Fall Fun for that Necessary Room

The rain is here, so it must be time to decorate for fall!  Well, summer was short-lived here in the Northwest, and now we're on to autumn...my favorite time of year!  Here's a quick little decorating idea for that special place we all have...the necessary room! 

How many times have you been the lucky one to find that the roll of T.P. is empty?  Well, try this out, and only you will know where it's hidden!

You will need:  one roll of T.P. (toilet paper), a fat quarter of orange fabric, a fat 1/8th of green fabric, a 10x10 scrap of gold tulle.  Lay out the fat quarter, wrong side up, and place the T.P. in the center. Start on one side and begin tucking the raw edges of the fabric into the center of the T.P. roll until the entire piece of orange fabric surrounds the T.P.  Tuck the center part only of the gold tulle into the center of the T.P.  Fold and roll up the green fabric to about 4" tall tight roll.  Push the cut edge of the fat 1/8th into the center of the T.P., making sure to not push through all of the tulle.  There, now you have a cute pumpkin for your bathroom decor that, in a pinch, is ready for those 'necessary' moments!

Jump into Winter with this new Celebration!

SPLAT!  Ready for a snowball fight?  Today begins a new OFG Team Celebration for all things Winter!  It's not too soon to think about something new for your home decor as the weather begins to cool down.  Type WWHOFG in your search on www.etsy.com and find over 100 brand new items!  Since snowmen are one of my favorite decorating items, I've been busy drooling over so many unique finds here...hope you'll check out!

Harvest?...sigh...

There's a scene in "Finding Nemo" that keeps running through my head these days.  It's the part where Nemo is encouraging the Tuna, who are about to be captured and reeled up in a gigantic net by a fishing boat to keep swimming down, in an effort to break the mast holding the net and setting them all free.  "Keep swimming...keep swimming..." they all chant together.

I feel the need to chant to the sun as we venture towards fall to "keep shining...keep shining!" since our 'better late than never' garden is making so much effort to produce in the short time we have left.  We have plenty of zucchini, cabbage, onions and potatoes, but the tomatoes are just stuck...green as grass.  And I so desperately want to get some canned and oven dried this season! 

If you have never oven dried tomatoes, it is very easy.  To prepare the tomatoes, wash and dry.  Use tomatoes that are relatively the same size.  For smaller sizes, cut in half (like small romas or even cherry); larger sizes can be quartered, but will take longer.  Place, cut side up, on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray.  Sprinkle tops with italian seasoning and a bit of kosher sea salt.  Place in oven at 200-250 degrees for several hours, checking about every hour for doneness.  Tomatoes are dried when gently pressed and no juices appear (they should still be pliable).  Place in airtight container and refrigerate (or freeze).  These are amazingly awesome on pizzas, italian dishes, salads, or just snacking (my daughter loves them after school).  They have a very concentrated, intense flavor when dried.  Hope you'll give it a try...and hopefully, that will be what I am doing soon too!