These felt button trees are one of our very favorite Christmas crafts; we've made them with each one of our preschoolers at least once because they're so simple but so fun. As our girls are getting older, I decided they needed a more advanced ornament craft to keep them busy. All four of them enjoy…
Although I love the convenience of buying a bag of bows at the dollar store for the top of our gifts, these printable gift bows are really so much fun. They're simple but elegant and add an extra touch to your wrapping. I'm not sure I'd bother adding them to my kids' gifts just to watch…
It has been many, many, many years since I've had a set of keys that were "mine." For a long time, we were a one-car family, and even though we have two cars now, we tend to grab whichever keys are on the hook rather than having designated sets. When I decided to make photo keychains…
Okay, y'all. We're exactly three days into this year's series, and I hereby declare this my favorite project of the year: Homemade nonpareils ! My mom and I share a love of nonpareils, and when I realized last year that you could make them at home, I immediately added them to the list of projects…
Springerle is a flat, white, crispy cookie traditionally made in Germany, Bavaria, or Austria. The designs are added before baking using a carved springerle rolling pin or flat mold. Traditional springerle are made from just eggs, powdered sugar, and flour and flavored by sprinkling a surface with anise seed and placing the cookies on top…
Homeschool planning As the new school year kicks off, there's been a lot of talk about homeschool planning in my circles, both online and locally, and I realized I've never really shared my stress-free homeschool planning method. You see, I used to sit down once a week and lesson plan: deciding which lessons would be…
I love children's books with a passion, but I especially love picture books! When I first began adding treasuries to our library almost 10 years ago (many of them recommended by Sonlight), I wasn't sure I was a fan. These anthologies took my beloved picture book from a light, easy-to-hold-while-juggling-babies-and-toddlers book to a thing that…
The following post is from Jason & Jennifer Bruce of New Season Design: Printable Patriotic Pinwheels for the 4th of July Summer is a time for kids to be creative and enjoy being kids. As we were spring cleaning our office closet, our nine-year-old daughter and I uncovered a treasure trove of craft projects. So…
As I type this, I am currently attached to a hospital-grade double breast pump, listening to the rhythmic sounds of the pump as my milk fills the bottles. In some ways, the journey to this place has been a whirlwind, well off the path I planned to take. But in hindsight, I can see the…
A friend and fellow Essentials tutor shared this a few days ago, and I love it! Designed by Curtis Newbold of The Visual Communications Guy, the infographic lists the 15 punctuation marks in order of difficulty (to learn and use) with the rules that govern their use. Click here to download a full-size poster version…