Pine Cone Crafts

Our blog has moved to Inspired by Familia!  To make your own adorable pine cone pet below go here: Pine Cone Pets

 

 

Other post you may enjoy:
Nature Hike Wall Decor
Fall Paper Crafts
Fall Kid Crafts: Halloween, Thanksgiving

Be Intentional.

 

My hopes!

Call my parents.

Make that tent in our living room that I have been wanting to do for weeks to sit under with my kids to have our "it's my world" story time.

Get back to praying in the morning with my husband before we get out of bed to start our day.

Write my friend a note and let her know how  much I appreciate her.

DIY Halloween Favors: Pumpkin, Bat, Ghost Pencil Toppers

 

These are a wonderful class treats for my boys classmates! It's a great alternative to Halloween candy treats and not to mention practical.  This would also make a great craft for a Halloween party!

 

You will need: pencils, styrofoam balls, orange and black craft paint, googly eyes, green pipe cleaner, black foam craft paper, sharpie, white crepe paper or fabric.

 

Insert your pencil through the foam just enough to give it a steady grip.  If you have older kids you can paint it on the pencil but if it's younger kids I would put it on a stick and have them paint it. 

For the Bat:

Glue googly eyes and on the black foam draw & cut out some bat wings.  Glue those to the back. 

For the Pumpkin:

Using a sharpie draw the face and then at the top make a little hole for the green pipe cleaner to go in and glue to secure.

For the Ghost:

I would use white fabric just to ensure that it will last longer. Crepe paper is sturdy but it will tear. Place fabric over plain styrofoam ball. Once you have figure out placement glue the fabric to the inside.  Using a sharpie draw face on fabric.

 

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Living Life: Childlike Wonder

As moms we are constantly going.
Cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, blogging :), playing, running errands, excercising, grocery shopping, decorating and finding ways to teach our children values, morals and life. There is no end to our wonderful work.

I am relearning the art of finding wonder and fulfillment in the little things in my day.
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I love the awe and delight that is captured in my son's face in this picture. 
I long for that but sometimes life gets in the way. The busyness of life blurs my vision and in a blink of an eye, I miss the moment.

Oh, to experience that childlike wonder again.

To stop and enjoy the little things in life:

• When my son shows me for the 50th time his cool kick.
• When my baby hands me the little pieces of outdoors that he finds, only his little eyes can see. Sometimes it's even his boogers and in his sweet little baby voice he says "here." Don't worry I won't be staring at his boogers with awe and amazement.
• To sit in and listen to their giggles and playful chatter.
• To bend down with my 2 year old and watch the ants go by with amazement.
• To stop and listen to the birds chirping outside my window.
• To just sit and play.
• To be okay with the mess and just enjoy watching my sons revel in it.  (that's a hard one)

Halloween Favors: Pumpkin Play Dough

Aren't these adorable!

Well they are super easy to make. Get the recipe for the pumpkin play dough and the details for this party favor here at Inspired by Familia.


For more Halloween Fun:
Kid Friendly Halloween Party Ideas
No-Sew Captain Hook Costume
DIY Trick or Treat Bags
DIY Halloween Card Creations

Free E-Book Finds For Kids

I love that 4 letter F word, FREE! I am a sucker for freebie deals. Once I stood in a Chipotle Free Burrito day line that had at least 100 people in front of me just so that I could get a free burrito and of course to feed the hungry by donating a canned good. I am sure that was the main reason we were all standing in line to feed the hungry, ahem. 

I hate keeping these great finds to myself.  I discovered No Twiddle Twaddle a blog where Bethany shares free Kid E-books and other great deals on a daily basis with her readers.  I checked out her list and downloaded these great deals (check out her website for all of the deals):

The Bible Tells Me So by Paul J Loth
Rocket Boy Zooming in Space by Joy Findlay
Count the Fruit by Joy Findlay
Adventures of the Little Red Fox by JL Toscano
The Thursday Surpise (A Story about kids and autism) by Ryan Ennis
Big Book of All Time Favorite Bible Stories by V. Gilbert Beers
Rocket Boy Zooms to Mercury by Joy Findlay
Rocket Boy Goes to the Moon by Joy Findlay
Rocket Boy Visits Venus by Joy Findlay
Heart Strings by John Millwater
How to Draw Cartoons by Brian Platt

All of these were showing up as FREE! There are more free books on her list that I didn't get. Make sure that it says $0.00 on otherwise it's not free.
These are the 2 list I used but she has more list to view on her website: List 1 and List 2

Fruit Inspired Cool Summer Treats!

Looking for some Cool Summer Treats?
Well since they are fruit inspired we can go ahead and put them in the healthy category, right?

All of these have been featured in the digital online magazine below.
BELOW IS OUR GIVE AWAY!

 Just click HERE   or click on the magazine cover below!

1. Apple Pie in an Apple Cup doesn't that look amazing! It's also no bake!

2. Nutella Fudge Pops- Bananas & chocolate check out this simple but  yummy recipe.

3. Watermelon (faux) cups- Healthy and simple!

4. Peanut Butter & Banana Bites- frozen and yummy!

5. Watermelon (faux) Yogurt Pops- Another healthy and yummy treat.

6. Mini Banana Splits- This treat will get lots of wows but it's so simple! 

After viewing our online digital publication stop by on Facebook using Rafflecopter or below and tell us what article or tip you enjoyed! Every comment counts as a drawing for one of the FABULOUS prizes below!

The Hollie Rogue is giving away one of their beautiful vintage necklaces and Fadeless Memories is giving away one of their priceless heirlooms carved prints. They take your special photograph an individually carve into acrylic so they last a lifetime
.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Simple Summer Creative Ideas

My motto for this summer is "A Simple Summer".

We have packed our Summer online digital publication with simple and creative ideas, recipes, kid crafts, tips and tricks... to simplify your summer! No need to subscribe & it's free! Just click HERE then choose CLICK TO READ button to unlock a treasure full of ideas to simplify your summer!

Tell us here on Facebook using Rafflecopter or here at our website what article or tip you enjoyed! Every comment counts as a drawing for one of the prizes below!

The Hollie Rogue is giving away one of their beautiful vintage necklaces and Fadeless Memories is giving away one of their priceless heirlooms carved prints. They take your special photograph an individually carve into acrylic so they last a lifetime
.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Made with Love!

Photo Challenge #4 Made with Love! He had no idea that he was making me something!

Mateo getting his Picasso groove on!

He has no idea how excited his artsy fartsy momma is watching him!

Funny thing was that he only had a tiny smear of paint on him (not counting his tongue that probably had fuschia paint on it b/c he tried sucking the paint brush). Later when I went to change I realized I was the messy one in this project my clothes was full of paint.

Just Can't Get Enough!

This photo challenge may turn me into an out of control crazy camera clicking mama! Day # 5 Just Can't Get Enough! He is just so stickin adorable even when he makes a huge mess.

The Book That Changed My Life

I am so glad that I get to participate in this Book Carnaval with a bloggy friend Anne from Modern Mrs. Darcy. She started a book carnival on The Book That Changed My Life so hop on over and share your book.

Other then the Bible, and I am not just saying this because I am a missionary and that's what I should say but the Bible has totally rocked and changed my world. The other book that has challenged me is The Pursuit of God. I first got my hands on this book when I was in college and since then I have read this book countless times, at least 20 times if not more.  I would mentor young girls using this book and loved every minute of it. 

Back when I was a silly college girl I used to say that I wanted to marry A.W. Tozer. The problem was I had a crush on a dead author :). When he talks about God, it makes you salivate. Yes, truly hunger for more of His presence and for His truth in my life. That was a turn on, but in all seriousnes Tozer did bring me to a place of thirst for my Lord.

At some point in college, I had something awful happen to me.  At the time, I was a grad student and I was offered a job to work as a live in assistant for an elderly lady.  I had lived in a home for senior citizens as a activities coordinator so this seemed simple enough, just one elderly woman.  In return for my work, I would get free room and board.  My responsibilities were easy, to spend the night so she was not alone and to help her in the mornings.  A couple of months into this the lady went bonkers on me.  She came into my room with a written note.  An awful note stating how I was this horrible person and I wasn't doing my job and I was taking advantage of the situation.  A few minutes later she walked back into the room and asked me to leave immediately.  I packed  my bags and left.  The problem was I had no where to go, my family lived 24hrs away.  I got in my car and bawled.  Her accusations were unfounded and she treated with such dispespect and the worst of it was I had NO where to go.   

I was once again reading, The Pursuit of God. The chapter I was on happened to be talking about God dividing up the inheritance for the tribes and he gets to Aaron and he says "I am your portion." Numbers 18:20  I remember reading this in the back porch of a friends house and immediately I just got on my knees.  When a woman loses her home and the bed she lies on loses all sense of security.  I felt like everything was stripped from me and here was God saying "Mari, I am your portion. Trust me." 

Soon after, the wife of the Dean of Men of my school offered me her son's room, who was away on a mission.  The elderly lady later contacted me and apologized and offered me the job again and shared that she was on medication for depression among other things.  Don't worry, I didn't take the job.

Invincible! Makes Me Go Hmmmm

I love how kids think they are invincible and maybe sometimes adults. My 16 month old really is trying to climb the wall from our patio. This is day #8 of our Mommy Moments Photo Challenge!

"Ha, I will just climb this wall and show you mom for trying to block my path with the door." I am pretty sure he was thinking that.

I am glad to report, this little guy didn't make it over the wall. He came to terms with his invincibility and found something else to climb.

Hmmmm, I wonder where he gets it from. Here I am trying to be invincible. I am having a pillow fight, trying to whip my mans butt off the balance beam.