a fun autumn weekend

ghostbusters in the park

friday night we grabbed a blanket, a few beers and some snacks to head over to the park for an outdoor viewing of ghostbusters. it was great! i realized that this was actually my first time watching a movie outdoors and hopefully the first of many. it's more fun in some ways than going to a theater because everyone sings along with the theme song or recites their memorized lines along with the actors. you don't have to be as quiet since it's a classic movie everyone has seen a dozen times.

oak glen california

a couple of friends told us about oak glen, ca when we first moved here and we've wanted to go ever since. it's best in fall because there are rows of apple orchards, pumpkin patches, press your own cider stands, hayrides, bee hives, petting zoos and all of the other quintessential autumn activities. it's about an hour and a half or two away from los angeles so it's a really nice getaway from the city. we took along a couple of friends and set out for a mini roadtrip on saturday.

autumn is definitely my favorite season and i really feel like i've relished it this year. i've done some baking, started working on a homemade costume, taken this roadtrip to oak glen and of course the movie in the park.

fresh pressed cider

we're scarfing down some delicious cider while watching some people press their own.  it was really fun and it's amazing how MANY apples it takes to make a gallon of cider. not pictured are the dozens of honey bees swarming around. 

comet the miniature donkey

i have dreams of one day owning a bunch of land and having farm animals - horses, chickens, and now a miniature donkey, obviously. this sweetheart was so cute i had a really hard time saying goodbye!

hawk's head publik house

we decided to try out the most popular and best reviewed restaurant in oak glen. considering this is a tiny town with only a handful of restaurants we weren't totally surprised when the hostess told us it'd be a two hour wait. yes, TWO hours. we put our name down and walked around a few of the farms in the meantime. 

it's a pretty neat place and overall if you visit oak glen i'd say you're not getting the full experience without eating here. the only lighting in the restaurant is the flicker of taper candles on each table and all of the employees are dressed in period costumes. it's an experience for sure.

happy fall!

i hope all of you are having a great fall as well. we've really been enjoying it and i'll be sad to see it go! luckily, christmas is right around the corner and we'll be going home for two and a half weeks so we have that to look forward to. can't wait!

xoxo, 

ashley

easy halloween rice krispies treats

i have been in the mood to do some fall baking lately so the other day while grocery shopping i dropped by the baking aisle to see if anything jumped out at me. i was instantly inspired by the sprinkles and decided i had to make something centered around them! something easy, quick and cute. so these halloween themed rice krispie treats fit the bill pretty well. 

although i've always had a deep appreciation for homemade rice krispie treats, this was my first time making them and i've got to say, i had no idea how simple they were! i mean, you only need three ingredients! when is that ever the case with baking?! without further ado, let's get started!

 

ingredients : 

- 6 cups of rice krispies

- 10 oz. bag of marshmallows

- 3 tbs. butter

- white chocolate chips or regular chocolate if you prefer

- sprinkles in whatever shape, size and color your heart desires

- paper straws in your choice of colors

step one :

melt 3 tbsp. of butter in a large stock pot over medium heat. add marshmallows and stir until melted making sure not to overcook them. meanwhile, line a 13 X 9 " baking pan with wax paper. when marshmallows and butter are melted and combined, begin slowly adding 6 cups of rice krispies and stir until combined. immediately spread them out into your pan and use your hands to press them evenly throughout. 

step two :

put the rice krispies into the fridge for about 15 minutes until cooled. cut them into equal squares once cooled and insert straws.

step three :

ok, this is the tricky part. create a double boiler by putting a heat safe bowl on top of a small pan of boiling water. add chocolate chips and stir occasionally until melted. dip the bottom of each rice krispie treat into the chocolate and lay flat to cool. immediately either dip into sprinkles or dust them on top before the chocolate hardens. it'll take a time or two to get the hand of this. my first two were terrible!

now step back and marvel at the cuteness you just made. and they're delicious to boot! i hope you all have been inspired to go create some of your own halloween treats!

happy baking! and more importantly, happy halloween! 

xoxo, 

ashley

3 step DIY tutorial for a cute halloween sign

diy 'boo' halloween sign tutorial

you guys! this is such an easy and quick diy for halloween. it's great for your front door or anywhere inside your house that you'd like to add a spooky touch. 

supplies :

- ready-made letters from a craft store (mine were already black and ready to go, but if necessary you can always paint them or add glitter)

- ribbon

- black wreath hanger

- scissors

step one : 

cut three strands of ribbon into roughly six or seven inch pieces 

step two :

flip all of the letters over and put them in order from top to bottom. tie ribbon around the bottom of each letter and tie into a secure knot. 

step three : 

hang it on your door and enjoy for the rest of the halloween season! this literally could not be any easier, ha! 

since this tutorial was incredibly simple and short, i thought i would give you a little peek inside as well. our house is clearly very tiny from the picture and so i decided to keep the halloween decor at a minimum this year. a small house can easily go from decorated to cluttered in about two seconds. 

so here are my very simple halloween touches: 

when you don't have a lot of space to work with i recommend just scattering a few randomly sized and colored pumpkins around your house for an instant fall vibe. i just love these little guys! also, fresh, in season flowers are a must too! sunflowers generally aren't my favorite flower, but they are a great autumn bloom and generally fairly inexpensive so those are pluses.

in the living room i just taped some of these chipboard bats that i have from last halloween in a flying pattern above the media console. i just love the simplicity of it. i got them at micheal's craft store last year and i'm sure they have something similar this year if you'd like to grab some. oh, and candles! they are such a must for autumn. i got the absolute best scents this year at tj maxx. 

my favorite scent i found was the vanilla cider candle. i loved it so much i had to get two! it's a great subtle scent that just cozies up your home.

i added some halloween themed paper straws and a pumpkin scented candle to our bar tray. i got my straws at target, but they sell them almost anywhere these days. 

happy fall to you all! 

xoxo, 

ashley

halloween themed gallery wall

i typically don't deck out my house in so many halloween decorations, but what can i say? i got the crafting bug a couple of days ago and it just made sense. there are two things that make me really happy: crafting and decorating. what could be better than combining the two?!

in my trip to michael's i stumbled upon the cutest patterned scrapbook paper and my wheels started turning. i decided to go with a black, silver and green theme and replace the pictures in our gallery wall with a halloween theme. so i stocked up on cute patterned paper, halloween themed cutouts, stickers, tape and got to work! 

really this project is just a matter of cutting the paper to the size of your coordinating frame. it's easy peasy. i took a picture of the current gallery wall on my phone and used it as a reference for deciding on the patterns and colors for each frame. after i cut the paper to size i taped the glittery spiders and webs to add a little something interesting.

i cannot tell you how handy this paper cutter has been in my life! it's an essential in my arsenal of art supplies. one of my favorite elements of the gallery wall is the word "EEK" made from glittery stickers meant to decorate pumpkins. i had other plans for them though. into frames they went!

i laid out my design on the floor as i went just to make sure they were going to flow. you don't want to many of the same pattern and color next to eachother. variety is key in a gallery wall! next up, putting them into frames and hanging them. aka, the boring tedious part.

ta-daaa! there you have it, a cheap and easy peasy DIY project that you can complete in a night. 

i painted some ceramic skulls and added lots of green glitter to cutesy them up a little bit. they completed the halloween look!