Home Made Pumpkin Milk Steamers

I fell in love with milk steamers with seasonal flavor shots at Starbucks, but hate paying $4 for some milk and a little syrup. So this year I did some experimenting and learned how to make them myself! It's so easy!

You need:

Milk
Torani's Pumpkin Pie Sauce (not the syrup - it doesn't have enough flavor)
Whipped Cream
Ground Cinnamon
Electric Frother

Directions: Pour milk into a mug and fill it just over 1/2 way. Microwave until it starts to bubble (my microwave took around 2 minutes). Using the electric frother, froth that steamed milk! Add pumpkin sauce to taste (maybe like 2 teaspoons for a normal sized mug... I don't like mine too sweet). Then put a dollop of whipped cream on the top, sprinkle on some cinnamon, and drizzle a little more pumpkin pie sauce over the top to make it look pretty.

This is a quick and tasty treat that will warm you up and put you in the holiday mood. Enjoy with ginger snaps or other fun fall cookies!

Photo Birthday Banner

I have been feeling pretty crafty this week (aka I was avoiding homework) and decided to do something special for my roommate's birthday. I got in touch with her mom who sent me some pictures of her when she was little and then I used some more recent pictures that I had and some from Facebook to make a photo birthday banner. The pictures of the whole banner didn't come out very well since it was in an awkward spot on our wall, but I did some close-ups as well. Here are the photos and a little how-to:

Supplies:
Martha Stewart circle cutter and cutting mat
Deep pink, light pink, and white scrapbook/card stock paper
Wilton Black Swirl 4-inch cake doilies
Black sick-on letters
Pink polka-dot ribbon
hole punch
Photos

1. Count the number of pictures you want to use and then add 14 to that number for the happy birthday letters.
2. Using the circle cutter, cut out 14 white 2 3/4-inch circles.
3. Using the circle cutter, cut the photos into 2 3/4-inch circles.
4. Take the total from step one and then cut out half of that number of light pink and half dark pink 4-inch circles using the circle cutter (you will alternate these).
5. Attach a black cake doilie to each of the light pink circles (I use double sided tape).
6. Organize the photos into the order you want them to be on the banner, split them into two even piles. I went in chronological order.
7. Attach the black stick-on letters to the white 2 3/4-inch circles, spelling happy birthday and leaving one blank for a space. I put a cute flower embellishment on the blank one just for fun.
8. Alternating the dark pink and light pink/black doilie circles, attach the first stack of photos, then the happy birthday letters, then the second stack of photos to the center of the circles.
9. Punch 2 holes either on each side or at the top left and right of each circle.
10. Cut 6-inch strips of ribbon and use these to tie all of the circles together in a chain. I did double knots.
11. Cut two (2) 10-inch strips of ribbon for the ends and attach to the first and last circles.
12. Hang and enjoy!!

Catch Up

Here is a little recap of what I have been up to so far this year, aside from work and school.

At the beginning of the year, my roommate Jessica, got some tickets to see Ford's theater and invited me to go with her. It was pretty interesting to be in a place where one of the most shocking events in American history took place and to learn more about Lincoln.

After that I was pretty much a recluse and hid in either the library or my bedroom doing homework. I took two really interesting classes during the first semester - Western European Politics and Migration and Development - but they kept me super busy.

Once the semester ended, I took a little trip down to North Carolina to see my favorite Shirley family and then headed out on my now annual semester break trip with Amanda. Last year we headed south and visited Savannah and Charleston, so this year we headed north to see Palmyra, NY and Niagara Falls.

It was such a fun and beautiful trip! We visited the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York on our way up. Amanda is "artsy-fartsy", as I like to call it, and I am more of a history and outdoors kind of girl, so if it weren't for her I might not have gone. I am so glad that I did though! I don't have any pictures, but it was really fascinating to see how glass is made and all the amazing things mankind has made out of it!!

Photo by Amanda Spencer

Next we went to a beautiful old estate called Sonnenberg in the Finger Lakes region. The house and grounds were amazing! I also learned that people used to keep their hair that fell out when they combed it and make things out of it... kinda gross... I'm glad we don't do that anymore.

After visiting Sonnenberg we had a picnic and walked around Lake Canadaigua. It was such a beautiful, clean, clear lake!! I wish we had time to get in, but I guess it gives me a reason to go back.

Then we headed up to Palmyra to see the historical sights of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was so wonderful to be there and feel the peaceful spirit that is present there. I loved walking around the Sacred Grove and thinking about the blessings of the Restoration, but I did not like the mosquitoes!! We also visited the Smith Family Farm, the Hill Cumorah, the Temple, and the Book of Mormon printing press.

Photo by Amanda Spencer

After our visit to Palmyra, we stopped in Rochester to see the George Eastman House (founder of Eastman-Kodak) and then headed up to Canada to visit Niagara Falls. Our favorite part of this trip was the Canadian border crossing guard who MUST moonlight as a male model. The Falls were pretty cool too though. We decided to be super tourist-y and went on a Maid of the Mist boat ride and the "Journey Behind the Falls" tour. The Maid of the Mist was AWESOME!! We got soaked! The "Journey Behind the Falls" sounded epic, but it was just an elevator ride to a tunnel that let you see behind the falls. I was a little disappointed, but understand that for safety reasons, they have to keep people at a distance. Also disappointing - they don't actually let you go over the falls in a barrel. Lame.

Photo by Amanda Spencer

Photo by Amanda Spencer

Photo by Amanda Spencer

Photo by Amanda Spencer

Photo by Amanda Spencer

Photo by Amanda Spencer

Photo by Amanda Spencer

Photo by Amanda Spencer

We also went up to Niagara on the Lake, which is a cute little town up on Lake Ontario. It was seriously one of the cutest little towns I have ever been to. We went to an old fort, Fort George, which was around during the War of 1812. It was funny to see how they are just as into the War of 1812 as Virginians are into the Civil War. It was a really interesting place to visit though, they really let you get into the history and have people in costume, gun firing demonstrations (where I learned the meaning of the phrase "a flash in the pan"), and people make traditional food from the era in the kitchen.

Photo by Amanda Spencer

Once I got back from Canada, the new semester had already started, so it was back to the grind. I did, however, take a little trip to visit my favorite Shirleys again to meet new baby Nathan and see Darcy. Nathan is so snuggly - I just can't get enough of him! I guess I'll have to go back and visit them again soon!

 

 

 

After that my friend Brenda came to visit for the 4th of July and we had a wonderful but EXTREMELY hot time visiting all the monuments and museums in DC.

Other than that, the only new thing in my life is that I smashed my thumb in the car door, so I am looking forward to several months of uncomfortable typing as I work on my thesis.

Thanks for reading my blog!! You make me feel awesome!