Fall Themed Crafts and Food

I have a couple of craft shows coming up so I needed to replenish my acorn capped beads and marbles.

My first attempt at a Dutch apple pie and can I just say, YUM!

The night 'Hocus Pocus' was on, I knew I'd never actually pay attention to the movie unless I put the computer down, so I glued some plastic fall bits onto this candle.  I made it for my friend Kathy.

I saw a project for Jack Skellington balls so I decided to make a set for Jaime, in appreciation for some CDs she burned for me this spring.  I used white glitter on the inside and a black paint pen for the faces.

Wanted to make one of these too.  The first attempt at this went in the garbage.  Finding a leaf that would stick to the glass and not leave glue all over it proved difficult.  I first used a silk fall leaf but it was too contoured and wouldn't stick.  I dug out my vinyl fall leaf window clings and used one.  That is absolutely the best way to cover the glass for spray painting.  Home Depot only had a fall-like orange (no gold or brick/dark red), so that's what I used.  Some raffia to cover the lid threads.  Some dried beans inside with a candle.

My dad used to love to cook and try out all kinds of recipes.  One of my faves that he did was a Greek pastitio.  I haven't had one since the late 80s so I decided to give it a try.  For one, it's a lot of work.  The other thing was the cinnamon.  I was hesitant to use it but I remember that my dad did and I liked his so it must be OK.  I cut it down from 1/2 tsp to just under 1/4 tsp.  I guess my tastes have changed.  Cinnamon does NOT belong in meat and tomato sauce.  If I ever make this again, I will eliminate that spice.  

I did the bechamel for the top layer and I liked that but Russell didn't.  He kept calling it 'the fuzzy stuff'.  So I scraped it off his portion and he liked the meat and pasta.  Whereas I liked the pasta and the bechamel and scraped the meat off.  I did get a chuckle out of it when he said that I should make the meat like my shepherd's pie meat, and use mashed potatoes on top.  I said, 'So basically what you are saying is, always stick to making shepherd's pie and never make this again?'  lol  

This isn't really a fall project, but I finally got around to doing this now that the wine was finished.  I taped the windows, door and the top part where the light would be in a lighthouse, sprayed with the frost paint, and put white lights inside.  It came out exactly the way I'd pictured it in my head.  I'm really pleased with it!

I'm only doing the 2 craft shows but I am still going to make some more holiday projects that I got off Pinterest and still have yet to do!