It's all Black and White!

Did you know that today is National Chocolate Cupcake Day?  I saw that too late to 'celebrate'. Although I hope some of you are more 'with it' than me and had a great time celebrating with chocolate cupcakes.  I thought I would do the next best thing and share a cake I made last weekend.

It was a triple-layer cake. And it qualifies in the chocolate department.

But once you cut it open there is a layer of white cake in between the two layers of devils food.  YUMMMMMMOOOO!! 

It was a simple boxed devils food. Then I used a Jiffy white cake mix to make the single white layer. Jiffy cakes are so moist. And it works out perfectly for a single layer. Of course the entire cake is wrapped in buttercream icing.  It must have been delicious, because I had three kids home last weekend and the cake disappeared in record time!

I thought it made a great Halloween cake. If you substituted some orange sprinkles on top for the chocolate ones it would be perfect. The best part is that two simple cake mixes, combined with real buttercream icing is fast, easy....and delicious!

Not a chocolate cupcake, but just as sweet!

Autumn's Jewels

Just in case you missed it on a previous post, my mother bought a set of Jewel Tea dishes years ago at an auction. (Jewel Tea dishes were manufactured outside of Chicago beginning in 1933. They added new pieces each year to make people continue to collect.) Apparently the lady that owned the set my mom bought readily bought into that idea.

The set my mother purchased has close to 200 pieces. One of these days I will count them all.....When I have time to count that many!  I know there are 16 dinner plates, three different sizes of bowls and two sizes of coffee cups. There are at least seven different kinds and types of pitchers. There are mixing bowls, casserole dishes, covered dishes, pie pans and even metal hot pads. There are salt and pepper shakers and even a coffee pot on a brass and copper base.

Even though I was only in grade school I remember my mom buying the dishes. She had to come back to our house and trade out her car for my dad's pickup to transport all the Jewel Tea dishes home. I helped her unpack all of them. Maybe that is why I always had a fondness for them.

I remember my mom using the casseroles and pie pans more than anything. Then as I got older and had my own home I kept telling her she should get the Jewel Tea out for fall. She would get a piece or two out and put them around. Once in a while she would put out a few plates. (She had LOTS of other dishes and these kind of got pushed aside.)

Then one day when my son came home from a visit to his grandparents he began unloading boxes from his car. My mom had had him pack up all the Jewel Tea and sent it home to me.

What a wonderful surprise!

She told me since I had always liked the dishes she thought I should have them. I could not love them more. They are simple and classic. There is not too much orange or too much design. They mix easily with the reds, golds and browns of my favorite fall colors.

The Jewel Tea mix easily with the leaf dishes I bought at Wal-Mart several years ago. Last year I paired them with some Better Home and Garden leaf plates. I will probably do that again this year as well.

I bought the big brown plates at Target several years ago in a four-pack. I bought two four-packs and use them all the time. I bought the leaf placemats at Ross. I bought the leaf napkin rings at JC Penney's after Christmas for 90% off.

 

All these things I bought before I was ever gifted with the hundreds of pieces of Jewel Tea. It was like they were just all waiting to go together!

I added pieces of Jewel Tea throughout the table, as well as pumpkins, twig balls, candles and acorns.

The best part of the Jewel Tea dishes is that they will work throughout the entire Fall season. I can leave them out for a couple of months.

The battery-operated candles are the ones I made over from Hobby Lobby.

See how sweet and classic the Jewel Tea pattern is?

My cousin gave me the spools when I got married years and years ago. I have added to the set over the years. There has never been a time or a house that I have not used them in constantly. There are so many ways to use them and I constantly put them to work!

In this picture you can see one of the many pitchers and one of the coffee 'mugs'.

The little sugar bowl in this picture is a spare without a lid. I added the twig ball and it looks like they were made for each other!  

My Jewel Tea dishes are truly a 'jewel' to now own. They fit my decorating ideas to a "T". 

I have linked this to Between Naps on the Porch and Open House Party with No Minimalist Here. 

 Tablescape Thursday and Farmhouse Friday.
The Lettered Cottage

Whoooo Loves A Crowded Mantle?

First things first: I realize that everyone else has already shown their mantels that are all decked out for fall.  I'm a little slow. I also realize that one of the big ideas in blogland is that less is more. The simple look is quite the rave. Well, I am slow AND a little different!

I've always had that "other" drummer 

beating in my head.

Keep that in mind when critiquing my fall mantel!!

The mantel at our new (old) house is in the formal living room. The problem with that is that we are not formal people. So, it is just the liveable living room. We do not spend much time in there yet, but I think we will eventually. It is still a work in progress. In fact, we are having a Painting Party to paint the room this Saturday.  Fell free to drop by!!

Yes, I am fully aware that there is a LOT on that mantel. But this is how I looked at it: It is an autumn mantel.  One thing we celebrate in autumn is our bounty.  I decorated in the "Life is bountiful" style!!

This little tile (about 5x5) is from our old fireplace in Kansas. The 'flowers' on it are slightly raised. It is heavy, thick and wonderful. I saved about six of them. I pull them out in the fall.

I got the new little owl at TJ Maxx. It is actually a night light. I bought both owls that I used on this mantel for an owl-themed party that I am throwing at the end of the month.

I used a mixture of textures on the 'mantelscape'. 

I used a mixture of colors.

I hoped that there would be so much of both

that it would 

confuse people

into believing it 

could all go together!!!

Here is the other deal about this mantel: It is 7 feet long. Really. It is huge. And the mirror behind it is huge. A few sparse items on this mantel did just not look right.

 

The books are my great-great-grandparents, from Ireland.

I was lucky enough to be designated the "keeper of the books" for our family.

I have ended up with wonderful old books from 

all four of my grandparents.....that once belonged to THEIR parents!  

The colors of these books could not be more perfect.

I had to turn around the top book to show the 

really great pattern.

It is almost a chevron type pattern.

The books dates from the very early 1800's.

Isn't it something that they had such 

great things back then?

The candles I used throughout my fall decorating are ones I decorated last year for my son's wedding. On the ones that were decorated specifically for the bride and groom I just simply changed it this year to be generic. I got these candles at Hobby Lobby for 90% off. Under the decor are black initials, X, Z or Q.

They look like they are a flickering candle, but really they are running on batteries. Perfect.

I decided to take a few pictures with the wall scones lit up. I still need to get candle sleeves for my chandelier and scones. I would also like to get flickering bulbs for the scones. I think that would be a lovely reflection from the mirror. 

In the meantime, I plan on enjoying my

Autumn Bounty on The Mantle!
I have linked with Wow Us Wednesday and Open House Party!
And Funky Junk Interiors.

Dumpster Diva puts on her Fall Fashions!

I tell myself this is RIDICULOUS!

I have fall throughout my home...

I take the pictures....

Then I do nothing with them.

Then the Dumpster Diva 

made me feel guilty.

So guilty that I 

took the time to post 

pictures of her.

Do you remember when 

my daughter Taylor found her

in the dumpster at work

in this (naked) condition?

 

This is what she looked like

after she was dressed in her

late summer attire.

She was decked out in aqua, silver, lace and crystal.

She looked beautiful.

Last year my mom gave me her set of

Jewel Tea dishes.

The Jewel Tea dishes were first introduced

in 1933 outside of Chicago.

Each year new pieces were added to the collection.

When I was a young girl my mom 

bought a set of the Jewel Tea at an auction.

It has probably 175-200 pieces in it.

She paid very little.

I always loved the dishes.

They were kind of like

Ugly Duckling beautiful.

Since I loved them, they became mine.

I have used them throughout the new (old) house

this fall.

You can see a few of them in 

Miss Dumpster Diva.

 

Ihave linked this with Metamorphosis Monday and Wow Us Wednesday. 

and No Minimalist Here.

As well as Farmhouse Friday.