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Ten on the Tenth for October 2018

Wednesday, October 10, 2018




Happy Fall, Y'all!  

I'm so happy to be a part of my first ever Ten on the Tenth Party, and I confess that I found it challenging because it's been in the nineties here in Central Alabama this month!  Plus, we were at the beach last week for Fall Break...and have I mentioned the *heat*???


The challenge: ten fun fall ideas, each under $10.00.  Oh, how I love autumn and everything about it.  I'm the type girl who loves pumpkin spiced EVERYTHING, and I also love cooking pumpkin recipes, too.  But when it's hot as stink, and I'm still wearing shorts and t-shirts, it's freakin' HARD to get into the spirit of fall, with or without pumpkins!

So what's a girl to do, living in the Deep South?  How can I possibly get into the spirit of fall AND conquer this challenge?  FAKE IT, of course!  We're good at faking stuff in the South, and if you didn't know that, well, bless your heart!  My {very loose} theme for this challenge is:  Faking Creating a Fall Atmosphere and/or Mood in Our Home.

Before you read any further, crank down your air conditioner (because that's what I did for inspiration).





1.   Mood music
Turn on Pandora radio to set the mood for fall.  I recommend three stations:
A.   George Winston Holiday Radio (great for straight chilling if you're alone)
B.   Autumn Radio  (nice variety of songs, and this station does have an autumn feel to it)
C.   Hipster Cocktail Party Radio  (everyone always asks us what station we're playing when we have this one on, and it appeals to all ages and musical tastes....this station is magical!)

Cost:   Free





2.   Morning fall aroma that's good for you
It's morning, and you must needs caffeine before you take on your day.  But before you put sugar in your legal stimulant of choice, try this instead:  For every 4 tablespoons of coffee you place in your coffee maker or French press, add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.  Not only will your whole house smell like heaven, but there's something about the addition of cinnamon that makes it sweet, and you won't want to add much if any sugar.  

You probably already have cinnamon in your pantry, but if not, it won't break the bank!

Cost of cinnamon:  around $3.00



Cinnamon reminds me of fall baking!  Our local grocery store stocks cinnamon brooms in early autumn, and the aroma hits customers as they enter the store!





Sorry about the weird light in my kitchen photos.  It's either been too light or too dark the past couple of days, so my photos aren't the best!


3.   Perk up your breakfast bar or other spot in your kitchen
Instead of drinking alcohol, I buy flowers every week.  I love them.  And they're calorie-free.  Bonus! YAY!!!
About every other week our local Piggly Wiggly sells pretty spray roses for under $5.00.  These are called Mambo, and I love the shade of orange.  Plus, add some colorful cocktail napkins that compliment your roses.  

I'm starting to get into the spirit of fall.  A little...

Costs:  roses: $4.95  cocktail napkins:  $4.25  Total:  $9.20





4.   Perk up your fridge
I actually stole this idea from my mom.  She changes out photos on her fridge for each season and/or holiday.  Instead of photos, I've placed seasonal recipes on our fridge with the hopes that mayhap they will encourage me to cook them!


The cost of this should be free, but if you like a perfectly spotless kitchen and lack kitchen magnets, I found some lovely fall ones on Etsy:



This magnet set can be purchased via Etsy HERE.


Cost of magnets:  $6.97





5.   Washi tape!
I'm a little obsessed with washi tape.  I add it to snail mail as well as other projects around the house.  The package above is being sent to one of my daughters, and I love the football mums on the tape.  Do you remember wearing football mum corsages to homecoming football games?  They didn't count unless they were bigger than your head!  All three fall mini floral washi tapes come in a set from Paper Source.




Cost of washi tape set:  $7.95





6.   Thanksgiving stamp
While at Paper Source, I found another under $10.00 fall beauty.  Plus it's helping me plan ahead!  Take any craft paper (or any paper for that matter....everyone has paper) and make little cards.  Stamp the "I am thankful for..." stamp on them, and your Thanksgiving guests can fill out cards and place them in a jar during the day.  When everyone wakes up from their tryptophan-induced nap, or maybe after dessert, someone can pull them all out of your jar (yep, you can make the jar because I bet you already have one) and read them.




Cost of stamp:  $6.95






7.   Cheese plate Friday night
Cheese plate Friday night is a thing at our house.  We love it!  Weather permitting, we enjoy it outside on our patio while watching movies, with or without a fire.  Normally our plate is much larger than the one shown above, but it isn't Friday night, and I didn't want to take out a bunch of cheese for demonstration purposes, but you can use my search engine if you're interested in past posts about our cheese plates.

Getting back on subject: cookie cutters aren't just for cookies and pies.  I thought it would be fun to use them on a few of our hard cheeses for Cheese Plate Friday Night.  This was free for me because I've had these cookie cutters for a long time.  But I did find a cute set of autumn leaf cookie cutters from JoAnn Fabrics!



This is my set.


Cost of cookie cutter set:  $6.99






8.   Dining Table decor
Here's an idea for your dining room table that doesn't cost much.  Purchase a set of fall leaf parchment paper for cheese trays and place them on a solid color table runner.  I'll admit that it can be hard to find these for under $10.00, but I did it!  I purchased ours from our local wine shop.  I used a pale pink table runner, but any solid table runner or tablecloth will do.  Then just add a pretty casserole, bowl, or tureen, et voilà!  Fall prettiness on your dining table.










You can purchase this similar set HERE.


Cost for parchment leaf set:  $7.80





9.   Cozy mysteries
I'm still not quite in the autumn spirit.  Mayhap I need a little literary inspiration.  I visited the library, and I've curated a few cozy mysteries either set in autumn or with autumn themes.  I enjoy reading cozy mysteries in the fall.  It helps me get over the sadness of the end of baseball season!



Come back Friday for a review of The Pint of No Return.  Saturday, I'll post a fall cozy mystery round-up post with a brief synopsis of the other nine books.


Cost:  Free






10.   Snack time!
Thinking of this challenge and running to the library has made me famished.  It's snack time!  When the girls were little, I enjoyed thinking of creative after school snacks.  This one should be enjoyed by kids of all ages.  The snack of choice: Bigelow's Salted Caramel Tea and Walker's Shortbread.  YUM!

Oh, how I wish you could smell this tea.  It smells heavenly!!!  It's a rule that you must dunk the shortbread cookies into the tea.  

You should be able to find the tea at your local Walmart; if not, they can order it for you.  




You can order the tea online HERE.




Cost:  shortbread:  $3.94;  tea:  $2.48  Total:  $6.42




That's the end of my ideas for this challenge.  I hope I didn't bore you...  It was hard!  But I truly did enjoy it, and I want to thank the sweet group of bloggers who let me participate in the challenge with them.  Please use the links below to see their creative solutions to this challenge.  It should be fun!


My Heart Lives Here
Bluesky atHome
Exquisitely Unremarkable
Pandora's Box
Poofing the Pillows
The BoondocksBlog
White SprayPaint
Patina andPaint
The Sketchy Reader





Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill



15 comments

  1. WOW, you certainly came up with a lot of ideas here!! And I always enjoy seeing your pretty M-C pieces! And even better,I learned a new word (mayhap) and how to use it! Welcome to the "ten" group!!

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  2. So many great ideas under 10 dollars. I have a few cozy mysteries just waiting to be read. The cookie cutter idea with cheese is genius.

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  3. I am so happy that you are a part of Ten on the 10th! I just want to say that you are my hero. Just last night The Hubs and I were trying to remember the "caramel tea" that we had a few years ago that we loved. THANK YOU! I'm going to buy it today. Also, you hit your first "ten" out of the park! Great ideas for sure.

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  4. I will definitely be looking for that tea! And if I lived closer....borrowing some of your mysteries! heehee! A fun post with lots of great links to follow! Hugs!

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  5. Lots of fun here Ricki Jill, and great ways for us sweaty Southern gals to get a little feel of fall! Your casserole deserves to be front and center on your table, beautiful! I always enjoy hearing about your cheese plate Friday nights, such a fun tradition and easy on the cook :)
    Jenna

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  6. Welcome Ricki!! It's always fun to have more friends join our little Ten on The Tenth group. And I love all of your creative ideas. It's warm here, too and I'm having a hard time getting into the fall spirit, but I love your music idea. There are always tunes that remind me of fall and I need to put some on and get in the autumn groove!!

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  7. Hello,
    This was fun Ricki! I love the music idea. George Winston is one of my favorites. :-)
    I too LOVE washi tape.
    And your intro made me chuckle. Sorry it is still so hot. We have had rain for the last two weeks. We have been under a flood watch for the last two weeks as well.

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  8. You have some really wonderful ideas! Love the fall music idea and oh I how I love Washi tape. So cute to wrap with and do almost anything with. Happy Wednesday.
    Hugs,
    Kris

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  9. Welcome to the group Rick! You have put us all to shame with your thorough fall decorating even if it was faux! So many great ideas here and those magnets are truly adorable!

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  10. So many ideas! Love the leaf shaped cheese and I'm going to have to buy some Washi tape.

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  11. Whoa, Ricki Jill! This is a FABULOUS list! I'm pinning it, for sure! First thing I did was change my Pandora station from Smooth Jazz Radio (my fave) to Hipster Cocktail Party. Love George Winston too so I'll take a listen to that and the Autumn too. So many good ideas - thanks for sharing!

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  12. I adore this whole post! omg..it's lovely and So full of Autumn inspiration:)
    I love those parchment leaves..I have a box of that tea in the cabinet..making some asap.
    Hugs!!

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  13. What a fabulous list!! Love the Gouda Grief cheese pick and the fall cheese cutouts. What part of Alabama? I'm originally from Birmingham and have been living in Texas the past few years! All the family and friends are still there and we visit several times a year. LOL @ turning down the air conditioner...had to do it back home and also here in Texas! :-)

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  14. Okay, forget my dumb question about where in Alabama...I just read your "start here". I'm always sideways and backwards...LOL What part of Birmingham?

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Hello!

I'm Ricki Jill. Welcome! I'm honored that you're reading my blog. I enjoy sharing my creative lifestyle @ The Bookish Dilettante. For more information about my blog, please read the Start Here page. Thank-you for stopping by, and I hope you'll consider following me via email.

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