One of the things that Jennifer from New Season Design and I have in common is our passion for literacy. We both homeschool, love children's literature, and want to inspire our kids to love reading. The difference is that she also happens to be a certified teacher who taught language arts for 8 years. On…
After making these personalized Scrabble ornaments, I started thinking about other ways to use the Scrabble Me! set that I'd purchased (it was only $13 at the time; not sure I would have paid $20 for it!). This cute personalized Scrabble board would make a fun gift for a Scrabble- or board-game loving family. Use…
One of our favorite ways to countdown the days until a special date is with a countdown chain, where you tear off one loop each day, watching the chain get shorter and shorter each day. I've combined that idea with a list of advent activities you can print out on scrapbook paper to make an…
When I was a little girl, I attended the Apple Festival in Berkeley Springs, WV several times with my grandparents. It may have been there that my love for West Virginia, a place we now call home, was born! I had no idea that making apple butter is as simple as it is until a…
I actually made these felt fringe scarves for all of my girls a couple of years ago, and they're still favorites around here because they're so warm and cozy. They make great stocking stuffers, additions to Operation Christmas Child boxes for colder climates, gifts for friends, and more. Like all of the 101 Days of…
This post is brought to you by 101 Deals of Christmas at For the Mommas, featuring a steal of a deal every day from now through Christmas: Etched Glass When I first began seeing pictures of etched glass projects on Etsy, I knew I had to try it myself! It's simple, classy, enduring, and practical!…
We've now made these not once but twice! As you may remember, we dipped our first batch in chocolate. The problem was that they still had a pretty bitter aftertaste, and I didn't want to post about them until I figured out how to get rid of that. In our experience, you need really ripe…
The following post is from Joshua of Becoming Minimalist: 10 Reasons You'll Actually Be Happier In a Smaller Home This past summer, our family of four moved from Essex, VT, to Peoria, AZ. It was a big move. In fact, in almost every conceivable way, our new home is different than our previous one: geographically,…
I love the scent of cinnamon (and smelling it has been shown to increase your energy level, too!), and these cinnamon applesauce ornaments are cute and smell wonderful. If you use an artificial tree, you could even hang these rather than purchasing a synthetic pine scent spray! This is another great craft to do with…
These paper ornaments are a classic craft that many of us probably made in school when we were kids. But they have a modern-vintage feel to them (I may have just made that up...) that I love, and you could use these as gifts or to decorate your home for an inexpensive and festive touch.…