cooking, DIY, Garden Life

Pumpkin Chili Recipe

It's pumpkin season again!! All my friends are posting the cutest porcelain pumpkin bowls full of yummy soups and I'm so jealous because I have no fancy bowls! But I do have real pumpkins!! The ultimate edible bowl. This recipe for pumpkin bowls is so easy! The hardest part was cutting the top off my… Continue reading Pumpkin Chili Recipe

DIY

Q-Kids: Wax Leaves Project

Sometimes you find the PERFECT fall leaf. It's stunning and beautiful. It represents everything you love about autumn. Then it falls apart. Wouldn't it be great if we could make that leaf last a bit longer? "Every leaf speaks bliss to me / Fluttering from the autumn tree." -Brontë Melt bees wax over heat (using… Continue reading Q-Kids: Wax Leaves Project

DIY, mom life

Q-Kids: Crayon Remake

If you're like us then you have a TON of broken crayons. I've done several crafts with broken crayons already but here is another one to try. This one makes crayons into a fun ty-dye effect. You will need: A muffin tin or silicone if you have onePaper muffin liners if your pan is not… Continue reading Q-Kids: Crayon Remake

DIY, Garden Life, mom life

Q-Kids: Investigating Seeds

While some people's goal with gardens is to store up food. Mine has been to teach our kids where food comes from, how it grows, and how yummy it is. As the season starts producing food the question comes up about seeds. My kids wonder, can we eat them? What happens if we don't? After… Continue reading Q-Kids: Investigating Seeds

DIY, mom life

Q-Kids: Hand Kite

My kids love kites. I do not. As a parent who has to get the kite in the air, untangled, and gauge the weather the whole task feels daunting. So instead of a full blown kite we made these fun hand kites that can be used inside or out. All you need is: Shower curtain… Continue reading Q-Kids: Hand Kite

DIY, mom life

Q-Kids: Blue Jean Bunk Bags

We recently combined rooms for two of our kids. Let's just say it's going rough. It's hard to share space when you're young. To give each of the kids their own special space that was off-limits to the other I came up with this solution. Blue jean bunk bags. I took a pair of ripped… Continue reading Q-Kids: Blue Jean Bunk Bags

DIY, mom life

Q-Kids: Edible Bird Feeder

With all this heat we've lost a bit of bread around our house. When I realized my bagels had gone bad I was so sad. I decided to take an opportunity instead. We have been bird watching hard core with all the other activities canceled due to quarantine. So this was a way to up… Continue reading Q-Kids: Edible Bird Feeder

DIY, mom life

Q-Kids: Unique Bouquet

My kids love to pick dandelions and about any other flower they come across on our nature adventures. The problem is that rarely do the kids pick the flower stems long enough to actually make a real bouquet with. So when I saw this fun craft I knew we had to try it out. Before… Continue reading Q-Kids: Unique Bouquet

DIY, mom life

Q-Kids: Nature Prints

It's been awhile since I've been able to renew my stash of play dough for the kids. So each of the little tubs are getting dry and difficult to work with. There has to be a last use for play dough about to go bad. Here's what I came up with. Nature Prints! Gather lots… Continue reading Q-Kids: Nature Prints

DIY, mom life

Q-Kids: Flower Fun

I'm a huge fan of wildflowers. They are good for the bees and for the heart. So when I saw a field full of wildflowers at my father-in-laws I took the opportunity. With kids in tow we explored the field. We found daisies, purple clover ,and yellow flower I didn't know. Here are a few… Continue reading Q-Kids: Flower Fun

DIY, mom life

Q-Kids: Archaeology At Home

My kids are really into (read obsessed) with finding "ancient artifacts" ever since they saw the Let's Go Luna episode about Egypt. We've been looking at the photos in a few of my adult books about archaeology. I thought that would satisfy them. Dear readers, they want more. So we went onto YouTube and looked… Continue reading Q-Kids: Archaeology At Home

DIY, Inspiration, Lifestyle, mom life

Teaching Shadows

You'd think rule one of any teaching class would be never turn out the lights. But here I am, the newly minted art teacher, closing the blinds and flipping the switch. I mean how else do you really teach kids about shadow without a spotlight and some well placed puppets? So here I am with… Continue reading Teaching Shadows

DIY, Inspiration, Lifestyle

It’s Practice not a Mistake

My posts on Mondays have been delayed lately because I've received a new opportunity to teach art to kids. It's sticky madness to be totally honest. I don't mind though. Creativity is happening. Mistakes are termed as practice. Freedom of expression is running rampant, often literally. If you hear a voice within you say 'you… Continue reading It’s Practice not a Mistake

DIY, Lifestyle

A Nontraditional Tradition

So my family discovered escape rooms a few years ago and let's just say we are a bit addicted. When we take a vacation we check if there are escape rooms in the area before we go. It's become a thing. Last Christmas I was thrown the challenge of, "Hey, you're good at puzzles and… Continue reading A Nontraditional Tradition

DIY

A New Kind of DIY Wreath

I've used grapevines to make plenty of wreaths before. I've even made them into festive trees. But now I've found a new medium to make a wreath. Roots. On a recent beach walk I came across a pile of washed up tree roots. They were smooth, clean, and stripped of bark from the waves. They… Continue reading A New Kind of DIY Wreath

DIY, Hand Lettering, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Writing

Watercolor Words Project

Most of you have seen my home library. What you don't see is the boxes of books in storage waiting for space on those shelves. One of those boxes is full of mini sized book and the box behind that is full of broken books. Books too cool to throw out but too damaged to… Continue reading Watercolor Words Project

DIY

Wreath Wall DIY

I've made wreaths on this blog before so I won't bore you with the details again. I've also made fun trees with grape vines that I love. But not this time... This time I'm making a wall! My girls want to grow climbing beans and I'll be honest I prefer bush beans over pole beans… Continue reading Wreath Wall DIY

cooking, DIY, Lifestyle

DIY Veggie Bag

You pick out your veggies and put them in a bag. Which then goes into the grocery bag. When you get home you put that first bag into a garbage bag. At this point I'm feeling like I'm being punked. What's the point of all the bags and can I change it? I know veggies… Continue reading DIY Veggie Bag