Our humble harvest

Last Fall we saved a lot of seeds from our pumpkins and squash in hopes to use them in the spring.  Not wanting large plants to overtake our small garden, we decided to plant them in some flower beds in the backyard.  I don't think they got enough sun (or maybe we neglected them a little bit), so this was all that became of them.  But I'll be honest, I was excited to see anything growing at all.  They may be too small to eat, but at least they can give me something nice to look at while I wash the dishes.

Fall Nature Wreath

A few days ago the kids helped me make our Fall nature wreath. I love decorating with things that can either be eaten or returned to nature (that way I don't have to store anything), and it's especially easy to do that in the Fall. We always decorate with squash and grass, last year we made the twig spider web, and this year we added the wreath.



I had big plans to go for a fun hike one afternoon and collect things for it.  But Pete had some things he had to do and it ended up getting late, so I sent the kids out back to collect whatever they could find.



I think Dan would have fun doing anything if it involved me letting him use the clippers.



Then we came inside, laid everything out on the table and got to work.  We used a grapevine wreath for the base.  And by this point Will and Joe were both in bed, so it ended up being a very enjoyable evening :) (Not that I don't love the little ones... it's just hard to sit down and work on things for a long period of time with them around sometimes.)



I was secretly intending to shift a few things around after the kids were done to make the wreath balanced and how I wanted it, but I ended up not touching it.  They did a better job than I could have!

Paper snowflakes

John made snowflakes in school a month or two ago and has been at it ever since. When he has some free time, he will often grab the scissors and a blank piece of paper and whip out a new creation. We have started putting them up on our back sliding door. Since we haven't had much snow to look at through that window, we now at least have John's cute snowflakes to remind us that it is actually winter.

What to do with sea shell/rock collection

Whenever we go on trips to a lake or beach, we collect sea shells and rocks and bring them home. We've added quite a few to our collection over the years as I have had a hard time throwing them away. So I finally decided to do something with them instead of let them sit in the basement. I got this idea from a magazine I was looking through at a doctor appointment (you never know when you're going to get some inspiration!) You paint a frame white, cover the cardboard with fabric, then hot glue gun your shells/rocks onto it, leaving the glass out. Pretty easy right? The one I saw had glued a single star fish on top of light blue fabric. Very simple and cute. Our guest room/nursery was in need of something on the walls, so this did the job and brings back some fun memories.



Doing this project gave me another idea that would be fun to do with the kids in the future. Save a shell/rock from each of our vacations to a lake or beach and glue that onto some kind of board. Then have the kids write underneath the shell, when and where they found it. Could be a fun collection to have. Just an idea..

Toddler bed quilt

We recently kicked Joe out of the nursery and moved him in with his older brothers in preparation for the baby (8 weeks and 6 days to go! But who's counting?) We set up the toddler bed next to the bunks, and I decided to give my hand a try at quilt making. Here's the final outcome in all its glory. It's made from scraps of the bunk down comforter covers, some fabric I used years ago to make pj's for Pete and John, some old pajamas of mine, and some of Pete's and Dan's old jeans. This was my first quilt, and I really didn't know what I was doing, but I'll tell you what I did anyway: First I cut all the fabric into 6" squares, laid them all out in the pattern I wanted, sewed them in strips, then sewed those strips together. Then I bought flannel fabric for the bottom side and batting for the inside and taped each layer, one on top of the other, to our basement floor, making sure to get all of the wrinkles out (a method my friend Alison told me about so you don't have to use a quilting frame... works well on smaller quilts.) Then I pinned the layers together every 6-8 inches, took off all the tape, tied floss in every corner of each square, then finally sewed bias tape around the entire quilt. Done. I worked on this over the course of a few weeks, an hour or so at a time, so it didn't seem quite so overwhelming. Consider it a success! Not the last quilt I'll be making.

Heart banner garland

I got this idea off of Etsy and thought it would be perfect hanging across the window above my sink. Nothing too fancy or bright, but something for me to look at when I'm doing the dishes (which seems like a constant chore these days.) I used canvas-type material, printed paper, string and a glue gun. That's it! No sewing required. And I was even able to finish it in one sitting while the kids ate breakfast one morning. Felt like a productive way to start my day.

Felt flower frame

I wanted to share this idea because there a lot of fun things you could do with it. I made this frame for my sister-in-law for Christmas by gluing felt flowers to an old frame. You could also buy a simple frame (like this one, for example), then add felt flowers, or any kind of fabric flowers for that matter. This site has some cute felt flower tutorials. Makes for a fun, thoughtful gift!

Family artwork

Over General Conference weekend, Pete, the kids and I worked on creating some art to put in the kids' bathroom. I found these frames at a garage sale for $1 each, then painted them red with some leftover paint from another project. I saw some similar artwork at a children's hospital and used that as the inspiration. Pete drew the smaller one for Dan to color, and I drew the bigger one for John. But half way through coloring, the kids decided they wanted to work together so they could finish faster (I don't think they understood that that wouldn't save any time in the end... oh well). I love how they turned out! The kids LOVE to color, so this was the perfect project to keep them somewhat busy so we could listen to Conference. And now their bathroom displays some very cheap (yet priceless!) artwork.

Nature inspired fall decorations

Fall is here! And the reason I know it's here is because my kids point out every tree that's starting to change colors and talk about Halloween at least a few times each day. There's nothing like kids to help you get excited for new seasons and upcoming holidays! I thought I'd share a few inexpensive and easy Fall decorations we made that were inspired by nature...

Fall leaves

We collected leaves on a walk, then tied them around a candle and a large jar with a candle inside. You could also tie them around mason jars or vases with something inside.

Grass

Our neighbor gave me this idea a few years ago: to cut a bunch of tall grass and stick it in a vase. He gave the advice to spray the ends with hairspray so they don't get everywhere. So simple!

Squash

This is one my favorites, mostly because you get to eat them when Fall is coming to a close :) I haven't come across an ornamental squash that wasn't edible yet. They'll last a couple months out on your counter, in a basket, in a bowl, wherever you put them, and add a whole lot of color. Here's how we like to cook them:

Cut the squash in half and spoon out the seeds. Fill the hole with a slab of butter and either salt or brown sugar (Pete likes salty and I like sweet, so we always do one of each). Put in 350 degree oven for about 1 hour. Then mix the insides together and enjoy!


What are your favorite Fall decorations?

Adding color to a room

We needed a bit of color in my boys' room, so this is what I came up with. Very easy and very cheap. You can buy wood frames like these at Ikea for just a few dollars each. I painted mine white, then found 12"x12" scrapbook paper that went with the room. Glued the paper on, put pictures in the middle, and there you have it! And if you need to cover more wall space, simply use 6 frames, or even 9 to cover the area.
Get creative and give it a try!