Tag Archives: baking

Fall Fun Ideas

Bucket List Ideas for Fall Fun

Fall is my favorite season. In my opinion, the weather is perfect … warm, sunny afternoons and cool, crisp evenings. I think it’s the best season for outdoor activities. There are some activities that are occasional for me, but others, like the Pumpkin Spice Latte I’m sipping as I write, are seasonal musts 🙂

Here is a list of some of my favorite (both past & present) Fall activities:

  • Take a long walk in the woods admiring all the beautiful foliage
  • Go apple picking; make sure to enjoy an apple cider donut with a cup of hot apple cider 🙂
  • Have a bonfire with all your friends
  • Navigate a tricky corn maze
  • Go to your local high school homecoming football game … amazing ambience
  • Go to a pumpkin farm and choose the absolute best pumpkin … don’t settle for less 🙂
  • Go on a hayride
  • Visit some of the many outdoor fall craft fairs
  • Go to a haunted house
  • Have your friends over for a leaf raking party … have fun jumping in the huge piles before bagging them
  • Bake an apple and/or pumpkin pie … yumm, plus your whole house smells wonderful

I hope some of these ideas inspire you to get working on whatever is on our Fall Fun Bucket List. Do you have a favorite activity that I missed? Please share the fun 🙂

Handmade Gift Ideas for the Holidays

Handmade Gift Ideas

It is a glorious September afternoon. I’m working on my blog post while sitting on my new patio enjoying the beautiful weather. It is warm & sunny with a gentle breeze blowing through the branches of my gi-normous maple tree.

So (on one of the last days of summer) … I decide my topic will be about ideas for making a handmade gifts for Christmas. That’s right, I said Christmas … but only because you need plenty of time to plan and work on your gift projects. Otherwise, I am a believer of enjoying each holiday as it comes, not rushing it 🙂

I have always loved doing crafts. Making or creating something is a labor of love. I feel like the finished product has a little piece of me in it ♥ However, I have learned (the hard way) that in order for me to love making the gift for someone, I have to allow plenty of time to finish it … not be rushed to get it done in time.

That being said, here is my game plan:
• Search Pinterest, craft websites & blogs to pick the projects I want to make
• Only choose a handful of recipients, so making the gift remains a joy ~ not become a burden.
• Decide early on who will be getting what gift
• Buy all the supplies I will need for each project ahead of time, (that way I can have multiple projects going at the same time)
• I’ll work on the gift while watching TV in the evening
• I can switch up which gift I’m working on, so I don’t get bored … like I can work on my knitting project if I don’t feel like making jewelry.

Some of the handmade gifts I given in the past are … a knitted or crocheted scarf, note cards for stationary, jewelry, Christmas ornaments, personalized photo frames, a “scrapbook style” keepsake shadow box, bath salts, and, of course, baked goods 🙂

I really enjoy giving handmade gifts to friends. I feel that because time is such a valuable commodity, the time I spend making the gift communicates how much I care about them. I hope they enjoy receiving them. Of course, because it is so time consuming, I only choose a few friends to make gifts for each year. My other friends receive store bought gifts … I love shopping too <3

I haven’t decided what I want to make for this year’s gifts yet, but I’m glad I’m starting to think about it early … because, as we all know, times flies by quickly.

Christmas Countdown has begun

The Christmas Season Is Upon Us … Already !!

It’s Friday, December 5th … only 20 days til Christmas …Let the countdown begin!

Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ … Peace on Earth & Goodwill to Men. However, in the 24/7 world we live in, sometimes the preparations for Christmas can be anything but peaceful … it can be downright hectic.

Everyone’s to-do list gets longer during the holidays. All the festivities are great fun, but they also add more to our already busy schedules. Our December to-do list has additional items like sending out holiday cards, decorating & baking, shopping & wrapping, not to mention holiday parties & get- togethers.

Tracy Helps You is here to, well, help you 🙂 We can take care of some of your to-do list items. We can do some of the more routine stuff on your list, or we will Christmas shop and wrap your gifts for you. We can get your Christmas cards written & mailed out for you. We will even go to a party for you, oh wait … you probably want to take of party attendance yourself (we understand, lol).

Hiring Tracy Helps You will free up your time to do the most important things … spending time & making memories with the people you love, your family and friends!

Some time to relax and peace of mind is just a phone call away 🙂