satiny ribbon. The "autumn" banner is made from triangles cut from dropcloth and backed with cardboard from an old shoebox. The font for the letters is called "Coolock Black" on PicMonkey.

I like that the large wreath really makes a statement. Our front porch is pretty small so there isn't a lot of room for seasonal decorations. Usually I hang leaves around the door and have a smaller wreath, but this guy  holds his own and can carry the party all by himself.

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I'm linking up here this week!

But Don't Dogs Love Birthdays?

Just saw this picture today and couldn't stop laughing, especially considering these posts from the past:

Chloe's Birthday 2011

and

Chloe's Birthday 2012

source

How do you celebrate your dog's birthday?

Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle

Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada, and in honour of that, I made Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle.

I first mentioned this dessert last week as something to make to welcome in autumn. I'm not a huge pumpkin fan, but I do love cheesecake, especially the light, no-bake kind. I'd first seen this recipe here, so if you'd like to see the original (hers is much fancier than mine), give it a look.

The recipe is pretty simple and sort of similar to Oreo Dirt Cake.

Ingredients:


15 cookies, crushed into crumbs
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 pkg cream cheese (8 oz), softened
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice**
1 container (12 oz) whipped topping (like Cool Whip)

**Note: if you don't have or can't find pumpkin pie spice, it's very easy to make yourself:

1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon allspice

Directions:


First you need to crush up the cookies - or buy cookie/graham cracker crumbs. I used shortbread cookies with chocolate swirls and blitzed them in my Ninja blender. Love that blender - I use it for so much. A couple of seconds in the blender and I had perfect cookie crumbs.

If you don't have a blender you can put the cookies in a Ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin or heavy-bottomed drinking glass.

Mix the crumbs in a bowl with a tablespoon of melted butter. Make sure the crumbs are well coated. Divide the crumbs up into the serving dishes, reserving a tablespoon of crumbs for garnish at the end. I used lowball drinking glasses and used a flat bottomed spice bottle to press the crumbs firmly into the bottom of each.

In a new mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin puree and cream cheese, and stir until they are thoroughly blended. I used the Ninja for this as well but you could use electric beaters. Add the vanilla, sugar, and pumpkin spice. Stir until smooth. Add one half of the container of whipped topping and stir again until everything is well mixed.

Spoon a layer of the pumpkin mixture on top of the cookie layer, follow with a layer of the whipped topping. Repeat with the pumpkin mixture and the whipped topping until you get to the top of the glass. Sprinkle a bit of the reserved cookie crumbs onto the top of the dessert for garnish. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Isn't that pretty? These turned out rather large - Tom and I could easily share one. I'd like to use something like shot glasses next time.

It's a really light dessert with just the right amount of pumpkin flavour. And they take no time at all to make. Twenty minutes tops. And that means you get to enjoy more of the holiday instead of being stuck in the kitchen.

I hope all of my Canadian friends had a terrific Thanksgiving, and everyone else had a wonderful weekend no matter whether you were celebrating or not!

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I'm linking up here this week!