Easy and Skinny Tailgating Recipes

I don't know about you but we are big football fans in this house. During college football season we are going to a friends house pretty much every weekend for a football party and everyone brings a finger food. I try to always bring a healthier option and fill up on that while just having little bites of everything else. Here's my 3 go to recipes for football parties:

Fall Series: How to Spruce Up a String of Lights

So I bought these pumpkin lights last year at Target for around $5 I think. They looked so cute in the box but when I got them home and opened them, I discovered they had a lot of ugly black wire.

Yea not so cute. So I decided to spruce them up a bit. I went digging in my craft cabinet for anything I had that was orange or black. I came up with some fabric scraps, ribbon, and tulle.

So then I cut strips out of everything using my handy tip I described in this post.

And then I just started tying everything around the wire of the lights in random patterns until most of the wire was covered and I was satisfied. It turned out so cute and pretty! And the best part is it even looks great in the day time when the lights aren't on. 

How to Make a Tutu Skirt Without Elastic

I love making tutu skirts for my daughter to wear for special occasions! I recently made her one for her birthday. Having made so many, I've learned a few tricks along to way to make them easier. And all you really need is ribbon and tulle! Here's how I do it:

First measure your child's waist. Once you have that, measure out the inches you need for the skirt on the ribbon you will be using to attach the tulle. I use a wider ribbon for this part. You will want to leave enough extra ribbon on both sides so you can tie a bow in the back to fit your child.

Here's my piece of ribbon I'm going to be using as the "waist" for the skirt. You can see the black lines I made. That tells me where to put the tulle so it will go all the way around her waist. I will fill in everything between the black lines with tulle and ribbon and the extra will be used for the bow.

Next you want to cut your strips of tulle.I have another blog post up on how to cut your strips of tulle quickly using only 1 cut. . Please check it out. It saves so much time!! 

Once you have your strips of tulle cut out, start tying them around the ribbon. I just use a standard knot. I used green as my base color.

Continue until you have filled the ribbon up.

Then I added some fun pops of color in purple and hot pink.

Now you could say your finished after that step but I like to add something a little extra. I love the look of ribbon and tulle together so I wanted to add some ribbon to the skirt and give it some dimension. I cut the ribbon the same way as I cut the tulle! Wrap it around cardboard, cut one time across. 

And here's the finished skirt with the ribbon

So fun and girly! 

And here's a pic of Jada modeling it after I finished. Fresh from her nap bed head hair and all :)

Fall Series: Pinterest Recipes I Want to Try this Fall

I have made my own little bucket list of recipes from Pinterest that I want to try this fall. I have my staples that I make every year but I love trying new things and adding them to my collection if they turn out well. I have 29 recipes pinned on my Fall Food pinterest board but I chose 3 to be the absolute ones I want to give a try sometime in the next couple of months. Here they are:

Halloween Popcorn

This looks and sounds delicious. I can't wait to give it a try and pop in a scary movie one night close to Halloween. You can find the recipe here.

Pumpkin Cake and Apple Cider Glaze

This looks like a great almost healthy cake recipe. The cake part is only 2 ingredients: yellow cake and pumpkin. The icing is a glaze made out of sugar, apple juice and pumpkin pie spice. Sounds heavenly. I plan to try this to take to a fall party or maybe on a Sunday for a special dessert. You can find the recipe here.

Caramel Apple Bites

Why haven't I thought of this? I love caramel apples but what a mess! These look so cute and I can't wait to try them with some delicious fall apples. Find the original post, here.

Fall Series: Favorite Fall Movies

Here are my top 3 movies to watch in the Fall:

When Harry Met Sally

A funny, romantic comedy. Harry and Sally explore what their friendship would be like if they became more then friends. Set in New York it includes a beautiful scene in Central Park set in the Fall while the leaves are changing color.

Sleepy Hollow

Ichabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the decapitations of 3 people with the culprit being the legendary apparition, the Headless Horseman. Fall is the best time to watch scary movies and this is the perfect one to curl up on the couch with after the kids have gone to bed.

Autumn in New York

This is a romantic drama movie about an aging man who falls in love with a younger woman. A good movie to watch just for the scenery.

Do you have a favorite movie you like to watch in the fall time? Comment below!

Birthday Series: The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe!

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Cake

Ingredients:

2 Cups Boiling Water

1 Cups Sugar

1 1/2 Cups Buttermilk

1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Cup Vegetable Oil

2 Eggs

1 Tsp Salt

2 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tsp Baking Powder

2 Cups Flour

3/4 Cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Boil the water and add the sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool. Once cool mix the sugar water, buttermilk, vanilla extract, oil, and eggs together. In a separate bowl mix the salt, baking soda, baking powder, flour, and cocoa powder. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet. (This is a very wet cake mixture) Pour into 2 9x9 pans or divide into cupcake tins. Bake for 22-25 minutes until done.

Icing

Ingredients:

2 sticks of unsalted butter

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

In a saucepan melt the butter, chocolate chips and cream. Once melted and smooth, add the powdered sugar slowly. Let icing sit (or refrigerate) until thick enough to frost the cake. This makes a very fudgy, delicious icing.

Fall Series: Favorite Fall / Back to School Themed TV Episodes

The Cosby Show Season 4 Episode 3 "It's Not Easy Being Green"

Rudy wants to wear a summer dress to a party but Claire tells her it's too cold and she needs to wear her fall dress. Cliff tries to get rid of a water heater. I love this episode. Rudy has a beautiful scene at the end where she has to put away her pretty summer dress. If you are a hulu+ subscriber you can watch this episode here.

Full House Season 1 Episode 3 "Our Very First Day of School"

D.J. and Stephanie start back to school. Stephanie is worried about making friends and D.J. gets put in the smart class without Kimmy. A great episode to watch with your kids and have conversations about making new friends. You can buy the episode on ITunes or Amazon Prime.

Growing Pains Season 2 Episode 2 "Fast Times at Dewey High"

It's the first day of school. Ben deals with a bully, Carol is bored, and Mike finally gets his dream date. A classic episode of Growing Pains about starting school. It's available on Amazon and ITunes. 

The Brady Bunch Season 4 Episode 4 "Today, I am a Freshman"

Who can forget Marcia's first day of high school? After her parents convince her to go to school Marcia joins every available club in order to meet friends. My favorite scene is when Peter's volcano blows up all over her friends. You can watch this episode for free on Xfinity or TV.com.

Saved by the Bell Season 3 Episode 12 "The Last Weekend"

Zach and Stacy say goodbye and prepare to return to school in the last Malibu Sands episode. Look for a cameo by Denise Richards as Slater's secret admirer. You can watch the entire Saved by the Bell series on Netflix or this episode is available on Amazon.

Do you have a favorite fall / back to school tv episode? Please tell in the comments below!