Welcome House Name Signs

Welcome Family House Name Signs

Dress up the Front Porch/Entry Way!

I visited a friends brand spankin' new house recently that she some how magically Mary Poppins style decorated in no time to perfection!  I really wonder if she had a magic bottomless bag full of cute decor and just sang and danced as it all came into place in a day! I'm too indecisive, frugal and DIY-er to get my house together that fast, and too ADD to notice that things are still not done...but her home did inspire me.  I fell in love with her custom family house name sign on her front porch and wanted to make my own.  I did a little research to find out what I liked and then made a mashup of a couple styles of family name signs put together.

My inspiration were these

 

By Longfellowdesigns on Etsy

And this gem I found on google image search by Mango Seed Designs...I cannot for the life of me find this again to post the link as I had saved the pic on my phone...

So anyways, Here is mine

I had an old canvas with a hideous reddish purple-y abtsract painting I had started long ago...I brushed on some turquoise craft paint and once that dried, I lightly sanded it so some of the darker colors underneath would show through.  Then Free handed the rest so yes it's imperfect, but isn't the the beauty of homemade/handmade items?  Not perfect!  At least at my house!  Anyways, I'm excited to finally not have a naked front porch!

I really like the chalkboard style welcome family name signs, but since I didn't have any black paint on hand and love turquoise I decided to make it a turquoise welcome house sign!  And being frugal, those bales of hay are dual purpose, it's future fresh hay for the chicken coop!  I can't believe it's like $8 or more for those tiny little decorative bales of hay when you can go to the feed store and get actual bales of hay for like $5!  Now...looking at this picture I just remembered I better go water those mums!  And...I guess I can take down the spider now that Halloween is over!

Pooley's Pumpkin Patch

Pooley's Pumpkin Patch

it's officially fall

We recently went to Pooley's Pumpkin Patch in Bennington, NE with our MOPS group and it was so much fun.  It was a cute, simple pumpkin patch but with plenty of fun things to keep the kids occupied from feeding the chickens, picking up and petting the baby chicks, swinging on giant tractor tire swings, a corn maze, a hay bail maze, petting zoo, tractor race track (john deer pedal cars and john deer tricycles) pony rides, hay rides and of course a pumpkin patch.  My kids had so much fun climbing on and playing on the little hay bails, one  of my new friends from my MOPS group and I decided, who needs an expensive rainbow playset in the backyard when all you need is hay bails?  The kids loved everything, but the hay bails, tricycle track and the baby kittens roaming around were the highlights.

Apple Print Stationary - Fall Crafts for Kids

Apple Print Stationary

Fall Crafts and Activities for Kids

Hey!  So I wasn't sure what to post today, but then I remembered this fun activity we did last week that we got out of Family Fun Magazine.  We made apple prints by cutting an apple in half, horizontally to get the circle shape with the star inside.  It was the perfect after school activity while dinner was being made since my daughter was learning all about the letter A and apples at preschool last week.  She thought this was really fun stamping the apple in the paint and then stamping the apple on the paper.  Once it was dry, we cut the paper to make smaller apple print note cards.  She wrote a letter to her grandparents in it.  Once she was done and her paint colors had mixed and turned really dark and muddy, she stuck her finger tip in the paint and made apple seeds.

Autumn Placemat - Crafts with Kids

Make a Autumn Placemat with Fall Leaves

Fun Easy Crafts with Kids

I love doing projects with my kids that involve various activities.  This was a fun and easy project that I did with my daughter last fall when she was 3.  First I let her use her trick or treating pumpkin and we went for a nature walk and collected fall leaves.  She collected A LOT!  When we got back, she had a nap.  When she woke up, we went through and picked out the leaves that weren't torn.  We cut a section of contact paper the size of a placemat with the sticky side up and we arranged the leaves on top.  Then we cut another sheet about the same size and pressed it on top, so the two sticky sides were against each other.  She pushed it down and I had her rub it to get out the bubbles.  This was her placemat for the fall!  A fun, easy, cheap, no stress activity that even little ones can do and enjoy!  And for those of you with Vinyl cutters, I bet you could make this even cuter adding some lettering or something on top over the middle!  Maybe someday....sigh....:P

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

 Looking for the perfect yummy fall treat to bake up for the Halloween carnival cake walk or just a scrumptious treat to have waiting on the table when your kids/hubby come home? Well, if you have been craving pumpkin spice lately, you have GOT to try these!  I got the recipe when I attended Parties that Cook last fall when I was in San Fransisco with my good friends at eHow.  Anyways, I love these and so does my family....too bad I don't get to eat the YUMMY cream cheese buttercream frosting this time around...now that I'm dairy free! (it's soooo hard sometimes!!!! but not worth having a fussy baby for the next 48 hours)

 Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcakes:
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups canola oil
1 15oz can of pumpkin
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
2 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon allspice
1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt

Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting:
1 stick butter
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350°F: Position rack in the center of the oven.
Cake Batter: Cream together granulated sugar, oil, pumpkin and eggs until well mixed, about 2 minutes.  In a bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and powder, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and salt.  Add to the wet ingredients and mix until combined and smooth, about 30 seconds (but don’t over mix).

Bake: Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.  Pour batter into the cupcake liners and bake for 15-20 minutes (or you can make it into a cake by pouring the batter into a greased 10x13 pan and baking for 35-45 minutes).  Cool completely on a cooling rack.

Buttercream: Beat butter and cream cheese on high speed for 2 minutes. Add sugar, vanilla and salt.  Mix until smooth. Frost each cupcake generously with frosting.  Serve.