As I write, my husband, six-month-old daughter, and I are hunkered down in our living room with an air mattress and travel crib, emergency bags packed — just in case — flashlights handy, and a wary eye on the 30-foot tree that is (still!) standing just a few feet from the front of our […]
Every year on the Saturday before Halloween, costumed revelers line up and illuminate Baltimore in the Halloween Lantern Parade. Yet, in all the years since I learned that it even existed, I’ve never managed to join in the fun myself. But until the day when I can finally become part of the shining spectacle, I […]
One of the main reasons why I like to make my own pumpkin puree is so that I can make my own pumpkin butter. It’s right at home on a slice of toasted homemade bread, next to a cup of apple cider or hot chocolate or a crisp autumn beer. It’s just a little bit […]
At this festive time of year, one of the most important decisions we all face is what to do with all the candy. You could hide it away in a drawer in a plastic bag, dust off that fancy dish, or plop it in a plastic pumpkin. Or, you can use it to turn glass […]
To be perfectly honest, this project is the result of one of those moments when I’m at the store looking at kitchen and table linens that I really don’t need (but I don’t have an autumnal leaf tablecloth!) and one catches my eye — the colors! the pattern! Then I see the price tag, […]
Here’s a little secret I’m reluctant to share: if anyone ever wanted to give me a good Halloween fright, all it would take is a fake spider. No strategic placement needed! So this mobile, with plastic spiders cascading down from a string and hoop web, is just about the creepiest craft project I’ve ever done […]
One of the more unexpected effects of Hurricane Irene last August was a shortage of canned pumpkin puree on the local supermarket shelves. Flooding had evidently destroyed a significant portion of the commercial pumpkin crop on the East Coast, and as a result, my husband, Keith, has been deprived of pumpkin pie, pumpkin butter, pumpkin […]
“It was a dark and stormy night…” Honestly, I’ve never been good at telling ghost stories. The best ones are too spooky for me to want to remember and anything else, well, just isn’t worth telling. But I’m always game for inventing a tale or two and for having a laugh with friends, and that’s […]
“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” –Carl Sagan I’ve long held the suspicion that apples were invented so that humans could make them into pie. I mean, if Carl Sagan thinks so, I must be on the right track, right? Luckily, the universe has already […]
My mom used to decorate for every single holiday and season when I was a kid. Of course, things always got exciting when October approached. There was natural and crafted bounty galore: pumpkins, gourds, and hay bales from the farmers market, homemade scarecrows, paper bats, leaves, spider webs, and jack-o-lanterns. It’s a tradition I’ve […]
