Remade Book Nightstand

· categorized in My Home, Repurposing Tutorials,

So… a while back I made this book nightstand. And then I painted my room white which necessitated de-assembling said item. I quickly realized it would never be the same again and so I set out to do what was most logical. That was, of course, to make it better. I do like it more this …

Skirts from Pants

· categorized in Repurposing Tutorials, Sewing Tutorials,

It turns out that one of my favorite kinds of sewing is tweaking an existing garment to make it function or just better. Why do I love it? Let me count the ways. First, no paying for expensive fabrics or patterns. I get my base pieces from our rejects or thrift stores. Next, I tend …

Homeschooling: Less than Bliss

· categorized in Homeschool, Kids,

On days like this I usually don’t blog. But I’m beginning to rethink that tactic. No one is really all inspiration and glory all the time, so why should it look like it is on my blog? I’m so not anywhere near perfect. So read on for a good dose of reality that might have …

Fashion Fabric Scrap Paper Dolls

· categorized in Kids, Miscellaneous,

When I was a little girl, one of the best toys in my grandparents’ attic were some 2 dimensional fashion dolls. All the girl cousins (and there were many of us!) took our turns carefully sliding different shirts, dresses, skirts, and pants into place on the little dolls. My sister and I also spent hours …

A Bit of Lace Curtains

· categorized in My Home, Sewing Tutorials,

I’m making curtains and roman shades for the entire house! Talk about a job! Our mini blinds just aren’t quite cutting it aesthetically or otherwise. The cats have kind of mangled some of the slats and now they are really sad looking. The first curtains I’ve made are for Drew’s room where we painted stripes last year. …

Happy Fall!

· categorized in Garden, Homeschool,

I love Fall. A lot. I actually get giddy about Fall. Maybe some of it is that the kids are already sleeping in a good 1 hour later than in the summer. Thank you, shorter days! And I cannot lie, I’m done with Summer and the too bright sun. On the first day of Fall, …

Initial Pancakes

· categorized in Food, Kids,

My kids love this tradition that we have developed of a slow weekend day starting with sourdough pancake letters. The recipe I use for pancakes is here but I use 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of yogurt instead of the buttermilk. They are the best pancakes I’ve ever had and uses up my …

Water and a Brush

· categorized in Homeschool, Kids,

Get ready for the cheapest, easiest, most fun activity that the kids did all summer. A few weekends ago I was organizing and cleaning out the garage. The kids quickly got tired of playing with their bubbles and sidewalk chalk but I had a backup plan. I ran inside and got them cups full of …

Superstar Jar

· categorized in Homeschool, Kids,

We’ve had three long weeks of school already this year. My biggest goal this year for homeschooling is to put the love back in the learning. I got pretty stressed out and overwhelmed last year and I’ve been working hard to be more patient and loving with the kids. It’s been a difficult start but …

Plum Clafouti

· categorized in Food, Garden,

This summer, more than any before, we’ve picked lots of fruit. It’s so incredibly good when straight from the tree or bush. We picked cherries in June, blackberries in July, plums, apples, grapes, and peaches in August. Several friends were over blessed in their home gardens and have let us “help them out” with their …